It's Monday 9/2! What Are You Reading?

September 2 - yay!! I'm so excited that summer is unofficially over today. I know I've been a grump, but it's been so hot and humid most of the summer that I couldn't even manage outdoor time or walking, and we've had one family crisis after another since May. Fall is my favorite season, so I am looking forward to wearing jeans (and socks!), going camping and finally getting a vacation, and enjoying that lovely fall weather (though today is still supposed to be 85 and raining).

I am STILL sick, struggling to get rid of the last of this bronchitis, going on two weeks now. I expected to feel better this past week, but although my cough and congestion gradually improved, my energy stayed super low and I was unable to do much. I actually managed to get out of bed at 8 am this morning (more or less my normal time), so I am hoping things will improve! I'm still planning to take it easy today. I don't know how I am going to get all my writing work done this week - and it's only a 4-day workweek!

But the big news today is...it's the last day of the #BigBookSummer Challenge! Time to finish up those last Big Books today! (though participants have more time to write reviews or updates or wrap-ups on blogs or in the Goodreads group - remember to add links to the challenge page) As you'll see below, I finished my last audio Big Book this weekend and will be finishing my last Big Book in print today. It's been my best Big Book Summer ever!! I will try to get my wrap-up posted this week. Check out the Challenge page to see what it's all about, so you can start planning for next summer!

Even though Big Book Summer ends today, the fun continues with the R.I.P. (Readers Imbibing Peril) Challenge, which started yesterday. I haven't officially signed up yet, but my current book definitely counts, and I love this focus on darker reading every fall! Details are at the link. This challenge does NOT mean reading horror or only Stephen King books all season (though you can do that if you want to!) - it encompasses a broad range of genres, including suspense, thriller, mystery (even cozy mysteries count), sci fi and fantasy, and more, and you can participate in the challenge by just reading one book. It's lots of fun, so check it out. As soon as I get Big Book Summer all wrapped up, I will write my sign-up post. I have so many great books on my shelves to choose from!

So, here's the full list of what my family and I have been reading this past week:

Today, I will be finishing a book which is my transition book from Big Book Summer to my dark & creepy fall reading for RIP Challenge: The Likeness by Tana French. This is the second book in her popular Dublin Murder Squad series. I read the first one, In the Woods, way back in 2013 (review at the link) - I don't know why I waited so long to get to book 2 because her writing is just so good! She has a special talent for writing intricate mysteries/thrillers filled with surprising twists that are also beautifully written (see a sample in my review at the link). This one has a super intriguing premise: a young woman shows up dead in the first pages, and she looks exactly like Cassie, one of the main detectives in the series, AND she is using an ID that Cassie used years ago in an undercover assignment, an identity that was completely made-up by Cassie and her boss. Creepy set-up, right? But it gets even better as they decide that the only way to solve the case is for Cassie to go undercover again...as the woman who was using her old fake identity! Totally twisty and completely engrossing - it's kept me reading late into the night.

I just finished listening to my last Big Book on audio, The Desert Sky Before Us by Anne Valente. I received an ARC of this book for possible review in the spring, and I was interested in it but didn't have the time to fit it in, so I was glad to also get the audio for review this summer. It's the story of two very different sisters who take a road trip, arranged by their mother before her death, to travel from Illinois to Utah, where they have permission to have a second funeral at a dig site. Their mother was a paleontologist, one sister is a former race car driver, and the other one just got out of prison for arson. The reader knows from the start that both sisters have secrets, though more secrets are revealed as the sisters reconnect and begin to heal. I was most enticed by the road trip aspect of this novel, and it was even better than I hoped, with the women following a kind of geocaching scavenger hunt their mother left for them. Interesting and with plenty of emotional depth, too.

My husband, Ken, is also reading one last Big Book of the summer, though he won't be finishing this one today (he spent this weekend traveling to a family funeral). He's reading Creole Belle by James Lee Burke, a prolific and well-loved novelist that neither of us has ever read before. I bought this one for him for Father's Day at Northshire Bookstore during Booktopia because I was looking for a new thriller series he might enjoy. The series features Detective Dave Robicheaux on the Gulf Coast and from what I read, it sort of combines elements of westerns and thrillers. There are more than 20 books in this series, but I chose this one because it was recommended by the booksellers and it is set in New Orleans, where we used to live. We always enjoy reading books set in our favorite city, and my husband also lived in the Houston area for almost ten years, so I think he'll really like the Gulf Coast setting. He's about halfway and seems to be enjoying it so far.

Our 25-year old son, Jamie, is enjoying Death's Merchant, book one in the Common Among Gods series by Justan Henner. He says it's a really original story about gods and humans, but not the familiar Greek or Roman gods. In this series, mortals can turn into gods. I see it's been described as an "epic fantasy" and "1200-page doorstopper full of captivating characters and humor." Yup, that sounds right up his alley! I can tell he's enjoying it because he's been reading a lot. He's been home and also not feeling well, so the upside of that is more reading time!





Blog posts from last week: 

TV Tuesday - In the Dark - suspenseful & darkly funny show that we are loving about a blind woman whose best friend goes missing, and she's the only witness

Saturday Snapshot: Carroll Creek Linear Park - Frederick, MD - some highlights from our mini getaway last weekend.

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.   

What are you and your family reading this week?