It's Monday 2/17! What Are You Reading?

No time today, with appointments all morning and the family coming home for dinner, but since we are all still reading what we were last week, I think I can fit in a quick update. Here's what we are reading:

I finished re-reading my Favorite Book of 2019, Hum If You Don't Know the Words by Bianca Marais (my review at the link). This outstanding novel is set in South Africa during apartheid in the 1970's. It's about the loving relationship between an orphaned white girl, Robin, and the black nanny, Beauty, who cares for her while also searching for her own missing teen daughter. I loved the novel even more the second time around, and knowing the basics of the plot also allowed me to notice more fully the beautiful writing. I was so glad to be immersed in Robin's and Beauty's lives again. It is, at times, a heart-breaking story, but it is also filled with warmth, love, hope, and lots of humor. Bianca has a particular (often hilarious) talent for capturing the internal life of a little girl. I met and got to know the author last year at Booktopia, and I've invited her to videochat with my book group on Wednesday - can't wait! I finished reading it last night, and my husband laughed when I said, "Oh, no, it ended again." This book has a solid place in my ever-changing Best Books Ever Read list.

On audio, I am still listening to State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. Somehow, I missed it when it was published in 2011 and just found the audio files sort of hidden on my laptop and unlabelled--a pleasant surprise! It's the story of Dr. Marina Singh, a pharmaceuticals researcher from Minnesota who has been tasked with traveling to a remote area of Brazil. Another researcher at her company, Dr. Annick Swenson, has gone missing there and cut off all communication with the company, and the first guy sent to find her has now died. It's a very intriguing story with in-depth characters and an immersive and fascinating sense of place. There are lots of unexpected plot twists as Marina heads into the Amazon with her former mentor. I'm enjoying it and wondering how it will end.

Ken has been reading a Christmas gift from me, End of Watch by Stephen King. This novel is the end of the trilogy that began with Mr. Mercedes and continued with Finders Keepers, so he said he wanted to read book three while the rest was still fresh is his mind from last fall. According to the blurb, it's about a serial killer with a traumatic brain injury who is in a persistent vegetative state. Behind his still body, though, his mind is working fast thanks to a new experimental drug, and he is scheming to get revenge on those who crossed him, including retired police detective Bill Hodges, the hero of the trilogy. After reading The Outsider last year and realizing that one of my favorite characters in that novel was from the Mr. Mercedes trilogy, I now want to read this series, too!

Our son, 25, is still reading The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams, book 1 in the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series, one of the books he bought recently with a Christmas gift card. Sounds like this one features dark sorcery, an elf-like race, royals and servants, a deadly riddle, and plenty of swords--all right up his alley! I can't remember, but I don't think he's read this author before. He's enjoying it so far.



Just one blog post last week:

My Summary of Books Read in January - a good reading month & a great start on my 2020 reading challenges

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?