It's Monday 5/11! What Are You Reading?

Hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day! Mine was lovely. My college son came home for the entire day (keeping his distance, of course - I am missing hugging him!), and we called the Grandmas, took a hike at the local nature center, and ate some amazing meals, including take-out dinner from a local favorite restaurant. I was treated to soft shell crabs, roasted Brussels' sprouts, and delicious chocolate mousse cake for dessert, plus a pile of wonderful cards and gifts from both sons and my husband. I was stuffed right up till bedtime! A very nice day spent with my family.

A Mother's Day walk with our son!

And today is my mother's birthday. I know she's been upset that we can't all be together--we usually spend this weekend all gathered at her house--but my sister (who only lives an hour away in the same state) was able to drive down with her two kids for a walk at the park and some socially-distanced take-out, so that made my mom very happy!

Celebrating my mom's birthday back in circa 1991

It was a busy, hectic weekend, but we always find time for our books. Here's what we're all reading this week:

I finished Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett, a Christmas gift from my husband. This novel was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critic's Circle Award! It's a drama about a family of five that struggles with mental health issues, including severe depression. John, the husband, was hospitalized for depression while he and Margaret were still dating, and despite the lack of information at the time, Margaret loved him and decided to stay with him. They marry and have three children: Michael, Celia, and Alec. Michael also struggles with some of the same issues as his dad, which affects everyone in the family. Each family member gets their own voice, as chapters alternate between them. I was immediately pulled into this immersive novel. Some parts are difficult to read, though the self-descriptions of mental illness from John's and Michael's perspectives are also enlightening. I can see why it was nominated for so many awards (and won some, too).

Next, I needed to go back to something fast-paced and gripping, so I chose a thriller, The Last One by Alexandra Oliva, about a survival reality TV show gone wrong. A woman nicknamed Zoo by the show's producers is competing with eleven other contestants for a million dollars. They are told this show will do things that have never been done before and that they may not see anyone else for days at a time while surviving on their own out in the woods. It starts out predictably enough, with some team challenges and solo challenges, lots of crew in the shadows, and a couple of people dropping out early. But several days into a solo challenge, Zoo notices strange things: towns and neighborhoods completely devoid of people, a notice of a deadly pandemic (no, I didn't realize this when I started the book!), and even dead bodies. She just assumes that it is all a part of the elaborate charade (and that the show must have a huge budget), but in truth, while she was hiking through the woods, almost everyone really died of this pandemic. When will she finally realize this is real? What happened to the other contestants? I gave this novel to my husband as a gift, and I am loving it! It's just what a needed, with an original story and fictional world so engrossing that I've been staying up much too late at night reading it.

I started a new audiobook last week, Lakewood by Megan Giddings, one of the selections for Booktopia 2020 (which was cancelled but they are scheduling virtual author events now - click on Events to join the fun!). This is an unusual novel plot so far. A young woman named Lena has just lost her beloved grandmother who raised her. Though she is still in college, responsibility for Lena's mother, Desiree, with her many health problems, now falls to Lena. When she stumbles across a potential job as a highly paid medical research subject, she jumps at the chance to earn so much money and ease her family's problems. Within a few days, though, Lena starts to realize this is a very strange arrangement. She's given a fake job and is required to lie to her family and friends about it, and some of the experiments are not just strange but frightening. It's an intriguing (and scary) story so far, and I am interested to see where it goes.

Just last night, my husband, Ken, finished reading one of the oldest books on our TBR shelves, 13 Steps Down by Ruth Rendell, which we bought at a used bookstore about 15 years ago and neither of us had read yet. Yeah, we have a problem, I know. Rendell is the author of over 80 books, including many mysteries written as both Ruth Rendell and as her pseudonym, Barbara Vine. This one sounds like a classic British mystery, featuring an obsessed and strange lodger and his equally strange elderly landlady. We've heard great things about Rendell for many years; I'm glad he's finally tackled this one! He said it was very British and quite a bit slower-paced than the thrillers he's used to. He enjoyed it but wasn't blown away by it.

Our son, 25, finished reading Warlord, book 6 in the The Sanctuary Series by Robert J. Crane, one of his recent favorites. We gave him book 1, Defender, for Christmas 2018, and he loved the series so much that he quickly read books 2, 3, and 4, also. So, this past Christmas, we gave him book 5, which he read last month. The series is epic fantasy about a world called Arkaria and features dragons, titans, goblins, and more. He loves the series, and he flew through this latest book on his Kindle.

Now, he has returned to another favorite author, with a spin-off series from one of his old favorites. He's reading Flamecaster by Cinda Williams Chima, book 1 of the Shattered Realms series, which he described to me as a companion to The Seven Realms series, which he read years ago and loved. This newer fantasy series is set in the same world but a generation later, so in that way, it continues the stories begun in The Seven Realms and gives readers a look at what comes next (and what avid reader doesn't want that from a favorite series?). Amazon describes it as "a breathtaking story of dark magic, chilling threats, and two unforgettable characters walking a knife-sharp line between life and death." Sounds good!

Blog posts from last week - 3 excellent novels that I would recommend:

Middle-Grade Review: Notorious by Gordon Korman - fun mystery about history and friendship

Fiction Review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer - an unusual boy goes on a mission across NYC after losing his father on 9/11 - moving, warm, quirky, and very funny

Fiction Review: Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore - thoughtful, twisty novel about a woman time-jumping each year and living her life out of order

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?