It's Monday 12/21! What Are You Reading?

I hate to sound like a broken record (do young people even know what that means now?), but whew, another hectic week! No matter how much I say I will start holiday preparations early, I still end up scrambling throughout December. But, I can truly say we are getting there now 😀 Last week, we finished ordering the last gifts; I spent a day wrapping, packing, and shipping all the out-of-town packages (such a relief to get those out the door with stories of Shippegeddon on the news!); put up the outdoor lights and the indoor decorations; finally decorated our tree last night; and mailed the last of our cards this morning! All that's left now is wrapping gifts for the five of us. Oh, and grocery shopping--I just stopped at the grocery store to grab some laundry detergent and was stunned by how crowded it is already! That will be fun.

We finally decorated our tree!

I'm grateful for good books to escape to when I get worn out! And I've been reading some outstanding ones. Here's what we've all been reading this week:

I finished reading Dear Edward by Lisa Napolitano, a novel that has appeared on many Best Books of 2020 lists, which I wholeheartedly agree with! My neighborhood book group discussed it last Wednesday (via Zoom, of course). Twelve-year-old Edward Adler is on a plane from New York to California with his parents and his older brother, Jordan. The family is moving to California and leaving NYC behind for the first time in the boys' lives. Then the plane crashes in Colorado, killing all of its crew and passengers, except one: Edward. After recovering enough from multiple, serious injuries to leave the hospital, Edward moves in with his aunt and uncle in New Jersey, but he is a very long way from healed, physically or emotionally. Chapters alternate between what happened on the flight, allowing the reader to get to know many of the characters who died, and Edward's very long and difficult journey to a new normal after the accident. It is a powerful, moving, and riveting story of love, hope, and healing. Not everyone in book group loved it as much as I did (average rating was 7 out of 10), but we had a great discussion.

Next, I moved onto Finders Keepers by Stephen King, book 2 in the Mr. Mercedes trilogy. I read Mr. Mercedes this summer and enjoyed it, and my husband and I enjoyed season 1 of the TV show. He's been waiting for me to read book 2 so we can watch season 2! In this one, characters from the first book--Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney, and Jerome Robinson--have now set up a business called Finders Keepers, kind of an unofficial private investigator business. But this novel has a literary theme, as it begins in 1979 with the murder of a famous reclusive author. The murderer, Morris, and his friends take the author's money but also his treasure trove of notebooks filled with writing. He wrote three novels that were highly acclaimed and taught in school English programs and then withdrew from the world, so these newly discovered writings are valuable, though mostly, Morris wants to know what happened to his lead character. Before he can read the notebooks, though, he is locked up for another crime, and the money and notebooks remain hidden for 35 years, until they are found by a teen boy. As with all of King's novels, it is super suspenseful so far and keeping me up too late at night reading!

On audio, I am still listening to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, a new release I have been dying to read/listen to! I've read one other book by the author, City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab, a middle-grade novel that I loved. Plus this new adult novel is being compared to The Time Traveler's Wife and Life After Life, two of my all-time favorite Top 10 books! In 1714, a young woman about to be forced into marriage makes a deal with a dark spirit to live forever in a life where no one ever controls her. The catch is that no one ever remembers her, either; she is immediately forgotten by anyone she meets, from her own parents to shopkeepers to men she falls in love with. So far, the action jumps back and forth between the 1700's, before and after her dark deal, and the present day in 2014, where she has lived for over 300 years but can never leave an impression on the world or even a single person. It's excellent so far, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

My husband, Ken, is taking a break from his steady diet of thrillers to read something different, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin, a prequel to the A Game of Thrones series. This one book compiles the first three prequel novellas that Martin wrote, which take place a century before the events in A Song of Ice and Fire, the first book in A Game of Thrones series. It's about a young, inexperienced knight named Ser Duncan (Dunk, for short), and his small squire, a boy named Egg. The book includes illustrations, but my husband was disappointed there was no map, a standard feature of most of Martin's books! He's enjoying it very much so far.

Our son, 26, has returned to a favorite series and is reading Age of Swords, book two of The Legends of the First Empire series by Michael J. Sullivan. We gave him this one for his birthday this summer. He loves this author, and is enjoying this series very much. He also loves The Riyyria Chronicles series by that same author. A fellow book blogger, Beth Fish Reads, told me about these series and this author originally, so thanks to her! I can't wait to give him his Christmas gifts on Friday!

 

 

Blog posts from last week:

Movie Monday: Holidate - a fun rom-com covering a year of holidays!

TV Tuesday: Dash and Lily - a warm, sweet Christmas rom-com set in NYC

Nonfiction Review: White Trash by Nancy Isenberg - fascinating, eye-opening view of the history of poor whites

Middle-Grade Graphic Nonfiction Reviews: History Comics - I loved these two graphic nonfiction books about The Roanoke Colony and The Great Chicago Fire and learned a lot! Can't wait to read more in the series

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?