It's Monday 2/22! What Are You Reading?

I'm late on my Monday post today, but for a good reason! I was occupied all morning with preparing for and then having a phone consultation with my Lyme specialist this morning (very glad they gave me the option for a phone visit with snow coming down AGAIN here today). She ran loads of lab tests at my last visit, so we reviewed the results. All kinds of immune problems showed up (the result of both Lyme and my immune disorder, ME/CFS), plus a bunch of reactivated viruses. You might think that's bad news, but I love knowing more and having some options for treatment! Gives me hope 😀. Just in starting to implement the new treatments she suggested last month, I am already feeling much better, after a really horrible past year.

My big news last week was that I started up my YouTube channel! I've been working on it for several weeks behind the scenes--learning how to edit videos, make graphics, etc.--and I finally launched it Friday evening. So far, there are two book-related videos there (did you know #Booktube is a thing?), plus an interview about my book. I plan to post bookish videos regularly, with things like #FridayReads videos (my first is up now), end-of-month summaries, and more. This week, look for my #BookTubeNewbie video! So please visit my channel and take a moment to like, subscribe, and comment to tell me what you think. And let me know what other kinds of videos you'd like to see!

So, that's why my reviews and blog visits got short-changed last week. I'm going to have to figure out how to manage the extra time required to maintain the channel without dropping other stuff!

Here's what we've all been reading this past week, in between shoveling snow:

I finished reading a YA novel I've been meaning to read for years, Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg (it has a heart on the cover, so it seemed like a good choice for Valentine's Day). He's a very well-known and acclaimed YA author that I've never read before. The novel is about a seventeen-year-old named Ben Carver who grew up on a farm in New Hampshire in a very reticent family: they love each other but they don't talk about their feelings. So Ben feels he has no one to confide in about how confused he's feeling lately. Last semester, he really connected with a guy named Rafe at his boarding school (Ben is there on a scholarship). Their deep friendship turned into more, but Ben felt betrayed when he learned that Rafe had been openly gay at his old school, something he never shared with Ben. Ben is certain that was a one time thing and he is not gay. Besides, he just met this wonderful girl named Hannah, whom he really likes ... and is very attracted to. Ben is very likeable, and I enjoyed the novel, which delves into issues of sexual orientation, labels, and identity.You can listen to me describe more about the novel on my first #FridayReads video.

I also finished reading a YA graphic novel that I kept forgetting to mention in my Monday posts, A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong. The story follows the friendship of two girls in California, Ren and Luna. They met when they were middle-school age and were inseparable friends for one wonderful summer. Then, Luna abruptly moved back to Oahu, and Ren never heard from her again. Now, as juniors in high school, Luna is back, but Ren is still deeply hurt that she never returned her calls. Meanwhile, Ren is dealing with serious issues in her family and worsening grades at school. She's great at basketball, though, so when a teacher forms a girls' basketball team (with a lot of pushback and derision from the boys' coach), both girls agree to play. They and three other girls from diverse backgrounds come together in this ragtag team. They're terrible at first, but they train and work hard and push themselves to make the team better. Along the way, they learn about friendship, teamwork, and trust. It's a great story with a unique, colorful, immersive look to the illustrations.

Now, I have started on my neighborhood book group's next selection, The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne. I have been hearing great things about this novel for years, and I loved Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, so I was thrilled when the group chose this one from my several suggestions. It's an epic novel, covering the life of one man in Ireland, starting in the 1940's, before his birth, and moving through the decades to the present. I'm still at the very beginning, when his mother, a teen girl from a small town in County Cork is publicly shamed by the local parish priest for her pregnancy (as you might guess, it was not consensual but she was blamed) and then thrown out. She gets on a bus to Dublin, makes a new friend, and settles into the unfamiliar city with a new job while she waits for the baby to come. It's great already, and the main character's only just now been born!

On audio, I am still listening to The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich, an author I always enjoy. She is a Native American author who writes novels about Native American people, families, and their lives. In this case, her latest novel is based in history and the life of her own grandfather. Did you know that in 1953 Congress passed a resolution to disband and abolish all tribes, take all land from Native Americans and "relocate" them to urban areas? I didn't, and the historical backdrop here is stunning and horrifying. But, as always, Erdrich focuses in on one Indian community, a group of families, and what happens to them because of that push from Congress. Her focus is on one older male character (based on her grandfather), who takes charge of giving the local tribes a voice, and on one young Indian woman. I also love that Erdrich always reads her own audiobooks, so the accent and cadence of her speech is authentic (this novel is about the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, of which she is part). So, far, it is immersive and engrossing, as are all of her novels. You can hear my description of this wonderful novel in my first #FridayReads video.

My husband, Ken, is reading one of his Christmas gifts, taking a break from his usual thrillers to read Erik Larson's latest nonfiction book, The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz. As the subtitle indicates, this book is focused on the year-long bombing campaign that Hitler waged on London during WWII, with a focus on Churchill's leadership of the British people during this horrific period. He says it's very good and has begun reading me interesting tidbits (always a good sign with nonfiction). Did you know that Churchill had a black cat named Nelson? He's trying not to read me too much of it, though, because he knows I'll be reading it myself. Ken is enjoying it so far and already learning a lot.

Our 26-year-old son re-read Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell so that he could read book 2 of the Spellslinger series, Shadowblack, which he also finished. The series is about a mage named Kellen who loses his magic and goes on a quest to reclaim it. In the second book, he is forced to live as an outlaw. The description says this series is "bursting with tricks, humor, and a whole new way to look at magic." No wonder our son likes it!

Now, he has moved back to another favorite series, The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett. He absolutely loved the first two books in this series, The Warded Man and The Desert Spear, and now he is enjoying book 3, The Daylight War. The series is about a world where frightening demons rule the night, and humans try to stay safe inside magical wards, though their protection is fragile. Three of those humans leave the safety of the wards to uncover the secrets of the past and try to take back their world. He's loving it so far!

 

Blog posts last week:

Movie Monday: Grandma - a warm, funny movie starring Lily Tomlin and Julia Garner

Fiction Review: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde - a classic play filled with fun word play and farce

And be sure to check out my new YouTube Channel!

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?