It's Monday 8/30! What Are You Reading?

Not to sound like a broken record, but we had another busy, hectic week. Efforts to move my 96-year-old-father-in-law to Assisted Living have now ramped up, with movers scheduled for next week, forms filled out and scanned, and other essential pre-move to-do's.  On Saturday, we finally told him he'll be moving (he has dementia, so we didn't want to upset or confuse him) and took him to visit his new apartment. He seems OK with it and seems to understand the need for help (he's in Independent Living now, with no assistance of any kind available). My husband and son began moving a few pieces of furniture yesterday to our house that won't be going with him. This week, he has three doctor's appointments and a nurse's visit! I took him to appointment #1 today (about 4 hours for me) and managed to make arrangements to combine appointments #2 and 3 into the same day, so that will help a little.

That is really the only thing going on in our lives right now! Everything else is on hold. He required extra help from my husband Saturday evening, so our oldest and dearest friends picked up our favorite New Orleans' take-out and brought it to our house. We all met and first became friends in New Orleans; Hurricane Ida today hit right where the plant is that we worked in, so we are worried about that. We thoroughly enjoyed both the amazing foods and the great company on Saturday. Besides moving my father-in-law, our younger son recently moved back home temporarily, so his stuff is filling our garage, living room, and basement--it's wonderful to have the kind of friends who don't mind stepping around piles of stuff to bring you food and share a meal!

Bananas Foster Bread Pudding for dessert - sooo good!

 

Leftovers the next day: Muffaletta and gumbo - yum!

I uploaded one new book video to my YouTube channel last week, my usual Friday Reads update, with me describing the three books I am currently reading. I also recorded another book video that I will edit and upload tomorrow, all about re-reads; that one was a lot of fun so look for it!

 

And here's what we are all reading this week:

Guess what? I am still reading the biggest book of my summer, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. My copy is "only" about 600 pages, but they are very big, densely-printed pages. Most versions show almost 900 pages. Believe it or not, this is my first-ever classic Russian novel! Really! We didn't read any in school. I only have 80 pages left, so I will finish it by the end of #BigBookSummer (Sept. 6).  It's set in 19th-century Russia (I had to look that up - there's really no mention of the timing of the novel), about Anna, a charismatic woman of the aristocratic class who is married and has a son. While visiting her brother in Moscow, she meets Count Vronsky, and the two are instantly attracted to each other and eventually begin to have an affair, making Anna's life very difficult. I've found it easy to read (no archaic language), with short chapters and a lot going on. It's interesting that the title features Anna's name because there are actually a lot of characters, and the story follows others, too, completely apart from Anna (though they all know each other). It's fascinating to read what life was like in that time and place. I'm working hard to keep the Russian names straight (everyone seems to have at least three names plus a nickname). It's basically a Russian soap opera! I'm enjoying it.

I also started my library book, Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang, an acclaimed graphic novel that I can read in short 5-minute periods in between Anna Karenina ... and it's also a Big Book! It's an interesting book because the author himself is in it. In fact, it's a book about writing this book, so it is very meta. Well, that works as the framework for the story, while the focus is on the basketball team at the high school where Yang teaches. He is admittedly not a sports person, but he becomes curious about the focus on his school's winning basketball team, so he interviews the coach and players, begins attending games, and even researches the history of the game. It's excellent so far, and I'm enjoying it. And it is a nice, easy break from the 19th-century Russian novel!

On audio, I am still listening to my last audio Big Book of the Summer, A Better Man by Louise Penny. I chose this audiobook because it qualifies as a Big Book, to close out my summer reading challenge, which ends September 6, and it will kick off my annual fall reading challenge, the R.I.P. Challenge for reading darker books in September and October. However, this is sort of an odd choice for me because the only other Louise Penny novel I have read was book 1 in this series, Still Life, and this novel is book 17. I missed a little bit in between! But I enjoyed that first book and have been wanting to read another. In this one, during catastrophic spring flooding in Quebec, a woman has gone missing, and the local police don't seem to be taking it seriously, so Inspector Gamache and his team get involved, at the urging of an officer who knows the woman and her father. It was no problem to pick up the storyline, even after missing 16 books, and Penny is an excellent writer. I'm fully immersed in the story and enjoying the mystery and suspense.

My husband, Ken, is reading the book he picked up at the library, Red Hands by Christopher Golden. Neither of us have read this author before, but this seems to be book 3 in the Ben Walker series, about a "weird science expert." It begins with a terrifying opening scene, on the 4th of July, where one guy drives into a crowd at a parade, then stumbles out of his car. Every person the man touches dies within seconds. Soon, a woman named Maeve also develops "the killing touch," which seems to be highly contagious, and she escapes into the wilderness to try to keep from killing anyone inadvertently. That's where Ben Walker, with the weird science expertise, steps in. This sounds like an intriguing twist on the classic thriller formula, with the main character not the typical cop, detective, or coroner, and with a touch of science fiction woven in. Oddly, Ken says it feels familiar, though it is a new release and a pretty unique premise! He's enjoying it so far.

Our son, 27, finished reading Battlemage by Taran Matharu, book 3 of The Summoner trilogy, which he loved. It was a birthday gift from his girlfriend, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, he is re-reading A Crucible of Souls by Mitchell Hogan, book one of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence. His girlfriend gave him the third and final book of the trilogy for his birthday, so he is first re-reading books one and two (as he does!) before moving onto the last one. His summer internship allows for some downtime each day when he is allowed to read, so he's taking full advantage of that!

 

 

Last week's blog posts:

Movie Monday: The Map of Tiny Perfect Things - two teens are stuck in the same day: uplifting, fun, and full of heart

Fiction Review: The Accidental Further Adventures of the 100-Year-Old Man by Jonas Jonasson - a quirky, outrageous, often hilarious journey around the world that was very enjoyable on audio

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?