It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

I continue to improve after my bout with COVID at the start of January. My cough got a lot better last week, and though energy/stamina are not quite back to my normal baseline, I had a good week with no serious "crash" days. I still need more sleep than usual and struggle to get out of bed before 9 am (a battle I lost yesterday!), but I am beginning to get out into the world. I made quick stops at Kohl's and Michael's last week - major outings! I might even attempt the grocery store this week. I did get up on time this morning, so I could get to a doctor's appointment, and now I'm exhausted, so baby steps!

We had a snow day on Saturday! We only got 3-4 inches in northern Delaware, but that's a big deal here. The crazy thing is that the beaches, 2 hours south, and the Jersey Shore got clobbered by this storm--my friends at the beach got 14 inches! 

While my son and husband were shoveling our driveway, I accomplished something truly amazing. I cleared out a cupboard! Our house has gotten horribly cluttered this past year, with my health worse than usual, our son moving back home, and a lot of my father-in-law's stuff stored here, too. This was what we called the "craft cupboard," filled with art supplies, craft kits, and science kits left over from when our sons were young. They're in their mid-20's now, so this was long overdue. It's just the first step in a string of planned decluttering projects this year; I needed the space here so I could clear out other areas. I'm very proud of finally making a little progress, so I will share my Before and After pics!

Before

After

 

I posted my weekly Friday Reads update on my YouTube channel last week (and another video for the chronic illness side of my channel). Check this out if you want to hear more about the books I was reading last week:

Friday Reads 1-28-22

Here's what we've all been reading this past week:

After finishing that terrifying nonfiction book about generic drugs and the pharmaceutical industry (and my husband and I doing online searches to try to find out where our meds are made!), I needed a dose of fun fiction. I also wanted to get a head start on my 2022 Classics Challenge (I didn't hit my goal last year). So, I chose The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. I'm a huge fan of his and read every one of his books in our public library when I was a teen! This is a loosely linked collection of short stories. Each one is a tattoo on the man of the title that comes to life at night and tells a story. As always, his stories are brilliant--so clever and thought-provoking! I've been loving this book and am almost finished now.

 

I also finished listening to Mercy Street by Jennifer Haigh on audio. Haigh is another favorite author, and this novel was excellent. It was about several different people who are each in some way connected to the women's clinic of the title in Boston. The author alternates between characters, whose paths cross in various ways, and you really get to know each of them intimately. If you haven't tried Haigh yet, I recommend this one (out tomorrow) and all of her backlist. To hear more about this novel and the Ray Bradbury book, check out my Friday Reads video.

 

My husband, Ken, is still reading Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson, book one of The Malazan Book of the Fallen series, a fantasy novel recommended by our son. This is a long, dense book, but he's been enjoying it and is near the end! (When I said last week that he only had 60 pages left, I misheard--it was 160 pages!)

 

Our son, 27, finished reading a gift from his girlfriend, The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter, book one of The Burning series. He says it was great, and he will definitely read more of the series. Next, he read Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard, the start of a new series, and enjoyed that, too. 

Next, our son read a book I got him for his birthday last year, Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames. I heard about this one on Daniel Green's Top 10 Fantasy Series video - many of his top 10 are also my son's, so I knew he'd enjoy this one, which incorporates humor into sword-wielding fantasy. And now (he's had a lot of reading time lately), he's reading Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook, book one in the series of the same name. He says it's a series he's been wanting to read for years, and he spotted it in our local second-hand bookstore last year!

Blog posts from last week - catching up!

Movie Monday: Parasite - this Oscar-winner was full of surprises and very entertaining.

2022 Reading Challenges - finally! Now, I'm ready to begin the new year. 

Nonfiction Review: Janesville by Amy Goldstein - an immersive, fascinating look at what happened to a town and its citizens when a huge GM plant closed.

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?