It's Monday 8/22! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Very busy week for me last week, with lots of appointments and things going on. Plus, it was somewhat up and down for me physically, due to a medication change that has my system a bit off balance. I'm still waiting for things to stabilize. 

We had a fun (though exhausting for me!) weekend. Our older son and his girlfriend came to visit to celebrate his 28th birthday, and my mom and her husband came down, too. Our younger son's girlfriend even came home from grad school, where she'd just moved days earlier, for the occasion! It was nice to have us all together.

All Together! (I'm taking the photo)

New videos last week:

Friday Reads 8-19-22 - brief recap of what I am currently reading (last of my Big Books)

Chronic Illness Vlog: Nature, Rest, Food & Meds - one of my vlogs that provides a peek into my daily life with chronic illness.

 

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

 

I am still reading Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King. This was one of dozens of King (and Dean Koontz) novels that we inherited from my dad. My husband read this one last year for Big Book Summer and loved it, so I've been looking forward to it. It's two novellas and several short stories that are all interconnected. Each stands on its own but also have connecting threads to the others, like characters from one story that pop up in another. The first part, a novella, is about 11-year-old Bobby in 1960, and it showcases King's incredible talent in writing from a kid's perspective. It's mostly set in the real world (though there is a thread of something vaguely supernatural running through it) and while it's not horror in the traditional sense, there are some real-world horrors that Bobby and his friends and family must deal with. It has so much emotional depth (including loads of literary references, as Bobby begins reading "adult" books that summer) and is gripping, moving, and engrossing. I've been staying up much too late reading! That guy can write. I'm now finished with the two novellas--both excellent--and am into the first short story.

 

I am listening to my last audiobook for Big Book Summer, The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny. This will be a cross-over book (and Hearts in Atlantis, too) to finish up Big Book Summer and kick off the R.I.P. Challenge in September! This is book 17 in her Inspector Gamache series. I enjoy this mystery series set in Quebec but have not been reading them in order. I read book 1, Still Life, and then skipped to #15, A Better Man and now this one. This novel deals with a fictional controversial woman in Canada who is proposing a shocking solution to some of the world's problems (and one that affects Gamache's family personally). When she comes to a small university near Three Pines to speak, violence breaks out, and she is almost shot. So far, the story deals both with her theories and the controversy, as well as Gamache's team's assignment to protect her and investigate the violence at her speech.

My husband, Ken, finished Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger, the first book in his mystery series that features P.I. Cork O'Connor, former sheriff of Aurora, MN. He enjoyed it and said he definitely wants to read more of the series. Now, he's moved onto The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, one of my favorite books from Booktopia this year (my review at the link). This is a twisty, suspenseful mystery about the disappearance of a $10 million violin. What's great about this novel is that there's a mystery, but it also incorporates family drama, history, romance, and an inside look at racism through the centuries. It's an outstanding novel--I know he'll like it.

 

Our son, 28, finished reading Blood of a Fallen God, book one of the Forgemaster Cycle series by Joshua C. Cook. Now, he is re-reading The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter, book one in The Burning series. He loved this book and is re-reading to get ready to read book 2, which his girlfriend gave him for his birthday.

Last week's blog posts:

Fiction Review: Lucky Turtle by Bill Roorbach - I loved this beautiful, moving story of love and friendship, set against a backdrop of nature.

Fiction Review: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd - a mystery about maps with a bit of magic

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?