It's Monday 10/3! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

 

 Life

I'm happy to report that my two-month-long relapse of my chronic illness is showing signs of improving! I'm not yet back to my "normal" (for me) baseline, but I was able to sit up and write last week (new reviews!) and even leave the house several times. The fall weather was perfect last week, with sunshine and cool-ish temperatures, and it was absolutely wonderful to get out for a few quick errands in my convertible. Ahhh ... sunshine!

 

I even felt well enough by Friday to manage dinner out with my husband for our 33rd anniversary. It was also my husband's last day of work, after a 45-year career with DuPont, so we had two reasons to celebrate. We went to a nice restaurant downtown (early to avoid the crowds!) and enjoyed a delicious meal. It was a special treat after being homebound for so long.

Hopefully--fingers crossed--we will be camping later this week for a little mini getaway (much needed). It started raining Friday night and is now supposed to continue through Wednesday morning! I just rebooked our camping reservation for the third time--we keep moving it back by a day or two, but the rain forecast just keeps extending. This is where we hope to spend a couple of days at the end of the week: 

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On the Blog 

Last week, I posted:

TV Tuesday: Fall TV Preview - the returning shows we are watching & the new ones we want to try.

 Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Secret Letters by Margaret Peterson Haddix - great start to a new series that combines family, friendship, mystery, and history

The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais - Fun novel about six octogenarian witches trying to save their home 

Thanks to the new subscribers to my blog who signed up last week! I hope you enjoyed the October newsletter this weekend. Please let me know what you'd like to see in future newsletters!

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On YouTube

  I uploaded one new video last week:

Friday Reads 9-30-22 - my brief weekly wrap-up of what I'm reading 

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What We're Reading

  I'm still immersed in the R.I.P. Challenge for fall!

 

I finished The Falcon and the Owl by Matty Dalrymple, book three in her Ann Kinnear Suspense series. I don't often read series, but I love this one! I previously read books one and two, The Sense of Death and The Sense of Reckoning, and I enjoyed them both, as did my husband. Ann, the main character, can sense spirits and gets hired--sometimes by the police and sometimes by a grieving loved one--to learn what secrets someone took to the grave. This time, two men, both excellent pilots, have died in a plane crash. Ann gets hired by the business partner of one of the men to find out where he hid a contract, but the man's wife is also interested, since she has secrets to keep related to her husband's death. I love the suspense and the unique mysteries in these books, with a supernatural twist. I bought my husband a stack of books for his birthday (tomorrow) and picked up book 4 of Ann Kinnear for myself!

 

Now, I am engrossed in The Guide by Peter Heller, a thriller set in the outdoors in Colorado. It's a follow-up (not strictly a sequel) to The River, which my husband and I both enjoyed. Here, Jack, one of the characters from the previous novel, has a new job as a river/fishing guide at an exclusive fishing resort. Jack is grieving some losses and dealing with some PTSD, so this seems like the perfect job for him right now--spending his days on the river, where he's happiest. But, of course, something's going to happen to disturb that peace! So far, it's mostly strange occurrences, a violent neighbor, and a sense of dread. I know things will turn darker, but I absolutely love the way Heller writes about nature and the outdoors.

 

On audio, I finished listening to The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz. He himself is one of the main characters! His real self, with his real writing credits and history, has in this novel agreed to work with a fictional detective, Hawthorne, to write a true crime book about him solving his latest murder case. A woman walked into a funeral home, planned and prepaid her own funeral, and then was murdered six hours later. Horowitz and Hawthorne move around London, interviewing witnesses and suspects and visiting crime scenes. The two have a kind of Sherlock-Watson vibe, and I thoroughly enjoyed this classic mystery with a twist.

 

Now, I am listening to a YA novel on audio, Creep: A Love Story by Lygia Day Penaflor. I really enjoyed her novel All of This Is True last year, and Creep seemed like a good fit for the season! The teen girl who narrates this novel sounds very sweet and bubbly, but she is completely obsessed with the "it" couple at school and is quite the stalker. She got in trouble last year for similar behavior toward a teacher. This novel is very aptly named--I keep thinking, "That is SO creepy!"

 

My husband, Ken, finished This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, which I loved this spring (my review at the link). In fact, it is one of my top books read this year so far. This is the story, beautifully told, of four orphans who escape from an abusive facility during the Depression and make their way downriver in a canoe. They encounter all kinds of people and situations as they head toward the Mississippi and uncertain futures. This wonderful novel includes history, suspense, family drama, humor, and so much more. My husband enjoyed it as much as I did.

 

Now, Ken is reading Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck. I loved this book this spring (my review at the link) and got to meet the author at Booktopia in May. This is nature writing, as you'd expect from the title, but also a personal memoir about the author working through some very difficult times (including Lyme disease, which I could relate to!) by walking five different walks (and one canoe trip) that Thoreau wrote about in his public writings and his diaries. He incorporates excerpts of Thoreau's writing, his own personal experiences, drawings, and beautiful writing about the natural world. I loved it. My husband chose this one since we'll be camping this week!

 

Our son, 28,  went to the used bookstore here on his last visit and bought books eight through eleven of the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind - he obviously likes this one!  He told me this morning that he is almost finished with book eight, Naked Empire.

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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?