It's Monday 12/5! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

I am now in the "exhausted and panicking" phase of the holiday season - fa la la la la! My to-do list overfloweth. I bought about 80% of my gifts online on Cyber Monday, but I still need to make up my book list and head to my local independent bookstore to place an order. The big thing weighing on me right now is finishing up all my photo gifts so that they will be made up and shipped to me (and in some cases then mailed out) in time for Christmas. I love giving photo ornaments, calendars, and photo books, but it is a lot of work to put them together. This year I found a REALLY cool gift that I know will be loved, but it's an involved process! Then, there's mailing, wrapping, sending cards, planning food, etc. 'Tis the season!

Here are my highlights from last week:

I was finally well enough to meet one of my closest friends for a walk at our local nature center. I hadn't seen her in 6 months!! We talked nonstop for over an hour and still aren't fully caught up. We promised to stay in touch better. It was wonderful to see her, reconnect, and to be outdoors and walking again.

We watched this Great Blue Heron catch & eat a vole!

Reflections in the creek

Reunited!

On Sunday, my husband, our younger son, and I cut down our Christmas tree. The tree farm we've been going to since the boys were very young (complete with hayride, real reindeer, and free kettle corn) is now so busy that they were sold out and closed for the season by Saturday! So, for the second year, we went to a different tree farm. They have a huge selection, so we found a great tree. We also watched The Snowman during lunch, another old tradition, to officially kick off the season.

Searching for a perfect tree!

 

Found it!

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On the Blog

Just time for one review last week:

Nonfiction Review: Walden by Henry David Thoreau - I enjoyed this classic filled with beautiful observation and writing about nature 

I also want to share a post from my chronic illness blog:

Gifts Created by and for Spoonies - this is a great list of handcrafted gifts (books, jewelry, clothing, and much more) created by those with various chronic health problems ("spoonies"). Some gifts are made specifically for others with chronic illnesses or disabilities, like migraine and MS, but lots of the gifts are beautifully handmade items appropriate for anyone on your list!

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On Video:

I posted two short videos last week: 

The E-Reader Book Tag - all about my my e-reader & e-book reading habits 

 Friday Reads 12/2/22 - a quick overview of the books I just finished & the ones I was just starting

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What We're Reading

 

I finished Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, and it was outstanding! Hillenbrand is my personal hero. She is an amazingly talented writer, but she also has the same immune disorder I have, ME/CFS, and has written remarkable books with horrible disabilities (great interview with her from Stanford Medicine). She wrote much of Seabiscuit while lying down on her back in bed, with her eyes closed because her vertigo was so bad, writing with a pencil on a pad of paper! My husband and I both loved Unbroken, and he loved reading Seabiscuit, but I kept thinking I just wasn't interested in horse racing. Well, of course, her in-depth research and incredible story-telling talent shine through! This excellent book that reads like a novel is gripping and fascinating.

 

With Nonfiction November (and all my other seasonal themes) behind me,  I dove into Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. I loved her novels Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel and have been greatly anticipating this novel ever since its release earlier this year. It's not a sequel, but there are some characters and settings from The Glass Hotel that appear here. It's about time travel, which I LOVE, and so far it is just as fabulous as I expected! Timing ranges from 1912 to 2400, with different characters in each time encountering similar things and crossing paths with the same man. It's completely engrossing so far, and my only complaint is that it's not long enough, and I am already halfway through it!

 

I am also listening to an outstanding book on audio, Horse by Geraldine Brooks. It's the choice for my neighborhood book group next week. I haven't been able to attend since May, so I am excited to go next week. Brooks is one of my favorite authors (along with Mandel and Hillenbrand!). Ironically, having just finished Seabiscuit, Horse is also about a famous racehorse, though like Brooks' other books, it's historical fiction. So far, it involves a painting of a horse and a horse museum skeleton, both recovered in 2019 by two different young people, and an enslaved Black boy in 1850 training a racehorse in Kentucky. It's already fascinating and compelling.

 

My husband, Ken, is still reading The Verifiers by Jane Pek, an author I met at Booktopia. Jane sat at our table at dinner one night, so I got to know her a bit--she's excellent at book trivia! This is a classic mystery in a modern setting with an awesome female protagonist, with a hefty dose of humor, plus family drama. I thoroughly enjoyed it (you can read my review at the link), and he's liking it so far.

 

 

 

I think our son, 28, finished reading Spellmonger by Terry Mancour, the first book in the Spellmonger series. He's now reading the second book in that series, Warmage, and is enjoying the series.

 

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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?