It's Monday, May 1! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

How did it get to be May? And why does it still feel like March? Still only in the 50's this week, though we briefly saw the sun this morning after four days of constant dark, overcast skies and rain (more on the way). Before all that wet stuff, I enjoyed seeing more flowers blooming in my gardens. The daffodils are gone now, but the phlox came in beautifully - one of many native plants I planted two years ago after being inspired by the book Nature's Best Hope by Doug Tallamy. I love blue flowers!

And my beloved lilac tree was covered with beautiful flowers this week, too. My hometown, Rochester NY, is nicknamed Flower City and holds a lilac festival every May. I've always loved lilacs, and these look and smell wonderful!  

And I managed two evenings of social activity last week! After several years of struggling with relapses of my chronic illness, it's been nice to be more active again (though by the weekend, I didn't want to leave the house). I was happy to be able to accompany my husband to a dinner with some old work colleagues, and the next night, my three closest friends and I got together for a game night. We ended up only playing one game, but we enjoyed good food, great conversation, and a lot of laughs!

And this week ... is Booktopia 2023! It's a wonderful book event held in Vermont the first weekend in May that I attend with my mother most years (this will be our 6th year). At Booktopia, readers and authors hang out together and do all kinds of fun bookish stuff--tickets are still available! (Click Events and scroll down to the bottom.) Here's my summary from Booktopia 2022. I'll be leaving Thursday morning--so excited!

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On the Blog

Just one review last week:

 Fiction Review: We Love to Entertain by Sarah Strohmeyer - this thriller about a reality TV home renovation show is a Booktopia selection.

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On Video

Vacation Vlog - Virginia: Travel, Outdoors, Camping & Reading - beautiful, peaceful nature videos and photos, plus updates on what I was reading.

Friday Reads 4-28-23 - my weekly reading update.

Living with ME/CFS - Meet Sue Jackson - my interview on the My Invisible Disease podcast was posted last week, for those interested in chronic illness. I enjoyed meeting and chatting with these two wonderful young mothers struggling with their own health issues.

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What We're Reading

 

I finished reading another Booktopia selection, Brother and Sister Enter the Forest by Richard Mirabella, an intimate novel about family relationships. Willa lives a quiet life on her own and works as a nurse. One day, her brother, Justin, appears on her doorstep, after being absent from her life for years. He's homeless and looks unhealthy, and Willa reluctantly lets him in to stay with her. The novel moves back and forth between the present and their childhoods, slowly filling in the blanks of what happened to both of them. The focus here is mainly on Justin, his coming-of-age story as a gay teen, and the horrible trauma he suffered that affected the whole family. He is clearly still suffering from severe anxiety and perhaps additional mental illness--but the relationship between brother and sister is at the heart of the story. The ending was different than I expected, so I'm looking forward to talking to the author this weekend!

 

 

Now, I'm reading another Booktopia selection, The Love Scribe by Amy Meyerson. Alice and Gabby have been best friends since they were young and love to write letters to each others. When Gabby is struggling after a bad break-up, Alice sits down to write to her and has a sudden vision of a red hummingbird. A beautiful short story pours out of her that she gives to her friend. While Gabby is reading the story in a bar, she meets a wonderful man. Gabby passes the story onto her sister and some friends, and the same thing happens to them: they each fall in love. It seems that Alice may have a special gift, as she stumbles onto a new calling as a love scribe. I'm not usually into magical realism, but I'm giving this a chance, since the Northshire booksellers always choose great books! I'm enjoying it more as things start to go wrong, and the story becomes more complex.

 

 

I'm doing something I've never done before--both reading The Love Scribe on my iPad and also listening to it on audio, narrated by Julia Whelan. This should allow me to finish it more quickly and either start another Booktopia book or get started on my book group pick for next week (I'm waiting to see what becomes available at the library first!). I learned how to use Libby!

 

 

 

My husband, Ken, finished reading Great Expectations, my favorite Dickens novel, and he seemed to enjoy it as much I did! He was often laughing out loud or reading me passages. Now, he's moved onto the book I gave him for Easter, Armada by Ernest Cline (author of the fabulous Ready Player One and its sequel, Ready Player Two). This is an earlier novel, where a teen obsessed with video games witnesses a real alien invasion--sounds like a lot of fun, with Cline's trademark humor woven in.

 

 

Our son, 28, might still be reading book 4, The Tunnels Beneath, of The Aldoran Chronicles by Michael Wiseheart. I forgot to ask him last night if he's still reading it, but I know his new job is keeping him very busy.

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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?