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Life
Last week was mostly a quiet week at home. I was just trying to remember what I did last week, and the answer is pretty boring! I did catch up on a lot of things I needed to do, both around the house and with my work. I scheduled a Zoom meeting for the local chronic illness support group I run. I booked a camping weekend for us and our sons (and one girlfriend). I RSVP'ed to a family wedding. And I invited a friend to come visit. So, I have a lot to look forward to!
The big news here is that my husband left Saturday morning (at 4 am!) for an epic road trip, driving his dad's old car (check out the photo - he bought that car at age 85) back to his hometown in Oklahoma to meet up with his two best friends from high school for a week of golfing on the newly renovated course they played on as teens. In other words, pretty much a dream week for him! He hasn't even arrived yet and is already having a great time. I get it. There's nothing like the freedom of a road trip and of being on your own.
Speaking of being on your own ... I have 9 whole days to myself! As a wife and mother, this is a very rare thing. I had a fabulous weekend, even though I didn't do anything special. I've been very productive, finally catching up on stuff that's been on my to-do list for far too long, decluttering, repotting my houseplants, and watching TV and movies my husband would hate. My childhood best friend since age 5 is coming to visit this weekend, and I've scheduled a walk with a friend this week, so it should be a pretty great week for me, too!
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On the Blog
Blogger finally decided my book review contained no objectionable material (insert big eye roll), so I posted two reviews last week, both Big Books and both excellent:
Fiction Review: The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara - moving, funny, heartbreaking story of a group of gay and trans young people in '80's NYC finding home and family with each other, based on a true story.
Fiction Review: Voyager by Diana Gabaldon - when you read 870 pages and are sorry it's over, you know it's an outstanding book! Fabulous historical fiction packed with action, adventure, suspense, and true love.
And, remember, there is still plenty of time to sign up for the Big Book Summer Reading Challenge! It runs until early September, and you only need to plan to read one 400+ page book between now and then to participate. There's a whole community in our Goodreads group with fun Big Book chat all summer long.
Join the fun!
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On Video
Friday Reads 7-6-23 - my brief weekly update on what I'm reading
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I have to admit to some serious book hangover after finishing Voyager. I wasn't ready to leave that world, even after being immersed in it for a month! So, I chose my quickest Big Book for my next read: Scythe by Neal Schusterman. We are huge Schusterman fans at our house. My husband, son, and I all loved his Unwind series, which is original, brilliant, and compelling, and I've been hearing great things about Scythe for years. This YA dystopian novel takes place in a future world where life is perfect: there is no disease, no government, no middle seats on airplanes. Nanites in the body immediately heal any injury or pain and even protect humans from negative emotions like despair. In order to control population in an immortal world, some are chosen as Scythes who "glean" (i.e. kill) selected people. Two teens, Citra and Rowan, have been chosen to train as Scythe apprentices and learn all about the dark side of a perfect society. It's excellent so far, as his books always are--gripping and thought-provoking.
I also started a new Big Book on audio, Everything the Light Touches by Janice Pariat. This novel has been compared to Cloud Atlas and Cloud Cuckoo Land (also on my Big Book stack). It consists of four parts, stories of different people in different time periods, beginning in modern day India and moving back through time to Lapland in 1732. The connecting thread through all of the stories is the natural world, plants, botany, and human connections. It's beautifully written and engrossing.
My husband, Ken, finished The Quiet Boy by Ben H. Winters, his third Big Book of the summer, before his trip. He said it was very good and entirely different from Winters' The Last Policeman
trilogy. Now he's reading A Time for Mercy by John Grisham, book 3 in his Jake Brigance series, another Father's Day gift from me.We both loved the first two books, A Time to Kill and Sycamore Row featuring Jake, so this should be another good one. I don't expect him to have much reading time this week!
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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?
Sounds like a really good week to me, nothing much has to happen to have a good week. Sounds like some forward planning that as you say will bring future happiness. Must go read your thoughts on Voyager. The next one in the series you should try on audio! So good.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree, Kathryn - just nice to have some time to yourself once in a while! I think Voyager is my favorite of the first three!
DeleteAdding Everything the Light Touches to my reading list. I am glad you have made plans to see friends while hubby is away. Nine days is a long time otherwise.
ReplyDeleteYes, I also have our support group meeting on Zoom, so I am relishing the quiet time in between!
DeleteI didn't know you run a chronic illness support group—that's super-cool! Being able to support others through those same kinds of challenges is a really powerful thing. And I'm so glad you and your husband both have such fun weeks planned—time apart can definitely be a great chance to reunite with other people or hobbies, or just get stuff done!
ReplyDeleteAs for books, I get what you mean about book hangover—sometimes a book is so good that it's hard to leap into another one (it feels like a betrayal of the first book's world), and being inside of Voyager's world for 800 pages would definitely add to that. But Scythe and Everything the Light Touches both sound like excellent reads, which I'm sure helps!
Thanks so much for the thoughtful post, Sue, and have a wonderful week!
Thanks, Max - I started it over a decade ago, mostly as a way to get together with other parents of sick kids, but the group has grown tremendously (not necessarily a good thing, but I;m glad we're here to help). Scythe is fabulous so far. Have you read any of Schusterman's novels? All excellent.
Delete9 days on your own?! Live it up Sue! That's the time to get a ton of stuff done (sounds like you are already on your way to doing that).
ReplyDeleteThe Scythe series is so good (I also loved the Unwind series) and I look forward to hearing what you think of it.
Yes! Isn't that strange, though ... as women, we see time alone as time to be productive. If I go away, my husband sees it as time when he doesn't have to do ANYTHING productive! ha ha I'm loving Scythe so far.
DeleteNine days of the house to yourself sounds heavenly -- long enough to get things done and also relax, but not long enough to start missing your husband too much! haha
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd read something by Neal Shusterman before, but I just looked through a list of his books and I must be mixing him up with Neal Stephenson. I loved Cloud Atlas and Cloud Cuckoo Land, but hadn't heard about Everything the Light Touches being compared to them, so on it goes to the TBR list!
Yes, exactly, Laurie! I have loved everything I've read by Neal Schusterman. It's not all dystopian. Bruiser is real-life drama about a boy who gets in fights. And Challenger Deep is a very powerful novel about a boy with schizophrenia, based on his own son's struggles with the disease (and his son did the drawings for it).
DeleteI remember reading and binging John Grisham's books and then it somehow just fizzled out.
ReplyDeleteSame! My husband and I hadn't read one in many years. Then, we each read Sycamore Row and remembered just how good they are!
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