It's Monday 10/30! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

We're back! We just got home last night from a week-long vacation camping in Virginia. It was very relaxing, the weather was perfect, and the fall foliage was absolutely stunning! And, of course, we read a lot, too (both campgrounds even had Little Free Libraries). We first camped for three nights at Hungry Mother State Park in southwestern Virginia, in the mountains. It's a beautiful campground, and our site was right along a creek. Since it was midweek, it was very quiet and peaceful. We enjoyed crisp fall weather, with nice days and 40 degree nights, so we ran the furnace in  our camper and bundled up in heavy fleece, hats, and gloves.

Kayaking in Hungry Mother Lake

Vibrant fall foliage

Stunning views while hiking along the lakeshore

Beautiful campsite along the creek

Then, we drove north to Bear Creek Lake State Park in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains for another three nights. We stayed there in April, but it was even more beautiful in the fall. Though it didn't feel like fall--highs were in the 80's, and we were wearing shorts! Quite a change.

Colorful reflections

Hiking in Bear Creek Lake

Lots of turtles sunning on logs on this warm day!

My husband paddling through the reflections

Another beautiful campsite

Still glass-like lake

My happy place: out on the water!

I have hundreds of photos--each view was more vibrant than the last--but I tried to pick some of the best to share here. I'll be posting a vacation vlog with more photos and videos on my YouTube channel tomorrow!

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On the Blog

 I wrote a couple of reviews before we left:

TV Tuesday: Who Is Erin Carter? - this Netflix thriller series was full of surprises!

Fiction Review: When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash - I enjoyed this small-town murder mystery with in-depth characters (reminded me a bit of William Kent Krueger's standalones)

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On Video

Friday Reads 10-20-23 - my brief weekly update of what I am reading & listening to, with a Halloween twist!

End of the Year Book Tag - a short video about my reading plans between now and the end of the year

Short: Kayaking in Bear Creek Lake State Park - a 1-min glimpse of our vacation

Short: Hiking in Bear Creek Lake State Park - a 1-min glimpse of our vacation

(Tomorrow, I'll be posting a full vacation vlog on my YouTube channel.)

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 What We're Reading

I'm still enjoying the R.I.P. Challenge - finishing my spooky season reading! I am already missing all the extra reading time I had while camping.

 

I finished reading Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick. This is a YA novel about the Witness Protection (WITSEC) program, a topic I always find intriguing (if you do, too, check out the TV show In Plain Sight). Way back in 2009, I enjoyed another novel by this author, Hush, Hush. That was paranormal romance, but this novel is firmly set in the real world. Estella witnessed a horrible murder by a dangerous criminal and has been taken into WITSEC to keep her safe so that she can testify against him when he goes to trial. There's a whole criminal organization behind him, so her life is truly at risk. The federal marshals give her a new name, Stella Gordon, and resettle her in Thunder Basin, Nebraska, which is very different from her home in Philadelphia. Her mom is an addict, so Estella is used to being on her own and has trouble adjusting to the rules of the ex-cop posing as her foster mother. She begins to find some positives in small town rural life, in spite of herself, but she is still in danger. This was excellent!

Next, I read When She Woke by Hillary Jordan, author of the award-winning novel Mudbound. This was an entirely different kind of novel, set in a dystopian future where a criminal's skin is dyed a color to match their crime, as a way of easing prison overcrowding. Hannah lives in Texas and has been brought up with a strict moral code in her ultra-religious community, but as the novel begins, she wakes up dyed red, the color for murder, after having an abortion. She refused to tell authorities the name of the father or the name of the doctor, so her sentence is extra-long. The novel is a riff on The Scarlet Letter, with hints of A Handmaid's Tale. The story digs deep into Hannah's experiences, with lots of unexpected twists. Chillingly, this dystopian novel that was published in 2011 includes some details that have come true in our real world.

Now, I am reading Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley, an author I always enjoy. I read the first book of his Easy Rawlins mystery series, Devil in a Blue Dress, and absolutely loved The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, a moving, powerful novel about memory and family. This novel is a mystery/thriller about an ex-cop named Joe King Oliver who, ten years ago, was falsely accused of sexual assault and removed from the NYPD. The 90 days he spent in Rikers Prison forever changed him, but time with his daughter and working cases as a PI is helping him to heal, slowly. When a letter from his past arrives and he gets a new case possibly exposing recent police corruption, his past and the present begin to come together. He might even have a chance to clear his name. It's excellent so far.

On audio, I listened to Coraline by Neil Gaiman, a middle-grade modern spooky classic! How did I miss it for so long? It's about a young girl, Coraline, who goes through a mysterious door in her home to find an alternate universe, with an alternative mother and father just like her own ... except for their button eyes. It was a wonderful novel, super-spooky and perfect for the season!

 

While on our trip, my husband and I listened to Nine Lives by Peter Swanson, a creepy thriller. Two years ago, we enjoyed his Eight Perfect Murders during another road trip. In this novel, nine people around the U.S. receive a list of names in the mail, including their own. As the FBI investigates, the people on the list begin getting murdered, one at a time. Who wrote the list, how are the people on it related, and how can they stop the killings? This tense suspense novel kept us entertained during long hours in the car. We just have a couple of chapters left to finish before the R.I.P. Challenge ends tomorrow.

And I am also trying to finish another middle-grade audio before tomorrow night, The Stars Did Wander Darkling by Colin Meloy. Four friends in the 1980's encounter strange happenings in their quiet seaside Oregon town. Even their parents seem different, as an ancient, long-buried evil is unleashed. I'm loving this suspenseful horror thriller that has Goonies and Stranger Things vibes.

My husband, Ken, finished reading Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson and then read World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters, the third and final book in The Last Policeman trilogy, which we have both enjoyed. I can't wait to read it, too! That was a gift I gave him for his birthday, and now he's moved onto another book from his birthday stack, November Road by Lou Berney, a road trip thriller set in the 1960's around Kennedy's assassination. It starts in New Orleans (where we used to live) and Stephen King gave it a rave review, so I knew Ken would enjoy it.

 

 

Our son, 29, finished reading The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington, book one of the Licanius trilogy. Now he is reading The Helm of Midnight by Marina Holstetter, book one in The Five Penalties series, another epic fantasy he is loving! For his birthday last year, I signed him up for Brandon Sanderson's big Kickstarter, so he just received the fourth book from that, The Sunlight Man, which he is very much looking forward to.

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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?