It's Monday 4/22! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

Booktopia week is finally here! Woohoo! I leave on Thursday to first drive to Connecticut to pick up my mom and then drive us both to Vermont. I can't wait to see all my Booktopia friends, eat some great food, talk with the authors and other readers, and enjoy all kinds of bookish  fun!

Last week was a busy catch-up week, in between our vacation and the Booktopia trip (in fact, I still have over 200 unread e-mails!). I led a Zoom meeting for our local support group, caught up with friends (via text), and got as much work done as I could. I weeded our smallest garden this weekend, and my husband mulched it. I love this time of year when everything is in bloom!

Our redbud in bloom

Garden weeded and mulched

Shades of purple: lilacs in front of the redbud

Our dogwood in bloom

This weekend, our older son and his girlfriend came to visit from Long Island. We just love having them here and spending time together. Friday night, our younger son was home for dinner, so we had all of us together around the kitchen table--made this mom's heart happy! This is the only photo I took all weekend- ha ha - love seeing those extra shoes in the entryway telling me everyone is home :)

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On the Blog

Catching up on reviews:

3 Great Middle-Grade Audio Books - Mini Reviews - I enjoyed these three audio books during Middle-Grade March, each unique and enjoyable.

Fiction Review: The Audacity by Ryan Chapman (a Booktopia selection) - In a Theranos-type scandal, the unwitting husband, Guy, is left stunned and betrayed by his wife and decides to go out with a bang. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it.

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On Video

Virginia Spring Camping Travel Vlog - Come along on our recent vacation to two beautiful state parks, plus a fascinating historical site, a museum, and some great food! Lots of photos and videos of nature.

Friday Reads 4-19-24 - a 2-week catch up, including several Booktopia selections, fiction, poetry, short stories, and a thriller on audio (under 15 min).

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 What We're Reading

I finished a Booktopia selection, The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane, the author of Ask Again, Yes, which I just read in February (and loved!). Malcolm is the owner of the Half Moon, a longtime bar in his hometown of Gillam (same setting as Ask Again, Yes). He's married to Jess, a lawyer who recently left Malcolm, saying she needed some time apart. The novel flashes back to the past, to show how Malcolm and Jess first met and the horrible infertility struggles they faced, as well as Malcolm's history with the bar and how he came to buy it. Besides Jess leaving, Malcolm is also having financial problems. As the novel opens, a series of huge snowstorms hits the town, cutting off power and shutting things down for a week. As with her previous novel, this one is all about relationships, with lots of emotional depth, though there are some plot twists, too. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to meet the author!

 

I started another Booktopia selection, Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart by GennaRose Nethercott, a collection of short stories. She is the author of the acclaimed novel Thistlefoot. I don't read a lot of fantasy, horror, and fairy tales, but so far, these are intriguing and well-written. The first story is about young people working at a very strange roadside attraction, The Eternal Staircase. The second story features a group of middle-school mean girls who turn to witchcraft when a new girl arrives at school. So, these aren't necessarily real monsters and beasts (though I think there are some of those later) but more about the monster within us all. It's sort of horror-adjacent, but it was enough to give me really bizarre, restless dreams after reading those first two stories! This is definitely a daytime-only read for me I'm a wimp), though I'm interested to see what else she comes up with.

 

I've also started one final Booktopia novel in print that came in from my library, My Beloved Life by Amitava Kumar. This is a multi-generational story set in India that begins with a man named Jadu, born in 1935 in a small rural village. I'm still in Part 1, about Jadu, but Part 2 focuses on his daughter, Jugnu, and later parts on his grandchild (those parts also take place in the United States and elsewhere). It's a sort of quiet read that I'm enjoying very much so far, about 100 pages in. There are a lot of fascinating details about life in India, against a historical backdrop. It also delves deep into these characters, their lives, and their hopes and dreams. I'm looking forward to meeting the author.

 

I went most of the week without an audio book (gasp!), catching up on podcasts. I finally chose an audio I've been saving and really looking forward to: The Boy Who Failed Dodgeball by Jordan Sonnenblick. I absolutely loved his novel, Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, one of the best middle-grade novels I've ever read that had me both laughing out loud and crying. I was delighted to discover that this isn't just any novel; it's autobiographical, focusing on Jordan's own sixth-grade experiences. Right from the start, with mentions of Evel Knievel, the Green Machine, and going to the rollerskating rink on Friday nights, I was grinning from ear to ear (I love nostalgia). He is also, as always, hilariously funny and also honest and warm. I'm loving this so far. And it's read by the author!

 

My husband, Ken, finished Righteous by Joe Ide, book 2 in his IQ series. I put this one in his Easter basket! Now, he is reading a book I read many years ago (2012), that's been sitting on his side of the to-be-read bookcase for a very long time, Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (my review at the link). It's set on Martha's Vineyard in the 1660's, about the unique friendship between  12-year-old Puritan girl, Bethia, and the native son of a chieftan, Caleb. It's inspired by a true story--Caleb was the first Native American to attend Harvard. Historical fiction is not my husband's usual genre, but Brooks is such a talented writer (one of my favorites) that I know he'll enjoy this as much as my book group did.

 

I  forgot to ask this weekend, but I think our son, 29, is still reading Raven Caller by David Daglish, book 2 in his The Keepers series. We gave him that one for Easter!

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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?