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| Hosted by The Book Date |
Life
It's Monday ... and our baby boy is a married man! And we have a daughter! ❤️
I was still badly relapsed all last week but did nothing but rest, rest, rest. Day of, I took extra medications and rested in the backseat of the car with pillows, blankets, and electrolyte drink during cocktail hour (I can't drink or stand for long anyway) - best decision I ever made! I was able to stay for the whole evening and enjoy myself.
Some highlights of the weekend:
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| Rehearsal - Nor'easter blowing outside!! |
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| Bride & groom at rehearsal dinner |
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| Bride made brooches for each of us with family members - this is my dad ❤️ |
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| Walking down the aisle with her dad & stepdad |
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| Saying vows |
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| They're married! |
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| First dance |
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| First dance |
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| Mother-son dance |
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| Mother-son dance |
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| Our older son giving best man speech - laughter & tears! |
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| Cutting the cake |
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| My husband and I |
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| Groomsmen & friends (our son in the middle; our nephew on the right) |
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| Off on their honeymoon! |
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End of Summer Book Tag - A look back at my summer reading and a look forward to fall
Weekly Reading Update - Creepy Fall Reading
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I'm enjoying fall reading, with several fun reading events I always look forward to: RIP XXI (Readers Imbibing Peril - my 11th year!), Shorty September, Series September, and Sci Fi September.
I finished Bear Tooth by Callan Wink for both Shorty September and RIP XXI. It was recommended by the booksellers at Northshire Bookstore in Vermont, at Booktopia, that fun book weekend I attend every year. This outdoor suspense novel sounded great, so I gave it to my husband for his birthday last year. Two brothers in their late twenties live in a rugged cabin where they grew up, in the Beartooth Mountains near Yellowstone National Park. Their father died recently, and the older brother, Thad, is struggling to pay the medical debt from his father's illness and to keep the log cabin properly maintained. Younger brother Hazen is an impulsive free spirit who doesn't think about consequences. When their truck needs a costly repair, they enter into an agreement with a dangerous man and embark on an illegal mission. It was excellent, with in-depth character development and a growing tension, as they get deeper into trouble. There is plenty of action and suspense, but it is also a quiet character study of the two brothers and their relationship, with gorgeous nature writing as the brothers backpack through the wilderness and live in the mountains.
Next, I read Gasp by Lisa McMann, book three in a YA paranormal thriller trilogy that I love! I also loved her YA series Wake, standalone Cryer's Cross, and middle-grade series The Unwanteds, links to my reviews). I reviewed the first two books of this trilogy, Crash and Bang in 2023. The first book begins with teen Jules, living in Chicago, suddenly seeing a disturbing vision everywhere--in screens, windows, even billboards--of a huge vehicle crashing into a building, an explosion, and 8 body bags laid out in the snow. It's driving her crazy (and she wonders if she is crazy), but she enlists the help of a friend (whose face she sees in one of those body bags), and they find clues in her vision to figure out where and when it will take place so they can somehow try to stop it. In book 2, someone close to Jules begins seeing similarly disturbing visions, of a mass shooting, and along with Jules' siblings, they again try to stop the disaster. I can't say too much about book 3 without spoilers, but it's a similar (but very different) scenario, with a third person seeing visions. This time, Jules and her friend and siblings must first figure out who is having the visions. The books are all tense, suspenseful, and action-packed, but McMann has also created in-depth characters I came to care about and delves into other topics, like mental health, family relationships, and dealing with trauma. I love these books, and this was a satisfying ending to the trilogy. I'm just sorry it's over now!
For my next audio, I wanted sci fi--and specifically time travel--so I picked a novel pretty randomly from Libby! I listened to The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi. Beth is a scientist who figured out time travel in 2040. She and her husband created the technology to test out her theories, but her husband died, leaving Beth with their young daughter, Isabella. The time travel machine they invented with their team sends a person's consciousness back to re-experience a memory from their life, for just 90 seconds. The traveler can only observe. It seems entirely random which memory is chosen, but Beth's travels since her husband's death have been very traumatic. The corporation that runs the company wants profitable technology, but Beth is more and more worried about the safety of the device and the traveling, One fun aspect is that the reader begins to notice some issues before the characters do. There are some very surprising twists as the story continues, and it went in directions that absolutely delighted me! As with all time travel plots, this one is very thought-provoking: what memory would you want to travel back to again? I loved this novel and was sorry when it ended, too!
My husband, Ken, is reading Hi Five by Joe Ide, book 4 in his IQ series of thrillers set in L.A., another Father's Day gift from me. He loves this series!
Our son, 32, finished reading Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson, book 5 of his famed Stormlight Archive series. He said he loves the way that Sanderson weaves connections among all of his Cosmere books and finished the last 600 pages all at once! He's now reading a book we gave him for his birthday, Sorcerer’s Edge by David Hair, book 3 of the Tethered Citadel trilogy. It was so good to spend time together this weekend!
And our daughter-in-law is off on her honeymoon!
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