It's Monday 3/12! What Are You Reading?

Bit of a rough week last week, and another one coming up, but it had some good moments, too. Just a lot of medical appointments last week - replacing a broken filling, cutting out a really bad ingrown toenail (sounds trivial but it's really painful) - and this week, I get to repeat both of those on the left side! But I just came from my massage therapist, and that was a good kind of medical appointment - my neck and back problems have calmed down, so that's really good news. In between all that, we got over 10 inches of snow in Nor'Easter #2 last week (which means a snow day here, where we rarely get more than a few inches) - check out my Saturday Snapshot photos. It looks like we will probably get just the edge of Nor'Easter #3, hopefully just a bit of rain here. We had a decent weekend, with our younger son and my father-in-law over for dinner Friday night, and our older son here for breakfast & lunch on Sunday - I can always lure them home with food! And we met our oldest friends for dinner Saturday night, to celebrate their 30th anniversary, at our favorite authentic New Orleans restaurant (hard to come by up here!) - good memories of the years the four of us spent there.

I was feeling out of sorts last week - overwhelmed by all the writing projects I want to tackle and my limited time/energy. But yesterday, I booked a mini getaway for my husband and I next weekend (the location is a surprise for my husband - shhh!), and that perked up my spirits considerably! This time of year always gets to me with a bit of cabin fever - itching to get the camper out again - so getting out of town for a couple of days should help.

Meanwhile, as always, we are all enjoying our books:

• I am still reading my next book group selection, Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, a Christmas gift from my husband (I suggested it to the group). Since I just read my first-ever Atwood novel last year (The Handmaid's Tale), I am glad for the chance to read more. This is a historical novel, based on a real-life woman in the mid-1800's in Ontario who was sentenced to life in prison for murder. The question of whether she is guilty or innocent is central to the story. I am down to about 60 pages left, and I'm still not sure! Should be a great discussion this week.
• I have been listening to The Freakling, book 1 of the Psi Chronicles by Lana Krumwiede, a middle-grade/teen/YA fantasy dystopian novel that I downloaded free from SYNC last summer. Somehow, I keep forgetting that fantasy isn't one of my favorite genres...but this novel has been interesting and engaging so far, about a society where most people have telekinesis powers and those who don't are sent to a colony, where they have to do horrible things like feed themselves with forks, tie their shoelaces, and pick things up to move them! It's an intriguing concept.
• My husband, Ken, is reading NightSun by Dan Vining, a novel I recently reviewed for Shelf Awareness. It's a detective story set in 2025 that combines mystery, suspense, and dystopia.
• Our son, Jamie, 23, is reading book 6 in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos. He loves this epic fantasy series. He spent all of his Christmas gift cards on books, so he has stacks and stacks of new books waiting! His reading time is limited right now, as he finishes his last semester of college and looks for a job.

Last week's blog posts:

Movie Monday: Red Sparrow - Russian spy thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence

TV Tuesday: 11/22/63 - historical drama about a man who goes back in time to stop JFK's assassination, based on a Stephen King novel - a must-see!

Fiction Review: Maurice by E.M. Forster - a classic about two gay men in early 1900's England

Middle-Grade Review: Swing It, Sunny! by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm - warm, fun, and thoughtful graphic novel

Teen/YA Review: The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah - two teens caught on opposite sides of immigration controversy in Australia

Saturday Snapshot: A Tale of Two March Storms - pics from high winds & heavy snow

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.


What are you and your family reading this week?  

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

Saturday Snapshot: A Tale of Two March Storms

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads.

Like everyone else on the East Coast, here in Delaware, we were slammed with 2 Nor'Easter storms in a row recently...with another coming this way on Sunday and Monday! We got mostly rain and sleet in the first one, but with incredibly high winds (gusts up to 50 mph). Sadly, we lost most of a tree in our front yard. The second Nor'Easter brought LOTS of snow - over 10 inches, which is a lot for us. Here's a photo recap:

High winds in storm #1 brought down most of our tree.

Yikes - no coming back from this one :(

Storm #2 brought a lot of wet snow - nice day for a walk!

Our house in the snow.

About 10 " fell & everything was covered in white...

...just 3 hours later, that scene looked different - blue sky & snow melting!

This garden had snowdrops in bloom & daffodil shoots coming up just a few days ago...

Hope you are enjoying a nice weekend!

Teen/YA Review: The Lines We Cross

In February, I listened to a teen/YA audiobook that I'd been hearing great reviews of: The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah. This very relevant  story of two teens on opposite sides of the immigration issue was engrossing and eye-opening.

Michael lives a typical teenage life, going to school and hanging out with his friends, playing video games and basketball. On weekends, though, Michael's parents bring he and his brother along to anti-immigration rallies. His dad has started an organization called Aussie Values, and both of his parents feel strongly about "protecting their democracy." Michael isn't as passionate about the cause as they are, but a lot of what they say makes sense, and he knows his parents are both good, caring people. More pressing in Michael's mind is that his dad plans for him to follow in his footsteps, become an architect, and join his business, but Michael wants to be a graphic designer. How can he tell his dad and bust his dreams?

On the other side of the latest rally, Michael spots a beautiful girl with long, dark hair who immediately captures his attention. At school on Monday, he discovers that her name is Mina, and she is a new scholarship student at his exclusive private school. And Mina is a refugee from Afghanistan, her family representing exactly the kind of immigrants that Michael's parents rail against. Mina has her own problems, trying to fit in at this new school, helping in her step-father's restaurant, and helping her parents face increasing venom - and violence - against them in their new neighborhood. Even as Mina and Michael begin to get to know each other, Michael can't even begin to imagine what Mina has been through in the past. How can Michael balance what his parents believe against what he is learning from Mina and his own research? And where does he stand?

I was surprised to learn that Australia is struggling with the same kinds of divisive issues that we are seeing here in the U.S. This story is made all the more interesting because both sides of the issue are presented as three-dimensional and with good intentions. The reader sees the immigration issues from the perspective of both Michael's family and Mina's and feels the struggle within Michael between what he is experiencing and what the rhetoric says. With fully-formed characters and an intriguing plotline, this compelling and thought-provoking novel feels very current and real, even more so on the audio, read by two different narrators.

400 pages, Scholastic Press

Scholastic Audio

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

You can listen to a sample of the audio at this link.

Purchase The Lines We Cross from your favorite indie bookstore:


Or order The Lines We Cross from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Middle-Grade Review: Swing It, Sunny

Brother-sister team Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm bring readers another wonderful book about 10-year old Sunny Lewin. Their second graphic novel about Sunny, Swing It, Sunny, has all the elements that made Sunny Side Up engaging and endearing - warmth, humor, colorful, realistic drawings, and tackling serious topics - with a hefty dose of 70's nostalgia that adds another layer of fun!

In this second book, Sunny is back home in Pennsylvania after her summer spent with Gramps in his Florida retirement community (chronicled in Sunny Side Up). She is just starting middle school, which she's finding a bit stressful, hanging out with her best friend, and is still struggling with her older brother's problems, which came to light in the first book. She has brought a new love of comics back home from Florida with her, and she and her best friend enjoy dressing up in her mom's old clothes, watching 70's sitcoms together, and keeping up with General Hospital. She misses her brother, who is away at boarding school, and looks forward to phone calls from Gramps, though it's not the same as being with him. Along the way, a new girl moves in next door, the fall/winter holidays come and go, and she looks for ways to help her brother.

Images from Swing It, Sunny showing the joys of middle school

As with the first Sunny graphic novel, this one uses a fun approach and colorful drawings to depict Sunny's life but doesn't shy away from darker topics and struggles. Swing It, Sunny also integrates LOTS of story and picture portrayals of classic life in the 1970's. Everything is recreated in detail, from the clothes to the family room with shag carpeting to the TV shows. Pet rocks, Woolworth's, and pot holder making kits also make an appearance. Kids will probably find all of this funny, but I found it wonderfully nostalgic, bringing back great memories of my own childhood spent watching The Six Million Dollar Man, playing dress-up, and even the neighbor with the ever-changing array of plastic animals and yard decorations! I thoroughly enjoyed this trip down memory lane and getting to know kind, worried Sunny better as she finds her way through life's struggles and joys.

217 pages, Graphix (an imprint of Scholastic)

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Purchase Swing It, Sunny from an Indie Bookstore:


Or order Swing It, Sunny from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Fiction Review: Maurice

E.M Forster was on my list of classic authors I have never read, and I recently bought a copy of one of his most famous novels, Howards End. Before I got to that, though, my favorite book podcast, Book Cougars, hosted a read-along of one of his lesser-known novels, Maurice. Since I love communal reading and discussing books, I joined in the fun and borrowed the slim novel from my library. I enjoyed this engaging story about the life of a gay man in the early 1900's and am now looking forward to reading more from Forster.

The author doesn't state the exact time period that the novel takes place, but he wrote it in 1913-14, and it feels set at about that time in England. We follow a young man named Maurice (apparently pronounced like "Morris" in England) through his early school years to his college years at Cambridge. He is kind of just sleep-walking through college, hanging out with his old high school friends, when he meets a vibrant young man named Risley, who is alive and different in a way that Maurice can't quite figure out but is attracted to. Through Risley, Maurice meets Clive, another young man who immediately grabs Maurice's attention and wakes him out of his stupor, a constant state of "pretending" that he was vaguely aware of but thought was normal for everyone. Maurice and Clive fall in love, and Maurice's world opens up. They understand it is a forbidden kind of love, and their relationship remains mostly chaste physically, but they both feel more alive when they are together.

The novel follows Maurice through his college years and into his working life, through ups and downs with Clive and more. Throughout that period, Maurice struggles against his nature, even seeking out a hypnotist to try to "cure" him. My heart was breaking for these poor men who worked so hard to deny their true feelings and were told repeatedly by every facet of society that people like them were abominations. The novel is beautifully written and makes you feel as if you are there with Maurice, in the English countryside. It's a very sad story, but there is hope at the end for a better, happier future for Maurice. In a "Terminal Note," Forster explains that he was inspired to write the novel after meeting two gay men in 1913 who were not only happy but full of life and vibrancy. He wanted a happy ending for Maurice, but alas, that was the reason why this novel was never published until 1971: it was unthinkable that a novel about men wrestling with their evil, dark side should have a happy ending (and not one where they are converted!). The novel itself and this backstory are thought-provoking, inspiring musings of how far we have come as a society...and how far we still have to go.

255 pages, W.W. Norton & Company

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

To purchase Maurice from an Indie bookstore:


Or order Maurice from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

TV Tuesday: 11/22/63

I couldn't wait to tell you about 11/22/63 - we LOVED this show!! Both my husband and I loved reading the novel by Stephen King, about a man who time travels back to 1960 in an effort to stop JFK's assassination (yes, King write more than just horror). We couldn't wait to watch the TV miniseries...but it was on Hulu, which we don't have. So, I gave my husband the DVDs for Christmas, and we took advantage of the hiatus of our favorite shows during the Olympics to watch it. Wow. This immersive, suspenseful historical drama was well worth waiting for. It's definitely one of my favorite TV shows.

James Franco plays Jake Epping, a high school English teacher going through a heart-rending divorce in a small town in Maine (naturally - it's a Stephen King story). He eats every day at his favorite local diner, marvels at the cheap burgers, and becomes friendly with the owner, Al, played by Chris Cooper. One day, visibly unwell, Al asks him to stay after he closes up for the night and shares a terrible secret with him: Al is dying of cancer and needs Jake to finish an uncompleted mission for him. He shows Jake a weird time fissure in the back of his closet, where Jake sees for himself that walking through it brings him to that same spot in 1960. Al has devoted the past years, since he discovered this time rift, to figuring out how to stop JFK's assassination. He's done a lot of research and figures out that things in the modern world started going downhill after that event. He wants Jake to complete his mission for him - go back to 1960, travel to Texas, find out if Lee Harvey Oswald was acting alone in killing JFK, and if so, stop him. After some convincing and Al's death, Jake takes on the mission, with a stop-off in 1960 Kentucky to fix another more personal horrific event from the past first.

We were completely engrossed in this mini-series and binged it over a week's time. It's a movie-quality show that perfectly recreates the 1960's, down to every last detail (in fact, a "making of" extra on the DVD explains how they did some of that). The plot - tracking down Oswald, watching him, and trying to figure out if he was acting alone - is riveting and suspenseful, but the scenes of ordinary life are just as engaging. Since he has to stay in the 1960's for three years, Jake has to establish an identity and a cover, so he finds a job teaching English in a small-town Texas high school, where he meets a lovely school librarian named Sadie, played by Sarah Gadon, who significantly complicates his mission. The entire show is so immersive and the writing and acting so good that you forget you are watching James Franco and come to see him as Jake. I also found myself constantly thinking about the show in between episodes and for days after we finished it. I always find time travel plots fascinating for that reason - the convoluted cause-and-effect - plus King's assertion (as with many time travel stories before it) that time resists being changed. It all makes for a gripping, engrossing TV mini series that is well worth your time.

King's novel was outstanding, and this TV series brings it to life perfectly. If you are a King fan, watch for small winks to his other stories interspersed throughout the show!

11/22/63 is a Hulu original, so it is available for streaming free on Hulu, but it is also available on DVD, for purchase or through your local library system. You can also stream it on Amazon for $1.99 an episode or $14.99 for the entire season.



    

Movie Monday: Red Sparrow

My husband and I had a nice treat this weekend - dinner out and a movie at our local recliner theater. Our son had given us a Fandango gift card for Christmas, so we saw bought 2 tickets for the recliner theater on a Saturday night...all for $1! We'd been waiting for Red Sparrow to come out (it was just released on Friday), and though we were disappointed to hear some critical reviews, we still wanted to see it. We're glad we did! We both enjoyed this exciting Russian spy thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Lawrence plays Dominika, the star of the Russian ballet whose career is cut short by a horrible accident. As a prima ballerina, Dominika and her mother were supported by the state, which paid for their apartment and all of her mother's extensive medical bills. When Dominika's career ends, her (evil) uncle Ivan tells her that the state will continue to support her and her mother if she does something for them. She is supposed to just change out a man's cell phone for another one, but things go horribly wrong and soon Dominika finds herself facing a far worse choice: die for what she knows or join the ranks of Russian spies. With no other options, she joins the Sparrow program, a humiliating and intense program the Russians use to train young spies to use their bodies to manipulate people. After her training, she is assigned to get close to an American CIA agent named Nate Nash, played by Joel Edgerton, in order to find out who is the CIA's mole in the Russian government.

That's just the set-up of this complicated, twisty plot. Filled with fake-outs, double-crosses, and other staples of the spy genre, this gripping thriller kept us glued to the screen, wondering if there was any possible way for Dominika to come out of this alive and intact. On the downside, there is a LOT of violence in this movie, including sexual violence and two horrific scenes of torture. I had my eyes covered several times! The plot was gripping, though, and the acting was good. True, Jennifer Lawrence is clearly not Russian, but let's face it - in real life, Russians don't talk to each other in Russian-accented English, either - you just have to suspend disbelief a bit and go along for the ride. And what a ride it is! The plot twists keep you guessing until the last moments of the film, with plenty of action, intrigue, and suspense along the way.

Red Sparrow was just released March 2, 2018, and is out in theaters now. Check Fandango for showtimes and theaters near you or to buy tickets. It is planned for release on both DVD (pre-order now) and streaming through Amazon in June 2018.

It's Monday 3/5! What Are You Reading?

Productive week last week! I had a lot of writing time and nailed down some more columns for Shelf Awareness, plus I am going to start writing author interviews for them! Exciting stuff. Now, I just need to figure out how to conduct an interview... My reading time is going to be super busy this next month, with my usual review book, plus reading the extra books for my first two author interviews, plus book group reads! Too many great books to read is a nice problem to have, though, right? We also made time for some fun this weekend -  my husband and I enjoyed dinner out and a movie at our local recliner theater - I love that place! We watched Red Sparrow, and I hope to review it here later today.

Here's what we've all been reading this past week:

• Last week, I read my latest review book for Shelf Awareness, We Own the Sky by Luke Allnutt. It's an engrossing novel by a debut author about a family dealing with a serious illness. That topic hit a bit close to home at times, and it is a heartbreaking novel, but its focus is on hope, healing, and love. I enjoyed it and am interested in what this author does next. This book is due out on April 3.
• Now, I am reading my next book group selection, Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, a Christmas gift from my husband (I suggested it to the group). Since I just read my first-ever Atwood novel last year (The Handmaid's Tale), I am glad for the chance to read more. This is a historical novel, based on a real-life woman in the mid-1800's in Ontario who was sentenced to life in prison for murder. I'm only 100 pages in so far, but I think that the question of whether she is guilty or innocent will be central to the story. It's good so far.
• I tried to start a new audiobook this morning, but I got out and found that it had not transfered to my iPod. But I do intend to listen to The Freakling, book 1 of the Psi Chronicles by Lana Krumwiede, a middle-grade/teen/YA dystopian novel that I downloaded free from SYNC last summer.
• My husband, Ken, is reading NightSun by Dan Vining, a novel I recently reviewed for Shelf Awareness. It's a detective story set in 2025 that combines mystery, suspense, and dystopia.
• Our son, Jamie, 23, is reading book 6 in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos. He loves this epic fantasy series. He said it is keeping him up too late at night. He got about $150 in Amazon gift cards for Christmas and has already spent all of it - almost entirely on books!

Last week on the blog, I posted:

TV Tuesday: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - 1950's housewife tries stand-up - a must see!!

Fiction Review: Only Child by Rhiannon Navin - debut novel about school shooting from perspective of a child - eye-opening & uplifting

Nonfiction Review: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann - gripping true story

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.


What are you and your family reading this week?  

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

Nonfiction Review: Killers of the Flower Moon

I was excited when my neighborhood book group chose Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann for February because I'd heard such rave reviews from so many sources. The nonfiction book was a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction, and interviews I'd heard with the author on my favorite book podcasts were enticing. All the hype was right! This gripping true story was fascinating, suspenseful, and also horrifying (as are most true stories of Native Americans and the history of our country). All of my book group members agreed.

The Osage Indian nation had first been removed from their 100 million acres of ancestral land to a small corner of southeastern Kansas by President Thomas Jefferson and then in 1870 squeezed into an arid bit of scrubby land in northeastern Oklahoma. The familiar story has an ironic twist, though - the land the Osage were moved to in Oklahoma contained valuable oil that had not yet been discovered, and thanks to a wily lawyer on their side, each member of the Osage owned "headrights" (transferable only by inheritance) to everything underground, even after the U.S. government further reduced their land into small allotments. This made the Osage the richest people per capita in the world in the 1920's, but it also put a target on their backs.

In 1921, an Osage woman named Anna Brown was murdered and left on the banks of a local creek. That horrifying event started a long string of Osage murders that were - for years - left unsolved and barely investigated by corrupt white local law enforcement. An Osage named Mollie Burkhart was at the center of this tragedy, losing one family member after another, with no answers or justice. Finally, J. Edgar Hoover sent his Bureau of Investigation, which would later become the FBI, to investigate. At that time, these federal investigators had no jurisdiction, carried no weapons, and weren't able to make arrests, but they were outside of local corruption. A former Texas Ranger named Tom White led the investigation, with a ragtag group of undercover agents placed around the area to gather information that would eventually expose the horrifying secrets and conspiracies behind the Osage murders.

Everything about this book - the history and the mystery - was engrossing. Grann made use of thousands of primary sources, including letters, depositions, court documents, and more, to compile this intricate story into a riveting narrative. The twists and turns would be almost unbelievable in fiction, but it's unfortunately all true. I drove my husband crazy reading passages aloud to him while he was trying to read his own book! My book group had a lively discussion last night, ranging from the history of the Osage to the evolution of the FBI to the details of the complex cases uncovered by the author. We were all surprised - though not really, given who writes the history books - that we'd never before heard this shocking story of one of the most vile crimes in American history...and grateful that a talented writer like Grann has now brought it to light. And this important story will be heard by even more people: the movie adaptation is currently in pre-production, being jointly developed by Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio.

338 pages (the last 50 pages are lists of sources!), Doubleday

Disclosure: I borrowed this book from the library. My review is my own opinion.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible. The audio uses multiple narrators.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Fiction Review: Only Child

I was completely blown away by the most recent book I reviewed for Shelf Awareness, Only Child by debut author Rhiannon Navin, so I was thrilled to see that my editors agreed - this is one of their starred reviews on the front page of the website this week! The honor is well-deserved.

I read and reviewed Only Child back in the first week of January, and its topic - a school shooting - was horrifying then but even more relevant today, in the wake of what recently happened in Florida. As upsetting as these events are, the novel is tempered somewhat by its narrator: a sweet, innocent 6-year old boy who lives through a shooting at his school, hidden in a closet with his teacher and classmates. It's a different perspective seen through the eyes of a child. While his dad buries himself in his work, and his mom blames the shooter's parents, Zach is left to figure things out for himself. He's an endearing little boy who turns to what he knows to figure out this confusing situation, including looking for advice in his Magic Tree House books, which I loved.

Despite the difficult subject matter, seeing things from Zach's perspective is enlightening and ultimately uplifting, as the youngest member of the family saves his parents and himself.

You can read my full review at Shelf Awareness.

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Purchase Only Child from an indie bookstore:


Or order Only Child from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

TV Tuesday: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Suddenly, I am overflowing with new-to-me TV shows to tell you about! The Olympics gave us a chance to try some new shows on streaming and DVD, and wow, we found some great ones! First, my new favorite lunchtime girl-show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, an Amazon original that I am loving.

Rachel Brosnahan stars as the title character, Miriam "Midge" Maisel, in 1950's NYC. In the first episode, we see her fairytale romance and perfect Upper West Side life shattered when her husband Joel, played by Michael Zegen, suddenly leaves her for his secretary. Joel has been trying - unsuccessfully - to do stand-up comedy at night. He works in business, but comedy is his dream, which is destroyed when Midge finds out he's been stealing his material. Midge has been the perfect 50's housewife, fully supporting him by coming to all his shows and taking copious notes on what works and what doesn't (in addition to caring for their two young children and the house). Stunned by Joel's departure, Midge stumbles drunk into the dive bar where he often does stand-up and ends up on stage in her nightgown. She is actually very funny and the crowd loves her - but she also gets hauled off by the police and arrested. It's a rough start, but Midge is hooked. She realizes that comedy is actually her dream...and that she might even be good at it. The manager of the bar, Susie Myerson (played by Alex Borstein), is won over by Midge's raw talent, and the two pair up, with rough-talking, masculine-dressing Susie acting as Midge's new manager.

That's the basic plotline of the show, as Midge tries to both put her life back together and launch a stand-up career, but this show is so much more than its original plot! The cast are all outstanding and hilarious, with Tony Shalhoub as Midge's straight-laced father, and Marin Hinkle as her controlling  mother, to name just a few. The scenery, costumes, and atmosphere are also amazing - a brightly-colored, vibrant recreation of 1950's NY. It makes for a visually stunning show that is a lot of fun to watch. Some scenes are almost musical-like, without the singing, with a classic 50's song playing in the background as Midge struts down the street or takes on her new job in a colorful department store (you can check out the music from the show here). Midge is likable, and I find myself rooting for her to bust those 1950's social norms and make it as a comedian, so the show has warmth, but it is also very, very funny. All in all, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is an entertaining visual spectacle that will make you laugh out loud.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is an Amazon original show, so it is available streaming exclusively on Amazon. And it has been approved for a second season, so there is more Midge to come!

Here is a trailer of the show:

It's Monday 2/26! What Are You Reading?

Had a decent week, with lots of writing time and two lovely spring-like days, but I am feeling a bit wiped out this morning. I'm still struggling with neck & back pain (a recurring problem that recently flared up) and saw my massage therapist today. He usually goes easy-ish on me because of my chronic illness, but I asked him to dig in a bit harder today to try to improve things. Worn out now but hoping tomorrow will be better! On the plus side, I scored 5 new writing assignments last week, so at least things are going well in my work life.

And of course, we always have our books for comfort. Here's what we've been reading this past week:

• I finished the next selection for my neighborhood book group, Killers of the Flower Moon: the Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. This is a nonfiction book that was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award, set in Oklahoma in the 1920's, about a long string of murders of Native Americans (Osage) for their very lucrative rights to the oil underground. It was fascinating, compelling, and of course, horrifying. Should be a great discussion Wednesday!
• Next, I read Maurice by E.M. Forster, a classic, for the Book Cougars read-along (an awesome book podcast). It was excellent, about a gay man in 1910's England. Much of it was heart-breaking, as he is not only battling against societal expectations, but also struggling with self-loathing. Really eye-opening to see how much he suffered back at that time. Don't be afraid to read it because it's somewhat sad - it has a happy ending!
• I also squeezed in a quick graphic novel: The Dam Keeper by Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi. It's part 1 of a series, which is based on the Oscar-winning short film by the same name, about a young pig who cares for his town's dam that keeps out the dark fog. It's an interesting combination of cute animal characters with a dark story and is gorgeously drawn.
• On audio, I am still listening to A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline, an adult novel that centers on a painting by Andrew Wyeth. It's especially interesting to me because Andrew and his father N.C. Wyeth, both famous painters, lived in our area. I also wanted to listen to this book now because Kline will be here in our area in April, and I plan to go to her talk. Our All-County Reads book is her earlier novel, Orphan Train, which I loved, but I wanted to read this newer release as well. It's excellent so far and very absorbing on audio.
• My husband, Ken, finished his sci fi classic re-read, Foundation by Isaac Asimov, which is oddly the 3rd book in the Foundation series (apparently, he later wrote two prequels). He enjoyed it and is looking forward to re-reading the next two books in the series.
• For now, though, Ken moved onto NightSun by Dan Vining, a novel I recently reviewed for Shelf Awareness. It's a detective story set in 2025 that combines mystery, suspense, and dystopia.
• Our son, Jamie, 23, is reading book 6 in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos. He loves this epic fantasy series.

Lots of catching up on the blog last week. I posted:

Movie Monday: The Greatest Showman - a fun, joyful musical

TV Tuesday: The X-Files - reboot of the classic creepy sci fi detective show

Fiction Review: The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury - clever & creative

Fiction Review: Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson - compelling story of a Utopian experiment

Summary of Books Read in January - a good reading month for me!

Saturday Snapshot: Warm Days in February - photos from last week's nice weather

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.


What are you and your family reading this week?  

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

Pretty view from a local park last week

 

Saturday Snapshot: Warm Days in February

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads.

After much rain, snow, cold, and overcast skies, we had two amazing days this week, with temperatures in the 70's (77 F the second day!) and bright sunny skies! I took full advantage and got out for walks, before we returned to our regularly scheduled February weather.

Melting snow on our deck.

The first snowdrops of spring!

View from a local park.

First buds on forsythia!

Early buds on a neighborhood maple tree.

Warm enough to put the top down!

Out walking in short sleeves!

What a difference a day makes! Cold & rainy 24 hrs later. Back to the parka.

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend!

Books Read in January 2018

The year is off to a great start, reading-wise! I enjoyed some excellent books in January:

• Only Child by Rhiannon Navin (NY) - adult fiction (reviewed for Shelf Awareness)
• The Adrenal Reset Diet by Alan Christianson - nonfiction
• Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (UK, CA) - adult fiction 

• Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson (TN) - adult fiction on audio
• The Pirates of Cologne by Dinah Mack (Germany) - YA fiction
• Circling the Sun by Paula McLain (Kenya) - adult fiction

• Cici's Journal: The Adventures of a Writer-in-Training by Joris Chamblain & Aurélie Neyret (France) - middle-grade graphic novel
• The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (Mars!) - adult fiction, classic

So, 8 books total for me in January, which is a lot! I read mostly fiction, with one nonfiction book (that I read for my medical condition, on the advice of a friend). I focused mostly on adult fiction last month, though I did fit in one YA and one middle-grade book. I only finished one audio book, but it was a longish one. And one of my books was a graphic novel, so a nice variety last month overall! I enjoyed all of the fiction very much. I'm having trouble picking a favorite - maybe a tie between Exit West and Only Child (I will post my review for that one as soon as it is published), both of which were very unique, moving, and thought-provoking.

Progress in 2018 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading Challenges! I started the year off right, with 4 books from my own shelves for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge. For the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge, January was Diversify Your Reading, so Exit West fit well (the two main characters are Muslim). I already read one classic for the Back to the Classics Challenge and counted The Martian Chronicles under Re-Read an Old Favorite category. For my new 2018 Badass Books Challenge, I added A Book Published in 2018 (Only Child), a Re-Read (The Martian Chronicles and Book By An Author You've Never Read (Circling the Sun by Paula McLain).   It was a great month for international reading - I added UK, Germany, Kenya, and Mars (it counts!) for my Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge. For my 2018 Literary Escapes Challenge, I added three states - NY, CA (always a lot of those two), and TN.
 
Finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month. I filled in 19 squares in January - decent start to the year!

Spaces filled in:

Only Child - free child
The Adrenal Reset Diet - diet/fitness/exercise, multi-word title
Exit West - shelf love (TBR), repercussions
Perfect Little World - audio book
The Pirates of Cologne - YA, treason
Circling the Sun - library book, person on the cover, competition, betrayal
Cici's Journal - in a series, library or librarian
The Martian Chronicles - re-read, made into a TV show/movie, cold weather
Free Space

What was your favorite book read in January?