It's Monday 12/6! What Are You Reading?

Well, the holiday season is now in full swing!  We were relaxing on the beach a little more than a week ago, and now it’s cold and almost Christmas.  Very weird.  We went to our favorite tree farm this weekend and picked out a tree, then decorated it on Sunday (one of our favorite parts of the season).  I've been scrambling to order gifts (I've ordered lots of books!), make our annual photo calendars, and manage other tasks.  This week's big project is the annual DVD of family photos I put together every year.  I'm sort of our family's unofficial photographer and memory-keeper!

So, Holiday preparations are keeping us very busy, but we did find time for some good books:

• I read a new teen novel, Empty by Suzanne Weyn, a cautionary tale about what could happen when the world runs out of fossil fuels and how a group of teens cope.  It was frightening but compelling – review to come this week.
• I’m in the middle of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee for my book group this week.  It’s the 50^th Anniversary of this classic, and I’m enjoying it just as much as I did the first time I read it, a few years ago.  It’s one of the best books ever written, in my opinion.
• I finished listening to the audio of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, a middle-grade steampunk novel.  Jamie read the book ages ago and told me it was excellent.  He was right!  Now I’m motivated to read the sequel, Behemoth, which was recently released.
• Jamie, 16, finished his vacation reading and returned to The Stand by Stephen King, though school work is keeping him pretty busy.
• Craig, 12, is not only reading but happy about it!  His English class is reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, which is a perennial favorite at our house.  We usually listen to one of the many audio versions each season at this time.  Last year, we enjoyed the one read by Patrick Stewart.  Craig said this weekend, “It’s such a great book!”  I’m thrilled to see him enthusiastic about reading for a change.
• My husband, Ken, is reading The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd, a thriller paperback.

Last week, I posted reviews of The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton and Brixton Brothers and the Case of the Case of the Mistaken Identity, a humorous middle-grade mystery, at Great Books for Kids and Teens.  I also posted a summary of all the books I read in November.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Mondays is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey).

Fiction Review: The Age of Innocence

My book group decided to read a classic this month (in fact, both of my book groups did!), and we chose Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, an author I had never read before.  It provided a nice escape during my vacation last week on the beach.

Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, The Age of Innocence is about a love triangle set in the 1870's high society of New York City.  While I enjoyed it overall and can certainly see how Wharton's beautiful writing won the Pulitzer, I'm not generally a huge fan of period novels, especially those set in high society.  I find I get a bit impatient with the characters, as their strict societal rules keep them from relating to each other honestly. Perhaps this is why I have still never read a Jane Austen novel (though I do still plan to).

Despite this (not Wharton's flaw but my own!), I did admire the way Wharton drew a picture of a long-lost time and place.  She transported me back in time, and I had no trouble finishing the book.  In fact, I have requested the DVD of the movie from the library.  One of the things I love about book groups is how they help me broaden my reading horizons, and I'm glad to have read this classic.

Books Read in November

I know I say something similar every month, but I am still stunned that it is somehow December already - where did the fall go?

November was a very busy month here, but I managed to read seven books, including four for kids and teens and three adult books:

• Unwind by Neal Schusterman, a chilling and compelling dystopian teen novel.
• Beloved by Toni Morrison, a powerfully emotional book about slavery and its aftermath in the lives of one family.
• Touch Blue by award-winning author Cynthia Lord, a sweet middle-grade novel about family and foster care, set on an island in Maine.
• The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey, a moving memoir of observations of a snail in the life of a chronically ill woman (review to come this week!)
• Brixton Brothers: The Case of the Case of the Mistaken Identity by Mac Barnett, a humorous take-off on the Hardy Boys for young middle-grade readers.
• The Age of Innocence by Edith Warton, a classic set in 1870's New York City high society, read for my book group (though I missed my meeting and discussion last night).
• Empty by Suzanne Weyn, a new teen novel set ten years in the future, when the world is running out of oil.

All in all, a good reading month.  I think my favorite was Unwind - Neal Schusterman has such a way with teen dystopian novels; I couldn't put it down.  As you can see, I'm a bit behind in reviews after last week's vacation, but I'm hoping to get caught up this week.

I hope you had a good reading month in November, too!

It's Monday 11/29! What Are You Reading?

 Happy Monday - hard to believe it's almost December already!

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family.  We had a very special holiday week.  My mom and her husband treated us and my sister's family to a vacation in Jamaica at the Beaches Negril resort!  It was our first trip to the Caribbean (aside from Puerto Rico) and our first time at a resort, and the entire week was magnificent.  We spent the week swimming, snorkeling, and eating a lot!  My chronic illness even cooperated so that I could enjoy the trip - I realized it helps a lot when I have absolutely no responsibilities, no stress, and can sleep for 11 hours a night!

I wasn't here for last Monday, so this is a 2-week catch-up on our reading:

• I read lots of short books in the busy week before we left, starting with a sweet middle-grade novel, Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord, author of the award-winning Rules.  Check out my review at Great Books for Kids and Teens.
• I finally got to The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey, a wonderfully moving and inspirational book written by an author disabled with the same illness my sons and I have, ME/CFS.  I'll post a review this week.
• Before we left, I squeezed in one more middle-grade book, a humorous take-off on the Hardy Boys called Brixton Brothers: The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity by Mac Barnett.  Lots of fun - review to come this week at my kids' book blog.
• On our trip, I read a classic, The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, for one of my book groups that's meeting tomorrow evening.  I'm not a huge fan of period novels, so it dragged at times for me, but overall, I enjoyed it.
• Jamie, 16, decided to leave our hardcover copy of the 1,000-page The Stand at home for vacation (he's somewhere around page 700).  Instead, he brought along and read two old favorite paperbacks.  He likes to read themed novels when we travel, so he read two novels set among pirates in the Caribbean:  Peter Raven Under Fire by Michael Molloy (this might have been his third read of this one!) and The Angel's Command by Brian Jacques.  He says both are excellent (appropriate for middle-grade or teens).
• Craig, 12, read absolutely nothing!  That's his idea of vacation.  I really need to get him back in the reading habit this week (kicking and screaming).
• My husband, Ken, spent two weeks in Europe on business, came home for one night, then left with us for Jamaica the next day!  He finished New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith, a mystery novel set among the wealthy high society of our favorite city.  He started a new paperback he picked up for his travels, The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd, a new author for him but one recommended by a favorite of his, Lee Child.

So, lots of reading and lots of fun.  Now it's time to catch up, read those 400 e-mails waiting for me, and get back to writing reviews. Hope you had a great holiday, too!

(What are you reading Mondays is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey)

Fiction Review: Beloved

In May 2009, I posted a top ten list of Authors I Can't Believe I've Never Read.  One of those was Toni Morrison.  I rectified that last week when I read her acclaimed novel, Beloved.  It is a powerfully emotional novel, as good as I'd always heard.

Set after the Civil War, the novel focuses on Sethe, a mother who escaped slavery in Kentucky with her four children to live with her mother-in-law, whose freedom Sethe's husband bought years earlier.  As the story opens, it is just Sethe and her youngest daughter, Denver, in the house.  Her mother-in-law died, her two sons left a few years earlier and her other daughter died a long time ago, though we don't know why or how at the start of the novel.  There is also a disturbing spiritual presence in the house which effectively keeps other people away and leaves Sethe and Denver isolated.

Things change for the two women when Paul D. shows up at the house.  He knows Sethe from their days as slaves on the same farm, so they share a lot of memories that both of them would rather forget.  The novel explores their shared past in disturbing, compelling flashbacks that begin to explain aspects of their present.

These flashbacks were incredibly powerful, telling the personal stories of a horrific time in our shared history.  I had a little trouble at the beginning of the novel with the mysterious presence in the house - I'm not generally a big fan of so-called mystic realism - but after a while, I was completely wrapped up in the emotional complexities of the story and its characters.  It explores the ways in which our past affects our present lives and the lengths people will go to to protect the ones they love.  It is an intense, thought-provoking novel, and I'm glad I finally read it.

Now, I still need to work on the other nine authors on my list!

It's Monday 11/15! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday!  I can't believe it's mid-November already, and the holiday season starts next week - yikes!  Things will get really hectic from here out.

Last week was a busy one, too.  Craig was home sick for two days, I was under the weather myself most of the week, my husband was still out of town, and Craig hurt his knee on Thursday.  Typical week with kids, right?  He got an MRI Friday night, and we're headed to the orthopedic specialist this morning.  It's feeling a lot better, so hopefully, it's nothing too serious.

I did find time to read during all that craziness (actually waiting rooms are a great opportunity to read!):

• I finished Beloved by Toni Morrison.  Wow.  I understand why it's considered a modern classic.  Review to come this week (somehow I ran out of time for reviews at the end of the week...)
• I read a sweet middle-grade novel, Touch Blue, by award-winning author Cynthia Lord.  I loved her first novel, Rules, and this one was very good as well.
• I started The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, a beautifully written memoir by Elisabeth Tova Bailey who has the same chronic illness I have.  So far, it's just as good as everyone said it was.
• Jamie, 16, is still making his way through The Stand by Stephen King.  A friend was teasing him this weekend, "You're still reading the same book?"  Jamie said, "It's over 1000 pages long with small print!"  Despite all the school work that keeps him busy, he is still finding time to enjoy this novel and says it just keeps getting better and better.
• I honestly have no idea what Craig, 12, is reading right now.  I'm having trouble getting him to read much of anything, and he keeps switching books after reading only a chapter or two!  I know he started a Hardy Boys book last week while he was home sick (his version of comfort reading).  If anyone has any suggestions of a book for a 7th grade boy that grabs you in the very first chapter, I'd love to hear it!

Last week, I posted a couple of fun items:  some new videos by the author of Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life and a trailer for a new movie version of Jane Eyre.  I also posted a review of the teen suspense novel, The Deadly Sister on my kids/teen book blog, Great Books for Kids and Teens.


What are you and your family reading this week?


(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey).

Jane Eyre: The Movie

The trend continues as yet another book is adapted for the big screen.  This one is a classic:  Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.  It's been decades since I read Jane Eyre, but I remember loving it.

You can see the movie trailer here - it looks pretty good to me!  I like the mood and tone of it, with those shots of the lonely, gray moors.  It's due for release in March 2011.

What do you think of the trailer?  Are you interested in seeing it?

New Videos for Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life

In February 2009, I posted a review of a unique memoir, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  I really enjoyed this funny, warm memoir written with encyclopedia-like entries.

Amy has just posted three new videos on YouTube that reflect the same quirky sense of fun that I loved in her book.  The first video is a sort of promo for her book, filled with fun little audience-participation hot spots, including opportunities to receive fresh pie in the mail or to appear in another video.

Within that video is a link to another one, a music video of a song about Amy and her book, written and performed by a musician friend (it's actually pretty good!)

Her third video, Standing in a Bookstore Looking at a Book, is an ode to choosing a book that all book-lovers will appreciate.

All of the videos are further proof of Amy's cleverness and creativity - hope you enjoy them as I did!

It's Monday 11/8! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday!  Another busy week here.  Last week of the marking period for the kids, so they had a lot of work to do, my husband is traveling for business again, and I'm busy trying to be both mom and dad!  I don't think the kids had any time at all for reading last week, but I did:

• I finished Unwind by Neal Shusterman, a teen dystopian novel, and absolutely loved it!  I couldn't wait to tell you about it, so I posted a review on my kids' book blog the same day.
• Now, I'm in the middle of Beloved by Toni Morrison for our library book discussion this week.  It's a Classic Potluck - everyone reads a classic of their own choosing then tells the group about it.  I know some don't consider Beloved old enough to be a classic, but it was included on a list of classics from the library, and I've wanted to read a Toni Morrison book for a long time.  She's got an unusual writing style at times, but I'm enjoying this moving story very much so far. 
• My husband took his new mystery, New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith, with him on his trip, along with Unwind, after Jamie and I raved about it!
• Jamie, 16, is still reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury for school (he says he's ahead of the class since he read a lot while he was sick recently) and The Stand by Stephen King for fun.
• Craig, 12, is still reading The Book of Time by by Guillaume Prevost, the first book in an exciting, fast-paced time-travel series, but I don't think he read at all last week!  We'll have to remedy that this week...

Besides the review of Unwind (you must read this book!), I also posted a summary of all the books I read in October.

And check out these details of the upcoming movie versions of The Hunger Games and The Help.  I can't wait to see both of them!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Mondays is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey).

The Help, The Movie

Yeah!!!  One of my all-time favorite novels, The Help, is being made into a movie, to be released in August 2011. 

This update provides some details, and here are some stills from the movie (apparently, they've already begun filming).  It looks so good, doesn't it?  I can't wait!!

What do you think of the actresses they chose for the lead roles?  Will you go see the movie?

Books Read in October

I didn't read nearly as many books in October as I did in September, but that's a good thing - I tore through a bunch of book last month because I was sick for two weeks.  Healthier and busier this month, so I'm not complaining!

I read 2 adult books, and 3 teen/YA books (one of which was an audio) in October:

• Blind Descent by Nevada Barr, one of her classic Anna Pigeon thrillers, about a National Park ranger, this one set in Carlsbad Caverns.
• Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel, a warm, funny, and thought-provoking teen novel that I loved about a boy whose parents are raising a chimp as a human baby, teaching him sign language.
• Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell for my book group, a gentle coming-of-age story set in the Canadian prairie.
• The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer, an enjoyable teen mystery/suspense novel.
• She's So Dead To Us by Kieran Scott, a teen audio novel with more depth than I expected.

All good reads in October!  Hope you had a good reading month, too.

It's Monday 11/1! What Are You Reading?

Eeek!  November already?  How on earth did that happen?  From here on out, time seems to go double-speed through January. 

Back to October for a moment.  We had a wonderful Halloween weekend, filled with pumpkins, cider, and fun costumes.  Our whole family dressed up as rock stars for Halloween (that's me in front), and the boys had a blast trick-or-treating.  We love our Halloween traditions - fun weekend, but tough to have Halloween on a Sunday night.  My son was getting ready for school this morning and said, "Mom, we have a problem!"  The insides of his ears were black from the spray-on hair dye!  I got him cleaned up before the bus came.  Personally, I had a terrible time washing off the black lipstick and eyeliner.

Besides Halloween, we had a very busy week - my husband was out of town, my mom stayed with us most of the week, Jamie was sick for another 3 days, then had a mountain of make-up work...so, we had very little reading time.  Here's what we read:

• I finished The Deadly Sister by Eliot Shrefer and enjoyed it very much.  It's a murder thriller for teens/YA with some unexpected twists.  Review coming this week.
• I usually alternate kids/teen books with grown-up books, but I made an exception this week so I could read something spooky for Halloween.  So, I'm in the middle of Unwind by Neal Shusterman, a chilling book about a time in the future when abortion is illegal but parents can choose to "unwind" their kids when they're teens, sending them to a harvest camp where all of their organs are transplanted to donors so that life doesn't technically end.  I loved Shusterman's Everlost and Everwild, and Unwind is just as good.  A perfect Halloween read!
• My husband, Ken, worked long hours on his business trip, so he just finished Cover Her Face by P.D. James, which he said was a classic British mystery.
• Next, he's starting a book I gave him for his birthday, New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith - I thought he'd enjoy a mystery set in our favorite city!
• Jamie, 16, is still reading Fahrenheit 451 by Rad Bradbury for school and The Stand by Stephen King for fun (he's on about page 500 of 1000!).
• I don't think Craig, 12, read much at all last week, but he's still working on The Book of Time by Guillaume Prevost, the first book in an exciting, fast-paced time-travel series.

I had a lot of fun last week posting my Top Ten Books to Read for Halloween, and I posted a review of Who Has Seen the Wind.  I also posted a review of a teen audio book at Great Books for Kids and Teens, She's So Dead To Us (which sounds a bit Halloween-y but really isn't).


What are you and your family reading this week?


(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey).

Fiction Review: Who Has Seen the Wind

I just read this novel for my neighborhood book group, and everyone enjoyed it. It's considered a Canadian classic (though I'd never heard of it before), originally published in 1947. 

It's a sweet coming-of-age story set in the Saskatchewan prairie in the early 1930's. Brian is only four years old when the novel opens, and it ends as he enters adolescence. In between are joys and sorrows, just like in real life, along with tender moments, plenty of humor, and some surprising insights from a young boy. It's not a fast-paced book but easily kept my interest, a "gentle story" as one of my neighbors put it, with a wonderful philosophical perspective that provided plenty of fodder for discussion.

Top Ten Books for Halloween

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Today's seasonal topic is Top Ten Books To Read for Halloween.  This was sort of tough for me because I don't read many scary or supernatural books anymore.  When I was in my teens and twenties, I read a lot of horror - pretty much everything Stephen King wrote and a lot of Dean Koontz, too - but I haven't read much of that genre in years.  So, I dug back a ways for some of these and only came up with 8:

1. It by Stephen King (I could have made an entire list of Stephen King novels, but I remember this one being one of the scariest)
2. The Dark Half by Stephen King (another favorite because it's about a writer)
3. Shutter Island by Denise Lehare
4. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (not really scary but a ghost story)
5. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (scariest Crichton book)
6. Wicked by Gregory Maguire (it's about a witch after all!)
7. The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent (more disturbing than scary but it is about the Salem witch trials)
8. The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult (truly frightening in much too real a way)

For my list of Top Ten Books to Read for Halloween for kids and teens/YA, check out Great Books for Kids and Teens.

What are your top picks for Halloween reading?

It's Monday 10/25! What Are You Reading?

Another Monday after another very busy week.  Soccer, school functions, and house guests this weekend.  My mom and her husband were visiting.  The guys all went to a Ravens-Bills football game, while my mom and I took the train to NYC to see a show on Broadway.  We saw Next to Normal which was stunningly good, with amazing music, great acting, and very powerful emotions.  So, lots of fun for all of us, but not a lot of reading time!  Things should start to slow down a bit, as the boys' soccer seasons begin to wind down.

Here's what we're reading:

• I finished Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell, a classic coming-of-age novel set in the Canadian prairie.  It was wonderful - warm and tender, funny, sad - just like real life.  My mom is reading it now; our book group meets Wednesday to discuss it.
• Now I'm reading a teen suspense novel/murder mystery, The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer.  I'm only on chapter 9, but it's already a very compelling story about two sisters, one of whom may have been involved in a murder.  It's hard to put down!
• Jamie, 16, made a little more progress on The Stand by Stephen King, unfortunately because he was home sick for much of last week.  
• Jamie also finished Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer for his American Lit class.  He said the story was interesting, but he didn't like the way the book was written (he would have preferred to hear the story told from a first-person perspective, but, of course, that's impossible).  His class has now started Fahrenheit 451 by Rad Bradbury, an old favorite of mine.  When I was in high school, I read every Ray Bradbury book in our public library!
• Craig, 12, has started The Book of Time by Guillaume Prevost, the first book in an exciting, fast-paced time-travel series.  The real surprise is that Jamie and I both loved this series and have been trying to get Craig to read it for years.  He likes to be independent, so he rarely takes our advice on reading materials!  I think he'll really enjoy this book.
• My husband, Ken, is still working on his English mystery, Cover Her Face by P.D. James.  He had very little reading time last week!

Last week on Great Books for Kids and Teens, I posted a review of Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel, a wonderful teen novel about a boy who has a chimp for a baby brother.

What are you reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

It's Monday 10/18! What Are You Reading?

Rough Monday morning today.  I attended an all-day medical conference yesterday on my chronic illness along with two friends.  It was wonderful and interesting and very worthwhile...but a long, long day for me.  I'm pretty wiped out today.  Of course, both boys forgot assignments at home this morning, so I will be making a run to each school...Monday.

Thank goodness Monday also means What Are You Reading day!  Something to look forward to on a hectic morning.  None of us had a lot of reading time this week, but we squeezed in a little:

• I finished Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel - review to come this week at Great Books for Kids and Teens.  I loved this middle-grade novel about a boy whose scientist parents are bringing up a baby chimp as a human to try to teach him sign language.  The book is funny, touching, fascinating, and thought-provoking.
• I'm now reading a book for my neighborhood book group meeting next week, Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell, a coming-of-age story about a young boy growing up in a prairie town in Saskatchewan.  I'd never heard of it before, but apparently, it is considered a Canadian classic.  It's enjoyable so far.
• My husband, Ken, planned to take 2 paperbacks with him on his trip to Texas last week but forgot both at home!  So, he bought one at the airport by one of his favorite authors, Robert Crais: The Forgotten Man, a Elvis Cole novel.  He says it was very good.
• Now Ken is back to the novel he started last week, Cover Her Face, a mystery by P.D. James.  He was having trouble remembering all the characters last night as he tried to pick up where he left off!
• Jamie, 16, is still reading The Stand by Stephen King for fun, and Into the Wild by Job Krakauer for school.  He was pretty sick last week and struggling to keep up with homework, so he didn't have much time for any reading.
• Craig, 12, finished Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi for school and is looking forward to his class visit to the Renaissance Faire this week.  I don't think he's started a new book yet (that will probably require a little push from Mom!)

I had my hands full last week taking care of the kids and the house on my own while Ken was out of town, but I did manage to post reviews of a couple of old favorite animal middle-grade series, Warriors and Silverwing at Great Books for Kids and Teens.  Here, I posted a summary of all the books I read in September (better late than never!) and a short review of Blind Descent by Nevada Barr.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Mondays is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey).

P.S. Jamie just texted and said he doesn't need his assignment until tomorrow, and I e-mailed Craig's essay to his teacher...sigh...I love my couch (and my laptop!).

Fiction Review: Blind Descent

Before I discovered book groups and broadened my reading horizons, I read almost exclusively mysteries and suspense novels. I don't often read these mass market thrillers any more, but I do still enjoy a Nevada Barr book once in awhile. Her unique twist? All of her novels are set in National Parks and her main character, Anna Pigeon, is a park ranger. As an avid outdoors person and frequent visitor to National Parks, I really enjoy these books.

Blind Descent was somewhat unique, even within Barr's normal approach because it was set in Carlsbad Caverns National Park and much of it takes place underground. There were many passages describing how the "cavers" explored and traveled through dramatic and harrowing underground passages in a lesser-known cave within the Park that only a few people had ever seen.

Normally, Anna is a strictly above-ground person, since she has claustrophobia, but she agrees to go along on a rescue mission because the injured caver is a good friend of hers who has specifically requested her presence. It seems like a straightforward - if terrifying - mission, until whispers of murder start to circulate. A very enjoyable read. 

Books Read in September

I'm running a little late on this after a busy week and a weekend away.  September was a good reading month, in part because it was a rotten health month.  A nasty virus and bronchitis left me in bed for over a week...with nothing to do but read!  I read six books for kids or teens and three grown-up novels:

• Ruined, a teen ghost story set in New Orleans.
• Mockingjay, the fabulous end to the amazing teen/YA trilogy that began with The Hunger Games - highly recommended for teens and adults alike!
• George Washington's Socks, a time travel adventure novel for middle-grade kids.
• The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman's award-winning story of a boy who grows up in a graveyard, filled with his trademark wit and whimsy.
• Suspect, an original teen mystery
• The Limit, a fast-paced middle-grade techno-thriller set in the near future

• The 19th Wife, a fascinating historical novel mixed with a modern-day murder mystery
• The Shipping News, an award-winning novel set in Newfoundland and populated by quirky characters.
• A Soft Place to Land, a novel about the complex and changing relationship between two sisters who lost their parents.

Hope you had a good reading month, too!

It's Monday 10/11! What Are You Reading?

Another Monday morning.  We had a wonderful weekend, camping with good friends.  The weather was absolutely perfect - I love fall!

We had a busy week but managed to fit in some reading:

• I finished Blind Descent by Nevada Barr - a satisfying mystery by a favorite author who sets all her novels in National Parks (this one was set in Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico).
• My husband, Ken, finished Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel, a middle-grade novel about a family that raises a chimp as if he were a human baby in order to teach him sign language.  After he finished it, I picked it up!  I'm really enjoying it so far.  Oppel is an excellent writer (my oldest son was a huge fan of his Silverwing series) and the premise is fascinating.
• Ken is traveling this week, so his next book is a slim paperback, Cover Her Face, a mystery by P.D. James.  We've both enjoyed her books in the past.
• Jamie, 16, hasn't had much reading time because of so much homework, but he's still working on The Stand by Stephen King for fun and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer for his American Lit class.  He says he'd enjoy Into the Wild more if he was reading it on his own and didn't have to think about underlining important passages!  I want to read it when he's finished.  I loved the movie.
• Craig, 12, is still reading Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi for his English class.  In conjunction with the book and their study of Medieval England, his class will be going to the Renaissance Faire next week.

Last week, I participated in a fun meme, posting my ten favorite authors of kids/teen books at my other blog and my ten favorite grown-up authors here.  I also posted a short review of the novel, A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White.

I also posted two new reviews at Great Books for Kids and Teens:  Suspect by Kristen Wolden Nitz, a teen mystery, and The Graveyard Book, a delightful middle-grade novel by Neil Gaiman about a boy brought up in a graveyard by ghosts.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Mondays is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey).

Top Ten Favorite Authors

My long-time readers may remember that I used to do a weekly meme, Ten for Tuesday, with a top ten list each week (you can check out my past Ten for Tuesday posts).  Well, someone else has started a very similar weekly meme, and I decided to jump in and participate!

The Broke and the Bookish has a weekly question for bloggers for its Top Ten Tuesday meme (see the similarities?).  This week's theme is Top Ten Favorite Authors.   Sounds like fun!

This is kind of tough, though, because I don't read a lot of authors repeatedly - I spend much of my reading time on new books by authors I haven't read before.  But I guess some stand out as repeat favorites.  I'll limit this list to grown-up books, but you can read my list of favorite authors for kids/teen/YA books at my other blog, Great Books for Kids and Teens.

So, here we go, in no particular order:

1. Geraldine Brooks
2. Jodi Picoult
3. Orson Scott Card
4. Jennifer Haigh
5. Janet Evanovich (pure escapist fun, but I've read every Stephanie Plum novel!)
6. Khaled Hosseini
7. Barbara Kingsolver
8. Wally Lamb
9. Harper Lee
10. Rebecca Wells

This was a tough, and I probably forgot a bunch.  With a few of these authors, I've only read one book of theirs, but I loved it so much, they became an instant favorite!   On the other hand, I left out a few where I loved one book but didn't enjoy another of theirs much. 

Who are your ten favorite authors?