It's Monday 8/13! What Are You Reading?

Well, I did some catching up on blogs last week and wrote quite a few posts and reviews, but this Monday post might be all that I can manage for this week!  It's going to be insanely busy, with my son's 18th birthday, a weekend away with extended family starting Friday, and so many things to get done before then that my to-do list is overflowing the page!


Truly, reading is my one refuge when things get this hectic.  Here's what we read last week:

• I finished Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich, laughing all the way.  It was a nice bit of fun escapism, just what I needed last week!
• Next I read a new teen/YA novel, The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls by Julie Schumacher.  I requested a review copy of this novel because I read that the author was from Delaware and the story was set here as well, but I ended up really liking this teen summer novel very much.
• And now (drumroll please...), I have finally started 11/22/63 by Stephen King, my last selection for My Big Book Summer Challenge.  This one definitely qualifies as a big book, at 849 pages.  It will also help me meet my weight-training goals, as the hardcover edition we have is a brick of a book!  It is excellent so far - I LOVE time travel stories, so I know I will enjoy this very much.
• My husband, Ken, finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and loved it as much as my son and I did!  If you are also a fan of this unique novel, check out my review with a link to Cline's own Easter Egg contest, just like in the book!
• Ken is now back to reading A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, one of his Big Books this summer.
• Jamie, 17, finished Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead, Book 1 in The Pendragon Cycle series.  He said it was very good, and he is looking forward to reading more of the series. Now he is focused on trying to finish up the last of his high school work and get ready for college.
• Craig, 14, is reading In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, as required reading for his freshman year of high school which starts in 2 weeks!  He's not really enjoying this novel so far.

I wrote two reviews last week:  Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and Sharp North, a teen/YA dystopian novel by Patric Cave.  I also posted my summary of Books Read in July (better late than never!).  And if you want to get to know me better, check out my top ten lists from last week, of the blog posts that provide the best glimpse of me - there is one list for this blog (grown-up books) and one for my Great Books for Kids and Teens blog.  I also posted a link to a fun list based on an NPR poll:  the 100 Best-Ever Teen/YA Novels.  This was an interesting list since it was based on a public poll.  Check it out.

What did you and your family read last week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

Books Read in July

Once again, the end of the month took me by surprise!  How could July have passed so quickly?  I usually start my monthly summary with a photo from the month, but my camera broke on one of the last days of our vacation in June, and I just got a new one last week.

July was a good reading month, continuing with my Big Book Summer Challenge and also squeezing in lots of smaller books.  I finished:

• Cardboard, a graphic novel by Doug Tennapel
• The Postmistress, a novel set at the start of World War II by Sarah Blake
• Ready Player One, a novel by Ernest Cline
• Sharp North, a teen/YA dystopian novel by Patrick Cave, read for the Big Book Summer Challenge
  
• Drama, a graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier
• Amulet: Prince of the Elves, a graphic novel by Kazu Kibushi
• Bird and Squirrel on the Run!, a graphic novel by James Burks
  

 It was an all-fiction month for me!  I read two grown-up novels, one lengthy teen/YA novel, and 4 graphic novels.  The graphic novels are an unusual twist for me - Scholastic sent a bunch for review, so I squeezed them in among the longer novels.  My favorite of the month?  That's an easy one - I loved Ready Player One and so did my husband and son!


I made some progress in my 2012 challenges:  I added only one new state to my Where Are You Reading 2012 Challenge:  Ready Player One takes place in Oklahoma (in 2045 but it's still Oklahoma!).  None of the graphic novels actually specified a location.  Sharp North counted for both my Dystopian Challenge and my 12 in '12 Challenge to read 12 books from my TBR shelf.  And I added 1 book to my What's In a Name Challenge (don't you think you might find Cardboard in a backpack?  maybe?).  And I added another book, Sharp North, to my own Big Book Summer Challenge.



So, I had a pretty good reading month in July.  How about you?  What was your favorite book read last month?

Fiction Review: Ready Player One

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is a wonderful, unique novel that is so good that it swept quickly through our family, read by me, then my 17-year old son, and then my husband (who couldn’t stand to listen to the two of us rave about it anymore!).  We all loved its story and characters, its one-of-a-kind setting, its mystery and suspense, and especially its sense of fun!

Seventeen-year old Wade has a pretty dismal life in 2044.  His parents are dead, he is under the care of an aunt who only wants his government issued food coupons, and he lives in a “stack,” a vertical stack of 22 small trailers in a trailer park of over 500 stacks, on the edge of Oklahoma City.  But, like everyone else in 2044, Wade also has the OASIS.

The OASIS is an intricate, sprawling world of virtual reality where most of humanity now spends their time – going to school, shopping, meeting with friends, and working, all without ever leaving their laptops.  Wade attends a virtual high school, finishing his senior year, but his real passion, along with millions of other people, is searching for James Halliday’s Easter Egg in the biggest online game ever created.

James Halliday was a Bill Gates/Steve Jobs type guy – a geek who ended up a multi-millionaire thanks to his computer skills.  When he died, his will announced that he would leave his entire fortune, including the company that manages OASIS, to whomever was the first person to find the hidden egg in OASIS, somewhere among tens of thousands of online worlds, by solving puzzles and clearing three gates.  Basically, it is Willy Wonka and the Virtual Reality Factory!  Much of the world joins the search online, including obsessed zealots who become known as Gunters, like Wade.  Gunters all know that Halliday was obsessed with the 80’s, when he came of age, so they spend all of their time immersed in 80’s pop culture, hoping to find the elusive clues left by Halliday.

Five years later, even the best Gunters have failed to find the first clue in the puzzle.  Then one day, after school, Wade finds it.  He is the first person in the entire world to solve the first puzzle and pass through the first gate, and as soon as he does, his avatar becomes instantly famous, as the world watches him (and follows him) in hopes of having a shot at the prize for themselves.  Wade and his few close friends – whom he has never met in person – are left to fend off their competitors (including an evil corporation that wants to control OASIS) while trying to race to the finish line.

Trying to explain the plot this way makes it sound very complicated – and I suppose it is somewhat complex – but mostly it is a whole lot of fun!  The 80’s pop culture references sprinkled throughout the book – old movies, music, TV shows, and of course, video games – add a unique element of nostalgia and whimsy to this novel.  But you don’t have to know a single thing about video or computer games to enjoy this book because at its heart, it is simply a great, suspenseful story with likable characters to cheer for (and evil ones to root against) that happens to be set mostly in a virtual world.

(And in the coolest book twist EVER, author Ernest Cline has hidden an Easter Egg in both the hardcover and paperback editions of Ready Player One.  The clue leads to a website with a video game to play, with 3 stages to the hunt, just like Wade completed.  The prize?  A 1981 DeLorean, complete with flux capacitor just like in the classic 80's movie, Back to the Future!)

374 pages, Crown Publishers

NOTE: Although I have heard great things about this novel since its release in 2011, what finally prompted me to request it from the library was its inclusion as one of the Summer Book Club choices for The Readers, one of my favorite book podcasts (or book-based banter as these two Brits call it).  Unfortunately, their planned interview with the author fell through (though they hope to still do it sometime in the future), but they did spend some time discussing Ready Player One on this summer podcast.  Now that we have all finished the book, we can listen to the discussion!

Top Ten Posts That Provide the Best Glimpse of Me

Today is Tuesday, and that means Top Ten Day over at The Broke and the Bookish.  Head on over there to check out all the links to great blogs!  I love making lists, but I haven't had the time to participate in this favorite meme all summer.  Today's topic is Top Ten Posts That I Think Give You the Best Glimpse of Me.  This is an interesting one because most of my posts are either book reviews or Monday What Are You Reading? updates, but I will try to select a nice assortment to give you a better idea of who I am, both personally and as a reader (and writer).

•  Welcome to My Reading World - my first ever book blog post, this provides an introduction to who I am and what I like to read.  Since it was written over 6 years ago, I doubt that anyone sees it much anymore, so I'm glad to have a chance to link to it! (NOTE: I later separated reviews of kid/teen/YA books into another blog, Great Books for Kids and Teens).
• Review: The Anatomy of Hope - this review of a nonfiction/non-memoir book (a bit unusual for me) is important to me because this book had a profound effect on my own life, and I often recommend it to others.
• Review: Replay - a review of my favorite book of all-time - 'nuff said.
• Favorite Books Read in 2006 - though a few years out of date now, this year-end summary was the first time I'd kept track of what I read, and some of the books listed here as best of the year remain on my top ten of all-time list.
• Top Ten Books That Taught Me Something - long before I discovered this Top Ten meme at The Broke and the Bookish (or even knew what a meme was!), I started my own Ten for Tuesday list feature.  This was one of my favorite lists because I love books that are thought-provoking and expand my view of the world.
• Quote It Saturday 11/7/09 - I really enjoyed this meme and keep a quote journal to jot down excerpts from books that I want to remember.  This one struck a particular chord with me because it is from a memoir about family and travel, two things that are very important in my life.
• Review: People of the Book - one of my favorite books and also a pretty darn good review, if I do say so myself!
• My Big Book Summer - this post shows two things:  my first-ever hosted challenge and my choice of books to read this summer (I have read 3 of the 5 so far and am getting ready to start 11/22/63).  There is still plenty of time to tackle a Big Book before Labor Day, if you want to join in!
• It's Monday 8/6/12! What Are You Reading? - yeah, I know just about everyone writes some sort of weekly wrap-up post, but I think mine is a bit unique because I include what everyone in my family is reading.  Did I mention that family is important to me?

Oh, shoot, I can only pick 10?  Well, I think those provide a good overview of who I am and what my book blog is all about.

It's Monday 8/6! What Are You Reading?

Wow, it just occurred to me that it is now August, and we left July behind last week.  That should give you a hint as to what my week was like!  Lots of stress, emotion, and a flurry of activity after our first meeting with the Office of Disability at my son's college.  We have a very big decision to help him make this week regarding whether he is healthy enough to start college (3 weeks from today!) and if so, how much he can manage: 1 class, 3 classes, in the dorms, living at home?? 

Anyway, that has been completely occupying our minds and our time, so I had no time at all for either writing reviews or visiting blogs, but I hope to catch up a bit this week.  We did all turn to our favorite past time, reading, to help distract us from the stress in our lives:

• I finished Sharp North by Patrick Cave and will try to write my review this week.  It is a teen/YA dystopian novel that is full of action.
• Next, I attempted to start the book for my library's discussion group this week, Silent Spring, Rachel Carson's ground-breaking 1962 book that led to a public outcry against pollution and the use of harmful chemicals in agriculture and the formation of the EPA.  Since I used to work in Environmental Management, I am very interested in the subject matter and am reading bits of it when I can, but it was just too heavy and depressing for me to focus on, given my emotional state.  So...
• I picked up Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich, a gift from my husband for my birthday last month.  This light and fluffy Stephanie Plum novel is just what I needed right now - a bit of reading fun with nothing at all to think about!  I am laughing out loud while I read and enjoying it.
• I also continued making my way through the stack of graphic novels Scholastic sent with Bird and Squirrel on the Run! by James Burks.  Talk about light and fluffy!  This is a simple, fun graphic novel about...well, just what the title says...a bird and a squirrel who become friends and endeavor to stay away from the evil Cat.  Think classic cartoons, like Tom & Jerry.
• My husband, Ken, finally gave in and set aside George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings so that he could read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, after our son and I raved about it!  He is enjoying it, too, and should finish this morning while he is waiting to be called for jury duty.
• So, Jamie, 17, finished Ready Player One on Monday (with lots of laughs).
• Now Jamie is reading Taliesin, Book 1 in The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead. He says it's good so far.
• Craig, 14, is reading In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, one of his required books for school.  He is waiting to get to the parts with more action; so far, it is mostly about sisters reminiscing about their days at school - not really his thing!

As I said, no reviews posted last week, but I did post a link to a fun list of 11 Authors Who Hated the Movie Versions of Their Books.  There are some real surprises on this list!  I added my own list of movie adaptations I loved or hated.  How about you?  Join in this fun discussion!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

Authors Who Hated the Movies of Their Books

Recently, my favorite book podcast, Books on the Nightstand, referenced this blog post from Mental Floss, 11 Authors Who Hated the Movie Versions of Their Books, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

There are some real surprises on this list!  Check it out.  Discuss...

As for recent movies, my husband and I just watched the movie adaptation of Water for Elephants last week, and we both loved it (we both read the book).  I also enjoyed the movie adaptation of The Namesake, and our whole family thought The Hunger Games movie was excellent.

We also recently watched One for the Money, the movie adaptation of Janet Evanovich's first Stephanie Plum book (again, we are both fans of the books).  While the movie was pretty well done just from the perspective of a movie, it was almost painful to watch as a lover of the books!  We both felt the casting was all wrong.  Katherine Heigl as Stephanie??  Not even close.  And Debbie Reynolds as Grandma Mazur?  Nope.  And, as much as I like Jason O'Mara as an actor, he was just NOT Joe Morelli in my mind.  Granted, all of the actors did a good job in the movie, but the producers should have chosen actors who more closely fit the descriptions of the characters, instead of just going for the big names.  That's Hollywood, right?

My husband, Ken, is now horrified with the news that they are making a movie from his favorite suspense series, the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child, and they have chosen Tom Cruise to play 6'3" blond Reacher!

Which movie adaptations did you love or hate?

It's Monday 7/30! What Are You Reading?

Well, my week of quiet solitude is over!  On Saturday, we picked up our two teen sons from their week of sailing with their grandparents.  All of them were exhausted when we met up with them!  Though I wasn't happy to have the TV on all day yesterday, it is nice to have the boys back home.  Now it is almost August, and school starts four weeks from today - the summer is flying by!

We all enjoyed some good books last week:

• I am still reading Sharp North by Patrick Cave, a teen/YA dystopian novel and one of my Big Book Summer Challenge choices.  It's interesting and engaging so far, a unique story set in the UK years after disastrous flooding has changed the world.  My son, Jamie, loved it and recommended it to me.
• I am still listening to Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, a middle-grade audio book that won the Odyssey Award for Audio Book Excellence...with good reason!  It is wonderful, and I am enjoying it very much.
• I also read Book 5: Prince of the Elves in the popular Amulet graphic novel series.  The drawings were good, but I had no idea what was happening throughout the entire book - obviously the result of starting with Book 5!  From what I've heard, it's been a bestseller, so we will have to try starting with Book 1 to see for ourselves.
• My husband, Ken, is still reading George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings, Book 2 in this popular series of huge books!
• While on the boat last week, Jamie, 17, read The Rogue Crew by Brian Jacques, part of the Redwall series which was Jamie's favorite when he was younger.  He's not sure how he missed this one, but he thoroughly enjoyed this bit of comfort reading!
• When he returned from the boat, I convinced Jamie to try Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.  He read for hours yesterday and is LOVING it (as I knew he would!).  It's just such a fun, unique novel, filled with 80's pop culture references that I knew Jamie would enjoy.
• Craig, 14, took a break from reading while on his trip, but yesterday he reluctantly started his second required book for the summer, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.  He has been dreading this one!  To him, it looks like a "girly" novel.  According to the Amazon description, the story goes "...from hair ribbons and secret crushes to gunrunning and prison torture," so hopefully, he can tolerate the hair ribbons and crushes parts and enjoy the action and suspense!

Even though the kids were gone last week, I still had a very busy week with not nearly as much time for writing as I'd hoped, so I posted just one new review: Liesl and Po, a wonderful middle-grade audio book.  I also posted a link to a hilarious blog post, where a writer mom asked her 6-year old daughter to explain what various classic novels were about, from looking at their covers - lots of fun!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

Judging a Book By Its Cover

Photo by Sunny Chanel at Strollerderby

It turns out you CAN judge a book by its cover!

In this blog post from Strollerderby, the author, Sunny Chanel, presents some classic novel covers to her 6-year old daughter and asks her to explain what she thinks each book is about.  The results are hilarious...and sometimes startlingly insightful!

Hope you enjoy this bit of Friday fun!

It's Monday 7/23! What Are You Reading?

Today is my birthday!  Happy Birthday to me - ha ha.  I am celebrating by relaxing alone at home - ahhhh!  My sons are off on their grandparents' sailboat for a week, so my husband and I are enjoying a rare bit of peace and quiet.  Life is so easy with just the two of us - we haven't run the dishwasher in 2 days, and it's still not full!

My 8th birthday!

We had a good reading week:

•  I finished reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and I LOVED this unique novel!  It is just so much fun but has some depth to it as well.  I found myself thinking about the characters days after I'd finished the book - always the sign of a good novel.  I can't wait to listen to the book discussion of it on The Readers, one of my favorite book podcasts.  And my husband and son will love this book, too!
• Now I am reading Sharp North by Patrick Cave, a teen/YA dystopian novel that has been sitting on my TBR shelf for far too long.  My Big Book Summer Challenge motivated me to finally read it.
• I am listening to Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, a middle-grade audio book that won an Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audio Book Production.  I can see why it won an award - I am loving it so far and hoping to have more time to listen with the kids gone this week!
• I also read another graphic novel that Scholastic sent me: Drama by Raina Telgemeier. I really enjoyed this story about a middle school musical production, especially since my son had the lead role in his middle school's musical this spring!
• My husband, Ken, is still reading George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings (Book 2).  He wants to read Ready Player One before I return it to the library but is too immersed in this hefty tome for now!
• Jamie, 17, finished The Sapphire Rose, Book 3 in David Eddings' Elenium Trilogy.  He really enjoyed this fantasy series that his Dad recommended.
• Jamie told me on the phone this morning that he is now reading The Rogue Crew by Brian Jacques.  He LOVED the Redwall series when he was younger and just discovered this one title that he'd never read before.  It was his first-ever purchase at his college bookstore!  And he loves to read books about sailing or the ocean while he is on the sailboat.
• Craig, 14, finished the first of two required summer reading books this week, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  He found it interesting, and is now enjoying a break from reading during his vacation (yes, I have one son who brings an extra bag full of books on vacation and another who doesn't read at all on vacation!).

I posted two reviews last week:  The Postmistress by Sarah Blake and Cardboard, a middle-grade graphic novel by Doug Tennepel.

My Big Book Summer Challenge is well underway, but there is still time to participate if you have a big book (or two) that you'd like to read this summer.  Check out the challenge and the links to some big book reviews!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted at Teach Mentor Texts.)

Fiction Review: The Postmistress

Summer is usually my no-book-group time, when I have no reading obligations because both of my regular book groups take the summer off, but my library’s pick for its July discussion prompted me to set aside my Big Book Summer Challenge for a while.  I’m glad I did.  The group read The Postmistress by Sarah Blake; I enjoyed both the novel and the discussion very much.

The Postmistress is set at the very start of World War II, before the United States has gotten involved.  I’ve read a lot of novels about World War II, but this one covered aspects I knew little about – the U.S.’s apathy at the beginning of the war , the extensive bombing of London, and the world’s ignorance of what was really going on.

There are three main characters at the heart of the book, whose stories are initially separate but gradually come together (I love that in a novel!).  Iris James is the Postmaster in Franklin, MA, a tiny town on the tip of Cape Cod.  She’s been single all her life but now is falling for Harry Vale, the town mechanic who worries they may be in a vulnerable position if the Germans cross the Atlantic.  Emma Fitch has just moved to town, newly married to the town’s doctor, and feeling happy for the first time in her difficult life.  And Frankie Bard is an American woman, reporting live on the war from London.  Emma, Iris, and Harry – as well as the rest of America – all listen to Frankie’s lively radio reports.

Frankie is in the midst of nonstop bombing by the Germans.  I knew London had been bombed during the war, but I had no idea of the extent of the bombing nor how long it went on.  Frankie and other London residents spend every night in underground shelters (many of them just Tube stations), huddled on the hard ground with a blanket and listening to the bombing above.  They emerge each morning to discover whole sections of the city gone.  Frankie tries to convey to her American audience not only the severity of the bombing but also the significance of the war and what is happening to the Jews; she wants the United States to wake up to what is going on in Europe and get involved.

The story unfolds from all three women’s perspectives as the war worsens and their lives each begin to unravel in unforeseen ways.  Eventually, their lives entwine, as one of them waits desperately for news and the other two find themselves unable to deliver a critical bit of news.  The action alternates between Frankie’s observation of (and involvement in) the horrible things going on in Europe and the ordinary lives continuing in the U.S. as if nothing is happening.

I really loved this book, especially the way the disparate stories slowly came together.  The historical backdrop was fascinating, the characters were interesting and sympathetic, and the plot was unique and surprising.  This is an excellent book group pick; our discussion was in-depth and covered many diverse topics, from details of this period in history to the ethics of certain characters’ actions to the parallels with what is happening in the world today.

318 pages, Amy Einhorn Books

It's Monday 7/16! What Are You Reading?

Whew, another crazy busy week.  I literally had appointments every single day last week - run, run, run!  Fortunately, all that time in waiting rooms gave me some extra reading time...a silver lining!

Here's what we read last week:

• I finished The Postmistress by Sarah Blake...almost in time for the book discussion at my library!  I had 10 pages to go when it was time for the meeting, so I finished it right afterward.  It was a good book, and it sparked some great discussions!  I'll post a review this week.
• Although I normally alternate between kids' books and grown-up books, I had another library book/discussion book that I couldn't wait to read!  I am reading Ready Player One by Ernest Cline to prepare for a book discussion on one of my favorite podcasts, The Readers.  I've been hearing great things about this novel since it was published a year ago and am so glad I finally got to it.  It is really, really good, a story about a teen in 2045 who is competing in a huge worldwide online game inside the virtual reality world where most of Earth's human residents now spend their waking hours.  The game's creator (a sort of Gates/Zuckerberg geek success) was obsessed with the 80's, so the novel - and the game - are filled with 80's pop culture references.  It's a great story and lots of fun!
• My husband, Ken, is still reading George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings (Book 2)...and will be for a while!  He's enjoying this hefty book.
• Jamie, 17, is busy with school work but found time to continue reading David Eddings' The Elenium Trilogy.  He finished book 2, The Ruby Knight, and is now reading book 3, The Sapphire Rose.  He seems to be enjoying this series by one of his dad's favorite authors!
• Craig, 14, is still reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, one of his required reading books for the summer.  He's enjoying it and finding it interesting, but he'd rather be out with his friends than reading!

I lugged my laptop along to several appointments last week, so I also had time to catch up on a few reviews while sitting in waiting rooms!  I reviewed two of my Big Book Summer reads:  Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a teen/YA post-apocalyptic novel.  I also posted a summary of Books Read in June (better late than never!).

There are eight of us now participating in the Big Book Summer Challenge, and reviews are being posted, so check it out.  There's still plenty of time left in the summer to read a big book, so join the fun!  And if you are already participating, be sure to add your own big book review links!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

Fiction Review: Outlander

For years – and years! – I have been hearing good things about Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and its sequels. I bought myself a copy a very long time ago, and it sat on my bookshelf collecting dust. I really did want to read it, but it’s hard to find time for an 850-page epic.  That’s the beauty of my Big Book Summer Challenge; with both of my regular book groups taking the summer off, I have no reading obligations and plenty of time to tackle hefty books like this one that I have been wanting to read. 

I read Outlander over a 3-week period while we were on vacation, and it more than lived up to all the hype I’d heard.  It was perfect vacation reading: the story pulled me in and kept me reading – yes, through all 850 pages!

It’s the story of a young British woman named Claire who, in 1945, is vacationing with her husband, Frank, in Scotland after the end of the war.  Frank worked in intelligence during the war, and Claire worked as a nurse, so they are reuniting after a long separation.  Frank is into genealogy and is taking advantage of their time in Scotland to gather more information about his ancestors.  

 

The excitement begins when Claire visits an ancient stone circle in the area and is somehow pulled into the past: far into the past.  Stuck in the 1730’s, Claire does her best to survive and blend in.  She meets one of her husband’s ancestors whom Frank had been studying, Jonathan Randall, and he turns out to be a nasty, sadistic British officer.  She also meets a young Scot named Jamie who has inadvertently made himself Randall’s greatest enemy.  Of course, Claire’s modern medical training is extremely useful in the 1730’s, though as a woman, she is viewed with suspicion as much as gratitude. 

 

This is an epic novel, filled with battles, castles, warriors, heroes and villains, and romance.  It is also a very graphic novel, with some exceptional violence and explicit love scenes (and, disturbingly, sometimes the two intersect).  In fact, my husband read Outlander a few years ago and found a scene toward the end just too disturbing – that kind of ruined the book for him.  As for me, I’m no fan of violence, but I enjoyed this compelling novel in spite of its graphic nature (I do understand that violence was a part of life during that time in history).  I came to really care about Claire, caught between two worlds, and I was rooting for her.  I often enjoy time travel stories, but this one is also so much more.  I think I need to find time to read book 2!

 

850 pages, Bantam Dell

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.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores.

 

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!

 

Books Read in June

Me and my two sons in Badlands National Park

We spent most of June on a 3-week long cross-country road trip (and the week before that immersed in graduation festivities), so it was an unusual month in many ways, including reading and blogging.  I did pretty much no blogging at all, and my reading was concentrated on a few long books, in line with my Big Book Summer Challenge.


Here's what I read in June:

• Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a teen/YA dystopian novel.
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, a sweeping epic of a time travel novel.
• Revived by Cat Patrick, a teen/YA sci fi/romance audio book.

And that's it!  The first two books were part of my goals for my Big Book Summer, at 459 pages and 850 pages, respectively.  Outlander was my favorite book of the month and lasted me through our entire 3-week vacation!  That brings my mid-year total up to 33 books.

For my 2012 Challenges, I added one state, Nebraska, and one country, Scotland, to my Where Are You Reading 2012 Challenge, which brings my mid-year totals to 18 states and 5 countries. I added Blood Red Road to my Dystopian Challenge, bringing my total to 4 dystopian novels so far this year.  For my 12 in '12 Challenge, I read another book off my TBR shelf, Outlander, bringing my total to 4 for the year so far (though this one should count for more than one, since it is so long and it has been sitting on my shelf gathering dust for so long!).  I better get crackin' on this challenge!

And my own first hosted challenge, the Big Book Summer Challenge, is in full swing.  There is still time to join the fun - you only need to read 1 book over 400 pages before Labor Day to qualify, so check it out!

What was your favorite book read in June?

It's Monday 7/9! What Are You Reading?

I'm a little late posting today - spent all morning running errands and going to appointments.  Whatever happened to the lazy days of summer??

In fact, I was insanely busy all last week - post-vacation catch-up!  I am making progress, slowly but surely.  I am down to just 100 unread e-mails now (I started with 1000!).  So, little time for either reading or blogging last week, but I am hoping to get back to normal this week. 

Here's what we read last week:

• I finished Outlander by Diana Galbaldon.  I enjoyed it very much and would definitely read another in the series...when  have a few weeks to devote to it!
• I am diverting briefly from my Big Book Summer focus to read a novel for my library's book group, The Postmistress by Sarah Blake.  I don't know if I'll be able to finish in time for the discussion on Wednesday, but I am enjoying the book.
• I started a new audio, the middle-grade novel, Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt.  I have only finished disk 1, but I am loving it already.
• In a few spare moments (OK, I admit it, in the bathroom), I read a new middle-grade graphic novel, Cardboard by Doug Tennapel.  I liked it more than I expected to - it's a unique premise and a very clever story about magic cardboard that gets out of hand.
• My husband, Ken, finally got his turn with George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings (Book 2) now that our son finished the first three books!
• Jamie, 17, had to get back to work upon returning home (he still has 2 classes to finish this summer), so he's not reading as much as he'd like to, but he is continuing to enjoy David Eddings' The Elenium Trilogy with the second book, The Ruby Knight.

Two more bloggers signed up for the Big Book Summer Challenge last week - welcome!  Join the fun - there's still plenty of time to read a big book this summer (or two).

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a middle-grade/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Books.)

Snapshot Saturday 7/7

At Home with Books hosts Saturday Snapshot.

This is a photo from our recent cross-country road trip, of a storm approaching at sunset in Badlands National Park in South Dakota.  We were out hiking (it was too hot to hike during the day!) among the amazing rock formations - we love the Badlands!  We got back to our pop-up camper just in time for the storm to hit.  And what a storm it was - we thought our camper would blow away!  In fact, the next morning, we found that the wind had blown our gas grill several feet and had blown the wooden chocks out from under the tires of the camper.

All in all, it was a great trip!  Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

It's Monday 7/2! What Are You Reading?

No, don't worry, I didn't enter Witness Protection.  I disappeared for a few weeks because we were on vacation!  Our vacations are mostly tech-free - long road trips cross country, camping along the way.  We drove to South Dakota's Black Hills - one of our favorite places on earth! - to visit family and enjoy all the amazing scenery, and we made lots of fun stops along the way.  Although I did miss interacting with friends online, I have to admit that I didn't miss all the obligations and responsibilities - of course, now I have 950 e-mail messages to wade through!

So, we read lots of great books over the past 3 weeks (it's actually been a full month since my last Monday update).  We read far fewer than usual, though, because all of us were focused on some really BIG books - perfect for my Big Book Summer Challenge!  Here's the run-down:

• Before we left, I finished Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a teen dystopian novel and my first Big Book of the summer, at 459 pages.  It's an unusual novel, written in a unique style, but it grew on me - the story was gripping.
• During our trip, I read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.  At 850 pages, it lasted our entire trip (and I am still working on finishing it!).  I am loving it - it is just as good as everyone has told me for years - an epic story about a woman in Scotland in 1945 who gets sent back in time to the 1700's.
• My husband, Ken, finished reading George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.  He loved it but very kindly held off on starting Book 2 because he knew our son would fly through both books (he was right!).  
• Next, Ken read Running Blind by one of his favorite authors, Lee Child.
• Jamie, 17, started the trip by reading and enjoying The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, a recent re-release by favorite author Nancy Farmer, while he waited (rather impatiently!) for Ken to finish Martin's novel! 
• Next, as predicted, Jamie flew through George R.R. Martin's series, reading A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, and A Storm of Swords (which we gave to Ken for Father's Day while we were away!).  He loved the series and can't wait to read Book 4!
• After polishing off those three enormous novels, Jamie delved into the duffel bag of books he brought with him (he reads a LOT on our trips!) and started The Diamond Throne by David Eddings, Book 1 of The Elenium trilogy.  Eddings is an old favorite author of my husband's, so he picked up two of his trilogies at the used bookstore for our son before we left.
• Craig, 14, started his assigned summer reading for school while we were gone with Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and was surprised to find it fascinating!
• In the car, we listened to a new teen audio book, Revived by Cat Patrick, a creepy sci fi/romance about a girl who is part of a secret government program to test a new drug that can revive people who have died.  Ken and Jamie thought there was too much romance and not enough action, but we all enjoyed the intriguing and unique story.

So, that's about it.  I did manage to post two new reviews before we left:  The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern and The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez, a teen memoir.  I also posted a summary of Books Read in May...and now it's already time to summarize June!

It's still early in the summer - plenty of time left to sign up for the Big Book Summer Challenge if you haven't yet!  It's an easy-breezy challenge - you only need to read one big book (over 400 pages) this summer to participate.  Sign up today and join the fun!  Here are a few pictures from our trip.  If you are interested, you can see more at our trip blog.

Ken and I at Sylvan Lake, Custer State Park, SD

Craig and Jamie at Mount Rushmore

All of us at Devil's Lake State Park, Wisconsin

Books Read in May

Whew - May went by in a flash!  A Very busy month for us, getting ready for two graduations, proms and formals, lots of school activities, and hosting lots of guests.  I did find time to read some good books in May:

• Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson, an original and suspenseful psychological thriller, read for one of my book groups.
• Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voight, a warm and tender middle-grade/teen novel.
• Faith by Jennifer Haigh, a thought-provoking novel by one of my favorite authors, read for my other book group.
• Leisl and Po by Lauren Oliver, a fun and adventurous middle-grade audio book about a girl who befriends a ghost.
• Dead To You by Lisa McMann, a compelling teen/YA novel about a boy who was abducted years ago and returned to his family.
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, a magical, thoroughly unique novel.
• The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez, a fascinating teen/YA memoir.

Wow, I read 7 books last month - that's actually more than I usually fit in!  I read three grown-up novels, two middle-grade novels (one read and one audio), and two teen/YA books, one a novel and the other a memoir - that's a pretty good mix for a single month!

All of these books were good.  In fact, they were all excellent; I don't think I can pick a favorite this month.  OK, if you twist my arm, Dead To You was probably my favorite among favorites, with Before I Go To Sleep a close second.

For my 2012 Challenges, I added only 1 new state, Maryland, to my Where Are You Reading 2012 list.  The rest were all repeats (still reading lots of books set in England!).  I read nothing at all from my TBR shelves this month - all library books and new review books.  And no dystopian novels (though June will take care of that!).  I squeezed in one memoir just before the end of the month, though.  And I started my own first-ever challenge, Big Book Summer Challenge, so check it out and sign up!

What were your favorite books read in May?

Fiction Review: The Night Circus

When The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern was first published, I heard one gushing, complimentary review after another, but it sounded like a strange book to me, a story about a unique circus that is only open at night.  I wasn’t all that interested in the topic (I should have learned my lesson with Water for Elephants), but the rave reviews won out.  I bought the novel for my mother for Christmas and then borrowed it after she finished it (and also raved about it!).  Well, it is an excellent, engaging novel…and, yes, it is also strange, but in a good way.

I hardly know where to start because this is one of those novels where describing the plot doesn’t begin to explain why the book is so special.  At its heart, it is about a competition between two very old…uh…magicians?  I suppose that is the right word.  Each of them has chosen and trained a young apprentice to carry out this competition on their behalf.  Celia and Marco both know that they are part of an unusual contest, but they know very little else – not the scope of their competition nor its stakes nor even, at first, who their competitor is.

The setting for this mysterious competition is Le Cirque de Rêves (literally, the Circus of Dreams).  This unique circus is open only at night and features acts and attractions unlike any that have ever been seen before.  Even many of the circus’ performers are unaware that it is really the stage for Celia and Marco’s competition.  It moves without warning from one location to another, all over the world, attracting legions of ardent followers.

Some of the most fascinating passages in the novel are those that describe the circus in all its one-of-a-kind black and white glory.  You will wish you could walk through the tents of the circus yourself and experience its stunning acts first-hand.  Morgenstern’s descriptions pull you in, making the circus and its inhabitants feel real.  You will smell the caramel and see the white flames of the bonfire in your mind.

But this novel has much more depth than just a collection of sensory images.  At its heart, it is a love story, and I came to care for its main characters, especially Celia and Marco, Bailey, and the red-headed twins born on the circus’ opening night, Widget and Poppet.  My only complaint (and it is a minor one) was that the chronology of the novel is sometimes confusing, as each chapter bounces back and forth through time.  As long as you read the chapter headings closely and take note of when they take place, it’s not too distracting, though it might be hard to keep track of on audio.  Eventually, all the disparate threads of the story come together.  It is a magical journey you won’t want to miss.

387 pages, Random House 

 

It's Monday 6/4! What Are You Reading?

Wow, last week was just a nonstop whirlwind of activity, but I survived!  Our oldest son, Jamie, graduated with honors from high school this weekend.  We are so proud of him!

So, amid all the preparations, house guests, graduation activities, and party, none of us had much time for reading, and I had no time at all for writing blog posts or book reviews.  I don't expect it to get much better this week:  we have more house guests, our son's 8th grade graduation, and lots of vacation preparation.

Still, we did squeeze in a little reading:

• I read The Pregnancy Project: A Memoir by Gaby Rodriguez, a very unique teen/YA memoir written by a young woman who pretended to be pregnant during her senior year in high school in order to observe how friends, peers, family, and teachers treated her and explore stereotypes of pregnant teens.  It was a fascinating memoir.  I'd like to see the Lifetime movie made from her book.
• Next, I decided to get started on My Big Book Summer Challenge with an easy one, Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a dystopian teen/YA novel.  It is written in a very unusual style with sparse prose and no quotation marks, but the story is so engaging that is has grown on me.  It's getting hard to put down now!
• My husband, Ken, is still reading A Game of Thorns by George R.R. Martin, but he says he only has 150 pages to go now!  He's really enjoying it.  He was already perusing the TBR shelves last night, trying to decide what to read next while we're on vacation. 
• Jamie, 17, had a very busy week, filled with all sorts of senior activities at school, plus trying to finish his work (he was sick a lot this year so has some work to finish over the summer), but when he needed a break, he read Spiral by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, Book 5 in the Tunnels series.  Talk about Big Books - these are all huge!  Jamie loves this series and says it just keeps getting better.
• Craig, 14, finished Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen, part of his series that begins with Hatchet, a favorite in our family.  We'd listened to the audio many years ago, but Craig enjoyed reading the book.  He is now finished with his reading requirements for middle school!  Thank goodness he has some required summer reading for his new high school or he'd probably not read at all during the summer!

 Remember to sign up for the Big Book Summer Challenge - in keeping with the easy-going nature of summer, there are few requirements - just read one book over 400 pages (or as many big books as you like!).  Check out my own stack of big books I hope to read this summer and sign up yourself!

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)

It's Monday 5/28! What Are You Reading?

Happy Memorial Day!  These Monday holidays always feel strange, to not have to get up to the alarm and run around first thing on a Monday morning - not that I'm complaining!  My younger son has been in Connecticut with his grandparents this weekend, and my husband, older son, and I have been taking it easy, trying to recover a bit from our hectic weeks.  And there is lots more to come!  This week, we have a raft of school functions, leading up to Jamie's high school graduation on Friday and Craig's "graduation" from middle school next Wednesday, accompanied by lots of family visits!

So, not a lot of time for reading this week, but we all managed some:

• I am almost...wait a minute...OK.  I have just now finished The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern.  This completely unique novel grew on me, pulled me in until I felt I was part of it and came to care about the characters.  I'm sorry it is over now.
• I am still listening to Ghost Knight, a middle-grade novel by Cornelia Funke.  It's very good so far.
• My husband, Ken, is still reading A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin and enjoying it.  He thinks our oldest son would probably like it, too.
• Jamie, 17, has been reading Spiral by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, Book 5 of the Tunnels series.  He says the books just get better and better, and the authors have amazing imaginations!  I've only read the first one, so I will have to check out the rest of the series one of these days.
• Craig, 14, has been reading Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen, one of many sequels to The Hatchet, a favorite in our family.

I did finally find time to write a couple of reviews last week (while in medical waiting rooms!):  Faith by Jennifer Haigh, a hit with my book group, and the teen/YA novel Dead To You by Lisa McMann which I loved.

But the big news here is that I am hosting my first-ever reading challenge!  Big Book Summer Challenge is an easy, laid-back challenge perfect for the relaxed summer months, a chance to tackle one or more of the long books you've been meaning to read but never seem to find time for.  Check it out and sign up!  Here are my own big book goals for the summer.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kids/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)