Books Read in February

Hey, I'm summarizing last month, and it's only the 24th - that's actually an improvement! Though that seeing that photo while I write this out on the back deck makes me realize I am still behind!

I read quite a variety in February:

• This Side Of Wild by Gary Paulsen (AK, TX, AZ) - middle-grade nonfiction
• The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (NYC) - adult fiction
• The Cage by Megan Shepherd (?) - teen/YA audio novel

 

• The Two-Family House by Lynda Cohen Loigman (NYC) - adult fiction, reviewed for Publishers Weekly
• A Night Divided by Jennifer Nielsen (Germany) - middle-grade audio historical fiction 

So, five books (including two audio format), spanning all ages and even including a bit of nonfiction. Even the fiction I read included a lot of variety - sci fi, romantic comedy, family drama, and historical fiction. It's always hard to choose a favorite, especially when they are all so different. The Cage was probably the most compelling, though A Night Divided is a close second...and the characters in The Rosie Effect feel like old friends.

Progress on 2016 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading Challenges! These are mostly new for this year. Click the link to see them all and check out my progress. Still not much progress on my Read Your Own Damn Books Challenge - only one of these was a TBR book from my shelf! For the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge, amazingly four of my five books fit the Released in the Last Year category for February - that's unusual for me. I read my first nonfiction book of the year for my 2016 Nonfiction Reading Challenge, but still no classics for the 2016 Classics Challenge. For my Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge, I read a book set in Germany. And does the one set on another planet count?? I am also tracking the states my books are set in, even though there is no Where Are You Reading challenge this year - click the link to see my progress so far.


For my February Bookish Bingo (hosted by Chapter Break), I filled 12 of the 25 squares on my Bingo card with these books:

• The Two-Family House: first love
• The Rosie Effect: nerd/geek, tattoo/piercing, accent, set on a school campus, bar, inexperienced/naive
• The Cage: dark past, cyborg
• This Side of Wild: artist/poet/writer, shelf-love book (TBR)
• and the Free Space!

What were your favorite books read in February?

Middle-Grade Review: A Night Divided

The topic of Jennifer Nielsen’s latest middle-grade novel really caught my attention: the Berlin Wall. Why aren’t there more historical novels written about that part of history? My instincts were right – A Night Divided is a riveting and fascinating story of a young girl’s experiences trapped in East Berlin.

Twelve year-old Gerta is surprised to wake up one morning in Berlin in 1961 to the noise of construction close to her family’s apartment. She looks outside to see that a tall fence has gone up through the middle of her city overnight, dividing East Berlin, controlled by the Soviets, and West Berlin. Worst of all, her father and brother went to West Berlin yesterday to look for work and are now trapped on that side. As Gerta, her mother, and her brother, Fritz, worry about what will happen to their split family, they see more changes around them.

The temporary fence soon becomes a wall, constantly monitored by armed guards. Gerta misses her father and brother, but they aren’t allowed to come back; the Soviet forces restrict any movement back and forth between East and West Berlin. Walking to school, Gerta tries to watch the fence to see if she can spot her family members on the other side, but a guard with a gun threatens her just for looking. Despite her fear, Gerta can’t help but glance over that way, and one day, her persistence is rewarded, and she spots her father and brother on a viewing platform on the other side of the wall!

With hints pantomimed from her father, Gerta comes up with a plan to escape to the West by tunneling under the wall. It’s hard work, though, and must be done entirely in secret. If she were caught, she and her whole family would be killed. Even worse, she can’t ask for help and doesn’t know whom she can trust. Her neighbors and even her best friend might spot suspicious behavior and turn her in to protect their own families.

Nielsen paints a vivid picture of what it was like to live behind the Wall, in constant fear and with no freedom or rights. I knew very little about this aspect of post-war history, other than remembering when the Wall came down in 1989. I didn’t even realize it was so long after the war – 1961 – that the wall was erected. I was so intrigued by this novel that I looked up historical information on the real Berlin Wall (see the photos included here). Nielsen did her homework – several of the incidents and escape attempts she describes in the novel really happened, many families were split up, and some people did manage to escape by digging tunnels.

The historical aspects of this novel were enlightening, but it is also an action-packed, suspenseful story, as Gerta races against time to try to help her family escape and reconnect, with the constant fear that she will be caught. She also struggles internally, with going against her mother’s wishes, with losing her best friend, and with wondering whom she can trust. I listened to the book on audio, which was read wonderfully by Kate Simses, and I was engrossed in the story from the very beginning. Believe it or not, this was the first novel I’ve read from this popular author. I hope she will continue to write historical fiction.

Scholastic Audio

A Day in the Life 2016

Trish over at Love, Laughter, Insanity is once again hosting her A Day in the Life event today! I participated last year and really enjoyed it - both documenting a typical day for me and also taking a peek into other bloggers' everyday lives. As Trish explains on her blog, everyone thinks their own Day in the Life is boring, but what's routine for you is interesting to other people! So, I carried my camera with me yesterday (most of the day - I kind of got distracted once the family got home), and here is the result - My Day in the Life 2016:
 I started my day with a special treat - a bowl of oatmeal. My son and I switched to a Paleo diet (no dairy, grains, or sugar) a couple of years ago for medical reasons (it's supposed to be good for immune disorders), so I mostly don't eat grains...but I really like oatmeal! So, once a week, I treat myself to oatmeal for breakfast, made as Paleo-like as I can, with loads of coconut, walnuts, flax seed, and blueberries. Mmmm...

Next comes my favorite part of the day: sitting in the family room (the sunny spot near the window) with a hot cup of Tangerine-Orange Zinger Tea and my laptop. I take a quick peek at my blogs, Facebook, and Twitter, then close those windows to get some real work done. Yesterday, I was working on editing an article I am writing for FamilyFun magazine. We are at the final draft stage, and the editor asked if I could make it "snappier"....hmmmm.

Soon, it is time to go to physical therapy. I somehow hurt my right shoulder at the beginning of the year - no idea what I did to make it start hurting. The PT says that's common, but I suspect it means I'm getting old! They think it is a bit of tendinitis in the tendon that attaches my bicep to my shoulder, so I've been going to PT twice a week. I love when the PT stretches my shoulder manually - works out all the kinks & makes it feel better! The best part of PT, though, is the last 15 minutes spent lying down with an ice pack on my shoulder, listening to my latest audio book. This one (that I just finished today) is Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in South Bronx by Sonia Manzano, a YA memoir by the actress who plays Maria on Sesame Street (whom I grew up with!) about her childhood. What an amazing book! And perfect on audio - I loved listening to her oh-so-familiar voice.

After PT, I rushed home to find the washer repairmen had already arrived. Hurray! Our washer broke almost two weeks ago, and we had to wait for a part, so I am thrilled that it is finally getting fixed. The laundry has really been piling up - this photo is just one of my son's piles, but we were all getting pretty desperate for clean clothes. They fixed it, and I immediately put in a load of clothes. Ah, clean towels, clean shirts, and underwear without rips! This is the life.

As soon as the repairmen leave (and I put in that first load of laundry), I hurry outside to squeeze in a quick walk around my neighborhood before lunch. My activity level is quite restricted due to my chronic illness, but I have gotten to the point where I can manage a slow walk most days, and I really enjoy it. It was nice and sunny, though still pretty cold out, and I enjoyed seeing all the early signs of spring in my neighborhood.

Back home for lunch, my favorite time of day. With all the men in my house (we have two teen/young adult sons), I look forward to watching a TV show all by myself at lunchtime, something the rest of my family won't watch with me. Often it is something girly like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt or Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, but today I caught up on an episode of The Amazing Race, a show we used to all love to watch together when our boys were younger. They all got sick of it, but I still love seeing all the incredible places the teams travel to. In today's episode, they were in Colombia, a first for the Race.

For lunch, I had another treat - leftovers! With all those hungry appetites here, we don't always have leftovers, but today I had one of my favorite comfort foods, Holubtsi in a Pot, my own version of deconstructed Ukrainian cabbage rolls (recipe at the link). We will be eating all of our favorite Ukrainian foods this coming weekend for Easter - I can't wait!

After lunch, I took my daily nap, a necessary evil with my illness. People always say, "you're so lucky you can nap every day!" but it's not all that much fun when you have to nap. I feel like an overgrown toddler! But I definitely need it to get me through the day, so I try to relax and get the rest I need.

When I get up, my son and his girlfriend were home from school and doing their homework in the family room. He had soccer and she had dance last night, so I get right to work preparing dinner. Since I knew we'd have a full house for dinner (often these days it is just my husband and I), I made a big pot of Shrimp & Sausage Gumbo (recipe at link), a recipe I created based on the wonderful gumbos we ate when we lived in New Orleans...only quick and easy for weeknights. After the chilly day, gumbo was perfect, and we all enjoyed it. Then, the kids rushed off to their activities.

After nap and after dinner are when I focus on my blogs (now you know why I am always behind!), so I wrote my TV Tuesday post after dinner. This week's featured show was The Americans, one of our favorites, just back for its fourth season. By 7pm, with that posted, I was out of energy for the day and settled in for our evening routine.

I got myself a cup of tea (Raspberry Zinger or Mint Medley in the evening) and a piece of dark chocolate and spread out on the couch. Ahhh! My husband and I always watch two shows together in the evening. Our selections last night were Quantico and Madam Secretary. Both were excellent, as always. By the second show, I was feeling a little hungry so fixed a snack for myself - cut-up apple and a spoon of sunflower butter - and another cup of herbal tea. Our son came back home during the evening and excitedly told us about his first soccer practice. He hasn't played in a while and signed up for the local rec league this season just for fun. It's his senior year, so this will be his last season playing for school or the local rec league.

My husband and I headed up to bed at 9:30, after folding the towels (clean towels!). After getting ready for bed, we enjoyed an hour of reading. We both love to read, so this nightly routine gives us some together time, watching TV and then reading next to each other. I am currently reading The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood, my latest review book for Publishers Weekly. They require very detailed page citations in each review, so my book is filled with little Post-it tabs, labeled with important events. I wasn't sure I'd like this novel, but it is growing on me, and I'm enjoying it now. Lights out at 10:30!

That was my day? How was yours? Head over to Love, Laughter, Insanity to share your Day in the Life!

TV Tuesday: The Americans

My husband and I were excited last week by the return of one of our favorite TV shows, The Americans, for its fourth season. It just gets better and better!

This FX show takes place in 1980's Washington, DC.  Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings run a travel agency together and seem like a typical suburban family, with their kids Henry and Paige. There is nothing typical about them, though. They are both Soviet Union spies who were sent to the U.S. when they themselves were teenagers to grow up here, get married, and become imbedded as spies who appear like any other American couple.

So, they get up in the morning, feed the kids and take them to school, maybe stop in at the travel agency for a while, and have dinner with their kids in the evening. In between, though, at all hours, one or both of them might be out on an assignment, wearing a disguise and gathering information - perhaps sleeping with a politician or meeting up with another spy or even killing someone who has gotten too close to their secret. It's all very thriller-ish, packed with action and sometimes sex and violence, while on the surface, they live this sedate, "normal" life.

Challenges are constantly coming up, from finding out that their neighbor works for the CIA to their teen daughter getting hooked on religion and joining a church. There are crosses and double-crosses, hidden secret lives, plus inside looks at what is happening within the CIA and inside the Russian embassy. One of the most amazing things about this unique show is that the viewer is witness to both sides of the Cold War, but you find yourself rooting for the main characters, the Russian spies!

The acting on The Americans is superb. Elizabeth is played wonderfully by Keri Russell, who conveys both a passion for her country and strong belief in what she is doing but also maternal love for her children. Matthew Rhys plays Phillip...though you may not recognize him at first in many scenes! His disguises are plenty and very convincing. Even the actors who play the children are excellent, especially Paige, who by the third season (and her teen years) is starting to wonder about her parents' comings and goings at strange hours.

There is tremendous complexity to this show - it's a family drama and a spy thriller, an action-packed adventure that also delves deep into its characters' emotional lives. In addition, the setting is very well-done - it really feels like the 80's without being overdone. We loved it right from the very first episode - and it just keeps getting better.

Season 4 just began on FX so is available On Demand and on the FX website. It is also available for $1.99 an episode on Amazon Prime, and the first three seasons of The Americans is available for free on Prime (or for $20 a season/$1.99 an episode for non-Prime members).






         

It's Monday 3/21! What Are You Reading?

I'm mostly recovered now from my bout of flu/bronchitis - just a little cough left. I had another week of not getting a whole lot done, though I did start to get caught up on blogging, so hurray for me!

Here's what we all enjoyed reading this past week:

• I finished reading The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick for my online family book group. It's a quirky novel about a 39-year old man who's just lost his mother to cancer and is adjusting to life on his own...in part by writing letters to Richard Gere, whom his mother admired. It was classic Quick - funny and a bit strange but also warm and dealing with serious issues around mental illness. The story and characters seemed light at first but really grew on me as I read.
• Now, I am reading my next review book for Publishers Weekly, The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood. This is my first Ann Hood novel, and I'm enjoying it so far. It's about a woman who is still reeling from her husband leaving her for another woman a year ago. She joins her friend's book group and begins to heal, bit by bit, book by book.
• I started a new YA audiobook last week, Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx by Sonia Manzano. It's a memoir written by the woman who has played Maria on Sesame Street for over 45 years. Sesame Street started when I was 6 years old, so I grew up on it and then watched it with my own sons. Maria's voice sounds sooo familiar to me, and her story is fascinating. It's wonderful, and I've been totally engrossed in it right from the beginning.
• My husband, Ken, is reading a Christmas gift from me, The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz. This is the continuation of Stieg Larsson's Millennium series starring the character Lisbeth Salander. We both loved the first three books and hope that this new author is able to fill Larsson's shoes. So far, Ken says it's living up to the first three novels.
• Jamie, 21, is reading The Good Knight, A Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mystery Book 1 by Sarah Woodbury.

 Finally caught up on some reviews last week:

TV Tuesday: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, an uplifting & fun comedy on Netflix

Fiction Review: The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion, sequel to the warm & funny The Rosie Project

Teen/YA Review: The Cage by Megan Shepherd, a unique & engrossing sci fi story

Saturday Snapshot 3/19: First Signs of Spring

What are you and your family reading this week?    

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.

Saturday Snapshot 3/19: First Signs of Spring

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. 

I recovered (mostly) from my flu and bronchitis and ventured back outside this week to discover that spring had come while I was hibernating! Here are some early signs of spring in my neighborhood:

The crocuses have bloomed!

A white crocus

Daffodils in our neighbor's yard

The first to bloom of many flowering trees here

Green nails in honor of St. Patrick's Day and spring!

Hope you are enjoying a great weekend!

Teen/YA Review: The Cage

The premise of The Cage by Megan Shepherd enticed me right from the start. One reviewer described it as “The Maze Runner meets Scott Westerfeld.” I listened to this exciting, unique teen/YA sci fi novel on audio, and it was engrossing from beginning to end.

Cora wakes up in a desert and doesn’t know how she got there. The last thing she remembers is riding in the car with her brother, heading to a ski resort in Virginia to meet their parents. How did she get to a desert? And why isn’t she wearing her own clothes? As Cora walks around, she discovers an impossible scenario; within walking distance, she can move from one distinct ecosystem to another – from snow-covered mountains to the desert sand dunes where she woke up to a beach complete with boardwalk and quaint town.

As Cora walks around, she also discovers that she isn’t alone. She meets a handsome boy named Lucky, from Wyoming, who had a similar experience to Cora. Gradually, they meet the others – five teens in all – including the gorgeous model from Thailand named Nok, the shy Norwegian genius named Rolf who was attending college in London, and the tattooed, tough-looking Australian named Leon. The five can’t figure out where they are or how they got here. Or what happened to the dead girl Cora found on the beach.

Then a very tall, handsome man appears out of thin air. Cassian explains that he is from a race of alien beings that took the teens from Earth in order to save the human race. This odd collection of habitats is their way of trying to recreate Earth for the captives. Feeling like animals in an alien zoo, watched through mysterious black windows, the teens argue over what to do – comply with the aliens’ demands of them or fight back somehow? Cora desperately wants to escape and return home, but is that even possible?

This gripping, unique story reveals its secrets one at a time, providing compelling suspense. Every time I thought I had things figured out, another surprise would be revealed. You don’t know whether the aliens are altruistic or dangerous (or both) or the exact details behind the teen’s captivity. Even the teens themselves are questionable. Most of them are hiding secrets from their pasts, they almost always disagree on what to do, and the group even wonders if perhaps one of their number is a mole for the aliens.

This is a novel that keeps you guessing. The reader – just like the characters – doesn’t know who to believe or what is real. You are rooting for the teens (to varying degrees) but don’t know whether you should hope they acquiesce or hope they fight back. It’s a gripping story with plenty of twists and turns that kept me captivated. The audio was very well done, and I can’t wait for the sequel! Book 2, The Hunt is due out on May 24, 2016.

HarperChildren’s Audio

Listen to a sample from the beginning of the book.

   

Fiction Review: The Rosie Effect

Over the Near Year’s holiday week, I read The Rosie Project and fell in love with Don and Rosie. It was the perfect book for me that week that I was feeling sick, and it lifted my spirits, as I laughed and cheered on Don’s fumbling attempts to win Rosie’s love. I enjoyed the characters so much that I couldn’t wait to read more about them, and recently enjoyed reading the sequel, The Rosie Effect.

This isn’t really much of a spoiler - since the first book was a romantic comedy – to say that Rosie and Don are together in the sequel. They have moved from Australia to New York City, where Don is working  & teaching at Columbia and Rosie is working on her PhD thesis there. They are just as much of an endearing odd couple as ever, with Don’s overly structured approach to life and Rosie’s spontaneity and enthusiasm. Don now counts six people as friends, a huge increase from where he started in the first book. Besides his old buddy Gene and his wife Claudia from the first book, Don has befriended a refrigeration engineer named Dave with whom he likes to go out for burgers, beer, and baseball talk, and Dave’s wife, Sonia. Isaac and Judy, local friends of Rosie’s mother, are also among Don’s friends now.

At the start of this second book, Rosie has a big surprise for Don: she’s pregnant. Poor Don has just adjusted to a life with less structure, sharing his life and apartment with Rosie, and the elimination of the Standardized Meal Plan, so the news that he is going to be a father is understandably unsettling for him. Wanting to be sure to do everything right, Don develops a research project to learn to be a good father. As always with Don, though, his good intentions go awry and he soon ends up in trouble with the police.

Like The Rosie Project, this second novel is often very, very funny, as what seems logical to Don leads to all sorts of unintended consequences and misunderstandings. I was surprised, though, by how touching and poignant this novel is as well. At one point, I was almost brought to tears because I had come to care about Don and Rosie so much and wanted things to work out for them.

From a misunderstanding over sustainable tuna to a lesbian mother’s group to Don delivering a baby amidst a screwball comedy of mistaken identities, The Rosie Effect will keep you laughing and turning the pages, but it will also touch your heart. By the end, I hated to say good-bye to Don and Rosie and wished they could stay with me just a little bit longer. I will soon get my wish, as The Rosie Project is being made into a movie.

368 pages, Simon & Schuster

TV Tuesday: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

I am slowly coming back to life after a bout of both the flu and bronchitis. I would say that the Tamiflu and antibiotics both did their jobs since about one week later, I am starting to feel much better and my cough is clearing up. Even my thinking cleared up today (yay!) and my energy is returning, so I am trying to get back into my usual blogging routines. I have plenty of fodder for my weekly TV Tuesday feature because my son and I were both home sick last week, so we watched a LOT of TV together!

On my worst day last week, I couldn't even manage scrolling through Facebook or checking my e-mail. My son was still asleep, so I needed some seriously mindless TV (and something other than crime shows which I was overloaded on from watching with him!). I settled on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, a comedy on Netflix, propped myself up on the couch, and binge-watched about 6 episodes in a row! It was just what I needed - light, fun, and fluffy to lift my spirits.

The very original premise of the show is that a group of girls is rescued from an underground bunker after being held for fifteen years by a crazy doomsday cultist. The girls travel to NYC to appear on the Today Show after their release, and one of them, Kimmy, played by Ellie Kemper of The Office fame, decides to stay in New York to start her new life. Kimmy was taken captive when she was just 13, so she is extremely naive and completely unfamiliar with the modern world. She was basically scooped up from middle school, held underground for 15 years, and is now loose in NYC.

Kimmy finds a job as a nanny for the wealthy Jacqueline Vorhees, played by Jane Krakowski, looking after her pre-teen son and teen daughter. She also finds a place to live, a basement apartment that she shares with a flamboyantly gay black man named Titus Andremedon, played by Tituss Burgess, with a very flaky landlord played by Carol Kane. It all sounds a little over-the-top described here...and it is! That's the fun of this show - subtle it is not. And did you see that cast? They are all excellent at playing crazy, funny characters.

Kimmy is, of course, the star of the show, and Ellie Kemper is perfect for the role of the innocent, perky young woman making her way through both adolescence and adulthood at the same time. Kimmy loves to dress in bright colors and has absolutely no pretense about her, which tends to bring out the best in those around her. Of course, there are plenty of funny misunderstandings from Kimmy's complete naivete about the modern world. Despite all its light-hearted fun, the show is also warm and endearing as Kimmy tackles all the obstacles thrown in her way and helps those around her, too.

Bottom line: this show is absolute cotton candy fun, a delight to watch, often very funny, and a great pick-me-up. It was the perfect show to binge-watch on a sick day, and after 10 episodes, I found myself really caring abut Kimmy and her ragtag group of friends.

This is a Netflix original show, so it is only available on the streaming service. Season 1 is currently available with 13 episodes, and season 2 starts on April 15, 2016.

What are your favorite shows to cheer you up on sick days?

It's Monday 3/14! What Are You Reading?

Just when I thought I couldn't possibly get any further behind on reviews and blogging.... I did. Last Monday, I felt fine most of the day but had a little tickle at the back of my throat in the evening. By the next morning, I was horribly sick with what we later realized was a combination of the flu and bronchitis! I started on both antivirals and antibiotics, but that's a lot for my body to handle since I also have an immune disorder. This past week has gone by in a fog, as I was too sick to do anything except read, watch TV, and nap. My college son was home sick all week, too. All in all, a very rough week.

I'm not back to normal yet - it could be weeks because of my underlying chronic illness - but I am sitting up this morning and typing this, so that's a step forward (though my brain still feels like it's encased in Jell-O).

We always love our books, but they are especially comforting at a time like this:

• I finished Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, a book I've been wanting to read ever since its release. It completely lived up to all the hype - I loved this novel!! It's about a traveling Shakespearean acting troupe twenty years after a pandemic killed 99% of the population. I loved the way the author moved back and forth from pre-pandemic to post, hinting at connections between people that would gradually become clear. Though it was a bit creepy to be reading about an apocalyptic flu pandemic while I had the flu!
• I also finished listening to Code of Honor by Alan Gratz, a teen/YA novel set in Arizona about two brothers whose mother is originally from Iran. Having been brought up as 100% all-American, it is a shock to 17-year old Kamran when his brother, an Army Ranger, is accused of being a terrorist, working with al-Queda.This novel was absolutely gripping from beginning to end, and I finished it in only a few days! It is action-packed but also full of heart, especially in highlighting the bonds between the two brothers.
• Now, I am reading The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick for my online family book group. It's a quirky novel about a 39-year old man who's just lost his mother to cancer and is adjusting to life on his own...in part by writing letters to Richard Gere, whom his mother admired. This is classic Quick - funny and strange but also warm and dealing with serious issues around mental illness.
• I forgot to mention last week that I'd finally finished a nonfiction book that I'd been reading just a bit at a time, How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness: A Mindful Guide by Toni Bernhard. Toni is a dear friend of mine who has the same immune disorder I do, and this is the third of her books that applies the basic tenets of Buddhism to life, in this case life with chronic illness. As always, I ended up with dozens of pages tabbed and found her book enlightening and helpful. 
• My husband, Ken, finished The Eye, the Ear, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer, a middle-grade science fiction novel by one of our favorite authors. Our son read this one, and it's on my list, too!
• Next, my husband took my advice and read This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen, a hilarious collection of real-life animal stories for middle-grade readers by the renowned wilderness adventure writer. He enjoyed it, too.
• Now, Ken is reading a Christmas gift from me, The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz. This is the continuation of Stieg Larsson's Millennium series starring the character Lisbeth Salander. We both loved the first three books and hope that this new author is able to fill Larsson's shoes.
• Jamie, 21, was home all week and too sick to go to classes, so he did a lot of reading, too. He's been re-reading one of his favorite series, The Sorcerer's Path series by Brock Deskins. Last time I checked, he said he'd re-read Books 1 through 4!

 Just one blog post besides last Monday's post:

Saturday Snapshot: Blue Sky and Bare Branches

What are you and your family reading this week?    

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.

Saturday Snapshot 3/12: Blue Sky & Bare Branches

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. 

Huh? Is it Saturday? This week passed in a fog. Felt a little tickle in my throat Monday evening and was horribly sick by Tuesday. Doctor thinks I have both the flu and bronchitis, double whammy. I am on both antivirals and antibiotics and a bit better than I was at my worst but still very sick.

So, I heard rumors that it was a lovely warm week, with signs of spring everywhere, but I didn't get any farther than my back deck. These photos are from a few weeks ago, before any buds appeared - bare tree branches against the backdrop of a brilliant blue sky. The trees should change dramatically in the next few weeks!

Hope you are enjoying a good weekend!

It's Monday 3/7! What Are You Reading?

Where did the week go?? It went by in a flash. I wasn't feeling well, so I didn't get nearly as much done as I'd hoped, though I was feeling better by the end of the week. The weekend was better - a nice combination of getting stuff done around the house and some fun family time, too. I put about a dozen new items on Craig's List Sunday - it's like holding a garage sale from your couch! Maybe this will help us to declutter a bit this spring. And yesterday afternoon & evening, we got to see our son's girlfriend in a dance performance (brought back memories of my own dance recitals!) and went to the restaurant where our son works for dinner and ran into some good friends we hadn't seen in ages - so all around, a good weekend!

There is never enough time for reading, but we enjoyed our books last week:

• I sort of finished The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. I read the first half, then skipped ahead to the last chapter so I could discuss it with my book group Thursday. It's an important book that should be read by everyone in America, filled with stunning statistics and facts on every page...though it's fairly depressing, as many of these serious problems are so deeply rooted in our society, it's hard to see how they will ever change. Our discussion was lively and interesting. 
• After such a serious nonfiction book, I was ready for a fiction fix and quickly moved onto my other book group's next pick, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, a novel I've been wanting to read ever since its release and so many rave reviews. I was hooked right from the beginning and am thoroughly enjoying it. It's about a traveling Shakespearean acting troupe in a post-apocalyptic world, after a flu pandemic. Mandel is such a talented writer!
• I finished listening to A Night Divided by Jennifer Nielson, a middle-grade audiobook about the Berlin Wall. It was fascinating and riveting- I couldn't believe I'd never read anything about the Wall before.
• Now, I am listening to Code of Honor by Alan Gratz, a teen/YA novel set in Arizona about two brothers whose mother is originally from Iran. Having been brought up as 100% all-American, it is a shock to 17-year old Kamran when his brother, an Army Ranger, is accused of being a terrorist, working with al-Queda. This book is amazing - I have been completely absorbed in it right from the first chapter and am plowing through the audio in record time, listening every chance I get!
• My husband, Ken, is still reading The Eye, the Ear, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer, a middle-grade science fiction novel by one of our favorite authors. Our son read this one, and it's on my list, too!
• Jamie, 21, is re-reading books 3 & 4 of Cinda Williams Chima's Seven Realms series, The Gray Wolf Throne and The Crimson Crown. This is one of his all-time favorite series, and he is getting ready for the upcoming release of the next book!

I am still way behind in reviews, but I managed a few blog posts last week (including one review):

TV Tuesday: Summary of TV Reviews - our favorite TV shows with links to my reviews

Summary of Books Read in January - a bit late but I read some good books that month!

Saturday Snapshot: Baltimore - pics of lovely Baltimore & its beautiful harbor

Middle-Grade Review: This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen - hilarious nonfiction animal stories

What are you and your family reading this week?    

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.  
 

Middle-Grade Review: This Side of Wild

When our sons were younger, we listened to Gary Paulsen’s classic adventure novel Hatchet on audio. All four of us were so engrossed that we went through all of the sequels on subsequent road trips – every one was as exciting as the first. So, when I heard that Paulsen’s latest book for middle-graders, This Side of Wild, was nominated for the National Book Award last year, I couldn’t wait to read it. This slim nonfiction volume of five animal-related stories from Paulsen’s own life is fascinating and absolutely hilarious!

Paulsen has written extensively about wilderness survival and his own sled dogs, but here he includes a series of short, sometimes vaguely connected stories about a wide variety of animals, both wild and domestic, that he has encountered in his life. He starts with a ragged little toy poodle named Corky that he rescued from the pound in Alaska. Corky was awash in medical problems, including having only three teeth left. Despite his size and condition, though, Corky turns out to be a zealous protector of Gary and ends up saving his life rather than the other way around.

Other stories tell about a dog named Gretchen who could sit at the kitchen table and “converse” with Gary, seemingly understanding everything he said, and Paulsen’s experiences on a sheep farm helping to birth hundreds of lambs with assistance from a border collie named Louise. There are also horses, birds and bees, a Mynah bird named Betty, a grizzly bear, a very smart jackrabbit, and ravens that seem to follow Gary everywhere. Every story is interesting and very, very funny. Some are absolutely incredible, and all of them highlight amazing things animals have done and the special connections that can grow between animals and humans.

I thoroughly enjoyed this quick read. As I read each chapter, I often laughed out loud and made my husband stop reading his book to listen to me read a passage aloud (though I also insisted he has to read Paulsen’s book, too!). It sometimes reminded me of a Bill Bryson book written for kids. It’s a fun, fascinating, and hilarious collection of real-life stories that prove that truth really is stranger than fiction. Paulsen has once again lived up to his stellar reputation.

118 pages, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Saturday Snapshot 3/5: Baltimore

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. 

Last weekend, my husband and I enjoyed a last-minute quick getaway to Baltimore, one of our favorite cities, about an hour away from us. Here are a few photos that show the beauty of the city and its harbor:

Baltimore Museum of Art on a gorgeous day

Husband & I with Rodin's The Thinker

View of Inner Harbor from our hotel room

Inner Harbor at sunset (triangle is National Aquarium)

Inner Harbor lit up at night (blue waves are National Aquarium)

Hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend!

Books Read in January

No, that's not a typo - yes, it is now early March, and yes, I am just now summarizing January! Definitely a slow start to the year in blogging, but I am catching up!

Fortunately, it was a good start to the year for reading. Here's what I finished reading in January:

• The Secret History by Donna Tartt, fiction (VT)
• Solitaire by Alice Oseman, teen/YA audio (UK)
• Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves, fiction (AL), reviewed for Publisher's Weekly

• The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman, teen/YA audio (MA)
• The Art Thief by Noah Charney, fiction (Italy, France, UK)

So, I read 5 books in January - not too bad since The Secret History took me a long time to finish. It was an all-fiction month, with three adult novels and two for teen/YA. And I listened to two audiobooks. I think my favorite of the month was Solitaire - the author captured a real-life combination of serious problems, humor, and typical teen experiences.

Progress on 2016 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading Challenges! These are mostly new for this year. Click the link to see them all and check out my progress. Slow start to my Read Your Own Damn Books Challenge - only one of these was a TBR book from my shelf! For the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge, The Art Thief fit nicely into the Who Dunnit?category for January - so far, so good!  No nonfiction yet for my 2016 Nonfiction Reading Challenge or classics for the 2016 Classics Challenge. For my Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge, I read two books with international settings and both dealt with their respective cultures in some depth, so I covered Europe quite nicely in January!

What were your favorite books read in January (if you remember back that far)?

TV Tuesday: Summary of TV Reviews

After putting together a listing of all of my book reviews and movie reviews from 2015, I decided I should also list the TV shows I have reviewed. All of these lists are available anytime from the tabs along the top of the blog (and will be updated there), but I am also listing my TV reviews here since there aren't many yet (I just started writing TV reviews in September 2015). These are all shows that I or my entire family have enjoyed, arranged by genre. 

What are some of YOUR favorite TV shows?

TV Reviews

KEY: Available for free (or with subscription) from:

AP = Amazon Prime

C = Cable and/or Cable On Demand

I = On network’s own website

N = Netflix

(Offerings from subscription services change all the time, so double-check. Also, some shows are available for an additional fee on Amazon Prime whether you subscribe or not. Most networks offer some episodes of every show for free at their own websites. Check out this post for a comparison of ways to watch TV/services available.)

Comedy

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (also a musical!) (C, I) – The CW

Grace and Frankie (N) - Netflix

Drama

The Good Wife (AP, C, I, N) – CBS

Madam Secretary (C, I, N) - CBS

Mr. Robot (C, I) - USA

Dramedy (both Comedy & Drama)

Orange is the New Black (N) - Netflix

Red Oaks (AP) – Amazon Prime

Transparent (AP) – Amazon Prime

Younger (C, I) – TV Land

Crime/Mystery/Thriller

5 Days (AP) – BBC

Blindspot (C, I, N) - NBC

Colony (sci fi) (C, I) - USA

How To Get Away with Murder (C, N, I) – ABC

Legends (C, I, N) - TNT

Limitless (C, I) – CBS

The Mysteries of Laura (C, I, N) - NBC

Quantico (C, I) - ABC

The Wire (AP) - HBO