It's Monday 11/28! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

 Life

Feeling a bit frazzled this morning! I usually do most of my holiday shopping on Cyber Monday (today), but I am also dealing with trying to arrange a pick-up of our old living room furniture (new stuff arrives next week) and arguing with KDP (Amazon's publishing arm) because I tried to run a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale on my book, and they never changed the price on the website. Very frustrating, especially since the same thing happened in August when I tried to run an end-of-summer sale! And all that shopping I need to do! Deep breaths ...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend up in Rochester, NY, my hometown. This trip is always a marathon for me, even when I'm in my best shape, so I was very pleased to be feeling pretty good after my long relapse this fall. I managed the weekend and really enjoyed seeing family. Because of my immune problems, we had to be cautious and skip a big whole-family gathering like we would normally coordinate, but we did two small gatherings (even those made me nervous), spent some wonderful time with my step-mom while staying with her, and I even got to see one of my best friends (from teen years on!) for the first time in several years. Thanksgiving dinner was so much better after the Bills big win!

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On the Blog

Just time for one review last week before we left:

Fiction Review: The Hotel Neversink by Adam O'Fallon Price - a mystery and generational family drama set at an old hotel in the Catskills

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What We're Reading

I'm still enjoying Nonfiction November, though none of us had much reading time last week:

 

 

I am still reading Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, a book that's been on my shelf for over a decade! Hillenbrand is my personal hero. Yes, she is an amazingly talented writer, but she also has the same immune disorder I have, ME/CFS, and has written remarkable books with horrible disabilities (great interview with her from Stanford Medicine). She wrote much of Seabiscuit while lying down on her back in bed, with her eyes closed because her vertigo was so bad, writing with a pencil on a pad of paper! My husband and I both loved Unbroken, and he loved reading Seabiscuit, but I kept thinking I just wasn't interested in horse racing. Well, of course, her in-depth research and incredible talent in story-telling shine through! It's another outstanding book that reads like a novel and is gripping and fascinating.

 

 

In small increments, I am also trying to fit in another nonfiction graphic "novel," Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball by Jon Chad. It's very interesting so far and surprising. I had no idea that the earliest pinball games could be traced back to the court of King Louis XIV. I learned that pinball was banned in NYC from 1942 until 1976. This was especially surprising since I was playing pinball in NY state by the late 70's! So far, it's entertaining and enlightening.

 

On audio, I am almost finished listening to The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton on audio. I have lots of nonfiction audios to choose from, but this one popped to the top of my list after hearing rave reviews from Booktubers. This is the author's story of how he was wrongly accused of two murders, convicted and sentenced to death, and lived on death row for 30 years before finally getting his name cleared. I've listened to other true stories of innocent men wrongly accused, but the shear volume of horrors here is stunning. It took flawed or outright falsified evidence, lies on the stand, an inept public defender, and many people ignoring evidence of his innocence to land him on death row. It's very powerful and completely gripping. I'm close to the end now and highly recommend this book!

My husband, Ken, is still reading The Verifiers by Jane Pek, an author I met at Booktopia. Jane sat at our table at dinner one night, so I got to know her a bit--she's excellent at book trivia! This is a classic mystery in a modern setting with an awesome female protagonist, with a hefty dose of humor, plus family drama. I thoroughly enjoyed it (you can read my review at the link), and he's liking it so far.

 

Our son, 28, has been reading Spellmonger by Terry Mancour, the first book in the Spellmonger series. He's enjoying it so far, but he admitted this weekend that he's gotten sucked into an old Pokemon game, so that's eating into his usual reading time! He also has less reading time at work, since he's got a new position with less downtime.

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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.

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

What are you and your family reading this week?

Fiction Review: The Hotel Neversink

I bought the novel The Hotel Neversink by Adam O'Fallon Price for my husband last year after seeing that it won the 2020 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original. I finally had a chance to read it myself, at the end of the R.I.P. Challenge this fall. This wholly unique novel combines suspense, ghosts, history, and family drama in an engrossing story that spans over a century.

In 1900, a wealthy man named George B. Foley broke ground on a mansion in the Catskills, on top of a hill overlooking the Neversink River, as the region there and in the nearby Hudson River Valley began to fill with grand homes. Foley intended his house for a large family, with plenty of children, but tragedy hit, and only the house grew (and grew and grew), its dozens of rooms left empty. Finally, in 1931, lonely and despairing, he killed himself, jumping from the top of the now vast, grand Foley House. That same year, with no Foley heirs, the house was put up for auction, and a Jewish innkeeper named Asher Sikorsky borrowed every cent he could, bought the home and its expansive grounds, and opened it as a grand hotel. It held its place among the many beautiful Catskills resorts for decades, with families returning year after year. When Asher grew too old to run the resort himself, his capable daughter, Jeanie took over. In 1951, tragedy hit the picturesque hotel when a young boy disappeared. He was playing hide and seek with his new friend, Lenny, Jeanie's son, and no one ever found him. Despite that black cloud over the once pristine resort, life continued and people kept vacationing at the Hotel Neversink. Then in 1973, another child disappeared, a nine-year-old girl named Alice who is related to the Sikorskys. The hotel endures that crisis as well, and grown-up Leonard takes over management from his mother. By the 1980's, the Hotel Neversink, like many Catskills' resorts, is past its prime and struggling financially, though Leonard remains dedicated to it and his family legacy. The story moves through the decades to 2012, following both the rise and fall of the hotel as well as the various human lives surrounding it, all intertwined with the hotel's and the family's secrets.

This novel uses an original approach. After a preface with Foley's history, each chapter carries a different date and is told from the perspective of a different character. The reader is taken along on this journey, from 1950 to 2012, getting insight from a different person with each chapter. The perspectives include the Sikorsky family members but also other hotel staff and some guests. In some cases, we hear from a character multiple times and thus follow his or her life from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. These changing viewpoints allow the reader to see the hotel and its mysteries from a variety of perspectives. The constant thread throughout is the hotel--first grand and lively and later, shabby and empty--and the mystery of missing children from both the hotel and the nearby town, through decades. Right from the start, the shadow of ghost(s) in the hotel is a constant but unknown presence: are there really ghosts? Or something else? These mysteries are finally unraveled toward the end of the novel, with plenty of surprises in store. I thoroughly enjoyed this engrossing story of a family and its legacy, with a mystery at its center.

279 pages, Tin House Books

Tantor Audio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

Diversity Challenge

R.I.P. Challenge

 

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.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the preface, describing the Foley House that will become the Hotel Neversink, and/or download it from Audible.

 

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!

      

 

Or you can order The Hotel Neversink from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

It's Monday 11/21! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

I'm happy to report that I'm feeling better. I tried another short round of steroids (not something I can do often or for long), and it did the trick! By the end of the week, my energy was good, the constant flu-like aches were gone, and I was cautiously beginning to return to "normal" (for me). 

I enjoyed a nice weekend. For the first time in months, I was able to manage a short hike with my husband at our local nature center. It was COLD by Saturday, but the sun was shining, and it was wonderful to be out and moving. Some friends came over that evening to share our favorite New Orleans takeout (we all used to live there together)--good food and good friends! And I even managed to get some things done around the house this weekend, some tiny steps in the massive job we have of clearing out clutter--all my father-in-law's stuff, all my husband's work stuff after retiring recently, my son's stuff (can't touch that!), and all the stuff we just haven't had the time/energy to deal with this year! It felt good to make a small step forward and feel productive.

Our iconic covered bridge

My husband and I in the sunshine!

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On the Blog

Two new posts last week:

TV Tuesday: So Help Me Todd -  a fun new crime show we're enjoying with a great cast & a great sense of humor! (review and trailer at the link)

Nonfiction Review: These Precious Days by Ann Patchett - I absolutely loved this warm, funny, moving collection of essays by the renowned novelist 

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On Video

Friday Reads 11-18-22 - my brief weekly update of what I'm reading

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What We're Reading 

I'm enjoying Nonfiction November:

I finally finished reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I was inspired to read it after enjoying Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck, a Booktopia author, this spring. Walden is a dense book, so it took me a couple of weeks. As expected, I loved the nature writing, but I was surprised to find that Thoreau also rants a lot about "modern" life, how other people choose to live, etc., especially in the beginning of the book. Sometimes he makes a good point relevant to our lives today, like about how we buy so much that we don't need ("frippery" is my husband's new favorite word). Once he moves into the cabin at Walden Pond, he focuses in on nature, wildlife, the changing seasons, and detailed observations of the world around him, and I loved all of that. My copy is filled with dog-eared pages of quotes I want to go back to! (I read one short quote in my Friday Reads video.)

 

Now, I am reading Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, a book that's been on my shelf for over a decade! Hillenbrand is my personal hero. Yes, she is an amazingly talented writer, but she also has the same immune disorder I have, ME/CFS, and has written remarkable books with horrible disabilities (great interview with her from Stanford Medicine). She wrote much of Seabiscuit while lying down on her back in bed, with her eyes closed because her vertigo was so bad, writing with a pencil on a pad of paper! My husband and I both loved Unbroken, and he loved reading Seabiscuit, but I kept thinking I just wasn't interested in horse racing. Well, of course, her in-depth research and incredible talent in story-telling shine through! I am enjoying it very much.

 

In between the cracks of my time, I also fit in a nonfiction graphic "novel" from one of my favorite middle-grade series, History Comics. This one also happens to be on a topic near and dear to my heart, The National Parks: Preserving America's Wild Places by Falynn Koch. I loved this fascinating history of the National Park System and learned a lot, in spite of my many visits to national parks over the decades. It begins in 1850, with Yosemite (soon to become a state park) and follows the designation of many of our familiar parks today, as well as the arguments over what deserves to be part of the NPS, the use and purpose of national parks and monuments, and more. The role of Native Americans is featured prominently, with notes for kids to understand why it's important to learn about and acknowledge the darker parts of history. It's beautifully drawn and completely immersive.

 

I finished reading These Precious Days by Ann Patchett, a collection of personal essays that I loved. You can read all about in my review and listen to a sample of the outstanding audio or watch my Friday Reads video, which includes some detailed gushing!

 

Now, I am listening to The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton on audio. I have lots of nonfiction audios to choose from, but this one popped to the top of my list after hearing rave reviews from Booktubers. This is the author's story of how he was wrongly accused of two murders, convicted and sentenced to death, and lived on death row for 30 years before finally getting his name cleared. I've listened to other true stories of innocent men wrongly accused, but the shear volume of horrors here is stunning. It took flawed or outright falsified evidence, lies on the stand, an inept public defender, and many people ignoring evidence of his innocence to land him on death row. It's very powerful and completely gripping.

 

My husband just started reading The Verifiers by Jane Pek, an author I met at Booktopia. Jane sat at our table at dinner one night, so I got to know her a bit--she's excellent at book trivia! This is a classic mystery in a modern setting with an awesome female protagonist, with a hefty dose of humor, plus family drama. I thoroughly enjoyed it (you can read my review at the link), and I think he will, too.

 

Our son, 28, has been reading Spellmonger by Terry Mancour, the first book in the Spellmonger series. I can't wait to see him tomorrow night for the holiday weekend!

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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.

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

What are you and your family reading this week?

 

Nonfiction Review: These Precious Days

I usually try to write my reviews in the order I read the books, so according to that rule, I should be writing about another (very good) book, but I just finished listening to These Precious Days by Ann Patchett yesterday on audio, and I couldn't wait to tell you about this warm, funny, moving collection of personal essays by the renowned novelist.

Ann has put together a wonderful collection of personal essays, written at different points during her writing career. Some were previously published (there's even one that was a talk she gave), but she says that most were revised and updated for this collection. While the topics sort of jump around, as a whole they cover her entire life, from childhood to unsure young adult to author to bookstore owner. It's difficult to review such a varied group of essays, so I will highlight some of my favorites. In the first essay in the book, Three Fathers, Ann describes her biological father, her stepfather as a child, and her second stepfather when she was an adult. She talks about what makes each of them special and unique and delves into her relationships with each of them. Either here or later in the book, she also describes the end of each of their lives and her role. All of her father writing was very moving to me, as I lost my dad seven years ago and helped my father-in-law the past few years during his slow and difficult decline. 

But, I don't want you to think this is a depressing book. Certainly, Ann tackles some difficult topics--including death--with honesty and openness, but the collection is a lot of fun, too. She has a wonderful sense of humor, which comes across in many of her essays, including To the Doghouse, where she writes about how she was a Peanuts-obsessed child and how Snoopy was her greatest influence in wanting to become a writer. Beside the amusement of listening to this delightful essay, I could so relate to it, as a fellow Peanuts-ophile who read all the books and had Snoopy everything as a kid (I still wear a Snoopy watch!). Similarly, her descriptions of discovering Kate DiCamillo's magical books as an adult were pure pleasure that had me smiling ear-to-ear as I listened. The heart of this collection, though, is its title essay, These Precious Days, that recounts the bizarre chain of events that led her to a life-changing friendship with a woman. Sookie worked as Tom Hanks' assistant, and--through a series of events I will leave you to discover yourself--she ended up living with Ann and her husband in Nashville during the pandemic while undergoing cancer treatments. Ann writes about Sookie and the strange course of their relationship in a loving, tender way. In all, there are 22 essays here, and each one is unique and wonderful in its own way.

I loved every moment of this book! The essays are each very different, yet linked together in a way that paints a picture of Ann and her life, and the people she loves. She is very close to my own age, so there was a lot I could relate to in her memories of childhood and her relationships with her parents. But, I was also fascinated by the inside look into her life as a famous author and bookstore owner (I must get to Parnassus Books!). I wish I could share some quotes or excerpts with you, but that is one downside of listening to an audio book. However, I would definitely recommend listening to this book on audio, hearing these beautiful stories told directly by Ann (listen to a sample from the introduction). I always enjoy listening to memoirs read by the author, but this one is extra-special. I am, though, thinking of also getting the print copy of this book because I think this is one I will want to return to. This wonderfully-written collection of essays is moving, funny, heartfelt, and powerful. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

336 pages, Harper Perennial

HarperAudio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

2022 Nonfiction Reader Challenge

Literary Escapes - Tennessee

 

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

 

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

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, read by Ann Patchett, from the introduction, and/or download it from Audible.

 

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!

     

 

Or you can order These Precious Days from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

TV Tuesday: So Help Me Todd

I included trailers for several new TV shows we wanted to try in my Fall 2022 TV Preview post, and one of our favorites from that group is So Help Me Todd. We are really enjoying this crime drama that mixes in family and a great sense of humor.

Marcia Gay Harden plays Margaret, a successful lawyer at a top law firm in Portland, OR. She is always dressed beautifully and perfectly poised. Her son, Todd (played by Skylar Astin), is her opposite, living life from the seat of his pants and the black sheep of their very accomplished family. Todd lost his private investigator license for some illegal activities and has been a bit lost in the two years since. His mother is constantly harping on him to grow up and live more like an adult, but this time, she might actually have a good idea. After Todd helps her, both with a legal case she's representing and a personal matter, she hires him as an investigator for her firm, though the firm's existing investigator, Lyle (played by Tristan J. Winger), never lets Todd forget he's the top dog. In between solving cases for his mother--and gradually earning her respect--Todd is also spending more time with his family, including his sister, Allison (played by Madeline Wise), her husband, his brother-in-law, Chet (played by Thomas Cadrot), and his niece, Clem. As Todd becomes closer to his family, he solves case after case and becomes an asset to Margaret and her firm. And maybe Margaret even learns to loosen up a bit (maybe).

This show has all the ingredients we love in a TV series: mystery, suspense, family drama, and a wonderful sense of humor. The two lead actors--Harden and Astin--are outstanding in their roles, and the supporting actors are all excellent as well. Each episode deals with a different legal case that Todd helps to investigate, usually with a twisty plot and plenty of surprises. The relationship--and the banter--between Todd and Margaret is fun and amusing, but there is also a sense of warmth as the two of them and the rest of the family grow closer to each other. We've watched seven episodes so far (#8 comes back in December), and we look forward to it every week. No word yet on whether this wonderful show will come back for a second season, so be sure to check it out soon so the decision-makers know that people are enjoying it!

So Help Me Todd airs on CBS Thursday nights. We watch it On Demand, and it is also available through Paramount+, Hulu, CBS TVE, Pluto TV, and other popular streaming outlets.

It's Monday 11/14! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

My big news last week was about five days of feeling good - back to my normal baseline after more than three months of a bad relapse of my chronic illness. Unfortunately, the flu-like aches and exhaustion came back this weekend. I really thought I had it figured out, with several medication changes in the past two weeks. I'm feeling very discouraged, but I have phone appointments with two doctors today and another one on Thursday, so I am hoping one of them has some ideas.

But, let's focus on the positive:

Our camper is finally repaired and we went camping last week for two days, taking advantage of the last of the warm, sunny, perfect weather and gorgeous fall foliage. We went to Trap Pond State Park in Delaware, home to the northernmost natural stand of Cypress trees in the eastern U.S. Luckily, camping coincided with my period of feeling good, so I was even able to go kayaking with my husband. Here are some highlight photos, and check out my Camping Vlog for some beautiful videos:

Sunset lights up the foliage & cypress trees

One of several Great Blue Herons we saw

Fall foliage from my kayak

Lots of turtles out - 80 degrees that day!

My husband paddling among the cypress trees

Reflections in the water

 

"I went to the woods because I wished to ..." ...read!

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On the Blog

Because we were camping last Monday, I skipped my usual Monday update. I was finally able to catch up on all of my October book reviews the last two weeks: 

Teen/YA Review: Creep: A Love Story by Lygia Day Penaflor - creepy story of high school obsession that was excellent on audio.

Fiction Review: High Country by Nevada Barr - a great thriller set in Yosemite National Park, starring ranger Anna Pigeon. 

Fiction Review: The Captives by Debra Jo Immergut - another story of obsession, this time between a prison psychologist and his patient who was his high school crush.

Fiction Review: A Furnace for Your Foe by Matty Dalrymple - book 4 in my favorite series about a woman who senses spirits, this time solving a murder on Mount Desert Island, Maine.

Middle-Grade Review: Denis Ever After by Tony Abbott - I LOVED this wonderful ghostly mystery, solved by twin brothers, one alive and one dead. Outstanding on audio!

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On Video

Nonfiction November 2022 - check out my "pile of possibilities" for this month!

Friday Reads 11-4-22 - the end of R.I.P. Challenge and the beginning of Nonfiction November

October 2022 Reading Wrap-Up - a great reading month for me, entirely immersed in books for the R.I.P. Challenge!

Outdoor Camping Vlog and Friday Reads 11-10-22 - Videos and photos from our camping trip, plus some reading updates

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What We're Reading

 

I finished reading The Hotel Neversink by Adam O'Fallon Price. This novel is set in the Catskills, at an old hotel on a hill overlooking the countryside. Children keep disappearing from the hotel and the nearby area, and the reader is aware from the start of possible ghost(s) on the hotel property. Each chapter takes place in a different year and from a different character's perspective, so the story moves gradually from 1950, when the first child disappears, to 2012. The changing characters, mostly staff and guests at the hotel, provide a wide range of perspectives. I really enjoyed this Edgar Award winner.

 

My first book for Nonfiction November is Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I was inspired to finally read it after enjoying Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck, a Booktopia author this spring. Walden is a dense book, so it's sometimes slow-going. As expected, I am loving the nature writing (I was reading this on our camping trip), but I was surprised to find that Thoreau also rants a lot about "modern" life, how other people choose to live, etc., especially in the beginning of the book. Once he moves into the cabin at Walden Pond, there's more observations of the natural world and fewer rants, so I am mostly enjoying it.

 

My last audio book for the R.I.P. Challenge was Denis Ever After by Tony Abbott, a middle-grade ghost story/mystery. Denis died five years ago at age seven. His body was found on the Georgia monument at Gettysburg after he was kidnapped, and the crime was never solved. Denis is enjoying Port Haven, a sort of interim place for the dead to gradually let go of the living world so they can move on, and hanging out with his great-grandmother, GeeGee, there. He left behind a twin brother, Matt, along with his mom and dad, and when Denis checks in on his family, he is upset to see they have not been able to let go of the horrible and mysterious circumstances of his death and move on. Denis shows himself to Matt--and endures great pain and repercussions--and the two boys set out to solve Denis's murder to save their family. This immersive, unique novel is wonderful, though as Denis gradually remembers his kidnapping and death, it is quite disturbing. Best for older middle-graders or young teens (or adults--it's excellent!).

 

My first audio book for Nonfiction November is These Precious Days by Ann Patchett, and I am absolutely loving it! It's a collection of essays about her life and her experiences. She's close to my age, so I can relate to much of what she writes about. Two of my favorites so far are Three Fathers and From the Doghouse (all about her childhood obsession with Snoopy and the Peanuts, which I could definitely relate to!). Of course, she writes beautifully; some parts are very moving and some make me laugh out loud!

 

My husband, Ken, is reading Holdout by Jeffrey Kluger, a novel I gave him for his birthday. I read about it in Parade magazine, which described it as "cinematic," and it was on a bunch of "best of" lists. An astronaut on the ISS takes a stand against something horrible happening down on Earth by refusing to leave the space station. She's doing the only thing she can to try to change things. Ken says it's good so far!

 

Our son, 28, finished reading Confessor, book 10 in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, and finally set that series aside, after plowing through a half dozen or so books! He's now reading Spellmonger by Terry Mancour, the first book in the Spellmonger series.

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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.

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

What are you and your family reading this week?