Monday, September 20, 2010

It's Monday 9/20! What Are You Reading?

Well, it was a rough week for me which explains the lack of reviews posted last week.  My husband was out of town, so I had my hands full doing double-duty most of the week, then got very sick on Thursday (thank goodness my husband was home by then!).  It seems to be a flare-up of my chronic illness, probably triggered by exposure to one of the viruses floating around, but this is the worst I've experienced in years.  I've been flat on my back in bed or on the couch since Friday morning.

The good news?  Books, books, books!  When I'm this bad, there's nothing I can do but sleep and read, and I was grateful this weekend for so many wonderful books to help me forget about my own difficult circumstances for a while.  I can't imagine getting through a rough period like this without books.
  • I finished The 19th Wife in time for my book group's 100th book celebration on Wednesday!  We celebrated with dinner at a nice restaurant, and the book generated a lot of great discussion.  It's an interesting combination of modern murder mystery and fascinating historical fiction.
  • I read the first middle-grade novel in a re-released series, George Washington's Socks: A Time Travel Adventure by Elvira Woodruff.  It's about a group of 10-year old kids who get transported back in time to the Revolutionary War.  I really enjoyed the novel and look forward to the rest of the series!
  • I finally had a chance to read The Graveyard Book, a Newberry Honor winner by Neil Gaiman.  It turns out that everyone was right - it's a delightful, clever novel about a boy who is brought up by ghosts in a graveyard.  A wonderfully enjoyable escape!
  • I also read a new teen mystery novel, Suspect by Kristin Wolden Nitz.  It's a unique story-within-a-story about a teen girl and her grandmother trying to solve the mystery of the girl's mother's disappearance during a Mystery Weekend with a pretend murder at her grandma's bed and breakfast.  This fast-paced suspense novel provided much-needed distraction this weekend.
  • Finally, I started The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx, a novel that won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, for my other book group.  I've wanted to read this book for ages and am enjoying it so far.
  • My 16-year old son, Jamie, is still reading The Stand by Stephen King, and loving it!
  • Craig, my 12-year old son, has started reading Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi for his English class at school.  This is a favorite of both Jamie and my husband, and Craig is loving it so far (I still need to read it!).
  • My husband was so interested in my description of The 19th Wife that he decided to read it next, so he started it this weekend.
  • And, with the kids back in school, I was able to start a new audio book during my lunch times.  I started the teen/YA novel She's So Dead To Us by Kieran Scott and am enjoying it so far.
So, lots of books but not much else last week. Hopefully, I will feel well enough to resume writing reviews in the next day or so.

What are you and your family reading this week?

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

8 comments:

NancyO said...

I read the 19th wife when it first came out and by the time I finished talking it up, all of my neighbors wanted to borrow it! It was months before that book got home.

have a lovely reading week -- and The Stand is an excellent book. Maybe your son would also enjoy the Dark Tower series by Stephen King.

Sue Jackson said...

Nancy -
Yes, everyone at my book group loved 19th Wife, too.

And thanks for the great suggestion - you're right, my son would love the Dark Towers series. I haven't read it, but my husband loved it, and he and my son have similar tastes in books. I'll have to dig those off the bookshelves for him!

Sue

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

Congratulations on the 100th review. Isn't that exciting? we did that in December of this past year and it blows me away to think we have been together that long!

Hope you are feeling better soon!

dollycas aka Lori said...

Sorry you were sick, but glad you were able to read. I taped the 19th Wife on Lifetime Saturday night so my daughters and I can hopefully have a popcorn movie night this weekend to watch it.

Hope you feel better soon!!

Dollycas
http://dollycas.blogspot.com/

Jan von Harz said...

So sorry to hear you were so ill this week. Thankfully you were able to get some reading done. I recently had such a horrible toothache I was having a hard time concentrating on my reading. I will be looking forward to your reviews from all those great books you read. Feel better.

The1stdaughter said...

I'm so sorry to hear you were feeling so badly last week, that's awful. But I'm really glad to hear you had your hubby and great books to keep you company. I absolutely adored The Graveyard Book!

Hope you're feeling better! Have a fabulous reading week and if you get a second stop by There’s A Book to take a look at what I’ve got planned for the week! :)

Curling up by the Fire said...

I'm sorry you were sick, but I hope you enjoyed your reading. I have never read The Graveyard Book, but have always wanted to. I'm glad so many people like it.

Have a great reading week, and I hope you are feeling better.

Stephanie

sheisreading said...

I empathize with being sick! I've been battling something for over a week. Yuck! I hope you feel better soon!
Heather