Monday, October 18, 2010

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

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

Thank goodness Monday also means What Are You Reading day!  Something to look forward to on a hectic morning.  None of us had a lot of reading time this week, but we squeezed in a little:
  • I finished Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel - review to come this week.  I loved this middle-grade novel about a boy whose scientist parents are bringing up a baby chimp as a human to try to teach him sign language.  The book is funny, touching, fascinating, and thought-provoking.
  • I'm now reading a book for my neighborhood book group meeting next week, Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell, a coming-of-age story about a young boy growing up in a prairie town in Saskatchewan.  I'd never heard of it before, but apparently, it is considered a Canadian classic.  It's enjoyable so far.
  • I finished a teen audio book, She's So Dead To Us by Kieran Scott, and enjoyed it - review to come.
  • My husband, Ken, planned to take 2 paperbacks with him on his trip to Texas last week but forgot both at home!  So, he bought one at the airport by one of his favorite authors, Robert Crais: The Forgotten Man, a Elvis Cole novel.  He says it was very good.
  • Now Ken is back to the novel he started last week, Cover Her Face, a mystery by P.D. James.  He was having trouble remembering all the characters last night as he tried to pick up where he left off!
  • Jamie, 16, is still reading The Stand by Stephen King for fun, and Into the Wild by Job Krakauer for school.  He was pretty sick last week and struggling to keep up with homework, so he didn't have much time for any reading.
  • Craig, 12, finished Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi for school and is looking forward to his class visit to the Renaissance Faire this week.  I don't think he's started a new book yet (that will probably require a little push from Mom!)
I had my hands full last week taking care of the kids and the house on my own while Ken was out of town, but I did manage to post reviews of a couple of old favorite animal middle-grade series, Warriors and Silverwing.  On my grown-up book blog, Book by Book, I posted a summary of all the books I read in September (better late than never!) and a short review of Blind Descent by Nevada Barr.

What are you and your family reading this week?

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

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

    3 comments:

    Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

    Well I am so glad you at least have our weekly discussion to look forward to on Mondays! :) I like the sound of the audio you listened to - I will have to look for that one!

    Have a great week Sue and remember - TUESDAY is just around the corner!

    Andrea said...

    E-mail is truly one of the greatest inventions of our time. Hope you are feeling better and happy reading. I haven't heard of any of these books except The Stand.

    Jan von Harz said...

    Half Brother sound like I a book would really enjoy. Twp of my favorite books explore animal rights and might be ones you would enjoy too. The first came out this summer and is titled Lucy, and the other is an older book title Eva by Peter Dickinson. Both are extremely well written and great stories.

    Hope the kids are feeling better. Have a great week.