Well, it is now truly fall here - the weather has cooled down, and it seems as though the tress suddenly turned from all green to a riot of colors. I love this time of year! We made our annual trip to the pumpkin farm this weekend to pick out our pumpkins and gorge ourselves on still-warm, homemade donuts and fresh cider....oh, my gosh! I forgot I have a leftover donut....ah...that's better! Mmmm...cinnamon-sugar donuts and typing don't mix well.
OK, I'm back. Anyway, here's what we read last week:
- I finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's like Nancy Drew for grown-ups. I want to be Flavia when I grow up.
- I am now reading The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, a newly released teen/YA post-apocalyptic novel that my husband recently read. I really like it so far. It's a bit like The Road, only not nearly as dismal and hopeless.
- My husband, Ken, is reading a thriller I gave him for his birthday, The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo, a Norwegian author who has been compared to Stieg Larsson. He likes it so far, though he says the translation is sometimes a bit rough.
- Jamie, 17, finished his Dad's old favorite fantasy series, The Belgariad by David Eddings with Book Five: Enchanter's End Game, the last book in the series.
- Jamie was home sick all last week, so he treated himself to a book he's really wanted to read, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. He loved the Mortal Instruments series and has been looking forward to this prequel series. He and I listened to the beginning of this book on audio, but he said he preferred to read it.
- Now, Jamie is reading Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a much-anticipated new post-apocalyptic novel. He says it's good so far, though he doesn't like the author's convention of not using quotation marks for dialogue. This one is on my TBR list, too.
- Craig, 13, is reading Woodsong, a memoir by Gary Paulsen, author of one of our favorite novels, Hatchet and its sequels. He's enjoying it, though he says it's not as good as Paulsen's fiction.
I also posted a recap and photo from my book group's meeting with author Rachel Simon, which we all thoroughly enjoyed, and a discussion of how many books we have in our house, with pictures of our overflowing bookcases!
What are you and your family reading this week?
Ooh...now I have a bit of a sugar-rush headache from that donut, but it was so worth it!
(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)

My son is reading Clockwork Angel too after completing The Mortal Instrument Series! I read it already and liked it. But I didn't care too much for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.
ReplyDeleteSo funny they are reading the same book right now, Tanya! I haven't read the series myself yet, but Jamie keeps telling me I have to!
ReplyDeleteSweetness... wasn't one of my favorite books, but I found it clever and pleasant enough. Not sure if I will read more of the series.
Sue
Tell Jamie that I am with him. I get so frustrated when authors don't use proper literary conventions like suing quotation marks. That one really drives me crazy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hoping by my blog. As usual, I enjoy hearing from you.
-Anne