Monday, May 24, 2010

It's Monday 5/24! What Are You Reading?

Just another Manic Monday...

We heard that song on the way to the bus stop this morning, and it's very appropriate today!  Craig almost missed his bus because he forgot to pack his band stuff, Jamie called and asked me to bring some papers to school that he left at home, and after school I need to take BOTH boys to get x-rays (one wrist, one ankle).  Whew, and it's not even 9 am yet.

Thank goodness for good books!
  • Jamie, 15, read Morpheus Road, the hot new book by DJ MacHale, author of one of our favorite series, Pendragon.  He says the new trilogy is very different from Pendragon but just as compelling!  This is next on my list.
  • Jamie started Charlie Bone and the Red Knight, Book 8 in The Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo, the latest addition to an old favorite series.  This is one of Craig's favorite series, too.  It's too new to be on his list at school, but he wants to read it this summer.
  • Craig, 12, is still reading The Wind in the Door, the sequel to A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  He's enjoying it, but the nice weather makes it tough for him to sit down and read!
  • I finished Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann for my neighborhood book group.  Almost everyone liked this complex novel about intersecting lives in New York City, and it was great for discussion.
  • Next, I read The Soloist by Steve Lopez for another book group (I've had three book groups in three weeks this month!).  Even though I had already seen the movie, I loved the book and read it very quickly.  Book or movie, it's a fascinating, moving true story of the friendship between an LA Times reporter and a homeless, schizophrenic man who is a talented musician.
  • I have a huge stack of kids' and teen books I want to read, but instead I started Tinkers by Paul Harding.  It's due back at the library tomorrow (!), and now that it's won the Pulitzer, the wait list will be miles long, so I decided to try to squeeze it in.  I should have lots of reading time this afternoon at the x-ray place!
Last week, I posted  a review of two middle-grade audio books by Polly Horvath: My One Hundred Adventures and Northward to the Moon.  I enjoyed both very much.  I also posted a review of Sea Trails: Poems and 1977 Passage Notes by Pris Campbell on my grown-up book blog, Book By Book.  I'm not able to maintain Book By Book regularly right now, but if you're interested in what I think about the grown-up books I read, you can find me at Goodreads.

What are you and your family reading this week?

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

9 comments:

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

Sue - you gave me a Manic Monday flash back...LOL The Soloist sounds good!

Andrea said...

I can't wait to read Charlie Bone and the Red Knight. Is it the last one? I hope he likes it.
I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on Morpheus Road.
Happy reading!

Stephanie said...

All these books look good. I was madly in love with that Madeleine L'Engle trilogy when I was a kid.

http://laughingstars.net

Sue Jackson said...

Sheila - No manic Monday for you. hanging out n NYC at BEA instead of dealing with all this mundane stuff - I'm jealous! The Soloist was excellent - highly recommended!

Andrea - Hard to say if this is the last Charlie Bone book - we thought the last one was the last one, but they just keep coming!

Stephanie - Me, too! I read the whole series multiple times and still have it.

Sue

The1stdaughter said...

Oh my! What a crazy morning! I can't even begin to imagine, although with two little little ones of my own I'm sure I will soon enough.

I actually met DJ MacHale a few weeks ago at LA Times FoB. He's SUCH a neat guy! He actually chatted with everyone in line for awhile, so so nice. And his books are great!

Have a fantastic reading week and if you get a chance, stop by: Monday Reading's at There's A Book

Sue Jackson said...

I'd love to meet DJ MacHale! How cool! Our whole family are big fans of Pendragon.

Sue Jackson said...

Andrea -

Jamie finished the Charlie Bone book this afternoon, and he says it IS the last book of the series!

Sue

Jan von Harz said...

Didn't get by this week so I thought I would stop this morning. Tell Jamie I loved Morpheus Road and am now a fan of D.J. MacHale. I guess I need to read his Pendragon series while I wait for the next Morpheus Road to come out. Hopefully I will make it by more often now that school is out. I think I love summer vacation even more than my students.

Sue Jackson said...

Glad you stopped by, Jan! School is still in session here, and this time of year is so busy!! I didn't even have time to post any reviews this week.

Yes, you must read Pendragon! It is one of my favorite middle-grade/teen series of all time - really amazing! I started with Book 1 just so I could review it and ended up reading four in a row.

Enjoy your summer vacation!

Sue