Monday, April 11, 2011

It's Monday 4/11! What Are You Reading?

Monday already?  Where did the weekend go?  I wasn't quite ready for it to end.  I spent much of the weekend planning our spring break road trip (to Oklahoma to visit my father-in-law) and our big summer trip (to California).  I want to keep thinking about vacations, but it's time to get back to work now.

This is a really busy time of year for us - the kids' soccer season began last week (my husband coaches), lots of school functions going on, plus the trip planning - but we still found time to read last week:
  • I realized early last week that I have a book group coming up this week, and I didn't even have the book yet!  How do I keep getting into these messes?  You'd think I'd learn.  So, I made a trip to the library and have been reading The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morgan.  This is a book that did not sound at all like my cup of tea, but I am really enjoying it - that's the beauty of book groups.  I still have hundreds of pages to finish before Wednesday, so wish me luck!
  • I finished my latest audio book, Always Looking Up: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J. Fox, and immediately wrote a review - a rare accomplishment for me, so that gives you an idea of how inspired I was!
  • My husband, Ken, finished The Ascent by Ronald Malfi, a pick from the recent release shelf at the library.  It's about a climb up the mountains of Nepal that turns dangerous...with an element of mysticism.  Ken said it was unusual, but he enjoyed it.
  • Ken is now reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - he's been waiting for me to finish it so he could read it.  He must be enjoying it because he took it with him on a trip this morning, and he usually avoids traveling with large hardcovers!
  • 16-year old Jamie finished Beyonders: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull, a new series from a favorite author (author of the Fablehaven books).  He said it was great, just as good as the Fablehaven series.
  • Jamie and I recently read (and loved) Orson Scott Card's newest teen/YA book, Pathfinder.  That put him in the mood for more Card.  He only recently found out that there is an entire series that follows Ender's Game (and we have them all here), so he decided to reread Ender's Game and then read the other three books.  Only one problem - we couldn't find Ender's Game last night, so he decided to read Ender's Shadow, a parallel novel to Ender's Game (and very good!), instead.
  • Craig, 13, is still reading Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain for his English class and enjoying it very much.  He's alternating between reading it and listening to it at a free online site.
Besides my review of Always Looking Up, I also  posted a summary of Books Read in March at Book By Book and a review of the teen thriller The Chaos (sequel to Num8ers) by Rachel Ward.


What are you and your family reading this week?


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

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed Michael J. Fox's book! I'll have to read it...my brother has Parkinson's. And good to hear that Beyonders was a worthy read, too!

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

The Forgotten Garden was our first book club book this year and we loved it... I wasnt sure it would fit for me either ;)

Katie said...

It's good to know that Fablehaven fans are liking The Beyonders - I have had a lot of questions at the library! Sounds like a great week to me. :-)

parenting ad absurdum said...

We're on the third harry potter - and everyone is LOVING it!

Anne@HeadFullofBooks said...

Oh goodie...another good book club selection. Do tell what you think of the book after the discussion. Plus, I want you to know that I always think I can scrunch in one more book before I read my book club selection and then I'm always cramming it in at the last minute. I often have several hundred pages to read with just days to go. Ha!

What is the Hildebrand book about? I loved Seabiscuit. Is it similar?

Thanks for the comments on my blog about my Staycation. I tried to put a positive spin on my stay at home Spring Break because so many of my teacher friends run off for exotic vacations. It was nice to think that others may actually wish to have a week of totally bookish things!

Andrea said...

LOVE the Bean series especially Ender's Shadow. Can't wait for the next book that ties the two series together!

Happy reading y'all!