It's Monday 3/4! What Are You Reading?

Well, I had hoped that life would be back to normal today, with my son back to school after missing 4 of the past 5 weeks, but alas, I am still not alone in the house. He is definitely doing better and was able to work on some make-up work this weekend, so we are thrilled to see him finally perking up. But we tried waking him at 7:00 and again at 8:30 this morning, but he is still too wiped out to get up. One more day at home, then hopefully, he will be able to start some partial days back at school tomorrow.

So, he and I had another long week of being homebound, but the mood here improved dramatically when he started to feel better on the weekend. He did sleep most mornings, so I was able to do a little more writing last week. And we fit in plenty of reading:

• I finished The Dark Side of Nowhere by Neal Schusterman, one of my all-time favorite YA authors. This quick, fast-paced novel was filled with surprises!
• In order to help my son with his make-up work, I next read The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, his assigned book for freshman lit. Despite Craig's complaints about this classic novel, I really enjoyed it! I actually liked the author's unique method of telling a story through short vignettes. And my approach really worked - I was able to help Craig finish his reading log by typing his responses for him and helping him to interpret some of the more ambiguous chapters.
• I am now reading The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, a Christmas gift from my husband. I really wanted to get to this highly acclaimed novel while it was still winter, even though we haven't had any snow this year! I'm enjoying it so far.
• I am still listening to Flight Behavior, Barbara Kingsolver's latest novel, on audio. I felt well enough to take four walks last week, so I was able to squeeze in some audio book time with my iPod!
• My husband is still reading The Dark Hour by Robin Burcell, a thriller set in Amsterdam. He says the plot is very complex, with a lot of characters, but he is enjoying it.
• And, of course, my son finished The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cosneros last week. His older brother had a very busy week in college with two exams, so I don't think he's had any time for pleasure reading.

I wrote two reviews last week: Redfield Farm: A Novel of the Underground Railroad by Judith Redline Coopey, an excellent novel my whole book group enjoyed, and The Far West, conclusion to the teen/YA Frontier Magic trilogy by Patricia C. Wrede. I also linked to some excellent new recipes we tried this week on my Weekend Cooking post.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Teach Mentor Texts.)