Monday, April 7, 2014

It's Monday 4/7! What Are You Reading?


Ah, Monday morning...quiet house and no one to take care of but myself for a few hours. I started the day off kind of oddly...I cleaned out my sock drawer! Maybe an unusual way to start the day, but it gave me a big motivational boost. I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately, and I know that the clutter in the house is part of the problem. My college son went back to school yesterday after a week at home for spring break, and the sudden disappearance of all his stuff all over the first floor (he never really unpacked - just sort of dumped everything on the floor!) inspired me to take a tiny step in the huge job of decluttering. So, I am feeling pretty proud of myself, with a big bag of stuff to throw away, a smaller bag to donate, and a sock drawer that now closes without excess effort. My life is better already!

We did a lot of reading last week, especially my son who celebrated his break with books:
  • I finished The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I'm still not sure how I feel about this modern classic novel - it was strange. It's a mixture of philosophy, politics, literature, and sex, all rolled into a rambling narrative that often left me saying, "Wait...what??" It will definitely be an interesting book group discussion on Wednesday!
  • Yesterday, I moved onto Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick, a novel I have really been looking forward to reading. I doubt I will finish it in time for the discussion at the library Wednesday, but I do hope to go listen to the author on Thursday evening. This is our all-county read book for this spring.
  • I finished listening to The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett, a clever fantasy novel written by the famous, knighted author when he was only 17 years old! It was a lot of fun.
  • I have also been (slowly) making my way through a nonfiction book, Time Management from the Inside Out: The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule - and Your Life by Julie Morganstern. I had to return my copy to the library, but I was getting enough out of it that I ordered my own, updated copy last week. The sock drawer is just the beginning!
  • My husband, Ken, was away last week and reading Brilliance, a suspense novel, by Marcus Sakey on his Kindle.
  • Jamie, 19, went on a reading binge for his spring break! He read five books since last Monday (plus another few last weekend). First, he tackled one of his favorite series, Beyonders by Brandon  Mull. He quickly re-read book 2, Seeds of Rebellion, and then read the latest release (and the last book of the trilogy), Chasing the Prophecy. He reaffirmed that it remains an all-time favorite!
  • Next, he re-read a favorite on his Kindle, The Sorcerer's Ascension by Brock E. Deskin, Book 1 in The Sorcerer's Path series.
  • Mid-week, he hit Barnes & Noble with some friends, armed with several gift cards. One of the books he bought - and immediately read - was Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes. He enjoyed it and is looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
  • Finally, he re-read The Dark City, Book 1 in Catherine Fisher's Relic Master series. Next he plans to re-read Book 2, The Lost Heiress, and then turn in some Amazon or Target gift cards for book 3. I love that he ditched plans to buy a video game with the gift card and now wants to spend it all on books!
  • Craig, 15, is still reading MacBeth for his Brit Lit class. He got 95% on his first quiz, so I think it's going pretty well.
 Despite having a very busy week, I managed a few blog posts:

Review of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon, a novel about friendship.

Review of Monsters of Men, Book 3 in Patrick Ness' incredible teen/YA Chaos Walking trilogy.

Saturday Snapshot, with photos of last week's trip to St. Michaels, MD

Weekend Cooking post, with some tasty dinner ideas.

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 Unleashing Readers.  

8 comments:

Heidi’sbooks said...

My boys...young adults....love The Beyonders as well. They love Brandon Mull as an author.

Kellee Moye (@kelleemoye) said...

I'm a big fan of the Matthew Quick novel I've read, and I really enjoyed seeing him speak--looking forward to hearing how you like Silver Linings Playbook.

Happy reading this week! :)

P.S. As always, love hearing what your family is reading!

Ricki Ginsberg at Unleashing Readers said...

Hi, Sue!

I really enjoyed THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. I read it and fell in love. Matthew Quick's characters always feel so real to me. My husband and I rented the movie, and I made him pause several times, so I could tell him how it REALLY happens (in the book). Halfway through, I gave up and submitted to the fact that the movie was a completely different interpretation than I expected. Separate, the movie is great, but I still think the book is phenomenal. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

And congrats to your son! Your posts on our blog always make me think about what an incredible mom you are. :)

Sue Jackson said...

Oh, my gosh, Ricki, what a wonderful, kind thing to say! You have made my day :)

And I can tell that both you and Kellee are great moms already! You have so much ahead of you!

Sue

Sue Jackson said...

So does my son, Heidi! Even now that he's 19, he still loves Mull's middle-grade novels.

Sue

Andrea said...

I know the feeling of cleaning out the sock drawer and feeling like something was accomplished!
Enjoy your reading!

GatheringBooks said...

Great to see that your 15 year old boy is doing well with his Shakespeare reading. I loved the Chaos Walking Trilogy - you are right, it's an incredible series. I remembered reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being with my book club of young faculty/university lecturers a few years back - we had a very interesting discussion about that book - ranging from whether emotional infidelity is worse than physical infidelity to a few other interesting conversations. Hope you share snippets of your book club discussion next week.

Sue Jackson said...

The discussion should be interesting, Myra! I will be sure to include that in my review.

Sue