It's Monday 9/1! What Are You Reading?

Happy Labor Day! The unofficial end of summer…which makes me happy because it’s been a difficult summer. And I love fall! It’s my favorite season. Of course, it’s supposed to stay in the 90′s and humid all this coming week, so it’s not quite fall yet…

It’s also the official end of my Big Book Summer Challenge for 2014! So, finish up those big books today. However, you still have plenty of time to write reviews of your big books and/or challenge summaries and add them to the Review links list on the challenge page – I still have a couple more to write myself.

It’s been a good week for me, getting back into a more normal routine, with both of my sons back at school. They both went to the beach with friends for the holiday weekend, and my husband left to help his Dad move out here (another big change coming for us!), so I spent a lovely, quiet weekend at home alone…with plenty of reading!

• I am still reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, and I have enjoyed every page. I am down to less than 50 pages left, so I plan to finish it today and count it as my 5th and last Big Book of the summer for the challenge. It is an amazing, compelling book – the sort of story that pulls you in so completely that you feel more a part of its fictional world than your own real-life world (as my dreams last night can attest!).
• I finally started a new audio book, In the End by Demitria Lunetta, a teen/YA post-apocalyptic novel and sequel to In the After. I enjoyed the first book, and the second one has pulled me right in again. With no one else at home, I have been wearing my iPod around the house almost constantly!
• In addition, my husband and I are still listening to Uncaged, a teen/YA thriller by adult thriller writer John Sandford and co-author Michelle Cook, though we didn’t have much time to listen last week, other than when I drove him to the airport. This is book one of a new series called The Singular Menace. 
• My husband, Ken, is reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman on his Kindle. I was glad to hear he’d bought this novel, since from everything I’ve heard about it, he should enjoy it.
• My 20-year old son, Jamie, started his junior year of college last week, so I’m sure he’s no longer able to read 4 books a week, but I have no idea what he’s reading now! He’ll be home later today, so I’ll ask him.
• Craig, 16, is almost finished with Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, his summer reading assignment. Yes, he already started back to school last week, but he tells me not to worry, he’ll finish it before tomorrow when they start to discuss it!

I had a good blog catch-up week and posted two reviews, as well as some other posts:

Review of Emma by Jane Austen, one of my Big Books for the summer

Review of Good Fortune, a teen/YA novel about slavery and my 4th big book

Summary of Books Read in July

Weekend Cooking, with some easy but tasty summer recipes

Snapshot Saturday, with photos from our recent trip to Vermont 

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.