It's Monday 9/4! What Are You Reading?

Book By Book

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

Happy Labor Day to those in the US! We are doing what we do most holiday weekends–staying at home and avoiding the crowds. I know, we’re wild and crazy!

We needed this quiet weekend because last week was packed full. Well, my husband golfed three times, but I had medical appointments almost every day. I did manage to squeeze in a walk and picnic lunch with a friend at our local nature center. She and I have been trying to get together for about six months, and we talked nonstop! Her sons were in my sons’ grades/classes all through school, so we’ve known each other a long time, and it was great to catch up. I took my photos of our beautiful surroundings but forgot to take a photo of us.

Butterfly garden is working!

Lovely creek on a summer day

Gorgeous scenery

This weekend, my husband and I have been doing some long overdue things around the house. We were out in the yard, mowing and weeding on Saturday before our heat and humidity returned (mid 90′s all this week!). Yesterday, we finally got a start in clearing out and cleaning up our home office, which is right near the garage door and so is a dumping ground for everything. To give you an idea of the age of the stuff we were going through, we threw away a bunch of floppy discs!! We still need to get rid of our sons’ old PC computer in there.

We also enjoyed watching the movie Air last night (review coming soon), which was excellent. We’ve been walking in our neighborhood and admiring the flowers. And I’ve been reading out on our screened porch.

My namesake

Finishing my last Big Book Summer read

On the Blog

Movie Review: Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. – I watched this wonderfully nostalgic, fun adaptation with my childhood best friend, which was perfect! 

Middle-Grade Review Lines of Courage by Jennifer Nielsen – outstanding novel set during WWI, following 5 young people in different countries. Engrossing story, and I learned a lot. 

And, today is the LAST day of Big Book Summer 2023! Finish up those last Big Books (I’m finishing one in print and one on audio today), and share your wrap-up on the challenge page or in the Goodreads group (I started a Wrap-Up thread there), if you’d like. Later this week, I’ll be posting both my Big Book Summer Wrap-Up video and a blog post, including the name of the giveaway winner!

Whether or not you participated in Big Book Summer this year, you can check out the Big Book reviews and wrap-up posts/videos on the challenge page or in the Goodreads group.

I feel like we need a Big Book Summer parade … or at least some fireworks! 

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On Video

 My Big Book Summer – A Quick Recap – this very short video (under 1 min) shows the Big Books in print I enjoyed reading this summer and the one I am finishing today.

R.I.P. (Readers Imbibing Peril) Challenge – Fall Reading – The end of Big Book Summer means the start of R.I.P. season! I love this time of year for many reasons, including reading darker stuff. See my massive pile of possibilities for the next two months!

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 As usual, my last book read for Big Book Summer is also my first book for the R.I.P. Challenge (which started September 1): The Night Fire by Michael Connelly, book 3 in the Renee Ballard series (and book 22 in the Harry Bosch series. I love this new female LAPD detective Connelly created, and I enjoyed book 1, The Late Show, and really loved him bringing the two detectives together in book 2, Dark Sacred Night. This novel is a triple-header and includes Ballard, Bosch, and Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer. Ballard and Bosch are working a very cold case together, as Ballard also works on a current case. As usual, Connelly’s writing is top-notch, and the suspense and unexpected twists are plentiful.

I do the same on audio, so my last choice for Big Book Summer also counts for R.I.P. Challenge: A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny, book 18 in her Inspector Gamache series. I was late to this series and have only read #1, Still Life, #15 A Better Man, and #17, The Madness of Crowds, but I enjoy these books on audio very much. This one goes back to when Jean-Guy and Inspector Gamache first met, working a horrific case involving murder and child abuse, and that case’s continuing repercussions today. Then they find a mysterious hidden painting, and some modern-day murders come to light. It’s been excellent, with emotional depth, an intriguing, complex mystery, and lots of surprises!