It's Monday 3/22! What Are You Reading?

Book By Book

Last week was busy and very, very stressful, so I apologize for running out of time for blog visits – I missed seeing what you were all reading last week and can’t wait to check in this week!

Just a lot of stressful stuff all piling up–dealing with medical claims and the insurance company, trying to tally all of our 2020 medical expenses for our tax return, my father-in-law’s worsening decline (week before was better but last week was really bad) as we search for assisted living, and other family issues that are making me lose sleep. In short, I am pretty exhausted today!

On the plus side, we enjoyed seeing our younger son three times (!) last week, including a nice St. Patrick’s Day dinner with him and my father-in-law. And on Saturday, my husband and I took a little time for ourselves, in between check-ins with my father-in-law, for a short walk in a park and takeout from our favorite place, Cajun Kate’s. 

We used to live in New Orleans, and this tiny restaurant is run by a husband-wife team who both worked as chefs in New Orleans (one for Emeril and one for Susan Spicer, our favorite). So, their food is fabulous and 100% authentic – a little taste of our Southern home that we are missing! We had catfish po’boys and gumbo on Saturday and muffulettas and leftover gumbo on Sunday. So, at least we ate well this weekend!

Don’t forget to check out my new YouTube channel, with lots of book-related videos! Last week, I added a new Friday Reads video, where I talk about three of the books mentioned below.

Books are always comforting in times of stress. Here’s what we’ve all been reading this week:

I finished a collection of short stories written by a friend of mine, Whisky for Breakfast by Christopher P. Mooney. This was just published at the end of 2020, and I have been looking forward to reading it because he’s an excellent writer. His topics tend to be pretty dark, and they focus on real life, especially the gritty underbelly: criminals, prostitutes, and more. The collection kicks off with the story of a hard-drinking PI who’s helping to investigate the disappearance of a teen girl. That story is sort of typical short-story length, but some of his stories are just a single page. Even with the shorter stories, though, Chris has a real talent for developing characters, and his writing–with lots of dialogue–paints a detailed picture of the setting and situation, even in a short amount of time. My personal tendency is to enjoy the longer stories best. I hate to leave a character just as I’m getting to know him or her! I enjoyed this collection overall, though a few of the stories were too dark for me.

Now, I am reading one of my Christmas gifts from my husband, Rabbit, Run by John Updike. I’ve never read Updike before, so I’ve been eager to read this modern classic. It’s about a twenty-six-year-old man named Harry Angstrom, who goes by the nickname Rabbit. Rabbit was a high school basketball star and now lives in his small hometown in Pennsylvania with his wife and young son, working as a sales rep for a home goods company. One day, Rabbit is suddenly dissatisfied with his life and does something pretty drastic. The novel is, of course, well-written and interesting (it’s been popular for a long time for a reason!), though I have to admit that I don’t like the main character much so far. It was written in 1960, which is both fun, for the pop culture references, and problematic, for gender roles, racial stereotypes, and other standards of the time. I’m only about 75 pages in, and I’m mostly enjoying it so far and interested to see where the story goes. I keep hoping Rabbit will redeem himself!

On audio, I started The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, a middle-grade novel I have been waiting to read since its 2019 release (thanks for the reminder, Unleashing Readers!). I always enjoy Gemeinhart’s novels (The Honest Truth is especially good), but I think this one will beat them all. It’s about a twelve-year-old girl named Coyote who lives and travels in a refurbished school bus with her dad, Rodeo (yeah, he’s a bit of a hippie). They’ve been living in the bus and on the road for five years now, since a tragedy occurred in their lives that Rodeo doesn’t want to talk about. But on one of her weekly calls to her grandma, Coyote learns that something is about to happen in their hometown the following week. She needs to get back there to rescue some precious memories, but Rodeo has refused to return for five years. Coyote must somehow get him to drive four days straight, across the entire country, to get there … without him knowing their true destination! Along the way, they pick up some stray travelers who both complicate the situation and improve it. As with all of Gemeinhart’s novels, he address serious issues with warmth and plenty of humor. All that plus a road trip plot? I’m in! I’m loving this novel so far, and it’s great on audio.

My husband, Ken, is still reading Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline, which we have both been looking forward to! I gave it to him for Christmas (the best kind of gift, the kind I can enjoy, too). He, I, and our son all loved Ready Player One when it came out (and we all enjoyed the movie, too), so we’ve been happily anticipating the sequel. According to the cover blurb, this book begins just after the events in the first book ended. Wade is now in charge of OASIS and the empire left by genius creator James Halliday (kind of a Willy Wonka-like set-up!) and discovers a new secret in his vaults, a brand-new technology that could change OASIS and the real world dramatically. Apparently, there is a a new riddle, a new quest, and. … a new evil villain ready to thwart Wade and his friends. Ken says that so far it feels very much like the first book, and he’s enjoying it.

Our son, 26, is re-reading Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson, book three in the Stormlight Archive series, in preparation for book four, which his girlfriend just got for him (released in November)! I love how she understands his love of reading and of favorite book series, even though she’s not a big book lover herself. This is one of his favorite authors, and he loves this series! I just texted my son to ask if he’s still reading this, and he, “Of course, Mom – it’s 1230 pages!” ha ha This is pretty typical for him; he routinely reads huge epic novels and thinks my Big Book Summer Challenge is funny!

Like I said, a busy week, so just one blog post last week:

Fiction Review: My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares – a unique love story crossing centuries

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

What are you and your family reading this week?