It's Monday 5/24! What Are You Reading?

Book By Book

The big news here last week is that I finally got my first vaccine! Because I have a very complex immune disorder, I’ve spent the past five months deciding whether it would be OK to get it, getting loads of immune function tests done, talking to my doctors, trying to improve my immune function and get my underlying infections under control with new treatments, and finally, preparing for the vaccine. Poll data for those with my disease is showing that about 10% (or slightly more, depending on which vaccine) suffer a severe and long-lasting relapse after the vaccine … hence, all the worry and preparation! I just came out of a 14-month-long relapse and had no desire to go back there (or worse). I’ve been feeling really good the past three weeks, which has been such a relief.

So, I rushed around at the beginning of the week, trying to get everything done in case I relapsed badly: shopping, yard work, blogging, etc. Then, I got my first shot of Moderna Wednesday, and … nothing! Other than mild soreness in my arm, I had no reaction at all, which was a relief but also stunning, since I was prepared for the worst. Some people with my disease do have a delayed reaction, and I’ve been run-down yesterday and today, so I’m not completely out of the woods yet, but I am hopeful!

The other big news is, of course, that Big Book Summer 2021 kicks off on Friday!! This is my annual reading challenge that runs from the end of May to the start of September with a focus on using those lazy days of summer to tackle some of the bigger books you’ve been meaning to read. You only need to read one Big Book (400 or more pages) to participate in the challenge, but you are welcome to read as many as you want! Participation has grown every year (this will be the 9th), and I know I’m not the only one looking forward to it. All over social media, people have been asking me when it starts. I’m thrilled to see so much excitement! The official sign-up page will be posted here on Friday (you don’t need a blog to join), but in the meantime, you can read the simple rules at the 2020 Big Book Summer page (only the dates will change). And I gave a brief preview of my own Big Book Summer last week in my weekly Friday Reads video, so check that out–I have my stack ready!

So, that’s most of what I will be working on this week. In the meantime, here’s what we’ve all been reading this past week:

I finished Force of Nature by best-selling author Jane Harper, another of her Australian thrillers centered around Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk. Five women go into the woods (the Australian bush) for a weekend-long corporate backpacking retreat, a mandatory team-building activity. The men’s group returns on time Sunday, but when the women’s group finally staggers out of the forest, many hours late, there are only four women. One of them, Alice, is missing. Falk and his partner get called in because Alice just happens to be their main informant in building a case against her company. As the search for Alice continues, the higher-ups urge Falk to finish obtaining the necessary evidence against the company. Did Alice merely get lost? Did her prickly personality go too far and get her in trouble with her fellow hikers? Or is something more sinister going on? This was super-twisty and unpredictable, and kept me turning the pages until the very end.

I don’t normally read two thrillers in a row (unless it’s the R.I.P. Challenge in the fall), but my neighborhood book group selection for June is The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. This psychological thriller was on all the best-seller lists and lauded with rave reviews from loads of top thriller authors, so I was glad my group chose it. It’s about a woman named Alicia who murders her husband and then stops speaking. Alicia is a famous painter, and her husband was a well-known fashion photographer. They seemed to have a wonderful, loving marriage, so what happened? Alicia’s silence continues for years, as she remains at the Grove, a secure forensic psychiatric facility in London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who, by his own admission, has his own issues stemming from an abusive childhood. Theo becomes obsessed with Alicia and manages to get himself hired at the Grove and assigned to her case. Everyone else has given up, since she won’t communicate at all, but Theo thinks he can connect with her and solve the mystery. It’s great so far, already intriguing and gripping.

On audio, I finally finished re-listening to Becoming by Michelle Obama (my review at the link). One of my book groups chose it, and since it was still on my iPod, I thought I’d just re-listen to some parts of it to remind me of the details. I ended up re-listening to the whole book! This is not a political book; it’s the very personal story of Michelle’s own life, from her childhood through to 2017, as they leave the White House. It covers her experiences growing up on the South Side of Chicago, going to Princeton and Harvard as one of few Black students in the 1980′s, her zigzagging career path as she tries to figure out what to do with her life, her experiences as a mother, and yes, her support of Barack’s political career, as he strives to find bigger and better ways to make a difference in the world. Despite the fact that she was a First Lady, her tone (the audio is read by her) is warm and friendly, and her story is surprisingly relatable. I am only one year younger than her, so I could especially relate to many of her experiences. I loved this audio all over again! It’s like listening to a good friend tell you about her life.

Now, I am immersed in listening to Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver. She is one of my all-time favorite authors, and her novels, The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees (along with its sequel, Pigs in Heaven), are among my all-time favorite books. Like those, this is an earlier novel (published in 1990), and she reads the audio herself. She has the most wonderful, soothing voice and completely inhabits the characters she is narrating. In this case, that’s mainly Codi, a woman who has returned to her tiny hometown in Arizona for the first time since she left after high school. She’s not in close touch with her father, the town doctor, but she’s heard he’s suffering from dementia. Her beloved sister is in Nicaragua, helping the farmers there, so Codi is on her own. As with most of Kingsolver’s novels, there is an environmental crisis here, along with Native American cultures and legends. Codi is struggling to figure out who she is and what she wants to do with her life … and maybe falling in life with her high school boyfriend. I am thoroughly enjoying listening to Kingsolver narrate this beautiful, gentle story.

My husband, Ken, is reading a book I put into his Easter basket (oops, I mean from the Easter bunny!), Camino Island by John Grisham. It takes place on a quiet island off the coast of Florida, where Bruce Cable owns a small bookstore and also deals in rare books (which are occasionally not completely legal). A young novelist with writer’s block, Mercer Mann, is paid a lot of money to go undercover and infiltrate Cable’s circle of literary friends, to discover his secrets. It sounds like a fun book-centric thriller! He’s enjoying it so far.

I believe our 26-year-old son is still immersed in one of his favorite series, Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. He’s now onto book 4, Rhythm of War, which is a mere 1232 pages … and hardcover! He loves epic fantasy, the longer the better–it’s always Big Book Summer for him! He and his girlfriend are arriving tonight for a visit, so I’ll get an update on his reading. We’re looking forward to spending some time with them!

Blog posts last week:

Fiction Review: Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline – fun, action-packed sequel

Fiction Review: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – moving, powerful, and poignant

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?