It's Monday 6/28! What Are You Reading?

Book By Book

We had a busy week here! The good news is that I finally came out of my post-vaccine reaction (mine was a bit extended, for a full week, because of my immune disorder). By Thursday, I was feeling better and able to manage the grocery store and some weeding in the garden on Friday. I’m very relieved to be back to my normal baseline. 

Otherwise, we were busy with family–our son running in and out (he’s living with us temporarily) and taking care of my father-in-law. 

And we enjoyed a HUGE treat last night: dinner with old friends … in their house! We even hugged! We joked it was the first time we’d gotten together with friends indoors and without ordering takeout since last March. It was wonderful to enjoy that return to normalcy and to catch up with old, dear friends.

I uploaded two new book videos to Youtube recently:

My May Reading Wrap-Up

#FridayReads 6-25-21

Meanwhile, Big Book Summer is hot, hot, hot! (And so is the weather.) We’re enjoying our Big Books. Here’s what we’ve all been reading this week:

I am still reading one of my #BigBookSummer books, The Lost Time Accidents by John Wray. I heard about this through a podcast called The Readers (I don’t think it’s still on), which was hosted by Simon and Gavin way back when. Gavin loved time travel novels (just like me) and recommended this as one of his all-time favorite books. So, I kept it on my TBR list all these years, and my husband gave it to me for Christmas. It’s an odd book, not what I expected, but I am enjoying it. A man named Waldemar Tolliver is “stuck outside of time” at the start of the book. As he narrates his present predicament, he goes back to tell his unusual family history, beginning with a strange discovery about time that his great-grandfather made in 1903, and how his namesake, his great-uncle, further investigated it. It can get kind of dark (his great-uncle became a high-ranking Nazi), but it’s also very funny. It’s not quite traditional time travel, but it is very much about the nature of time, with a dose of physics throughout (many of the early Tollivers were physicists), and I like the way it weaves real history into the family narrative. To hear me talk about the weirdness and fun of this novel, watch my #FridayReads 6-25-21 video!

On audio, I finished another Big Book, The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames, a novel published in 2019. It’s the story of a woman named Stella, who encounters many life-threatening incidents during her childhood in rural Italy and youth and adult life in the United States. She protects her younger sister, Tina, but life changes dramatically when the family immigrates to America just before WWII. The story is told from the perspective of a family member in Connecticut in the present day, to explain why the two now-elderly sisters don’t get along. It’s a well-written novel and engrossing, with a vivid sense of time and place in its different settings. However, it is also very dark. You might think I should have expected that from the title, but some aspects of this story are really disturbing (like scenes of abuse). So, while I was engaged in the story, it was long book, and the darkness was a bit too much for me. You can read my full review at the link.

After all that, I was looking for something lighter and fast-paced, so I chose All of This Is True by Lygia Day Penaflor, a YA thriller. Yes, I know thrillers are often dark! So far, though, I am really enjoying this unique and compelling novel. It’s about a group of teens who are obsessed with a YA novel and go totally fan-girl (and -boy) when they get to meet the author (who is in her early 20′s) at a book signing. They soon find themselves actually becoming friends with the author. Then she publishes a new novel, which is clearly based on the lives (barely concealed) of her new “friends.” The media is saying she used these teens, but they believe she is really their friend. Best of all, this story is told after the fact–after the novel is published and some sort of event lands one of the teens in the hospital–through interviews, journal entries, and even excerpts from the novel itself. And the audio is outstanding, recorded with a full cast of 15 narrators, making the listening experience immersive. I’m thoroughly enjoying it so far and can’t wait to see what happens next!

My husband, Ken, got a nice stack of books for Father’s Day (holidays at our house always include stacks of books), so he picked one of those to read next. He did get a couple more Big Books, but after a heavy Hemingway Big Book, he wanted something fast and shorter, so he’s reading Dead of Winter by Stephen Mack Jones. This is an author I met at Booktopia, an annual event in Vermont I’ve been missing the past two years (pics at that link include Stephen). My husband and I both love his series of thrillers set in Detroit about a half-Mexican, half-Black ex-cop. We both enjoyed the first book, August Snow, and liked the second one, Lives Laid Away, even more, so we’ve been looking forward to this third installment. Jones writes fast-paced, action-packed, twisty thrillers, but he also has a great sense of humor. This one will definitely go on my own TBR shelves when Ken’s finished!

Our 26-year-old son is now reading Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, which is book one of a trilogy. He and his girlfriend want to watch the new Netflix adaptation of the series, and, like any avid reader, he wants to read the book first! He said it’s not a series he probably would normally have chosen on his own (he prefers fantasy worlds without guns), but all the hype and rave reviews surrounding the trilogy (and now the TV series) convinced him to give it a try. He’s enjoying it so far.

Blog posts from last week:

Memoir Review: The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson – warm, honest, funny memoir from the famous advice columnist Ask Amy

Request for Those Receiving This Through E-Mail – still trying to solve my e-mail issues, so if you are usually on the list but are not receiving new e-mails from follow.it, then please e-mail me or leave a comment on this post to let me know.

Fiction Review: The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames – well-written and engaging story but dark and disturbing

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?