It's Monday 7/12! What Are You Reading?

Book By Book

We had another HOT week here in the Mid-Atlantic. When it’s 90′s and high humidity, I just can’t tolerate much time outdoors … and I love being outdoors! Besides, the weeds in the gardens are winning the battle. And how come the deer and rabbits are eating all the new flowers we planted in May but they don’t touch all the weeds out there? Discerning palettes, I guess. We did have one nice day, Saturday, when I was able to get out and do a little more weeding and mulching. We also enjoyed some time at a local park with my father-in-law, which is always nice. 

The big events of my week, though, were actual social activities … out in public! For the first time since early March 2020, my husband and I went to a movie theater! It felt like a thrilling, stunning event for us, even though it was just us and one other couple in the theater. We went to a 5 pm matinee of A Quiet Place II, which was just as good as the first one. I’m so glad that John Krasinsky held it back until theaters were open again because this is a movie that is made for the big screen. It’s also the only set of movies where eating popcorn feels like a very frightening thing to do! For the record, I don’t normally enjoy or watch horror movies, but these two movies are in a genre all their own–moving family dramas with elements of sci fi thriller.

And, on Saturday night, we ate OUT in a restaurant with friends! Again, an amazing experience. We hugged! We thoroughly enjoyed seeing each other again and the experience of being in a restaurant (we ate out after the movie, too). We’d forgotten how much better food is served hot, directly from the kitchen, instead of riding in takeout containers for 20 minutes.

I posted my usual #FridayReads video on my YouTube channel last week, where I talk about (OK, gush about) the book and audiobook I was currently reading:

And here’s what we’ve all been reading this past week:

I finished reading The Air You Breathe by Frances de Ponte Peebles, which is historical fiction. The story begins in 1930′s Brazil, where two nine-year-old girls from very different backgrounds meet and become friends. Gracas is the “Little Miss” of the sugar plantation her family owns, and Dores is a kitchen servant, considered the lowest of the servants for her age and her status as an orphan. Spoiled Gracas insists on Dores becoming her playmate, and her mother acquiesces. The two become inseparable, and after Gracas’ mother takes them to a concert and purchases a phonograph player, they both become obsessed with music and make a pretty good singing duo. As teens, they run away to Rio together and struggle to find a way to break into show business. The novel moves back and forth from the present, when Dores is an elderly woman, to the past, as the girls face one challenge after another together, though it is hard for them to ever shed their original roles. I loved this novel! It’s a warm, moving story encompassing both pain and joy as the girls, then women, chase their dreams. History, race, and class are a part of the story, and music is at the center of it.

Now, I am reading my 7th #BigBookSummer book, Blackout by Connie Willis, a favorite of mine and my husband’s. Willis has a loose series of time travel books, and if you’ve read my blog, you know I love time travel plots! We both enjoyed To Say Nothing of the Dog, a sort of time travel farce, and last summer for Big Book Summer 2020, we both read Doomsday Book and were blown away by it–it was a favorite for both of us. Blackout takes place about four years after that last novel. All of this series are about a group of historians in near-future Oxford who use technology to travel to different time periods. Their role is to observe and learn more about history, not to change anything. In this novel, several historians are traveling back and forth to various places and times during World War II (Dunkirk, Pearl Harbor, rural England where children were evacuated to, London during the Blitz). This time, though, things begin to go wrong with their time travel technology and mistakes start to occur. I have only just begun this book, but I am already fully immersed in that world and loving it!

I am also listening to a Big Book on audio, Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton. It is a complex narrative at first, but I am well into it now and enjoying it. It’s narrated by twelve-year-old Eli Bell, who lives in Australia. His mother and step-father are heroin dealers, his older brother, Gus, is mute, and his best friend is an elderly, notorious felon named Slim who is know for his multiple prison escapes. So, yeah, it’s a little weird (what is it with me and weird books this summer?), but it’s interesting and engaging. As you might guess from that set-up, Eli doesn’t have an easy life, and things are about to get a whole lot worse for him and Gus. But Eli is clever and determined and has learned a lot from his buddy, Slim. This is a unique novel, and I’m really enjoying it so far.

My husband, Ken, just finished a Father’s Day gift, his second Big Book of the summer, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Weir was the author of the best-selling novel, The Martian, (made into an excellent movie starring Matt Damon) and Artemis, which took place on the moon. This latest novel from Weir is being hailed as just even better than The Martian. Ryland Grace wakes up from a very long sleep to find himself on a ship, hurtling through space, with two dead crewmates, and no memory at all. As his memory slowly returns, he realizes that he is the sole survivor of a critical mission whose purpose is nothing less than saving mankind and the earth. The clock is ticking, and Ryland is all alone. It sounds like a great premise and reviews have been outstanding. Ken really enjoyed it, and I can’t wait to read it, too!

Our 26-year-old son has returned to a favorite series, The Summoner trilogy by Taran Matharu, starting by re-reading book 1, The Novice, so that he can move onto book 2. According to the blurb, “Fletcher is working as a blacksmith’s apprentice when he discovers he has the rare ability to summon demons from another world. Chased from his village for a crime he did not commit, Fletcher must travel with his demon, Ignatius, to an academy for adepts, where the gifted are taught the art of summoning.”   He’s enjoying it so far–he always enjoys diving back into a favorite series and re-reading novels he enjoyed. He has a summer job doing environmental sampling, but he was thrilled to learn he could read during the waiting periods that dot his days!

Last week’s blog posts:

TV Tuesday: Summer 2021 Shows – what we’re watching – there’s something here for everyone!

Teen/YA Review: All of This Is True by Lygia Day Penaflor – unique plot & compelling story, well-written with an outstanding audio production!

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?