It's Monday 7/6! What Are You Reading?

Book By Book

Hosted by The Book Date

 

After weeks of work, most of the reconstruction (after mold remediation) is finished, with new drywall and ceilings in the garage and basement. Some new issues cropped up almost every day, so it was stressful. All that’s left now if for us to paint the walls and have new flooring installed in the basement in a couple of weeks. It’s a finished basement, but it looks pretty rough at the moment!

The landscaper also started work last week, after a couple of months’ delay. We had huge, 40-year-old, overgrown bushes (that covered the front of our house) taken out, and now we have some new native shrubs and perennials planted! There are some more shrubs and a magnolia tree going in this week. 

Our new hydrangea has a bloom!

My husband and I watched Chester, our son and his fiancee’s puppy, on Wednesday when they left to spend the holiday weekend on the sailboat with my mom and her husband. 

Chester is getting bigger!

Playing with Lambchop

He loves playing with Crinkle Duck when he visits!

My 4th of July weekend was pretty dull, overall. My husband left Friday morning for his annual golf week in his hometown, with two close friends from high school. He had another clear cancer scan last week and was able to reduce his medication dose! I was looking forward to having a quiet house to myself after all the chaos of the last few weeks … but our cable and internet were out from late Friday night through Monday morning! Plus, it was still 100 degrees most of the weekend, and I wasn’t feeling well. So, I had a very low-key weekend–I couldn’t even watch the festivities and fireworks on TV! But the weekend ended on a high note: my three closest friends came over last night and brought take-out. It’s been a long time since we’ve all been together, and it really lifted my spirits to see them and catch up. We’d planned a game night, but I wasn’t able to sit up for long, so we played a modified version of Blank Slate from the recliners in my family room! I have the most amazing friends in the world. I’m feeling a little better this evening (why I’m late with my post), and my throat isn’t quite so sore, so I’m hoping the rest of the week will be better.

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 The Bookish Wombling Tag - Do you know what Wombles are?? I didn’t! They’re British characters (sort of like Muppets) from a series of books and TV shows. This fun tag had questions about my reading habits and books, related to Wombles. 

 June Reading Wrap-Up - I read 4 outstanding novels (2 in print and 2 on audio) for Big Book Summer. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS: I have 2 LIVE Discussions coming up this week!

Even if you don’t normally watch my YouTube videos, everyone is welcome to participate in these live events later this week. You just have to be logged into YouTube (it’s part of Google or you can set up a free account with a pseudonym if you like). 

Coping with Chronic Illness: Live Discussion on Wednesday, July 8 at 1 pm Eastern – we’ll be discussing and sharing coping tips for living with any kind of chronic medical condition.

 

Big Book Summer Chat: Live Discussion on Saturday, July 11 at 12 noon Eastern – we’ll be talking about Big Books: books we’ve enjoyed in the past, big books we’re currently reading, and books we’d like to read. Join the fun!

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Last month, I reread Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg on audio (see review below), so this weekend, I watched the 1991 movie adaptation (which I had seen in the theater when it first came out). This year is the film’s 25th anniversary, and it’s being shown in some theaters (I watched it on Netflix, with my cell phone’s hot spot). It was absolutely wonderful! The cast is outstanding. Kathy Bates is amazing (as always) as Evelyn Crouch in the present day (1980′s), and Jessica Tandy is her new elderly friend, Ninny Threadgoode, whom she meets at the local nursing home. Each week, Ninny tells Evelyn stories about her hometown, Whistle Stop, and the antics of her sister-in-law, Idgie, played by Mary Stuart Masterson, and her partner, Ruth (played by Mary-Louise Parker), who ran the cafe in town. Cicely Tyson plays Sipsey, the family’s (and cafe’s) cook who is also a member of the family. Like the book, the movie is filled with warmth and humor and brought tears to my eyes. It was well-worth revisiting this fabulous film!

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My next pick for Big Book Summer is Never by Ken Follett. My husband and I have always loved Follett’s thrillers (many of them historical thrillers), and he’s also well-known for his historical epics. This novel is something a bit different: a political thriller set in modern times. The premise can be summed up in the words of the U.S. President in the novel, Pauline Green: “Every catastrophe begins with a little problem that doesn’t get fixed.” The novel begins by focusing in on several little problems across the globe: a disappearing lake in Saharan Africa, violent jihadists in Africa, a young woman in the CIA stationed in Chad trying to stop jihadists, a Chinese man in charge of their international spies, and Pauline herself, trying to tackle all those little problems before they can grow into a catastrophe. It’s an 800-page book, and I’m less than 200 pages in, but the web of intrigue and tension are already growing. My husband read this book first and told me it was chilling in its relevance to the real world. I’m enjoying it so far.

On audio, I finished Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. This is the second-quarter readalong for the Book Cougars podcast, in their year of page-to-screen reading (it’s the 25th anniversary of the movie adaptation). I read the paperback, back in the early 90′s, so this time I listened to it on audio. It was absolutely delightful! The very talented narrator, Lorna Raver, makes it sound like a full-cast audio. I had forgotten much of the story and thoroughly enjoyed being back among the vibrant characters in the tiny town of Whistle Stop, Alabama. The narrative is split between the late 1980′s, with an older woman recounting everything that happened and flashbacks to the 1920′s through the 1960′s, plus hilarious town newsletter outtakes from the 1920′s on. The story is full of heart and humor, joys and tragedies, and wonderful characters. I’m so glad I listened to it!

Now, I have started a new audio, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, for Jane Austen July (an event held on Booktube every year). Believe it or not, I have never read this ubiquitous classic before! In fact, the only Austen novel I’ve read was Emma. I have to admit, it was only OK for me. But, I decided I needed to give Austen another try. Since P&P is such an integral part of our culture, I thought it was time I finally read it. I’m mostly enjoying it on audio, though it feels tedious to me at times. I have to pay attention or I lose track of the characters and the dialogue. I like Elizabeth, though. Honestly, she seems like the only sane character in the story! I’m glad I’m finally reading it. 

My husband, Ken, finished reading The Testaments by Margaret Atwood before his trip. He enjoyed it as much as I did, and when he gets back, we’ll watch the much-anticipated TV adaptation. He wanted to bring a small paperback on his trip (let’s face it–hanging out with his best friends from high school all week, he won’t have much reading time!) He chose a Ken Follett thriller that was my dad’s (I’m not sure of the title).

Our older son, 31, is still reading Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson, book 5 of his famed Stormlight Archive series, and loving it! He said he loves the way that Sanderson weaves connections among all of his Cosmere books. This one is 1344 pages long, so he said he’ll read a “short” book next, under 600 pages! It’s always Big Book Summer for him!

Our daughter-in-law-to-be is enjoying Shift by High Howey, book two in his Silo series that began with Wool (my reviews at the links). I’m happy she’s enjoying this series as much as we did, and she was excited to hear there’s an excellent TV adaptation (we’re about to start season 3). She hasn’t had much reading time lately, between working 12-hour shifts as a physician’s assistant and helping to care for the puppy!

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  What are you and your family reading this week?