It's Monday 3/18! What Are You Reading?

Book By Book

I love Monday. I always feel a bit guilty about this, but I relish – and need – the quiet solitude that a Monday morning brings and the chance to catch up and start a new week, fresh. We had a wonderful weekend, with dinner out with friends Saturday night, time to catch up and clean up a bit around the house after 2 full weekends past, and a great St. Patrick’s Day corned beef dinner, with the whole family here – both sons, one girlfriend, my father-in-law, and my husband and I. Yesterday was a fun, noisy, great day with everyone here, and I loved it…but I also love the peace and quiet of having the house to myself and being responsible only for me this morning. My morning started with several hours of taking care of urgent problems that came up over the weekend, but it’s still quiet alone time. This will be a busy week, but I’m ready!

Here’s what we’ve all been reading this week:

• I am still reading my next book group pick, My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie. You may recall that I dreaded reading the 600-page novel, America’s First Daughter, by the same authors last year but ended up loving it, and I’m having the same experience now! I thought I wasn’t in the mood for lengthy historical fiction, but once again, these remarkable authors have plunged me into the life of a woman connected to a Revolutionary hero, and I am captivated. It’s an amazing novel, and I am also learning so much (driving my husband crazy with interesting facts while he’s trying to read). This novel, in particular, is striking for how little things have changed, from the founding of our country to the challenges we are facing today – we are still arguing over the exact same issues, which is mind-blowing. If you haven’t yet read either of these novels, you should! They are both perfect picks for my Big Book Summer Challenge, coming up in two months.
• I am still slowly making my way through a very unique illustrated book, Tales from the Inner City by Shaun Tan. Tan is known for his amazing illustrations, graphic novels, illustrated short stories, and even a short film. This unusual book is a collection of short fantasy stories about animals in an urban environment. Some stories are just a few lines long and others are 5 or more pages, each with at least one huge, colorful, two-page painting. They are all very weird and imaginative, about worlds that are different than ours, with a focus on the connections between animals and humans. It’s almost impossible to describe briefly, but I am enjoying it.
• On audio, I listened to Tangerine by Christine Mangan, a novel that got a lot of attention last year. It’s the story of two young women in the 1950′s who are college roommates and then meet up again later in Morocco. There is tension throughout, as you know that something bad happened when they last saw each other, but it’s quite a while before you find out exactly what. It kept me a bit off-balance because the chapters alternate between the two main characters, and they are both unreliable narrators – or are they? I wasn’t sure for quite some time whether one of the women was a stalker or the other woman was paranoid. I didn’t connect with the characters and wasn’t thrilled with the ending, so overall, I liked it and it was engaging, but I didn’t love it. There is a discussion hosted by my local bookstore at lunchtime today, but…see my opening paragraph! I don’t think I’m leaving the house. And now a headache has kicked in, so…no.
• Now, I have started listening to The Widows by Jess Montgomery, which was recommended by the Book Cougars podcast (they also interviewed the author – episode 68). I highly recommend their podcast – they are friends of mine from Booktopia, and I always look forward to a new episode! Set in 1924, The Widows is inspired by the true story of Ohio’s first female sheriff and tells the fictional story of two widows who are brought together by unexpected circumstances and find themselves at odds with the male leadership and corruption in their communities. It’s very good so far.
• My husband, Ken, finished reading The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld, a thriller that I gave him for Christmas. It got a lot of great buzz when it was published in 2017, and he said it was very good. I plan to read it also.
• Now, Ken is reading Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson, a very good psychological thriller about a woman who discovers she is living next door to a killer – and he knows that she knows. It’s good tense suspense, and he’s enjoying it. I reviewed it for Shelf Awareness and will post a link as soon as my review is published.
• Our son, Jamie, 24, wants to read book 4, Kingdom Blades, of the series A Pattern of Shadow and Light by Melissa McPhail, a favorite series of his. But, being him, he decided to first re-read the first 3 books in the series. So, he finished book 1, Cephrael’s Hand, and is now reading book 2, The Dagger of Adendigaeth. He says he’s enjoying it and is glad he decided to re-read because he’s remembering details he’d forgotten…and the series is sooo good!

Blog posts from last week:

Movie Monday: Secret in Their Eyes – dark psychological thriller

Fiction Review: The Blinds by Adam Sternbergh – unique witness protection suspense

Nonfiction Review: The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea – powerful true story of lethal border crossing

Books Read in February – a great reading month for me

Saturday Snapshot: March Madness – in like a lion and out like a lamb!

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.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog’s page.   

What are you and your family reading this week?