Monday, April 07, 2014

It's Monday 4/7! What Are You Reading?


Ah, Monday morning...quiet house and no one to take care of but myself for a few hours. I started the day off kind of oddly...I cleaned out my sock drawer! Maybe an unusual way to start the day, but it gave me a big motivational boost. I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately, and I know that the clutter in the house is part of the problem. My college son went back to school yesterday after a week at home for spring break, and the sudden disappearance of all his stuff all over the first floor (he never really unpacked - just sort of dumped everything on the floor!) inspired me to take a tiny step in the huge job of decluttering. So, I am feeling pretty proud of myself, with a big bag of stuff to throw away, a smaller bag to donate, and a sock drawer that now closes without excess effort. My life is better already!

We did a lot of reading last week, especially my son who celebrated his break with books:
  • I finished The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I'm still not sure how I feel about this modern classic novel - it was strange. It's a mixture of philosophy, politics, literature, and sex, all rolled into a rambling narrative that often left me saying, "Wait...what??" It will definitely be an interesting book group discussion on Wednesday!
  • Yesterday, I moved onto Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick, a novel I have really been looking forward to reading. I doubt I will finish it in time for the discussion at the library Wednesday, but I do hope to go listen to the author on Thursday evening. This is our all-county read book for this spring.
  • I finished listening to The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett, a clever fantasy novel written by the famous, knighted author when he was only 17 years old! It was a lot of fun.
  • I have also been (slowly) making my way through a nonfiction book, Time Management from the Inside Out: The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule - and Your Life by Julie Morganstern. I had to return my copy to the library, but I was getting enough out of it that I ordered my own, updated copy last week. The sock drawer is just the beginning!
  • My husband, Ken, was away last week and reading Brilliance, a suspense novel, by Marcus Sakey on his Kindle.
  • Jamie, 19, went on a reading binge for his spring break! He read five books since last Monday (plus another few last weekend). First, he tackled one of his favorite series, Beyonders by Brandon  Mull. He quickly re-read book 2, Seeds of Rebellion, and then read the latest release (and the last book of the trilogy), Chasing the Prophecy. He reaffirmed that it remains an all-time favorite!
  • Next, he re-read a favorite on his Kindle, The Sorcerer's Ascension by Brock E. Deskin, Book 1 in The Sorcerer's Path series.
  • Mid-week, he hit Barnes & Noble with some friends, armed with several gift cards. One of the books he bought - and immediately read - was Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes. He enjoyed it and is looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
  • Finally, he re-read The Dark City, Book 1 in Catherine Fisher's Relic Master series. Next he plans to re-read Book 2, The Lost Heiress, and then turn in some Amazon or Target gift cards for book 3. I love that he ditched plans to buy a video game with the gift card and now wants to spend it all on books!
  • Craig, 15, is still reading MacBeth for his Brit Lit class. He got 95% on his first quiz, so I think it's going pretty well.
 Despite having a very busy week, I managed a few blog posts:

Review of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon, a novel about friendship.

Review of Monsters of Men, Book 3 in Patrick Ness' incredible teen/YA Chaos Walking trilogy.

Saturday Snapshot, with photos of last week's trip to St. Michaels, MD

Weekend Cooking post, with some tasty dinner ideas.

What are you and your family reading this week?    

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, with a kid/teen version hosted by Unleashing Readers.  

8 comments:

  1. Maybe I need to do that, start small, my house is overwhelmed by clutter

    Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out

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  2. Your family always has some interesting reads. I keep eyeing that Morgan Rhodes book, so I think that's going on my reading list too.

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  3. Anonymous6:34 AM

    De cluttering always makes me feel better, I'm slowly getting there!
    Currently reading Birdsong at the moment and really enjoying it :)
    I don't know it you'd be interested but I published my first eBook a couple of months ago, on amazon kindle. Its called I guess this is growing up. A huge achievement for me, as a fellow cfs/me sufferer I know you understand :) -AmyLou

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  4. Jamie said it was great, Tanya! He wants to read the rest of the series now, too.

    Sue

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  5. Congratulations, Amy-Lou!!! Wow, that is an amazing accomplishment! I love the look of the cover. Believe me, I do understand since I have been working on my own book...for about 8 years now! Not making much progress - it's hard to find time when I have the energy to write in between everything else. I should probably give up my blogs for a while, but I really enjoy them.

    Way to go!

    Sue

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  6. Anonymous2:30 AM

    Thank you so much Sue, your kind words mean a lot! Oh and I designed it myself :)
    I didn't know you were writing a book! - writing is my therapy, it is a lot of people's I'm sure. I love reading your blogs - when, lets say when you publish your book I want to read it :)
    Heres a link to my goodreads event, the book is going free this sunday, if you know anyone who would like to read it -AmyLou
    https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/925918-i-guess-this-is-growing-up---for-free

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  7. Thanks for the heads up, Amy - I will definitely check it out and try to spread the word!

    Sue

    P.S. Are you on Twitter? I just joined for my CFS blog - will try to tweet your link here :)

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  8. Anonymous3:32 AM

    No I'm not, I did think about getting twitter but I didn't know anyone on it and I have a lot of social networks to keep up with at the moment. I may get it later on, as I have heard its becoming the new blog? Aww thank you Sue, that would be great :) -AmyLou

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