It's Monday 5/16! What Are You Reading?

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Ah... Quiet Monday at home. I need it! I finally finished my four rotating trips in three weeks. All this is fun but boring. And now I'm ready to sit at home and recover for at least a few weeks. This week's adventures included my father-in-law's 97th birthday and my mother's birthday family reunion in Connecticut.

My father-in-law turned 97 on Friday, so my husband and I visited him at the nursing home that afternoon. We brought him a McDonald's vanilla milkshake and a homemade lemon cake (his favorite) as a gift. He's completely insane (he's severely demented now) but awake enough to enjoy it. He loves to party and happily opens his presents. And it's good that my husband takes the time to visit me for lunch, because he's in another world (and not a happy world) at dinner time. So we are glad that we had the privilege of hosting and hosting you on your birthday.

Saturday morning we drive to Connecticut for our first family reunion since 2019. I've seen this person once or twice (apart from my nephew), but this is the first time in years that everyone in my immediate family has been together. It's wonderful to see my cousins ​​again, to spend time with them. both have grown. And it's wonderful to spend time with my children. We don't collect much these days. After the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks, it was pretty exhausting for me, but I made it through. We got home around 3 last night, we won't go out. (Well, my husband has a doctor's appointment. I'm going to my mother-in-law's house in an hour, but we haven't gone anywhere yet.) I promise I won't post photos online (some of them). So here's a delicious barbecue dinner we had on Saturday night.

And suddenly on May 16. Wow. As expected, we jumped from the cold rain of the 50's to the mid 80's, but the weather should improve this weekend. The surrounding trees have withered, but the ground near the nursing home was covered in pink flowers last week.

And my annual Ledger Summer Challenge starts next Friday. I'm a little scared, but I've already set aside a huge stack of notebooks. If you're new to the challenge, you can check out my Big Book Summer 2021 entry (this year's challenge page opens Friday, May 27). The challenge runs through early September. The idea is to take advantage of summer (or winter if you're in the southern hemisphere) to read a great book (or two or more). The ledger is 400 pages or more - you can choose one to read or dedicate an entire season to the ledger like I did.

So, get ready. Start checking your TBR shelves and lists of great books you've pushed back to Summer 2022 . And this is the 10th anniversary of the contest, so I'm going to try to make it special with a new logo, extra giveaways, and some great summer merchandise from Big Book.

Last week I uploaded videos of two new books.

The April Reading Roundup is a brief synopsis of five great books I read last month.

Readings for Friday 05/13/22 - Read my short weekly report

And this is what we all read last week.

I'm still reading Courtney Maum's Booktopia memoir called The Year of the Horse . I didn't attend his writing sessions, but one Saturday night at the end of Booktopia, he gave a humorous closing note on the novel's publication. However, this book is about her personal battle with major depression. He was married with a two-year-old daughter when his insomnia and other symptoms became so severe that he sought help. Looking back, she realized that she had fought with him since childhood. He returned to his childhood passion for horseback riding to heal himself. I'm 80% done now, but I've done something I hardly ever do.

Fortunately, I was able to quickly obtain a library copy of Kim Michelle Richardson's Anxious Crack Woman for my bookstore. I don't read much at my mom's house, but last night I was able to delve into the story before bed, it was quite interesting. In 1936, nineteen-year-old Cassie was working as a librarian for the WPA, delivering books by horseback or mule to her distant neighbors in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. Casey is the last surviving female of the Kentucky Blue Family, whose genetic defect that causes blue skin has been passed down from generation to generation. Yesterday I had to go to Wikipedia to look it up, it's all there is, including the location of Problem Creek. For now, it's a wonderful historical romance.

I can still listen to The Hollows by Jess Montgomery , the second book in the Nationality series, a historical mystery set around the first female sheriff of southeastern Ohio in the 1920s. It's also historical fiction (strange because I've read two books that came out more o least at the same time). In the first book of The Widows , Lily's Husband Mues, she is asked to take on the role of the town's sheriff, whose first task is to investigate the murder of her husband. Lily is now running alone in the election when an elderly woman is found dead on a nearby train, apparently falling from a tunnel onto a moving freight train. As Lily begins her investigation, she begins to suspect that it was no accident. The story delves into mysteries, the sheriff's career, Lily's best friend's tough decisions, and even the KKK beginning to infiltrate her neighborhood. It's amazing in sound, totally immersive; I like it:

My husband Ken is still reading a new book I put in his Easter basket, Underworld by Lauren Bokes. I chose this one for her because we both loveBrilliant Girls by the same author. We were very excited for the new TV adaptation, which launched last week on Apple TV, starring Elizabeth Moss. We can't wait to see it. But this new Bukes novel is a post-apocalyptic story of a world where most people die. A twelve-year-old boy named Miles is one of the few children left, and his mother will do whatever it takes to protect him from the many women who want him as part of their reproductive resources, as a sex object, or as a lover. surrogate child. It's described as a high-stakes thriller that Stephen King says is "cleverly written" so it must be good.

This weekend I was able to get our son (27 years old) back to reading. He completed the first book in the Emanesca series, written by Ben Galli. This is of course his favorite fantasy genre. Dubbed "Game of Thrones," it meets Dihard's "explosive epic fantasy." He said the plot was good, but felt the characters were a bit shallow. He heard that it would be better for him to try the second book. At the same time, he started reading the one by Michael J. So far, he was enjoying it.

Blog post from last week.

fictional criticism. Cloud Rising by David Wright Falada - Excellent historical fiction on the full list of freed slaves during the Civil War

fictional criticism. The Lost World of Arthur Conan Doyle is a science fiction work by a famous author about an expedition to find living dinosaurs in the modern world.

"What you read on Monday" Catherine introduced you on Book Day, so head over to her blog and join us on Monday. You can also follow the versions for children/teens/toddlers published by Unleashing Readers.

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

What did your family read this week?