It's Monday 6/17! What Are You Reading?

Book By Book

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

Wow, what a week! 

Our older son and his girlfriend arrived here on Wednesday after a month on the road, driving all over the country, where they saw and did so many amazing things! (See the past month’s Monday posts for photos.) They were tired but happy. We managed two family dinners with both of our sons (one dinner with all six of us, including girlfriends), a rarity these days! We loved hearing all about their epic road trip, though it was a hectic week, trying to deal with car troubles, a last-minute car rental, picking up our new camper, and getting ready for another trip.

Back home after a month on the road!

Our new camper!

Friday morning, we left for another busy weekend trip, this time to Virginia for the wedding of one of our older son’s friends. They’ve been friends since kindergarten, and his mom is one of my closest friends. We were so happy they included us in their special day! It was a beautiful wedding, at a vineyard on top of a hill, overlooking the Virginia countryside with mountains all around. The guests included so many of our son’s friends, from elementary school through high school and into college! My husband and I loved catching up with all of them (they’re all about 30 now), and hearing what they’re doing with their lives. We watched them all grow up! The wedding was a lot of fun. I’ve never seen so many people dance at a wedding–the dance floor was packed. I even got out there (wearing my heart rate monitor and being careful not to raise my arms too high – a challenge when “Shout!” came on! ha ha) and stayed up until midnight. That usually only happens on New Year’s Eve when I’m mostly lying on my couch. And I felt OK the next day! More evidence of how much better I am doing this year. We had a great time, I loved being there to share in my friend’s joy, and our son had an absolute blast with all his old friends.

Our son and his girlfriend

My husband and I

Fabulous views & a gorgeous setting!

Bride and groom had a spectacular first dance!

The four of us at the wedding

My friend (mother of the groom) and I

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On the Blog

TV Tuesday: Dark Matter – we are LOVING this new twisty sci fi thriller based on one of our favorite novels. After every episode, I yell, “It’s SO gooood!”

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The Stay Gold Booktube Tag – this tag was inspired by The Outsiders (which I’ve never read–I know!!), but the questions are all about Booktube (i.e. YouTube for book lovers), with some of my favorite Booktubers, favorite book videos, and non-book channels & videos, too.

Friday Reads 6-14-24 – my brief weekly update of what I am currently reading (and my husband and son, too).

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Now (and probably until the end of the month!), I am reading my first print book for the #BigBookSummer Challenge, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. For years, I’ve been hearing readers rave about how wonderful this Western novel is, so I’m glad to finally be reading it for myself. It’s set in 1870 with two older men, Augustus McCrae and Captain Woodrow Call, who are ex-Texas Rangers. They now own a small livery business in the tiny town of Lonesome Dove on the Mexico border, a desolate place. A small group of men live there and help them. Early in the novel, another ex-Ranger named Jake comes to visit, fresh from Montana, and Call gets the idea to put together a herd of cattle and drive them all the way to Montana. I’m about halfway now, and I’m enjoying it very much. They’re not even out of Texas yet, but so much has already happened! The characters and setting are engaging, and it’s got a great sense of humor (always a plus for me). My Friday Reads video includes a more in-depth discussion of what I am enjoying about it. So many other people participating in Big Book Summer were also reading this book that I made it our official readalong book, and I’m enjoying the discussions in the group on Goodreads.

After a massive book hangover from The Women by Kristin Hannah (so amazing!), I finally chose a new Big Book audio. Countdown by Deborah Wiles is middle-grade historical fiction, book one in her Sixties trilogy. In 2015, I read book 2, Revolution, which takes place in 1964 and is about the Freedom Summer in Mississippi. Countdown is set in 1962 and focuses on what was going on at that time: the Cold War, McCarthyism, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and fear of a nuclear bomb. The novel begins with 11-year-old Franny and her classmates enduring a terrifying “duck and cover” drill when the town’s warning siren goes off during school. As with Revolution, Wiles has melded together real-life news reports, ads from the early 60′s, radio broadcasts, and other documentary-style media with fictional kids experiencing it all. It’s a very effective, powerful approach that shows Franny worrying about typical kid stuff while also afraid of being bombed at any moment. I read Revolution in print, which included all the real-life information in print (see my review at the link) in a scrapbook-like format. It’s different on audio but equally engrossing and informative. I’m loving it so far!

My husband and I listened to more of our road trip audio (Big Book, of course) in the car this weekend:  Luminous Dead by Caitlyn Starling, a unique sci fi thriller. It’s been compared to The Martian by Andy Weir (my review at the link) because it features only one character physically present, with a second monitoring from afar. The set-up here is a cave diver who signed up for a special expedition on a planet filled with caves. Gyre lied about her qualifications to get the job, but now she’s on her own, well below ground, with only a voice, who says to call her Em, in her helmet to keep her company. Gyre expected a whole team to be backing her up, but she soon discovers it’s just Em, who is keeping the reason for the expedition a secret. Em has full control over Gyre’s high-tech suit, but Gyre doesn’t like to give up control. As the mission gets more and more dangerous, Gyre must rely on Em, though she knows she’s lied. Oh, and there’s some sort of creature on this planet called a Tunneler who strikes fear into both women’s hearts. It’s good so far, different but very suspenseful and intriguing.

My husband’s first Big Book for the summer (yes, he joins the challenge, too!) is The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, one of my favorites from last summer (my review at the link). He’s enjoying this suspenseful, funny, heartbreaking classic, and it’s fun to be able to talk about it as he reads it.

Our son, 29, is still reading book 2 of the Licanius Trilogy by James Islington, An Echo of Things to Come since he was pretty busy this past month! I saw the book while he was here, and it is definitely a Big Book. But my son thinks Big Book Summer is funny because all he reads are enormous epic fantasies anyway. He’s enjoying this one, but he starts a new full-time job tomorrow, so he probably won’t have a lot of reading time.

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