It's Monday 5/13! What Are You Reading?

Book By Book

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, grandmas, stepmoms, and mom-like people out there! Our tradition is to spend Mother’s Day weekend (which is also my mom’s birthday) in Connecticut at my mother’s house with our family. So, we trekked up there Saturday morning for a fun-filled weekend. Yeah, so, Mother’s Day in my family is a bit different–closer to a frat party than what you might picture as a standard Mother’s Day celebration! I can’t participate in a lot of the partying (can’t drink, can’t eat sweets, can’t stay up past 10 pm), but it was still wonderful to see my family, especially my niece and nephew. I stayed in a little Airbnb studio apartment nearby, which was a good call since they were all just cranking up the karaoke machine at 10 pm, when I left, exhausted! I never would have been able to sleep in the house (though I was very sorry to miss karaoke). 

All together! (most of us, except my older son)

My husband and son showered me with fabulous gifts for Mother’s Day, including a wonderful stack of new books to read!

Book gifts!

And then, we had the dreaded 4-hour drive home through NY/NJ traffic, though my husband handled the driving while I napped in the back seat.

Our spring blooms update for this week:

My teeny-tiny azalea bush (15 years old!) in bloom

Our irises in full bloom!

Lots of colorful azaleas in bloom in our neighborhood

And I think I forgot to mention here on the blog that I finally joined Instagram! Please come find me at SuzanLJackson so that I can find YOU! I haven’t found all my blogging buddies yet.

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On the Blog

 TV Tuesday: The Tourist – we’re enjoying this very twisty, suspenseful show!

Fiction Review: Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy – this Booktopia favorite is a warm, tender, funny story about aging, finding purpose, and building a community.

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Don’t You Forget About Me Tag – this is a fun video with several questions about books you’ve forgotten, books you wish you could forget, books that need more love, and books that will be in your heart forever.

 Friday Reads 5-10-24 – my brief weekly recap of what I am reading and listening to.

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I am still reading Honey by Victor Lodato. I met Victor at Booktopia 2017, and my mom and I both loved his novel Edgar and Lucy (my review at the link). He sent me an advanced reader copy of Honey, which was just released on April 16. I fully intended to read and review it in time for its release, but Booktopia 2024 books kept me too busy! It’s the story of 80-something Honey Fasinga who escaped from her family and her father, a notorious mobster, as a young adult, and enjoyed a wonderful life in L.A. But after her closest friends died, Honey moved back to her hometown in New Jersey, and she’s now trying to reckon with the violent past she left behind. It’s great so far! I’ve always loved Victor’s writing, and he’s created another wonderful character (with an Easter egg for those who read Edgar and Lucy).

On audio, I started The Sky at Our Feet by Nadia Hashidi, a middle-grade novel that I chose for the Spoonie Readathon on Booktube (FYI – a spoonie is someone living with chronic illness or disability so right up my alley!). Twelve-year-old Jason was born in the US, and he’s just recently found out that his mother is in the country illegally. His dad worked as a translator for the US military in Afghanistan and, amid death threats, was promised he and his family could move to the US. Jason’s mom got a student visa when she was pregnant with him and moved to the US early to start college. Before he could join them, her husband was killed in the war. When her temporary visa ran out, Jason’s mom became illegal, but the US was the only home Jason had ever known, and Afghanistan was still a dangerous war zone. One day, Jason sees his mom picked up by INS while working, and he’s left all alone. He gets on a train to NYC to go see his aunt. Still in Penn Station, Jason passes out and hits his head and wakes up in the hospital. While there, he meets a girl his age named Max, who has electrodes all over her head. Since the police are trying to find out who Jason is, the two kids hatch an escape plan! It’s excellent so far, and I’m really enjoying it on audio.

My husband, Ken, is still reading one of his dad’s old books he found while we were reorganizing, The Trail to Seven Pines by Louis L’Amour. He says it’s about what you’d expect: classic cowboy tale with good guys and bad guys. He didn’t have much reading time this weekend–he was up until 2 am with my family, doing karaoke!

Our son, 29, is still reading book 2 of the Licanius Trilogy by James Islington, An Echo of Things to Come. But he hasn’t had a lot of reading time either because he and his girlfriend leave this week on a month-long cross-country road trip they’ve been planning for years. I’m so excited for them! They’ll be down here on Tuesday and leave on their trip early Saturday morning.

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