It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
November 26, 2012 43 Comments
“It’s Monday! What are you reading?” is a weekly event hosted by Sheila at Bookjourney to share with others what we’ve read the past week and planning to read next.
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The week
A quiet week which culminated in a quiet read-a-thon, the Thankfully Reading Weekend. I read almost 1,000 pages! The weekend started on Thursday, I should admit. Still, I’m pleased with the result. I finished two books and wrote the reviews as well.
Most things happened to the family, and not me: my son and I had a meeting with his tutor to see how he could improve his scores at school, my other son had his FCE speaking test (an official Cambridge-English exam), my husband had a check-up in hospital and is going to need an operation.
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Books I finished in the last week: 3
Annabel by Kathleen Winter. About a boy in Canada who was born with both male and female characteristics. His father wants him to be a boy, his mother wouldn’t have minded a girl. A good story. 4 stars
Heft by Liz Moore. A very overweight former college professor is contacted by a former pupil. Horrified about his circumstances, he starts to take action to improve himself and his house. The pupil’s son lives in a similarly bad situation with his mother. 5 stars
Nacht in Parijs [Night in Paris] by Michael Berg. A thriller about a Dutch woman in Paris whose friend finds a body. They are both chased by a hired killer who actually is quite a decent guy. 4 stars
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Books I’m reading and planning to read
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Reviews
Click on the blue link to see the review
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. Very enjoyable. It’s the story of a woman living in Appalachia where nothing much happens, until she finds a large colony of butterflies in the woods. Contemporary fiction. 4.5 stars
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander. Short stories, all very different, about Jewish issues. 3.5 stars
This review was published on my Dutch blog:
Lies of the Heart [Raak mij aan] by Michelle Boyajian. A novel about a woman whose man was killed by a low-IQ man. Part court-drama, part-self discovery, this is about Katie and her relationship with Nick as much as about the reasons for the killing. 4 stars
There’s also a giveaway of De regenboogbende by Andrea Hirata on my Dutch blog – you do need to know Dutch to enter, though!
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Other news
Don’t forget to sign up for the Book Bloggers Holiday Card Exchange, if you’re a book blogger.
I’m joining the Dickens in December Event!
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That’s it!
What are you reading this week?
About Leeswammes
1,000 pages – that is a lot of reading!
I hope it is nothing too serious for your husband Judith.
Have a great reading week!
Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out
Thanks, Shelleyrae.
Great list! I have Barbara Kingslover on my list to read as well. Over the weekend I finished up Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick – nonfiction, a look at the ordinary lives of North Koreas as told by defectors. Loved it. Now I’m headed back to the final Percy Jackson. ~ hope your hubby’s well!
Librarianeats, that sounds interesting, *Nothing to Envy*. Have you read the Adam Johnson book, *The Orphan Master’s Son*, fiction about North Korea? I have it on the shelves but not read yet. If I enjoy that, then your non-fiction book sounds like a good follow-up read.
I have not read The Orphan Master’s Son but I’ll add that to my list as well! Heck I’m on winter break… I’ll get busy🙂
I keep seeing Flight Behaviour popping up around the blogosphere may have to give it a whirl! I look forward to seeing how you get on this week. The sealed letter looks good😀
Flight Behavior is very good, Fay. Do give it a try.
I’ve only read Prodigal Summer by Kingsolver. It was a bit intense and I found it slow going. But I still like to read this one.
Do give it a try, Mystica!
Hope all goes well with your husband. Glad your reading went well. I never got around to Thankfully Reading. Sigh.
Here’s my It’s Monday!
Thanks Debnance. Thankfully Reading was fun although I couldn’t commit as much time as I had hoped.
5 stars for Heft?! Yay! Knew you’d love it as much as I did.
Hope your husband’s operation goes well.
Yes, I loved *Heft*, Jackie!
My husband’s operation will be in a few weeks’ time, hopefully not too close to Christmas.
I’m glad that the Thankfully reading event was so productive for you! I wanted to participate but I was out of town, boo!
Happy reading!!
Jennifer, there are readathons throughout the year – hopefully you can join another time. It’s fun.
Flight Behavior is definitely on my list…and I’m curious about Heft. Hope you enjoy your books…and here’s MY MONDAY MEMES POST
Thanks, Laurel-Rain. I think *Heft* is a book you’d like.
Congratulations with your almost 1000 read pages, Judith. That’s a lot.
Whish your husband all the best.
Thanks, Nadine.
Woe, almost 1000 pages for the weekend, awesome! It’s been so long since I’ve read that much in a few days.
Happy reading!
Thanks, Aleksandra. I was very pleased with the 1,000 pages.
I hope your husband’s operation is not too serious. I hope he has a safe and quick recovery.
Thank you, Suzanne. The operation isn’t for a few weeks. I think he’ll be fine, but it’s never pleasant to be operated upon.
You got quite a bit of reading done! Not me. This was such a busy weekend. Hope your hubby’s operation is not too serious.
Thanks, Laura. I hope your weekend was nice-busy!
For a busy week you did well with the reading. I need a good week soon🙂
Sheila, I hope you’ll find some more time to relax soon. Although the things you are busy with, usually sound good fun.
It’s wonderful that you got in a read-a-thon. And What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander sounds interesting. Probably especially so just coming off of reading Beyond Courage.
Jo, What We Talk About… are short stories. Give it a go!
So much reading. I wish I could get 1/2 that done in a week. Annabel has been on my to read list. I need to get to that one.
WVreads, Annabel was a good read, but not as good as I had expected.
Readathons are always funfunfun. Congratulations on the 1000 pages, that’s a lot! You definitely should start reading Captain Bluebear too. Moers is amazing, but I recognize that he’s not for everyone. You’ve also done a lot of reviews. Barbara Kingsolver used to be a favorite but I haven’t read any of her books lately, this seems to be a new title.🙂
Myra, yes, the Kingsolver book is a new title. I think it’s more like the “old” Kingsolver than for instance, The Lacuna. If you used to like her books, try this one.
Heft sounds like an interesting read. You did so well in the readathon! I’m finding it really hard to join in with memes and even visiting while I’m writing school reports! Hope the lead up to your husband’s operation is not too stressful.🙂
Thaks, Wendy. Well, it’s hard to concentrate on a readathon when you have to write reports. Maybe some other time!
Glad to hear you enjoyed Heft! I’ll look forward to your review🙂 I hope all is well with your husband and your sons’ academic pursuits – hope it’s not too much stress for you all in the run up to Christmas. I notice the comment above mentions Captain Bluebear by Moers – it’s so lovely, I would second the recommendation!
Marie, yes, I love *Heft*! Thanks again for the book.
Thanks for seconding the recommendation of Captain Bluebear!
SO many things to comment on! I had forgotten about the Annabel book – thanks for the reminder. The Night in Paris sound very interesting. Congrats on all those pages read for the ‘thon.
Hope that tutor helps with the raising of the scores – sounds like the ambition is a good thing!🙂 (so often the tutee doesn’t quite have the motivation.) and I hope the English exam went well and so does that surgery.
Happy Almost December!
Thanks, Care. Almost December, yeah, time goes fast!!
Annabel sounds like a tough, but good, read. I may have to check it out.
Great job on the readathon!!!
Crystal, *Annabel *isn’t all that tough, it’s quite easy going really.
Great job with the read-a-thon! Sorry to hear that your husband needs an operation. Hope everything works out well!
Thanks, Alexia.