Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: Reading Plans Gone Awry
Weekend Woots and Woes:
Hope all of you who decided to participate in the Readathon had a
wonderful time and have begun to recover. I had every intention of
participating, but at the last minute decided to visit my mother
instead.
That involved a road trip rather than a
reading day, and because my husband thought it'd fun to join me, I
didn't even get any audiobook listening done on Saturday. Oh well, gabbing with
Mr. BFR and spending time with my mom were well worth missing my books.
In other news, I always bring work with me when I travel, and for the first time ever
I left my laptop power cord at home. ARGH. How was I going to catch up
with work and blogging? I tried a few borrowed cords, but ended up
having to buy a replacement. Money I didn't want to spend, but now I
have a backup with a variety of jack ends, so it should last me through a
few more computers.
What I had planned to read: Here are a few of the print books I had on my Readathon pile:
Gemina by Jay Kristoff (Knopf): I loved the first book in the Illuminae Files series so much I just had
to preorder the new one so I'd get it right away. I love the graphics
and the design of the books, and I've gotten invested in the
characters' stories.- Coffin Road by Peter May (Quercus): I started this last week and am still reading. The Outer Hebrides setting is so vivid.
- The Hidden Keys by Andre Alexis (Coach House): Five siblings are each given a clue to a large inheritance, leading to alliances and betrayals and a quest. I haven't started the novel, but it has promise.
- Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson (Atheneum): Don't you just love the cover of this book (bottom center in the photo)? This is the final installment in Anderson's awesome Seeds of America trilogy.
- Nicotine by Nell Zink (Ecco): As you know, I have a weakness for Ecco books, and the themes hinted at in the summary of this novel interest me: generational clashes (baby boomers vs. millennials), culture clashes (conventional vs. unique), and personal choices.
- The Red Car by Marcy Dermansky (Liveright): I really liked Dermansky's book Bad Marie, so I readily accepted a review copy of her newest novel. The premise: Through grief and second chances, a woman finds herself on the path to better self-understanding.
What I'm listening to now: My current audiobook is Every Single Second by Trica Springstubb
(Harper Audio), which is a coming-of-age story that encompasses a
number of engaging contemporary issues (family, friendship, community).
I'm always drawn to books that explore the idea of how fate can turn in a
split second, and the teen protagonists learns that life doesn't always
go as planned. Arielle DeLisle is believable as our young hero, and I really like her dynamic performance.Here are the audiobooks I packed for my drive: Michael Connelly's A Darkness More Than Night, Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat, and John Sandford's Mad River. Alas the audiobooks remain in their plastic, their disks untouched. Perhaps I'll crack them open during our next trip.
20 comments:
Glad you had a good visit with your mother other than the cord situation! Have a great week!
That's so annoying about your power cord - they're weirdly expensive! And I've been hearing great things about The Red Car lately.
ugh to the powercord issues and to no listening time ... nevertheless i am glad Mr BFR went along i am sure your mom was glad to see both of you
Sounds like a good trip despite the lack of a power cord. My husband has forgotten his before, but was able to use mine... extra tension involved in trying to keep all devices charged;-)
The Boys in the Boat is an excellent audio!
Every readathon weekend something always comes up and I end up not being able to participate! You have some great books on your list. That's too bad about the no powercord but a back up is always a good thing! Hope you had a good trip with Mr. BFR and your mom!
I'm sure your mom was happy for the visit! I read The Red Car and really liked the fast, fun story. Didn't love Nicotine, but obviously a lot of people disagree with me. I'll be curious to hear what you think about it!
Except for the power cord being left behind, your trip sounds great. I'll see my mom again in three weeks!
I'll be watching for your final thoughts on Every Single Second. It looks good to me.
I feel your pain - I actually went to a doctor appt last week WITHOUT A BOOK! It was pure torture just SITTING there all that time!
It is great to take a reading and blogging break occasionally. When I went to visit my youngest son in August, I didn't take my laptop. I did take my Kindle and via my iPhone, I could check a few blogs. But in the two days away, I was able to finish two books, so what does that tell me about the value of unplugging at least some things?
Thanks for sharing, and I'm looking forward to reading my copy of The Red Car.
Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
Hmm yes leaving the cord behind, no fun! However seeing your mother and talking to hubby has to beat audio listening really. I knew the readathon was on but did not go for it as had visitor all day Saturday. Maybe another time.
Too bad about the power cord, but at least you now have a spare should one fail.
The readathon books all look interesting - and you'll get them read even if you didn't participate. Faced with the same choices, I would also have chosen to visit my mom.
Sounds like you had a nice weekend despite the powercord issues. I just got a copy of Coffin Road in my mail. I said I'd read it for December since my current review stack is pretty tall. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Whilst the readathon was a lot of fun, time spent with family comes over reading.. Naturally. Glad you had a good time with your loved ones. Shame about the laptop cord, but it is always good to have a back up.
I hope you enjoy all your current reads. Happy reading!
I didn't know there was a readathon this weekend! But we were busy with family all weekend, too - both sons home from college, son's girlfriend over, and my father-in-law along, too, for our annual trip to the pumpkin farm. So, not a lot of reading time here, either.
My husband and I both enjoyed Boys in the Boat, and we both love Michael Connelly novels, too! Have you seen the TV show they made based on his novels called Bosch? It's on Amazon Prime and is very, very good.
Enjoy your books this week!
Sue
Book By Book
Between power cords and misplaced chargers and phones and everything else, half the time I can't keep it all straight! Glad you had a good visit. I didn't do the readathon but one of these times I might. I'm looking forward to gemina.
Hope you have a great week.
Wonder who decided that it would be fun to make different cords instead of making them all universal so we could share! Glad you had a nice visit. I, too, had planned to participate in RAT, but life interrupted.
I always want to do Readathons, but never get a chance to participate. Hope you have a good week!
A very wonderful excuse for missing out on the readathon! I missed it too but there's always the next one. Looking forward to your thoughts on the Nell Zink book. That one has been getting a lot of press.
I failed at the Readathon this time. I kept getting interrupted and only spent a few hours reading - mostly because my husband had one of his rare Saturdays off and it wouldn't have been nice to ignore him for 24 hours!
I loved Bad Marie too, I'm looking forward to reading Marcy Dermansky's new book.
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