Hosted by The Book Date

 Life

I'm happy to report that my two-month-long relapse of my chronic illness is showing signs of improving! I'm not yet back to my "normal" (for me) baseline, but I was able to sit up and write last week (new reviews!) and even leave the house several times. The fall weather was perfect last week, with sunshine and cool-ish temperatures, and it was absolutely wonderful to get out for a few quick errands in my convertible. Ahhh ... sunshine!

I even felt well enough by Friday to manage dinner out with my husband for our 33rd anniversary. It was also my husband's last day of work, after a 45-year career with DuPont, so we had two reasons to celebrate. We went to a nice restaurant downtown (early to avoid the crowds!) and enjoyed a delicious meal. It was a special treat after being homebound for so long.

Hopefully--fingers crossed--we will be camping later this week for a little mini getaway (much needed). It started raining Friday night and is now supposed to continue through Wednesday morning! I just rebooked our camping reservation for the third time--we keep moving it back by a day or two, but the rain forecast just keeps extending. This is where we hope to spend a couple of days at the end of the week: 

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On the Blog 

Last week, I posted:

TV Tuesday: Fall TV Preview - the returning shows we are watching & the new ones we want to try.

 Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Secret Letters by Margaret Peterson Haddix - great start to a new series that combines family, friendship, mystery, and history

The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais - Fun novel about six octogenarian witches trying to save their home 

Thanks to the new subscribers to my blog who signed up last week! I hope you enjoyed the October newsletter this weekend. Please let me know what you'd like to see in future newsletters!

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On YouTube

  I uploaded one new video last week:

Friday Reads 9-30-22 - my brief weekly wrap-up of what I'm reading 

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What We're Reading

  I'm still immersed in the R.I.P. Challenge for fall!

I finished The Falcon and the Owl by Matty Dalrymple, book three in her Ann Kinnear Suspense series. I don't often read series, but I love this one! I previously read books one and two, The Sense of Death and The Sense of Reckoning, and I enjoyed them both, as did my husband. Ann, the main character, can sense spirits and gets hired--sometimes by the police and sometimes by a grieving loved one--to learn what secrets someone took to the grave. This time, two men, both excellent pilots, have died in a plane crash. Ann gets hired by the business partner of one of the men to find out where he hid a contract, but the man's wife is also interested, since she has secrets to keep related to her husband's death. I love the suspense and the unique mysteries in these books, with a supernatural twist. I bought my husband a stack of books for his birthday (tomorrow) and picked up book 4 of Ann Kinnear for myself!

On audio, I finished listening to The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz. He himself is one of the main characters! His real self, with his real writing credits and history, has in this novel agreed to work with a fictional detective, Hawthorne, to write a true crime book about him solving his latest murder case. A woman walked into a funeral home, planned and prepaid her own funeral, and then was murdered six hours later. Horowitz and Hawthorne move around London, interviewing witnesses and suspects and visiting crime scenes. The two have a kind of Sherlock-Watson vibe, and I thoroughly enjoyed this classic mystery with a twist.

Now, I am listening to a YA novel on audio, Creep: A Love Story by Lygia Day Penaflor. I really enjoyed her novel All of This Is True last year, and Creep seemed like a good fit for the season! The teen girl who narrates this novel sounds very sweet and bubbly, but she is completely obsessed with the "it" couple at school and is quite the stalker. She got in trouble last year for similar behavior toward a teacher. This novel is very aptly named--I keep thinking, "That is SO creepy!"

My husband, Ken, finished This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, which I loved this spring (my review at the link). In fact, it is one of my top books read this year so far. This is the story, beautifully told, of four orphans who escape from an abusive facility during the Depression and make their way downriver in a canoe. They encounter all kinds of people and situations as they head toward the Mississippi and uncertain futures. This wonderful novel includes history, suspense, family drama, humor, and so much more. My husband enjoyed it as much as I did.

Now, Ken is reading Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck. I loved this book this spring (my review at the link) and got to meet the author at Booktopia in May. This is nature writing, as you'd expect from the title, but also a personal memoir about the author working through some very difficult times (including Lyme disease, which I could relate to!) by walking five different walks (and one canoe trip) that Thoreau wrote about in his public writings and his diaries. He incorporates excerpts of Thoreau's writing, his own personal experiences, drawings, and beautiful writing about the natural world. I loved it. My husband chose this one since we'll be camping this week!

Our son, 28,  went to the used bookstore here on his last visit and bought books eight through eleven of the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind - he obviously likes this one!  He told me this morning that he is almost finished with book eight, Naked Empire.

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Welcome to my second newsletter for the Book By Book blog! E-mail me at sljackson@suzanjackson.com to let me know what you think of this newsletter and what you would like to see here in the future!

Book Quote of the Month

"And now that Ruby's coming home, Jezebel's looking forward to shaking things up again, to rediscovering that part of herself that isn't secretly comforted by the regimented routine of it all, how their lives are like a well-choreographed play with the entrances and exits carefully timed, everyone knowing their lines, and no one going off script."

-from The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais, a hilarious, fun, and insightful novel about six octogenarian witches trying to save their home. This passage, about aging and routine, is is one of many quotes I marked. You can read my full review here.

Blog of the Month

I just discovered Reading Ladies blog, written by Carol. I enjoyed reading her most recent blog post, September 2022 Reading Wrap-Up. It looks like we have some similar tastes in books! Check out Carol's blog, give her some comment love, and let her know I sent you!

My Reading Life

This past month, I have been immersed in the R.I.P. (Readers Imbibing Peril) Challenge, which I love! It's now in its 17th year, and the idea is simply to read darker stuff in the fall (Sept & Oct). There are no sign-ups or requirements--just read dark books (mysteries, suspense, thrillers, supernatural, dark fantasy, Gothic, etc.) and post about it on social media! I'm also enjoying the Fall Into Reading Challenge, a book bingo. You can see my plans on my Fall Reading Video. We'll be going camping for a couple of days this week, and I can't wait to enjoy the fall weather and the extra reading time!

A Look Back

A year ago on my blog, I posted a review of The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd. This book surprised me--in a good way! It's female-centric historical fiction set in the first century. Everyone in my book group loved this novel ... and that doesn't happen often! Check it out.

You can connect with me on: 

My blog: http://bookbybook.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SueBookByBook

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bookbybook

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SueJacksonDE

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzan-jackson-8436878/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20014156.Suzan_L_Jackson

As the novel opens, Ursula wakes with an ominous feeling. Checking all of her usual tools of foretelling the future--tarot cards, palms, and her crystal ball--she sees nothing but disaster ahead. Soon after, an angry mob of men, armed with a wrecking ball instead of torches and pitchforks, arrives at their old manor house, threatening to knock it down. Queenie, the mechanical genius and inventor of the group, admits to the rest of the witches that they've fallen way behind in their mortgage payments. They need an enormous sum of money to save their manor, their distillery, and the beloved forest surrounding them ... and they only have a week to pay. Ivy, another of the witches, has a talent for plants, and Jezebel has unusual sexual talents, while Tabitha is the animal specialist among them. But Tabitha is dead, and her ghost, who can not leave the manor, speaks through her familiar, a crow named Widget. What would happen to Tabitha if the sisterhood had to leave the manor? They are all counting on Ruby, who's been in prison for 30 years, to save them. Ruby is being released in two days and apparently knows some sort of secret that can save them and their home. She is gender-fluid, in the most literal sense of the term, and can morph from male to female and back again. But whatever sent Ruby to prison 30 years ago caused a rift (and Tabby's death). Ruby refused to see any of them when they visited, so will she be willing to save them now? Luckily, given their advanced ages, they have one more person on their side, a fifteen-year-old girl named Persephone, who is a staunch feminist, Tik Tokker, and wants to support the sisterhood. She offers to help them with their social media presence, though the witches have no idea what she's talking about.

That plot description feels way too bland for the liveliness and humor of this very original novel. The author has a wonderful sense of humor that is woven throughout the book, but--as in her earlier novels--she also tackles some serious, real-life issue like aging, feminism, found family, and friendship, all while making you laugh. The very clever story even has parallels to the events of the Salem witch trials. The antics of the aging witches are a whole lot of fun, though their problems are very real. And while you're laughing, she sneaks in so many thoughtful insights about life and aging and family that my book is filled with marked passages I want to remember. Adding to the intrigue of the witches and their powers, the end of many chapters include recipes for cocktails, salves, potions, and tonics, some of which you could actually make and some that have rather unusual ingredients you probably can't get (like rhino urine). All in all, this novel is a fun, sexy romp with suspense, a mystery, and real-life emotions woven into it. It will make you cherish your female friendships. 

400 pages, MIRA

Harlequin Audio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge - W (finally!)

Diversity Challenge

R.I.P. Challenge

Fall Into Reading Challenge - Fantasy

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the start of the novel, and/or download it from Audible.

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Or you can order The Witches of Moonshyne Manor from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Colin and Nevaeh are both spending the summer before middle school working for their parents, and though the twelve year olds don't know each other yet, their parents are fierce rivals. They are both in the junk-clearing business but with vastly different approaches. Colin's mom takes a Marie Kondo-like approach to helping people streamline their possessions, and the home the two of them share reflects this minimalism. Nevaeh's dad's business is called The Junk King, and the stuff their customers don't want often ends up in their own home! He lives by the adage that one person's trash is another's treasure. Nevaeh, the youngest in the family, has finally joined her many siblings in working for the family business. While helping to clear out someone's attic with some hired movers, Colin finds an old shoebox full of letters hidden. Though most stuff is getting thrown out, Colin secretly brings the letters home. His mom would be appalled, but Colin is fascinated and wants to read the letters. They turn out to be letters written from one twelve-year-old friend to another from the 1970's. Soon, Colin and Nevaeh meet, and she is also fascinated by the letters, though they know they need to keep their friendship secret from their rival parents. The two new friends read the letters written by two old friends. They're entranced not only by the close friendship that Rosemary and Toby shared back then but by the fascinating details about the times. Toby often writes about his favorite TV shows; Rosemary is a budding feminist who writes about Women's Lib and the Battle Between the Sexes. Colin and Nevaeh decide to try to find present-day Toby and Rosemary, but they both seem to have disappeared. 

There is so much packed into this novel! At the center of the novel is the main mystery, as Colin and Nevaeh read the letters, look for clues, and do research to try to find the now-grown-ups who wrote them. Nevaeh's dad is also trying to figure out what happened to a storage area he bid on that turned out to be empty, and he blames Colin's mom. The two kids have to hide their own growing friendship from their parents, even though they don't understand why heir parents hate each other. Meanwhile, both kids are dealing with issues inside their own families; this is a summer for revelations. And finally, though I hate to admit that the 1970's count as historical, there is fascinating history here for today's kids (nostalgia for me!) about the pop culture, sports, current events, and politics of the 1970's. Colin and Nevaeh learn lots of things during their own research, but there is also a glossary at the end to explain various '70's terms. The audio book was narrated by two separate narrators as Colin and Nevaeh, and the whole package was entertaining, fun, and interesting. I can't wait to read the rest of this wonderful series! Haddix has done it again.

400 pages, Katherine Tegen Books

HarperAudio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

R.I.P. Challenge

Fall Into Reading Challenge - mystery or thriller

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

Listen to a sample of the excellent audiobook here, with two narrators, and/or download it from Audible.

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Or you can order Mysteries of Trash & Treasure: The Secret Letters from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Returning Favorites:

Medical Shows

New Amsterdam stars Ryan Eggold (who we enjoyed in Blacklist) as the super-enthusiastic, "we can do anything" head of this fictional NYC hospital. This is one my husband is tiring of, but I still enjoy the actors, humor, and drama. It returned last week for its fifth and final season.

Grey's Anatomy returns next week for its 50th season ... ha ha, just kidding! It's only season 19! This is still a favorite of mine. During my recent relapse of my chronic illness, I have been amusing myself while stuck on the couch by starting back at season 1 and rewatching old Grey's Anatomy, and I just love it so much! It has everything: drama, humor, suspense. It makes me laugh and cry! The past two seasons have been a bit depressing--which I'm sure is what my husband dislikes (I personally like a good fictional cry)--but the trailer for this new season looks like they will once again be focusing on a new set of interns and getting back to a lighter touch, which is how the show started, so this should be fun!

Action and Suspense

My husband still watches the medical shows mainly for my sake. What he likes best are shows with action, suspense, and maybe a bit of science fiction. I like those, too. Here's what we're excited to see again:

Big Sky came back last week for its 3rd season. This is a crime drama featuring two female detectives in the big sky country of Montana. Each season has an on-going mystery/investigation. Season 1 dealt with human trafficking and a creepy serial killer, Season 2 focused on two drug syndicates. Season 3 kicked off with a missing hiker and some mysterious goings-on at a local outdoor resort where Reba McEntire plays the resort's host. Good suspenseful start!

La Brea is back for its second season starting tonight. The premise is that a giant sinkhole opened up in LA where the La Brea tar pits are, and a bunch of people fell through ... and into a prehistoric world. Those down there want to figure out how to get back to the modern world, while they try to survive, and those left behind are trying to figure out how to get them back. We always enjoy these kinds of suspense/action shows with a sci fi twist, but they have a bad track record of not lasting long enough for a satisfying conclusion! So, we're glad this one is back for a second season.

Amazing Race offers a different kind of action and suspense! It returned last week for its 34th (!) season. We watched it with our sons when they were young (great for families), then skipped a bunch of seasons, but we got back into it last season. My childhood best friend also loves the show, and last season we discovered the fun of texting each other while we watch it from our separate states! This is the only reality TV show we enjoy.

Handmaid's Tale is back for a fifth season ... and they've just announced a sixth season is coming! This is one of the best shows on TV ... ever. Seriously. Elizabeth Moss stars as Offred, the main character from Margaret Atwood's well-known dystopian novel. Everything about this show is outstanding: the writing, the acting, cinematography, twisty plot. The first two episodes of this new season blew our minds!

New Shows To Try:

I know, that's already a lot of shows to juggle! But there are always shows ending, and it's fun to watch some new ones. We're not bingers. We still like to watch TV the old way, watching one episode a week so that every night brings something different. Variety is the spice of life! With that in mind, we plan to try these new shows:

Quantum Leap premiered last week. This classic show from the 80's/90's has been rebooted and modernized with a whole new cast. You probably know the premise: a scientific team has developed--but not perfected--time travel technology, and one of their team, in this case played by Raymond Lee, is stuck "leaping" through time and space, where each time, he needs to figure out how to save someone in order to leap again. I love anything to do with time travel, but I never watched the original! We enjoyed the first episode set in 1985 last week.

So Help Me Todd is a detective/crime show with a twist: it features a mother-son team. Marcia Gay Harden plays a high-powered lawyer who helps out her son, played by Thomas Cadrot, by hiring him as an investigator for her firm. It's a great cast and it looks like it has a sense of humor (always a plus), so we're going to give it a try.

Alaska Daily premiers next week on October 6. It stars Hillary Swank as a journalist who moves to Alaska to start over and ends up investigating the case of a missing girl. It looks great, and we love this sort of thriller/crime drama.

Reboot is something different for us, a comedy (we're also currently enjoying Hacks on HBO Max). This is about the behind-the-scenes of a reboot of a 90's sitcom. It has an all-star cast, including Paul Reiser, Keegan-Michael Key, Rachel Bloom, Judy Greer, and more. It got good reviews from the crew at Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, it's from the co-creator of Modern Family, and the trailer looks like fun:

What shows are you looking forward to this fall?

Hosted by The Book Date

 Life

 Life last week was more of the same for me. My chronic illness is still stuck in a severe relapse. The first treatment protocol didn't work, even though it has in the past. This week, I am trying something new, based on recent research. It's only Day 3 on that, but for the first time in about seven weeks, I woke up this morning at my "normal" time, about 7:45, and felt well enough to get right out of bed! Symptoms began creeping in again by 10 am, so I am back on the couch--but sitting up!--and hoping this is a sign of better days ahead.

I was determined to break out of my rut this weekend. My husband took me on a lovely drive Saturday, out to a favorite farm market in rural Pennsylvania. It was a gorgeous fall day, and it was wonderful to be outside, looking at the blue sky! And, bonus ... we got hot, fresh apple cider donuts at the market, sat on rockers outside, and even enjoyed some live music. It was a wonderful outing and a nice change of pace!

Local apples & fresh donuts!

A lovely fall day!

Saturday evening, our oldest friends (we all used to live in New Orleans back in the 80's) came over, brought takeout from a local brewpub, and we had a campfire in our firepit. I was able to lie down in a lounge chair, and I SO enjoyed their company (and being outside).

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 On the Blog

One review last week:

The Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie McGill - a dark, historical family drama 

And some big news:

I started a monthly newsletter in September!

It includes a book quote of the month, a blog of the month--someone new to discover, an update on my reading life, a look back at my blog from previous years, and more bookish fun!

To receive my once-a-month newsletter, you can sign up here or by clicking the Subscribe button in the blog's sidebar. Sign up now, and you'll get October's newsletter next week.

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On YouTube

Two new videos:

Traveling with Books Tag - a fun video all about traveling & reading - including some travel pics!

Friday Reads 9/23/22 - my brief weekly wrap-up 

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What We're Reading: 

Totally immersed in the R.I.P. Challenge for fall!

I finished reading The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais, a friend, two-time Booktopia author, and one of my favorite authors! I absolutely loved Bianca's first two books, Hum If You Don't Know the Words (in my top 10 of all time) and If You Want to Make God Laugh. This new novel is quite different but just as fabulous! It's about five octogenarian witches trying to save their beloved home and land, as both the bank and an angry mob threaten them. It's about witches and magic, yes, but it's also about friendship, aging, sisterhood, and feminism. As with all of Bianca's novels, she tackles some difficult topics with a wonderful (one might say wicked) sense of humor. This book is lots of fun and was the perfect pick-me-up for a sick week! 

Now I am reading The Falcon and the Owl by Matty Dalrymple, book three in her Ann Kinnear Suspense series. I don't often read series, but I love this one! I previously read books one and two, The Sense of Death and The Sense of Reckoning, and I enjoyed them both, as did my husband. Ann, the main character, can sense spirits and gets hired--sometimes by the police and sometimes by a grieving loved one--to learn what secrets someone took to the grave. This time, two men, both excellent pilots, have died in a plane crash. Ann gets hired by the business partner of one of the men to find out where he hid a contract, but the man's wife is also interested, since she has secrets to keep related to her husband's death. I love the suspense and the unique mysteries in these books, with a supernatural twist.

I started a new audiobook for the R.I.P. Challenge: The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz. I've been meaning to try out his unique series of mysteries for adults for ages. He himself is one of the main characters! His real self, with his real writing credits and history, has in this novel agreed to work with a fictional detective, Hawthorne, to write a true crime book about him solving his latest murder case. A woman walked into a funeral home, planned and prepaid her own funeral, and then was murdered six hours later. Horowitz and Hawthorne move around London, interviewing witnesses and suspects and visiting crime scenes. The two have a kind of Sherlock-Watson vibe. I'm enjoying it so far.

My husband, Ken, is still reading This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, which I loved this spring (my review at the link). In fact, it is one of my top books read this year so far. This is the story, beautifully told, of four orphans who escape from an abusive facility during the Depression and make their way downriver in a canoe. They encounter all kinds of people and situations as they head toward the Mississippi and uncertain futures. This wonderful novel includes history, suspense, family drama, humor, and so much more. So far, he's enjoying it as much as I did.

When our son, 28, was visiting last week, he went to the used bookstore and bought books eight through eleven of the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind - he obviously likes this one! I'm sure he's well into book eight, Naked Empire, by now, and maybe even further!

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In 1968 Ireland, a young woman named Anna visits her old nanny, Maddie McGlade, who mostly brought her up and now resides in a care home, ironically located in the old castle where Maddie first worked as a household servant for Anna's family. She was there--and only a child herself--when Anna's grandmother, Harriet, was pregnant with her mother, Florence. And she was there in 1892 when pregnant Harriet was sent to prison for the death of her daughter, Charlotte. During their visit, Maddie shows Anna something she found in Harriet's old butterfly cabinet (a small chest of tiny drawers where Harriet kept her butterfly collection): a diary that Harriet wrote during her year in prison. The story unfolds gradually, with chapters alternating between Maddie talking to Anna about their lives back then in the 1890's and excerpts from the prison diary written by Harriet. Maddie explains how she started to work at the castle when she was only twelve years old, what it was like for the servants back then, and all about the grandparents and uncles and aunt that Anna never knew, including Harriet's harsh control and punishment of her eight unruly children. In Harriet's chapters, written from prison, Anna (and the reader) learns about Harriet's own childhood, how she met and married her husband, Edward, and their early years together in the castle. Both women also tell the story of that fateful day when Charlotte died, from their own perspectives. In this way, we gradually learn the full story of what happened to Charlotte, plus some long-held family secrets.

The cover was accurate; this is a very dark story about some disturbing events that changed a family forever. Although we know from the beginning that Harriet was convicted of killing her daughter, Charlotte, the details--and all that led up to it--come out gradually, so there is some mild suspense here. Mostly, though, this is a novel of family drama and relationships, looking closely at how the different family members interacted and how the actions of characters affected the family for generations. There is also plenty of historical detail of a wealthy manor house in the 1890's. I was astounded to read in the Author's Note that much of the novel was based on real-life events that occurred in Ireland in 1892. 

I wasn't able to attend our book group discussion due to illness, but I rated the book a 7 out of 10. I heard back later that the average rating in the group was a staggering 3.9 (a low record, I think, for us) and that my 7 brought it up a bit! I wish I could have been there to hear what everyone else disliked so much about it. I suspect that the disturbing subject matter (child abuse) had something to do with it, as well as how unlikable Harriet was. For me, I found the prison diary sections illuminating, as they shed some light onto Harriet's own cold upbringing and her reasons for being so strict with her children (not that it excuses what she did). I'm not normally a big fan of Gothic novels, but this one engaged me and kept me interested, with a few unexpected plot twists. It also helped me that it ended with healing and hope, as Anna--who grew up with Maddie's tender care--expects her own baby soon.

227 pages, Free Press

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Travel the World in Books - Ireland

R.I.P. Challenge

Fall Into Reading Challenge - Historical Fiction

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Or you can order The Butterfly Cabinet from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Hosted by The Book Date

 Life

Arrrgh! Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day! Celebrate appropriately!

My health has continued to rule my world recently. I was even sicker last week than the week before and confined to the house (and mostly, to bed and the couch). I talked to my specialist in NY on Friday, and we discussed possible causes and treatments for this unexplained flare-up. She's amazing and always there for me, and as usual, she had some ideas to try and immediately called in four new prescriptions. I started two of them this weekend. My energy is a bit better, but I still have awful flu-like aches, a sign that my immune system is still in overdrive and I still need to rest.

So, last week involved a lot of old Grey's Anatomy episodes! I recently started re-watching the series from the beginning, and it makes me smile and laugh (and sometimes cry, which can be good, too). Excellent sick-day watching. I think I lived more in the world of Seattle Grace Hospital last week than I did in the real world, which was just fine. I'm also enjoying my books, of course, as you'll see below.

The highlight of my week was our older son coming home for a visit yesterday. This was just a quick 24-hour visit (he has a dentist appointment here today), but it's always wonderful to see him. It made me very happy yesterday to see the brothers back together and enjoying each other's company and for all four of us to be around the dinner table together. 

Brotherly Love 1998

Brothers 2013

No new videos or blog posts from last week. 

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What We're Reading

I finished reading The Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie McGill, a Gothic novel set in a castle in Ireland between 1870's and 1960's. It's all about long-held family secrets, a mother sent to prison, and how characters' actions affect later generations. I enjoyed it and found it dark and intriguing. I missed my book group last week, but apparently, I was the outlier. My book group rated this novel 3.9 ... out of 10! That's the lowest rating I can ever recall in our group, though I'm not sure what the others disliked so much.

 Now, I have moved onto a new release, The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais, a friend, two-time Booktopia author, and one of my favorite authors! I absolutely loved Bianca's first two books, Hum If You Don't Know the Words (in my top 10 of all time) and If You Want to Make God Laugh. This new novel is quite different but just as fabulous! It's about five octogenarian witches trying to save their beloved home and land, as both the bank and an angry mob threaten them. It's about witches and magic, yes, but it's also about friendship, aging, and sisterhood. As with all of Bianca's novels, she tackles some difficult topics with a wonderful (one might say wicked) sense of humor. This book is lots of fun and the perfect pick-me-up for a sick week! 

Continuing with the R.I.P. Challenge, I finished listening to Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Secret Letters by Margaret Peterson Haddix, one of my favorite middle-grade authors. This is the start of a new series for her, being released on September 20. It's about two kids whose parents each own their own businesses clearing out people's houses ... but with very different approaches. Colin's mom takes a Marie Kondo-type approach to curating possessions, while Nevaeh's dad's business is The Junk King, and all her siblings work for him. Their parents are fierce rivals, but when Colin finds an old shoebox of letters between two kids from the 1970's, Colin and Nevaeh team up to solve its mysteries. Each book in the series will examine people's relationship to their stuff and focus on a different era of history. I absolutely loved this fun, intriguing novel!

 My husband, Ken, has started reading This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, which I loved this spring (my review at the link). In fact, it is one of my top books read this year so far. This is the story, beautifully told, of four orphans who escape from an abusive facility during the Depression and make their way downriver in a canoe. They encounter all kinds of people and situations as they head toward the Mississippi and uncertain futures. This wonderful novel includes history, suspense, family drama, humor, and so much more.

Our son, 28, just finished reading The Pillars of Creation by Terry Goodkind, book seven in the Sword of Truth series, which he loves. In fact, while he was home, he visited our huge used bookstore this morning and bought the next four books in the series! Plus he picked up the birthday books he forgot here on his last visit, so he's set for a while. 

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Hosted by The Book Date

I don't like to focus too much here on my chronic illness (my book blog is my happy place!), but I just wanted to mention that things have been bad for me the past few weeks. I've spent a lot of days in rough shape (what we call a "crash"), including the past two weekends. It's getting old. So, I apologize for not getting around to visit as many blogs as I wanted last week. I used my limited energy to wrap up Big Book Summer!

Back to book talk--the good stuff!

I posted two new book videos last week:

Friday Reads 9-9-22 - my brief weekly recap of what I'm reading

Big Book Summer 2022 Wrap-Up - I review the Big Books I read for this summer's challenge - so many outstanding books this year!

Since last week's Monday update was focused on the end of Big Book Summer and the start of the R.I.P. Challenge for fall, I didn't include my usual end-of-month challenge stats. I also forgot to do it last month and was away the previous month, so here's where my 2022 Reading Challenges stand, as of the end of August (click the link to see the details of my challenges):

Mount TBR Challenge - This summer, I read 7 more books from my own shelves, bringing me to 18 for the year so far--still a far cry from my goal of 48!

Monthly Motif Challenge - June was Pride month, and I read a book that fit, but it's a spoiler so I won't tell you which one. July was Summer Lovin' for love stories, so Lucky Turtle by Bill Roorbach fit. And August was Quick Lit - since I had been reading entirely big books, I squeezed in a graphic memoir, Button Pusher by Tyler Page .

Back to the Classics 2022 - I added one classic this summer, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, for a total of 5 so far this year--my goal is 6!

Alphabet Soup Challenge - I added just two letters this summer, O and P, for a total of 19 so far (of 26). It gets harder once the common letters are used!

Nonfiction Reader Challenge - I added just one nonfiction book this summer, Button Pusher by Tyler Page--that counted under the category Medical Memoir.

Diversity Challenge - I'm now up to 34 diverse books this year! My goal is 40, so I'm doing well with this one.

Travel the World in Books - I added France (The Count of Monte Cristo) for a total of 9 countries so far this year.

My Big Book Summer 

I'll start with my own Big Book Summer, and then I'll wrap up the whole challenge below You can also watch my video, Big Book Summer Wrap-Up, where I briefly discuss each of the books I read. As usual, I picked out a stack of Big Books from my shelves back in May, which you can see at the link. I read every book except one in my stack this summer, plus a bunch of Big Book audios! 

Here's a full list of the Big Books I finished this summer--I think, perhaps, my best year ever! My reviews are at the links:

• Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly (433 pages)
• A Lite Too Bright by Samuel Miller (480 pages) - audio
  
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (511 pages)
• Gone by Michael Grant (576 pages) - audio
  
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (476 pages)
• Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane (432 pages) - audio
  
• Lucky Turtle by Bill Roorbach (404 pages)
• The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd (400 pages) - audio
  
• The Overstory by Richard Powers (502 pages) - left over from Big Book Summer 2021
• Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian (432 pages) - audio
  
• Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King (522 pages)
• The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny (448 pages) - audio
  
• Sycamore Row by John Grisham (447 pages) - - left over from Big Book Summer 2021

So, that's 13 Big Books in all (which just might be a record for me). I did not get to the biggest book in my stack this summer, but I did read the two I didn't get to last year.

Participants in the Big Book Summer Challenge

That was my Big Book Summer, but lots of other people participated in the challenge, too! We had a total of 49 participants. Of those, 17 people participated through their blogs and YouTube channels, and 32 readers participated through the Goodreads group, though everyone enjoyed the book discussions on Goodreads! You can still visit the group to see what everyone else read for their Big Book Summers.

Since this was the 10th anniversary of the Big Book Summer Challenge, I drew two names for the giveaways.

The winners of the annual Big Book Summer Giveaway are ...

Laurie of Bay State Reader's Advisory blog

and

Donna, who participated through the Goodreads group.

They will both be receiving a gift certificate from Bookshop.org, a great website where you can buy books conveniently online while supporting indie bookstores.

Congratulations, Laurie and Donna!!

And a Big Book Congratulations to everyone who participated in the challenge this year! Whether your goal was to read one Big Book or as many as possible, I hope you had fun reading and sharing your reading adventures through the challenge. If you missed it this year, you can sign up for Big Book Summer 2023 next May! 

Lawyer Jake Brigance of the small town of Clanton, Mississippi, is at the center of this novel. Jake was the main character of John Grisham's very first novel, A Time to Kill, which I read back in the early 90's! In that story, Jake defends a Black man who takes vengeance after two white men attack his young daughter. Jake's actions shatter the norms in this still deeply-segregated Southern town. In this novel, several years later, in 1988, race is again front-and-center in a high-profile case for Jake. This time, a wealthy white man named Seth Hubbard, who is dying of cancer, commits suicide. He carefully planned everything out ahead of time, including a last-minute handwritten will that he mailed to Jake the day before he died. In this will and a cover letter to Jake, Seth (who's never met Jake) clearly states that this will supersedes the one created by a big law firm in Tupelo a year ago. This new will completely cuts out Seth's two ex-wives and his estranged adult children and grandchildren. Instead, Seth leaves 90% of his sizable estate to his Black maid, Lettie. When the news gets out, this causes an uproar in town, of course. Jake takes his role to defend the new will very seriously, and the town sees its biggest courtroom drama since Jake's last big case. With so much money at stake, big-city lawyers from Memphis and Tupelo try to disrupt things, as Jake and a few local helpers struggle to win the case. The big question on everyone's minds is ... why would Seth do such a thing?

I had forgotten what a good writer Grisham is and how wonderful he is at creating tension in a story. This one begins with Seth's suicide, and I was completely hooked right from those first pages. The case here is a complicated one, as the prosecutors try to prove that Seth didn't know what he was doing and was unduly influenced by Lettie. For her part, Lettie is stunned at the news of the will and is not happy with all the attention on her, as the whole town judges her , and "family" she's never met come out of the woodwork to claim a piece of her new-found fortune. What I think was meant to be the big reveal at the end--why Seth did what he did--I thought was pretty obvious from early foreshadowing. However, the book was still very compelling and gripping, especially once the trial begins. Grisham writes amazing courtroom drama scenes, and this novel is no exception. And there were still many plot twists along the way that took me by surprise. It was a fast-paced, enjoyable, and suspenseful read. I'm so glad I finally got to it, and I won't let so much time go by again before reading another Grisham. I see he has a newer novel out, A Time for Mercy, that also features Jake Brigance, so I'm adding that one to my list!

447 pages, Doubleday

Random House Audio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Mount TBR Challenge (I should get double credit for this one!)

Diversity Challenge

Big Book Summer

RIP Challenge

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, read. by Michael Beck, and/or download it from Audible.

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Or you can order Sycamore Row from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

This novel begins in 2021, just after the COVID vaccines have become available and the worst of the pandemic and lock-down are over. As life "gets back to normal," Gamache and his team are called in to provide security for a talk at a small nearby university. This seems like a strange assignment to Gamache. It's the middle of the holiday season, between Christmas and New Year's, and the speaker is a statistician. Why would they need police protection? Then he looks up some of Professor Abigail Robinson's past speeches and is stunned by what he sees. She carefully presents statistics from the recent pandemic and other events and presents her conclusions that in the future, there will not be enough resources for the whole population. Most startlingly, she presents her own solution to these problems, a solution that horrifies Inspector Gamache and would affect his own family personally. Now he understand why Professor Robinson is attracting so much controversy and why police protection will be needed at her local talk, though he still hopes there won't be a large crowd, given the timing. The evening of the talk, a huge crowd shows up, and despite Gamache's team's presence, someone somehow manages to get a gun inside and fires shots at the professor on stage. Gamache saves her life, and the police manage to calm the crowd and prevent a riot. Over the next few days, while they are working to solve the case, an actual murder occurs to someone near Professor Robinson, and they now must solve two--possible related?--cases. At the same time, Three Pines is hosting another famous visitor, a woman known as the Hero of the Sudan, who underwent unspeakable torture as a young girl and managed to escape and free the other girls. She's been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, but she seems to be very unlikable, even among this welcoming community. While the team works to solve the crimes, the controversy over Professor Robinson's proposals rages, and the town of Three Pines proceeds with its holiday celebrations.

This novel is the perfect example of what I most like about Louise Penny's Gamache novels; they are thoughtful and thought-provoking. As she herself explained in an interview I recently watched, her novels aren't actually about murder; they are about life, choices, and love. In this one, especially, she uses this fictional controversial person and proposal, as well as the paradox of the unlikable hero, to help readers think about the extremism we see in the real world right now, as her characters grapple with some very difficult, disturbing questions. As always, the mystery is a twisty and complicated one. I changed my mind a half dozen times about who the murderer was and why they killed. It's not until the very end that Gamache himself finally figures it out, so there is plenty of tension and suspense here. All of these difficult questions and criminal evidence, though, is set against the beautiful, comforting backdrop of Three Pines and its quirky but lovable residents. In this way, Penny provides a completely engrossing story that is part mystery, part family and community drama, and part thoughtful expression of modern issues.

448 pages, Minotaur Books

Macmillan Audio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Diversity Challenge

Travel the World in Books - Canada (Quebec)

Big Book Summer Challenge

R.I.P. Challenge

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, excellent as usual and narrated by Robert Bathhurst, and/or download it from Audible.

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Or you can order The Madness of Crowds from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Bullock plays Loretta Sage, a reclusive romance writer. Loretta writes a series of romance novels about a female archeologist, Dr. Angela Lovemore (yup. laughing yet?). Lovemore's romantic interest in the novels is Dash McMahon, and ever since the first book, a handsome man named Alan (played by Channing Tatum) has been the cover model, so that millions of fans think of Alan as Dash. Sales have started lagging, though, so Loretta's editor, Beth (played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph) wants both Loretta and Alan to go on a huge book tour to promote the latest addition to the series. Loretta is clearly depressed and unused to being in public; she actually did work as an archeologist with her late husband and has been isolated since his death. After their first stop (a hilarious scene where they dress timid Loretta in a sequined jumpsuit and Alan arrives with a Fabio-esque head of hair to great fanfare), things immediately go wrong as they travel on, and Loretta is kidnapped. An evil narcissist named Abigail Fairfax (played amusingly by Daniel Radcliffe) wants Loretta to decode ancient hieroglyphs from the lost tribe in Loretta's new book (which was based on real-life work she did) and find the priceless treasure buried in a long-lost tomb. He flies her out to the island where he has found the tribe's lost village. Alan saw Loretta get kidnapped, but the police refuse to do anything until 24 hours have passed. Alan calls in an ex-military trainer he knows, played by Brad Pitt, to help rescue Loretta (who's wearing a tracker device), and the two follow her and her captor to the island. As you might have guessed, Alan is nothing like the capable, heroic man he portrays from the books. Finally, Beth also joins the search, so that they are all on the island, racing against time.

In case you couldn't tell by the description, this is a very silly story, though it pays tribute to adventure-romance novels. The characters are over-the-top, the story is twisty, and there is a lot of action. It is all a whole lot of fun, which was just what we wanted! We were laughing right from the beginning. The actors all do a great job of inhabiting their larger-than-life characters, and Loretta and Alan get plenty of serious, poignant moments, too, so it's not all just farce. The Lost City was filled with laugh-out-loud humor, plenty of action and suspense, and--of course--some romance, too. It was the perfect entertaining choice for a sick day!

The Lost City is currently available on Amazon Prime and Paramount+ for free, and all the usual places where you can buy videos on demand.

Hosted by The Book Date

Happy Labor Day to those in the U.S! 

Today also marks the official end of 2022 Big Book Summer Challenge. I finished my last big audio book last night and am on track to finish my very last Big Book of the summer later today. Your Big Book reading has to be finished today in order to count for the challenge, but the links list will be open until the end of the month for your Big Book reviews and/or end-of-challenge wrap-ups (neither is required, but if you do a post or video for the challenge, be sure to link it up so others can find you). The Goodreads group is still open, too, so you can share your Big Book reviews and wrap-ups there as well. We've had some great book discussions there all summer!

I will post official Big Book Summer wrap-ups later this week, here on the blog and on my YouTube channel. I haven't done my final count yet, but we had a wonderful Big Book Summer (it's 10th anniversary!), with lots of participants, including bloggers, Booktubers, and regular readers. I'll announce the TWO winners of the end-of-summer giveaway in that last post.

Welcome Fall!

While I have, as always, enjoyed Big Book Summer, I have to admit that I'm very glad summer is over, and it's September - yay! Like many other places all over the world, we had a horrendously hot and humid summer, and I have been missing my outdoor time. Fall is my favorite season, both for the weather and colorful foliage, and for the change in reading seasons ...

September 1 marked the beginning of the annual R.I.P. Challenge (Readers Imbibing Peril), now in its 17th year #RIPxvii (details at the link) This challenge is super easy-going, with no official sign-ups. The idea is simply to read (or watch or listen to) darker stuff in September and October and then post on social media (or your blog) about it. There are different categories, so you can read book(s), read short stories, watch TV shows or movies, and/or listen to audio books or podcasts--all with darker themes like mystery, suspense, thrillers, horror, Gothic, true crime, or anything supernatural. Fun, right?

I love the R.I.P. Challenge because our bookshelves are filled with mysteries, suspense, and thrillers. Those are the genres my husband prefers, I buy him a stack of books for every holiday, and most of them are books I'd like to read, too! But I read a lot of other books, too, so they pile up.

You can hear all about my plans for the R.I.P. Challenge (and see my big stack of books) in my video:

Fall Into Reading and R.I.P. Challenges - Fall Into Reading is another easy fall challenge, with a book bingo card, so check that out.

And here's what we've all been reading this past week:

Today, I will be finishing my final #BigBookSummer book, Sycamore Row by John Grisham. It is also a cross-over book that fits with the R.I.P. Challenge. I haven't read a Grisham novel in years, but this one pulled me right in. It's set in the same town as his first novel, A Time to Kill, and focuses on the lawyer from that novel, Jake Brigance, and the town of Clanton, Mississippi, in 1988. A wealthy man who is dying of cancer commits suicide. The day before, he handwrote a new will and mailed it to Jake, cutting out his ex-wives and horrible adult children and leaving everything to his Black housekeeper, Lettie. This sets off a massive war between the family and Lettie, with Jake in the middle and the whole town watching (and gossiping). It's been gripping and intriguing, and the ending, during the trial, has been especially compelling.

Last night, I finished listening to my last audiobook for Big Book Summer, The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny, another cross-over book for both Big Book Summer and the R.I.P. Challenge. This is book 17 in her Inspector Gamache series. I enjoy this mystery series set in Quebec but have not been reading them in order. I read book 1, Still Life, and then skipped to #15, A Better Man and now this one. This novel deals with a fictional controversial woman in Canada who is proposing a shocking solution to some of the world's problems (and one that affects Gamache's family personally). When she comes to a small university near Three Pines to speak, violence breaks out, and she is almost shot. Then, a murder occurs near her. The story deals both with her extremist theories and the controversy, as well as Gamache's team's investigation of the crimes. It's very thoughtful as well as suspenseful, and as with all Penny books, includes all the quirky characters in town.

My husband, Ken, is reading The Survivors by Jane Harper, one of those many I gave him recently as gifts! He and I both enjoy this series of mysteries/thrillers set in Australia (I have a Jane Harper in my R.I.P. stack also). This one, like her first, The Dry, is about a man returning home, where a terrible tragedy occurred years earlier. It's a seaside town, and while his family is vacationing there, a dead body washes ashore that stirs up old secrets. Sounds like another good one!

I'm not entirely sure what our son, 28, is reading right now! His health has been great lately (unlike mine), so he's been out having fun this weekend, which makes my heart so happy. Last I heard, he was rereading Charmcaster, book three of the Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell to prepare for reading books four and five! He loves that series--I first heard about from Beth Fish Reads blog and have been gifting him the books!

Last week's blog post (almost caught up on reviews!):

Middle-Grade/Teen Review: Button Pusher by Tyler Page - an intriguing graphic memoir about growing up with ADHD - educational and entertaining!

Fiction Review: Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King - one of King's best! Interconnected novellas and short stories set in the real world, with in-depth characters and emotionally-complex and thought-provoking stories. Outstanding! (and not horror)

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

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

What are you and your family reading this week?

The book includes two novellas and three short stories, with clever connections between them. First up is a coming-of-age novella, Low Men in Yellow Coats, that is focused on 11-year-old Bobby in a small town in Connecticut in 1960. In many ways, Bobby is experiencing a classic summer for a kid at that time, hanging out with his two best friends, playing baseball, and going to the park and beach. But Bobby also has some very adult concerns that are black clouds over his summer. He can tell that something is upsetting his mother (and that it must be a very bad something), but he doesn't know what it is. He and his best friends, Sully and Carol, are being picked on by older bullies, and by the end of the summer, their bullying escalates to real violence. The other unusual thing about this summer for Bobby is their new 3rd-floor boarder, an older man named Ted. The two of them become friends, and Ted helps Bobby to choose some outstanding books after Bobby gets an adult library card, setting Bobby up with a lifelong love of literature as the two of them discuss books that summer, including Lord of the Flies. 

In the second novella, Hearts in Atlantis, set in 1966, Bobby's friend Carol is attending college in Maine, though she's not the main character of that story. Pete is a freshman at the same college and has gotten caught up in his dorm floor's obsession with the card game Hearts. Even as one boy after another either fails out or leaves the dorm, Pete is still under the spell of the game and in danger of failing also. Next comes a short story, Blind Willie, set in 1983, about a Vietnam vet who grew up in Bobby's hometown and appeared in that first novella. This vet now lives a secret double-life as an adult, as he has devoted his entire life to penance for something that happened when he was a child. The next short story, Why We're in Vietnam, is set in 1999 and focuses on another Vietnam vet, who served with the guy in the previous story. This vet happens to be Bobby's childhood buddy, Sully. He attends the funeral of a fellow vet from his unit and talks to another guy who was there, and during the funeral and all his way home to Connecticut, Sully is remembering what happened back then. Finally, Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling also takes place in 1999, as the narrative finally returns to Bobby and his friend, Carol, bringing the story full-circle.

These brief descriptions of each story and their connections don't begin to do justice to this original, clever work of fiction. King's writing is, as always, absolutely astounding, and I was so riveted by this book that I read it in record time, in spite of its size. Every story is outstanding on its own, and the way they all hang together is ingenious. King is especially brilliant when he writes from the perspective of a child (11-year-old Bobby), as we've seen in IT and the short story, The Body (adapted into the movie Stand By Me). Here, Bobby and Ted are discussing Lord of the Flies, Bobby's first-ever grown-up book:

"'Lord of the Flies wasn't much like the Hardy Boys, was it?'

Bobby had a momentary image, very clear, of Frank and Joe Hardy running through the jungle with homemade spears, chanting that they'd kill the pig and stick their spears up her arse. He burst out laughing, and as Ted joined him he knew that he was done with the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, and Bomba the Jungle Boy. Lord of the Flies had finished them off. He was very glad he had an adult library card."

In fact, I was thoroughly engrossed in every one of these five very different poignant stories. There is some suspense here, especially in the first story, though these are, for the most part, real-life stories, not horror (other than some real-life horrors like assault, bullying, and war). There is a small thread of fantasy in both the first and last stories (in the first one, King briefly mentions some things from his The Dark Tower series, which I'm told is something he inserts into almost every book!), but the focus throughout this book is on real people, real situations, and real feelings. The characters are fully fleshed out and all of the stories are emotionally complex and thought-provoking. I have to agree with my husband that Hearts in Atlantis is one of the best King books I've ever read. I only wish I could talk to my dad about it! Inside my dad's copy of the book, he wrote on the title page that he re-read it on 11/2010, and this is a book I can definitely see myself re-reading at some point.

522 pages, Scribner

Simon & Schuster Audio 

And I heard that there's a movie adaptation of Hearts in Atlantis, starring Anthony Hopkins, so I'd like to see that.

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Mount TBR Challenge

Big Book Summer Challenge

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, narrated by William Hurt, and/or download it from Audible. The sample is from the first novella, featuring 11-year-old Bobby's perspective.

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Or you can order Hearts in Atlantis from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Welcome to my new monthly newsletter!

Each month, I will write a newsletter that will be delivered directly to your e-mail inbox, with all kinds of fun extras, in addition to the blog posts you now receive. E-mail me at sljackson@suzanjackson.com to let me know what you think of this first newsletter and what you would like to see here in the future!

Book Quote of the Month:

"My thoughts, normally bunched together, wrapped in gauze, insistent, urgent, impatient, one moment to the next, living in what I now realize is, in essence, a constant state of emergency (as if my evolutionary instincts of fight or flight have gone haywire, leading me to spend every morning, noon, and evening in a low-grade but absolutely never-ceasing form of panic), those rushed and ragged thoughts are now falling away, one by one, revealing themselves for what they are: the same thought over and over again. And once revealed for what they are, these hollow thoughts, imposters, non-thoughts masquerading as thoughts, memes, viruses, signals fired off, white noise generated by my brain, they are gone."

         - Excerpt from How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

My review

This was a fun, warm-hearted, thoughtful time travel novel, and this passage really struck me because it describes the way my own mind feels much of the time lately! I'm guessing I'm not alone, with the constant barrage of input we are all dealing with. What clears the main character's mind, toward the end of this passage, is walking through a deserted Buddhist temple, and that got me thinking about what brings me peace. For me, that is often the outdoors--taking a walk in nature or better yet, going camping and being "off the grid" for a few days.

What brings YOU peace and quiets your rushing mind?

Blog of the Month:

I only just discovered the book blog, Kerri McBookNerd (great blog name, right?), but I am already enjoying it! I like the clean look of Kerri's blog and am loving her fun, interesting posts. Check it out at the link and give her some comment love! (Let her know you heard about her blog from me.)

End of Summer Sale! This week only!

My book, Finding a New Normal: Living Your Best Life with Chronic Illness, is on sale now through September 5! Sales prices apply to ALL e-book formats/platforms and to the paperback purchased from Amazon (I can't control the print prices on other websites, but it is available everywhere that books are sold/lent, including bookstores and libraries). Links to all places the book is available are on my author website.

My Reading Life

This weekend (Labor Day weekend in the U.S.), I am wrapping up my own Big Book Summer Challenge, which ends on Monday, September 5. This was the 10th year I hosted the challenge, and we had lots of participants from blogs, BookTube, and just regular readers. I read some outstanding Big Books this summer and will recap those both on my blog and on my YouTube channel. And I thoroughly enjoyed the great conversations about books that we had in the Goodreads group! Thanks to all who participated, and to everyone else, I hope you'll join the fun next summer!

And, with September beginning, that means it's time for the fall R.I.P. Challenge! That's Readers Imbibing Peril, now in its 17th year! This one is super easy-going and no-stress. You just read (or watch or listen to) darker stuff in the fall and post about it on social media. You can see my plans (as usual, overly ambitious!) for fall in my recent Fall Reading video.

What are YOU planning to read this fall?

A Look Back

One year ago on my blog, I posted my Books Read in August wrap-up (wow, I was on top of things!). Take a look--it's always fun to look back and remember what great books I read that I might have forgotten about! Of those I finished in August 2021, The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin was my favorite.

You can connect with me on:

My blog: http://bookbybook.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SueBookByBook

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bookbybook

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SueJacksonDE

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzan-jackson-8436878/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20014156.Suzan_L_Jackson

Tyler tells his childhood story mostly from the perspective of the age he was at the time, starting at just eight years old. Through a novel-like story, we see that Tyler is a happy, friendly kid who does well in school but is always in constant motion. He gets in trouble in school for fidgeting and not staying in his seat, he gives into impulses and does things that get him into big trouble, without understanding why, and even in the doctor's office, Tyler is moving nonstop, touching and playing with everything in sight. But Tyler is also a sweet kid who enjoys playing video games with friends, building with Legos, and who loves to draw. Visits to his pediatrician start him down the path to an ADHD diagnosis, which was relatively new at the time, and eventually to treatment with Ritalin, as it becomes clear that his behavior is disruptive both at school and at home. Tyler and his family have other issues, as well, though. Money is very tight, Tyler's parents fight constantly, and his dad often loses his temper and screams, hits things, and spanks Tyler. Things get so bad that Tyler starts to spend most of his time either in his room, drawing, or at friends' houses. The story follows Tyler and his family all the way from elementary school to middle school to high school. It ends as Tyler heads off to college to start a new chapter of his life ... though he points out on that last page that his hardest challenges with ADHD were still ahead of him.

Sample page from Button Pusher

On its surface, this is a very enjoyable, beautifully-drawn graphic story of childhood and adolescence, told from a boy's perspective. But there is also so much emotional depth to this memoir, plus fascinating information about ADHD. The colorful panels depicting Tyler's story are interspersed with copies of notes from his pediatrician and a few brief sections of informational graphics, explaining the science behind ADHD, Ritalin, labels, and other related topics. It's the perfect combination of entertainment and education, and I learned a lot while enjoying the story. It actually made me think back to my own childhood classmates and perhaps better understand certain behaviors from them. I'm sure back in my day, some kids (especially boys) were labeled trouble-makers and written off at a young age when they probably had ADHD. The age recommendations from the publisher say 10-14 years old, but I think any kids or teens who have ADHD or know someone who does (probably most kids in school) would benefit from reading this enjoyable book. I hope there's a sequel about his college years!

245 pages, First Second 

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Mount TBR Challenge

Monthly Motif - Quick Lit

Nonfiction Reader Challenge - Medical Memoir

Diversity Challenge (August mini-challenge: mental health)

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Or you can order Button Pusher from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Hosted by The Book Date

As expected, last weekend's family gathering here knocked me out for a bit, due to my chronic illness. It's what those of us with ME/CFS (an immune disorder) call a "crash," when doing too much leads to a sudden worsening of ... well, everything. The first few days of my week were very low-key, spent in the recliner and on the couch, recovering. Next time, I'll listen to my body, I swear! Hey, it's only been 20 years--I'm a slow learner. By Thursday, I was starting to feel better and was able to get out and about a bit, though I was still taking it easy.

We had a nicely balanced weekend. Friday evening, our oldest and closest friends came over for a take-out dinner (no work!). We normally get together frequently, but between our funeral and travels and their travels and a wedding, we hadn't seen them since June! It was great to catch up and hear about their summer and enjoy some delicious food with no cooking required.

Our friends & my husband camping circa 1989

Saturday, we went out shopping for a new oven, which is desperately needed. The problem is that our old one, which came with the house (probably built about 35 years ago) is built into the wall and is much smaller than most ovens on the market right now. So, we soon we realized we can't just shop for this at Home Depot or a big appliance store, but we think our local appliance company--who've done all our repairs since we moved in 28 years ago--can help us, but they're not open on weekends.

It wasn't a wasted trip, though, because on the way home, we passed a furniture store we've been meaning to check out. In about 15 minutes, we found a new sofa and loveseat that we really like for our living room! The furniture in there now is 35 years old--it was the stuff I bought right after college for my first apartment. As you can imagine, it's a bit dated and beginning to show some wear. We don't use our living room all that much, but it's time for a change!

My living room furniture when it was brand-new, 1987! And who are those young, skinny people??

And Sunday was a very productive day at home. I had SO many things that have been on my to-do list for ages, and I just zoomed through one after another. I was worn out by afternoon, but it felt so good to get some things done finally! And I did enjoy some down time reading on our porch before dinner.

Just one new book-related video on my YouTube channel last week:

Friday Reads 8-26-22 - My last books for Big Book Summer!

And here's what we've all been reading this week:

I finished Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King. It's two novellas and several short stories that are all interconnected, taking place from 1960 to 1999. Each stands on its own but also has connecting threads to the others, like characters from one story that pop up in another. The first part, a novella, is about 11-year-old Bobby in 1960, and it showcases King's incredible talent in writing from a kid's perspective. It's mostly set in the real world (though there is a thread of something vaguely supernatural in a couple of places). I's not horror, but there are some real-world horrors that Bobby and his friends and family must deal with. It has so much emotional depth (including loads of literary references, as Bobby begins reading "adult" books that summer) and is gripping, moving, and engrossing. That guy can write. I was sorry to finish the book (though it's a satisfying conclusion) and am missing the characters--a sure sign of an excellent novel!

Since I finished the King novel so fast, I had time to fit in one more Big Book! I am reading Sycamore Row by John Grisham. At this point in Big Book Summer (which ends on September 5), I like to choose cross-over books that also fit with the R.I.P. Challenge (to read darker books in the fall) that begins September 1. I haven't read a Grisham novel in years, but this one has already pulled me right in. It's set in the same town as his first novel, A Time to Kill, and focuses on the lawyer from that novel, Jake Brigance, and the town of Clanton, Mississippi. This time, a wealthy man who is dying of cancer has committed suicide. The day before, he handwrote a new will and mailed it to Jake, cutting out his ex-wives and horrible adult children and leaving everything to his Black housekeeper, Lettie. This sets off a massive war between the family and Lettie, with Jake in the middle and the whole town watching (and gossiping). It's already great--gripping and intriguing.

I am also squeezing one non-Big Book into the last days of August: Button Pusher by Tyler Page. While updating my 2022 Reading Challenges, I noticed that the Monthly Motif category was a short book or quick read. Well, of course, I've been reading all Big Books! So, I pulled this middle-grade/teen graphic novel off my shelf. It's a memoir about the author's struggles with ADHD, from elementary school through high school. I'm almost finished with it already, and it's been excellent so far and very enlightening.

I am still listening to my last audiobook for Big Book Summer, The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny. This is also a cross-over book to finish up Big Book Summer and kick off the R.I.P. Challenge. This is book 17 in her Inspector Gamache series. I enjoy this mystery series set in Quebec but have not been reading them in order. I read book 1, Still Life, and then skipped to #15, A Better Man and now this one. This novel deals with a fictional controversial woman in Canada who is proposing a shocking solution to some of the world's problems (and one that affects Gamache's family personally). When she comes to a small university near Three Pines to speak, violence breaks out, and she is almost shot. Then, a murder occurs near her. The story deals both with her theories and the controversy, as well as Gamache's team's investigation of the crimes. It's very thoughtful as well as suspenseful.

My husband, Ken, is almost finished with The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, one of my favorite books from Booktopia this year (my review at the link). This is a twisty, suspenseful mystery about the disappearance of a $10 million violin. What's great about this novel is that there's a mystery, but it also incorporates family drama, history, romance, and an inside look at racism through the centuries. It's an outstanding novel. He's enjoying it.

Our son, 28, finished re-reading The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter, book one in The Burning series and then immediately read book 2, The Fires of Vengeance. Now, he is rereading Charmcaster, book three of the Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell to prepare for reading books four and five! He loves that series--I first heard about from Beth Fish Reads blog and have been gifting him the books!

Last week's blog posts:

Fiction Review: The Overstory by Richard Powers - unique, powerful, engrossing story of connections

Teen/YA Review: Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian - engaging, emotionally complex coming-of-age story set in 1989 New York

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

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

What are you and your family reading this week?

New York City in the 80's was, of course, one of the centers of the AIDS epidemic, devastating the gay population there and elsewhere in the U.S., and also one of the centers for AIDS acitvism, specifically Act Up. This novel focuses on three teens in New York at that time who are all affected by the AIDS crisis. Art is an out and proud gay teen, even though he's the only one in his high school. He likes to dress flamboyantly and comes to school on the first day of the year with his hair dyed lavender and cut into a Mohawk. Reza, on the other hand, is very quiet and reserved. He is also gay, but he has barely even admitted that to himself. His family (including a new stepfather and stepbrother) have just moved to New York, by way of Toronto and originally from Iran. Not only does his culture not acknowledge homosexuality, but what he sees of the AIDS crisis in New York terrifies him. He thinks that being gay would be a death sentence, so he is determined to try not to be. Art's best friend, Judy, has a gay uncle named Stephen, who is dying of AIDS and already lost his beloved partner to the devastating disease. Both Art and Judy are involved with him in Act Up. On the first day in his new school, Reza meets Art and Judy and immediately likes them both and feels attracted to Art. But Judy has a crush on Reza, and he is determined to ignore his "gay feelings." The three friends must somehow negotiate this difficult year, amid fear, hurt feelings, broken hearts, and changing circumstances.

A coming-of-age story at its heart, this novel is also so much more than that. That time and place provide a very specific--and frightening--backdrop to growing up, especially for two gay boys and the girl that cares about them (and her uncle). This is a love story but also a story of friendship, longing, identity, and cultural changes happening in the world around them. In fact, they become a part of those changes, as Art and Reza both deal with the negative responses from their families, their classmates, and society as a whole. The novel is beautifully written and engrossing, and it pulled me right into the story from the start and made me care deeply about these characters and their fates. The chapters alternate between the perspectives of the three teens, as well as Stephen. The audio was very well-done, with multiple narrators (check out the sample below). For both straight and queer teens today, I think the historical background of this novel will be very enlightening and will help them to understand the sacrifices and hard work that came before. Like a Love Story is a compelling, beautiful, and original story of love, friendship, and change. (And isn't that cover perfect?)

432 pages, Balzer + Bray

HarperAudio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Diversity Reading Challenge

Big Book Summer Challenge

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

Listen to a sample of the wonderful audiobook here, from the first chapter and Reza's perspective, and/or download it from Audible.

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Or you can order Like a Love Story from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

The book is cleverly structured in four parts: Roots, Trunk, Crown, and Seeds. Roots is structured as a series of separate short stories. Each story focuses on a person or family and a tree or trees that are somehow connected to their lives. For instance, the first story is about a Norwegian immigrant in 1800's New York. He proposes to his future wife, an Irish immigrant, one evening while they are picking chestnuts in what was then a time of celebration in a region filled with chestnut trees. After marriage, they move to Iowa, buy five acres of land for a farm, and the man plants some of the leftover chestnuts. One grows into a giant chestnut tree, next to their farmhouse. Over the next 150 years or so, the tree grows (later, a unique sight after all the chestnuts on the East Coast die), as their family grows. Generations grow up, as the tree grows up, and a unique way of documenting the tree's growth is carried on through the family, until Nick, an artist and the great-great-great grandson of the homesteader is left to remember the tree's legacy.

That's just a brief outline of the first story in Roots. There are seven others, each focusing on a person or family somewhere in the U.S. (though sometimes with roots elsewhere) and the tree(s) that affected their lives. Each story is accompanied by a drawing of a branch of the tree. In Part 2, Trunk, the eight people highlighted in Roots, eventually come together on the West Coast, on a mutual mission to save some of our nation's oldest trees from being clear-cut. They are up against formidable forces in their fight, and each person carries his or her own roots, family, memories, and reasons why trees are important. In Crown, things fall apart, and the group separates, each devastated and coping in his or her own way to a tragedy that occurred. At this stage in the novel, they--and the reader--begin to feel that the goal of saving the trees (and the urgency to do so) are hopeless. However, in Seeds, there are glimmers of hope, as different characters each do their own part, and the trees themselves show some resilience.

That long description barely begins to capture the real essence of this book. It's magical, the way these people come together and find each other, in much the same way that trees connect with each other, communicate, and depend on each other. One character in the novel, Patricia Westerford, a hearing-impaired botanist who got her love of nature from her father, studies trees, writes books, and blows away old thinking about forests with ground-breaking research. Her passages provide some facts and science but in a beautiful, engaging way that is intricately connected with her life. It's a book about trees but also about people and mostly about the connections between both. This special novel uniquely combines science, spirituality, relationships, deep characterizations, and even suspense into a beautifully written and completely original story. This is one that will stick with me for a long time.

502 pages, W.W. Norton & Company

Recorded Books

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Mount TBR Challenge

Alphabet Soup - O

Diversity Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - Oregon

Big Book Summer Challenge

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the prologue and the beginning of the first story, about the chestnut, and/or download it from Audible.

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Or you can order The Overstory from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.