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Welcome to my weekly update for August 21, 2022!
We had another quiet week here. My husband is on call again this weekend so we have to stay within 30 minutes of the hospital. But that gives us time to recover from all our activity this summer so that’s fine by me!
The organizers of the Cybils Awards are recruiting judges now through September 9! If you review books for kids anywhere on the internet (picture and board books all the way to young adult books and everything in between), you should consider applying. I was a round one panelist for the high school nonfiction category last year and thoroughly enjoyed it! I read books I would never had read on my own and learned so much, I feel that the pool of knowledge I bring to the table as a reader has grown tremendously. It’s a lot of fun! I haven’t decided if I’m going to apply this year simply because I have so many other projects I want to work on but I encourage anyone who’s interested to go for it!
Posted:
The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan, read by Sneha Mathan: Book Review 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Read:
I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I may turn around and read this again as soon as I finish my current Kindle book. It was that good. If any of you are in the Asheville, NC area, Ms. Allen is launching this book in an event with Wiley Cash at UNC-Asheville on August 30. If flights weren’t so expensive right now, I’d be tempted to go home for this signing. I’ve seen both of these authors speak before and they are some of my favorites. You can find more details and, if you can’t attend, order signed copies at Malaprop’s.
Tristan Strong Keeps Punching (Tristan Strong #3) by Kwame Mbalia, read by Amir Abdullah 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Currently Reading:
20,000 Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne, translated by Anthony Bonner
Case Histories (Jackson Brodie #1) by Kate Atkinson, read by Susan Jameson
Up Next:
My husband and I have a few road trips coming up soon and he’s asked me to download an audiobook for the drives. I think all of you around the world probably heard my jaw hit the floor! He’s not an avid reader but he has listened to the first three books in The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells with me this summer. I truly thought he was just humoring me. I guess not! He’d like to take a break from Murderbot and my brain has frozen from the pressure. I asked him what his very favorite book is and he came up with The Hot Zone by Richard Preston (nonfiction about how close we came to an ebola outbreak in the United States in 1989). I expected him to say The Alienist by Caleb Carr (a historical mystery with a focus on early forensics/psychology). So with those books to work from, do any of you have good audiobook recommendations for him?
What did your week look like?
Hosts:
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
31 Comments
Sometimes calm weeks to catch up can be exactly what we need. I hope you’ve enjoyed this one!
I know there’s a lot of good nonfiction out there on audio, so you should be able to find something else like that which would work, if that’s the direction you want to go. I know I’ve enjoyed a lot of the different Great Courses lecture series, and they have a TON of subjects in their series.
Yes, we did need a break from our busy summer.
Thanks for the Great Courses recommendation!
I don’t have any suggestions for road trip audiobooks. I tend to listen to cozy mysteries or fantasy which don’t seem anything like the search criteria. Your books all look good and make me want to expand my reading horizons. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
I’m obviously a little stumped too. I rarely listen to nonfiction because I tend to absorb important facts better in print.
I loved Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories. In fact I enjoyed everything she wrote featuring Jackson Brodie. I am curious about Other Birds.
Have a great week, and here are my WEEKLY UPDATES
I obviously highly recommend Other Birds. I hope you take a look at it!
I’m not quite halfway through Case Histories but I like it so far.
I hope you enjoy the Cybills again this year. I’ve thought about applying at some point, but right now I’m having a hard time reading because of everything going on. I do look forward to see what wins. 😀
I’m really going back and forth about applying, trying to decide if I really have the time for it this year. I read a lot of good books for it last year so I’m tempted!
I hope you are enjoying your quiet weekend. My recommendation for a scfi book which is funny would be The Finder by Suzanne Palmer. I don’t know if it would be at the library on audio or not though.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
Ooh, I’ve only read one short story by Suzanne Palmer but that suggestion could be a good option for us. I think I even made my husband read “The Secret Life of Bots” and he liked it too. Thanks!
This is the second mention of Other Birds today! I don’t think I’ve read Sarah Addison Allen, but this sure sounds tempting.
As for audiobook, if your husband likes sciencey/medical/ forensics, how about The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks? My husband and I listened to that on a road trip years ago… so interesting! Also Voices From the Pandemic (if it’s not too soon for him) and The Philadelphia Chromosome. Loved both of those.
I listened to The Immortal Life and you’re right–it is fascinating! Great recommendation. I’ll take a look at the other two as well. Thank you!
I do hope you will join us for the Cybils this year, Jen. I’ve even thought about doing High School Nonfiction this year, just to shake things up.
Wow, I’m taken with how much you loved Other Birds. Definitely planning to read that one now.
I’m very tempted by the Cybils…
If you do read Other Birds, I hope you like it!
I was thinking about doing the Cybils, but then I got on the award committee for my state school librarian association, so I’ll have lots to read for that! Hope you have a good week!
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2022/08/21/weekly-wrap-up-81-august-21st-2022/
Congratulations for being chosen for the award committee!
Hope you have a great weekend! Quiet weeks are nice sometimes. 🙂 I wish I had a recommendation but I’m drawing a blank at the moment, although I imagine there probably are some good fiction or non fiction picks out there that would appeal or be in the same vein as Hot Zone. I hope you guys find a good one! 🙂
Thanks!
I notice you’re reading Case Histories – have you seen the TV series they did of it? I think they did a very good job – I want to track down Life After Life as I missed it. Here’s hoping you have a great week – and I hope you manage to track down some enjoyable audiobooks for your journeys:)).
I didn’t even know there was a show based on Case Histories. Thanks for letting me know! I read Life After Life several years ago and really enjoyed it. I still think about it sometimes.
I WISH I were in Ashville! Thanks for the heads up about the book event. You are the second blogger who has mentioned the Sarah Addison A;;en book. I have not read this author but I think I will check that out.
You’ll be in the Asheville area pretty soon though, right? You can stop by Malaprop’s and get a signed copy of Other Birds. It really was fantastic.
Have you guys listened to/read Ready Player One? It’s great on audio and one your husband would probably enjoy. Stephen King’s 11/22/63 is also very good.
My husband and I both listened to Ready Player One, and I second Les’ suggestion.
My husband and I both listened to Ready Player One, and I second Les’ suggestion.
That’s a great suggestion but that’s one of the few books that we’ve both actually read. We’ve even both read Ready Player Two!
We’ve both read Ready Player One and Ready Player Two and loved them. Great suggestion! I read 11/22/63 and liked it but that was years ago and my husband hasn’t read it at all. I’ll run it by him! Thanks!
If he isn’t firm on nonfiction, I have a few more recs:
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
The Passage by Justin Cronin
I’m not familiar with the first two so I’ll take a look. I read The Passage years and years ago. I liked it but then forgot about it. I’ve been thinking I should continue the series but I remember so little about it. This would be a good way to catch up. There was a TV show based on The Passage a few years ago that we watched. It was just okay. It was only one season so I wouldn’t recommend it because it didn’t get a chance to wrap up.
Something about the description of Sleeping Giants made me think of this research facility in Lead, SD, right next door to Deadwood. Pretty interesting stuff https://www.leadmethere.org/sanford-homestake-lab/
Very cool! Thanks for the link.