I’m not going to sugarcoat this:
I love my family more than anything. However, spending so much time together in our very-nice-size-for-a-hotel-suite-but-still-itty-bitty-and-growing-smaller-by-the-day room can be a bit, um… difficult.
Want to know how I cope? Just check out the size of my What I’ve Been Reading list this week.

What I’ve Been Reading
Crispin: The Cross of Lead
Another middle-grade historical novel, this one set in 14th-century England. (And oh dear, there were references to the plague. I’m doomed.) After his mother’s death, Crispin is inexplicably declared a Wolf’s Head by the steward of the land. This means that he is no longer considered human and anyone who finds him may kill him. The steward claims it is because Crispin is a thief and a murderer, but neither charge is true. Now, for a uneducated boy who has never even left his small village, learning to survive and finding his place in the world is no small matter. Lucky for him, he encounters some big help along the way.

The Jungle Book
I grabbed this one off the bookshelf as we were leaving for the hotel. I’ve had it for a couple of years, but hadn’t gotten around to reading it. I’m about 3/4 of the way through, and though it isn’t really a page turner, I am enjoying it. It’s fun to read the original of a story that is already familiar. And even after more than 100 years, Rudyard Kipling’s books are still fun to read (though I think I prefer his Just So Stories). Kippling gives me a glimpse of lands and characters that seem so exotic, more so I think than if something similar were to be written in our contemporary, internet-connected, global, small world.

Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Self Leadership
I think I have mentioned before that I do not particularly enjoy business books, but I have learned that good ones generally can teach me something about being a better mentor, which is one of the roles I have chosen for this period of my life. This was a good one, but since I went did not read it with pencil in hand, I’m already forgetting what it could have taught me. I plan to read it again and take notes.
In hindsight, this was not the best book for me to read in a week when I am feeling stressed and looking to escape into a book.

Homebody: A Novel
Now this one was a good escape. It was the kind of book that I couldn’t help staying up late for.
Homebody tricked me by starting out like a cheesy romance: loner building contractor with a troubled past meets lonely, but attractive Realtor when she sells him his newest project: a derelict mansion. At one point, early in the book I actually had to flip to the front cover to make sure this was Orson Scott Card, and not Nicholas Sparks. However, within a few chapters, things started to go a totally different direction. I was highly entertained by the twists brought about by a trio of crazy old ladies next door, a homeless waif squatting in the house, unwilling (or unable) to leave and the house itself with a power that seemed to grow with every repair made.
Hmm, maybe we should reconsider that new carpeting…

What I’ve Been Reading to Newt
Not a thing. As far as school goes, we are treating this week as a vacation. As such, I have encouraged heavy use of the hotel pool. I either join her, or even better, have her invite a friend so I can sit on the lounge and escape read my own books.

What Newt has Been Reading
Peanuts 2000: The 50th Year Of The World’s Favorite Comic Strip
It’s a Big World, Charlie Brown
Peanuts Treasury
Peanuts: clearly Newt’s comfort food books.
Here’s hoping we are home by this time next week.