Not a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

Life:

I’m back! I had a wonderful few weeks on vacation with my family… and kinda appreciate my forced break from blogging, to be honest. Not that I’m not ready to dive back in — but it was nice not to have deadlines or commitments to think about. I relaxed, I hung out with the kiddo and the rest of the gang, and I read whatever I felt like reading, whenever I felt like it. Now that’s a vacation!

Thank you to my friendly readers who stuck with me while I was away! Now that I’m back, I’ll be picking up where I left off…

How did I do with my vacation reading agenda?

Here’s what I read while I was away:

The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey: My review is here.

Empire Girls by Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan: My review is here.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: I’m so glad I decided to re-read Rebecca, about 20 or so years since I first read it! Amazing how little I actually remembered about the plot… I’ll be featuring Rebecca in an upcoming Flashback Friday post, so stay tuned!

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede: My son and I finished this one during our trip, and despite a few hesitations (mostly on my part), enjoyed it enough to want to read more of the series. My thoughts on this book are here.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: I’ve had this book on my shelf for ages, and finally read it… and felt kind of meh about it. Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood to appreciate it or my timing was just off. While I recognize the artistry of the writing, it just wasn’t scary. Maybe I’ve become too jaded by more modern horror novels? I’m glad I read it, but I didn’t come away from it feeling like I’d read a masterpiece.

Finally, the centerpiece of my vacation reading:

I had to balance spending time with family with my need to obsessively read Written in My Own Heart’s Blood every possible second. Maybe not the best course of action during a family vacation, but after waiting for this book for years, there was simply no way I wasn’t going to read it as soon as the download arrived on my Kindle. Short review? Loved it. I’m sure I’ll be writing more about this book in the coming week or two. Bottom line: If you’re an Outlander fan, you’ll love every moment.

Fresh Catch:

I may have been away from home, but that doesn’t mean that the new books stopped coming! A few of my preorders and other books arrived while I was away:

Also this week, I treated myself to this:

 

Elsewhere on the blog:

I wrote a mini-manifesto (“Give Me Liberty!”) on my need to read whatever I feel like and cut back on obligations. Check it out here.

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

I’m having a bit of a book hangover after finishing Written In My Own Heart’s Blood, and I’m seriously tempted to just start it again from the beginning. Still, there’s so much else to read, and here’s what’s next on my agenda:

Goodnight June by Sarah Jio: I’ve read about a third so far. Gotta love a book set at a bookstore!

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

And in the world of reading with my kiddo, we’ve just begun book 2 in Patricia C. Wrede’s Frontier Magic series, Across the Great Barrier.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

Happy reading!