My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.

In real life:

I spent all of last week at home, recovering from knee surgery, but as of today, it’s back to the salt mines! Back to work, back to routine… back to a life with not nearly enough reading time in it!

What did I read last week?

The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett: Loved it! My review is here.

Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett: Loved this one too! My review is here.

The Fireman by Joe Hill: Wow. Amazing book. Finished at 2:30 in the morning because I Just. Couldn’t. Stop. Review to follow in the next couple of days.

In graphic novels…

… I went on quite a little binge. I read one volume from the Mercy Thompson world (Hopcross Jilly), then switched over to the Buffy-verse, where I finally caught up on all of Buffy season 9, Angel & Faith season 9, and the single volume of Willow Wonderland. I have the first few volumes of season 10, but I think I’ll hold off until the end of the year when the entire season will be available. Bottom line: This was super fun. It was great to immerse myself in the Buffy world again, and while some plot developments are better than others, overall it’s terrific to see what the gang is up to.

Pop culture goodness:

While I was sitting around the house with my feet up, I watched a couple of movies that I’ve been meaning to get to for a while:

• Deadpool – which was hilarious, except that I allowed my 13 year old to watch it with me, resulting in one of my most awkward viewing experiences ever. He loved it, of course, but it was waaaay inappropriate.
• Trainwreck — no, I did not allow my kiddo to watch this one! I do have a tiny shred of appropriate mother in me, it would seem. Trainwreck was pretty fun, but went on a lot longer than it needed to. Funny, I thought my husband would find it hilarious, but he got bored midway through and left me to finish alone. Oh well.

Outlander update!

Season 2 rocks! This week’s episode was a heartbreaker. Here’s my reaction post for the 7th episode, “Faith”:

Insta-Reaction: Outlander, Season 2, Episode 7

Fresh Catch:

You know how when certain books come out and you plan your entire week of reading around them? Yup. This:

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

At the Edge of Summer by Jessica Brockmole: Just starting. I loved the author’s previous book, Letters from Skye (review), and I have high hopes for this one too!

Now playing via audiobook:

I was off work this entire past week, recuperating from knee surgery, and I also did no driving… which meant no audiobook enjoyment either. I have about an hour left of “Virgins”, and now that I’m headed back to work, should have it done in the next day or so.

Ongoing reads:

My book group is reading and discussing two chapter per week of both Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon and Emma by Jane Austen. This is an online group, and anyone is welcome to join us — so if you’re interested, just ask me how!

So many books, so little time…