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.
Life.
Happy (almost) 4th of July! It’s time to break out the 1776 DVD, blast the Hamilton soundtrack, and revel in some fireworks!
What did I read last week?
Coming Up For Air by Miranda Kenneally: I always love this author’s books about strong, down-to-earth, athletic young women and their choices and challenges. This one is another winner. My review is here.
The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli: Sweet, funny, light, and fluffy. A totally enjoyable summer read for fans of YA — kind of predictable, but with cute, well-intentioned characters you can’t help rooting for.
In audiobooks, I finished the delightful Arabella by Georgette Heyer. My review is here.
Also…
I read the new Diana Gabaldon stories, and wrote abut them here.
And continued the graphic novel binge that matches my TV obsession:
See below. Obsessed…
Elsewhere on the blog:
I’m easing off my my normal blogging schedule for the time being. See my post about summertime slacking.
Pop culture goodness:
After contemplating walking away after an unusually upbeat moment and simply pretending that they all lived happily ever after (see my thoughts about this here), I finished season 6 of The Walking Dead — where I meant to stop for the time being until season 7 became available on Netflix.
HOWEVER…
The season 6 finale cliffhanger was too much for me to bear, so I ended up watching the first episode of season 7 on cable last night close to midnight. What a mistake! I spent the entire episode peeking out from between my fingers and ended up a teary, sobbing mess. Which is crazy, considering that spoilers for this episode in particular were unavoidable and I knew before I even started my binge what was going to happen. Still, this episode destroyed me and ruined any chance of a good night’s sleep… and needless to say, I must see what comes next, so my binge continues for another week.
PS – That’s the season 6 promotional photo above. I couldn’t bring myself to use a season 7 image. Oh my god, I’m such a baby.
Fresh Catch:
A NEW DIANA GABALDON BOOK!
I read the new stories in this collection the day it arrived — see above for the link to my post of initial thoughts.
What will I be reading during the coming week?
Currently in my hands:
South Pole Station by Ashley Shelby: I’m just starting, and it seems like it could be a charming story, but I may end up abandoning it if the ARC formatting doesn’t improve.
Now playing via audiobook:
Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris: Read by the author, this audiobook is a word-geek treat — a guide to grammar, spelling, word usage and more by a life-long editor at the New Yorker, and it’s just so much fun.
Ongoing reads:
My book group’s next classic read, Ivanhoe, starts in August. Meanwhile, I have no long-term reading commitments at the moment, and it’s kind of nice.
So many books, so little time…
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Bookshelf Fantasies 
Hi Lisa, Happy almost 4th July to you too. I just saw your post on Twitter and it seemed appropriate to mention a book I’ve just finished, 1776 by David McCullough, one of the best history books I’ve ever read. I enjoyed it all the more having recently travelled through some of the places mentioned in the book, i.e. the Hudson Valley, New Jersey and New York. McCullough is a terrific writer with the gift of bringing the past to life in a history book as readable as a novel. He often mentions what the weather was like whether that was men marching over hard-packed frosty ground or witnessing terrible thunder and lightning storms that the superstitious took as portents of doom. Fabulous book.
Hi Maggie – Nice to hear from you! It sounds like you had a wonderful trip! I actually have a copy of 1776 and have been looking forward to reading it. I’m so glad to hear you mention it and that you think so highly of it.