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.
In these disturbing times, it’s nice to find a ray of sunshine at home. Without ceremony of any sort, my son finished high school! There’s supposed to be a virtual graduation taking place later this week, although we don’t know any specifics yet. Meanwhile, the school year ended and he was able to pick up his diploma, so it’s official!
What did I read during the last week?
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins: I ended up loving this new prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy. My review is here.
Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire: An excellent short story collection from an author who always makes me happy. My review is here.
500 Miles From You by Jenny Colgan: A sweet romance with a Scottish setting from one of my go-to authors! My review is here.
Pop culture & TV:
Continuing my Jane the Virgin binge! I’m on season 4 now — still loving it.
Fresh Catch:
No new books this week.
What will I be reading during the coming week?
Currently in my hands:
Devolution by Max Brooks: The newest from the author of World War Z. I’m just getting started, but I’m already hooked.
Now playing via audiobook:
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens: Amazing! I’m at 80% — hope to finish in the next couple of days.
Ongoing reads:
None at the moment. But next week, Outlander Book Club is starting a group re-read of the book that started it all! We’ll be reading and discussing one chapter of Outlander per week. Interested in joining in? Let me know, and I’ll share the details.
So many books, so little time…
Bookshelf Fantasies 
Congrats to your son! Such a great achievement and milestone😁 I’m glad to see you’re loving Where the Crawdads Sing.
Thank you! We’re so proud of him. 🙂 I think I can finish Crawdads with one or two more long walks (basically, the only time I listen to audiobooks) — but I have a busy workweek ahead, so I’m not sure when I’ll fit those in. And I”m dying to see how it wraps up!
I’m about 25% through Where The Crawdads Sing myself!
I’m dying to get back to it! I think I have about 20% left.
Congrats to your son!! I hope the excitement of graduating wasn’t completely ruined by the lack of events 😦
He and his classmates were really down for a while early on in the isolation days, when they started realizing how uneventful their senior year would be. No prom, no graduation. They’ve all accepted it by now, and he’s still pretty happy about being officially a high school graduate! And I made sure to get a graduation cake for him — it’s the least we can do, since fancy restaurant dinners and big gatherings etc aren’t an option.
Enjoy your reading!
(www.evelynreads.com)
Thank you! Have a great week!