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.

It feels weird that Hanukkah is over already, while everyone else is still gearing up for Christmas. Still, I have some days off coming up, which I’m really thankful for. It’ll be good to unwind and not check my work emails for a few days!

What did I read during the last week?

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig: 5 stars! Such a wonderful book. My review is here.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins: I hadn’t had any intention of reading this book until a family member gave me a copy as a gift. I couldn’t put it down, but that doesn’t mean it was actually good. My review is here.

The Queen of Nothing and The Lost Sisters by Holly Black: I finished my audiobook re-read of the Folk of the Air trilogy (plus a related novella). Such wonderful stories and characters!

My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith: This was my book group’s pick for December — very sweet and light. My review is here.

Pop culture & TV:

I finally finished my obsessed binge-watch of the three Starz series adapted from Philippa Gregory novels. For the most part, I loved them, despite some occasional weird choices and unfortunate facial hair. Overall, these were super watchable and kept me hooked.

I’ve been at a bit of a loss since finished The Spanish Princess. For the sake of looking for light entertainment, I decided to give Sweet Magnolias (Netflix) a try. It’s… okay. Perfectly fine for background watching while doing other things.

Meanwhile, I can’t wait to start season 5 of The Expanse (except I promised my son I wouldn’t watch it without him, and our schedules haven’t been in sync this past week). And hey, it’s almost time for Bridgerton!

Puzzle of the week:

Once again, I didn’t do any puzzles, but I did get one more as a gift from my amazing daughter, and it’s perfect!

Fresh Catch:

A new book ordered from Subterranean Press arrived this week, and I’m looking forward to starting it:

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

I finished a book Sunday afternoon, and haven’t quite settled on what to start next. One of these, for sure! Maybe I’ll even get to all three, if the reading gods favor me with lots of quality time with my books this week.

Now playing via audiobook:

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman: Just getting started. I’ve been wanting to listen to this audiobook ever since finishing Beartown last year.

Ongoing reads:

Outlander Book Club is re-reading Outlander! We’re reading and discussing one chapter per week. This week: Chapter 28, “Kisses and Drawers”.

Our current classic read is part 2 of Don Quixote. My book group is reading and discussing three chapters per week. I’m sticking with it, but barely.

So many books, so little time…