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.

What a week. After some time away, I had a huge amount to catch up on in my work life, and it was intense. Maybe because of that, I had a hard time truly relaxing enough in the evening to be able to settle in and read for big chunks of time. Looking forward to a less stressful week (fingers crossed)…

On the home front, I had an awful scare — I was chased by a dinosaur!

I mean, a super cute dinosaur… but still! Ooooh, terrifying.

What did I read during the last week?

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall: A super fluffy grumpy/sunshine romance that’s totally silly and a nice distraction from the real world. My review is here.

Me by Elton John: I finished this excellent audiobook right at the end of last week, and just posted my review, here.

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known (Wayward Children, #9) by Seanan McGuire: I couldn’t hold off — I needed to read this ARC, even though the book won’t be released until January! My review is here.

Once More With Feeling by Elissa Sussman: A now-and-then story about a former popstar getting her big chance at a comeback. My review is here.

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree: This prequel to Legends & Lattes was so much fun. Review to follow later this week.

Pop culture & TV:

After finishing Elton John’s memoir, I couldn’t wait to finally watch the movie Rocketman… and loved it. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend checking it out!

Other than that, I’m still watching the current season of Survivor (kinda boring this time around) and The Amazing Race. Plus, the new season of The Gilded Age has just started, and somehow I missed the fact that season 2 of Our Flag Means Death already aired… so I’ll definitely have plenty to keep me busy.

Fresh Catch:

I treated myself to this very pretty illustrated book:

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn: This memoir is the author’s follow-up to The Salt Path, which I loved. Just getting started, but I’m really interested to find out what happened next in these people’s lives.

Now playing via audiobook:

Slayers: A Buffyverse Story by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden: A Buffy story! With members of the original cast as narrators!!! I’m over-the-moon excited to be starting this audiobook.

Ongoing reads:

My current longer-term reads:

• Outlander Book Club is doing a group re-read of Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2). We’ll be reading and discussing two chapters per week. Anyone who’s interested is welcome to join in — message me for info! Coming up this week: Chapters 10 and 11 (of 49). Progress: 19%.
• Daniel Deronda by George Eliot: My book group’s current classic read! We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 10%.
• A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny: An annual tradition! There’s a chapter for each day of the month. Even on my 3rd time through, it’s so much fun. Just two more days to go! Progress: 87%.

Still to come:

My next Classics Club Spin book will be Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell, and I’m pretty happy about it. Given everything else I have going on, I’ll wait until the beginning of November to dive in.

So many books, so little time…