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’s been a busy week (as usual), but things finally… maybe… are starting to lighten up a bit at work.

On the homefront, we’ve had some nice family time, play time with the kitty, and even sunny weather!

Blogging.

I’ve been doing bits and pieces of clean-up behind the scenes on my blog, just tidying up some directories, trying to eliminate incorrect tags, etc.

One of my pages is my Book Blog Meme Directory, which I’ve let slip a bit — I realize that I haven’t gone through and checked the links and made updates in about a year. Which makes me wonder… should I even bother? I’m honestly not sure how useful it is at this point, so maybe it’s time to just deactivate it.

What did I read during the last week?

The Guncle by Steven Rowley: Loved this so much! My review is here.

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys: Very dark, very compelling. My review is here.

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears: Honest and powerful. My review is here.

Pop culture & TV:

I finished season 2 of Dark Winds. It was great! Can’t wait for season 3.

My husband and I are continuing our (very slow) watching of All the Light You Cannot See, and I also watched the New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears (on Hulu).

I have a long list of series and movies to watch — the hard part is deciding where to start! And I’ve just reactivated my Hulu subscription after a year without it, so there’s plenty to choose from.

Meanwhile, with the Oscars coming soon, I’m trying to get through the handful of nominated movies and performances that interest me — I’m not planning to watch every single movie just for the sake of watching them, but there are a bunch I do want to see before the awards are given out. I got started over the weekend by watching Rustin (Netflix), and highly recommend it! It’s easy to see why Colman Domingo was nominated for Best Actor for this role.

Puzzle of the week:

I had fun with this one over the weekend:

I did get a little tired of all the sky and sea by the end… but otherwise, it was a good challenge!

Fresh Catch:

No new books this week.

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

The Women by Kristin Hannah: I’m at about 50% at this point, and I’m very, very invested! I just wish I had a day to myself to do nothing but read. Hoping to wrap up in the next day or so.

Now playing via audiobook:

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez: I’ve never read anything by this author before, but after seeing so many great reviews over the last couple of years, I decided to give this book a try. I’m totally hooked! Can’t wait to see how it all works out.

Ongoing reads:

My current longer-term reads:

• Outlander Book Club is doing a group re-read of Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2), reading and discussing two chapters per week. Coming up this week: Chapters 36 and 37 (of 49). Progress: 62%.
• Daniel Deronda by George Eliot: My book group’s current classic read! We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. I’m enjoying the book, although reading at this pace makes it feel like it’ll take forever to finish. Progress: 43%.
• A Night to Remember by Walter Lord: My new Classics Club Spin book! I haven’t started it yet — I’m listing it here as a placeholder for now. The target date for this spin is March 3rd, so there’s still plenty of time.

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…