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 Presidents Day!

It’s so nice to get a day off… even when it’s rainy (for the 3rd day in a row) and I have nothing much planned. Sounds like a great excuse for curling up with a cozy throw blanket and a good book!

And while it was raining yesterday, I ended up goofing around with AI image generation, which gave me lots of weird results based on my prompts… but here’s one I ended up liking:

What did I read during the last week?

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden: Beautifully written and absolutely haunting. My review is here.

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez: A captivating contemporary romance that blends humor with more serious issues. My review is here.

Death of an Eye by Dana Stabenow: I love the Kate Shugak series by this author, and was so happy to finally read the first in her Egyptian mystery series. My book group will be discussing this book in the coming week — can’t wait to hear what everyone else thought of it. My review is here.

Also, two shorter reads this past week:

Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez: Part of the free Improbable Meet-Cute collection available via Amazon this month. A sweet, funny short story that helped me past my book hangover after I finished Yours Truly.

Jane by Aline Brosh McKenna: A contemporary graphic novel that retells the Jane Eyre story. The author was one of the writers/creators of a favorite show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — although based on that, I think I expected at least a smidge of humor. (There isn’t any, really). Still it’s an interesting take on the classic story. I picked it up on a whim while at the library, and finished it in one sitting.

Pop culture & TV:

I finished season 2 of The Bear! One episode in particular has Emmy-winner written all over it, but really, the entire series is just so good. Can’t wait for season 3!

I also started watching One Day on Netflix. I was hesitant — I read the book back when it came out, then saw the 2011 movie version. Do we really need another adaptation? I’m happy to report that based on the handful of episodes I’ve seen so far, the answer is yes — yes, we do need this limited series version. Well worth checking out!

Fresh Catch:

I treated the family to this beautiful new cookbook:

And before you ask — no, I don’t cook (at all!), but my husband does, and in any case, there are some gorgeous pictures in this cookbook, so I’m enjoying looking through it.

Puzzle of the week:

My son and his girlfriend were working on this Lego set last week:

… and that reminded me that I had a puzzle I hadn’t gotten around to tackling yet. And since it rained all day on Saturday, I had time to obsess over it and ended up doing a marathon puzzling session, finishing it in one day. So satisfying!

My lighting for photos leaves a lot to be desired, but trust me — it’s so pretty in person!

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton: I’m reading this for a book group discussion at work, and really like it so far.

Now playing via audiobook:

The Only Game in Town by Lacie Waldon: Good, light, silly fun.

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 42 and 43 (of 49). Progress: 81%.
• Daniel Deronda by George Eliot: My book group’s current classic read. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 56%. We’ve finally made it past the halfway point!
• 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…