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.
Does every summer go by so quickly? I think so… but this one seems especially fast!
It’s been a good week. We thought my husband might have had COVID a few days ago, but his tests all came back negative and his symptoms resolved very quickly, so probably just some random virus. There are plenty going around!
We’re heading out of town later this week for a family wedding on the east coast. We’ll only be away for four days, but it should be awesome — all of the various adult children and their partners will be there, and of course, we’re excited for the wedding itself.
We had oodles of cuteness at our house this week — I must share a photo of our very special visitor!
My son’s friend’s new pup — super sweet and playful!
Blogging:
Why does WordPress keep doing things to irritate me?? All of a sudden, there’s AI commentary while writing, and I hate it (and can’t find a way to turn it off).
I appreciate when misspellings get that squiggly red underline in drafts, but I don’t want AI telling me when words are “unconfident” (green underline) or “complex” (gold underline). If I say “maybe” or “might”, it’s for a reason! And no, I don’t think “initial” is a word that should be simplified!
Argh. Anyone know how to turn this off?
What did I read during the last week?
A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher: Amazing fairy tale retelling with an undertone of horror. My review is here.
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell: A sweet, quirky tale of lifelong friendship, love, and second chances. My review is here.
Miss Lattimore’s Letter by Suzanne Allain: An enjoyable Regency romance with a terrific lead character. My review is here.
Puzzle of the week:
Hurray, I got back to puzzling! This one was so much fun:
Yet another terrific, colorful puzzle from Eeboo — check out their selections here.
Pop culture & TV:
Really fun casting news about a favorite Emily Henry book: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/tom-blyth-emily-bader-people-we-meet-on-vacation-emily-henry-netflix-1235965230/
In terms of my own pop culture consumption this past week…
I finished watching season 4 of The Boys. That was… something. Probably the grossest, most over-the-top thing on TV, but oddly fascinating too. Yes, I’ll be back for season 5!
I’ve been dipping in and out of watching the Olympics, mostly just checking out the highlight reels for the good stuff!
Has anyone watched Snowpiercer (the TV series)? I finally tried episode one last night, and liked it enough to want to keep going. What a weird concept.
And finally… I wrote up a Book vs TV comparison for two recent shows. Check it out, here.
Fresh Catch:
Two newly released books arrived this week:
I’ve read them both already, and I’m excited to have beautiful new editions for my shelves!
Also, after reading and loving The Lost Story, I couldn’t resist getting a signed copy of my very own:
Signed by the author and by the mapmaker (her husband)!
What will I be reading during the coming week?
Currently in my hands:
I haven’t quite decided which book to start next — both of my top choices are ARCs for books by authors I’ve enjoyed before:
- Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
- The Thirteenth Husband by Greer Macallister
I’m trying to tackle my August ARCs before moving on to book group books and mood reading, and if I can read both of these this week, I’ll be well on my way!
Now playing via audiobook:
A Castle in the Air (A Stitch in Time, #4) by Kelley Armstrong: The 4th book in the terrific A Stitch in Time series! My listening time has been pretty limited this week, but I do expect to finish before heading out of town.
Ongoing reads:
My longer-term reading commitments:
- Damn Rebel Bitches: The Women of the ’45 by Maggie Craig: Over at Outlander Book Club, we’re doing a group read of this non-fiction book, discussing one chapter each Friday. Progress: 51%. Coming up this week: Chapter 14, “The Spoils of War”
- The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare: My book group is reading and discussing two scenes per week. Progress: 41%. Coming up this week: Act IV, scenes 3 and 4.
- It’s the Classics Club spin book! The newest spin landed on #17, and on my list, that’s The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima. This is a reread for me, and I just got a copy from the library. I’m still not sure exactly when I’ll start, but there’s plenty of time before the spin deadline of 9/22.
What will you be reading this week?
So many books, so little time…
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I’ve been noticing the AR assist….let me know if you figure out how to turn it off!
I wish! I keep looking for answers, and haven’t found any yet.
I haven’t seen the AI assist yet, now I’m curious, it sounds awful! I tried to watch Snowpiercer but it was way too violent for me. I can take violence on the page but not on screen, lol. Have fun at your wedding!
Thanks! Funny, I’m kind of the opposite — I do read horror sometimes, but violence on the page tends to bother me more than on screen! And actually, in terms of TV viewing, I don’t like watching anything violent set in the real world, but in fantasy or dystopian settings, I’m okay with it. Weird…
Those AI “suggestions” do sound really annoying! I hate when technology tries to help me. And I’m excited to read DeLuca’s Haunted Ever After. I hope my library copy comes in soon. Hope you have fun at your family wedding this week! 😀
Thank you! I ended up starting the Jen DeLuca book last night, and it’s cute so far!
I haven’t noticed any AI suggestions on my posts but I haven’t written a post for over a week as I’ve been away. They do sound irritating. I love the puzzle and your signed copy of The Lost Story.
Thanks! I’m so happy with my copy of The Lost Story — I decided to treat myself, and it’s just so special!
Oh the puppy is so cute! I don’t get that on WordPress but I expect my time is soon! Have a great time at the wedding!
Thank you! I’m hoping everyone stays healthy and there are no changes to our travel plans…
I hope you have a lovely time at your family wedding and your puppy visitor was very sweet. Also I love jigsaw puzzles, they’re so much fun and there are so many wonderful designs out there.
Im thinking of making A Sorceress Comes To Call my first book by the author. And I’m glad you got such a lovely signed copy of The Lost Story.
I don’t think I’ve noticed any gold lines yet but I have spotted a few things underlined as uncertain and wondered wth it was about 😂
Thank you! You really can’t go wrong with T Kingfisher! I hope you enjoy the book.
Thank you.
That’s very intrusive of the AI WordPress has got. So far I haven’t experienced that, but maybe it’s because I draft my posts in Word and then paste them in. I’d be curious to know if you get a solution for how to turn it off.
I think I found a way to turn it off while I was playing with a test post, but I’m not sure if the option I found just applies to that specific post or across the board. It’s really irritating to have a feature added without being offered an obvious way to opt out.
Happy Monday, Lisa! I can’t believe it, AI in WP? I type my drafts in Word and paste the final in so I haven’t had it happen to me yet. Let me know if you figure out how to turn it off – that’s so annoying! Have a good trip to the east coast. You have lots of books to read during your travels. Warning: it’s HOT here – haha!
Thanks, Barbara! It just occurred to me that I check the weather forecast before I start packing — it’s been cool and overcast here in San Francisco for weeks now, and I don’t think I’m prepared for the reality of Boston summer! I *think* I may have found the toggle to switch off the AI editor, but I’m not sure if that’s just for one post or if it’ll stick for all posts. So annoying!
I hate when they add something to our posts. I was irritated just reading about them underlining and suggesting different words while you were writing. I hope you find a way to turn it off. Thank you for another great post.
Thanks so much! I may have found a way to turn off the AI suggestions — we’ll see next time I start a new post. But even if I did find a solution, it’s irritating that they’d add something without being straightforward about how to opt in or out.
I’m with you! I really hate how WordPress is always changing things without warning or explanation and makes you go searching for how to operate the site again (including how to log out)! They seem to think they’re helping, but really they just make it so much more difficult!! Like others here I compose in Word and then paste, so I don’t have the AI problem, although with my last post I had all sorts of formatting problems I’ve never had before that took me forever to sort out! (The biggest one was it tried to insert a link on some random piece of a sentence which made no sense at all! And I’m pretty sure there was no actual link to anything, just the color change claiming there was one. ANd it wouldn’t explain to me what it was doing or how I could undo it.)
I’m usually pretty comfortable composing right in WordPress (although it does sound like copying and pasting from Word is a popular way to go!) — but when things change without notice, it gets really frustrating.
What a lovely pup! Really want to read slow dance and the new t kingfisher book! That’s so awesome you were able to get a signed copy of the lost story!