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.
I finished my holiday shopping! Whew. Some items will be shipping across the country, and a whole bunch will be delivered here for when we have our family celebrations. I’m so glad to be done!
Meanwhile… earlier in the year, my daughter gifted me a scratch-off book poster, and I finally got it dry-mounted and put up on a wall. Here’s the before:
And here’s after I starting scratching:
It’s so cute!
A little tragedy for the Little Free Library:
Heavy rain and wind gusted in over the weekend, resulting in a mini-disaster…
My LFL blew over during the night! Fortunately, the library box itself isn’t damaged, but I woke up in the morning to see quite a mess out in front of my house. The bookmark holder was in the street and all the paper bookmarks were strewn across the sidewalk, soaking wet. The books themselves didn’t fare very well. Some books were completely saturated — it was painful to throw them in the recycling bin, but they just weren’t salvageable. Still, more than half of the books stayed inside the LFL when it toppled and just ended up damp, so I think they’ll be more or less fine once they dry out.
After debating whether to keep the LFL inside the garage for the rest of the rainy season, we decided to move it back outside, try to strengthen the supports around the post, and keep an eye on the weather for future storms! We’ll be more diligent about moving it under a shelter if the forecast looks iffy going forward… but meanwhile, it’s back out there and full of books.
What did I read during the last week?
Diavola by Jennifer Thorne: Dark and disturbing. My review is here.
Two holiday audio shorts: Booked for the Holidays by Liz Maverick and The Christmas Book Hunt by Jenny Colgan. Check out my quick take, here.
A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall: Interesting concepts, but I didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped to. My review is here.
Pop culture & TV:
Well, that’s all for Yellowstone! I loved the first several seasons, but this last half-season leading up to Sunday’s series finale was uneven, to see the least. Still, the finale tied up all the story threads, and gave most characters a satisfying send off.
Survivor season 47 will be wrapping up this week. It’s not been great — anyone I was rooting for is already out, the final four are not particularly exciting, and unless something truly shocking happens, it’s easy to see who the winner will be. Yawn.
Fresh Catch:
I enjoyed this middle grade novel so much that I decided I needed a copy of my own, and was able to find a hardcover in nice condition on Ebay.
What will I be reading during the coming week?
Currently in my hands:
City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong: I’ve been wanting to read Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series, and I’ve finally started! I’m hooked, and can’t wait to see where the story goes. I have a feeling I’ll be speeding my way through the whole series.
Now playing via audiobook:
Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot: More Hanukkah romance! I’m about halfway through, and it’s a lot of fun.
Ongoing reads:
My book group’s newest classic read is Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 9%. Coming up this week: Chapters 5 and 6.
What will you be reading this week?
So many books, so little time…
Bookshelf Fantasies 
Sorry about your little free library, Lisa. How sad that some books were damaged beyond repair, but I’m glad the box is ok.
Hope you enjoy your reads this week!
Thank you! Oh, it was hard to just throw away the damaged books, but there was no saving them. On a nice note, about an hour after we put the library back outside and I restocked the books, someone else came by and added another 10 or so!
That’s wonderful–lots more for people to enjoy.
That’s such a shame about the little library. I’m glad that it wasn’t damaged and that you were able to salvage some of the books
Thanks — yes, it was really a sad moment to see what had happened overnight, but I feel very grateful that the box itself wasn’t damaged and we were able to put it all back together once everything dried out.
Poor LFL! I’m glad it wasn’t damaged, though. Congrats on finishing your shopping, it’s hard to believe the holidays are almost here!
Thanks! I’m so happy to be done with shopping — it was definitely stressing me out! I still have some odds and ends to do before the holidays, but I shouldn’t need any more trips to malls or stores from this point on 🙂
Your poor LFL! Sad about the damaged books, but at least your cute little library didn’t get broken. And I love that Scratch Off poster of 100 books. How fun is that. 😀 Makes me very curious what books are on it. And just think if you could personalize it. I would love that. Have a great week!
Oh, I was so relieved that the library itself wasn’t damaged, and we were able to add some extra support so that hopefully it’ll withstand the winter weather better. The poster is really cute! (My daughter is a great gift-giver!) Personalizing the book selection would be aweseome — of the ones left, there are some that I’ll get to eventually, but some that I have no interest in, so those square will remain unscratched!
Those scratch-off posters look such fun.
Aww that sucks about the books, but good the library box is fine.
Yes, very relieved that the box didn’t break when it hit the ground!
Oh no, your poor LFL! Could you lock it at night so the books don’t get blown about?
That’s a thought — it has a simple closure on the outside, but it didn’t help with the storm! Maybe we can add a latch… great idea!
Sorry about your LFL 😢
Thanks! I’m just relieved that the box itself isn’t damaged, although it was sad to have to discard the books that were too soaked to save.
I look forward to your thoughts on City of the Lost. I loved Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series so much. Probably my favourite of hers (that I’ve read)!
That’s great to know! I really have loved everything by Kelley Armstrong that I’ve read so far. I’m only at about 40% in City of the Lost right now, but it’s awesome, and I can see already that I’m going to want to keep going.
So sorry about your books.
Thank you! Fortunately, only about 10 were too damaged to keep, but the rest were mainly just damp and turned out okay once they dried. I guess we need to keep an eye on the weather from now on!-