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.

This past week was… weird. I was exactly sick, but I wasn’t fine either. For about four or five days, I was dealing with dizziness and light-headedness. I still worked (from home), but didn’t feel steady enough to drive or go for walks. Very frustrating. And not only did I not really feel like myself, but my lack of driving and walking meant that I also didn’t listen to audiobooks!

Over the weekend, I did bounce back a bit — still not 100%, but I forced myself to try for a bit more activity, including wrapping gifts, getting the house ready for holiday guests, and even venturing out for mini-walks in between rain showers.

Luckily, I had excellent help while I wrapped gifts!

Little Free Library — not quite back in action…

The week before last, a major storm blew over my LFL, but we managed to put it back together and get it back up and running! It seems like it’s been busy — I keep discovering new books in it when I go out to check on it.

We’ve decided to get a new post and set it into the concrete of our driveway, rather than keeping it in its flowerpot. The current setup is pretty, but as the last storm showed, not stable enough! In fact, it’s starting to tip again, so with very sad feelings, we’re moving it inside for now, rather than risk further damage. The new post should arrive before New Year’s… fingers crossed that this will be a better solution.

What did I read during the last week?

City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong: I absolutely loved this thriller, and since it’s the first in a seven book series, I’m excited to have so many more books to look forward to! My review is here.

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer: Sweet and whimsical and wonderful. My review is here.

Hogfather (Discworld, #20) by Terry Pratchett: Terry Pratchett’s writing is always a delight — but I found myself losing interest in the plot of Hogfather the farther along I read. Lots of fun little scenes and all the quirky humor you’d expect, but the story as a whole didn’t work for me. I thought this would be a good choice for the week leading up to the holidays. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind to indulge in a Discworld book after all.

Pop culture & TV:

I think I’ve run out of things to say about Survivor. The season finale went exactly as expected… and just further demonstrates that the show really needs to rethink some of its structure. I’m tired of my favorite players going out at 4 or 5, and having an utterly boring set of finalists to choose from. (Online chatter shows that most people loved the outcome this season, so I’m an outlier on this.) Will I be back for another season? Well, probably. It’s become such a tradition chez moi… but it’s definitely treading and retreading the same old ground.

On the other hand…

A Man on the Inside was a delight! If you haven’t watched it yet, please go to Netflix ASAP and check it out! The show is funny and clever, but also very touching. Terrific cast, quick pace, and some lovely emotional moments. I’m so glad there will be a season 2!

Fresh Catch:

Two new books this week:

• The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer: I just had to buy myself a copy of this book, after reading it earlier in the week and loving it!
• Schemes & Scandals by Kelley Armstrong: Beautiful hardcover edition of this Rip Through Time novella, from Subterranean Press .

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley: I swore that I’d read this one before the end of the year. I’m just getting started, but at least I’ll meet my reading goal!

Now playing via audiobook:

Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot: Such a terrific Hanukkah romance! Because of my health challenge this past week, I made only a teensy bit of progress — but one more good listening session should do it.

Ongoing reads:

My book group’s newest classic read is Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week (except over the holidays). Progress: 13%. Coming up this week: Chapters 7… and then a little break until after New Year.

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…