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.

Another busy week — but the sun finally came out over the weekend, and I was able to get outdoors to enjoy it.

My book group had a Zoom chat with author Marjan Kamali on Saturday, discussing her excellent novel The Lion Women of Tehran. She was very kind and gracious with her time, and the conversation was so interesting!

A programming note:

I’ll be away for about a week and a half starting later this week — my husband and I are heading out on a summer road trip to Ashland, Oregon, the Columbia River Gorge, and various points in between! I expect to mainly be offline while we’ll traveling (maybe some random check-ins here and there). We’ll be on the go every day, but I do hope to be able to unwind each evening with some quiet reading time!

What did I read during the last week?

The Children by Melissa Albert: Chilling, compelling, terrific fantasy/horror. My review is here.

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman: This book seems to have exploded on BookTok in the past year. I’m glad I decided to check it out — my review is here.

Pop culture & TV:

I finished my For All Mankind binge! I loved seasons 1 and 2, thought season 3 was pretty good, mostly felt that season 4 sucked, and then like season 5 better than season 4. I’m glad to be done at this point. Despite the letdown of the last two seasons, I still intend to watch the 6th and final season whenever it’s released (most likely 2027). Meanwhile, I plan to check out the spin-off series Star City, which covers the space race from the Soviet perspective. I posted an overview about my experiences watching For All Mankind — check it out, here.

And now that my binge is over, I’m looking forward to catching up on other shows I’ve been wanting to watch. So many options!

Fresh Catch:

I try not to give in to the temptations of Prime Day… but couldn’t resist when there was a significant price drop on a book that’s been on my wish list for a long time:

I read The Women soon after it came out via the library, and have been wanting a copy of my own ever since.

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

The Midnight Train by Matt Haig: I got a signed copy of this book at an author event in early June, and I managed to get through about half over the weekend. Hoping to finish before we hit the road!

Now playing via audiobook:

Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages by Jenny Colgan: Jenny Colgan audiobooks are always such great entertainment! I’d hoped to finish over the weekend, but ran out of time. Now my goal is to finish before I leave on my trip… and I think I’ll (maybe) manage just in time. Fingers crossed…

Ongoing reads:

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe: My book group’s classic read. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 46%. Coming up this week: Volume 2, chapters 10 and 11.

Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words by John McWhorter: A really entertaining linguistics book! I do love this sort of thing. I’m reading it in bits and pieces, and this week read the 2nd chapter (called “Poor Little You”). Progress: 46%.

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…