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 August! I love August because it’s my son’s birth month… but I also don’t love it, because I can feel summer slipping away…
My daughter and her husband visited this past week, which was great, but over too soon! She and I managed to find time to go browse and have tea and cake at the new romance bookstore in town. I bought a few books for us both, plus stickers and other goodies — must support our local indie bookstores! So much fun.
The store itself is super cute — the shelves are organized by romance trope, which is pretty adorable (although I could see it be confusing if you walk in wanting the newest book by a favorite author, but don’t know whether to look under grumpy-sunshine or forced proximity!). A few pics from our bookish outing:
Bookish bits & bobs.
What did I read during the last week?
Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood: Totally delightful rom-com about a fictional character showing up in his author’s real world. My review is here.
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton: I last read this book literally decades ago, and was surprised to see how much I remembered! I’m so glad I took the time for a reread. Such a powerful book.
Destination Funeral by Paige Harbison: Terrific contemporary fiction about chosen family and time loops! My review is here.
Bromantasy by Máire Roche: Such silly fun! I’ll share a review later this week.
Pop culture & TV:
I went to the movie theater to see the filmed version of Hadestown. It was glorious! I saw the show on Broadway several years ago, and loved getting to see it again this way. While it was originally only supposed to run for five nights, I know it got extended, and I highly recommend checking it out if you have the chance!
My daughter and I also watched The Sheep Detectives! It was just as adorable as expected… and this parody artwork (originally from Fandango, I believe) made me smile:
Fresh Catch:
Here’s what I came home with from our afternoon at the bookstore:
Plus, my daughter and my son-in-law each arrived for their visit bringing me a book! Such nice gifts:
From my daughter, an illustrated edition of Little Women, and from my son-in-law, an Easton Press edition of Pride and Prejudice. Both are gorgeous!
What will I be reading during the coming week?
Currently in my hands:
The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian: I just started last night… and I know I’m always in for a complicated, absorbing read when I start this author’s books.
Now playing via audiobook:
The Romance Revival by Christina Lauren: I really didn’t have much listening time this past week, but I finally made progress over the weekend, and hope to finish in the next few days.
Ongoing reads:
Two books I’m taking my time with:
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe: My book group’s classic read. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 63%. Coming up this week: Volume 3, chapters 8 and 9.
Everything On It by Shel Silverstein: I finally took this volume off my shelf and decided to read a few pages a day… because why not?
What will you be reading this week?
So many books, so little time…
Bookshelf Fantasies 
What a cute bookstore! I can see the employees having to help customers find things though, lol. I love the sheep movie parodies😂 And those books from your daughter and son in law are wonderful gifts! Have a great week.
Thanks so much! The bookstore is very cute — and the owner is very friendly and helpful, and yes, I’d guess she’ll really need to steer people toward the right trope shelf!
Looks like a good start to the week. I enjoyed this check‑in.
Thank you! Hope you have a great week!
Thank you. You, too!
What a cute romance bookstore! I wish there was one like that close to me. And it’s fun they do their shelves by tropes…though how you’d find books by your favorite author is beyond me. ;D
The bookstore really is cute! It’s highly curated, so not every book by every author is included, but it’s small enough that the owner seems eager to provide personalized help and I believe can also order anything someone might be looking for! (I did find it funny that we had to go looking to see where Emily Henry or Jasmine Guillory books might be found, based on trope…)
Happy August! I love those shelves! So neat and tidy!
It’s such a sweet store!
Happy August! That bookstore looks so cute! We have a romance bookstore that opened a few years ago here in Toronto, Hopeless Romantic and everything is pink and super adorable!
That sounds amazing! I love how more and more romance bookstores seem to be opening!
The new bookstore that you’ve visited looks lovely. I can see the pros and cons of the trope filing system as you’ve said. I get why they’ve done it though as tropes seem to be a major marketing approach at the moment.
I watched The Sheep Detectives within the past week or so too and really enjoyed it. I’ve never seen Hadestown but watched Kinky Boots in the same way – via the cinema. Its a great way to catch shows that are harder to get to, you want to see again as you did or else you’re curious about but not entirely sure will work for you so want to trial them in a cheaper format before paying out to watch them live.
Ive also noticed that books with book hopping (characters from books visiting our world and vice versa) really seem to be having a moment right now. So many of them are popping up.
The musical Six is coming to theaters soon (next week?) too, and I’m hoping to find time to see it! I did see it on Broadway, and would love to have the chance to see it again (without shelling out the price of a live theater ticket). I agree, it’s such a great way to get to check out a performance, especially when you don’t have major shows available live that are easy to get to, and since live theater is just so expensive.
Book hopping really does seem to be everywhere right now! I have another book with this basic theme in my Kindle library right now, and I keep seeing other versions too!
Ooh I hope you get to see it then and have a wonderful time. Thats one I’d definitely love to check out one day as I’ve always been fascinated by The Tudors.
I hope you enjoy the Kindle one too. I wonder what caused the surge in popularity 🤔 I would say the popularity of TKWNM but some of the others must have been picked up and publication planned before that became big.
I love those two books that your daughter and her husband bought for you. They look absolutely gorgeous.
Lynn 😀
They really picked such perfect gifts for me!