Classes at Wayland began on Wednesday. The week has felt long and arduous for some reason. Thankfully, I had a good book to keep me company throughout the week. I also had a book that I just needed to read. Here’s hoping that the two books currently in my rotation this week will raise the level of enjoyment.
What I Finished This Week
James by Percival Everett. This beautiful novel has been in my TBR stack for almost a year. Winning the National Book Award, I knew that I was going to read it, but I was always looking for the perfect moment. Honestly, I wasn’t sure that the beginning of the school year would be the right time, but as soon as I started reading, I was drawn into the story and reminded of the joy I experienced reading Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn (the inspiration for James). Everett begins with the classic story, but presents the events from the perspective of Jim, the runaway slave. At times dark and introspective, the novel is laced with humor and tongue-in-cheek commentary about society and its racial divide. While this wasn’t my favorite prose of the year, I found it extremely enjoyable and insightfully relevant to the issues our world faces in 2025. 4.25 stars.
Migration by Charlotte McConaghy. Climate fiction is a challenging genre for me. The text always seem hopeless and man is portrayed as a villain for causing the Earth’s climate crisis. While the story of this novel was intriguing, I found it extremely dark and depressing. Franny is a woman on a mission as she desperately tracks the flight of rare arctic birds as they migrate south. Franny is also a driven woman, obsessed with correcting the mistakes of her past and making sure she punishes herself in order to find justice for those she has left behind. While McConaghy’s writing style is lovely and might be a pleasure to read when addressing a different topic, this one just didn’t do it for me. Between Franny’s depression, the failure of her marriage, and the plight of these endangered birds, I found little optimism to cling to in the reading of this novel. 2.75 stars.
What I’m Currently Reading
The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin (p. 52 of 416). I read Martin’s The Last Bookshop in London back in April and thoroughly enjoyed it. To satisfy the prompt to read a second book set in the same universe, I am returning to World War II England in The Booklover’s Library. Emma is a single mother facing the horror of impending attacks on the English countryside and whether she should evacuate her daughter, Olivia, or face the bombings together. Emma’s moments of solace come while working in the Booklover’s Library where she can escape the threats and terror among her beloved books. Although I just started the novel on Sunday, I am enthralled by the story and its characters. This is going to be another fun read!
Seduction Theory by Emily Adrian (p. 18 of 213). This novel was my August selection from The Book of the Month Club because I was intrigued by the premise. Two married academics have their extramarital affairs exposed in a master’s thesis. I have to be honest and admit that I also selected this book for one of the week’s reads because it is rather short. This will fit the prompt of a book with an epigraph.
A Little Celebration
I have accomplished my first reading goal of 2025! I reached page 18,000 in my reading this week. How did I arrive at that goal? In 2024, I read 16,851 pages. So I extended the goal by 1,000 pages and rounded up. Since it is just August, I anticipate that I will raise my page goal significantly for 2026.
The next goal on the horizon is completing 52 books in the year. This has long been an unspoken goal that has always seemed elusive. I should complete that goal in the next few weeks. Then I’ll just need to complete the annual challenge from The 52 Book Club for 2025.
Reading for Me 
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