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.
If you listen very closely, you may hear me lying in the floor raising a ruckus. I am kicking and screaming like an overly tired toddler, yelling “I don’t wanna!!!” Why am I so grumpy? Summer vacation is officially over. As of the appearance of this post, I am making my way back to the reality that is life in west Texas. It is probably no surprise, but I am not ready to go back.
This final week of break was not exactly what I had wished. I continued to isolate after contracting COVID late last week. Just as I was beginning to feel better, we got the news that Mom had tested positive. In order to try to remain healthy, I continued to isolate. It wasn’t absolutely horrible. I got a lot of reading done while sitting in the back of the house….not as much as I did last week, but I’m still happy with my progress. No three completed books this week, though. LOL!
What I Finished This Week
Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild. You know a book has captured your imagination when you simply have to stay up late in order to get to the end. That was my experience on Friday night with Finding Grace. Tom and Honor are celebrating the Christmas holidays in Paris with their young daughter, Chloe. In a moment, Tom’s world is turned upside down and will never be the same again. As he returns to London, he moves through life in a trance, searching for purpose. When he receives the call that his dead wife’s surrogate is in labor, giving birth to his son, Tom suddenly has a second chance at life. However, no one has written a book on how to raise a young son alone. When a letter is mistakenly posted to Tom instead of the surrogate who wished to remain anonymous through the entire process, Tom’s curiosity gets the best of him….and a web of deception begins. Finding Grace is at times funny, heartbreaking, and unbelievable. I read the opening and closing sections through tears; the middle kept me asking questions about honesty and the eternal aspects of unconditional love. This novel will fill the prompt for a novel 300-400 pages in length. 4 stars.
What I’m Currently Reading
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (p. 736 of 817). Part 6 was the most challenging portion of the novel to get through to this point. With the introduction of several new characters and the political discourses, Tolstoy’s story sometimes got lost in the shuffle. Veslovsky is a friend of Prince Stephan who comes to join the hunt with the Prince and Levin. During the course of the newcomer’s visit, Levin becomes incredibly jealous of Veslovsky’s interactions with Kitty. After being expelled from Levin’s home, Veslovsky is next seen at the country estate of Vronsky and Anna. Veslovsky’s flirtations are now directed at Anna, but Vronsky does not respond negatively. When Vronsky has to go away to Moscow for a political gathering, Anna becomes convinced that she is no longer loved and begins to show signs of depression as she turns to morphine for comfort. In truth, Vronsky is struggling with the fact that Anna is still not divorced from Karenin. Here’s hoping that Part 7 returns us to the stories of the characters that we have come to love as this brick of a book is propelled to its tragic ending.
The Appeal by John Grisham (p. 378 of 485). A small Mississippi town’s water supply has been tainted because a mega chemical company dumped toxic waste in the woods. People are becoming sick and dying. Now known as “Cancer County,” the residents of Bowmore want justice. When the first of the wrongful death verdicts awards the plaintiff $41 million, the New York corporation is determined to make sure that they don’t pay a penny in damages. The plan? Buy the elected seats of the Mississippi Supreme Court Justice up for re-election so the eventual appeal will go in the company’s favor. Grisham is a master of judicial storytelling and weaves a fascinating tale of power, intrigue, and justice.
While watching Final Jeopardy during one of this week’s episodes in the Tournament of Champions, I was reminded of Queen Elizabeth II’s description of the year 1992 — annus horribilis. Considering the troubled marriage of Diana and Charles as well as other troubled royal unions and fire in Windsor Castle, 1992 was truly a horrible year for the monarch. Taking some liberties, I must refer to the summer of 2025 as aestas horribilis – a horrible summer.
What was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me? On Thursday afternoon, I developed a nagging cough that simply would not be tamed by medication. As the day wore on, I began to experience congestion, earache, and headache along with sneezing and fatigue. Friday morning, I returned to Mitchell Family Health (my second home this summer, it seems) and got the diagnosis. I have COVID-19. At some point, I just have to laugh at the irony that I will be dealing with another illness during my final week in the Geriatric Ward before returning to West Texas.
What did this mean to my reading life? Thankfully, I seem to have only had a mild case of COVID and have not suffered terribly with the symptoms. So I have taken over the back bedrooms of my parents’ home and tried to isolate as much as possible. (I am now into Day 4 of my quarantine.) I have had a lot of quiet time to do lots of reading. When first diagnosed, I wondered if I would experience “brain fog” as I have in previous bouts with the virus. Thankfully, that has not been the case and I was able to continue the reading routine I had gotten into before becoming ill.
What I Finished This Week
These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean. Talk about a family saga! This novel hit all of the marks for me. A billionaire has died and now his four children and widow must complete a series of tasks to receive their inheritance. Living on a private island, the siblings who are estranged from each other, must work together despite their animosity. As the family hosts a “celebration” for the dearly departed (because how could they possibly be seen mourning publicly?), tensions mount and explode. And all of that happens before the real storm arrives on the island! Want something full of family secrets, challenging relationships, and hilarious hijinks? This is the perfect read for you. Part rom-com, part family drama with a lot of heart-felt soul searching, These Summer Storms will keep you entertained and desperately wanting to turn the page to see what happens to the family. 4.75 stars
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover. WHAT A BOOK!!!! Since I first read Hoover’s works a few years ago, I have been enthralled by her writing and storytelling. Few authors are as adept at spinning a riveting story. I wanted to pick up something to begin reading digitally this week; something that I could read while lying in bed and ending the day. I did not expect Hopeless to rock my world as it has and now I can hardly put the book down! The story centers around Sky, a teen girl who is entering her senior year in high school after being homeschooled for her entire life. One day in the local grocery store, she encounters Holder, a bad boy that everyone warns Sky about. Despite the warnings, Sky and Holder’s attraction and connection are undeniable. As their relationship quickly progresses, it becomes clear that something is amiss. When the revelation was finally made at the midway point of the book, I sat bolt upright in bed and couldn’t believe my eyes! (For those with whom I have shared the recommendation, this ranks right up there with Jodi Picoult’s shocking twist in Mad Honey.) From that point forward, I was constantly pulled back into Sky and Holder’s story. The rest of the plot is filled with twists and turns that the reader does not see coming. As I neared the book’s conclusion, my reading pace slowed tremendously because I was constantly wiping away tears. I completely fell in love with these characters and was thoroughly invested in their story. A few trigger warnings are needed because this book packs a major punch; child abduction, molestation, suicide, bullying, and rape are all encountered. While I think Hoover treated each issue with sensitivity, I am certain that reading this book may be traumatic for those who have personal experience with any of these issues. By the way, I am using this novel to fulfill the prompt for an author who publishes more than one book a year. (Although Hoover is not currently publishing, she was producing two books annually when Hopeless was released.) 5 stars.
Eruption by Michael Crichton & James Patterson. This thriller has been sitting at the bottom of my TBR for several months now. I had planned this read for the prompt for a book set in a country with an active volcano (a story about an erupting volcano seemed perfect, right?), but I quickly realized that the better fit would be the prompt of a book with a non-human antagonist. Man vs. machine or man vs. nature are not normal plots that I enjoy, so I decided to use the Crichton thriller to fill the bill. Set in Hawaii, a long dormant volcano is expected to blow its lid any day now. Scientists can predict the time of the eruption and the direction of the lava flow. Thankfully, the lava will flow away from Hilo towards mostly uninhabited portions of the island. The only problem is that there is a large surplus of toxic waste stored below the ground in this part of the island that will have catastrophic results — basically, the end of human life — if it is released into the air….and that’s exactly what will happen unless this team of scientists and engineers can figure out a way to redirect the lava flow. While it sounds incredibly cheesy…and it is to an extent…..it is still a very fun read. The novel was an unfinished manuscript by Crichton at the time of his death in 2008; it was finished and published by Patterson in 2025 with the support of Crichton’s widow. 4 stars.
What I’m Currently Reading
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (p. 574 of 817). This week, I stayed on goal, completing Part 4 and (actually) Part 5 as well. In Part 4, Alexei continues to pursue his divorce of Anna because of her affair with Vronsky. However, when Anna becomes severely ill after the birth of her daughter, also named Anna, Alexei has a change of heart and finds that he has forgiven his wife and found love for both of the children. Despite his desire for things to remain the same in their marriage, Alexei must ultimately admit that Anna does not love him and cannot bear the thought of life without Vronsky. When divorce is once again on the table — only this time, not as an act of revenge — Anna questions if she truly wants the freedom it will bring.
Part 5 shifts our attention to the marriage of Levin and Kitty. As the newlyweds learn of the approaching death of Levin’s brother, the two dash to his bedside where Kitty acts as an angel of mercy, caring for the dying man with tenderness and grace. Levin begins to see his wife in a new light. Interestingly, chapter 20 of this part of the novel is the only one that has a title — “Death.” While this makes the chapter extremely famous in literature, I found the preceding chapter to be much more moving. As the story returns to Anna and Vronsky, we see the two returning to Moscow from their time in Rome. As they near the city, Anna’s desire to see her son grows stronger as his 9th birthday approaches. Despite obstacles and through some cunning on Anna’s part, the two are briefly reunited in the boy’s nursery. However, a schism seems to be forming between Anna and Vronsky, forcing Anna to wonder if she is still loved by the man she chose.
July in Review
It’s hard to believe that another month has come and gone. July was a busy month in my world with health challenges and a trip to Chicago. Still, I had a pretty stable reading life through it all. Not the best results of the year, but still moving towards meeting my goal of 52 books in 2025.
Books read in July: 5 (up 1 from June)
Pages read in July: 2,273 (up 956 pages from June)
Highest rated book:These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean (4.75)
Lowest rated book: Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence (3.75)
Frank Sinatra had it right…..”Chicago is my kind of town!” I flew into Midway on Tuesday afternoon to attend the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy at the Westin Lombard. I spent Tuesday night near the airport before meeting my colleague on Wednesday morning. The conference went through noon on Saturday. Even though I didn’t get to see a lot of the city’s best attractions, I did get to visit Wrigley Field to see the Cubs lose to the Royals. I was struck by the friendliness of the people as they went about their lives in a major metropolitan area. I definitely want to head back to the city and do some more exploring.
Typically, being on the road for work significantly impacts my reading life. This time, I was actually productive. While sitting in the recruiting booth, I was able to do quite a bit of reading as my colleague worked on a major report that is due later this fall. Once we returned to the hotel each evening, we both found our quiet spots and did some reading in companionable silence. So I’m happy to say that I have another finish this week and met my goal on my last Big Book of Summer.
What I Finished This Week
Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon. Thanks to some uneventful time in a recruiting booth and plenty of time flying, I was able to finish this novel before returning to Memphis on Saturday evening. The mystery surrounding the body found floating in the water expands to include one of Beth’s patients in the nursing home. This book is full of twists and turns as well as power plays for land control and childhood grudges. In addition to the murder, Simon paints a charming portrait of three generations of women learning about their similarities when all they really see are differences. By no means do I consider this a contender for my favorite book of the year, it was a fun read during a time in my life when I needed a little levity. 3.75 stars.
What I’m Currently Reading
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (p. 395 of 817). Even with this week’s travel, I managed to stay on schedule and finish Part Three of the novel. This part focuses largely on Levin’s time in the countryside and provides contrast between the Karenins. Most importantly to our heroine, Anna’s husband demanded that things remain the same in their strained relationship and that she not entertain Vronsky in the family home. When Karenin comes home to find Vronsky there, he immediately decides to begin divorce proceedings and to separate Anna from her son. Since beginning Part Four, family in Moscow are learning of the impending divorce and looking for ways to mend what has been broken. This week’s reading should bring me to the halfway point of the novel.
These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean (p. 105 of 380). MacLean’s novel is this week’s new start and will fulfill the prompt “Set in Summer” for the 2025 reading challenge from The 52 Book Club. Alice has been estranged from her family for 5 years. Now that her billionaire father has died in an accident, it is time for Alice to return to the family manor (which just happens to be located on a secluded island) in order to grieve her lost relationship with her father while also confronting demons from her past. This novel quickly pulled me in during my reading session early on Sunday morning and I am really looking forward to getting back into its pages to find out what happens next.
I have always had a massive sweet tooth. Bring on the chocolate and don’t forget to offer me a slice of cake or we cannot really be friends. So when I learned that my blood glucose was out of control this week, I was more than a little upset. Now I’m learning to appreciate diet sodas and really cutting down the amount of snacking happening between meals. As my glucose has fallen, my body has not been happy. As the nurse told me today, my body is basically in shock that the sugar is going away and it is revolting. I was a grumpy bear most of the end of the week and just wanted to sit still.
What did that mean to my reading? I managed to keep my streak of reading at least 20 pages per day alive, but I didn’t do much more than that while I was learning about insulin injections and what I could actually eat that wouldn’t spike my glucose levels. Now that a new week is here, I’m starting to feel a little better and able to sit and read for longer periods of time.
What I Finished This Week
The Summer We Started Over by Nancy Thayer. I really enjoyed this book! Set on Nantucket, it is the story of two sisters that are both dealing with the death of their brother and their mother’s desertion. Eddie followed her dream of working in the publishing industry and left the island years ago. Barrett is about to have her dream come true, opening a boutique near the family home. Eddie returns to Nantucket for the summer to support her sister in her new endeavor and help care for their father. Over the course of several weeks, the women learn about love, grief, and hope. 4.5 stars.
What I’m Currently Reading
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (p. 107 of 817). This has been a much more pleasurable read than I expected. I haven’t quite reached my goal of finishing Book 1 of the novel, but anticipate reading the remaining few chapters before bedtime tonight. In this opening section, Tolstoy has introduced us to Dolly and Prince Alexander, a marriage on the rocks. Alexander’s sister, Anna Karenina, comes to Moscow to visit and encounters Count Vronsky. The chemistry between Anna and Vronsky is undeniable. There’s only one problem — Anna has a husband and child awaiting her return to Petersburg. Imagery of trains are prominent, foreshadowing what we already know will happen in the novel’s tragic conclusion. Before leaving this, I must praise the exceptional Pevear/Volokhonsky translation. It is incredibly approachable for the modern reader and provides amble end notes to assist in understanding the text fully.
Heathen and Honeysuckle by Sarah A. Bailey (p. 33 of 358). I’ve not read enough of this novel to give much of an opinion about it. It was a recent purchase during a visit to Barnes and Noble. For the 2025 reading challenge of The 52 Book Club, I needed a book with a sprayed edge. My local bookstore had a display of beautiful sprayed edges, so it seemed this was the time to make a purchase. Most of the books were fantasy, a genre I do not typically enjoy. The remaining books were mostly romances, so I looked for the most attractive edge of those and made my selection. Yup, I totally judged this book by its cover! What I can tell you so far is that it is written with alternating time lines and comes with a warning at the beginning: “[This book] is intended for readers 18+ and includes heavy emotional and explicit content.” Reader be warned.
It has been a rather warm week in the Geriatric Ward and the forecast does not suggest much relief in the foreseeable future. What has that meant for me? Plenty of time to read as long as I find the quiet spots in the house before the patients take them over and blare every television in the place!
What I Finished This Week
Dragonfly in Amberby Diana Gabaldon. It was 947 pages. It took almost a month of my life to get through this first #BigBookSummer read and I thoroughly loved it. This is the second volume in Gabaldon’s Outlander series. While I’m not normally one who enjoys time travel in my fiction, Gabaldon’s characters are so beautifully crafted that I can accept the impossible and focus on the amazing story. Dragonfly has a bit of something for everyone. There’s romance, magic, political intrigue, and thrills around every corner. I was a little concerned that I would not remember much of the storyline coming back to the series after a year away from Claire and Jaime’s story, but I was sucked back in quickly. Gabaldon gives enough backstory to events to trigger the reader’s memory when necessary without feeling as though you are re-reading past events. Because of their size, I am planning to read one of these books each summer. Was it a perfect read? No….there were times that I found things getting sluggish and I simply wanted to move on. But overall, this was another outstanding read. There are trigger warnings to consider for domestic violence, miscarriages, and war. 4 stars.
What I’m Currently Reading
The Summer We Ran by Audrey Ingram (p. 106 of 321). After Dragonfly in Amber, I needed something different and not so massive. I decided to take a detour from my plan and dive into the recently published book I had received from The Book of the Month Club. The Summer We Ran follows Tess, the Democratic candidate for the governor of Virginia. She was raised by a single mother who worked for powerful people in Virginian society in the 1990s. Tess’ opponent in the gubernatorial race is Grant, a man who has lived a privileged life in DC society. Tess and Grant share a secret past that they are keeping from their families, their constituents, and their staff. When the truth ultimately comes out, it promises to be destructive and life-changing. Written in an alternating timeline, Ingram is revealing events in the summer of 1996 and then showing how it is impacting both Tess and Grant in their current lives. This is proving to be a fast-paced page turner that I simply don’t want to put down. The Summer We Ran will fulfill the prompt for a book published in 2025 for The 52 Book Club 2025 challenge.
I have returned from the Texas Music Teachers’ Convention in Houston and lived to tell the tale! I was there to staff the Wayland booth in the exhibit hall — talking to teachers, alumni, and potential students about our programs. Held in the Hyatt Downtown, the exhibit hall was on the bottom floor on Friday and Saturday. Vendors from all over were in the hall. Our booth sat just across the aisle from the piano vendors — who had about 10 pianos on the floor to be played throughout the day. I’m not talking about digital instruments or consoles. No….these were grand pianos with their lids fully opened! What do 10 large pianos sound like when they are all playing different pieces at the same time? Imagine 20 toddlers in your kitchen floor with wooden spoons that they are banging on large metal pans. Yeah….it was a hot mess!
I planned to spend my time on the exhibit floor reading. That didn’t happen at all. I did manage to make a little progress once I retired to my room on the top floor of the hotel, but my head wasn’t going to cooperate too long in my effort to concentrate on the story.
What I Finished This Week
…..I had to at least make you look.
What I’m Currently Reading
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (p. 672 of 947). Most of the 150+ pages I read this week were completed on Thursday’s flight to Houston. Once I encountered Claire’s miscarriage, I found it really difficult to push through that section. I thought Gabaldon handled a tragic event in any woman’s life with such grace that I didn’t want to rush through the storyline and savored the way she handled the text. I almost felt as though Claire’s grief as well as that felt by her husband could not be rushed. Now that I am in the ultimate battle scenes of the novel, the pace is picking up again and I *think* I will finish this Big Book of Summer this week. (At least, that’s the goal.)
What’s Coming Next?
I think I’m going to depart from my plan and insert a book that arrived last week from the Book of the Month club. The Summer We Ran by Audrey Ingram sounds very interesting. Two teens meet and fall in love during a summer trip. Fast forward to their adult lives, and the two former loves find themselves on opposing sides of a political campaign. It will definitely meet a need on my reading challenge since it was published in 2025. But first, I have to finish my current installment in the Outlander series and find out what happens to Claire and Jaime.
It’s nearly Christmas, so this week has featured a little shopping, a little baking, and a lot of lazy reading on the couch! It’s the perfect way to celebrate the season. My reading has taken the turn to holiday stories all week.
What I Finished This Week
The Christmas Tree Farm by Laurie Gilmore. I decided to return to Dream Harbor since I had enjoyed the story of the Cinnamon Bun Book Store. Gilmore once again did not disappoint. The story centers around Kira, the new owner of the local Christmas tree farm. The residents of Dream Harbor are convinced that there are dead bodies — or buried treasure — hidden on the property, so they send in Bennett to get to the bottom of things. Only problem? Kira despises Bennett from first sight and wants nothing to do with him. Bennett’s past dating history has not done him any favors in his interactions with women. This is a cute rom-com that is sure to please most readers while putting them in the Christmas spirit.
My Favorite Holidate by Lauren Blakely. I really enjoyed this read. After being betrayed by her boyfriend at Thanksgiving, Fable enlists the help of her billionaire boss, Wilder, to get them both through the holidays by being each other’s “fake date” for the season. Once their escapades take the couple to a small village for events leading up to Fable’s sister’s wedding, the line between “fake dating” and falling in love become blurred. I found myself laughing and rooting for this unlikely pair as their emotions became real. A little more spicy that what I normally enjoy in a romance, Lauren Blakely once again provides a fascinating story peopled with believable characters that readers are invested in. One of my favorite stories of the month!
The Christmas Pearl by Dorothea Benton Frank. After finishing the other books, I was looking for something short and engaging that wasn’t a romance, but still a holiday story. This short novella fit the bill perfectly! Theodora is a 90-something woman who longs for the Christmases of yesteryear. Largely influenced by the housemaid of her childhood, Pearl, Theodora’s memories are associated with good food, laughter, respect, and worship of the Christ child. Sadly, Pearl passed away many years ago and there is no one who is able to fill her shoes. Now in the present day, the new housekeeper has to leave the home unexpectedly and will not return until after Christmas. She has spoken to her neighbor who has agreed to help the family out. Theodora is shocked when she greets the replacement and discovers it is Pearl! Part Ghost of Christmas Past and part Clarence Odbody from It’s a Wonderful Life, Pearl’s story is filled with warmth, magic, and love. I strongly encourage you to read this short work as a way to celebrate the holiday season.
What I’m Currently Reading
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter (p. 56 of 293) This book came to me as part of the December Book of the Month Club. I was drawn to the pun in the title. I have seen people reading it all over social media with good responses. I am not typically a mystery reader, but I decided to take a chance and give this a read. Still early in the book, but I am enjoying the interactions and the writing style so far. Hopefully, I’ll have this finished by the end of the week without too much difficulty.
The Thief who Saved Christmas by Angela Casella (p. 20 of 391). First, let’s address my frustration with this reading. I am reading it as an ebook, but this edition does not have a page count on my Kindle. Therefore, I only know the percentage that I am through the entire book, but I have no way of knowing how much reading I’ve actually accomplished in each sitting. That is a bad recipe for me. Now….as far as the story goes, I’m fascinated and thoroughly engaged in what has been presented. Rather than tell you what I know of the plot thus far, I’ll just say that this is definitely one that you should look into reading if you are searching for a fun read to finish out the holiday season.
What’s Coming Up
As the year is winding down, I wanted to give you a glimpse into what you should expect from the blog next week. I will be back on Monday with my regular weekly update. On Tuesday, I’ll post a special 2024 in review. This post will include stats from the year — books completed, books that I DNF’d, and total pages read. I’ll also include my favorite selections from each month as well as naming my best read for the year. I’ll conclude with my plans and goals for the upcoming year. (I have some lofty goals and should be an entertaining journey in the year ahead. Above all, I plan to have my nose firmly planted in the pages of books.)
I should have learned by now. I really should be able to see the signs. As soon as I return from a brief vacation, I should know that the next week promises to be INSANE! Last week held up to that standard. I felt as though I was running from the second I got back to Texas and never got caught up. I’m the proverbial dog chasing my own tail at the moment.
No surprise then that my reading pace slowed once I got back to reality. It’s during this time of year that I find myself too tired at the end of the day to think about doing much reading. If I’m reading at the start of the day, it’s a sure sign that I woke earlier than planned and I’m hoping that the meditative action will help me grab a few more fleeting minutes of rest. Despite the hectic pace, I did manage to finish a book this week and (barely) started another one.
What I Finished This Week
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty. My latest novel told the story of a flight where everyone on board received disturbing predictions of their death — both the manner of their death and their age — from the strange Death Lady who may or may not be psychic. Dark premise, huh? I found that I enjoyed the exploration of the difference between fate and coincidence and man’s ability to determine his own destiny. While it is not my favorite book that I have read this year — that honor is still held by Kristin Hannah’s The Women — I did enjoy this read very much.
What I’m Currently Reading
One Plus One by Jojo Moyes (p. 24 of 369). I am participating in the Booklist Queen’s 2024 Reading Challenge (even though I will not complete all 52 prompts this year) and needed to read a book published in 2014. While perusing the selections made by other members of the group, I stumbled across this read by Moyes and thought this would be a good escape read for this final week before the Presidential election. I have enjoyed Moyes’ other novels and it sounds like a good way to escape reality for a little while.
As you can see, I am not very far into the novel at all. Here’s what I know at this point. Jess is a single mother who works for a cleaning service to make ends meet. Her daughter, Tanzie, has recently been recognized as extremely gifted in math. As a result, Tanzie has been offered a scholarship to attend a prestigious private school that has an exceptional math department. However, the scholarship only covers 90% of the tuition; if Tanzie’s dream is to become a reality, Jess will have to figure out how to cover the remaining tuition as well as registration fees, costs for uniforms and transportation and all of the other “incidental” expenses that might arise. Just two chapters into the book and I am already invested in the challenges of this family. Hopefully, I’ll have much more to tell you about this one next week.
Fresh back from my trip to Malibu, I hit the ground running with a lot of recruitment activities to begin finding a new class of incoming freshmen for next fall. Monday saw two college fairs that were quite good. Then my attention turned to recruiting current students to play in the Pep Band that will return in the Spring term. Needless to say, I’ve been a little busy and not getting to do as much practicing or reading as I would have hoped. Somehow, in the midst of all of that, I did manage to finish one novel and begin another.
What I Finished This Week
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. The jury is still out on whether or not I enjoyed this book. I just finished it last night and I’m still trying to figure out my response. The final chapters and epilogue were actually pretty good and rather rewarding. The fact that I had to plow through so much bad storytelling to get to the fulfillment of the ending was frustrating. I was tempted several times to shelf the novel and invest my time in something more worthwhile. But I was consistently drawn back in by the hope that these characters would ultimately become redeemable. I finally decided it was okay to have hated the book. Don’t ask me what it was really about — I can’t really tell you in a single statement. Its dark themes and the family drama would normally be a really good fit for me. This novel was not…..
What I’m Currently Reading
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty (p. 32 of 495). Although I just started reading the book this afternoon over a turkey sandwich and a side of tomato basil soup, I can already tell that this is going to be a breath of fresh air after my horrible experience with Mellors’ nightmare. The writing is much more enjoyable and I am completely drawn in to the story. Here’s the opening concept — on a flight that has been delayed for several hours, now that the aircraft is finally in the air, a woman begins walking the aisle. As she goes along each row of seats, she points at passengers and declares how old they will be when they die and gives the cause of death. Is she a lunatic or a psychic? Should the knowledge of the manner and time of your death change the way you live? I’m fascinated to see how this story is going to progress and cannot wait to put my nose back in the pages of my book! It’s a bit of a brick, but with some more travel ahead this week and a real thirst for a good read, I think it will be a good fit for my reading life at the moment.
There you have it, folks! I’m going to dive back into Moriarty’s world for a bit longer before calling it a night. Happy reading until next week, y’all!
Reading for Me 