It is hard to believe that January is half over already! Where did the time go? School started back up this week (both online and brick and mortar classes). That meant I actually had to start doing my real job instead of pretending I was getting paid to read all day. But I still managed to knock out two more books this week.
What I Finished This Week
Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser. Mona experiences an unexplained episode of blindness as the novel opens. While this is a crucial story element, it wasn’t really the focus of the book. As part of her journey to mental health, Mona accompanies her grandfather every Wednesday afternoon for 52 weeks to see artistic masterpieces in the museums of Paris. Along the way, Mona becomes obsessed with her limited knowledge of her grandmother’s life. Mona’s Eyes is an exploration of beauty, maturity, personal growth, family ties, and man’s free will to choose. While I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of the art, I left the novel uncertain how I wanted to respond. I’m still quite conflicted about what I have experienced and can’t decide if I’m truly ready to move on to another literary experience or not. I’m not sure if that is a sign of a great book or an abstract compilation of loosely connected ideas. 3.75 stars.
First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison. Lucie is a single mother raising her pre-teen daughter. Next door are her baby’s daddy and his partner. While life is good, her dating life is less than stellar. When she checks on her daughter late one evening, Lucie hears a conversation from under the covers with an adult man. Ripping back the covers, Lucie demands the cell phone be turned over and learns that her daughter has called Aiden, the host of a late night romance hotline talk show. Against her better judgment, Lucie and Aiden talk late into the night. And thus begins a fun story about self-worth, love and loss, and daring to risk in order to find love. While there were some spicy scenes, I found this romance relying more on chemistry and flirting to keep up the heat. 5 stars.
What I’m Currently Reading
Malibu Burning by Lee Goldberg (5:58 of 8:05). I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about a novel featuring wildfires after having lived through several of them while studying in Malibu in the 1990s. I decided that an audiobook was the way to go for this one so I could zone out if I needed to. The story is actually quite interesting. While fighting a wildfire, a criminal volunteer fire fighter dies due to negligence. The fire department denies any wrong doing. The fallen man’s fellow Penal Firefighters that witnessed the event know the truth and vow to take revenge. How? They plan to set fires along the wealthy coastal area and rob homes before everything burns.
The Inferno by Dante Alighieri (p. 287 of 387). I didn’t read a word of this one this week. I only have 100 pages remaining. I really just need to finish it and move on. That may just become a secondary goal for the week.
Les Miserable by Victor Hugo (p. 355 of 1304). Not a lot of progress in this one either this week. Now I really am behind my reading schedule and need to give this work some serious attention. Who knew that reading a classic novel was going to be so demanding?
It is officially the Christmas season! I love the sights, the sounds, and the smells. I’m also a sucker for a good Christmas story. I expect to see a lot of Christmas tree farms, Santa suits, baking competitions, and naughty Christmas spirits in my reading for the next few weeks. And since there is a Christmas Bingo board from The 52 Book Club, I get to play a game while reading. Let the fun of the seasonal reading get into full swing.
What I Finished This Week
The Mistletoe Kisser by Lucy Score. As soon as Thanksgiving is over, I begin to celebrate Christmas. I love the season and I love all of the cheesy Hallmark movies. So it should be no surprise that I also enjoy reading holiday romances. Sammy received her first kiss under the mistletoe at a holiday festival in her small town. Many years pass and her “mistletoe kisser” returns to help with a family emergency. There’s only one problem….the man who returned is not her Christmas fantasy. Sure, he shares his first name with his cousin — the real “mistletoe kisser” — but that is where the similarity ends. This Ryan is grumpy and a bit of a Scrooge. The book was a cute enemies-to-lovers tale set during the holidays. The spice level was relatively mild until one massive chapter in the middle of the book…..Reader, you have been warned! I’m using this as part of the December 2025 bingo challenge — a novel set in a small town. 3.5 stars.
The Girl from the Garden by Parnaz Foroutan. This was the first read for My Library Shelf and also represented a book with a leafy green cover for the “starter course” of the May 2025 mini challenge. Set alternately in Los Angeles and Iran, the novel focuses on the lives of the women in one wealthy Jewish-Iranian family. Women are meant to be silent and unobserved. Their only purpose is to bear children — and those children only have worth if they are sons. While the writing is sometimes stilted, the story is gripping and the plight of the women grabs your heart. This is a prime example of why I love reading my way through a library shelf; I never would have picked up this book on my own. I’m so glad that I did. 3 stars.
The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig. Christmas is for children, so this seemed like the perfect time to dip my toe back into children’s literature. This 2016 novel is a really charming read about how Amelia, a young orphan girl in Victorian London, helped Father Christmas and saved the holiday. Complete with elves, trolls, a depressing children’s workhouse, and lots of magic, The Girl Who Saved Christmas was an outstanding read that will keep the attention of the most reluctant reader. With appearances from Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and Charles Dickens, the book is packed with adult humor that is creatively woven into the text — making this a perfect option for a family read-aloud as you head into Christmas. 4 stars.
What I’m Currently Reading
Good Elf Gone Wrong by Alina Jacobs (3:56 of 13:47). With a busy week of driving ahead, I wanted to get a start on an audiobook. Of course, I got pulled into the story and have kept dipping back in to see what will happen next! Gracie was checking on the Christmas cinnamon rolls the night before her Christmas Day wedding when she caught her fiance canoodling with her sister under the tree! A year later, Gracie is headed back home for the holidays….and the Christmas Day wedding of her sister and her cheating ex. Gracie is convinced that this wedding should not happen and enlists the help of Hudson, a mysterious bad boy she encountered on the bus, to rip the couple apart. How? Hudson will pose as Gracie’s boy toy…..and will flirt with her sister mercilessly. The story features some hysterical characters and outrageous scenes. However, it is not for the meek! Language and scenes are graphic.
Billionaire Secret Santaby Lena Michaels (p. 32 of 178). I picked up this holiday romance on a whim on Saturday night because I needed to take a break from the children’s story. The set up of the story is straight out of a cheesy holiday rom-com. At his office’s holiday party, Bruce DeVos poses as Santa so he can watch his employees without them realizing it. He is assisted by a woman dressed in an elf costume who goes by the name “Snowy.” Bruce is intrigued by her and cannot take his eyes off of her. The two share a kiss at the end of the night, but Snowy never shares her true identity. When Holly arrives in the office on Monday morning as a possible new employee, Bruce recognizes his mystery elf immediately and the sexual tension begins. This is not high literature, but it’s a fun, quick romance before I hit the road on Tuesday evening.
Christmas Bingo!
The December mini-challenge appeared early in the month and that gave me permission to start all of the Christmas reading. I’ve completed two prompts so far, putting me in a pretty good place with my Bingo board. Here’s how things are shaping up after a week of Christmas reading.
Upcoming Plans
With the driving and a holiday performance in Nashville on Friday evening, I’m not entirely sure how much reading I’ll actually get done this week. I expect to finish both of my current reads. Then I have a few more recent additions to my TBR calling my name.
Holiday Ever After – Hannah Grace
Good Spirits – B.K. Borison
Where Angels Fear to Tread – E.M. Forster
Iron Flame – Rebecca Yarros
I guess we will all just have to wait until next Monday to see what I actually dive into as I continue Reading for Me.
Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. As usual, I spent most of the holiday week with my parents in Arkansas. The food was good. The rest was needed. The meal was awkward and uncomfortable. The reading time was heavenly. Three out of four ain’t bad, I suppose. Now it is time to get back to work for the last week of classes before administering finals….then a whirlwind trip back to Arkansas for Christmas.
What I Finished This Week
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli. I have never enjoyed science. As a student, I have taken the minimum number of classes in the field at the most general level of understanding and did not perform well in the courses. It wasn’t that the material was especially difficult. I simply didn’t find the topic interesting. When the prompt appeared in the November 2025 minis to read a book from the 500s of the Dewey Decimal system (science), I immediately assumed that would be the prompt for the month that I did not complete. While packing to travel for Thanksgiving, the thought of lugging around Iron Flame to continue Rebecca Yarros’ series was too much. So I searched the library for a small book about science that I thought I could handle. An international bestseller, Seven Brief Lessons is written in a conversational style with lots of practical illustrations to help the novice scientist understand the basic concepts of physics. If I was more interested in the topic in general, I think I would have probably enjoyed this read. Having said that, I see its appeal. While it wasn’t a personal favorite for me, I will still give it a good star rating. 3 stars.
Among Friends by Hal Ebbott. This novel was very slow moving. Two couples have been good friends since college, especially the two husbands. While spending a weekend together in upstate New York, things begin to unravel — an injured ankle, an argument over a lemon tart, and a teenage daughter is allegedly groped by her father’s best friend while she is doing laundry upstairs. Once the allegation is made, the novel improves greatly. Anna, the victim, questions what actually happened and if it is worth telling anyone about. Her mother is convinced that Anna lied about the assault in order to get out of trouble when she is caught shoplifting. Anna’s father doesn’t know who to believe — his daughter, his wife, or his best friend. The friend (and alleged predator) simply asks “Why would Anna say this?” While I nearly DNF’d the book when it was not moving at all, the second half showed glimpses of brilliance and hope that Ebbott will develop into a talented writer. This is the author’s first novel. 3 stars.
And with that finish, I also completed the November 2025 mini-challenge of The 52 Book Club.
What I’m Currently Reading
The Girl from the Garden by Parnaz Foroutan (p. 184 of 271). I went to the library this week in search of a book with a leafy green cover. That was the entire basis of this selection and I could not have been happier with the results if I had searched painstakingly for a great read. The novel tells the story of a Jewish family that immigrated to the US after facing violence in Iran. The narrative shifts between the current timeline in Los Angeles and the challenges faced in Iran. The shifts occur through the narrator’s memories of her treasured gardens in both locales. I know that the synopsis I have provided sounds very bleak; I would be lying if I tried to tell you that the story is not dark. But yet, there is a sense of hope as those who are victimized look to their family and their faith for support.
The Mistletoe Kisser by Lucy Score (p. 52 of 267). Once the Thanksgiving turkey was put away, it was time to begin some Christmas reading. Since I am a sucker for a good romance during the holidays, this book seemed like a good choice on a recent bookstore visit. The premise is much as we would expect. A teenage girl meets a young Ryan Reynolds look alike at the town holiday festival and receives her first kiss under a grove of mistletoe. Now as adults, Ryan — a true holiday grouch — returns to the small town to save his uncle’s farm and surprisingly runs into the girl he first kissed, though now all grown up. Very early in this one, but I am already enjoying the humor and finding myself laughing out loud as I read.
November in Review
Books read in November:9 books (up 1 from October)
6 physical
1 ebook
1 audiobook
1 combined audio & physical
Pages read in November: 2,395 pages (down 1,059 pages from October)
Highest rated book:Pachinko by Min Jin Lee – 5 stars
Lowest rated book:Loyalty by Lisa Scottoline – 2.75 stars
My Library Shelf
As though I don’t have enough going on in my reading life, I decided this week to bring back another personal challenge to my literary life. My Library Shelf project was first introduced to me in 2014 when I read Phyllis Rose’s The Shelf: Adventures in Extreme Reading. When visiting her local library, Rose realized that the book she planned to pick up was not going to be a good fit for her in that moment. That’s when she decided to venture into the unknown and select a shelf of the library at random to read her way through.
I have worked through a couple of shelves at various libraries since 2014 with mixed results. I have a few basic guidelines. The shelf must include at least one book that I consider a classic. The other stipulation is that no author can be represented by more than five books on the shelf. What I like about shelf reading is that it introduces me to new authors and forces me to explore genres I might typically avoid. I am still free to DNF any book I encounter as long as I give it enough of a read to get a taste for the material. I don’t put a timeline on the reading project, but I’m hoping to complete this task before the end of 2026.
Last Monday morning (November 24, 2025), I visited Unger Memorial Library in Plainview, Texas. Using the guidelines above, I set out to select a library shelf to read through. I was also looking for a book with a leafy green cover, so once I found a book that would fit that criteria, I would examine the shelf to see if it would fit my challenge. One of the pitfalls I quickly ran into was due to the large number of complete series that are shelved in my local library. It took me quite a while to find a shelf that contained less than 5 books by any single author. The shelf that I settled on was FORD-FORS.
My shelf contains 23 volumes representing 11 authors. Here’s the list of books that will be included in the current edition of My Library Shelf.
Ford, Ford Madox
The Good Soldier
Ford, Jack
Chariot on the Mountain
Ford, Jamie
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Ford, Jamie
Love and Other Consolation Prizes
Ford, Jamie
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy
Ford, Jamie
Songs of Willow Frost
Ford, Jeffrey
A Girl in the Glass
Ford, Jeffrey
A Natural History of Hell
Ford, Kelly J.
Real Bad Things
Forest, Kristina
The Partner Plot
Foreman, Gayle
Leave Me
Foroutan, Parnaz
The Girl from the Garden
Forster, E.M.
The Collected Tales of E.M. Forster
Forster, E.M.
Maurice
Forster, E.M.
A Passage to India
Forster, E.M.
A Room with a View
Forster, E.M.
Where Angels Fear to Tread
Forstchen, William R.
48 Hours
Forstchen, William R.
The Final Day
Forstchen, William R.
One Second After
Forstchen, William R.
One Year After
Forsyth, Frederick
Avenger
Forsyth, Frederick
The Day of the Jackal
As you can see, I have a wide variety of books to explore — everything from classics to thrillers and family sagas. If something will fit one of the 2026 prompts for the reading challenge, I’ll certainly use it there. So far, it seems that only a few of them will fit into my plans for the challenge. Perhaps the mini-challenges is where they will fit? Either way, I’m rather excited about exploring some of these works as I have begun to look at the basic ideas surrounding them. We will just have to see what the results are as I continue my off-the-path reading adventure.
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.
Completing this book marks the 1/3 mark in my Library Shelf project (book #7) and is the second of four novels by Colm Toibin on my shelf. I have a huge classic novel looming in the background that is calling my name since I had planned to read one of the Tolstoy novels during the first half of this project. (Can you tell that I am intimidated by War and Peace and Anna Karenna?)
I was first introduced to Colm Toibin’s writing when I began the Library Shelf project and read The Heathers Blazing. The current novel, Brooklyn, is another novel that pleasantly surprised me on this journey. The story follows a young Irish girl from her provincial home to the excitement of Brooklyn, New York in the mid-twentieth century. While in Brooklyn, Eilis becomes a strong, independent woman. She gains confidence as she trains to be a bookkeeper. Eilis learns much about modern society and the rights of women as she explores American fashion and converses with her fellow residents in Mrs. Kehoe’s boarding house. A trip to a Saturday night dance sponsored by the church begins her education about men, race relations, sexuality, and love.
In the final section of the novel, Eilis feels the pull of her Irish home because of the loss of her beloved sister. As she cares for her mother, Eilis finds herself enjoying the familiarity of Ireland and the respect she is given because of her American experience. Our vibrant heroine now finds herself torn between her past and the new life she has forged for herself in America. Toibin does not settle for a simple solution to bring the novel to its conclusion; the reader feels Eilis’ uncertainty as she carefully weighs her decision.
Brooklyn was especially moving for me. The text is lyrical. The emotions parallel my own as I prepare for my own future in light of the responsibilities and duties associated with home. I’m looking forward to reading Toibin’s remaining novels in this project — The Empty Family and The Master — to see if I will enjoy them just as much as the ones I’ve read so far.
I was so inspired by Phyllis Rose’s The Shelf that I decided to begin my own version of the project. I planned to select a random shelf in the library that contained at least one classic novel and had no more than 5 books representing a single author. The selection process was much more difficult than I expected. The main branch of the Memphis Public Library shelves most of its classic novels in an area separate from general fiction. So, on Halloween Day, I made my way to the White Station branch and found my shelf: THO – TRE. (At the end of today’s post, I will include a complete list of the books included on my shelf on that day.)
Randomly, I chose my first book from my library shelf project — The Heather Blazing. The story centers around Eamon Redmond, an Irish judge whose life has been plagued by immense loss. As a child, he lost both of his parents. Although still living, he has a decaying relationship with both of his children. The two great loves of his life — his beautiful wife and his childhood home that overlooks the sea — are both facing dire circumstances and will be removed from his world very quickly.
While the novel contains immense tragedy for Eamon, the book is quite beautiful. The descriptions of the Irish landscape are riveting. Toibin weaves a thread of hope throughout the plot and provides an ambiguous conclusion to the novel that allows the reader to determine for himself Eamon’s ultimate outcome. Although I would have never picked up The Heather Blazing on my own, I am happy that I encountered this charming book through my library shelf project.
MY LIBRARY SHELF: THO – TRE
White Station Branch of Memphis Public Library – October 31, 2014
Takedown – Brad Thor
Reboot – Tintera
The Good Thief – Hannah Tinti
The Barbarian Nurseries – Hector Tobar
A Complicated Kindness – Miriam Toews
Brooklyn – Colm Toibin
The Empty Family – Colm Toibin
The Heather Blazing – Colm Toibin
The Masters – Colm Toibin
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
Tomahawk – David Poyer (This book appears to have been shelved incorrectly. Since it was on the shelf on this day, however, I will include it in my reading project.)
It took me a few years to get around to it, but I finally read the final book of the Millennium Trilogy. Since so much time had passed since reading the previous volumes, I had forgotten some of the essential facts of the story. Those memory lapses slowed my reading a bit as well as the fact that I was battling (yet another) sinus infection while getting through the novel.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story more than the previous books. In The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the focus turns to finding justice for the mistreatment of Lisbeth Salander. While the story takes on the feel of a legal thriller, I found myself captivated by the story without the violence that marked the earlier novels. I was a little let down by the book’s ending and found myself wanting a better resolution. Perhaps Larsson is leaving the door open to continue exploring the lives of these characters; I, for one, am done with them.
I don’t regret reading the series, but I’m definitely glad that I’m able to mark these books off of my list and move on to other things. What’s next on my list? I’m in the process of finishing another series and reading Mockingjay, the final book in The Hunger Games saga.
The Dinner is the critically-acclaimed Dutch novel centering around two brothers who lives could not be any more different. One is a powerful politician set to become the next Prime Minister. The other is a history teacher forced to resign his post due to controversial statements in the classroom. The lives of these estranged brothers once again intersect due to the criminal actions of their teenage sons. The two men and their wives meet for dinner to discuss how they plan to handle the situation.
The structure of The Dinner is delicious. Each course of the meal moves the novel into a different section. The appetizers are constructed simplistically and with little depth. As the meal moves into the entree portion, the language becomes rich as does the story itself. The final section of the novel — the dessert — left me unsatisfied and longing for something more.
I simply have to ask one question. What's all the fuss about? Don't misunderstand. I found the book interesting in its concept. Portions of the writing were simply delightful. As a whole, though, the novel felt a bit contrived to me. It seemed as though Koch was attempting to write the second half of the book in a high literary style that was not in agreement with the beauty that opened the work. It almost felt like he decided to try to impress his audience by showing us what we should read instead of giving us more of what drew us into the book in the first place. This was a case of finishing a book because I was so near the end and not because I was drawn into another world by the power of the words.
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Reading for Me 