July is ending in just a few hours, and I’m feeling the pressure when it comes to all the things I wanted to do this Summer (or this month, truth be told, but I think it’s too late for that). It has cooled down by a few degrees here, so that helps. Especially if you think of the gray skies as being full of rain clouds, and not wildfire smoke.
That’s a dark and not-readerly direction, eh? Let’s see if I can get back on track.
This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.
The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:
What are you currently reading?
Today I’m diving into the ARC of The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston, and I hope it’s half as good as it looks. I’m also listening to the very fun and relatable Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out by Shannon Reed, read by Paige McKinney on audiobook.
What did you recently finish reading?
I just finished J. Brandon Lowry’s The Glass Frog, a charming little read, and Midnight Riot/Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith on audio—which was as fun to revisit as I expected.
What do you think you’ll read next?
My next book should be The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong and my next audiobook should be What’s Eating Jackie Oh by Patricia Park, read by Ami Park. I didn’t mean to pick a theme there, but I seem to have done so.
What’s the end of July look like for you? How’re you doing on any Summer Reading Goals?
allysonyj
I made the mistake of picking up a Larry McMurtry, “Some Can Whistle” from the book cart yesterday, glanced at the first page, and was hooked. Sometime after 11PM last night, I forced myself to put it down.
One of the books I had been reading was McMurtry’s “Sin Killer”, which is not a page turner in the same way. I think McMurtry was trying to pull off something like Mark Twain’s western stories here, but the humor doesn’t quite come off. This is supposed to be volume 1 of a “Berrybender Saga”, but I’m not sure I’ll make it to volume 2. McMurtry has his highs and lows.
Also put aside A.S. Byatt’s “Ragnarok” which lacks the drama of the Neil Gaiman version, but I’ll probably finish it, as it is short. And still not getting anywhere with Ruth Ozecki’s latest. I may not finish “The Last Outlaws” about Butch Cassidy and friends, as I’m not learning much I didn’t know already.
Next I will read Kristin Hannah’s “The Women” for a book club, if I can get a copy. The library waiting lists are incredibly long – maybe Hoopla will do the trick. (Do you notice that I don’t buy books?)