It's been a while since I posted....time got away and life happens so....better late than never!
It's officially Fall so of course I am going to talk about my summer reading and how that went. My summer reading goal of getting to all my library holds didn't go as well as I hoped. Different books arrived and I got distracted by a new book, or one on my Kindle, but hey, I'm still reading.
Of the original titles on my list beginning in June I have read nine and a half. Yeah...the half book is Brawler as I read more than 50% but didn't finish it out.
Overall I did read sixteen books from June to the end of August.
Five of those were from my Classic Club list.
Here are the titles I managed from the original list. Five fiction and four nonfiction books.
Under Water by Tara Menon (buddy read with Susan)
Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubise (I liked this enough to purchase another of her books)
Whistler by Ann Patchett - Favorite 🏆 (buddy read with Susan)
This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman
Believe by Jeremy Egner Nonfiction
Priceless by Robert Wittman Nonfiction
Best Dog in the World: Essays on Love Nonfiction
Strangers by Belle Burden Nonfiction (buddy read with Susan)
Two DNF
The News From Dublin by Colm Toibin - I like his novels way better. Give me Brooklyn, Long Island and Nora Webster any day.
Brawler by Lauren Groff - I read over half of this one. Short stories aren't usually my thing. The first one was brutally sad. Since I read more than half the book I suppose I don't have to count it as DNF, but I will.
Roaring into fall I finished two more for my 2026 Nonfiction Reading Challenge hosted by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out. Will post that in a few days.
It's just been a while since I was on the keyboard and wanted to do an update. Tomorrow I go to an allergist for testing to see what I should avoid in the future. Yea, two hours of needles! But I want to avoid that Prednisone in the future so...let's see what is going on.
Hope all is well in your world.
Sharing with Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon.
I hope you get over the allergy test quickly and find results. I took one as a kid and was allergic to everything in the yard (Ha!) and cats and dust but no food, yay. You still read lots this summer -- and I appreciated the ones we read together. I think we have 3 more to go for fall, yay. You have me thinking about Brawler -- I still have it on my List -- so I wonder if it will work or not for me. I'm usually Not a short story person either but I just wanted to see what she was thinking about. Hmm. Thx for the update.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan, I expect this testing to reveal mollusks and crustaceans, maybe some preservatives. I think the results are given the same day so, tomorrow I'll know.
DeleteBy the way, I didn't dislike Brawler and that first story is powerful and a bit sad. Good writing. I think I wasn't much in the mood for the short stories.
It's great that you had such a good reading summer. I enjoyed Whistler so much that I recommended it for our book club. It will be interesting to see what others think of it. And I somehow missed your post about Believe. I shall go read it now.
ReplyDeleteDeb, Whistler was excellent and I think it will make for good discussions in a book club. One of her best, in my opinion. Believe was great if you area Ted Lasso fan. The format was intereasting in it looked more like interviews but I could picture every scene they talked about.
DeleteYou had a good summer of reading and I love that you and Susan have managed so many buddy reads! My W&P slow read has wiped out my buddy reading capability this year. It's been such a good experience and now I'm starting to think about whether I want to do something similar for 2027 or go back to "normal" reading. I see it's finally starting to cool down a little in FL. You must be getting so excited about your trip!
ReplyDeleteJoAnn, the reading was good for summer but I sure deviated from the list of books. Probably could have gotten them all if I didn't pick up new publications.
DeleteFall reading will be from my established list for sure. It was nice to get some of the classics read as well, even though they weren't on my original goal list.
You could probably do something like a W&P, a big tome, and take it slowly, and still read new books as they come out. Oh yes, only 18 days or so until we get to Nebraska! Excited.
Looks like a good summer of reading.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the allergy testing. I've done tests followed shots three times in my life (age 8, age 28, age 48 -- well, it wasn't quite that exact, but close). They helped every time!
Not only do individuals change what we're allergic to overtime, but they change what they test for.
The last time, we discovered that I'm allergic to cedar pollen and that's why I was so miserable in late-February. They used to thing that cedar pollen wasn't something that you could be allergic to because it's too large.
Joy, I did end up reading quite a bit, just didn't follow my list.
DeleteI had not heard of a cedar pollen allergy, did you need ot take shots for it? We have someting called a Callery Pear tree that blooms in Spring. It's gorgeous and they are all over this neighborhood but I have to take Allegra for the constant sneezing and swollen eyes.
I had to have the full workup of allergy shots done a number of years ago and I still remember it with dread. Turns out I was horribly allergic to dust mites, cats, ragweed hickory and elm pollen as well as a handful of other things. I did shots for a few years and it really helped though I don't miss them. I take Allegra every day now and Zyrtec at night when things get bad and everything has been more manageable. It was a long process to get everything under control though. You got some great reading done! I think I would have DNF'd the Groff book as well. I like short stories as well but brutally sad is definitely not for me.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, you really had quite the workup for testing. I'm sure you don't miss those injections! I take Allegra for the heavy pollen season and that helps. Yesterday I would have bet money it was a seafood allergy but it's coconut, of all things!
DeleteYou did quite well, Tina! I'm interested in the Allegra Goodman book, as well as Strangers. Hope all went well with the allergy appointment.
ReplyDeleteLes, thank you! This time my goal list is going to be just that, a list of books I had been pplanning to read at some point. I have a list started but I also wanted to add a particular author like you have done in the past. I was thinking about Anna Quindlen. Still brewing on that.
DeleteFour non-fiction titles in one summer, that's my kind of reading list! Priceless especially caught my eye. The true stories behind recovering stolen art sound more exciting than most novels. I hope the allergy test went well and gave you some useful answers.
ReplyDeleteDiana, if you like the stolen art stories I recommend the Art Thief by Michael Finkle, I think it was better than Priceless. Thank you, about the allergy test. It was coconut as a culprit!
DeleteI think you’ve done well, congratulations!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Shelleyrae! If I complete the challenge this month I may still add to the grazing category before forming my last post.
DeleteEnjoyed reading about your reading stats for some reason. But don't talk to me about library holds. I've got so many books right now that are due in 3, 4, 5, 6 days and people are waiting so they can't be renewed. Yet I'm too stressed out to read any of them so the days keep ticking by. lol It's a vicious cycle.
ReplyDeleteJinjer, I know that vicious cycle! I usually look to see how many people are waiting on a book and if it's a long list (like 64 holds), I try and get that one read. Otherwise I won;t get it back for months. If only 2 or 3 people are waiting for the book I just turn it in because I would get it back sooner. If that all makes sense :-)
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