Ok, this is a first. I didn’t finish a single book in August. I was feeling stressed about this, but actually I am ok with it. I had a lot going on! I was getting settled in a new country, figuring out asynchronous remote work, traveling to see friends and new places, and generally just very busy. My brain didn’t have the space to listen to or read books. I did listen to many of the books I started and failed to finish in July, but just didn’t finish anything.
So I’ll use this post to talk about what I am reading and what’s up next, and other book related things. One big change I am making, is trying to move away from Audible. I don’t feel like I can fully divorce myself from Amazon in general yet, but I am trying to do what I can. I have used all my current audible credits and have my account on pause. I have used software to download all my books. I have set up an account with Libro.fm (if you’d like an invite, let me know!) to support small bookstores and also get DMF free audiobooks going forward.
For now, here are all the books I currently have “in progress”:
- Middle Spoon by Alejandro Varela is a book I had such high hopes for, but honestly, I started this back in MAY and it was so disappointing, I haven’t continued it. I am unsure if I will DNF or pick it back up. This is another queer poly story but it’s epistolary, which I typically enjoy, but was not expecting from this novel. The format and plot are very different from what I expected and I chatted with someone else who felt the same way!
- I won a copy of The Hill by Harriet Clark from a giveaway and it was tough to get into and I just couldn’t be drawn in. This is one I think I will officially DNF and not pick back up, but we’ll see.
- When I say I waited months for a copy of The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, I think it was 6 or 7? only to honestly DNF it…again, I may come back to this when I am in a better/different headspace, but I simply could not get into or follow it. I think I need to read a book like this in a physical copy.
- I will finish this, it’s just been one I am picking up and putting down a lot, but seeing as how the series has 17 books and Love Over Scotland is just what, the third? I am ok with it taking some time! I am still loving the story and the people that Alexander McCall Smith has created here.
- And we’ve made it to my current read, The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict. I love Benedict and her novelizations of real historical women and this is no exception. The Mitford sisters were real people who were socially and politically active in the interwar period and one of them even had an affair with Hitler. They’re a fascinating bunch and I am really enjoying this one!
My next up will be the first book in a series that a friend recommended to me, The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless. I know nothing about it yet but she also recommended CJ Archer’s books with The Watchmakers Daughter series and she’s known me almost my whole life, so I trust her!
As it stands today, I have finished 60 books this year and my goal is still 100. I think I can make it if I buckle down – The Mitford Affair will make 61, so onward!
-M
