Books in Progress: What I’m Reading Right Now – October 2019

Here’s a bookish problem I never expected to have: the last two months I’ve been reading so many books that I actually ran out of room on the pages for those months in my book journal! I attribute this primarily to the fact that I have finally embraced audiobooks with my whole heart, which has led to me being able to squeeze in more great stories than ever. Especially since I’ve been spending a lot of time driving lately. Audiobooks make extra car time much more bearable.

So now the question is how do I solve my book journal problem? My temporary solution is to kick the kids out. Currently I have a small section of my page dedicated to the read aloud chapter books we enjoy together at bedtime, but I’m planning to let them have their own page from now on, or possibly just stop recording them altogether. Is it really important to keep track of all the books we’ve read? Do you write down the books you share with your kiddos?

As for a long term solution, I might have to switch to a different journal, or possibly change the format I use for recording in my current one (which still has plenty of pages left). For some reason using the back side of the page just doesn’t seem like an option to me. I’m not sure why, but it’s really important to some part of my brain for all the data from a given month to stay on one page. I know it’s weird, I don’t care.

Thanks for letting me talk out this problem, and feel free to share any good solutions you might have in the comments! In the meantime, here are some of the books that are filling up my journal pages.

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Just Finished:

Talking to Strangers

Malcolm Gladwell’s newest book, Talking to Strangers is a look at how we interact with people we don’t know and the sometimes serious implications of those interactions. He takes a deep dive into terrible events we are all very familiar with, ranging from the Jerry Sandusky trial to Sylvia Plath’s suicide to the Bernie Madoff financial scandal. All of these have something in common: we don’t know what we don’t know when it comes to dealing with strangers. I listened to it on audio and I HIGHLY recommend this format. Gladwell narrates it himself and it was produced as an ‘enhanced’ audiobook, which means it includes music and interviews. I was especially interested in his take on the Brock Turner assault case from a few years ago. He examines that situation in a way I hadn’t heard before.

Yours Truly, Thomas

This is such a sweet, fun love story! I can’t wait to go back and read Rachel Fordham’s first book, The Hope of Azure Springs, set in the same place as this one. It follows a young woman who works at the dead letter office and makes it her mission to check up on Thomas, whose heartbreaking letters to a lost love keep finding their way to her desk. A lot of the story is told through letters and I thought it was a really endearing romance with a hint of danger to raise the stakes.

Strands of Truth

This is probably the best book Colleen Coble has published in the last few years. There were so many interesting elements to this story, from marine biology to a dangerous, decades old mystery surrounding two half sisters who only just met. It is action-packed with some romance woven in, and it kept me guessing right to the end. I didn’t see the bad guy coming!

In Progress:

The Altitude Journals

The Altitude Journals is a memoir by Dave Mauro, documenting his trips to climb the highest summits on each of the seven continents. He starts out as an unassuming middle-aged financial advisor at a low point in his life, going through a divorce and other personal trials, until an invitation from his brother-in-law to climb Denali sets him on an unexpected trajectory. I’m about 80% of the way into this one right now and I’m learning so much about what it takes physically, mentally, and financially to summit these world class mountains.

Knox

I want to be best friends with Susan May Warren and ask her how she writes such addictive books. I finally detoxed from my obsession with her Montana Rescue series and now I’m hooked on these. Knox is the first book in her newest series focusing on one of five brothers. He meets Kelsey Jones, the lead singer for an up and coming country girl group and is immediately smitten with her. But Kelsey has issues in her past that rise up to haunt both of them, forcing her to lean on Knox as she struggles to move on and putting both of them in danger.

Dracula

This October I took it upon myself to read some creepy classics. Last week I finished Frankenstein (which I didn’t love), and this week I’m reading Dracula, which is turning out to be far creepier. I’m only a few pages in, but so far this is the best scary read I’ve picked up.

Up Next:

The Painted Castle

I’ve mentioned this one before in my list of anticipated fall releases, so I’m super excited to have it sitting soon my nightstand. As soon as I finish Knox I’m going to dive into this time-slip novel set in an English castle. I really admire Kristy Cambron’s talent for linking together three separate stories as cohesively as she did in the last two Lost Castle novels so I can’t wait to start reading!

What the Dog Saw

Honestly? I have no idea what this book is about, but I did know that I like Malcolm Gladwell and I needed an audiobook to listen to in the car tomorrow. I’ll let you know what I think once I get my bearings with this one. Do you have any authors that you will always read, no questions asked? Don’t let me down this time, Malcolm.

What have you been reading lately? Let me know in the comments and head over to Modern Mrs. Darcy to see even more book recommendations on her monthly quick lit link-up.