Books in Progress: What I’m Reading Right Now – October 2017

It’s already the middle of October? A. that’s crazy, and B. that means it’s time to tell y’all what’s up in my reading world this month. I’ve been reading like a mad woman the last few weeks, squeezing it in even more than I normally do. Why? Two reasons.

The first reason is that I’m trying my best to read enough Christmas/winter related books to be able to formulate a comprehensive list for you guys to peruse on December 1st. That means reading Christmas books in October (actually I started in September, if you recall from last month’s Books in Progress post). But I still have to keep up with my weekly review reading and my personal goal of completing this list by the end of the year, too.

The other reason I’m reading extra right now is because next month is November. Not sure why that’s significant? Here’s a little blurb I wrote at the beginning of NaNoWriMo last year, but the short version is that November is National Novel Writing Month and I’m trying to get ahead on my reviews and other posts now so that I will have more time to write next month. I completed the 50K word goal last November (yay me!!) but then I only added like 2K after that. Since 75K words is kind of the minimum for the genre I write in I really need to add about 30K more words to have a complete first draft of this manuscript, so that’s my goal for this year instead of the full 50K.

This post contains affiliate links. Read more about that here.

To summarize: a book a week for reviews + checking them off my classics list + plus prepping for the Christmas list + trying to get ahead for NaNoWriMo = a LOT of reading. Seriously, it’s been a lot.

So with all that in mind, here’s what I’m reading right now and what I have in mind for the near future:

Reading Right Now: A Room With A View
Edward Morgan Forester

This is obviously the one from my classics list. It’s not exactly what I expected so far and I’m not sure what I think is going to happen or how it’s going to end. It’s a little bit hard for me to follow for some reason, but I’m hoping if I stick with it it will get easier.

Reading Right Now: Christmas at the Beach
Wendy Wax

This is just a novella, thus a pretty quick read. It’s part of a series of novels set at the beach, and so far I can definitely tell that the characters have a lot of history together that you would be familiar with if you had read the other books in the series – which I have not. So I’m not sure if this will make it on the Christmas list or not yet. I’m going to finish it before I decide.

Reading Right Now: A Quilt for Christmas
Sandra Dallas

I read The Last Midwife by Sandra Dallas last year and really loved it, so when I discovered that she had a Christmas book I immediately had high hopes that it would be great for this year’s list. I started it last night and it has a similar feel to The Last Midwife, so that’s a promising sign for me.

Next in Line: The Four Tendencies
Gretchen Rubin

My husband actually bought the audiobook of this one to listen to on his way to work, I think with the suspicion that I really wanted it too, which was sweet of him. Now I’m waiting patiently for him to finish it so I can listen without him losing his spot. I’m a big Gretchen Rubin fan and familiar with the four tendencies framework, so I can’t wait to dig deeper into the types and discuss them with my husband (like our own tiny little book club, isn’t that cute?).

Next in Line: The Crooked Path
Irma Joubert

I’m planning to start this one at the beginning of next week, but I’m already hooked on the pretty cover. The Crooked Path releases on November 7th, and I will have a review up for you guys on November 9th as part of the book tour organized by TLC Book Tours, so tune back in then to read more!

Next in Line: The Elusive Miss Ellison
Carolyn Miller

I don’t know if you’ve noticed I haven’t reviewed much historical fiction in the last month or so. Well, I’m ready to dive back into my favorite genre with this book. I scored it for free for Kindle a few months, but it has great reviews and sounds interesting so I can’t wait to read it!

Next in Line: Too Far Down
Mary Connealy

Long time Connealy fan here. She’s so funny and I love all the outlandish adventures her characters go through. This one is the third in a series (she has many series, but this is her latest) and I’m greatly anticipating this one arriving in my mailbox soon so I can devour it.

If I can finish these before November I’ll feel like I’m in decent shape to meet all my goals. Even still, there’s a good chance I might end up like this by the end of November:

More importantly, what are YOU reading right now? I would love to hear about it in the comments or anywhere else you might find me  online!