October Book Report

Oklahoma City, OK October 2026

I finished 14 books last month.

A quote from this month's reading:

“Violent men who are also smart and strong are not completely lost causes. They can learn different ways, if they choose. It’s the weak ones who cause the most damage. Nothing wreaks havoc like a weak man—because they never learn, so they just go blithely on, leaving pain and wreckage behind them.” --Kate Quinn, The Briar Club

Here are the books I finished in October 2026: 

1. Dot Journaling by Rachel Wilkerson Miller (3-stars)
2. The Briar Club by Kate Quinn (5-stars)
3. The House Without the Door by Elizabeth Daly (3.5-stars)
4. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe (audio, 5-stars)
5. Biography: A Very Short Introduction by Hermione Lee (3-stars)
6. The Paper Caper by Kate Carlisle (3-stars)
7. Five by Ilona Bannister (5-stars)
8. Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear (3.5-stars)
9. Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland by Martha Barnett (3-stars)
10. Unto Us a Son is Given by Donna Leon (4-stars)
11. Murders in Volume 2 by Elizabeth Daly (3-stars)
12. The Small Stuff: How to Lead a More Gratifying Life by Ian Bogost (3.5-stars)
13. Between a Roquefort and a Hard Place by Linda Reilly (4-stars)
14. Little Black Book by Kate Carlisle (4-stars)

Long travel days definitely bumped up my finished-book count this month. I got to my goal of 100 books for the year and I finished three 5-star books this month. 

August & September Book Report

Quilt Retreat, September 2026

My last book report was for July. The summer ended in a whirlwind of activities and I am now catching up on things, like posting to this blog. Since the beginning of August I have finished 15 books.

A quote from August's reading:

"Because wellness is simple, this book is simple. It focuses on the six fundamental wellness behaviors that yield the maximum benefits with the least work. 1) Don't be a schmuck. Avoid self-destructive risks. 2) Talk to people. Cultivate family, friends, and other social relations. 3) Expand your mind. Stay mentally sharp. 4) Eat your ice cream. Consume healthy food and drink. 5) Move it! Exercise well and regularly. 6) Sleep like a baby. Get the rest you need.” ― Ezekiel J. Emanuel MD, Eat Your Ice Cream

A quote from September's reading:

“It is the opposite of America: not a colonizer’s canvas cut into political states but ancient kingdoms brought together into one nation. And so the passage from Tuscany into Emilia-Romagna was not like that from South into North Carolina” -- Andrew Sean Greer, Villa Coco

Here are the books I finished in August & September 2026: 

1. Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Rules for a Long and Healthy Life by Ezekiel J. Emanuel (5-stars)
2. Money in the Morgue by Ngaio Marsh (4-stars)
3. A Dilly of a Death by Susan Albert Whittig (4-stars)
4. Unexpected Night by Elizabeth Daly (3-stars)
5. The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor (audiobook, 3-stars)
6. Murder at the Spirit Lounge by Jess Kidd (4-stars)
7. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (audiobook, 5-stars)
8. Deadly Nightshade by Elizabeth Daly (3-stars)
9. 500 Ideas for Small Spaces by Kimberly Selden (4-stars)
10. Alice B Toklas is Missing by Robert Archambeau (3-stars)
11. The Power by Naomi Alderman (3-stars)
12. Cat Got Your Tongs by Victoria Hamilton (4-stars)
13. Masher of Ceremonies by Victoria Hamilton (4-stars)
14. Crushed Velvet by Diane Vallere (3-stars)
15. Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer (4-stars)

I finished 20 Books of Summer -- including a book from my Classics Club list (I still need to write about it).   

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's Top Ten Tuesday theme is Series I want to catch up on. I decided this was a good excuse to assess where I am with the series I had set as a goal to work on this year and see what else I want to add in. This is my list (in the approximate order I hope to finish them).

1. Linda Reilly's Grilled Cheese Mysteries I have read 6 out of the 7 books in this series. [1 remaining]
   
   
2. Vintage Kitchen Mystery series by Victoria Hamilton. There are now 13 books in this series and I have read 11. [2 remaining]
   
   
3. The Bibliophile Mystery series by Kate Carlisle I have read 13 of the 17 adventures of book-restorer Brooklyn Wainwright. [4 remaining]
   
   
4. Commissario Brunetti series by Donna Leon There are 32 books in this series and I have 6 left to read. [6 remaining]
   
   
5. Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear There are 18 books in this series and I have read the first 8. [10 remaining]
   
   
6. China Bayles series by Laura Whitig Albert I have now read 12 of the 29 books in this series and have 4 more queued up as library requests. [17 remaining]
   
   
7. The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovich There are 10 books in this series (I am ignoring all the short in-between ones) and I have read 5 of them. [5 remaining]
   
   
8. Fergusson and Van Alstyne series by Julia Spenser-Fleming I have read 2 of the 10 books in this series. [8 remaining]
   
   
9. Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes I have finished 16 of the 26 books in this series. [10 remaining]
   
   
10. Seaside Knitters Mysteries by Sally Goldenbaum By the end of 2026 there will be 20 books in this series. I have read the first 3. [17 remaining]

July Book Report

Kingston (NH) Community Library
July 2026

I finished 15 books last month.

A quote from this month's reading:

“Childhood friends don't necessarily know you best. I know this. But they do know a version of you best, and that can be such a relief in the harsh reality of adult life; sometimes we need someone who we don't need to explain ourselves to.” ― Annie B. Jones, Ordinary Time

Here are the books I finished in July 2026: 

1. Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put by Annie B. Jones (3-stars)
2. Edam and Weep by Linda Reilly (3-stars)
3. Inside the Creative Studio: Inspiratin and Ideas for Your Art and Craft Space by Cate Coulacos Prato (4-stars)
4. Audition by Katie Kitamura (3-stars)
5. Designing Your New Work Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans (4-stars)
6. Spider Web by Earlene Fowler (4-stars)
7. A Deadly Episode by Anthony Horowitz (3-stars)
8. Indigo Dying by Susan Albert Whittig (4-stars)
9. Murder Your Darlings by Jenna Blum (5-stars)
10. Life: A Love Story by Elizabeth Berg (4-stars)
11. Artists in Residence by Melissa Wyse and Kate Lewis (3-stars)
12. A Calculated Whisk by Victoria Hamilton (3-stars)
13. Journal Sparks by Emily K. Neuburger (4-stars)
14. Moon Spinners by Sally Goldblum (4-stars)
15. The Book Supremacy by Kate Carlisle (4-stars)

I had another good month for reading--especially mystery novels! I have two books left to read for 20 Books of Summer -- something from my Classics Club list and something from my Readers' Advisory list. 

June Book Report

June 2026, Manchester, NH

I finished 13 books last month.

A quote from this month's reading:

“Revelation, someone’s learning something, is what transforms event into story.” -- Tracy Kidder, Good Prose

Here are the books I finished in June 2026: 

1. Lamorna Wink by Martha Grimes (4-stars)
2. Buried in Books by Kate Carlisle (3-stars)
3. Good Prose by Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd (3-stars)
4. Inside the Box by David Epstein (4-stars)
5. State Fair by Earlene Fowler (3-stars)
6. The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict (audio, 4-stars)
7. Every Day I Read by Hwang Bo-Reum (3-stars)
8. Breaking the Mould by Victoria Hamilton (3-stars)
9. The Body in the Belfry by Katherine Hall Page (3-stars)
10. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear (4-stars)
11. Cast Iron Alibi by Victoria Hamilton (4-stars)
12. Of Mutts and Men by Spencer Quinn (4-stars)
13. Bloodroot by Susan Wittig Albert (4-stars)

I had a good month for reading--especially mystery novels! I am well on my way for 20 Books of Summer and I haven't even been to the beach yet.

26 Questions in 2026 (#11)

To kick off the new year the Classics Club posted a list of 26 questions designed to help members consider their relationship with reading classics. I plan to answer one question every few weeks throughout 2026. 

#11 -Favorite biography about a classic author you’ve read, or the biography on a classic author you most want to read, if any?

I love a good biography, and picking a favorite, even when I limit it to just considering biographies of "classic authors" is impossible. Here are 5 literary biographies that I enjoyed:

1. Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford
2. Jane Kenyon: A Literary Life by John H. Timmerman
3. The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene by Richard Greene
4. Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell is This? by Marian Meade
5. Virginia Woolf: A Writers' Life by Lyndall Gordon

On my TBR list are biographies of Barabara Pym, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Dick Francis, Anais Nin, Josephine Tey, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dashiell Hammett, Margaret Wise Brown, E. M. Forster, and Willa Cather. 

20 Books of Summer 2026

The 20 Books of Summer challenge runs from June 1 - August 31, so at this point it is nearly 1/3 over. However, even though I wasn't going to sign up this year I have decided to jump in with a modified approach. AnnaBookBel is once again hosting this lovely event and she says there aren't really rules, so I can't be breaking them. 

This is my plan -- I am making a list of 20 kinds of books I am going to read this summer and will fill in what I read for each type as I go. Every year I make a list of 20 specific books and almost never read any of them -- I am too busy reading 20 books I didn't put on my list. Perhaps this will be more successful. 

1- One book from my Classics Club list -- Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (August)

2- Two books One book from my Readers' Advisory Reading List -- The Body in the Bellfry by Katherine Hall Page (June)

Two books published within the last 12 months
3- Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better by David Epstein (June)
4- Life: A Love Story by Elizabeth Berg (July)

Five works of non-fiction -- maybe from my Nonfiction November TBR list
5- Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better by David Epstein (June)
6- Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction by Tracy Kidder & Richard Todd (June)
7- Every Day I Read by Hwang Bo-Reum (June)
8- Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned while Staying Put by Annie B. Jones
9- Artists in Residence: Seventeen Artists and Their Living Spaces, from Giverny to Casa Azul by Melissa Wyse and Kate Lewis

Six Seven books from the series I am trying to make progress on in 2026 
10- Breaking the Mould by Victoria Hamilton (June)
11- State Fair by Earlene Fowler (June)
12- Buried in Books by Kate Carlisle (June)
13- A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear (June)
14- Cast Iron Alibi by Victoria Hamilton (June)
15- Bloodroot by Susan Wittig Albert (June)

16- A Dilly of a Death by Susan Wittig Albert (August)

Four wildcards -- can be anything from my TBR lists --bonus points if it is a book I already own
17- The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict (June)
18- The Lamorna Wink by Martha Grimes (June)
19- Of Mutts and Men by Spencer Quinn (July)
20- Spider Web by Earlene Fowler (July -- completes the series!)

Every Day I Read

Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books 

by Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars (really 3.5)

From the subtitle I was expecting this to be a "tips-and-tricks" book with ideas for enriching your reading life. Had I read the blurb I would have known better. It is actually a collection of very short essays each of which considers a specific aspect of the author's reading life. She talks about the joys and challenges in her reading life and in most essays discusses specific books that she has read that connect for her to the topic being addressed. 

The author is a young Korean woman and a voracious reader. I was charmed and fascinated by this intimate glimpse into her daily life and her views on the books she has read. I was also challenged to consider my own views on the various topics she covers. Reading multiple books at a time; reading "difficult" books; not finishing a book you started; and visiting the library were some of my favorite of her topics.

She is a collector of quotes--I was also when I was young but have fallen out of the habit. Her expanation of what she gets out of the collecting habit has inspired me to go back to it myself. I was also inspired to add quite a few titles to my TBR list.

Here are some of the quotes that spoke to me:

• "...reading isn't about remembrance but the change that can come from reading a book." (p. 23)
• "And when I see a particularly insightful quote, I sigh in relief. If I hadn't come across this nugget of wisdom, life might have turned out to be completely different." (p. 78)
• "I imagine a line of writers holding hands across time and space, If we can understand how the books are connected, we can read with greater depth." (p. 113)
• "When reading difficult books, have trust in the process and keep going. You'll come to realize no book is too difficult." (p. 197)

This book wasn't what I expected it to be, but it was a fascinating look into the mind and life of a woman living in Korea and finding meaning and guidance in her reading.

May Book Report

May 2026, Hog Back Mountain, Vt.

I finished 9 books last month.

Two quotes from this month's reading:

“Because love is vast. Abundant. Infinite, in fact. And the secret is this: love begets love. The more you love, the more love you have to give.” ― Molly Roden Winter, More

“Never marry a man you wouldn’t want to be divorced from." ― Nora Ephron, I Feel Bad About My Neck 

Here are the books I finished in May 2026: 

1. More: A Memoir of an Open Marriage by Molly Roden Winter (4-stars)

2. The Power in the Middle by Elizabeth O'Brien (4-stars)

3. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron (4-stars)

4. The Operator by Gretchen Berg (4-stars)

5. Tumbling Blocks by Earlean Fowler (3-stars)

6. Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil by Oliver Darkshire (3-stars)

7. Patterns in the Sand by Sally Goldenbaum (4-stars)

8. False Scent by Ngaio Marsh (4-stars)

9. My Dog Tulip by J. R. Ackerley (3-stars)

I have also been browsing my way through 1000 Books to Read Before You Die by James Mustich. I haven't read as many of them as I would have expected, but have found several so far that I want to read. My Dog Tulip was a suggestion from there.