The Clocks by Agatha Christie (★★★☆☆)

Print • Owned (Barnes & Noble) • Mystery • 1963

Short synopsis: When typist-for-hire Sheila Webb arrives at a seaside house for a mysterious appointment and discovers a corpse surrounded by six clocks set to different times, Hercule Poirot is called in to unravel a bizarre murder that no one can explain.

This synopsis is slightly misleading because Hercule Poirot isn’t really a major part of this book, which is probably why it wasn’t one of my favorite Christie mysteries. I need more Poirot in my life, please and thank you! What I did like about this novel wasn’t even the mystery (it was a little confusing at times, tbh), but the characters. Sheila and her cohort of typist friends—that was so fun! It’s part of our history that I knew nothing about: how people hired typists to help write novels, organize notes, etc. I would have loved that job, personally. Ha! As is typical with Christie novels, the cast of characters is vast, and when the murderer was revealed, I had to go back through the beginning of the book because I honestly didn’t even know who was being talked about. So… not the most memorable of Christie’s books, but they can’t all be winners!

Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line by Elle Cosimano (★★★★☆)

Audiobook • Libby • Mystery • 2026

Short synopsis: When Finlay Donovan’s live-in nanny, Vero, is accused of stealing her former sorority’s treasury funds and threatened by a mysterious stalker, Finlay heads to Maryland to uncover the real thief and clear her best friend’s name before she ends up in prison.

These novels are getting increasingly ridiculous, but for some reason, I just don’t care! I love them so much. They are fun, easy to follow, and clever. I adore the relationships, especially between Finlay and Vero. There are some romantic entanglements going on behind the scenes (not between Vero and Finlay, but can you imagine?!), but I think the heart of this series is the power of female friendship. Finlay and Vero will truly do anything for each other, and they have such a healthy, strong friendship. The novel’s mystery had high stakes (prison for Vero!), so I was definitely invested in seeing how it would play out. At times, Vero’s disregard for her house arrest frustrated me (as a goody-two-shoes, rule-follower!), but then again, I’m not reading these for relatability. They are pure entertainment, and that’s what Cosimano delivered once again.

Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel (★★★★☆ 1/2)

Print • Library • Contemporary Fiction • 2026

Short synopsis: At 77, Pepper Mills is stunned to discover she’s pregnant after moving into a retirement community, and as the bizarre news attracts media attention, activists, and researchers, she must navigate the unexpected choices—and lack of control—that come with becoming a very unlikely mother.

Laurie Frankel is a hit-or-miss author for me. There’s This is How It Always Is, which is one of my all-time favorite books. And then there’s Family Family, her 2024 release, which I DNF-ed. So when I heard the synopsis for Enormous Wings, color me apprehensive. I was very skeptical because, well, did I really want to read a book about a pregnant septuagenarian? Turns out, I really did! This is a book about pregnancy, motherhood, the choice to be a mother, and what it means to be a spectacle. Who gets access to your story? What do you owe to the public? This book has a very specific point of view, especially considering Pepper is living in present-day Texas, where abortion is illegal. She would have to travel to another state to obtain an abortion if that’s what she wanted, and there’s a lot to be said in this story about what it means to have this choice taken away.

Pepper is a fascinating woman. She is smart, funny, and kind, but she’s also a woman in her late 70s, so a lot confuses her. Sometimes she has no problem standing up for herself; other times, she stays silent because she doesn’t know the right move in a situation she’s not used to. She is a fully realized woman who made me nostalgic for my own grandma, especially because she was such a wonderful grandma to her grandkids. Pepper is the kind of character that will stick with me for a long while.

What are you reading?

August 15, 2026 – My fur-siblings have no concept of personal space.

August 16, 2026 – Today, Bri and I recorded our 100th podcast episode and I took zero pictures. Instead, when I got home from a busy day, I collapsed on the couch with my book and my cat. (It’s only upon looking at this photo close up that I see a dirty word, so… erm… sorry?)

August 17, 2026 – She is perfection, no notes.

August 18, 2026 – Did I realize right before bed that I forgot to take a photo today so I snapped a quick one of Eloise on my bed? Yes, yes I did.

August 19, 2026 – I felt cute, so I decided to take a selfie.

August 20, 2026 – LOOK AT THEM. I stepped into my office this morning to get my workday started and found them waiting for me. I squealed very loudly about how goddamn cute they are and took a photo. They stayed in their positions for the first hour of my workday and it was so sweet!

August 21, 2026 – Bedazzling book club! This was a lot of fun and not as hard as I expected. Is my bedazzling perfect? No. Could I have added more gems? Absolutely. But this was a good first try, and maybe it’s time for me to get my own bedazzling kit?

Three confessions

1) Yesterday was my 13-year work anniversary! Can you believe that I started as a scared 25-year-old and look at me now! It’s uncommon for someone to stay at an agency for as long as I have, but what can I say? I love the stability and freedom that comes with being one of the OGs.

2) Ever since I moved into my apartment in October, I’ve had a short phone cord next to my bed. It’s rather annoying because it means I can’t use my phone in bed, especially if it needs to be plugged in. It took me almost an entire year to realize: Get a longer charging cord, Steph! Such a simple solution. It makes me wonder what other things are causing friction in my life that could be solved this easily.

3) This weekend, Bri and I recorded our 100th podcast episode! I can’t believe we made it to this milestone. Most podcasts only do a few episodes, and while ours isn’t even scratching three figures in terms of listenership, it’s small but mighty. And we have fun with it, which is the most important thing.

Three books I recently bought

1) In Every Possible Way by Alicia Thompson – I bought this at Book + Bottle two weekends ago because I’ve been intrigued to read a romance by this author. She’s local!

2) The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel – Book + Bottle had a bunch of Kristin Harmel books and I haven’t read anything by her. When I looked at her books on Goodreads, they all had great reviews. I chose this one because the premise enticed me!

3) The Unknown by Riley Sager – This was an add-on with my Book of the Month box because I can’t help myself when it comes to Riley Sager. Plus, the cover is gorgeous!

Three things I’ve said to my cats this week

1) “Oh, is it time for special yum-yums?” I walked out of the bathroom one evening and they were both sitting on the dining room table, staring at me. I knew what that meant! (They love their Sheba Meaty Sticks, so I split one between them a few times a week.)

2) “Are you having hammock time???” Imagine this in a high-pitched voice and accompanied by me collapsing next to my cat to pet her as she sleeps soundly in the hammock by the window.

3) “But why? Why are you so cute?! Who allowed this to happen?!” I say this to my girls a few times a day. At least.

Three more audiobook thoughts

1) Listening speed – I listen to all of my audiobooks on 1.7 speed, but I’ll drop it down to 1.5 if the narrator has an accent (mostly because my ears just need the words slowed down a bit so I can understand the plot). I never listen to my books on 1x speed anymore. I used to, but now that feels so slow.

2) Balancing podcasts and audiobooks – Many people said that they don’t listen to audiobooks because they have a large podcast queue and yes, I can relate! When I had a commute, I would use that time for audiobooks. Listening at a faster speed meant I could usually get through one book a week with my 30-minute (one way) commute. And then 2020 happened and figuring out how to work audiobooks back into my life was difficult! How I do it these days is that in the morning, I finish whatever podcast I had going the day before and then turn on my audiobook. The goal is to finish 2 hours of the audiobook before I can return to my podcasts. (And since I’m listening at 1.7 speed, 2 hours is just over an hour of “real” listening time.) I don’t always do this, as sometimes there are podcast episodes that are calling to me, so I miss a day, but I generally come back to it the following day.

3) Romance novels on audio – One thing I forgot to mention in my post is that one of the genres I refuse to listen to on audio is romance! Y’all, I just can’t do it. I can’t listen to all the sex scenes. No, no, no, no, no. It makes me cringe just thinking about it! (If the romance is by an author that I know writes closed-door romances, I might attempt it, but I still get weirded out by all the love talk.)

Three things I’m doing this weekend

1) Book club – We weren’t able to sync up our schedules to meet up for book club in July, so this is a July/August book club meeting. Our activity for the evening is bedazzling! I may bring my pill container to bedazzle because this is what book club for elder millennials is all about these days.

2) A writing date with Mikaela – I am making lots of progress in my novel! There have been weeks where I struggle to write 500 words and weeks where I am typing away like a madwoman, completely delighted by my characters. I am currently in a state of flow with my novel, so I’m excited to get back to it.

3) Watching a movie – I have a goal to watch two movies this month and I have watched exactly zero movies. It will either be Sleepless in Seattle or The Martian, just need to figure out what I’m in the mood for.

Three things on my to-do list

1) Finalize our New England itinerary – I like to create very detailed travel itineraries (as in, “8:00am – leave hotel and go to SPECIFIC RESTAURANT for breakfast, 9:30am – order Uber to go to THIS SPECIFIC LOCATION). It’s just what I need to feel settled and confident as an anxious traveler! I have a draft of our vacation, but I’m created separate tabs in the spreadsheet for each day, which makes my little organizer heart very happy.

2) Deep clean the girls’ feeders – I wash out the bowl and wipe down the feeder a few times a week, but I only do a deep clean every quarter. It entails taking apart the entire system, washing everything by hand, and then leaving it out to air dry before putting it back together.

3) Write some postcards – I’m a little behind on my snail mail goal for this year, so I need to catch up in August!

Three things we’re doing on our New England road trip

1) Doing a tour of Fenway – Are we baseball fans? No. But are we excited to tour this iconic park? Hell yes! (This was a specific ask from my mom, so her wish is my command.)

2) Visiting Acadia National Park – I am so excited about this. The views are going to be insane, especially in early October!

3) Driving through Smuggler’s Notch in Vermont – It’s one of those quintessential fall road trip experiences, so of course we’re doing it!

Three things on my Etsy wish list

1) Postcards – I love finding fun postcards on Etsy, and I’m starting to run low with my current stack so it’s time to peruse my Etsy favorites to figure out which batch I want to order this time around.

2) iPhone cases – I think I’m ready for a new phone case, and Etsy never lets me down. I have my eye on this black cat/rainbow phone case!

3) Lots of great feminist tees – Childless cat lady? Read books and fight the patriarchy? Stay woke? I have lots of options!

Three things that made me happy this week

1) Snickers pumpkins being back in stock! We are so back, you guys.

2) An excellent mid-year review

3) Watching Lila go nuts over the cat grass I bought. She was so aggressive with it that the pot kept falling off the table!

Three recent searches

1) “claire foy” – she was mentioned on this week’s Patreon episode on The Popcast and I was like, “Why does that name sound so familiar?” Turns out, she played Queen Elizabeth in the first few seasons of The Crown!

2) “what’s a dopamine deficit in relation to ADHD?” – yes, I’m still doing a lot of research and rabbit-holing about ADHD. Do I have ADHD? I have no idea, but at the very least, the strategies that work for people with ADHD resonate so well with me.

3) “why do my airpods keep pinging?” – This happens from time to time when I’m charging my AirPods. Turns out, it’s due to the outlet. I switched to a different outlet and no pinging!

What’s something you’re doing this weekend? What made you happy this week?

Last week, Sarah’s Bookshelves Live had a really fun Patreon episode where she and a co-host ran through a list of questions about their audiobook listening routines, and well, I couldn’t help myself. I loved the discussion so much that I copied down the questions to answer them myself!

Why would someone choose to read an audiobook over the written word? (Or, another way of saying this: When do I intentionally choose audiobooks over the written word?)

I choose audiobooks to get more reading time into my life. I would read a lot fewer books if I wasn’t consuming 3-4 audiobooks every month. These days, around 33% of my reading life is audiobooks. And for someone who reads 100+ books every year, that’s a significant number of audiobooks! I’ve also found that I prefer listening to audiobooks for certain genres. For example, I like to listen to dense nonfiction books and character-driven novels on audio. In print, I’d likely DNF these books because they can feel a little tedious to read. When I’m listening while taking a walk or making dinner or doing chores, it’s a lot easier to consume something that may not be rapturously exciting.

There are certain types of books, too, that I intentionally choose to listen to. I love listening to memoirs (especially if they are read by the author, although not all authors should read their memoirs and that’s a hill I will die on). I love oral histories on audio because they usually have a full cast and it feels like listening to a dramatic play! And I really love listening to series that would otherwise fall to the wayside if I had to pick up each book in print. I only have so much space for print books in my reading life, so I want to make sure I devote it to the stuff I really want to read with my eyes. I’m all caught up with the Finlay Donovan series thanks to audio, and the only way I’ve stayed current with the Three Pines series is by listening to the audiobooks. (Although I still haven’t read the latest book – oops!)

Anyway, long story short: I read audiobooks because it allows me to consume so many more books than I would otherwise, and because certain genres and formats just work better for my brain on audio.

Do you experience books differently in audio than in print?

The answer to this is a resounding, of course! While I’m not here to debate if audiobooks “count” as reading (GTFO with that outdated opinion, thank you very much), I do think the way our brain processes audiobooks vs the written word is different. In some ways, it makes the reading experience so much richer. Listening to all of the Emma M. Lion books on audio has been the best treat for my ears. I’m excited to read them in print soon and see how that changes my relationship with the series (if it does at all!). I’ve also had experiences where I start an audiobook and quickly discover I need to pick up the print book. This just happened with the latest book in the Lady Sherlock series. I’ve done most of these books on audio, but I had a lot of trouble keeping track of all the characters and plotlines in the most recent one, so I DNF-ed it on audio and now have to figure out how to work it into my reading schedule.

I think there is something to be said for the fact that sometimes I don’t listen as closely as I should and miss details from time to time. But that happens with print books, too, because I tend to skim over long descriptive paragraphs. I think our brains take in information differently, whether orally or visually, and that’s also why audiobooks don’t work at all for some people. (It’s also why audiobooks can be a great option for auditory learners!) So yes, some types of books would probably be better to read with my eyes so I can really take in the information and slow myself down while reading, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t get enough out of an audiobook to understand what it was about or how it impacted me.

What are you doing that you can multitask and pay attention to your audiobook?

There are so many things I can do while listening to my audiobook:

• Work (I have certain tasks that don’t require a ton of brainpower)
• Making breakfast/lunch/dinner
• My morning and evening routines
• Going for walks
• Doing chores
• Playing a game on my phone
• Coloring
• Driving
• Puttering around my apartment

There are certain instances where I won’t listen to an audiobook. I have a Bluetooth shower speaker, but I never listen to my audiobook while showering because the sound isn’t great to pay attention to dialogue and such. It’s fine to half-listen to a podcast, but I don’t enjoy listening to audiobooks in the shower. I also don’t listen to audiobooks at the gym. I just feel like I can’t concentrate as well as I want to!

And I should also say that I live by myself so I don’t have to worry about anyone else getting annoyed by my constant audiobook listening. I’m sure my audiobook listening time would vastly decrease if I started living with someone else!

How do you choose your audiobooks?

This one is easy, and it’s my most uncomplicated method of choosing books. But there’s still a bit of logistics involved because I can’t make anything too easy for me, right?! I flip through three different types of books every month:

• Fiction
• Mystery/thriller
• Nonfiction

I try to always go in this order as I choose my books. The last book I read was a mystery (the latest Finlay Donovan, in fact!), so my next audiobook will be nonfiction. What I’ll do is open up Goodreads, go to my “want-to-read” list, and sort by date. I’ll start at the top or bottom of my list (depending on what book I chose previously—Finlay Donovan was near the bottom, so I’ll start from the top this time) and then make my way down the list until my eyes land on a book that falls into my genre parameters and interests me at this moment in time. Then I’ll check my audiobook apps (Libby and Hoopla) to see if the book is available as an audiobook on either one. I’ll also take a gander at the length because I am pretty averse to reading anything over 13 hours. As long as it’s available and doesn’t have a wait, I’ll snatch it up! If the wait is only a few weeks, I’ll get on the holds list and find a different book to read while I wait. Or, if it seems like a super popular book and I’m desperate to listen to it on audio, I’ll check Spotify. I get 15 audiobook hours every month with Spotify, so as long as I haven’t hit my limit, there’s a good chance I’ll just pick it up there.

However, I will say I broke my routine when I started reading the Emma M. Lion books. I had to! I wanted to read one right after the other, but I made myself read one Emma, then one non-Emma, then one Emma, then one non-Emma. I also forced myself to take a month-long break in May and July because I didn’t want to read the series too fast! Alas, I am now on the final book (for now) so I will be back to my regularly structured audiobook routine starting next week.

How do you rate an audiobook – are you rating the narration/performance, the book itself, or both?

I honestly try not to factor the narration/performance into my audiobook ratings. If the narration is particularly great, I might bump it up half a star because it makes the reading experience so much richer. But if the narration didn’t work for me, I try not to dock the book itself because of it. A great example of this is Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. The audiobook narrator was awful. So monotone, and it didn’t make any part of the reading experience richer. But I loved that book so much (and I know I would have DNF-ed it in print), so I suffered through the terrible narration and still gave the book 5 stars. Not all authors have any sort of say when it comes to the audiobook narrator and how it’s performed, so I don’t want to use that as a reason to give a book a bad rating.

Do you listen to audiobooks? Why or why not?

August 8, 2026 – A lovely brunch date with my friend Lynn! We took a stroll over to Book + Bottle afterwards since Lynn had a gift card burning a hole in her pocket. And maybe I bought some books, too, to support a local indie bookstore. It’s called giving back???

August 9, 2026 – Look at this majestic girl! A few times a month, I wake up with back pain from my sleeping position. Thirty minutes with the heating pad and a hit of Advil help a lot. When I’m done with the heating pad, I turn it off but leave it on the couch for the girls to enjoy.

August 10, 2026 – Should I warn you now that this post is mainly cat photos? It wasn’t a thrilling week! Anyway, Lila snoozed on top of the couch next to me while I took a quick siesta on Monday afternoon. She’s my little napping buddy!

August 11, 2026 – Eloise loves a freshly made bed. I find her snoozing away on a daily basis!

August 12, 2026 – Hello, you majestic girl. This was taken after a nap on Thursday. (I was so tired this week!)

August 13, 2026 – I had to bring in my doormat while they were pressure-washing our building, and the girls love rolling around on it for some reason. This morning, Eloise enjoyed some doormat + sunshine time.

August 14, 2026 – Oh hell yes. I found pumpkin spice creamer at the grocery store, and I couldn’t resist! Listen, in Florida, fall is a feeling. We don’t get changing leaves or cooler weather. Fall lives in your heart, and right now, my heart is telling me it’s ready to lightly dip my toe into some fall-like things.

Is it too early to think about fall? 

Note: This is a spending report, so I’m only talking about money I spent after it hit my bank account. Don’t expect to see anything about my 401k, FSA, health insurance, etc.

Bills ($2,750 | ↓ $122 from June): This includes rent, phone, electric, Internet, utilities, car payment, and school loan. It was a little less than June because I didn’t have to pay two utilities bills this month. Hooray for that! My electric bill was about $40 more in July than June, though.

Food ($847 | ↑ $290 from June): Womp, womp. After a massively successful June in terms of my food budget, I spent far more in July. Most of this overage was because my Uber Eats orders were out of control ($225 in July compared to $96 in June), and I also spent a lot more on groceries.

Travel ($600 | ↑ $495 from June): We’ve booked all of our accommodations for our New England road trip in October, and my mom put all of the deposits on her credit card. I’m slowly paying her back for my half!

Misc ($514 | ↑ $514 from June): I wasn’t sure how to categorize my hosting bill since it’s one of those expenses that only happens every few years. I’m putting it in miscellaneous.

Car ($340 | ↑ $87 from June): Most of these expenses were the same ole, same ole. However, it was also time to pay my car insurance renewal. Every month, I put $150 into a savings account specifically for this purpose, so once I transferred that money over to my checking account to pay the bill, I was left with a balance of just over $100. This happened last time I had to renew my car insurance, so I should probably increase my monthly car insurance savings to $175, but ugh, I am resistant to that idea!

Savings ($300 | ↑ $100 from June): I didn’t do anything different with my savings this month, so this increase was likely due to putting more money away into my “fun” savings account after reviewing my goal progress for the week, ha

Shopping ($240 | ↓ $169 from June): I continue to reduce my spending on shopping, woohoo! (It was $640 in April, $484 in May, and $409 in June.) This month, my biggest shopping category was beauty because I needed to replace some items, like my tinted moisturizer and facial cleanser. I also bought some new-to-me hair care products, including clarifying shampoo and root-lifting spray. My second-highest category was home, followed by miscellaneous.

Gifts ($212 | ↑ $212 from June): A much busier month, considering last month I didn’t spend any money on gifts. But I celebrated my mom’s birthday, got some gifts for a friend’s birthday, and bought some school supplies for an initiative my apartment was running for a local charity.

Spa ($206 | ↑ $44 from June): A little higher this month because I got a very bougie pedicure since I met my Uber Eats goal last month! I also got an underarm wax and paid for my massage membership.

Entertainment ($189 | ↓ $67 from June): I’d like to keep my entertainment budget under $200, so I’m very happy with this final total! Most of this comprises meals with my mom, family, friends, etc.

Household Supplies ($166 | ↓ $84 from June): The biggest expense for this category was replenishing my backstock of hand soaps. (I’ve decided that I must use Bath & Body Works hand soaps now, so it’s a bit more expensive.) I was also running low on Wallflower scents, so I bought five when they were having a sale. I picked up some other things, too, like flossers, mouthwash, Command Strips, etc.

Subscriptions ($83 | ↑ $13 from June): I’m trying to remember why I paid a little more for my subscriptions in July than June. Maybe I had my BOTM credit taken out this month, and I didn’t last month? I’m at a loss, and this is why I need to take better notes.

Pets ($78 | ↓ $197 from June): Nothing major here, just paid for the girls’ vet plans and bought a new scratcher.

Medical ($10 |↓ $8 from June): I had to pay a medical bill. I could have used my FSA, but it was $10, so whatever.

Spending Goals

Here is a report on the five money goals I’m tracking:

• Spend below my means – I did not achieve this in July. I spent $543 above my means, but that mostly accounts for the hosting fee I had to pay, so I’m choosing to be okay with this number. Spending above my means has become an anomaly more often than not, and I’m still not carrying a balance on my credit card, so let’s hope I can clean things up in August!
• Spend under $600 on groceries and $100 on Uber Eats orders – While I did achieve my grocery goal ($547), I spend far too much money on Uber Eats orders ($225).
• Spend under $500 on shopping – Complete! I spent less than $250 on shopping expenses, wahoo!
• Add $250 to my emergency savings every month – LOL I totally forgot I had made this goal. Awesome.
• Track and report on no-spend days – Only three days in July: July 4, July 7, and July 11.

What was the last beauty product you bought?

Game Changer by Rachel Reid (★★★★☆)

E-Book • Libby • Contemporary Romance • 2018

Short synopsis: A pro hockey star falls for the barista whose smoothies seem to bring him luck, but as their secret relationship deepens, he must decide whether his career is worth keeping the man he loves hidden.

The Compound by Aisling Rawle (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Fiction • 2025

Short synopsis: Lily joins a reality TV competition on a remote desert compound where contestants vie for luxury prizes and basic necessities, but as the producers push them into increasingly dangerous situations, she must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice to survive.

The best way I can describe this book is to call it interesting. It’s the kind of book that was easy to set down, but I also got immediately engrossed whenever I picked it back up. None of the characters are particularly likable, least of all the main character, Lily. I felt the same way about the characters in Yesteryear—they’re pretty terrible people, but they’re fascinating to follow around. This is a book about consumerism and the lengths people will go to win, but it’s also about how much someone has to lose: if you don’t have an impressive job or a satisfying home life to go back to, you might be willing to make a lot more sacrifices than other people would. I also have to give the author credit for pulling all of this off as a debut; it’s an inventive premise with a genuinely interesting plot and well-written characters. It’s not a book I’d necessarily recommend, but it would make for a pretty interesting book club discussion.

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 7 by Beth Brower (★★★★★)

Audiobook • Hoopla • Historical Fiction • 2023

Short synopsis: Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

Volume 7 of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion follows Emma through the spring of 1884, where her will-they-or-won’t-they becomes a lot more will-they. Emma is also trying to help her cousin Arabella through her season, in the hopes she will finally secure a husband. And Young Hawkes remains the most exceptional fictional character I’ve ever come across. Am I in love with him? Perhaps. Emma starts seeing all the different secrets the three men in her life are keeping from her, and it’s leading to some very exciting plotlines to come. I have one more volume to read, and then I have to wait for Beth Brower to release Volume 9. A travesty!

What are you reading?

August 1, 2026 – She looks little and sweet, but this girl lost her damn mind when she saw a dead bug on the patio and was very angry we wouldn’t let her outside to eat it. Her bark was so loud, my watch gave me a sound warning.

August 2, 2026 – I didn’t do a whole lot on Sunday, so at the end of the day, as I was preparing for bed, I realized I hadn’t taken a single picture. I told Eloise to pose for me. This is the best she could do.

August 3, 2026 – Ultrasound time to measure my fibroids. My biggest fibroid (4 cm) hasn’t grown much, while my other fibroid has grown large enough to protrude into my uterine cavity. This means I’ll likely still be eligible for an endometrial ablation, and I’ll go for a consult in early September.

August 4, 2026 – EXCUSE ME MS LILA. You are not allowed to be this cute!

August 5, 2026 – I went on a Thriftbooks shopping spree over the weekend, and the books were delivered today! This stack only cost $30!

August 6, 2026 – I bought a new cart for my office. It came disassembled, so I put the metal bins on the floor of my office, and I was certain one of the cats would jump in them. Sure enough, 30 minutes later, I hear snoring behind me and turn to find Lila enjoying a snooze!

August 7, 2026 – Bri adopted a new dog! Asher is a five-year-old greyhound who is so stinkin’ cute and looks like he could have been a sibling to Titan, her dog who recently passed away. Here he is sitting on the couch like a human. (And if you look closely, you can see Bri’s other dog Tessie in the background!)

What was the last photo you took?

I woke up on Tuesday morning to see that a new episode of The Popcast’s weekly Patreon episode had downloaded to my feed. The thing you need to know about The Popcast is that I consider this show my emotional support podcast. Whenever I need a pick-me-up, I’ll turn on an episode because it will immediately help me get out of my funk (or at least, help me forget about my worries for an hour). I love Knox and Jamie with the kind of parasocial fervor people save for their favorite celebrities. And I love their extended network of hosts and staff, specifically one Erin H. Moon. She co-hosts their reading podcast, Shelf Respect, as well as Faith Adjacent, a faith-based podcast that has really helped me heal some of my issues surrounding the church and my deconstruction.

In the show notes for this episode, there was a note about giving to a charity in memory of Gwen Hicks. No, no, no, no, no, was my immediate reaction, as I clicked over to Erin’s Instagram to discover that her mom had suddenly passed away. Erin was close to her mom like I am to mine. Erin talked about her mom on her podcast the way I talk about mine. Erin is going through the very thing I have spent years and years in therapy trying to unravel. She’s inside my worst nightmare, and I can’t stop thinking about her, about her family, about a community that lost a true angel on earth. Being an empath means I can’t hear news like this and get sad, but then move on. It’s not that I understand the depth of grief Erin and her family are experiencing, but my mind tries to step inside that pain and imagine what it must be like. I start crying randomly as I think about Erin preparing for her mom’s celebration of life. I’ll stop what I’m doing at any point in time and remember what Erin is going through right now and feel immeasurably sad for her. And I am so sad for her. Her mom was young, only five years older than my own mom, and the fact that Erin now has to face the rest of her life without her mom by her side is overwhelming. Because I know imagining life without my mom by my side is overwhelming.

I’m sending all of my love to Erin and her family, and have made a donation to Amarillo Angels, the nonprofit that Gwen founded to support the foster care community in the Texas Panhandle.

2) A week of forgetfulness

Switching topics… I have had an incredible week of forgetfulness. I’m not sure what is going on with me, but I’m starting to get concerned. First, there was the Chewy order. I ordered some wet food for the girls on Sunday and got a notification on Tuesday that the order had been delivered. It was not on my doorstep where they normally leave it, which is when I discovered I had sent it to my old apartment. You know, the place I haven’t lived in 9 months! Ughhh. Thankfully, Chewy’s customer service is top-tier, and when I messaged them about my dumb mistake and asked about a replacement order, they went ahead and shipped me a new box free of charge. I love Chewy so damn much!

Second, there was the Target curbside pickup order. I was running errands and had four things I needed to do: a quick stop at the grocery store, drop off a book at the library, pick up a Target curbside order, and get a prescription at my pharmacy. I did the grocery store and then opened my Target app to say I was coming to pick up my order. I dropped the book off at the library and then… zoomed right past Target to the pharmacy. It didn’t even cross my mind that I had forgotten about the pickup until I was leaving the pharmacy, and had to hurry over to Target where a kind woman was waiting with my items. Sigh.

And the grand finale was when I showed up to my dermatology appointment a whole day early. It was in my calendar as Thursday. I had gotten a reminder text a week prior about this Thursday appointment, and for some reason, I put it down in my planner as Wednesday and didn’t question it. We’re not going to talk about how upset I was at myself. Am I losing my mind? Are the steroids finally getting to me? Is this early-onset dementia? Stay tuned to find out!

3) Graduation

Speaking of my dermatology appointment, I’ve graduated to annual appointments! I had a few years where I continually had abnormal moles that had to be biopsied, so I’ve been getting skin checks every six months. My last abnormal mole was in 2023, which means it’s been almost three years of clear skin checks, and my dermatologist is comfortable with me coming in once a year now. Yay! These skin checks are pretty easy compared to other doctor’s appointments, but anything I can do to be in a doctor’s office less is fine by me.

4) Blog hosting woes

I mentioned last week that it was time to pay my blog hosting fees, which only come around every three years. Well, this time, I was astonished to find out my bill was over $1,000. It’s never been that high, but I thought, well, I’ve had this blog since 2009, and there are an insane number of pictures and posts. My host company told me I had to upgrade to their highest-tier package because of my blog’s size. I wasn’t happy about it, but I figured it is what it is. I love this blog, and I love writing here, so I need to suck it up.

And then I decided… let me just make sure this is reasonable for a personal blog. I went to ChatGPT and put in my stats, and then it had me go through some complicated processes involving my hosting’s cPanel and identifying different files. And from this journey, I found out that my disk usage (basically, how big my blog is) was 70GB, which is quite large for a personal blog. Further investigation led me to my site’s backup. Apparently, I had never correctly set up my backups to be sent to a different place (like Google Drive), so I was saving two full backups of my blog on my hosting server. Once I removed those backups and moved them to Drive (I had to upgrade my Google storage to 200 GB, but that’s only an extra dollar a month), I cleared up almost 40GB!

I was able to message with my blog hosting company and move back down to one of the lower-tier packages, and they refunded me $556! Spending $500 for three years of blogging feels much more reasonable. (Of course, after all this, I ran into all those stupid commenting issues, but I am hopeful things are back to normal now.)

5) Weekend plans

It’s a busy weekend for your girl! Luckily, I’m kicking things off with a mental health day today. I just needed a long weekend, so that’s what I have given myself. I would like to make some progress with my novel, but we’ll see if I’m motivated enough for that. In the evening, I’m going to Bri’s house to record some podcast episodes. Tomorrow, I have a brunch date with my friend Lynn, and we’ll likely hit up a bookstore (or two) as well. And Sunday, I have a writing date with Mikaela and some annoying errands to run. (Writing this all out, I realize this might seem like a low-key weekend for my extroverted friends. But for me, three social events in one weekend? I’m girding my loins.)

What was your last bout of forgetfulness?

Books Read

(7/7) Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein (★★★★★ – e-book, Libby, 2025) – a gorgeous story about the power of sisterhood and the sacrifices required of a family with a star athlete. I adored this book and everything it had to say about family, trauma, and healing.

(7/7) A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by K.J. Charles (★★★☆☆ 1/2 – e-book, Libby, 2023) – a m/m historical romance involving a few too many convoluted plotlines for me to keep up with. But the romance was a star!

(7/9) First Wife’s Shadow by Adele Parks (★★★★☆ – audiobook, Hoopla, 2025) – a domestic thriller that started off rough but quickly turned around thanks to some sensational twists and turns. It’s not a standout in the genre, but a great choice if you love a good domestic thriller.

(7/16) Go Gentle by Maria Semple (★★☆☆☆ – print, library, 2026) – one of the more disjointed stories I’ve read. It felt like this was three different books in one, and none of it made sense to me. I really liked the idea of a coven of older women living on the same floor of an apartment building in NYC, though. I wanted more of that, less of everything else.

(7/17) Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young (★★★★☆ – e-book, Libby, 2023) – a surprise pregnancy is not my favorite romance trope, but more and more authors seem to be doing it right, and this was definitely an example of that. I loved this!

(7/22) Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe (★★★★★ – audiobook, Libby, 2021) – my first PRK book and it won’t be the last. In this book, he details the rise and (somewhat?) fall of the Sackler family, and it is insanely well-researched and well-written.

(7/26) No Matter What by Cara Bastone (★★★★☆ 1/2 – print, Book of the Month, 2026) – a lovely second-chance romance about a married couple who are trying to find their way back to each other after a traumatic event. It is beautiful, funny, and a reminder of the healing power of love.

(7/31) The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon (★★★★☆ – print, Barnes & Noble, 2023) – a fictionalized retelling of Martha Ballard’s life, a midwife living in the late 1700s. This book is long and dense, but I fell head over heels for Martha!

(7/31) The Midnight Show by Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne (★★★☆☆ 1/2 – audiobook, Spotify, 2026) – an oral history of the beginnings of The Midnight Show, an SNL-type show that started in the 1980s. It also follows the meteoric rise of one female comedian and her disappearance after the second season.

Book Stats

• # of books read: 9
• # of pages read: 3,556
• Genre breakdown: fiction (4), romance (3), nonfiction (1), thriller (1)
• Format breakdown: print (3), audiobook (3), ebook (3)
• Fastest read: A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel (7 days)
• Slowest read: The Frozen River (13 days)
• Biggest reading day: July 31, 2026 (182 pages read, 3 hours, 58 minutes of audiobook listening)
• Star average: 4

Superlatives

• The best book I read in July: Empire of Pain
• My favorite romance in July: Out on a Limb
• The book I thought I would love more than I did: The Midnight Show
• The book that might have been TOO literary for me: Go Gentle
• The book that proved that Lisa is my best recommendation source: Spectacular Things

Reading Miscellaneous

Unread Shelf Project | July prompt: A book you bought on a whim: Cat’s People by Tanya Guerrero. I picked this up at a local indie during my reading crawl earlier this year. I bought it based solely on its gorgeous cover and was hoping for a sweet found family novel. Alas, I DNF-ed it after 43 pages. The writing style just wasn’t working for me, and I’m kinda tired of the “lonely woman who lives with her cats and everyone pities her” trope. (Books it beat out: A Burial at Sea by Charles Finch, So Far Gone by Jess Walter, and Little Bee by Chris Cleave.)

Where I traveled this month (in my books): It wasn’t an eclectic month of traveling through books, but I did get to enjoy some different time periods. For example, I was in present-day Maine as well as Maine in the late 1700s. I was in present-day NYC as well as NYC in the 1980s. And I visited Romney Marsh and Hampshire in England.

DNFs: One. My only DNF for July was Cat’s People.

Something I learned from my reading: There was a lot I learned about the practice of midwifery in the 18th century, and especially about specific laws and customs surrounding having children out of wedlock.

What’s Coming Up in August

• The Clocks by Agatha Christie – I’m marching along in my quest to read all of the Hercule Poirot mysteries. I’m not reading them in order, but whenever I’m at a bookstore and see one I haven’t read, I pick it up and add it to my collection!
• Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa – This is my pick for August’s challenge for The Unread Shelf Project, which is to read the shortest book on my shelves. At 147 pages, it fits the bill.
• The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower – I only have two more volumes to read before I’m all caught up, and I’m both excited about being current and so sad I won’t have more Emma books to read for a while. I might start gathering print versions and reading them in that format next. I am obsessed. (Also, I feel very vindicated that one of my friends read the first book and was like, “Meh. I don’t get it.” I told her to keep reading, so she did, and she’s just as obsessed as I am now. YES!)
• Wild Side by Elsie Silver – I’m excited to dive into the third book in Elsie Silver’s Rose Hill series. It’s a marriage of convenience trope, which I tend to really enjoy, so I hope this one works as well for me as her previous novels!

What were your favorite and least favorite books of July?