In one way, this past week went as expected: busy. In another, it didn’t: not with things we wanted to do or things we didn’t want to deal with, namely doctor appointments, one for my wife and another for me. We also didn’t get away as we had planned for a one-day wine trip on Thursday, but we did get accomplished on Thursday at home, with some much needed housekeeping. In light of the busyness again this past week, this weekend Sunday, I’m planning on doing another weekend a Sunday readathon, or a #fakereadathon as one of my book blogger friends called it on Instagram, like I did last weekend.

This time though I’m getting real with my reading. I’m not feeling the series I started, Bruno, Chief of Police, or the book I had on hold from the library, Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. I’m only three books into the Bruno series, but I’m already beginning to wonder why he never seems to be prepared for large protests in his small town and while I read – and really enjoyed – The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ware last weekend, I’m just not feeling like reading another one of her books this weekend.

Plus I’ve been reflecting on this post from Karen of the blog Booker Talk: “Read It Now – Tomorrow May be Too Late”, which she talks about reading “rainy day” books, the ones we keep saving for a better day…but then that day never comes…or might never come if we don’t actually get to reading them. So I have three in particular (listed in order of publication) I’ve been saving for a rainy day:

• Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
• We Were Eight Years In Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Becoming by Michelle Obama

Born to Run: I actually got for my wife, because she is a big Bruce Springsteen fan a few years ago from a book blogger gift exchange, but I still wanted to read, but then never did – I think in great part due to the size of the book. For the record, my wife still hasn’t read it either. We Were Eight Years in Power was another I received from a book blogger gift exchange and to be honest, I just was – and still am – burnt out from the 2016 election, but I really liked (not enjoyed necessarily, because it wasn’t – and still isn’t – easy) Between The World and Me also by Coates. Becoming: I had on hold for a long time on ebook at the Free Library of Philadelphia, then finally bought a copy when it came in as a donation for our library book sale, thinking I wouldn’t have to wait for months to read it. Now months later, Mrs. Obama’s book sits, along with Mr. Springsteen’s and Mrs. Coates’ books, atop my computer desk unread.

I’m going to begin with Born to Run tomorrow and might take a break by reading a little of Coates’ book in between. Then next weekend, since I have a three-day weekend, I will read more from one, two or all three of the books. Most likely I’ll still be reading Bruce’s autobiography and Coates’ essays, but we’ll see.

Postscript

• Neither my wife nor I is in the best shape, health-wise; she, after being diagnosed with atrial fibrillation two years ago this month and I, after somehow twisting my left knee in late March. We both are on the road to recovery. But it’s a slow journey, due to a combination of factors including doctors, insurance companies, physical therapists and quite frankly our not understanding the “process” since we really haven’t been “through it” before. That doesn’t mean, though, that we won’t stop attempting to better ourselves.
• I planned on reading today (Saturday, as I write this), but I distracted myself all morning with trying (unsuccessfully) to get tree sap off the hood of our car. And now at almost 3:30 p.m. as I get ready to hit “publish,” I don’t really believe that reading is going to happen. Oh, well, there’s always tomorrow.

How was your past week? Reading anything good or getting ready to read anything good? Share in the comments.