Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Summer Reading

Blog City - Day 2149

Prompt: What books are on your summer reading list?

I am trying to read books I currently own and have not gotten to over the years. I am currently reading a non-fiction memoir called Lean Out by Tara Henley and I am loving her style. She wrote this book as a response to her own frantic lifestyle pace that was giving her heart palpitations from anxiety. She withdrew from a life too fast paced and needed to reconnect with the important things of life - human connection. I find it interesting to read during this pandemic, as what she has to say, speaks to all of us, in a way. Something big has had to happen to make us reassess our lives and see what is important. As I look out around me I see families walking, people biking, life has slowed down. If we stop to consider the good that can come out of this situation we will see the silver lining - the one that has us reaching out to others and embracing humanity... even if we can't physically hug each other and need to keep six feet apart.

I did break down and order four books through Amazon.ca... one of these I am currently reading is May Day by Jess Lourey. I found this author when researching dream writer's retreats I would love to go to. One is in the Gladstone Library in Wales. Imagine staying in a library for a whole week while exploring your own writing. Ahh, heaven. Jessica Lourey is an American author who leads writing retreats abroad - one in the Gladstone Library and another in a castle an hour outside of Paris (another interesting place to visit). I figured I would read some of her work and see what kind of writer she is.... so far I am not fully impressed, but I am keeping an open mind. May Day is a Mira James Mystery (apparently there are 12 of them; one for each month of the year). I also bought another of hers - The Catalaine Book of Secrets. It delves into witches and such. It sounds really good.

She strikes me as an interesting person. Here is a Ted Talk she gave:


Rewrite Your Life is another book of hers I am waiting to have delivered.

Okay so not all my reading is from books I currently own, but many on my list are. Since the pandemic I have only bought... hmmm, okay 9 books. Three of them were when I bought 2 for my mother for Mother's Day. I couldn't pass up buying books for me too! So of the 9, 7 were for me.

I have gone through my book shelves and found books I didn't realize I had... and have put away ones to donate (usually hard cover beasts I refuse to bother with, but were given as gifts). I have passed some on to my mother to read.

To list them all here would be way too long, but my plan is to move through them. Many are books bought at writer's festivals - they are signed copies. Ones I will keep even after they have been read. Anything not signed I will pass on.... unless I really like them - this would be anything by Jill Shalvis. Though the more I read of it, the more I think I will keep Lean Out as well. Henley's style is fresh and she is Canadian.

Another book I finished was Building Your Best Writing Life by Kristen Kieffer. She also has a website called Well-Storied that I like to visit occasionally

So in a nutshell, I will say - I will be reading some romance (which is easy, mindless and fun), I will be reading some new authors and a few non-fiction and writing reference books over the course of my summer. I may even read some teaching books to balance off my life of reading.

I wish everyone a wonderful summer of reading, writing and reviewing.