Happy new week, and happy new month – how is it June already? It was a short week – last week I published my weekly reading recap on Tuesday because of Memorial Day, yet somehow I managed to finish up five books, and start a sixth, in six days. I guess my reading mojo is back, huh? Amazing what not having a real estate closing looming over you can do for the bookish attention span.

Although I have to say, in full disclosure, several of the books I finished this past week were already well underway by the start of the week. I was about a month behind in A Nature Poem for Every Spring Evening, but that means I was two-thirds of the way through the book when I picked it back up; it’s an anthology of one poem to read each night from March through May, and I was into early May when I fell off the wagon – so I only had to read about thirty poems to finish it up. My Garden World, I’d begun on Memorial Day and finished up by midweek (Monty Don is such a wonderful writer). And The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, I’d been listening to on Audible for about a month, here and there on commutes and grocery runs, so I only had about two hours of listening left. (When we head back to the office three days per week I expect my audiobook total to creep up.)

Bringing me to the books I started and finished this week – there were two of them. My work book club has chosen Crying in H Mart for our June pick, and I had to read it quickly before my library deadline loomed, since there’s a wait list. Michelle Zauner’s memoir of growing up biracial and losing her mother to cancer at only 56 is heart-wrenching (and to be honest, probably too sad for me if it wasn’t a book club choice). I had to follow it with something much more cheerful, so I grabbed one of my Mother’s Day gifts – Poems for Happiness, an anthology of poetry that explores the themes of happiness, contentment and joy – just what the doctor ordered. I read most of it stretched out on a deck chair while Nugget ran around a water park with his friends yesterday, and finished the last bit after bedtime. And since I can’t go to sleep if I’m between books, I picked up The Small House at Allington, the penultimate book on my Classics Club list (and another doorstopper – it took me about seven short reads to work up the hype). I expect to spend the entire week over this, but I am planning to take a break over this coming weekend; Peanut and I are headed to Cornell Reunion for a girls’ weekend (the boys are staying home – it’s Little League playoffs) and I’m bringing along a murder mystery set in a library that was inspired by one of the libraries at Cornell. And then after that murdery interlude, it’ll be back to Trollope.

It’s the little feet sticking up for me! Nugget had a SEVEN HOUR birthday party to attend at a water park near our house on Sunday (although we were an hour late – but a six hour birthday party is still, as my friend Amanda put it, “some fine nonsense”). He had the best time, though. And I got some reading done and even made a few laps on the lazy river. High fives all around.

What are you reading this week?