Whew – another busy week, last week! I was out of town on a business trip – internal meetings with my team – and those weeks never have time for much reading. (The last business trip, in June, I blocked off one evening with no social or networking obligations and just read, and that was wonderful. But not possible this time.) But I still managed to get through two books and start a third, so not too shabby!

Late last Sunday night, I started Swallows and Amazons – really not even enough to claim it on the prior week’s reading list; I had finished two books on the plane on my way to my business trip, and I just can’t stand to be between books, so I read a few pages before crashing that night. Any reading time I had over the week, I devoted to the Swallows and their Amazon pirate friends, and they kept me going. It was a delightful read and I can’t wait to follow along on the next adventure. When I finished that, I felt I’d set myself up enough for my next work book club book, House Woman. To be honest, I didn’t love this one – mainly because thrillers are just not my jam, and I didn’t care enough about any of the characters to feel at all tense or worried about them. I’ll think of something positive to say for book club, but for my friends here – I just wasn’t into it, and it felt like a chore to read. I did make it through the entire book, though, and finished it up Sunday early afternoon – then rewarded myself with a book I’ve been wanting to read for quite some time now: The Jasmine Farm, by Elizabeth von Arnim. I love Elizabeth von Arnim and this novel is supposed to be even more delightful than the utterly charming Father. I’m only about 35 pages into it so far, so plenty of fun in store. Yay!

I expect another busy workweek, so I’m planning for The Jasmine Farm to take up most of my limited reading time and attention. But I already have a plan for when I finish it: my mom loaned me Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime, which I inexplicably have not yet read. I’ll be correcting that next.

We hiked a new-to-us loop trail past several pretty waterfalls on Sunday! This pretty hike was tucked away behind a business park: talk about a hidden gem.

What are you reading this week?