I once read the phrase “August is the Sunday of summer” – I can’t remember who said (wrote?) it or when or where, but it always stuck with me. This year it feels particularly true; last week we were on vacation – pictures and stories coming soon – and this is the first Monday back, settling into the last two weeks of camp before back to school (WOW, did that ever speed by) and reminding myself what my routines are after three weeks of nearly nonstop traveling. If anything, this month feels like Sunday afternoon before the rush of September.

Anyway. So, yes, I was on vacation last week! For those keeping score at home, that’s trip number three in three weeks – first I spent a week on the west coast for a work retreat, then a week working remotely in the Adirondacks (and hiking around the workdays), and then finally a week of vacation, which was road-tripping around New England with Steve and the kids. All of that hasn’t left a ton of time for reading, but I did have a couple of long car rides and some pool time last week, so I got my page-turning in then. It was a very good week of reading, indeed – as far as quality and enjoyment went. First up, I finished up Excavacations, by Kate Myers, which was a fun, feminist romp of a debut novel. I absolutely loved it, and it was perfect vacation reading (although even better would’ve been to read it on vacation in Greece; not that I’m complaining about Maine!). Then I turned my attention to Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah, which I have somehow missed out on up to now; it has been on my to-read list for ages, but I just never got around to it. That’s all changed now – I snagged the paperback off my mom’s coffee table and took it with me on vacation, finishing up in the car on the way home. I’ll have more to say in my monthly reading round-up, but it absolutely wowed me. And then finally, I picked up my current read, The Growing Summer, by Noel Streatfeild, about four children who are shipped off to spend the month of August with an eccentric great-aunt in Ireland. It’s a fun and fast read and I’m already 80 pages in, despite just starting it yesterday afternoon.

The week ahead: more of the same, as far as reading is concerned, anyway. Once I finish The Growing Summer, I’ve got a few more summery reads on my stack for August. I’ve been wanting to read Rumer Godden’s The Greengage Summer for years now, so I think that will be next – I specifically pulled it off my shelf before moving, just in case I didn’t have time to unpack books before all of my summer travel (as indeed I did not). Reading around work and camp schedules and workouts and unpacking – I am determined to have a functional, working kitchen by Friday, so that’s my evenings for this week – will be a challenge, but I’m sure I’ll find time to squeeze in the pages.

We had such a wonderful week on vacation in New England last week! Road-tripping around Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont was a perfect family trip for us this year.

What are you reading this week?