Well, I sure flaked on you last week, huh? Sorry about that. We had a big meeting at work with a lot of visitors to the office and I was completely distracted all week long. It was wonderful to see all of the people who visited, and also exhausting. So blogging fell off the radar, as did – I’m sorry to say – reading much of anything.

In fact, I haven’t finished a book since last Sunday. I’ve been plodding my way through The Hotel (borrowed from the library) ever since, and it’s taking way longer than a 199 page novel would usually take for me to finish it. Part of that, I chalk up to the extra busy workweek last week, but I also seem to have some kind of block about Elizabeth Bowen. I’ve tried before and I just can’t seem to connect with her books. But I’m more than halfway through now, so I will finish this one. And then I’m going to curl up with something comforting and engaging.

On audio, I’ve been working my way through In Love with George Eliot for the last two weeks. Somehow I missed that little “A NOVEL” on the cover and thought it was another literary memoir like My Life in Middlemarch, which I adored. It’s not, it’s a biographical novel book-within-a-book situation and it is good, if not what I thought I was signing on for. (Yes, that lack of attention to cover detail is squarely on me.) But again, I’ve been slower than I otherwise would with it, mostly because of the big work meeting. Usually, when I’m working my way through an audiobook, I’ll listen on every commute and while washing dishes and folding laundry. This time, I’ve only been listening about half of my normal times; I drove several commutes home in much-needed silence after especially long and socially engaged workdays, and I’ve also been sprinkling in Spotify – mainly Fireside Collective and Kitchen Dwellers, two modern bluegrass bands I’m going to see in concert in October. So the audiobook is taking a bit to get through, but I expect I’ll finish it this week and I’ve already decided to download The Fortnight in September for my next book.

This weekend was mostly devoted to the current usual – Little League and house projects – but we did get down to our former stomping grounds to have lunch with friends on Saturday, followed by a walk down to the Potomac waterfront to see the latest art installation, which had something to do with historic shipping. I am always in the market for tea.

What are you reading this week?