Happy Wednesday, book friends! 

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I look forward to spending the day treating myself as best I can during a workday. I have demanded that Andy bring me a cupcake and take me to my favorite local bookstore after work, so there’s that to look forward to. 

This past week, we’ve had some bright, sunny days and I’ve enjoyed spending a bit of time outside. The daffodils and hyacinth are starting to peek up from the ground and will be in bloom soon enough. 

Like the plants, I’m coming out of hibernation and have started a new training plan. It’s amazing how something like following a structured plan for running can give me a sense of purpose, of working towards something. 

Speaking of working towards things, I’ve made some small strides towards improving my NetGalley ratio this week, so why don’t we get on to the books and reading? 

(Full disclosure: This post uses Bookshop.org affiliate links. Books noted with an asterisk were complimentary advanced reader copies in exchange for my honest review). 

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Recent Reads

I wrapped up my audio read of Beth O’Leary’s The Road Trip, which I mentioned last week. Overall, I enjoyed this second-chance romance far more than I expected to! I told myself I didn’t have to write a review for it since I did the audio and it wasn’t an ARC, but… then I wrote a review anyway. You can read it here: 

“The Road Trip” Will Take You On A Whole Journey
I confess I didn’t expect to like it very muchmedium.com

The warm weather brings longer, more leisurely walks and therefore more audiobook time, so I moved right from that on to the next STEMinist novella in Ali Hazelwood’s series, Stuck With You. Like the first one, I enjoyed it okay, but didn’t love it. I think if I review these at all, it’ll be in one post together once the third book releases next month. 

I also finished up The League of Gentlewomen Witches, India Holton’s latest dangerous damsel adventure. This book made me laugh out loud, which is always a welcome experience. I will say I didn’t find the plot that compelling and had to force myself to pick it back up at times because I just didn’t feel that invested. But, in all, it was a worthwhile reading experience for the laughs alone. Review here:

“The League of Gentlewomen Witches” Will Make You Laugh Out Loud
If you’re looking for a hilarious escape from reality, this is your ticketmedium.com

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Current Reads

I went a bit rogue and grabbed a random book off the TBR stack for my next read, which I haven’t done in a while. I’m really pleased to say I am very much enjoying Running Outside the Comfort Zone by Susan Lacke. 

It’s a memoir-in-essays about the author’s experience taking on a year of daring, unconventional race experiences like a 400-meter climb up a ski ramp or a 24-hour race to bring in the the new year. The tone is super approachable, funny, and relatable, particularly as a fellow runner who doesn’t fit the stereotypical idea of what a runner looks like. I honestly think I’ll finish this in the next day or so, as it’s short and imminently readable. 

Still chugging along through Heal From Within, as well. If nothing else, this book has made me realize that I am, unfortunately, a helicopter dog mom. Whoops. 

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Up Next & On To You

When I finish Running Outside the Comfort Zone, I’ll probably return to my Kindle library for the next book in line from NetGalley. I’ve got a couple of April releases, including Love from Scratch and Sari, Not Sari. Most likely I’ll read the latter, since I’m honestly feeling a bit burnt out on food-themed romances at the moment (shocking, I know). 

Then again, I might snag something unexpected on my birthday bookstore trip and wind up reading that next, instead. My enormous TBR stack in the spare bedroom is scowling at me as I write this, but, so it goes. 

What about you, book friends? What have you been reading lately, and how has it been treating you? 

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