It's been a long time since I shared a 'what I'm reading' post. They used to be a regular part of my monthly blogging schedule, and I honestly can't say why I got away from doing them other than to blame it on trying to find my footing in a new career.
The last time I posted about the books I was currently reading was not long after I started teaching in 2022. That's the same time that all of my blogging slowed down. At the time, I was struggling to find work-life balance as a new teacher; then the next year I was going through my teacher certification program, which was really intense and stressful and time consuming, and then there was the gifted certification program the next year. Those years saw my lowest blog numbers in the last ten years, although not my lowest numbers ever (I don't know what was going in 2014 to warrant that ridiculously low number).
This past school year, things calmed down quite a bit, and I finally feel like I know what I'm doing, so my posting picked back up. My reading also picked back up, and after the success of my reading-related posts in 2025, I set a goal to write more bookish posts this year. I think I've done a good job of that so far with my monthly One Woman Book Club reviews, seasonal reading guides, quarterly book reviews, and more frequently updated TBR lists.
I've also been trying to do better about sharing bookish things on my social media, especially glimpses of what I'm reading at any given time in my stories (
check out my 2026 bookish highlights). I don't get them all, though, since at any given time I'm usually reading around four to six books and/or series.
Which brings us to this post! I want to bring back my "What I'm Reading" posts to give you a glimpse of what I'm actually reading in real-time. I don't know what this series is going to look like yet in terms of frequency. I like the idea of doing an updated currently reading post at the start of each month, so that's going to be the goal, but it may take some time before I'm consistent with it.
So far this summer I've read three stand-alone novels and the first story in an ongoing series (that story was nine books on its own). I currently have two library books that I need to read but haven't started either of them yet since I'm already reading so many other books at the moment.
Speaking of...I am currently reading six books. I'm at various points in all of them, which I'll do my best to detail below along with my current thoughts and/or first impressions. I've also been rereading two of my favorite series, though I can't promise that I'll actually finish either of them, since I was using them as a sort of palate cleanser after two particularly good books. However, I did say that this year I would be more open about the things that I'm rereading, so I'll share them at the bottom of this post.
Six Books I'm Currently Reading
The Examiner
Author: Janice Hallett
I dove into this one almost immediately. I made myself wait until I had finished another book before starting it, though, because I knew it was going to consume me. And I was right. It won't be long before I finish this one! What I love about this author's books is that you go into it knowing there's been (or will be) a crime. She basically gives you a bunch of evidence -- emails, message boards, diary entries, etc. -- interspersed with the conversations between the people investigating to kind of keep you on track. The premise of this book is that a group of six people is assembled for a multimedia art masters program in which they must work as a team to create an installation for a real company. There's quite a bit of shady dealings going on, among the students, the program advisor, and the company behind the commission.
Love and Ruin
Author: Paula McLain
Would you believe that I started reading this book in the fall of 2024? By last summer, I had read about a third of it and had not made much more progress by the fall. It's not even that I'm not enjoying the book. It's just really long and serious, and I've not had the mental space needed to read this one the way that it's meant to be read. I did recently pick this one back up, though, and I am determined to finish it by the time I go back to work in August. I must say that diving back into this one was really easy, and it felt like no time had passed at all. I've actually been blowing through chapters over the last few days, and I'm excited to see where this one takes me.
This is a historical fiction book about Martha Gellhorn, who was one of the first ever female war correspondents. So right away we know this one is right up my alley. It is set primarily during the Spanish Civil War, which if you don't know was a pretty big precursor to World War II. Martha is a struggling author who gets a job as a stringer with Colliers magazine, convincing them to send her to Madrid to report on the war effort. It's there that she falls in love with Ernest Hemingway, the already famous author and journalist.
The Midnight Feast
Author: Lucy Foley
I started reading this back in April, or at least that's when I shared a 'currently reading' snap on my Insta stories. I've made it maybe a quarter of the way into the book, and I am struggling. I'm not ready to give up yet since it's got really good reviews, but I gotta say that at this point in the book I'm not really sure what's going on. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and I think (but I'm not sure) that the timeline isn't linear. According to the blurb, this is about a controversial resort's opening weekend gone wrong. Apparently, the resort was built on ancient land that has some type of magical aspect to it. I don't know. This one is weird, and I can't promise that I'm going to devote much more time to it.
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Author: Matt Dinniman
Let me preface this by saying that I had no prior knowledge of this book when I picked it up in Target, so I wasn't aware that it's gained this sort of cult following. I was intrigued by the blurb on the back, and the first chapter was funny. So basically, this one is about the end of the world. Carl is one of few survivors of an alien invasion and finds himself in a televised survival contest. What sold me to give this one a try was the inclusion of the ex-girlfriend's award-winning show cat, Princess Donut.
The Starfish Sisters
Author: Barbara O'Neal
This is one from my summer reading list. I'm not too far into it yet, but I'm already hooked. But are we really surprised? I haven't met a Barbara O'Neal book yet that I haven't loved. This one is about two estranged friends reuniting after one of them is brutally attacked. Suze is a famous actress who was nearly beaten to death outside her home by members of a religious cult. No longer feeling safe in her home, she takes refuge in the coastal Oregon town where she grew up. Her childhood friend, Phoebe, still lives there, but can they put aside their past differences to reconnect?
Shadow's Savior (Pyromancer's Path series book 5)
Author: Cassie Cole
This is the final book of the Pyromancer's Path series, and it won't take me long to finish it. This series is giving me such deja vu, but according to my Kindle history I've not read it, and I've searched through all of my reading roundup posts and it's not on any of those either. Honestly, I've probably read something similar and just don't remember it. Anyway, this series is about a bonded group of warriors fighting against an invading army of what are essentially giant alien-like bugs. They are also being targeted by the leader of their nation who has been corrupted by the power he wields and wants to take over the world.
Series I'm rereading...
The Cardinal series
Author: Mia Smantz
I'm currently about halfway through rereading this six book series. It's one of my favorites, and I've reread it so many times now that I decided to just buy it outright. The gist of the series is that Callie was kidnapped when she was 11 years old and turned into a criminal hacker against her will. Eventually she ends up in the hands of a Russian crime boss and conspires with a secret U.S. government agency to end his reign of terror.
Chronicles of Blood series
Author: Crea Reitan
I think my most favorite fairy tale retellings are of Alice in Wonderland, and this one is probably my favorite. It's the most unique of the ones that I've read by far, and I have not gotten tired of rereading it, although calling this one a retelling isn't entirely accurate. Here's a very brief synopsis: Mal is what's called a fairy tale fixer. She's been training for years to set Wonderland back to rights after twenty-seven before her have failed. But this tale is being plagued by multiple problems, including an infection from another fairy tale. This entire story actually takes place over two consecutive series (eight books total), so once I finish rereading this one, I'll move right into Chronicles of Madness.
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