Mini Reading Retreats
These days, any time I have an afternoon or a day to focus on reading, I’m calling it a “reading retreat.” The truth is, I’m longing for a real reading retreat, where I go away and just read for a few days… but that’s not going to happen anytime soon, so I’ll take what I can get! My first “mini retreat” was last Wednesday. It’s my day off from work and I had a few hours free, so I sat in Starbucks and read this entire book: I heard about this from Meredith on the Currently Reading podcast (it was on her top 10 list for 2024.) It’s a mystery/horror story, but the horror doesn’t involve anything supernatural. The story takes place all in one night. It starts off as a little puzzling, then disturbing, and then becomes terrifying (if you’re prone to being scared by books- I’m not, but I could see how someone would find this scary). It’s hard to talk about it without giving spoilers, but it’s a book where you’ll be questioning what is actually happening, and the ending, while not hard to understand, left me thinking about it for a while. I definitely recommend reading this all in one sitting and letting the experience wash over you. My second mini retreat happened Sunday. My husband wasn’t home and my daughter was invited to go out with friends on a boat for the ENTIRE DAY. I picked up three other kids and took them all to the meeting place at 9 am. PRO TIP: If you are driving a carpool, always volunteer to drive THERE. Pickup times can be iffy (more on that later). Yes, I had to get up early, especially since I ran first thing (I actually broke my resolution of not letting the wakeup time start with a “5” this summer). But by 9:30 am I had finished my run, dropped everyone off, and had the whole rest of the day to myself. I did some blog reading, took a nap, and then sat on the couch and read this: It was mentioned in this list of the best Agatha Christie books. As I’ve said, any Agatha Christie is a re-read for me, because I read them all in my teens and twenties. I’m starting to be a little concerned about my memory, because I didn’t remember this one AT ALL. But that was a good thing, because I enjoyed it all over again. I personally wouldn’t put it on my list of the BEST Agatha Christies, but it was good, and it was the first Miss Marple book. It was fun to see how her character was introduced. In between these two “retreats”, I read this: It was also on Meredith’s top 10 of 2024 list. I really liked it, but didn’t love it. The fantasy elements were great, and the mystery was solid. What I didn’t love was, the mystery was a little hard to follow just because of the magic in this world. I like a mystery where I can’t guess the ending, but all the clues were there, cleverly hidden by the author. In this one, you’re just following along as the investigator makes brilliant deductions based on knowledge she has but you don’t, since we don’t yet understand the elements of the world they live in. BUT- I did really like the characters and wanted to find out what happened to them. That kept me engaged more than the answer to the mystery, and I enjoyed reading it. Up next: Allison left a comment on Engie’s blog that she didn’t like Night Film, but did enjoy this book by the same author. I was intrigued, they had it at my library, so I’m reading it! So far so good- thanks, Allison! By the way, remember my “pro tip” about carpools? Well, the mom who picked up from the boating adventure told me she got there at the appointed time, and then had to wait 45 minutes while they cleaned the boat. See what I mean? Always volunteer to drop off, NOT pick up. Have you ever read an entire book in one sitting? Ever had a reading retreat? Top photo by Lilly Rum on Unsplash