The following post includes affiliate links. More details here.

Ashley IN MEDIAS RES

• The Dare by Lauren Landish
• Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat; The BRRRR Rental Property Investment Strategy Made Simple by David Greene

Nikki IN MEDIAS RES

• What if It’s True? A Storyteller’s Journey with Jesus by Charles Martin
• The Case of the Left-Handed Lady: An Enola Holmes Mystery by Nancy Springer
• The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Ashley FIN

• Ninja Selling: Subtle Skills. Big Results by Larry Kendall
• Akata Warrior (#2) by Nnedi Okorafor
• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
• Akata Witch (#1) by Nnedi Okorafor
• The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
• Good Girl Gone Badd by Jasinda Wilder
• Serpent & Dove (#1) by Shelby Mahurin
• Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
• Badd to the Bone by Jasinda Wilder
• The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

Nikki FIN

• The Dare by Lauren Landish
• Akata Warrior (#2) by Nnedi Okorafor
• The Case of the Missing Marquess (Enola Holmes #1) by Nancy Springer
• Sanditon, Lady Susan, & The History of England by Jane Austen
• Akata Witch (#1) by Nnedi Okorafor
• The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
• Serpent & Dove (#1) by Shelby Mahurin
• Good Girl Gone Badd by Jasinda Wilder
• Badd to the Bone by Jasinda Wilder
• The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran
• Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
• Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston
• The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

I can not remember now when I realized how very close I was to reaching 100 books this month, but I think it was around the 10th or 11th. I looked in my planner for both my Reading Life Plan of Attack and my 2020 Reading Log and realized that hitting my 2020 goal by the end of Quarter 3, meaning by Midnight September 30th I would have read 100 books, was going to be a big possibility, but I was going to need to be intentional about it.  At the time I had 9 left to go and about 20 days in which to do it. I’m pretty sure when Nikki and I were discussing this as a possibility there were lots of this gif floating around in our text stream: 

I’ll let you know on Thursday what my official count will be, but as of this writing I have 3 to go. One I’ll finish today, and therefore have the rest of today, Tuesday, and Wednesday to read 2 more books. I’m in progress on one that’s been hovering there for a while, and I want it G-O-N-E, gone, baby, gone. You might notice that my In Medias Res list is a little shorter than usual, it doesn’t mean that I’m not pondering those titles that have been stuck there most of the year, or that I’m not literally IN THE MIDDLE of reading them. But, I’m going to institute a new rule: If I haven’t opened the book in 3 months, I’m no longer reading it. I haven’t opened Little Women because I’ve been prepping for December’s deep dive and want to bring my intensity and a fresh read to virtual book club on December 11th. I also haven’t opened Profit First since my last gym session (cause that was my treadmill book). As for The Revelation of Louisa May, I had opened it and started two pages and decided I was going to read other things first. I certainly won’t be opening it back up until our #witchyreads month is over. Which means November, yo. 

I have been intentional in my pursuit of reaching this milestone this month because sometimes you just need a big fat win even if it becomes a bit of a challenge. But, all goals are like that to an extent. I knew going into 2020 that 100 books wasn’t going to be a big stretch goal. I did 136 out of 75 last year. But, the year before was 67 out of 52, so I’ve been consistent in upping the score. But, doing 100 books with 3 months left to go…yeah, that’s a bit of a push. Having a book buddy for ACCOUNTABILITY has been the biggest game changer in my reading life. (Though, to get kinda woo woo emotional, having Nikki in my life period is a game changer on so many levels.) Sharing my goal with you, dear readers, has also been a big motivator. I haven’t had many wins on my other 2020 goals, somewhat thanks to the virus-that-must-not-be-named, so having at least one that I can say I have CRUSHED is a big step to keeping up the excitement and forward momentum in my life. But the only way I would have even known that I reached my goal is that I measured it. (In several places, but that’s the Enneagram 1 in me.) I also had a plan, which was repeatedly tweaked, to balance all the different ways I read, and then executed. Not always in a way that made my inner critic happy, but executed. Progress not perfection. Maybe this’ll be the year I get to 140 books? Who knows.  [Nikki here: Challenge Accepted.]

You know what I do know? That we have another #virtualbookclub coming up on October 30th! To give ourselves a little bit of a break from all our #witchyreads, but to keep us in that October mood, Grady Hendrix’s debut novel, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires is, according to the marketing copy: Steel Magnolias meets Dracula in this ’90s-set horror novel about a women’s book club that must do battle with a mysterious newcomer to their small Southern town, perfect for murderinos and fans of Stephen King. We are branching out in our genres and you can register to join us in the adventure here.

~Ashley

Dear readers, I sat down to write this with one path in mind, and now that I’ve looked at the list another has drawn my attention, so here we go.  I feel like this month’s list is the most representative of my reading life overall.  There are several open-door romance novels and a closed-door historical fiction.  There are Young Adult titles, and a middle grade title, that I will be recommending to you and to young people (and young readers at heart) in my life.  There’s a book that is three months old, one that’s 25 years old.  Another that’s closer to 200 years old, and one that’s content is only 80 or so, even if the book has been out less than a year.  There is practical business advice, and there are Gospel stories retold by a novelist (who is a conservative evangelical, so that’s a thing made it an … interesting read).  In case I haven’t been clear, I just like books, and lots of them.  Horror is the only thing I can confidently say is off the table (except Anne Bogel and Ashley convinced me for virtual book club next month, please join us!).  I like a good thriller or science fiction title now and again, but romance, historical fiction, and YA are my jam.  I don’t mind if awful, tragic things happen, so long as there’s hope too, and I like books with strong female characters, huge bonus points if they’re part of an ensemble who is making magic happen (literally or figuratively).  

Now, to where I originally thought this was going.  When Ashley mentioned around September 10 that she thought it’d be fun if we could wrap up our 2020 reading goals by the end of the third quarter, I was in, 1,000%.  Partially because I like supporting my friends on a good challenge, and partially because I knew this would be no challenge for me at all.  My challenge would be to wrap up titles that were in progress (which were honestly starting to bug me, very much as Ashley’s were).  As of September 10ish when Ashley shared her goal, I had six books to go (which didn’t include two I was reading at the time) in 20 or so days.  Given my goal of averaging two books a week for 52 weeks, reading 6 books (or really more like 5 given the in progress titles) in nearly 3 weeks, it was an easy yes.  As she’s already shared, completing the goal for herself has been a bit more challenging, but she knew that when she took on this goal, and also, she cleaned up her Currently Reading Shelf and I’m so proud of her!  See also: TAKE THE WINS!

Most of these titles have been in the planning stages for a while for one reason or another.  Some have been on the October potential post list for months, others took up residence on my TBR list ages ago, but two snuck in quickly.  I didn’t know the series existed, and then suddenly book one was on my kindle, and I listened to it consumed it in three days.  I don’t generally listen to books unless it’s in with my children, but I blame Henry Cavill.  That’s right, I’m blaming an actor for my bookish issues.  What had happened was Netflix showed me “Enola Holmes,” and then Ashley and I discussed it, and then Adam and I discussed it.  Both times it went something like: “Hey there’s this new show and Henry Cavill is in it.”  “I’M IN!”  Of course I’m paraphrasing (but not much with Adam honestly), and then I learned it was based on a book, so I naturally wanted to read the book before watching it on screen.  Then, when Ashley shared this Instagram video with the main characters, I immediately checked out the version of the book available to me (which was audio) and got started listening.  I listened on 1.2 and it was a joy!  The characters are fun and I’m excited to watch and to read/listen more, and *may* have checked out The Case of the Left Handed Lady as I was returning The Case of the Missing Marquess.  I definitely started the second book after watching the trailer yesterday (and Adam is now legit excited because he was in for Henry Cavill, then I said it was a period piece and he was skeptical, as I failed to point out the Sherlock Holmes connection.  Oops.)  Ashley has already seen “Enola Holmes” and we’ve already slightly compared notes (as she plans to read and I plan to watch), so we know there are some creative licenses taken with the story, but I’m still really excited to see what they’ve done with the adaptation and also watch Henry Cavill, Millie Bobbie Brown, and Superman, I mean Sam Claflin.  

What has you excited to read recently?  

~Nikki