Monthly Wrap-Up — July 2026

Books Read – May 2026

Books

1. Unexpected Magic (Jude Knight) – ARC ★★★⯪
2. Remember That Day (Mary Balogh) ★★★★
3. A Waltz to Remember (Mary Balogh) ★★★★⯪
4. The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies (Kate Westbury) – ARC ★★★★⯪
5. The Scargill Cove Case Files (Jayne Ann Krentz) – novelette ★★★
6. “A Labyrinth of Honeybees” (Heather Fawcett) – short story ★★★★

Audiobooks

1. The Perfect Poison (Amanda Quick) – library; reread ★★★★
2. Fired Up (Jayne Ann Krentz) – library; reread ★★★★
3. Burning Lamp (Amanda Quick) – library; reread ★★★★
4. In Too Deep (Jayne Ann Krentz) – library; reread ★★★★
5. After Dark (Jayne Castle) – Hoopla; reread ★★★★
6. After Glow (Jayne Castle) – Hoopla; reread ★★★★
7. Ghost Hunter (Jayne Castle) – Hoopla; reread ★★★★
8. Silver Master (Jayne Castle) – own; reread ★★★★
9. Dark Light (Jayne Castle) – Hoopla; reread ★★★★

I continued my rereading binge of Jayne Ann Krentz (aka Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick) this month, whilst packing and decluttering. Thank goodness for the library and Hoopla! Although I’ve read them all several times before, it was the first time I had listened to most of these. (Note that in a few cases, I did read some chapters on my Kindle when I was awake during the night, but I consumed most of each book via audio. )

Summary: I read or listened to 13 books and 2 short stories in July, including 5 first-time reads (including one short story) and 9 rereads (including the other short story/novelette.) I posted 3 reviews: one for a book I read this month (Remember That Day), and two reviews of books I read earlier in 2026 (Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter and Sea of Charms.)

Challenges

Here’s the breakdown of my reading challenges this year so far:

• Goodreads Challenge: 70/125. I am 2 books behind schedule. (That total does include a novelette and a short story, so technically, its really 68.)
• Audiobook challenge: Listened to 30/15; reviewed 3/15.
• COYER Out to Lunch Again challenge: Read 60/20; reviewed 10/20, with one more review scheduled. (My personal challenge includes actually writing the review.)
• Library Love Challenge: Read 20/12; reviewed 1/12.
• NetGalley & Edelweiss Challenge: Read 16/10; reviewed 5/10, with one additional review scheduled.
• Robin’s Recs: Read 1/6; reviewed 0/6.

Click here to see a detailed (but not entirely up-to-date) list of my challenge reading.

Other Goals and Resolutions

Unpack and reorganize Prune and pack my book collection: At this point, most of the pruning is done, and I’m focusing on cataloging and protecting dust jackets (see below.)

Catalog my books: We have been focused on other areas of the house this month. I hope to return to cataloging and adding dust jacket covers in August, but the priority now is packing them up for storage and moving. I will probably prune a few more books as I go. Physical books catalogued so far (since I started in 2025): 1063.

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