The RAHM Report for 10/1/18

After considering it all month, I made the decision this weekend to decrease my Goodreads challenge goal from 500 books to 400. One of my goals for the year was to read fewer books (I read 800 in 2017), and I set that goal specifically so that I would not be spending my time scrambling to find enough picture books to read in order to catch up after falling 30+ books behind on the challenge. As I looked back over my reading for the past several months, I realized there had been  several instances where I had already done this, and that I would probably need to do it at least once more in order to remain on track. Since I'd rather have time to focus on writing reviews in a timely manner (another of my goals), I decided to just take the pressure off and shave 100 books off my goal. I imagine I will surpass 400, but I didn't want the pressure of making it to 500 to force me into reading books that didn't really interest me. I feel a little bit like a cheater, but I also feel better about being 40-something books ahead of schedule instead of 30-something books behind.

What I Finished Reading

• The Galloping Goat by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  This is Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's very first book, a collection of short stories about kids around the world. This was a re-read for me, but this time I read it aloud to my older two girls. 
• Charm City by Laura Lippman ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  I really like Tess Monaghan, the main character of this series. Living in Maryland, I especially enjoyed all the details about Baltimore geography, slang, and history that informed the story. I'm looking forward to continuing the series.
• Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen  ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  I read about this book in I'd Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel and decided to give it a try. It was sort of like an adult version of Wendy Mass's books in the Willow Falls series. Though I don't like fantasy, I do enjoy magical realism, and I plan to read more from this author.   
• Shelved Under Murder by Victoria Gilbert, audiobook read by Coleen Marlo ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  I enjoyed this second book of the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series almost as much as the books in my favorite Library Lovers series. I especially like the main character, Amy, and her dancer boyfriend, Richard, as well as the way the arts played into the plot. The audiobook narrator was also very good.

What I'm Currently Reading

• Watching the Detectives by Julie Mulhern 37%
  I only have this for one more day from Hoopla and I hate to use another of my 10 precious borrows to borrow it again, but I'm not sure I'll get it finished by tonight at midnight. I am enjoying it, though. These books are consistently very funny. 
• Lu by Jason Reynolds 36%
  Part of the reason I didn't read more in Watching the Detectives is that I found out this was on Edelweiss, dropped everything, and read several chapters in one sitting. I love this series, and this fourth book has as strong a voice as the first one (my favorite), Ghost. I will finish this quickly the next time I sit down with it. 
• Know and Tell by Karen Glass 12%
  I have not been in the mood for a dry academic book so I haven't read much in this one at all. I may end up not finishing it. 
• My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok 6%
  My book club meeting for this is coming up on the 19th, so I will be allowing myself to get a bit more into it starting later this week. I'm trying to time is so that I finish just a few days before we meet so it's fresh in my mind. 
• Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace 0%
  I did actually start this one night, but I was very tired and kept drifting off so I'll need to start over. It's the last Betsy-Tacy related book I have to read! 

I'll be linking up today with Unleashing Readers/Teach Mentor Texts and Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?