The RAHM Report for 11/26/18

What I Finished Reading

• Be Merry: A Catholic Guide to Avoid Anxiety and Depression During The Holidays by Sterling Jaquith ⭐⭐
  This has been sitting in my Kindle app for a long time so I decided to just quickly read through it. It didn't wow me, but it was better than this author's book on Catholic minimalism.
• A Christmas Memory, One Christmas, & The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  I really enjoyed these stories, though they weren't quite what I was expecting. My book club will meet on Friday to discuss.
• Cloche and Dagger by Jenn McKinlay ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  I really liked the characters in this cozy mystery and the audio narration was very good as well. I think my local libraries only have these on audio, so that's probably how I'll read the rest of the series.
• The Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts: The Library and the Young Adult by Margaret A. Edwards ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  This book about YA librarianship was originally published in 1969, and I read the edition published on the occasion of Edwards' 100th birthday in 2002. As far as I'm concerned, it's just more proof that librarians need to study the roots of their profession; so much of what Edwards argues is being treated today as though it is new. I think this should be required reading in library school. I wish it had been for me! 
• The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring by John Bellairs ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  I really loved Rose Rita as the main character in this third book of the Lewis Barnavelt series. This was a fitting conclusion to the original trilogy.
• Until There Was You by Kristan Higgins ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  It took me forever to get through this book! The middle dragged quite a bit, but the ending was very satisfying and sweet.
• Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson ⭐⭐
  I read this because I had it lying around and it had been assigned to me in college but I didn't actually read it back then. I liked the concept - a series of connected short stories introducing the residents of a small town - but though the writing was obviously good, it lacked any sort of sense of humor at all resulting in a very depressing reading experience. I ended up listening to the last third or so on audiobook and that did help. Narrator George Guidall's performance is excellent. 

What I'm Currently Reading

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  The read-along group with which I was planning to read this book was supposed to have a discussion on Saturday morning that doesn't seem to have happened, so I'm skeptical that the group is going to stick with it. I am switching back and forth between my Illustrated Junior Library edition and the audiobook narrated by Barbara Caruso, and though I definitely won't finish it this week, I'm going to try to finish it by the end of next week. 
• The Winged Watchman by Hilda van Stockum
  I'm doing a buddy read of this book over the next three days with an Instagram friend. I have never read a van Stockum book I didn't love so I'm excited to get started.
• Snow in Love by by Melissa de la Cruz, Nic Stone, Aimee Friedman, and Kasie West
  I read part of the first story in this book yesterday, and I can tell it will be easy to zip through. 
• A Nancy Drew Christmas by Carolyn Keene, audiobook read by Jorjeana Marie
  I wanted a quick light read for my next audiobook so I borrowed this from Hoopla. So far, it's actually better written than I was expecting. 
• No Slam Dunk by Mike Lupica
  This middle grade basketball novel will be another quick read. I want to finish and review it this week, since I received an ARC and the book has already been out for three weeks. 

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