Somehow we're halfway through the year already. I feel like a broken record on these wrap-up posts, because in every one, I say that I can't believe how fast the year is going. But it's still true!

Favorite book this quarter: ​Tie between A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman and The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. I had a surprising number of 5-star reads this quarter. It's hard to narrow it down!

The lure of the library has been strong this quarter. Only 37% of the books I read are books I own, although I have been listening to a fair amount of audiobooks, which come from the library. So that makes the number look worse than it is. Overall for the year, sixty percent of the books I've read are books I own. Still okay, but I'd like the swing the percentages back the other way for the third quarter and read a lot more of my own books!

We went on a little weekend getaway this weekend, and I discovered just how different traveling with a kid is. We went to the other side of the state, so my little guy got his first experience with Lake Michigan. He loved playing in the sand, but not so much in the cold waves. I did get a surprising amount of reading in, though. What else are you going to do when you have to be back at the hotel at 8:00 for bedtime, but you don't want to go to bed yourself yet?

The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig (A fun read, but not my favorite of this series.)

The Golden Specific by S.E. Grove (Such a creative world!)

Edge of Extinction: The Ark Plan by Laura Martin (I heard about this one on the Read-Aloud Revival podcast, and I'm really looking forward to it!)

In keeping with my post last week called How Do You Read a Series?, in which I bemoaned the fact that I am terrible about finishing series, I decided to tweak the topic of this week's Top Ten Tuesday (or Theursday) post. Instead of talking about ten series I've been meaning to start, I'm posting about ten series that I've read the first book in, but somehow haven't made it to the second book yet. I have an equally long list of series where I've read the first two or three, but not any farther. And an even longer list of series that I want to start, but I feel like I should tie up some of these loose ends first. I may have a problem. . .​

I had some family visiting over the weekend, so I got a chance to play tourist in my area, which was fun. It was especially fun to see my little guy interacting with his second cousins. Lots of giggles!

Grace Alone by Ruth Meyer (This book was so good! Uplifting and romantic, with a twist in the middle you could never see coming!)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo (That's how it ends?? What??)
On the Road by Jack Kerouac (I'm glad I read it, but it was a pretty tedious read. They drink, do drugs, sleep with women, and travel across the country. Repeatedly. I got the point by about page 30, but there were still 300 to go!)

The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig (I'm trying to be a good reader - this is both a book I own and the next book in a series I'm taking forever to read. I'm looking forward to it.)

The Golden Specific by S.E. Grove (This is a thick book. Hopefully I can finish it by its due date at the end of the month!)

I am terrible at finishing series. I have so many series that I've started but never finished, even if there's only one more book to read. This might be because I can't get a hold of the next book, or it might be because the series didn't hold my attention enough to continue.

But very frequently, it's neither of these reasons. Case in point - 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson. I loved that book, and my library has book two on its shelves. But did I check it out the next time I visited the library, or even the time after that? No, I didn't. One of those times, I even saw it on the shelf, yet decided not to check it out. The same thing happened with The Midnight Queen by Sylvia Izzo Hunter. As soon as I finished it, I was dying to read the next book - yet chose not to get it from the library. I read that book a year ago, and I still haven't checked out the sequel. I have a feeling the same thing will happen with The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. I just finished that book, and absolutely loved it. But will I get the next book from the library when I go in a couple of weeks? Past history shows that that's unlikely.

I can't figure out why this is. So I'm curious how you read a series. Do you devour all of the books as quickly as you can get them (assuming that all of the books have been published)? Do you space them out a little bit to savor the experience? Or do you let the series hang there for months or years until you get around to finishing it, if ever?

Summer is hitting us here in Michigan with a vengeance this week! High 80s and low 90s to look forward to all week long. We bought and installed a window air conditioner over the weekend, so we at least have one room in the house that is bearable. Time to break out the kiddie pool!

The White Princess by Philippa Gregory (The last third of the book picked up a bit and drew my interest back in, so I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would.)
​The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman (Five star read!! Must get my hands on the next book in the series!)

Grace Alone by Ruth Meyer (Book club book for June. Please don't judge this book by its terrible cover. It's a fun Christian romance!)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo (I should be finishing this one up this week!)

On the Road by Jack Kerouac (This is a modern American classic that I always felt I should have read. So now I am!)

Okay, I'm a few days late on getting this post up. But this seemed like a fun topic - the ten books from whatever genre you choose that you most recently added to your TBR list. It'll be no surprise to anyone who is a regular visitor to Smiling Shelves that the genre I picked is travel narratives. I am always ready to read about travelling to a new place!

I love this beautiful summer weather! We spent almost all of Saturday afternoon outside, playing and watching my husband and father-in-law build a new fence. My little guy even got to "drive" the tractor, which he absolutely loved!

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde (It had been a while since I last read this one. It got better and better as it went!)

The White Princess by Philippa Gregory (It's an interesting read, but it's about 150 pages longer than it needs to be.)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo (It's always at the climax of the book that reading something through the Serial Reader app drives me crazy. I'm at that point now!)

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman (I finally allowed myself to check this one out of the library. I love the cover!)