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Welcome to my weekly update for October 4, 2026!
My husband finished up his work contract in Marquette, Michigan at the beginning of September so we took a couple of weeks to relocate to his next work assignment. We visited Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in the Lower Peninsula and then headed across to Ohio to visit Cedar Point amusement park, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame (My husband is a fan; I am not but I still found it interesting). We spent about a week at home visiting family and friends, then arrived in Gainesville, Florida for his next 3-month contract at a local hospital. His very first travel contract was in this area so we’ve come full circle in almost eight years of traveling. We probably won’t visit quite as many places as we usually do since we’re back in familiar territory but we do have a couple of trips planned so far.
Posted:
I announced in one of my last weekly updates that I want to expand my blogging beyond books so here are a couple of my efforts.
Sparked My Interest: August 2026–I discussed and shared links to:
- Finch: Self-Care Pet (with my friend code–Thanks to Pam and Nikki for their friend requests and daily doses of encouragement!)
- Marmots on OnlyFans
- Fat Marmot Week (ended)
- Sleepscroll
- Brick
(re)Viewing Last Month: September 2026–I wrote brief reviews of the movies and shows my husband finished in September, including:
- The X-Files: Season 2–Four stars
- Resident Alien: Season 4–Four stars
- My Name is Earl: Season 4–Four stars
- The Sheep Detectives –Four stars
Read:
I’ve read 15 books since my last update on August 16 but I won’t share them all here. These are the standouts. Links go to the book page on GoodReads since I haven’t been reviewing either. Here’s the link to my read shelf on GoodReads if you want to see everything I’ve read.
Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco–5 Stars
Fables, Vol. 10: The Good Prince by Bill Willingham, et al.–4.5 Stars
Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl #2) by Matt Dinniman, read by Jeff Hays (a re-read, but this time I listened to the audio)–4.5 Stars (Link goes to my review of the ebook)
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson, illustrated by Howard Lyon (re-read, but this time I read an illustrated collector’s edition)–5 Stars (Link goes to my original review of a standard hardcover)
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, written and read by Trevor Noah–5 Stars
And then there’s a very disappointing standout–Peace Talks (The Dresden Files #16) by Jim Butcher–2 Stars. I’m officially giving up on this series. Harry’s “chivalry” has always been thinly-veiled sexism but now it’s getting closer to outright misogyny. He’s turned into a chauvinistic, libido-driven jerk for ridiculous plot reasons and this book could have been a novella, maybe even a short story, if all the fluff had been cut out. I’ve been unhappy with the direction of the series since Changes, book #12, but this piece of filler was the last straw. Still, the average rating is 4.23 on GoodReads as I write this, so I’m in the minority.
Currently Reading:
It is October which usually means all-spooky, all the time for my reading! I’m off to a good start with these two choices.
King Sorrow by Joe HIll
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
What did your week look like?
Hosts:
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
Footnotes in Gaza and Trevor Noah were both really good books! Enjoy Florida!
Eight years of traveling around for temporary assignments. Wow. That is really the vagabond life. I didn’t realize it was so long. Do you ever pine for a consistent place to call home?
My post: https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2026/10/sunday-salon-highlights-of-our-united.html
Nice that you were able to catch a break in between assignments. My daughter also wants to travel nurse one day. Sounds so intriguing. Is it nice to be back in Florida? Congratulations on expanding your blogging. It is fun. Enjoy your week!
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2026/10/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-and.html
I’m heartened that you enjoyed the second Dungeon Crawler book so much – I listened to the first one and then had a bit of a break and since then have been second-guessing myself as to whether to continue the series. Though the narration is absolutely superb:). Have a lovely week.
We really loved The Sheep Detectives movie! It is one of those rare times when the movie is better than the book it is based on.
Have a great week.
I read Rules for Aging and Larceny this weekend and I loved it. I’m still meaning to read those Carl books, maybe I should try the audio! I hope you have a good week!
Enjoy your new home! Born A Crime is one of my favorite memoirs. I recommend it to everybody.
It took me forever to finally pick up and read Born a Crime. I ended up enjoying it so much that I recommended it to my book club, and they all loved it, too. I’ve wanted to read a Brandon Sanderson book for a while. I wonder if that’s one I’d like, too.