Recent Reads from the Mindful Library Vol. 19

October 7, 2023

Hello readers! Today’s newsletter brings you a formal introduction to my oldest pup (Max), and a roundup of some of my recent reads. Let’s dive in!

As I said last week, I am changing up how I title my newsletters to help make your inbox a little clearer ~ I hope this is helpful to you!

The Best Boy™ of all time on a recent walk

I know most of you have seen Max in this newsletter before, but you haven’t actually MET Max yet. Let’s fix that today!

Max is known in our household as The Best Boy™ and Majestic Max for very good reason ~ he is the sweetest, kindest, most obedient boy on earth, has an absolute heart of gold, and THOSE EARS. He entered our lives in May of 2016 when I responded to a Craigslist ad that said he needed a new home due to the family relocating to Florida. I set up a meeting time that very day, and the kids and I drove to the address with absolutely no idea of what we were getting into.

We showed up to a very run-down house in a neighboring town and found no humans around, but there was poor Max, tied to a tree in a muddy yard. I knocked on the door and it just swung open ~ still no humans there, so I brought the kids back out to see Max and we waited and waited for someone to arrive. When they finally did, I was told that they had to re-home Max for various reasons, one of which was that their son had been sent to live with family elsewhere and Max had been his dog. They said he was maybe one year old but weren’t sure. The stories weren’t all matching up, but I had already decided that I would be taking Max no matter what ~ if he didn’t do well with the kids I planned to take him to the Humane Society, but he would NOT be staying there. I paid the $100 rehoming fee and we left as soon as we could. Did I learn something about going to unknown addresses with my three kids? Yes. Was it worth it anyway? 100%.

I’m so happy to report that Max instantly fit into our family and became my best walking and running buddy, and has been our faithful companion ever since. I refuse to believe that he is getting older and maintain that he is eternally one year old. Max loves nothing more than herding our youngest when she’s swinging on the swing-set or playing board games (we try to calm him down, but he’s a herding dog and doesn’t hurt her). He is always the last of the pack to get his turn going outside because he is endlessly polite and waits his turn ~ we often chide his brothers for never letting Max get a chance to go first. When his younger brother used to escape, Max would remain in the kennel until we got home, even with the door wide open. He sleeps in the hallway outside the youngest kiddo’s room right at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the other kids’ rooms ~ I suspect that it’s so he can protect all of them as best as he can all night long. He loves to play fetch but isn’t always the best at returning the ball and can’t see a sprinkler without attempting to get ALL THE WATER in his mouth.

Max isn’t our first family dog, but he’s the oldest of our current pack and has set the bar high for all of my canine family going forward. We are so lucky to have him in our family!

I hope you loved meeting Max, and I can’t wait to introduce you to Booker and Ozzie in the future!

If you’re wondering when this became a dog newsletter rather than a books newsletter, the answer is that IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN BOTH! All the dogs, all the books!

Okay, now for the books! I am changing things up a bit with my recent reads newsletters ~ I’m holding back on sharing the future releases I have been reading, and will share about them in their respective monthly releases newsletters that publish on the last Saturday of each month. I was feeling a lot of repetition in my book coverage, so while I might tease a book that I read pre-release, I won’t be featuring it until right before it hits shelves. The same goes for titles I read for inclusion in a soon-upcoming roundup. I hope this cleans things up a bit around here!

It has been a pretty slow reading period for me simply due to LIFE ~ kid stuff, work (so many meetings!), and a kiddo’s recent birthday weekend all have led to less time at home. BUT, my audio game has been really strong due to having a solo commute for the first time in years. That means I get a lot more listening time than I have EVER had! Audio is one of my main sources of backlist titles and it definitely keeps me balanced.

My highlighted titles this time contain a perfectly seasonal read and a whole lot of death, with four out of the six titles experienced via my ears.

I have been wondering why I’m gravitating toward books about death, dying and grief, and haven’t really hit on an answer other than the fact that being in midlife lends itself to pondering my own mortality. Regardless of the reason, all four of these next titles share these themes and I really enjoyed all of them.

The Year of Second Chances by Lara Avery is my favorite of the group, with an impeccable upper Midwest flair that I would compare to J. Ryan Stradal or Amy E. Reichert. The story itself made me so very happy (young widow trying to date due to her late husband’s wishes), but the setting (the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area) just sealed my love. You can read my full review for even more on this book! Someone Else’s Bucket List by Amy T. Matthews was great on audio and also features fulfilling the wishes of a deceased love one ~ this time a sister tackling her late sister’s bucket list.

And oh my GOODNESS, Shark Heart by Emily Habeck just blew me away with its original twist on loss and grief and …… well, everything? I can barely describe it, but I promise that if you were willing to have an octopus narrate parts of Remarkably Bright Creatures, you definitely want to give this one an equal shot. Excellent on audio and absolutely full of discussion points for a book club or reading friends. And finally, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin is a touching story of a friendship across generations that takes place in the terminal ward of a hospital. Also great on audio!

I have the BookGang podcast (and the show’s Patreon) to thank for guiding me to both Shark Heart and Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon ~ thanks Amy Clark! This murder mystery features three generations of women as amateur sleuths and has such an amazing backstory. Yet another great audiobook! And completely unrelated to anything else here, Shelley Noble nailed it with her gorgeous cover and title and cozy Rhode Island story in Picture Perfect Autumn. I fully admit that I chose to read my galley of this book solely because of the title and cover, but was pleasantly surprised by the unique story and characters.

All six of these titles are on shelves now ~ I hope you found a title that intrigued you today!

And in case you missed these recent installments of the newsletter ……

• Cozy Magical Realism Reads for Fall

• My October Release highlights

If you liked this post and want to support my work, please consider sharing this edition of my newsletter with your reading friends, buy me a coffee, or upgrade your subscription to paid! Just sharing is a huge help, though ~ thank you ☺️

Did you miss my last recent reads roundup?

That’s all for this edition, my friends!

Thanks for reading,

I love to hear from readers, so please do reach out to me with questions or feedback at mindfullibrarian@substack.com . If we aren’t already connected on Instagram and Goodreads, I would love to see you there as well!