What I Read This Summer

Every summer, I make a promise to myself: cut into the large stack of books, whether ink-and-paper or digital, that I have amassed. And every summer, that promise fails to truly materialize--at least that has been the case since 2013.

But with some time over the course of the last three months, I did some serious, serious reading, and managed to slice my way through the reading pile--as well as dust off a few of my old favorites.

In all of 2017, I've now read 23 books--but starting May 16, I began my summer reading. From that date until just a little while ago today, I managed to read 19 books.

Here's a list:

The Harry Potter collection

It had been well over five-plus years since I last read J.K. Rowling's fantastic series, and I had yet to read the new Cursed Child screenplay. Reading these books swept me away, like it did over a decade ago.

So that's eight books, right there.

Abigail, by L.L. Craft

A pulse-quickener that isn't exactly for the faint of heart. Eagerly awaiting the sequel.

Goodman's Bad Day, by Michael Crane

Mikey finally wrote himself a novel, and it's as I expected: a solid tale derived from his slice of life stories and expanded.

The Insider's Story: A Lance Carter Detective Novel #2, by Bruce A. Sarte

I thought I had read this years ago, but apparently, I hadn't. Bruce is very good at bringing Philadelphia to life, just like I am with Boston or Worcester.

The Interstellar Cargo series (2 books and a novella), by Matthew Verish

A solid sci-fi series, and I'm waiting for the third book to arrive.

The Burning Room, Harry Bosch #19, and The Wrong Side of Goodbye, Harry Bosch #21, by Michael Connelly

I love Connelly. I love Bosch.

A Catskill Eagle, Spenser #12, by Robert B. Parker

One of my literary heroes, Parker.

Star Wars Aftermath and Star Wars Aftermath: Life Debt, by Chuck Wendig

Being the Star Wars nut that I am, I've wanted to read these as the rumor had it that Snoke is in it as another character. Didn't find him in the first two; still have to read Empire's End.

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The new office and the pains of moving books

I moved in with Jen a couple of months ago, but the move has been a staggered move. At first it was clothes and things I would use on an every day basis: toothbrush, shampoo, toothpaste, an alarm clock, pictures, my coin cups, my Kindle, etc. It wasn't until this past Saturday that Jen and I went to my mother's house--my old house--in Fitchburg to gather two important items: my books and my DVDs.

The main reason we waited is because I didn't really have a place to put them all. I do have quite a number of books and DVDs that were sequestered in a small corner of my old office. In addition, I was deep in the first draft of Federal Agent and didn't want trivial things like moving books in the way of finishing that book. I had a couple of books and my Kindle handy. I was good.

I wrote the second half of FA at a small desk that Jen had in the living room. We also had a spare room across from our bedroom on the second floor that was pretty much unoccupied. We had discussed a potential writing area for me in that room, but we really never had the chance to put the plans into action until this past weekend.

We've turned that room into an office and quiet area, and I've commandeered half of the walk-in closet area as a library. Jen packed the books into bags, boxes and travel suitcases, while I did the heavy lifting. I unpacked and sorted the books yesterday.

Here are some pictures:

A shot from the doorway of the office half. Note the stacks of three-hole punch paper ready for use; I use three-hole punch paper to print out my books for editing. This is where I'm planning on doing a majority of my writing from now on.

The comfy half of the office. Jen and I moved that recliner upstairs from the basement and that desk across the hall. The bookcase contains Harry Potter, RA Salvatore, Vince Flynn and Robert B. Parker.

A look at my desk from the recliner. All of my trade paperbacks are on the top shelf, while my reference material is on the second shelf. Plenty of natural light streaming in through those windows!

Here's my library.

These two photos contain my entire Star Wars Expanded Universe collection. I've always dreamed of writing a Star Wars novel, and I figured that if that were to ever happen, God willing, I should have a strong background in and knowledge of the EU. I own all but one physical Star Wars book; the library is short three, as the second Thrawn Trilogy book is at mom's, and the Episode 3 novelization has water damage, so I need to buy another copy. I need to buy Revan, too, and thankfully the paperback comes out on September 25. Who needs Wookieepedia when I am a walking Star Wars encyclopedia? Right, Del Rey Spectra?

Oh yeah, I completely made this part of the library chronological. That took about an hour to accomplish.

A portion of my library dedicated to several individuals who have been in my corner in more ways than anyone can fathom: Steven Savile, Jim C. Hines (that's his new one, Libriomancer), and David Forbes.

My collection of Dune novels.

My shelf of Tolkien. Yep, that's two box sets of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Why would anyone need more than one? The older set was dad's. I even have LOTR in audiobook.

And that's Ziggy Puff on his own shelf. He takes over the recliner, too. He resembles The Wonder Cat so much.

www.seansweeneyauthor.com