Thursday, September 3, 2026

August was a good reading month for me! It was an indoor reading month – usually on my cool leather couch that you see here.

I would say it was a chick lit month, too. I mostly read fun books this month. Paris was a theme, too! If a book has Paris in the title, chances are I am drawn to it!

I liked all of these! If I don’t like it, I put it down.

I believe this was my favorite of the month – Brighter than Before.

I have always wanted to go to a book signing/book release party, and I finally got to do that! I love a self-help book or a book on life hacks/tips. I feel like I can always learn something from this type of book. I check these books out from the library, too, but with this book below, I ordered it so I could have it read before the signing. I loved it! This may sound cheesy, but between reading this book and delving into Dolly Parton’s legacy, I’m excited and empowered about my current chapter. If you would like to order this book, here it is. I forgot – I did get to hear Gretchen Rubin speak about The Happiness Project, too!

The backstory:

This is Jack Harlow’s mom, and she is a local business owner and has become a motivational speaker. Jack went to another high school in Louisville, but his younger brother Clay was my student at my high school in Louisville and so this is why I have always been a little interested in Jack’s career and have kept up with Clay, who is now 25. I found the book to be easy to read, and it spoke to where I am in life. Some might say it’s common-sense stuff or stuff you’ve heard before and some of it is, but I liked it. I think books hit differently for us at different times, perhaps.

The signing was really cool, too. It was free, but you had to get tickets which were limited. It was held at a French restaurant called Le Relais at our little airport called Bowman Field.

You got a free cocktail and they had fancy appetizers.

The best surprise was that Clay was there and his buddy who was also one of my wonderful students. This group was so fun to teach. They were both on the soccer team and invited me to senior night where their walk out songs were Spanish songs I had taught them in class. Clay is on the right. He is a music producer living in LA now.

Jack showed up after I had left!

Also, I invited a high school friend to attend with me and she said yes. I had run into her at the bourbon event last week and we re-connected.

Can you see little airplanes in the background of this photo?

Here is my current library stack and I decided to start…

The Jetsetters!

What have you read lately?

Amy