Cosmic Weekly: Candy Corn and Road Trips

Gaby and I met virtually yesterday on a very dreary Monday, even though I'm back in town. We're mutually excited about an upcoming field trip (FIELD TRIP!) to Portland, ME, we're taking to see the exhibit "Painter and Poet: The Art of Ashley Bryan" at the Portland Art Museum (among other fun things). Plus, we got to gush about all the lovely fall releases we've been digging through. More on that to come. For now, let's check in.

Painter and Poet: The Art of Ashley Bryan

Current or upcoming reads? Any progress on what you've been working on?

Gaby Brabazon: I haven't finished Circe yet because I started working on this list of Fall book releases to share with CB and got so excited about all the books that are popping up. My to-read list has skyrocketed as I've sifted through Publisher's Weekly, so who knows what's on the list next.

Grace McKinney: I finished the book I mentioned last week and ended up cramming two more books into the week of my travels. I finished Louisiana's Way Home [DiCamillo] and liked it better than Raymie, I think. It was a treat.

And then, oh man, I started Scythe by Neal Shusterman. I picked it up as a bargain book from Tattered Cover in Denver, mostly because I just wanted to have another book from that bookstore. I ended up reading it over two days with the help of jet lag (I'm a wimp) and I'm dying to get my hands on the sequel. I hadn't picked up a YA dystopia since my graduate program and I honestly didn't expect to love it as much as I did, but I just found the world and morality in question in it so compelling, I couldn't put it down.

And what are you eating?

GB: Currently? Candy corn. A lot of candy corn.

GM: I'm eating bits and pieces of the failure of a soda bread I made today. It's, like, barely cooked enough that it's safe to eat and would most certainly fail a Paul Hollywood poke test, but here we are. Hiding my disdain with butter.

Lastly, of course, share a little sliver of excitement in the world.

GB: I'm really excited about our trip to Portland! It's going to be so fun.

GM: I'm also very excited about Portland, and I'm trying to think of other book-ish excitement... But honestly, I'm just happy to have new seasons of the Great British Baking Show on Netflix.

That's it for this week, friends! We're excited for all there is to share, including new features on the site. For opportunities to get email updates, post interactions, and more, sign up to be a Cosmic Bookshelf Site Member. Look for the "Log In" option on our Home Page. Happy reading!