[Meme] It's Monday! What Are YOU Reading? + My "Acting" Debut

How is it already October? September was an incredibly busy month, what with BoucherCon and various writing/author-related activities. The last couple of weeks were especially busy as I helped my boyfriend prepare for his pilot reading. 

His dream is to be a TV screenwriter, which is what he went to school for, and lately has been taking classes at Second City and iO Chicago. Both these theaters are famous for comedy and improv, and October 1st was the reading of his original pilot script.

A pilot reading is exactly what it sounds like: a group of actors sit on stage, reading out the dialogue from the script to a live audience. The writer reads the stage directions, so that the audience has a sense of the context of the scene, but it's basically all dialogue. Pilot readings provide incredible feedback for the writer since how words "sound" on paper are very different from how they sound when actually spoken aloud. Plus, we could actually hear the audience's reaction to certain lines; if they laughed when they were supposed to, we nailed it. If the words felt clunky as we said them, or if there was zero reaction from the crowd, we knew it needed work.

I say "we" because even though it's my boyfriend's original script, I've read it over so many times and am the sounding board for all his ideas. Plus, I somehow got roped into being one of the actors.

In typical James (my bf) fashion, he was so focused on his script that he forgot to plan all the practical logistics til the last minute: contacting the actors, getting an artist to design programs, inviting people, etc. He ended up contacting the actors less than a week before the performance, and was only able to wrangle three actors, so he had me, his best friend Matt, and my friend Oscar fill in the rest. It was a little nerve-wracking, but a lot of fun and a great experience.

Now, on to my reading week.

Hosted @ The Book Date

Last week I managed to knock out three new release cozies, as well as finish an audiobook. Hoopla is such a glitchy app, but so useful during my daily commute.

What I Read Last Week:

This was a pretty lackluster lineup. The only new release I found worthwhile was The Book Club Murders. You can check out my mini review for all three here. The other three cozies I read the week before are reviewed here.

The audiobook to Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters was excellent. I can't believe it's taken me so long to start the Amelia Peabody series, but you better believe I'm going to continuing read/listening to it.

Goodreads

Goodreads

Goodreads

Goodreads

What I'm Currently Reading:

I'm about 1/3 of the way through A Kind of Justice and I'm liking it a lot. It took me a while to get into; not sure if it's because of the writing style or the fact that it's the second book in the series (I own the first, but haven't read it yet), but once I did, I really started to admire the protagonist, a transsexual woman trying to make it in the world. I'm trying to make an effort to read more diverse fiction, and this is a good start.

Goodreads

Goodreads

Goodreads

Goodreads

What's Up Next:

I'm still trying to get my NetGalley list under control, but after next week, I think I can finally start fitting in more of my library reads. Or, heaven forbid, I might actually start reading the giant stacks of books that I've bought but haven't touched. We'll see how it goes.

Goodreads

Goodreads

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What are your plans now that Fall's here? Was your September as jam-packed as mine? What reads are you looking forward to? 

I'm sorry that I've been terrible with responding to comments, but I plan on catching up with all of them soon, and also with all the blogs I need to visit. Chat with you all soon!