What I'm Reading Now -- Last Child In the Woods

I first saw Last Child In the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder many moons ago when I was working at a bookstore. I was intrigued then by the idea of the book then, and remain so to this day.  Despite having never actually read it, I have recommended it to several people who were complaining about their kids' obsession with games, phones, and other technology.  I tell them I haven't read it yet, "but it's on my list," and I also tell them how much I appreciate the time I spent outdoors as a child, now that I'm an adult who works at a computer all day.

Now I will finally read it, and tick off another book in my 2026 Reading Challenge along the way.
 

The River is Waiting -- Take 2

I finished The River is Waiting in record time, for me.  I'm a slow reader, but I blew through this one despite it coming in at over 450 pages.  It helped that I had a couple of flights and generally had to kill other time just sitting and reading, but I also wanted to read it rather than, say, play on my phone.  And these days, that's not nothing. 

So finish it I did! And -- I don't want to get ahead of myself here but I am excited -- I am now halfway through my 2026 Reading Challenge despite being only one-third of the way through the year!

As for the story itself, it's the tale of Corby Ledbetter, a stay-at-home father, out-of-work artist, and secret addict who, in a terrible accident, causes a tragedy that lands him in prison. In my professional life, I've worked with a lot of felons who have co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.  In that respect, this story felt extremely familiar.  Few of them have been through the family trauma that Corby caused, but the themes are there.  The plot moved it along nicely, that's how I got through it so quickly.  I thought the resolution of Corby's storyline was a little bit of a cop out, a bit too cutesy-with-a-bow-on-it, but the final wrap-it-all-up moment was moving, nevertheless.