Audiowalking is one of my favorite things to do. In a fun twist this week my son and I took part in the #DoAGoodTurn 5k through the Boy Scouts. We just started walking around our neighborhood and stopped when we hit 5k. Everything I love about a 5k without all of the crowds, difficult parking, and loud DJs.
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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Usually this is my favorite part of the reading year. I absolutely love summer reading lists, and have been known to cancel plans when my favorites come out. But this year they’re barely on my radar. I just can’t bring myself to care about new books knowing that I’ll have a hard time getting my hands on any of them in the near future. I know my reading lists are small potatoes in the wider scheme of things, but this is just another example of how life has changed so much.
Audiowalking is one of my favorite things to do. Now more than ever I need my walks to stay sane. Weather has been icky this week. Our walks have been the forced kind, but we always feel better when we get back. Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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Audiowalking is one of my favorite things to do. Now more than ever I need my walks to stay sane. We’ve been noticing more and more wildlife on our walks. In the absence of people it seems the turtles and squirrels are taking over. Luckily we have a neighborhood cat to chase the squirrels away before they destroy my garden. Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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I guess I’ve been looking at too many Covid-19 trackers because last week I got it in my head that I should track my books read in the same way. Now instead of saying I finished a book I say I flattened that book’s curve.
Audiowalking is one of my favorite things to do. Now more than ever I need my walks to stay sane. Last week was “Spring Break” for us, but obviously all walks were local. Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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Channeling my inner Pete The Cat
Just another average reading month for me. Nothing exciting happening. How about you?
Most of my March reading took place before social distancing took place. You would think that staying at home most of the time would lead to an increase in reading, but my brain is scribble scrabble. Obviously 2020 isn’t turning out to be the year to care about reading goals or challenges. In the mean time I’m doing puzzles, making bread, and working in the yard.
Here are a few things I did manage to finish:
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - This is the one book I did manage to finish in the first few weeks of staying at home. The world of Anne is so comforting, and I can’t wait to read the rest of this series. I feel lucky to just be discovering this series now.
The Day The World Came To Town by Jim Defede - It was inspiring to me to read about how people came together during another time of crisis.
Finding Mrs. Ford by Deborah Goodrich Royce - Mrs. Ford is living the good life until the FBI shows up. If you like the twists of Ruth Ware books I think you’ll like this one too.
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips - This one is getting a lot of good reviews, and I think they’re deserved. It starts with an abduction of two sisters in Russia, but the book itself is only slightly related to the abductions. Instead we get a story each month about others in the community which of course includes mention of the missing sisters. It’s very interesting how it all comes together. I had to return it to the library, but if I hadn’t I would have read it again right away once I knew how it all fit together.
The Grace Year by Kim Liggett - Good, old-fashioned girl power YA dystopia. Give it a try of you like that kind of thing.
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Audiowalking is one of my favorite things to do. Now more than ever I need my walks to stay sane. Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.
Audiowalking is one of my favorite things to do. I tend to stick to the same routes, but each day I see something new. Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.
Audiowalking is one of my favorite things to do. I tend to stick to the same routes, but each day I see something new. Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.
My reading garden is finally starting to take shape
One of my goals this year was to create a reading garden. It was hard work clearing out all of the bushes and ivy that were in this corner, but I’m so happy with the result. I can’t wait to spend the summer reading on that bench!
Audiowalking is one of my favorite things to do. I tend to stick to the same routes, but each day I see something new. Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.
Audiowalking is one of my favorite things to do. I tend to stick to the same routes, but each day I see something new. Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.
I have a ridiculous amount of books out of the library right now. I’m not sure what happened. I had been doing such a good job of keeping on top of my holds.
February was a good reading month for me. I’m doing a #AuthorAMonth challenge on Litsy, so took a deep dive into Colson Whitehead. Also, current events seem to be strongly impacting my reading choices.
Here are the best books I read last month:
(One fiction, one non)
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead - I think most people know what this book is about by now, so I won’t re-tell the synopsis. After reading two other books by Whitehead earlier in the month I didn’t think I would like this, but it really is a masterpiece. I’m so glad I finally read it.
On the Clock by Emily Guendelsberger - My co-worker suggested this because she knew I had liked Nickel and Dimed. Sure enough I was fascinated by this updated version where a woman works at Amazon, a call center, and McDonalds. This book seems especially powerful in light of all the conversations we’ve been having lately about lack of paid sick leave.
(Where my Twitter feed and the daily news subliminally impacts what I read.)
The Stand by Stephen King - Stephen King’s plague book. My copy is an old, beaten up paperback that doesn’t include the expanded versions from the 1990’s. Sorry King purists, but I prefer it that way. I think it’s a better, cleaner story for the editing.
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice - This book was interesting- a total breakdown of society as experienced by a First Nation tribe. When phone, internet, and services are cut off they think it’s a normal interruption and go about living as they normally would. Eventually they find out it’s something more.
Zone One by Colson Whitehead - This is Whitehead’s zombie apocalypse book, although I read it as more tongue and cheek. Maybe I’m just not deep enough, but I kept feeling like there was more to the story than I was getting.
Vox by Christina Dalcher - This dystopian novel had an excellent premise. In the not too distant future the US has become extremely conservative to the point where women and girls are only allowed to speak 100 words a day. Unfortunately after a impactful opening the book just kind of fizzled. However this book did give me the momentum to finally get my real ID, renew my passport, and check on my voter registration. So there’s that.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - My second post-plague book of the month, I read this as part of my project re-read. This book gets a lot of hype for good reason.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - Another book for project re-read. I think I said this last month too, but more and more I’m really starting to appreciate books that feature older people having lives and maybe even falling in love.
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell - This one was a ROLLER COASTER. A girl inherits a house and a whole lot of baggage. Read this if you’re a fan of Ruth Ware.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi - Again, I feel like I’m probably the last person to have read this so I won’t re-tell the plot. I’ll just say the world building and magical realism in this YA chunkster were great fun. I’ve read that the next book in the series isn’t as good, and I’m bummed. I’ll still give it a try though.
We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg - One of my favorite themes in books is families we’re born into and families we make. This book had that in spades, and was just the feel good palate cleanser I needed during the doom and gloom of last month.
Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!
Audiowalking is one of my favorite things to do. I tend to stick to the same routes, but each day I see something new. Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.
March to me means gardening, new beginnings, travel, and a little bit of romance. If you’re also thinking along those lines here are some books I can recommend for March.
Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.
Audiowalking is one of my favorite things to do. I tend to stick to the same routes, but each day I see something new. Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.
My cat passed away last month, and that has seriously damped my ability to enjoy books. Is reading on the couch even reading if you don’t have a cat practicing yoga moves on your knee? I’ll miss him forever, but hopefully I’ll get back to my love of reading soon. Until then know I am probably being unnecessarily grumpy about some of these books.
The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso - Someone described this as woke Golden Girls, which I thought was pretty funny and also accurate. Two sworn enemies live next door to each other have to put their differences aside when they realize they need each other. For those like me who have been seeking out books with characters over 40 who actually do things more interesting that drinking tea and giving advice give this one a read.
The Gown by Jennifer Robson - A good story matched with good information about England after WWII.
Plainsong by Kent Haruf - I almost put this down because of a lack of quotation marks, but I’m glad I ended up sticking with it. It’s a sweet story about families - the ones you’re born with and the ones you create.
My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman - Another sweet story about families. If you like Backman you’ll like this book. If you don’t skip it.
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell - I really, really loved this book when I first read it, and I still love it today. It was where I first learned about the danger of mitigating language and that I should trust my years of practice.
A Better Man by Louise Penny - I read this really quickly when it first came out, and wanted to read it again but slower. My initial assessment stands- not the best Gamache but still a decent read.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - I am in awe of Fitzgerald’s ability to say so much with just a few words. This is a yearly read for me, but to be honest I might pull it out again in a few months. That’s how much I love this book.
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I love walking this time of year, always with an audiobook playing in my ears. Some days are so dreary and gray, and then all of the sudden it will get ten degrees warmer and flowers will start poking through. Then the next day it might all be covered in snow again.
Spring is coming soon!
Every year I set way too many reading goals, and I don’t meet half of them. That’s okay - I have fun setting the goals and then give them up when I stop having fun meeting them. After all reading is my hobby not my job.
This year I set three new goals:
Read 200 books (around 16 or 17 books a month)
Read books from 20 different countries
Read 20 new to me cookbooks and cook at least one recipe from each one
I also took note of a few reading challenges. Mr. Book on Litsy, the Reading Women Challenge, and Modern Mrs. Darcy’s challenges all caught my eye. I’ll cross check each of these lists against what I read, but probably won’t seek out any books to finish them.
I also keep track of states I’ve read from and like to see if I can read a book that begins with each letter of the alphabet.
Oh, and I have my project re-read to work on, and I really should finally read In Cold Blood. Not to mention the 50 new releases I have on hold at the library, and the 10 audiobooks I’ve anxiously been waiting for on Libby.
So yeah, 2020 should be a pretty good reading year. I can’t wait to see what happens!
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