We had to leave town unexpectedly last week for a funeral out of town. Hence an already messed up week took on a whole new level of upsidedownedness. Thank goodness for nice weather and trails in the woods. I am so looking forward to getting back to normalcy this week.
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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The sun coming through stormy skies
November 2020, it really seemed like we would never get here! We made it!
I read a ton in October, mostly thanks to a Halloween reading challenge on Litsy. In retrospect it probably wasn’t the best for my mental health to read five Stephen King books in the weeks before the election!
Self care - a good book and ice cream
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - This was a great book, and so, so clever. It starts in Ghana in the 1700s where two half sisters end up on very different paths- one is kidnapped and sold into slavery and one lives the pampered life of a slave catcher’s wife. From there each chapter skips a generation and we see how the two halves of the family live- one in America and one in Ghana. This will probably be on my best of 2020 list.
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding - After reading P&P last month it was time to read a few adaptations. I was obsessed with Bridget Jones in my 20’s and really enjoyed re-visiting with her. This was my first time reading it on audio, and I enjoyed it in that format. If you need something to make you laugh this month Bridget is a good choice!
Pride and Prejudice Graphic Novel by Ian Edington - I’ve become a big fan of graphic novels based on the classics in the last few years and this was no exception. Mr. Darcy just looked so…proud.
I spent a lot of October with The West Wing running in the background.
The Best American Mystery Stories 2017 - I grabbed this when I was wandering around the library one day, and liked it more than I thought I would. I’m not usually a short story person, but lately they’ve been perfect for when I can’t concentrate. This was a good collection, and I'm going to pick up another volume next time I go to the library.
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger - I’m averaging about a book a month by Krueger since I started early this summer. Ordinary Grace was a stand alone, but I enjoyed it just as much as his Cork O’Connor mysteries. The book takes place in the early 1960’s but is told 40 years later from the point of view of a pre-teen boy. Great book!
The Likeness by Tana French - The second book in the Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French. It went on a bit long for my tastes, but the mental gymnastics the undercover cop main character underwent kept me mostly entertained. I’m not in a huge rush to get to the next book, but probably will at some point this year.
A bit too close to current events
The Dead Zone by Stephen King - What would you do if you knew the new popular politician who sold himself as “just a regular guy” was actually a psychopath who would kill us all? I read this as a teenager, and re-read it in October because I started thinking it was eerily close to current events. Thank goodness we live in America and not a Stephen King book so we can take care of these issues with elections.
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King - King’s sequel to The Shining, and another re-read for me. Both times I’ve read this I’ve been bored by the beginning and then get about a third of the way in and can’t stop. Read The Shining first.
The Institute by Stephen King - A decent modern King book. Kids with psychic abilities are kidnapped and kept in a secret facility supposedly for the good of the world.
11/22/63 by Stephen King - Another re-read and probably my favorite Stephen King book. In this one a man goes back in time to stop the assassination of JFK. It’s a great story and what King has to say in the afterward about his motivation for this book is almost just as great. It’s a chunkster, but worth the time.
If It Bleeds by Stephen King - A book of four short stories, the best best one featuring Holly Gibney from the Mr. Mercedes trilogy. Worth reading, but I’m glad I got it from the library instead of buying it.
Speaking Truth To Power by Anita Hill - This was completely different from everything else I read in October, but I wanted to give it a mention. This is such an important book, and I really think everyone should read it. It really shows how sexual harassment can change the course of a woman’s life through no fault of her own, and how men need to do a better job of listening (looking at you Joe Biden. I think you’ve learned your lesson but giving you the hairy eyeball just in case.)
Linked to: Show Us Your Books and Quick Lit
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I’m writing this the day before the election, and scheduling it to publish because who knows if I’ll want to go online tomorrow. I just pray we have some kind of answer and we don’t go on like this until January. Anyway I got a lot of steps in this week, but that was balanced by all the candy I ate. Oh well!
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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It’s the last week before the election, and I’ve been doing a lot of nervous walking. My neighbors’ Halloween decorations continue to amuse me. I got downtown to see the new Eisenhower memorial (parking and social distancing not a problem when it’s 40 and raining!) Still listening to 11/22/63! It’s a long one!
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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I’ve gotten a lot of walking in this week including a pilgrimage to a local cemetery, nervous pacing around my son’s baseball game, and some random wandering to see my neighborhood’s Halloween decorations. I’ve been flying through audiobooks this month so I started in on a re-read of 11/22/63. At 30 hours that should take me a while!
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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Reading along the shores of Lake Michigan
It’s my favorite day of the month, Show Us Your Books day! September was a good reading month for me. I read a lot of mysteries which appeal to 2020 me. There’s a problem, everything seems so messed up, then in about 300 pages the mystery is solved. If only.
It’s impossible to read these books without some sort of baked good.
All The Devils Are Here by Louise Penny - No surprise that the new Louise Penny book was my favorite this month. After so many books you’d think Penny would start to dial it in and depend on a formula to churn out these books, but in this one she takes it to another level. The Gamaches are in Paris when a close family friend gets struck by a car. Gamache must solve the mystery and save the good name of his family. Usual disclaimer: If you haven’t read anything from this series you’ll get a lot more out of it if you start at the beginning!
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward - Heartbreaking and beautifully written. This book took my breath away.
The Mockingbird Next Door by Marja Mills - I’m always there for a book about Harper Lee. This wasn’t really the biography I was expecting, but more like snapshots of the lives of Harper and her sister Alice as they grew old in their small Alabama town. I liked it a lot.
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert - I almost bailed on this about 60% of the way through, but ended up sticking with it and loving it. It starts as a look at the show girl life in a struggling theater in 1940’s New York, which is interesting, but in my opinion the best part is when Vivian gets older and learns to make her own way.
Lake Superior near the Porcupine Mountains
A Killer in King’s Cove by Iona Whishaw - This post WWII Canadian mystery really worked. The characters were fun without being over the top, and the mystery was compelling. I’ll read more from this series.
Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger - In this one Cork gets himself tangled up in a missing persons case that leads him on a freezing cold trip through the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota. I read this when I was in Michigan and the similarities of the scenes was a great experience for me, but I think I would have liked it at home too. This is a solid series so far.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Reading Jane Austen’s books a chapter a day has been the saving grace of my reading year. Even though I’ve read P&P many times I still got a lot out of it reading it this way.
The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow - This starts off as P&P as told by Mary Bennet, but then moves forward to the future and imagines what might have become of her. I really liked this - it felt true to the original but was a satisfying imagining of Mary’s point of view.
From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg - Why didn’t I read this as a kid, and why isn’t there a sequel? This was a read-out-loud with my daughter and we both enjoyed it very much.
I Survived The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 by Lauren Tarshis - I read all of these with my son when he was in 2nd grade. He’s a big 7th grader now so way too old for these, but recently we were stuck in the car for three hours with this as our only audiobook option and we actually didn’t mind it.
Also linking to Book Blogger Link Up at Lovely Audiobooks and Quick Lit at Modern Mrs Darcy
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We usually get a second summer heatwave this time of year, but in 2020 apparently we’re getting an actual Fall. I don’t know if we’re all just bored, or if it’s the weather but the neighborhood Halloween decorations are on point.
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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I learned at a scout meeting last night that camp grounds everywhere are filling up at unprecedented rates. I love that so many people are sleeping under the stars! And with sleeping under the stars comes reading under the stars. Tent reading is one of my favorite types of reading. If you’re new to sleeping on the ground here are five books that are perfect for reading while camping:
In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware- A sinister tale of a bachelorette party gone wrong. A closed door spooky thriller perfect for reading in isolation.
Bird Box by Josh Malerman is a really good book if you’re willing to go with it. If you think too much about it you’ll think it’s dumb. Put yourself in a tent in the woods, and you’ll have one of the best, creepiest reading experiences you’ve ever had.
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin is the start of a masterful trilogy. It’s the type of book you’ll want to read all at once in solitude, and when you finally figure out what’s going on, hang on!
Devotions by Mary Oliver is a gorgeous book of poetry that celebrates the little things that happen outside. Read it by the fire or in the hammock.
The River by Peter Heller is a charged and atmospheric wilderness survival story perfect for reading outside. Just don’t start too late at night because you’ll burn out the batteries in your head lamp reading all night.
Happy camping!
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It’s been a wonderful week for walking here in the neighborhood. I even took a new route and met some new cats!
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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They’ve been re-paving my road (again) this week, so it’s slowed my walking down. It’s okay though because we’ve been having a lot of back yard fun, including school in tents. I’ve been audiogardening and am thinking about totally re-landscaping the back.
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
Note: Links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support.
When the school board announced that we would be full time remote this fall at least I knew a little bit what I was in for. I have learned so much about my kids and their work habits in the last seven months, and I wasn’t about to kid myself about what kind of time on my part supporting their learning would take. However, unlike the spring I was not about to let myself go this time.
I really wanted to find a way to get back into my reading projects, primarily my non-fiction interests. In before times I used to read non-fiction on the metro while commuting into work.
So I made the decision that I would get up even earlier and do what I could to recreate commuting conditions in a more sanitary way. It wasn’t easy to trade sleep for me time, but after a few weeks I’ve settled in. When I first wake up I replace my walk to the bus with stretching, strength training, and basic yoga. Then for 45 glorious and silent minutes I read non-fiction. It has made a huge difference to my mental health to spend that time in the morning when my thinking is clear learning about things that have absolutely nothing to do with my kids or my job.
This is what’s working for me right now. Someday I’m sure life will change again, and I’ll need to find some other way!
I’ve been loving all the purple flowers this week. Yay September!
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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“The Gates of Hell Have Opened
And All the Devils Are Here”
One night I was scrolling through my phone thinking about how the world was sure going to end (as we do these days) when I came across an ad from the DC bookstore Politics and Prose featuring an even where Louise Penny was going to be interviewed by Hillary Clinton. It was so out of the blue and random I figured I must have dozed off and dreamed it. But the next day I decided to look at the Politics and Prose website and sure enough it was a real event. I immediately bought a ticket, and my faith in humanity was restored.
This event (via Zoom) was wonderful. When it started Clinton didn’t have her video on and Penny was on mute, which is such a 2020 issue. But once they got going, wow. Hearing tales of a young Hillary Clinton devouring Nancy Drew novels, and a 22 year old Clinton in Paris was heartbreaking at first (what could have been!) but soon I was drawn in by the pure loveliness of these two women. It turns out that Clinton is a huge mystery reader, and they met in 2016 after Penny’s husband died and Clinton wrote her a letter.
In the discussion the two women got into poetry, how to write a book, and why they love mysteries (Clinton said, “The bad guy gets it in the end which hasn’t always been my experience in life.”) My favorite exchange was Clinton’s one sentence review of Penny’s books:
Clinton: They always delight me and make me hungry.
Penny: My hips are a tribute
Clinton even kicked off the Q&A by asking about the odd print of emus on Penny’s wall which I’m sure all of us were wondering about.
One of the most amazing parts of the whole thing was the chat. Thousands upon thousands of fans were just gushing about the event, how healing it was, and how none of us had felt that happy in a while. It was zoom magic. And a little comic relief- about 3/4 of the way through one genuinely confused person said “Wait, that’s Hillary Clinton interviewing Louise?”
Towards the end the moderator commented on the chat, and asked the two women what their advice is to overcome the despair so many of us are feeling right now. Clinton’s advice?
(I got to see Louise Penny in person last year. My notes are here if you’re interested.)
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Last week’s walking is brought to you by the great state of Michigan where we spent some time exploring the coast line. Turns out the shore of Lake Superior are nicely socially distant when it’s 59 degrees and windy.
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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Shamelessly stolen from Litsy
August wasn’t a stellar reading month for me. The best part has been reading a chapter a day from Pride and Prejudice with the #PemberLittens group on Litsy. But, we won’t finish that until this month.
Until then know that my reviews below may sound grumpy and halfhearted and it is all me, not them.
PS I’m hosting a giveaway in honor of the National Parks if you’re interested.
Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid — This short book covers so much territory about race and class in America. I’m still thinking about it. The part that struck me the most was how everyone was talking, but no one accurately heard what the other person was trying to say. Really, I think about that once a day at least. Despite my August mood this will probably be one of my top books from 2020.
Beach Read by Emily Henry - This would normally be right up my alley, but because of my August mood all I could think was, “You two better learn to communicate soon because when you’re in quarantine together you’re gonna have some real problems.”
Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner - This was a ridiculous yet fun look at the world of influencers, and when the twist happens it gets even more entertaining. Just if something sounds familiar in this book don’t google it because you will get spoiled.
The Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler - This was my favorite of the three. A solitary man who lives by his rigid routines gets his life tossed around when a teenager shows up claiming to be his son. I’m not sure how I’ve never read a book by Anne Tyler before, and I’m excited for all that I have to catch up on.
Universe of Two by Stephen P. Kiernan- I enjoyed this WWII novel, and how he tied organ music in to the making of the atomic bomb. (It works; you’ll see.) A little bit repetitive at certain points, but worth the read. (ARC from LibraryThing.)
A Torch Against The Night by Sabaa Tahir - Sometimes the second book in a series suffers a bit, but not so with this one. Tahir kept up the pace, and I can’t wait to read more.
The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay - An extended Bengali family and all of the politics and ghosts that come into that sort of thing. I enjoyed the audiobook.
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Not much walking for me this week unless you count to the fridge and back :(
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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Another great week of walking when the air doesn’t want to melt my face off! Plus more rainbows and weird looking flowers.
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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My kids have been at summer camp this week, so I actually got to walk alone a few times. (Don’t judge it’s a fully outdoors, socially distanced camp.)
Subtle signs of fall are starting to creep in on my walks, and there are mushrooms everywhere.
Here’s what I’ve been listening to and seeing this week.
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Ugh, is anything going to be left for us when this is over? I just read that June bookstore sales fell 35%. I guess it’s time to order more books! Any recommendations? I already have the new Louise Penny on pre-order.
July was a slow reading month for me, but between the adoption of two kittens and the new Baby-Sitters Club Netflix release who can blame me?
Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon - This is a travel diary from the late 1970’s, and like in Travels With Charley I was struck by how many problems in America then are still problems now. I usually am a fast reader, but took my time with this one so I could savor Least Heat-Moon’s observations. He had a really observant yet non-judgemental way of looking at the people he met on his travels.
“I’d traveled ten thousand miles and had not encountered a single hoodlum. But I’d been taken for one several times. ”
In The Woods by Tana French - I FINALLY got around to reading a Tana French book. I really liked this mystery that was really more about the detectives than it was about the actual mystery. The detectives in this book were very different than my favorite series by Louise Penny, but the feel was similar.
The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescot - I love me a good Cold War spy novel, especially when the spy is a woman. The background of how Dr. Zhivago came to be published, and the race to release it as anti-Russia propaganda was also interesting. This was also the first library book I read post quarantine, so it holds a spot in my heart for that alone!
Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger - This was another new to me mystery series that I’m excited to catch up on. The former sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota is at a bit of a loose end when this book starts. A mysterious death and a missing Boy Scout pull him back to his old job.
One Crazy Summer and PS Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia - The three sisters in these books were some of my favorite characters that I’ve read in a long time. These books touch on so many topics I want my kids to think about at a level they can understand. Great, great historical fictions for middle graders, and excellent on audio. I can’t wait to listen to the third one when we have a reason to be in the car again.
The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan - I can’t really get into these books, but my kids love them for road trips.
Back in June there was a chain letter going around town where kids tell other kids to buy books and send them and somehow they were supposed to get 36 books each in the mail. My daughter got three of these chain letters, and while I only let her send out one set of extortion letters in return we did end up buying books for four different kids because I felt bad thinking about them waiting for books in the mail that never came. So that’s why when I went to buy some books for myself the address of a member of my daughter’s girl scout troop was in the ship to field instead of mine. And my brain has been kind of mush this year, so I didn’t notice. And because the bookseller was swamped at the time I couldn’t cancel. And the girl in question had just moved a state away. But, happy ending to a long story I ordered myself a second set of books, and the original books made their way back to me last week. So now I have a set to give away! Just enter your email below, and I’ll pick on person to ship the books to! (US only, sorry.)
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