On My Nightstand March 15, 2025

I always forget what this time of year is like. It’s a lot of fun, but it seems like once March rolls around there’s someplace to be every minute of the day. Also all of those places require me to bring food and a financial contribution of at least $10. It’s like Christmas all over again except it lasts 3 months and there’s no presents at the end. At least it stays light later so I can read at night on the porch.

Have a great week everyone!

Quote of the Week:

“What was it all for? Furlong wondered. The work and the constant worry. Getting up in the dark and going to the yard, making deliveries, one after another, the whole day long, then coming home in the dark and trying to wash the black off himself and sitting into a dinner at the table and falling asleep before waking in the dark to meet a version of the same thing, yet again.”

— Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

On My Nightstand This Week

Kindle - This Way To Murder by Shelley Shearer - I bought this way back when it was first reviewed and I am finally getting around to it. So far it’s light and fun- just what I needed.

Audiobook - Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo - I’m reading this for Author A Month on Litsy and it is so fun! I love it when reading challenges lead me to something I would have never found on my own.

In Print - Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor - I’m reading this one all month long. Last week’s chapters just started getting really engrossing so I can’t wait to turn back to it.

This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

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On My Nightstand March 7, 2025

It’s going to be another weekend of audio gardening when I can in between sports games and volunteering. I love this time of year but there are so many jobs to be done! For example do I dare take out my spring clothes and put away my sweaters? DC area weather always makes it so that whatever choice I make will be the wrong one.

Have a great week everyone!

Quote of the Week:

“My drink was wet and depressing. Each time I took another sip it tasted more and more like dead water.”

— The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

On My Nightstand This Week

Kindle - Deep Work by Cal Newport - I waited so long to read this it’s a little dated now. (Instant messaging - it’s not just for teens any more!) Still I’m hoping I get something out of it.

Audiobook - Untamed by Will Harlan - I fell in love with Cumberland Island in Georgia when I visited last year, so I was excited to read this book about a woman who lived there.

In Print - Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor - Nothing says March like an Irish famine buddy read! We’ll be reading this all month.

This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

Note: Links to bookstore.org are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

On My Nightstand March 1, 2025

Just a quick check in this weekend because I want to get out to my garden. It’s time to plant the peas!

Have a great week everyone!

Quote of the Week:

“[H]istory is personal, even when it isn’t.”

— The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck

On My Nightstand This Week

Kindle - The Vanishing Kind by Alice Henderson - This ARC comes out Tuesday so I need to get moving! Luckily Alice Henderson’s books are never a burden.

Audiobook - The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck - I am absolutely loving this beautiful book. What a gift.

In Print - Love and Death in Kathmandu by Amy Willesee and Mark Whittaker - Almost done with this one! It’s good but only in small doses.

This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

Note: Links to bookstore.org are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

On My Nightstand February 22, 2025

Last week was a whirlwind. I was in Lancaster, PA with my daughter for a tournament all weekend, then we came home and I helped my son get ready for his junior retreat. In the middle of all that the dishwasher sprung a leak and our kitchen flooded. Plus they want me to work. Needless to say this is a catch up weekend including reading. I am due some couch/tea/cat time!

Have a great week everyone!

Quote of the Week:

“You’re not cut out for a pleasant, easy life. You think too much!”

— Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson

On My Nightstand This Week

Kindle - Dead With The Wind by Miranda James - Another one for book club. Not the best books around, but they’re quick and easy reads.

Audiobook - Wonton Terror by Vivien Chien - This series about a noodle shop in Ohio is so fun. I realized I had skipped the 4th book so I went back before the new one comes out this spring.

In Print - Love and Death in Kathmandu by Amy Willesee and Mark Whittaker - Still making my way through this one, and hoping to finish by the end of the month. It’s a good but, but by the end of these busy days I can’t stay awake for long. Most of my daytime reading is on my kindle since I’m on the go. Getting in actual hardcover books is getting harder and harder these days.

my cat when i do find time to read a hardcover- oh were you doing something?

This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

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Show Us Your Books March 2023

February was a short month, but I fit in a lot of good books. I’m dreaming of outdoor reading season starting soon. I’m starting to get tired of reading under a blanket season. It’s on my to-do list to start fixing up my reading porch this week.
Here’s what I read last month.

Five Stars

What The Moon Saw by Laura Resau -- I loved this book so much. I just finished and have a big case of the warm and fuzzies.

This book is about fourteen year old Clara discovering herself when she leaves her suburban Maryland home to visit her grandparents in rural Mexico. I wish they had it on audiobook so I could listen to it with my kids in the car.

Four Stars

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo -- This was an excellent audiobook read by the author. In just a few hours she covers religion, immigration, first generation Americans, romance, parent child relationships, and so much more.

The Puma Years by Laura Coleman -- I enjoyed these memoirs of a woman working at a nature preserve in Bolivia. I like cats of all sizes and I learned about the issues facing the jungle and animals that live in it. I got this free at some point from Amazon First Reads, and I noticed it‘s still free on Kindle Unlimited.

Murder in the High Himalaya by Jonathan Green -- A heartbreaking but fascinating story contrasting the lives of high priced adventure tourists and Tibetan refugees in the Himalayas around the time of the Beijing Olympics.

Ivona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley -- What a fun book. Strangers on a Train if Maeve Binchy wrote it.

Three Stars

All Roads Lead To Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith -- This is a memoir by a woman who spent a year holding Jane Austen book clubs in various Central and South American cities. I enjoyed the insights into how different cultures reacted to some of my favorite books more than the details about the author‘s love life, but overall this was a good read.

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This is linked to Quick Lit on Modern Mrs. Darcy.

My Back To School Reading Routine

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.

I NEVER KNEW HOW MUCH I WOULD MISS A COMMUTE I COMPLAINED CONSTANTLY ABOUT.

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!