On My Nightstand April 12, 2025

We’re finally getting a good rain here. Good for the garden, and good to wash the pollen away. Last weekend there was literally a pollen fog, and clouds of it would fly around when we drove down the street. It was very strange.

I can’t believe it’s mid-April and it’s time to start planning for May! Future me will not be pleased, but I might put off that planning for one more week.

Quote of the week

“We often don’t know we have wings until we are forced to fly.”

— How We Learn To Be Brave by Marian Edgar Budde

On My Nightstand This Week

Kindle - The Briar Club by Kate Quinn - I have to be careful what time I start reading this because once I do it’s hard to make myself stop. So good.

Audiobook - The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women of the CIA by Liza Mundy - A fascinating and frustrating book about women in the CIA.

Paper Book - Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson - I’m still reading this a chapter a day. Just one left! I’ll be sad to be done. Loving these crazy little bugs.

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

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On My Nightstand April 5, 2025

This week started feeling like Friday on Wednesday morning. Ugh. The world is on fire and I’m driving myself crazy making sure all of the 10 million forms, monetary contributions, deadlines, and commitments are met for my kids. But at least there’s flowers on the trees and baseball on the radio.

Quote of the week

“I’m not going to allow my inability to do everything undermine my ability to do something.”

— Cory Booker 4/1/25

On My Nightstand This Week

Kindle - I Don’t Care If We Never Get Back by Ben Blatt and Eric Brewster - I’m about halfway through with this one now. It’s more about logistics than baseball.

Audiobook - The Long Walk by Stephen King - I started listening to this on my much shorter walks. I read it when I was a teen so I vaguely remember what happens.

Paper Book - Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson - Reading this a chapter a night and loving it. A great spring read.

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

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On My Nightstand March 29, 2025

I took a screen break last weekend so that I would have the mental energy to spread a bunch of mulch. Mission accomplished and now I’m back. I’ve been spending way too much time thinking about how I want to set up my outdoor reading spaces for summer, and the best way to plant the maximum number of vegetable seeds in my yard. These are good issues to have and are a good distraction from the real world going on all around us.

Quote of the week

“I’m comfortable being bored, and this can be a surprisingly rewarding skill-especially on a lazy D.C. summer night listening to a Nationals game slowly unfold on the radio.”

— Deep Work by Cal Newport

On My Nightstand This Week

Kindle - I Don’t Care If We Never Get Back by Ben Blatt and Eric Brewster - Baseball is back so of course I need to read a book about it!

Audiobook - The Wedding People by Alison Espach - Finally getting to this popular read. I like it so far, but am not wowed.

Paper Book - Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson - The idea of reading this in the yard in between gardening sessions really appeals to me.

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

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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.

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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.

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REVIEW: The Other March Sisters by Linda Epstein, Ally Malinenko, and Liz Parker

The Other March Sisters by Linda Epstein, Ally Malinenko, and Liz Parker available February 25, 2025

I didn't read Little Women until I was in my 20's, and when I finally did I didn't have the same rose colored glasses towards the March parents that I might have if I had read it as a child. Some people might find the treatment Marmee and Jo got in this book as harsh, but I appreciated the authors' perspectives on the dynamics of the March family. Told from the points of view of the non-Jo sisters this book gave more insight into the motivations of Amy, Beth, and Meg. I especially enjoyed the chapters about Meg and her garden.

From the publisher:

Four sisters, each as different as can be. Through the eyes and words of Jo, their characters and destinies became known to millions. Meg, pretty and conventional. Jo, stubborn, tomboyish, and ambitious. Beth, shy and good-natured, a mortal angel readily accepting her fate. And Amy, elegant, frivolous, and shallow. But Jo, for all her insight, could not always know what was in her sisters’ thoughts, or in their hearts.

With Jo away in New York to pursue her literary ambitions, Meg, Beth, and Amy follow their own paths. Meg, newly married with young twins, struggles to find the contentment that Marmee assured her would come with domesticity. Unhappy and unfulfilled, she turns to her garden, finding there not just a hobby but a calling that will allow her to help other women in turn.

Beth knows her time is limited. Still, part of her longs to break out of her suffocating cocoon at home, however briefly. A new acquaintance turns into something more, offering unexpected, quiet joy.

Amy, traveling in Europe while she pursues her goal of becoming an artist, is keenly aware of the expectation that she will save the family by marrying well. Through the course of her journey, she discovers how she can remain true to herself, true to her art, and true to the love that was always meant to be.

Purposefully leaving Jo off the page, authors Liz Parker, Ally Malinenko, and Linda Epstein draw inspiration from Alcott’s real-life sisters, giving the other March women room to reveal themselves through conversations, private correspondence, and intimate moments—coming alive in ways that might surprise even daring, unconventional Jo.

A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Opinions are my own.

On My Nightstand March 17, 2024

This has been a great weekend so far. We hiked yesterday morning and then I spent hours reading in the yard. Today I’m hoping to get in the garden and do some more outdoor reading. These are my favorite weekends. A few things planned, but mostly just puttering around and plenty of rest.

Have a great week!

Quote of the Week

“Everyone has been so kind to me. I’m not going to waste their kindness.”

— Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

What I’m Reading This Week

On Kindle: I have The County Line by Steve Weddle up next. I got this from on Amazon a few months ago, so I’m not sure what I’ll find.

Audiobook: I’m nearly done with Treating People Well by Lea Berman & Jeremy Bernard. It’s written by two former White House social secretaries and talks about the lessons they learned about dealing with people.

Physical Book: I just finished The Survivors by Jane Harper. Up next is The Physicists Daughter by Mary Anna Evans.

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

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Walking Wednesday Feb 15, 2023

Seems like we’re not going to get much of a winter this year, so I am embracing spring. Flowers are poking out on my walks, and I started putting a few seeds in. I’d prefer sledding and hot chocolate, but this is nice too.

I’ve been listening to A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier. It’s a book made for walking and puttering.

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Show Us Your Books February 2022

This year I finally gave in to reading glasses.

Given that I had two week reading slump in January it is amazing to me that I read so many great books. Like really good, cry all night, book of the year type books.

I started logging my books in Storygraph this year. I don’t log everything it wants me to- that would become a job. I’m enjoying it even though I still prefer my good old fashioned handwritten book journal and spreadsheet for logging, and Litsy for sharing reviews. My favorite thing about Storygraph so far is how it assigns moods to each book and I am clearly a emotional and reflective reader.

Five Stars

The Storyteller by Dave Grohl -- I would have never listened to this if so many people on Litsy hadn‘t said how excellent it is. And I agree! This has got to be one of the best audiobooks I‘ve ever listened to. You can really hear the emotions in Grohl‘s voice as he talks. I loved too that he grew up not too far from where I live.

News of the World by Paulette Jiles -- I bailed on this one years ago because it doesn‘t have quotation marks, but a book club brought it to me again. I‘m so glad because it was a beautiful book. This is just a pleasant story, and I’ve heard the movie does it justice. A hug of a book. It made me feel good.

Four Stars

Transcendent Kingdon by Yaa Gyasi -- A lot has been said about this book so I won‘t add my clumsy synopsis, but I will say that I really loved it. I put off reading it for so long because I didn‘t think it would hold up to Homegoing. It was different but still just as heart wrenching in all the best ways.

The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook -- This was another one from the bottom of my TBR list, and it was a good read. It takes place in Germany just after WWII, and is understandably grim. It was very interesting though to examine each person‘s reactions to the terrible conditions and to imagine how I would have fared. A good book to read on a cold, dark January day.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte -- What a wild ride! Not a boring classic!

Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman -- Great poetry collection. This almost read like a time capsule from the last two years.

Three Stars

The Quiet Zone by Stephen Kurczy -- I have traveled through this area several times, and was interested in learning about it. This book wasn‘t what I thought, but it was interesting enough to listen to on a long drive.

The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly -- I picked this book based on the cover alone, and I‘m happy to say it worked out! It was told in three timelines but all centered around one English garden. It‘s so super cold here lately. I enjoyed reading about a garden in bloom.

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty -- This one was a bit slow in the middle but wow, what an ending.

This post is linked to Show Us Your Books and Quick Lit.

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March Reading Stats

Mabry Mill

March was a great reading month. We had a few days that were perfect for reading outside, plenty of audiogardening, and a short road trip that supported my reading habits. I noticed I was quick to bail on books that didn’t grab me right away. I have mixed feelings about bailing on books, but overall I do think it allows me to read more books that I like.

Total Read: 17 books read - 6 audio and 11 print. As I mentioned I bailed on five others.

TBR: Started at 849 and ended at 852. Could I have really added 26 books to my TBR? I guess so. I really need a month off to read.

Challenges: Reading Asia -1 (Nepal), Food and Lit - 1 (Ethiopia), Bookspin Bingo - 5 Bingos!, Reading Canada - 1, Chunkster Challenge - 52% done with Les Miserables

April should mean warmer weather for gardening and reading outside, but it also means spring sports for the kids so we’ll see. I have some good books planned for the month, so that should keep me motivated!

REVIEW: The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans by Patricia Klindienst

The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans by Patricia Klindienst

I loved this book.

Inspired by an old photograph of her family Patricia Klindienst traveled the United States to explore how people use gardens to connect to their heritage. She visited gardens tended by Native Americans, refugees from Asia, Hispanics who followed Conquistadors to the Southwest, and descendants of African slaves on coastal islands. At each new garden Klindienst explores how people literally put down roots in their new homes by the gardens they grew.

I highly recommend this book for fans of Angelo Pellegrini and Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

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My New Reading Garden

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!

Spring Fever Reading

This winter has not been bad at all, but I have spring fever and it shows in my reading.

It started with the house plants. On a nice day I re-potted all of my plants, and realized I now have way too many. The library to the rescue! I checked out Decorating With Plants by Baylor Chapman. I loved this book, and it has helped me spread my plants out around the house in a way that doesn’t make me look like a crazy plant lady.

I’ve also been cleaning out my freezer and re-filling it with healthy meals and ingredients. The library to the rescue again- The Make Ahead Sauce Solution by Elisabeth Bailey has been super helpful. I like that I’m just freezing the sauce, not the entire meal. It’s a great space saver.

I’ve also been trying to streamline my schedule and be more productive. 5-Minute Stress Relief by Elena Welsh had a ton of great tips for quieting my mind, and productively dealing with my stress (instead of looking at Twitter and feeling like the world is going to end.)

Happy Spring everyone!

(Note: links to amazon.com are affiliate links. Thanks for your support! 5-Minute Stress Relief was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

Books To Read In March

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.

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Books for little gardners

As any good parent would, I'm trying to brainwash my kids into liking all of the things I do -- mostly the Red Sox, hiking, reading, and gardening.  These books about the garden and vegetables help with the last two.

Cheers for a Dozen Ears: A Summer Crop of Counting is a rhyming book with vibrant pictures.  It makes for a great read aloud.

A Cottage Garden Alphabet doesn't have much of a story, but is wonderful to flip though on a rainy day with your favorite little person.

Eating the Alphabet has long been a favorite of ours -- and my go to baby shower or 1st birthday gift.  The pictures are so lovely, I sometimes find myself looking through it when my kids aren't around.

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REVIEW: The Bee-Friendly Garden by Kate Frey and Gretchen LeBuhn

I'm in full on garden planning mode this month, and finding ways to attract more pollinators to my yard has been a big part of that process. The Bee-Friendly Garden by Kate Frey and Gretchen LeBuhn is a great resource.

This book is a small one, but it's packed with information and beautiful pictures. There's something for everyone here. I'll admit I skimmed the section of the different types of bees, while my son poured over it. I, on the other hand, read the section about pollinators in the edible landscape twice.

While this book is a great resource for my personal garden it would also make a good gift. If your mom likes to garden, the glossy photos in this book would make it an excellent Mother's Day gift. It's never too early to plan!

Spring is coming!

Note: I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a honest review.

New gardening books to beat the winter blues

Every day this week my mailbox has been stuffed with gardening catalogues. Winter just started and already I'm dreaming of spring. Before I start my seeds, I'm going to see what's new in the gardening section of my library. Here's a few that I'm hoping I'll find.

A Wilder Life by Celestine Maddy

The Urban Farmer by Curtis Stone

The Herbal Apothecary by JJ Pursell

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