Getting out for walks hasn’t exactly been convenient lately, but I am enjoying the novelty of snow. I have been listening to a bunch of shortish books since I finished the Covenant of Water. Right now it’s Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I always forget how good this one is!
Happy walking!
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The kids were on Spring break so we spent the holiday in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was cold and incredibly windy, but we made the most of it!
Most of my audiobook time was in the car this week. We’ve been listening to Great Expectations as a family. Read by Eddie Izzard!
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Everything is in bloom here this week, and I am loving it. The whole world looks like an Easter basket. It’s been cold this weekend, but so far the blossoms seem to be holding on.
How are you all doing with the time change? Our schools are closed for a teacher work day tomorrow which I think is really smart! Let the kids ease into it I say.
Last week was really busy so I didn’t read much. I’m hoping this week will be better. I have a lot of good books going on!
Have a good week friends!
“You’re bound to get idears if you go thinkin’ about stuff.”
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck -- This is my third time reading this chunkster classic. It’s one of my favorites.
Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller -- I’ve been doing a chapter a day re-read of the Little House books on Litsy, and it inspired me to re-read this one. It’s Little House on the Prairie told from Ma’s perspective.
Lark Ascending by Silas House -- I saw this on some list somewhere of best books of 2022, and my library hold came in Friday. I’ve only just started, and I’m looking forward to some dystopia.
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This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.
This isn’t my cat. This is my neighbor’s cat. He sits by my back door and gives me dirty looks most days. It’s kind of the way I feel about January in this area. Too warm to snow, too cold to garden. Oh well, at least it’s good for reading.
Here’s the best of the best from December.
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny - I read this slowly trying to make the time to the next one as short as possible until I couldn’t take it any more and rushed through to the end. What a ride. This installment was more dark and twisted than usual and I‘m here for it.
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley - I loved this book- the characters and the setting. One of those books that they call YA because of the age of the main character, but it’s not really. (I got this from the library, but I see it’s free on Kindle Unlimited right now.)
Flying Solo by Linda Holmes - I used to love reading Linda’s reviews on Television Without Pity, and I’m happy to say I enjoy her books just as much. I really liked the story line here. There was a whole decoy duck subplot I just got a kick out of.
Search by Michelle Huneveno - After spending the last year hiring in various capacities and on assorted committees this book was so relatable.
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa - On an unnamed island things just disappear, and the Memory Police make sure it stays that way. This book was haunting. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I really liked this book and will read more by this author.
Maggie-Now by Betty Smith - This was the last of Betty Smith‘s books that I had left to read, so finishing it was bittersweet. Like Smith’s other books this one took place in Brooklyn and explored the push and pull between what women want and what society expects.
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Happy Holidays and STAY WARM!
Tru & Nelle A Christmas Tale by G. Neri - I have been wanting to read this one forever. Looking forward to it!
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith- A beloved book I like to re-read this time of year.
Maggie-Now by Betty Smith - I’m on an unintentional Betty Smith kick this week I guess. I got this for Christmas two years ago, and I’m just reading it now.
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This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.
Thanks everyone for your commiseration on my dependence on reading glasses last week! Honestly at the beginning of the year my reading pace was down and I thought it was just that I had no attention span. Took me an embarrassingly long time to realize it’s hard to concentrate when you can’t see the words.
I don’t like to preach, but on this day I always like to remind myself to hold your love ones tight. Life can change in the blink of an eye.
Wishing you all a great week!
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - We started reading this a chapter a day on Sep. 1 and I forgot how dark the beginning is.
The Bright Continent by Dayo Olopade - Getting close to finishing this one. Parts are dry, but I’m so glad I read it.
The Final Case by David Guterson - I really loved Snow Falling on Cedars, and am looking forward to this one as well.
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This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.
I continue to become more and more dependent on my reading glasses. It’s just one more thing they tell you that you will have to deal with in your 40’s that you don’t believe until it happens to you.
I have a light reading week coming up. We have Labor Day travel, and kid’s sports are going to start again. I’m going to keep my expectations low!
The Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World by Tom Roston - This is for my work bookclub.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - I’m joining a group on Litsy in reading this a chapter a day.
The Bright Continent by Dayo Olopade - For #ReadingAfrica2022 I’m really looking forward to this!
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This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.
Pat Conroy’s house in Beaufort, South Carolina
I was away for last month’s Show Us Your Books so this is two months worth of reviews. I’ve been on a roll lately so there’s some good ones here that you all probably ready years ago.
The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne - I‘ve had this book on my TBR for years and I‘m glad I finally read it. Every emotion was contained in this book, and I easily gave it five stars.
Sandworm by Andy Greenberg - Wow! If you want to know why everyone got really scared about cybersecurity about a month ago read this book. I‘m going to have to read it again just to make sure I caught everything.
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy - This was an impulse read because I spent some time in Beaufort, SC last month. I‘m really glad I read this sweeping, epic story of the Wingo family. It was a bit too drawn out in some places, but overall an excellent read. I might have to read it again now that I know what happens in the end.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - This was a re-read for me. I still love this book although I forgot how long it takes the ending to come. I think Kingsolver does a masterful job of developing the voices of these girls, and that really comes out in the audiobook.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford - I‘m ever so slowly chipping off the books that have been on my TBR the longest. This one, added in 2016, I almost skipped because it‘s yet another WWII book. I appreciated the different spin on this one though, and liked the background about jazz on the West Coast. I‘m glad I finally got to it.
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson - I really liked this book about a Cold War federal agent who also happens to be an African American woman.
Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix by Ibi Zoboi - These modern Austen retellings set in different cultures than the original British versions really work for me.
Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky - I was blown away by this series when I first read it in the 90‘s so I thought I‘d give it a re-read this year. I still like VI and her tough as nails crime fighting ways.
Hell and Other Destinations by Madeline Albright - I enjoyed this memoir about Albright‘s career after being Secretary of State. I didn‘t/don‘t know a lot about her, but she seemed very funny and smart. I‘d like to read more of her books.
Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia - This dragged some in spots, but the time period and setting made up for it.
This post is linked to Show Us Your Books and Quick Lit.
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Happy new reading year. This year has started with more chaos for me, but I also have a ton of optimism about this coming year. Don’t ask me why. I just feel like we’ve been through this for two years now, and we’re going to start getting good at it eventually. I hope you all have a happy and healthy New Year filled with great reads.
We Never Asked For Wings by Vanessa Diffenbaugh - This is the second Diffenbaugh book I‘ve read and I really like what she does with her characters. I read this story about a struggling family in Washington state all in one day.
Seek You by Kristen Radtke - An examination of what loneliness looks like in America told through graphic format. A fitting to read for this time of year.
The Windsor Knot by SJ Bennett - The perfect antidote to a week that felt like a month. Queen Elizabeth solves crimes with grace and perfect etiquette.
Dear America by Jose Antonio Vargas - This book is an excellent and personal look at immigration issues in the US. I‘m really glad I read it.
Tomorrow Will Be Better by Betty Smith - My last book of 2021 had a very fitting title. A melancholy book about a young woman trying to make her way in Brooklyn. It‘s very well written but kind of a bummer.
Blood Hollow by William Kent Krueger - This book from the Cork O‘Connor mystery series is a wild ride that starts with a murder on New Year‘s Eve. Another good addition to a series I really like.
Brick Lane by Monica Ali - I enjoyed this book about Bangladeshi immigrants in London. It had some rough spots to be sure, but overall a good internal novel if you like that sort of thing (and I do.)
Road Out Of Winter by Alison Stine - This chilling dystopian novel was perfect for early morning reading while huddled under a blanket. How would you survive if winter never ended?
This post is linked to Show Us Your Books and Quick Lit.
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This week I finished Persuasion by Jane Austen, and finished the project I started with a group on Litsy to read all of her works in the order they were written. It was glorious. If you’ve never started a project like this with a favorite author I highly recommend it. It was very eye opening to see how her writing changed over time even as themes and characters repeated. I’m going to miss Jane, but I have dozens of rewrites, continuations, and non fiction studies to read over the next few months.
I can’t believe I read the whole thing…
Thanks to Serial Reader I was able to reach my long held goal of reading Les Miserables. I first tried in print, but the book was so big I couldn’t carry it on the metro or read it in bed. Next I tried audio but it didn’t hold my attention. Finally someone told me about Serial Reader, and for 233 days I got 8-15 minute chunks of this classic sent to me by app, and eventually I finished the whole book!
(Truth be told I didn’t like the book that much, but I’m glad I read it.)
I will definitely go this way again if I decide to take on another classic chunkster!
June was a really busy month for me with school ending, and all of my kids’ activities suddenly wanting to have an end of year party JUST BECAUSE WE SUDDENLY COULD. So I did a lot of cupcake baking instead of experimenting with Russian food.
Russian food sounded surprisingly excellent judging from the cookbook Please to the Table by Anya von Bremzen and John Welchman. I was able to try two recipes- mushroom caviar and the herb omelette. Both were good although there were grumbles at the table about green eggs for dinner. Something along the lines of I am glad I’m a kid in America not Russia.
This cookbook also had some fabulous sounding sweets and bread that I’m dying to try. Just because things are opening up again does not mean we should abandon the restaurant appropriate quantities of yeast we purchased last year, my friends! Just as soon as the heat index goes back below 90 degrees that is.
I did slightly better on the lit part of Russian Food and Lit. I read three books and liked them all.
Mud and Stars by Sara Wheeler - This was part travelogue, part Russian literature review, and part food diary. I wasn‘t sure if I would follow it because I‘m not a Russian literature expert, but I enjoyed it quite a bit despite my reservations. Sara Wheeler has a dry sense of humor, and a spirit of adventure that I like.
Stalin's Daughter by Rosemary Sullivan - This chunkster was a fascinating look at the life of Svetlana Alliluyeva, a.k.a. Stalin‘s daughter. It took me all month to read, but it was worth the time.
A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles - This is my 4th time trying to read this, and I even thought about bailing again. Then I got to the end and wow, I want to read it again.
In July we’re on to Morocco. I’m super excited to be back in Northern Africa.
Past months of Food And Lit:
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2021 has been an interesting reading year. There’s still a half of year for things to go crazy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up reading more this year than I ever have before. I’ve even enjoyed a healthy stack of chunksters. I’m not sure if this is me settling into a post-Covid world or if my efforts to move away from my phone are working. Probably a combination of both.
So far I’ve rated 8 of my 114 reads as 5 stars. Five were new to me, and 3 were re-reads. I’m sharing them here in no particular order. I can’t wait to see which of these end up on my best reads list at the end of the year.
World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil I absolutely loved this book of nature essays and accompanying illustrations. Loved it. I read a library copy, and now I need my own copy so I can flag and highlight.
I put off reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee forever, and I can’t figure out why. I absolutely loved this chunky story about a Korean family in Japan. It was everything I want in a book: sweeping, multi-generational, wistful, and touching.
Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese - This was such a beautiful book. It was a chunkster - 23 hours on audio - but there’s not a second of it I would cut out. In Ethiopia Marion and Shiva Stone are the twins of a mother who died in childbirth and a father who ran away. They are adopted by hospital staff and come of age surrounded by medicine.
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson This memoir in verse was amazing. What took me so long to read a book by Jacqueline Woodson? (This was also the book I read while I was waiting for my second vaccine side effects to go away, so I will always remember it fondly for that.)
Gone Crazy In Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia - When I found out I would be driving from Cleveland to DC with my kiddos I knew I had to have this audiobook to get me through. We all love this series about three sisters just trying to grow up. This is the third and final (for now?) book in the series, and I think it was the best. You can tell kids what it was like for African Americans in the 60’s but these books show in a way that is humorous and engaging for them, and powerful and sobering for adults. I can’t recommend these books enough no matter what your age.
Emma by Jane Austen - I love the small town and all of the CHARACTERS in this book. I really feel like this is Jane Austen at her best. I remain #TeamEmma
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng This book has so much: WWII from a non Western perspective, gardening, tea, grief, forgiveness, and so much more. It starts in the highlands of Malaysia where former war prisoner Yun Ling approaches Japanese gardener Arimoto to help her create a garden in memory of her sister who didn‘t survive the war. It‘s a beautiful book and I highly recommend it.
The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi - Two women separated by 100 years in Afghanistan. This book will punch you in the gut. It’s long, but I could have kept reading for another 200 pages.
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“Do you ever wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it!”
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