A two-for-one bookish meme post in which I announce I’m signing up for Bout of Books 27 (goal this time: read on a majority of days this week).
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, Twitter chats, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 27 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team
I managed a chapter or two of Jennifer Chiaverini’s Christmas Bells on the train amidst my dozing and am continuing to listen to the audiobook of Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia.
I’ve set a challenge of reading 52 books for the year, which should be perfectly manageable. I’d like to continue working to make my reading more diverse — both in terms of authors and in terms of topics. The former seems far more likely than the latter, since I just have a hard time forcing myself to sit down and spend time reading things I don’t want to read about.
The Night Country by Melissa Albert (It’s the sequel to The Hazel Wood!)
Kate Milford’s The Thief Knot (This is the next story in The Greenglass House world.)
Yes, No, Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed (Two great YA authors? I mean, obviously!)
Sarah-Jane Stratford’s Red Letter Days (I loved Radio Girls and look forward to another historical fiction from her.)
A Murderous Relation by Deanna Raybourn (This is the latest in the Veronica Speedwell series.)
Stamped by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi (I can’t wait to see how this nonfiction adaptation & collaboration turns out!)
Check, Please! Book 2 by Ngozi Ukazu (I’m hoping this graphic novel includes some recipes in the back material, since the first book concentrated on talking hockey.)
Rebecca Stead’s The List of Things That Will Not Change (I love her middle-grade novels.)
Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (I’ve loved every sci fi book they’ve collaborated on, even if this series isn’t as good as The Illuminae Files.)
Elizabeth Acevedo’s Clap When You Land (Everything she’s written has been great, and this looks like it will be too.)
Shuri by Nic Stone (I mean, Nic Stone and the most kick-ass African princess and scientist? Yes, please!)
How about you? Are you joining in the fun of the Bout of Books this time? And what books are you looking forward to being published between now and summertime?
I captured only the low-hanging fruit this weekend. I slept in. I got outside (in a steady drizzle yesterday and the sun today). I went to the library (and the grocery store and the farmers market). I stopped by the garden to take down the last of the vegetable cages and stakes I’d left up in November.
I left a message for my friend. I raced through The Art of Theft. (I now need to track down Sherry Thomas’ The Heart of the Blade series for more of a crossover character.)
Other projects proved more high-jump than hurdle. I thought about doing laundry, but then decided having the drying rack in the shower (where we put it during the Christmas season to avoid giving cats a perch from which to bat at upper-level ornaments) would be inconvenient to my pre-work trip shower. I looked for semolina flour for the shortbread, but didn’t buy any. I’m not sure emptying one bag and vacuuming really constitutes tidying. I took my shawl with me, but didn’t actually sit down to knit. I spent too much time playing on my phone and not enough writing Christmas cards. I read instead of writing that best of 2019 post, which I suppose was a fair trade. And I watched a terrible Christmas-themed sitcom instead of a terrible Christmas-themed movie, which was probably an improvement.
Luckily, as Karen noted in her comment to me, it’s too early in the year to feel guilty over how a weekend is spent (particularly after a month of feeling guilty for not accomplishing more most weekends). Volleyball doesn’t start for another week, so I can spend tomorrow evening finishing my Christmas correspondence. And maybe I can set aside another evening for finishing my shawl. After all, how awesome will it be to have my first finished object of the year so early in January?
A lack of nearby snow means I suddenly have a weekend to myself. Here’s how I’m hoping to fill some of the time (other than eating the rest of our New Year’s cheesy grits, which were delicious after some time under the broiler and registering for a Sunday afternoon bowling league with a friend):
Sleep in. I have an early train to Philadelphia on Monday for a meeting, and working two whole days in a row while still not being fully healthy has been a challenge.
Send out my Christmas cards. Because the twelve days end this weekend and I will not have them lingering past that. But, hey, at least folks will be getting real mail in January as well as December, right?
Finish my shawl. I’d like to start something new, or at the very least, move on to another project, but I’ve sworn that I won’t knit anything else until I kick those final rows that have been hounding me for months now.
Go to the library. I have holds waiting for me.
Read. I have four books in progress.
Do some laundry.
Start some tidying/purging projects.
Write a best books of 2019 post. As per usual, I ran out of steam on the monthly book reports, but I’d like to get the year-end wrap up done sooner rather than later.
Bake. Earlier today, I saw a Mary Berry 5-ingredient shortbread recipe I might like to try.
Phone a friend. She called before the holidays when I was sick and voiceless and I owe her a return call.
Watch some more Christmas movies — the ultra sappy ones that Rudi won’t mind missing. Or maybe take myself out to see Little Women. (I’ve promised to go a second time with Rudi if I opt to do so.)
Spend some time outside. Because fresh air and activity are good for me.
How about you? What’s on your to-do list this first weekend of the year?
1. Sarah, Rudi, and I rang in the New Year the same way we have for years now — at the movies. This year two of us were a bit under the weather and two of us (I am at the center of this particular Venn diagram) spent part of the afternoon at the DMV getting a car registered, so we only caught a double feature. However, both A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Knives Out were quite enjoyable, and I recommend both.
2. Rudi and I also spent part of our New Year’s Day at the cinema, watching Spies in Disguise, which is partially set in D.C. We greatly appreciated the authenticity of their animated city, laughed at the idea of Will Smith’s spy driving in front of the Lincoln Memorial and up the nearby sidewalk, and mulled the plausibility of the CIA having a headquarters located beneath the Reflecting Pool. (Movies love to put intelligence agencies in or near our waterways. Marvel placed theirs on Theodore Roosevelt Island.)
3. One of our local bookstores was having a New Year’s Day sale on everything in the shop, so I took myself off to Petworth after the parade ended to buy a book — The Starless Sea — I’d intended to get back in the fall, when I missed the author’s visit to D.C.
What’s been beautiful in your world lately?
Category: three beautiful things. There is/are Comments Off on holiday tradition, accuracy, and new book.
I approached my first read of 2020 — the first book I’d read from in the new year — with seriousness. I hoped it would set a good tone for continuing to read on a daily basis, which meant it needed to hold my interest even when my brain was tired. I struggled to find the mental space for recreational reading in the first few months of my new job; I’ve learned a lot since starting, but it took a toll on what my brain wanted to do when I came home each night.
So, the book needed to be interesting, but not overly challenging. I got several new books for Christmas and considered cozying up with one of them. But new relationships can be a lot of work. For every kindred spirit we encounter at first meeting, there are dozens of awkward conversations about the weather and what we do for a living. Ultimately, I decided, in keeping with the season, an “auld acquaintance” was the right choice.
Charlotte Holmes, who solves mysteries while contemplating whether another slice of cake will bring her too close for comfort to her maximum tolerable chins, was just the ticket. Charlotte would take no pity on my slower mental agility, but she would tolerate it as long as I made an effort to keep up. After all, she has genuine affection for her dear friend, Mrs. Watson, and for her sisters, Bernadine and Livia.
Plus, The Art of Theft, the fourth book in the Sherry Thomas series, is set at Christmastime, so it’s even seasonally appropriate to read it now. And I’d bought it back in the fall, when Sherry Thomas came to town, so it was just waiting on the shelf for me to have the time to spend with its cast.
I did not read much, but I did get through the first couple scenes of the book. And I think it will be the right choice. I look forward to spending more time with Charlotte as she leaves England behind for France.
