Time and Place | Just after 10 a.m. sitting on my couch. We had friends over last night and ended up hanging out with them until far past my bed time… it’s been a slow morning.
Reading | It’s been a good week of reading! I spent most of the week reading That’s Not English by Erin Moore, a book looking at differences in language and culture in the United States and England. I liked it a lot. After that, I picked up An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Col. Chris Hadfield, a memoir by a retired Canadian astronaut who most recently served on the International Space Station. It was also really delightful. At the moment, I’m finishing up a young adult novel, The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma, all about ballerinas and prisoners. It’s a little paranormal and creepy, but also great.
Not Reading | Last week, I mentioned that I started Overwhelmed by Brigid Schulte, but reading it was making me feel anxious. A couple of people asked about that in the comments, so I thought I’d elaborate. One of my “genre kryptonites” is books about time management, especially motherhood and time management. I don’t have kids, but reading about it is one of the ways I’m helping myself think about whether I want kids or not. The first few chapters of Overwhelmed were filled with these rushed stories about mothers running late and working constantly and ferrying kids around that made me want to bury my head in the sand… so I returned it to the library.
Watching | I think my friend Carrie and I are going to see Insurgent this afternoon. Insurgent was my least favorite of the three Divergent books, but I’m hoping the movie will be better.
Listening | Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black, came to our local college campus this week for a convocation. I enjoyed hearing her speak — she’s very funny — but didn’t think she covered anything especially earth-shattering.
Blogging | This week I shared reviews of The Great Beanie Baby Bubble by Zac Bissonnette and The Monopolists by Mary Pilon and took a look in my mailbox this month.
Promoting | I also participated in Trish’s A Day in the Life project. You can read my post about an average day for a community newspaper editor, and also be sure to check out all the posts on the event link up. I’m about a third of the way through reading them and they are super interesting.
Hating/Loving | Brenna Clarke Gray wrote an amazing and chilling post called “Why I Quit Goodreads (or, The Bookternet is Not Safe for Women)” that I think everyone should read. I’m so lucky have avoided online harassment for sharing my opinions on books… but I know it’s always a possibility.
Loving | I just happened to finish up An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth a day after astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko left Earth to begin a year in space aboard the International Space Station. Their year in space will help scientists understand how long-term space travel (the kind we’ll need to ever go to Mars) affects humans. I’m so excited to follow along!
Avoiding | I still haven’t figured out to deal with the two images in my RSS feed issue since my theme update… I’m getting discouraged. (Update: I think I fixed it? I would love confirmation or denial from folks reading this in RSS or via e-mail).
Anticipating | Despite my late start to the day, I’m looking forward to a not-entirely-lazy Sunday. We got the house clean for guests last night, so I should have few chores and lots of time to read and blog before and after the movie this afternoon.
Happy Sunday, everyone! What are you reading today?
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I’m reading The Distance, a thriller by Helen Giltrow which I’m really enjoying so far. Have a good Sunday!
Sounds like a good one!
Kim, you are always reading some interesting books. I’m going to look around my shelves and see if I can find a book about mothering for you. Is that what you’re looking for? The thing about ferrying kids around is that it’s a choice but also a necessity at times. My kids’ lives aren’t really hectic. I do a bit of driving them around when it comes to English classes and doctor/dentist appointments. There are some years that are WAY more busier than others.
You can try Mothers Who Think: Tales of Real-Life Parenthood by Camille Peri and Kate Moses. Both worked for Salon.com. It’s a collection of honest essays about the good and bad of parenting.
Happy Sunday.
I would love that! Part of the reason I gave up on Overwhelmed is because I don’t think life has to be as insane as the stories in the book — there are plenty of moms who have kids and are good at their jobs and make time for themselves. And I think the book was going to get to those stories and ways of making that happen… but I didn’t feel like investing the time in a book that was making me so uncomfortable to see if it got there or not. I’m going to look up the book you suggested! I’ve got a few others on my list too.
I’m not afraid to admit that I have a huge crush on Tom Hadfield. It’s true. If you haven’t already, you should check out his stuff on YouTube, especially Spaceoddity.
I’m going to do that! It was fun to start looking into all of the different social media that astronauts and NASA are doing now.
I’ve never been into space, even when I was young, but Carl certainly is and he keeps me abreast of whatever’s going on.
I agree with other commenters – life with kids is as crazy as you let it be. You do have the right to say no to some of their choices.
That’s generally how I feel too — life is as crazy as you let it be — but this book seemed to open with an assumption that life is, by default, totally overwhelming… that idea made me anxious.
From your RSS feed readers I only saw one picture today (and I’m using feedly) so I think your fixed worked! I’ll let you know if it stops working 😀 I assume you’ve read “Packing for Mars” by Mary Roach? If not, that would be a great way to continue your space kick.
YES! Thank you! And yes, I love Packing for Mars. I made the mistake of reading it on an airplane… but still loved it.
Only one header picture today and I’m using Feedly. Your cat looks quite happy 😉
She’s a goofball, obsessed with sitting on laps when you’re trying to read a book 🙂
Your feed showed only one picture for this post! Looks like it has been fixed.
I love books about space but I don’t read them enough. I have heard of Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth but haven’t really checked it out. It does sound like one I will like.
I thought it was quite charming. Hadfield has a good sense of humor, and a really strong work ethic — both things come out in his writing.
The Astronaut’s Guide to Life title has been on my radar. I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it! I’m reading Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill right now.
I thought that book was interesting! I bet the Socratic Salon discussion will be great.
That’s too bad that Piper didn’t share anything too earth-shattering. Granted, I sort of felt that way about her memoir overall, but you would think she would tell some new stories to a live audience.
I hope you had a lovely and relaxing Sunday!
She spent a lot of her speech talking about issues in America’s prison system, which I already know a bit about. For some audiences, that would be new information — at a socially active college campus? I’m not sure. But she was fun to listen to anyway.
My roommate saw Insurgent last night and loved it! She said she enjoyed it much more than the first movie, so you’ll have to let us know what you thought!
I thought it was… fine. The movie spent a lot less time with Tris and Four being angsty with each other (yay!) but didn’t feel a tense to me as some other YA movies have.
I’m going through a space binge too. I loved The Martian and am now reading Chris Hadfield’s book too. If you’re after more space themed books I recommend Buzz Aldrin’s book Encounter with Tiber – scarily realistic!
Thanks for the recommendation!
I have owned An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth for a while. I really need to read it!