Time and Place | About 9:45 on my couch. This is one of my happy places.
Reading | It felt like a relatively quiet reading week, although I guess I did finish a couple books since last Sunday — Thank You for Your Service by David Finkel and Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid. Northanger Abbey is part of The Austen Project, pairing six contemporary authors with Jane Austen’s six novels for contemporary retellings. I thought it was fun — nice and lighthearted — but also felt like the dialogue was stilted. I kind of wish I’d just read Austen’s Northanger Abbey instead! I’m not sure what’s in the cards for reading today… the possibilities are nearly endless.
Listening | I finally finished my first audio book of the year, Missoula by Jon Krakauer. I think it worked well on audio, although I’m curious about the choice to have it narrated by a woman rather than a man. But in audio I don’t think I got a sense of how much of the book was taken from court records and transcripts, and I have lots of questions on sourcing and how it was reported. I feel like I need to get a print copy to skim over before I can gather my thoughts.
Cooking | The boyfriend made beef stroganoff last night, and I’m making stir fry this week. Yum.
Blogging | Last week was a week of lists: Seven of my Favorite Things About Being a Reader, followed by 10 Books on My Summer Reading List. This week I’m going to try to write a review and do a May reading recap.
Pondering | Speaking of reviews… I’m having a really hard time writing them. Now that it’s finally nice outside, I just want to spend time reading rather than writing. I’m not quite sure what the solution is for this — I’d love your thoughts.
Hating | This month, I fell off the wagon of exercising/hitting my step goal every day. I’m approaching June with renewed vigor.
Loving | I have a new favorite yogurt flavor, Chobani coconut with dark chocolate and honey roasted sea salted almonds. It’s delicious.
Loving II | I finally found a brand and style of jeans that I love, Ruff Hewn Classic Rise Bootcut Jeans. My two favorite pairs of jeans got holes in them at the same time and it was a bit of a struggle to find these new ones.
Adjusting | I got some new glasses from Coastal this week. I like them, even though they’re a little more “flashy” that I typically go for with eye wear. It’s nice to have more options anyway.
Wanting | Despite being an introvert, I do love spending time with friends. I got to hang out with a couple small groups of new friends last night and thought it was so great (even if I’m super tired today from being up well past my bedtime). I want more of this.
Anticipating | It’s supposed to be a beautiful day today, just a little cool for the end of May. I finished most of my chores yesterday, so I hope it’ll be a day of reading and relaxing.
Happy Sunday, everyone. What are you reading today?
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I haven’t wrote reviews in months, so maybe just write some mini-reviews? It’s some work, but less guilt. Today, I’m reading Syllabus by Lynda Barry and maybe diving into Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. Happy Sunday!
Nimona is delightful! I think you’ll enjoy it.
My solution to your problem is to simply do what you want. Forcing reviews never makes me happy.
That is an excellent solution 🙂
I like the glasses! Coastal seems to have some fun/funky styles that you can’t quite find at a regular eyeglass places. It’s been fun to mix it up with the pair I got from there.
I got these as part of a deal when I ordered some prescription sunglasses, which I needed. It’s fun to have some options, even though these are a little funky for day-to-day wear. I’m pretty plain when it comes to things like glasses.
Where did you get the goal bubble chart? Love it and want it!
I ordered it from Elise Cripe at this store: http://elisejoy.com/make29dec
You can still buy a digital download of the chart if you want one.
I don’t even think that you necessarily need to write mini-reviews. Give us the highlights in one or two posts over a couple of weeks and ignore the lowlights 🙂 for now. And let the pressure go.
I think this is what I’m going to do, a few post with some genre highlights and call it good.
Coastal’s the best! Can’t beat paying only $15 for glasses.
I’ve been having review-writing problems, too. It feels like everyone has been a little bit. Could you try doing like a stream of consciousness post where you just write down your thoughts as you’re reading? Maybe that’s a little too much work if you want to just lie there and soak in books, but I think those kinds of posts are fun to read!
Dang, $15! I should have waited for that deal! I got this and a pair of sunglasses for $100 which seemed fair 🙂
I like the idea you suggested, maybe for books going forward. Part of the problem is I haven’t been taking good notes on books so I’m struggling to remember what I wanted to say.
Love love love your new glasses. I am a big fan of flashy dark frame glasses.
I have been having a hard time writing reviews too. I do need to get them written out soon because I am seriously behind on them.
Thanks! I always worry the dark frames are too heavy for my face, but as a second pair of glasses I think they’re a fun change.
Your new glasses look fantastic! I used to wear Ruff Hewn years ago and didn’t know they’re still in business.
I didn’t recognize the brand when I found them, but they seem perfect — dark wash, and boot cut that’s more of a flare.
That Chobani flavor is my favorite!! Your new glasses are too cool, love ’em! 🙂
The balance of coconut, chocolate and almonds is just perfect. Yum.
I felt the same way you did about reviews a couple months ago…not only was I burned out of writing them, but they are the least viewed posts for me! So, I switched to a notes-style format that is good for people who tend to scan book reviews (um, me!)…I have categories like Headline, What I Liked/Didn’t Like, Major Themes, Defining Quote, Good For People Who Like…
It’s working for me so far, but I haven’t taken a hard look at the page view numbers yet. I’ve only done 3-4, so want to do a few more before I look at the data.
I’d love to see what you come up with for this one!
That’s a cool idea for a format! I know that I’ll sometimes skim reviews trying to avoid spoilers — maybe a style more geared toward when/why to read a book would be a good shift.
Jeans shopping is the worst! Glad you found a brand and style you like!
They were the first pair I tried on — it was some sort of miracle!
I’m reading All the Light We Cannot See at the moment. Working my way through the war. Enjoy the time at your cabin!
Beef stroganoff sounds excellent. How does he prepare it? Does he do it in the slow cooker? Somewhere in this world I have a recipe for slow cooker stroganoff, but I do not know where it is. And it sounds so goooood to me right now. (It is three PM so I am bored/hungry.)
It’s not in a slow cooker. It’s an old recipe his mom shared. Tons of sour cream is the secret, I think. I’m curious about a slow cooker version!