Briefly | I took a quick trip down to the Twin Cities with a friend so I could get a long list of London/Greece trip related items finished/purchased — 21 days to go! It was nice to just spend a day away, since now I still have , and still a full Sunday to catch up on chores and relax.
Reading | I finally finished a book! I got a bit of my reading mojo back last week and finished Ghettoside by Jill Leovy, a look at the high murder rate of black men, specifically in Los Angeles County, and what that means for the broader criminal justice system. She makes a compelling argument about how the criminal justice system devalues the lives of black men by not investing time and resources into investigating their murders. It’s a great companion read to another excellent book I read last month, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. I’m also still working through 11/22/63 by Steven King — I expect that’ll be a common sentence over the next month!
Watching | Last week we went to see Inside Out (so lovely) and, I think, we’re going to see Ant Man later today. I’ve heard it’s pretty funny, so fingers crossed on that.
Listening | Last night I finished An Ember in the Ashes by Sabba Tahir, a young adult (maybe new adult?) fantasy about a slave and a soldier in an oppressive, military regime. There’s a hint of magic and some romance, but neither are central to the story. It ended in a pretty enormous cliffhanger, so I’m glad there’s going to be a sequel.
Cooking | I’ve got all the supplies to make a new slow cooker recipe, Mexican Black Beans and Pork. It’s pretty similar to this recipe. I better get started on it soon since it needs 8 to 9 hours.
Blogging | Last week I wrote about my new obsession, coloring and audio books and shared all the books I bought in July. This week I’m thinking about a June and July reading wrap up and a discussion of Just Mercy and Ghettoside. We’ll see what I get done today!
Buying | I dropped off three big bags of books at Half Price Books and came out with a small stack, a couple I’d read and four more I’m excited about. Wolf Hall is going to be my plane read for our trip, and I’m thinking about bringing along Beautiful Ruins for a beach read in Greece.
Loving | I bought a new planner, the Get to Work Book from Elisa Blaha Cripe. I’ve been using it exclusively at work and, so far, it’s exactly what I need — a place to focus on remembering and completing short and long-term tasks. I can share more about that in another post if people are interested?
Anticipating | My sister and I leave for London in 21 days! I’m actually thinking of it more in terms of newspapers — I have three editions to go, plus work to get done for the three weeks I’ll be gone. That makes it tangible. I suspect I’ll be anticipating this one for the rest of the month!
Happy Sunday, everyone! What are you reading today?
Comments on this entry are closed.
Your trip sounds fantastic – I know y’all will have a blast! Ghettoside sounds fascinating – have you ever read Dead Man Walking? It shows how money buys justice so it’s disturbing and thought provoking.
I haven’t, but that sounds really interesting. I’m going to look for it.
Your trip coming up sounds awesome! Work can be hard to concentrate on when you’ve got something fun like that coming up, at least for me.
Also I would definitely be interested in a post about the Get To Work Book – I am always looking to find the perfect tool for time and task management. I went and watched the demo video and it definitely looks intriguing but would love to hear how it is working “in the field” so to speak. Also whether you think it could handle both work and personal life and how it interact with electronic management like calendars etc… – I hate juggling too many tools! I get easily confused:).
Good questions, thanks for the suggestions on a GTWB post! I have thoughts on all of those things, so I’ll work on putting something together.
Your London trip sounds so exciting! Cannot wait to hear about the places you will be visiting.
London and Greece sound amazing! And – The Interestings is an all-time fave of mine!
We dropped our son off at daycare so we could see Inside Out (he’s barely one, so I don’t feel thaaaaat bad). It was very good!
Don’t feel bad at all! He probably wouldn’t get it and, instead, you get to enjoy a date. Win-win.
Yes, please post about the Get to Work Book! It looks so cool.
I’m reading the new Alice Hoffman book out Tuesday – so good! I am a huge fan of hers, but I usually listen to the audiobooks so it’s been a pleasant treat.
Sounds like you’re very organized for your trip! I have a big trip in October and thought I’d have it all planned out by now. Nope! The slow cooker recipe sounds good. I’m listening to IT by Stephen King on audio and it’s a LOOONNNNG one like 11/23/63.
My sister is a big organizer/planner, so she’s really taking the lead on planning the trip. I have some random tasks to do, but she’s done a lot of the legwork so far.
I’d love to hear more about that planner.
Anticipating trips is sooooo much fun. Great stack of books. I’m culling my cookbook collection at the moment … but I’m giving them to AAUW and I’m not coming home home with new ones (at least not this week).
Have a wonderful trip! the 21 days will go by and before you know it you will be int he air 🙂
Ohhh I visited London a year ago, and I didn’t want to come back home – you’ll love it, I’m sure! By the way, I purchased there the book “Wolf Hall” haha, but I still haven’t read it.
I thought about waiting to buy Wolf Hall when I get there — it’s a perfect ‘I bought it in London!’ book — but then I decided I wanted to read it at the airport/on the plane 🙂
A great planner can make ALL the difference, can’t it?
I’m so excited for you about your trip. I’m sure it is going to be as amazing as you hope it will be. I have a feeling it will also make your month simultaneously slow and fast.
Have a great week!
London London London London London! I’m terribly envious! I miss beautiful London and I’d love to go back soon. It’s such a great city. I would spend crazy hours at Foyles and on the South Bank, and I would eat at Wagamama thrice.
Foyles is on my long list of bookstores to visit!
London & Greece should be a blast. Plenty of reading on those flights. Maybe a little Sebastian Faulks? For our summer vaca, we leave this weekend for Montreal and adventures outside that city
Wasn’t Inside Out darling? I was weeping fairly unabashedly at one point.
Also, I am such a sucker for planners, and that one looks AWESOME. If I get into grad school this spring, perhaps I’ll get it for myself as a gift. 🙂