Briefly | After a weekend traveling and a weekend that was busy, I’m so happy for a weekend entirely at home. The boyfriend and I got caught up on errands yesterday, so I think today will be all about cooking, chores and football. I slept in today, but thanks to Daylight Savings Time I still have a long morning to get things done.

Reading | This week I finished China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan, the sequel to his debut novel, Crazy Rich Asians. I didn’t like it nearly as much, but I’m still curious to see how what’s supposed to be a trilogy eventually plays out. Now, it’s time for nonfiction! Yesterday I started Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell, and I’m thinking about picking up Speed Kings by Andy Bull.

Watching | I don’t really like scary movies, but wanted to get in the Halloween spirit this weekend, so the boyfriend and I watched a couple of Halloween-adjacent movies: The Poisoner’s Handbook (a PBS documentary about the birth of forensic toxicology, based on a book!), and Clue. I forgot how great that movie is.

Listening | I finally started listening to the soundtrack for Hamilton (a Broadway musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton). And yes, it’s amazing. And yes, that’s why I started reading Lafayette in the Somewhat United States.

Blogging | This week I shared stories from the final leg of our adventure in Europe and outlined my possible reading pile for Nonfiction November.

Promoting | Three interesting articles this week: The Rules of Donut Club from The MMQB, The Strange Case of Anna Stubblefield from the New York Times Magazine (, and The Day that Changed WDBJ from CNN Money.

Hating | I totally fell off the planet with my One Little Word for this year. I just never seemed to find a way to bring it into my day-to-day experience. But, I still love the idea and want to try again next year.

Loving | As the weather cools down, Hannah becomes more inclined to cuddle with me. She’s not a very loving cat (with me), so this makes me happy.

Loving II | We actually got some Trick or Treaters last night! It was a small number, maybe 20 total, but still super fun.

Anticipating | Nonfiction November! The first weekly topic and link up will be here tomorrow, then we’re off to my other co-hosts for the rest of the month. I’m pretty excited we got this up and running again this year.

Happy Sunday, everyone! What are you reading today?

Nonfiction November is coming! While reading exclusively nonfiction isn’t part of the celebration I’m co-hosting with Leslie (Regular Rumination), Katie (Doing Dewey) and Rebecca (I’m Lost In Books), it is something I’m excited to try next month. I’ve just been feeling out of my reading groove lately, so I’m hoping a month focusing on my true love, nonfiction, will get me back in the swing of things.

Thanks to the library, some review copies, and my inability to pass up a good book sale, I’ve got lots of great options to choose from. These books are just the ones that were top of mind when I started pulling the pile together last night. In no particular order:

1. I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb — This is our Nonfiction November Readalong book for the year, so of course I need to read it! We’ll be discussing it the fourth week of the month.
2. Notorious RGB by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhink — This is a Tumblr turned book all about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. I’m in.
3. Relish by Lucy Knisley — Lucy Knisley is really delightful, and I think this will be a nice change of pace.
4. Speed Kings by Andy Bull — I’ve been holding on to this book since this summer. I love good historical sports nonfiction.
5. Best American Essays 2015 edited by Ariel Levy — I miss reading essays. I didn’t need a new to get another collection, but I’m excited about the guest editor.
6. The Prince of Darkness by Shane White — I’m really interested in the story of Jeremiah Hamilton, an African American Wall Street tycoon in the late 1800s.
7. Soldier Girls by Helen Thompson — This was an impulse grab at the library last month, but it looks really great.
8. The Optimistic Workplace by Shawn Murphy and Dorie Clark — I’m the chair of our workplace culture committee, so I’m thinking this book would be helpful in that respect.
9. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nahesi Coates — This might be the biggest book of 2015. I definitely need to read it this month.
10. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald — This is another one that’s been on my TBR since much earlier this year. It’s one of the big books of 2015, so definitely want to get to it.
11. Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell — I just love Sarah Vowell, and this is her newest book (out Oct. 20). Should be a lot of fun!
12. Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon — A dual biography of Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughter Mary Shelley. This chunkster got on my TBR list thanks to a review at A Gun in Act One. Hopefully it’ll get to the library soon so I can dive into it.
13. The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander — I saw this book on the Instagram account of a DIY blogger I follow and got curious. Thanks library!

Obviously there’s no chance of me finishing 13 books but it’s nice to have a bunch of options pulled out and ready to go. I’m jumping in soon! What are you excited to read in November?

The last leg of our epic three week trip to Europe was Greece. It’s kind of a strange addition to a trip to England, but I’ve always dreamed of sitting on a beach in the Mediterranean and Jenny agreed to indulge me. Luckily, most of the areas we visited in Athens and one of the Greek islands, Poros, were very tourist-friendly and we ended up having no trouble navigating.

Our trip to Greece was pretty epic. After taking a coach bus from Bath back to London, Jenny and I spent the evening at a hotel near Heathrow Airport. We were up about 6 a.m. the next morning for a long day of travel that included a shuttle bus to the airport, a puddle-jumper flight to Paris, a multi-hour layover in Charles de Gaulle airport, a flight to Athens, an hour-long bus ride to Syntagma Square, and a short walk to our hotel. We didn’t get to our beds until nearly 1 a.m. Couple that with the cold I picked up in Bath, and you can imagine how exhausting that day ended up being.

We slept in the next morning, but couldn’t waste too much time because we only had a single day in Athens. Unfortunately, our day in Athens was incredibly hot… nearly 100 degrees in the middle of the afternoon. But, we were going to see the Parthenon, come hell or hellish temperatures, so off we went.

Our first stop was the Acropolis Museum, a really impressive new museum highlighting the long history of this site. I have no pictures from the museum because I was, honestly, pretty worn out and just wanted to absorb what I was seeing. We started the hike up to the Acropolis at about 4 p.m.

We relied heavily on Rick Steves’ guide to Greece when planning this portion of our trip. One of the cool things Steves offers is audio guides to some popular sites in the country. He also has an app you can download with audio tours of various sites — Jenny and I both listened to one while we were walking around the Acropolis.

We were so hot and sweaty. Seeing a site this significant was amazing, but between the weather and my cold and just generally being exhausted, it was hard to appreciate everything.

We almost didn’t pose for this picture because I was being a grump about the heat, but I’m glad Jenny pushed to make sure we did. You don’t get a chance to take a photo with your sister in front of the Parthenon every day.

The next day was another day of travel, from downtown Athens to the port of Piraeus via the metro, then from Piraeus to the island of Poros. We got to the port really early for our ferry, so we grabbed some food and I snuck in a few pages of the book I was reading at the time, Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walters.

We arrived on Poros in the early afternoon. It was another incredibly hot day, and our plan was to walk from where we were dropped off to our hotel. The website said the walk was only about 20 minutes, but we were dropped off in a different place than expected so the walk ended up being more like 45 minutes. I can’t even imagine how miserable Jenny and I looked, trekking along this road with our enormous backpacks and purses when it’s almost 100 degrees. By the time we arrived at the New Aegli Hotel I was seriously questioning why we even bothered to come to Greece in the first place.

Then we walked into our room and saw the view from our porch.

Oh yeah, that’s why.

We spent the next two days sitting on the beach. We didn’t stray from our hotel or visit any other sites on the island. We just sat on the beach. And it truly was perfect.

Our final morning on Poros, Jenny and I got up to take a walk along the beach. We weren’t planning to go swimming — we had to check out of the hotel by noon — but the weather was so perfect we couldn’t resist. We ran back up to our room, got out suits on, and got a final morning of swimming in before taking a taxi back to the port.

The rest of the trip flew by. We spent the night in Athens, then flew back to London with a layover in Rome. We had one final brief day in London, then flew home on Saturday. Sept. 12.

Whew. That felt like a lot, and I didn’t even cover everything we did. It was truly the trip of a lifetime and I’m so grateful for all the people in my life that made it possible for me to go. And I’m especially thankful for my amazing sister, Jenny, who did a ton of the planning, put up with my weird social anxiety, and still likes me after three weeks in very close quarters. You’re the best J!

Previous Posts | Book Nerd Tourism: Book Loot of London | Highlights of London | Austen and Architecture in Bath

Briefly | I spent most of this weekend on campus for the Prairie Gate Literary Festival, a small event I’ve helped plan for the last couple of years. Our authors this year were Emma Bull (science fiction/fantasy), John Hildebrand (creative nonfiction), Vandana Khanna (poetry), Eric Smith (young adult) and Ebba Segerberg (translator). I got to serve as the moderator of a panel yesterday — a new and exciting experience for me!

Reading | I finally finished Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho! I’m not sure what took me so long with that one, since it was totally great — smart, diverse, feminist fantasy that should have a sequel or two. I’m still digging fiction ahead of Nonfiction November, so I picked up Mermaids in Paradise by Lydia Millet from the library. After that, it’s all nonfiction all the time.

Watching | It’s all Elementary all the time around here — for those who mentioned it last week yes, Natalie Dormer was SO GREAT! I hope she comes back.

Making | I got another request for a “Katniss Cowl” (first one pictured with the recipient, my friend Carrie, above), so I’m going to start in on that as soon as the yarn arrives in the mail. I may have a few others in my queue, which is exciting!

Cooking | I got this Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup from Iowa Girl Eats in the slow cooker this morning, so that’ll be good later today. I’m hoping we’ll eat out less this week.

Blogging | I could not get in the mood to blog this week, but spending the weekend with authors and other bookish folks in real life helped me feel inspired again. Between that and Nonfiction November, I’m hoping the blog will pick back up.

Promoting | I found a few great posts/articles this week: 23 Ways To Treat Yo’ Self Without Buying Or Eating Anything from Yes and Yes, How Doctors Take Women’s Pain Less Seriously from The Atlantic, and Genre Kryptonite: Political Campaign Novels from Book Riot.

Hating/Loving | I have so many great books I want to be reading right now. It’s amazing and intimidating and means I should be spending less time in front of screens.

Anticipating | I finally got all of the pieces for my Halloween costume! Our office dresses up for Halloween and we decided the theme this year was going to be superheros. I went pretty simple, but I’m excited.

Happy Sunday, everyone! What are you reading today?