Life | Book Chatter

The Otter Pup

The pup is looking very dramatic here but she wanted to say Hello! She is a funny character. I do not know how she will be once we return to work and school. She has spent so much time with us this past year. They are saying now that our high schools will return to in-person learning on 3/22. It seems a little unrealistic but it could happen. We chose a hybrid model so two days on campus and the rest remote.

As far as reading goes, I continue to fly through books. It’s great because I am reading everything I want to read, both review copies and highly anticipated books. It’s a good balance. I am putting a lot of thought into what to read next and isn’t that half the fun?

I did finally make a trip to the bookstore but you know what? I didn’t buy anything. I saw many books that caught my eye but I had them on my Kindle already and unless I know a book is a keeper, I don’t usually purchase a hard copy.

This post was supposed to be up yesterday but guess what? Your friend here forgot what day it was. Occupational hazard when you work from home and every single day blurs into the next. Sometime this week I have to hit the market and I am dreading it. I do not enjoy it at all but all the staples need to be restocked. I guess that will be my big day out! Sarcasm.

What movies have you seen lately that you can recommend? I’ve been watching TV but haven’t seen any movies really besides a Hallmark Christmas movie that I saw recently. Yep! I broke out the Hallmark movies because I was feeling meh and needed some joy. Those movies always do the trick. I watched The Most Wonderful Time of the Year with Henry Winkler and it was so charming.

Anyway, that’s it from me. My review of The Sanatorium posts tomorrow! Stop by if you’ve been curious about it.

Sunday Matters

I know many of you are still dealing with weather but here in California it’s been very mild with temps between 65-79 degrees. As I was walking around the neighborhood the other day it really did feel like spring was just around the corner. Everything is blooming and the grass is green again. We had a few weeks of mucky brown grass. This is one of my favorite times of the year. I feel so hopeful when the sun is out and the plants start popping.

Right Now:

We’ve been debating in-person church services. It would be nice to go back but I am not quite ready. Every time I drive by there is a large crowd. I miss it but we have online viewing options available to us so I’d rather be cautious. My youth group is about to meet in-person again so after that we’ll probably pull the trigger on regular service as well.

I really wanted to go to the zoo today but it’s a timed entry and you have to book in advance. Many of the exhibits are closed. I will wait. Instead, I will get a long walk in.

This Week:

Speaking of walks. I found this podcast recently and I’ve added it to my walking routine. Bookish talk. Lots of it. Each episode is roughly an hour long so it’s perfect for walking. Shelf Care is available for free on Spotify but you can also listen via Apple, Stitcher or SoundCloud. I’ve already added a few books to my want list.

Reading:

I am finishing up The Sanatorium. It’s a Reese Book Club pick. It’s gotten very mixed reviews. I’ll write up the review as soon as I am finished but I usually do pretty well with Reese’s picks.

My next book will be Murakami’s new one, First Person Singular. It comes out in April but I can’t wait anymore. It’s a collection of stories. If you’ve read his stories before then you know how many of his stories could easily be the premise for a novel and some do become that. I am looking forward to it!

Watching:

Almost to Season 5 of Schitt’s Creek. Still super enjoyable.

The Walking Dead starts again tonight. Only six episodes this season. I will see how this season goes and then decide if I want to continue. I keep giving these showrunners a chance to rally this show back to what is used to be but it’s not been great and my loyalty has run out.

Grateful for:

University faculty who take the time to talk to a potential student. These people are invaluable.
Art and music and the different ways we can access it now. I’ve been listening to some great concerts lately. I’ve signed up for a few museum tours too.
Green juice. It’s a weird thing to be grateful for. I used to make green smoothies but I’ve found that V8 Healthy Greens has all the good stuff. No sugar or artificial flavors added. It’s quite affordable and shelf stable so I stock up. This is not sponsored but it helps me feel good so I wanted to share.

What does your March look like? It marks my one year anniversary of working from home. Feels so strange to say. I remember those early days and how weird it all felt. The streets were empty. You had to gather up all your courage to run to the market only to find that bread and milk were sold out, along with every cut of meat. My city eats well apparently. Forget shelf staples. They went for the meat case. Remember those days? I guess we have come a long way from that if you really sit down to think about it.