Tag Archives: Bookish Chatter

Chatter about books, reading and anything related to either one.

Work It

What I'm Reading

After being out of the reading world for what seems like forever, but in reality has only been ten days, I feel the need to push myself to get back into the rhythm of reading. It’s like that little known muscle you have in the back of your leg that you suddenly notice after falling down a million times when skiing.  Well, that happens when “I” ski, anyway. I was reading during the show, but they were all DNF’s (did not finish) and instead of calling them out as such, I am just going to chalk it up to me and my scattered brain. If I can’t concentrate on the book in front of me, I’d rather not read. So in between the show, I watched The Big Bang Theory and The Wonder Years. Comfort viewing if you ask me.

However, I began to get the reading itch again this past Monday. Much like starting a fitness routine, I am easing my way into reading again and it feels good. I have been reading Then Again by Diane Keaton and The Technologists by Matthew Pearl. One is a memoir and the other has to do with the introduction of technology as a science in 1868. Both are fascinating and just what I need to get back on the horse, so to speak.

Now that I have those two in full swing, I plan to add my book club pick to the mix which happens to be my pick from last year, The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds. It is about famed nature poet John Clare’s stay in a mental institution. It’s fiction, but it sounds wonderful.

So that is what I am doing right now. Limping along, building up the muscles that atrophied during the week of the show. I can almost hear the theme from Rocky in the background. Almost.

The Sunday Salon: Rainless, again

The Sunday Salon
So Cal has been dry for several weeks so when rain was predicted for this weekend, I planned my weekend around it. Comfort food, books, cozy jammies, etc. What we got though was a downpour at 6am on Saturday which lasted for 30 minutes. That’s it! Why was I up at 6am on a Saturday? The Boy had an early morning basketball game so unfortunately, I had the fun of dragging him out of bed.

Today, there is no rain in sight. That’s okay though, I still have a roast cooking away in the crock pot and I might throw a gluten-free lasagna together for later this week. I just love to cook on Sunday. I am still reading The Stranger’s Child. It’s slow going for me. It started off great but then took a very weird turn. I felt as if I missed a huge plot point so I reread several pages and I still don’t understand what is going on. I am about halfway through but it might be a DNF for me as I have a lot of other books to get to and this one is holding me back.

Remember my post about the new, snazzy rec center that they built at the university where I work? And how they wanted to charge staff a ridiculous amount of money ($163 per academic term)? Well, I went to the test run last Friday and because I was a grad and technically enrolled as a student, I got a discount of 60% off. Of course, I signed-up on the spot and then worked out for the first time in I don’t know how long. The foot injury which I never even mentioned here and all my auto-immune stuff kept me from working out, but now I am back. And sore. And limping around, but it feels good. My membership begins on Jan. 27th because that is when the Spring semester begins. Stay tuned for some humorous posts because I will be working out at 6am (before work) and I expect my body to rebel in a big way.

One more update regarding my book club. My suggestion of We Need to Talk about Kevin got shot down in a big way. I was sort of saddened by it, but not surprised. “Depressing” does not go over well with the group, but I felt it would be a really good discussion book. However, when someone else pitched my 2nd choice I threw in Norwegian Wood (which I really did not expect them to choose) and it ended up getting chosen. I will post the entire list here soon.

Right now, I am about to enjoy my second cup of coffee for the morning. Later, rehearsal for The Boy and then I must run out to buy more coffee because we are totally out. Happy Sunday to you!