We had the most glorious weekend!  After I survived last week, thanks to my hearing being rescheduled (for this coming week, and I have a night meeting, an Important Lunch, and two filings in addition to the hearing, so it’s going to be another packed one) I really should have worked the weekend to get ahead, but the weather was glorious and I was burnt out and I just wanted to enjoy.  So I did.  On Saturday we headed out for a hike at a new-to-us spot, Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, and did some bird-spotting.  (More to come when I get pictures uploaded – yes, I used the dSLR!)  On Sunday we did another quick hike at Times Beach Nature Preserve, then hit up Canalside; we were hoping to get Peanut a good hour in the sandbox, but it was under construction so we just wandered around, checked out the boats, and felt the sun on our faces.  I’m an obsessive weather-watcher and I’ve been eyeing the forecast and am cautiously optimistic that it really is spring now.  Time will tell.

As for reading this week, I got more done than expected given the workload.  I guess it helps that it was only the workload this week – no one was sent home sick from school, and parents were healthy too.  Let’s hope that lasts.  I finished Kindred, by Octavia Butler, which I’ve been meaning to read for ages.  It was very compelling, but it was violent.  I suppose it had to be, since the main character was traveling back in time and the past is the past and she ended up in a particularly violent era, but wow, was it ever hard to read.  I needed something easier on the soul after closing Kindred for the last time, so I quickly plowed through Honey for a Child’s Heart – more on this when I do my monthly review roundup, but meh – and then spent the weekend on An Irish Country Doctor.  I had sort of low expectations for An Irish Country Doctor, not because I thought it would be a bad book – the series is beloved, after all – but medical stories are really REALLY not my cup of tea.  As doctor books go, though, this was enjoyable enough that I think I will continue on with the series, at least for a few books.  I do wish the main characters had been a vicar and curate instead of doctors, though – that would have been more my street.

Next up, I’m starting Get in Trouble, a collection of short stories by Kelly Link, because I’m out of renewals at the library and it’s been bumped to the top of the heap as a result.  It looks great and creative and I’m hoping that I can get past my general preference for novels over short stories and appreciate it.  After that… well, I have seventeen other books checked out of the library, so I’m sure I will find something to read.

I have a bookish couple of weeks in store for you here, starting with this week – a great pick for my diverse kidlit project to go along with National Poetry Month on Wednesday, and a spring reading list of books that feature gardens on Friday.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Book Date.  Thanks for the inspiration!

What are you reading this week?