Month: February 2020

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Reading Round-Up: January 2020, Part One

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby. I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book. Here is part one of two posts sharing my reads for January, 2020…

New Year’s Day (Old New York #4), by Edith Wharton – I thought it would be fun to re-read Edith Wharton’s novella, New Year’s Day, on actual New Year’s Day… and it was.  I love this melancholy and ruminative story about things that are not what they seem, and I think I may make an annual re-read a tradition.

One Woman’s Year, by Stella Martin Currey – Another fun one to start off the year, I finished up this recent Persephone reprint, which combines commonplace book, diary, recipe collection and humor.  It’s such fun to revisit a slower, more seasonal time in my reading.

Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther, by Elizabeth von Arnim – Loved, loved, loved this novel in letters (one-sided) from the titular heroine, Rose-Marie Schmidt, to the vapid and useless Roger Anstruther.  Rose-Marie is a thoroughly wonderful character, and her letters to Mr Anstruther – who cannot at all appreciate what a gem his pen-pal is – are a delight.  Everything is in here – lovely nature writing, musings on books, elder-sisterly advice… I loved every page.

Great Goddesses, by Nikita Gill – I tore through this collection of poetry updating the Greek myths for modern times, and it was everything I want in a book of poems.  Often sad, always beautiful and thought-provoking, and very relevant.  Gill has another collection of poems and prose poems based on fairy tales, and I expect I will be seeking that out soon.

This is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live, by Melody Warnick – This came recommended by Anne Bogel on her short-form podcast One Great Book, and I did enjoy it.  Some of Warnick’s lamenting about her struggles to love living in Blacksburg, Virginia – I have a friend there, and it’s actually a beautiful area – did come across as a bit tone-deaf and unaware of her privilege, but I mostly tuned that part out and focused on her practical suggestions (many of which would have come in more handy for me when I was miserable and homesick in Buffalo – I don’t really need help loving northern Virginia).

More to the Story, by Hena Khan – After loving Khan’s first middle-grade book, Amina’s Voice, I was eager to check out her homage to Little Women (with a Pakistani spin).  It was absolutely wonderful.  Jameela and her sisters felt so real – their struggles and heartaches and the love they had for each other, too – and I wanted to gather each one up for a big hug.

The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables, by Catherine Reid – I’ve been staring at this book on my shelf since my dear friend Susan gave it to me for Christmas 2018, and I finally got around to reading it – and staring wide-eyed at the gorgeous photographs.  It was absolutely stunning, and made me hanker for a return trip to PEI – my grandparents took me there on vacation when I was twelve, and I have never forgotten the beautiful scenery or the breathless excitement of being in “Anne’s house.”

The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2020, by Lia Leendertz – I have come to cherish and eagerly look forward to Leendertz’s yearly almanacs, with their gorgeous nature writing and beautiful pen and ink illustrations – not to mention the garden tips, recipes and lore bursting from the pages.  I read 2020’s installment in one gulp, although I expect I will revisit it each month all year long – the new addition of a monthly section on what’s going on in the hedgerow was my favorite part.

Well, that takes us to about January 11th.  I meant to recap my entire month’s reading, but there were sixteen titles and I want to be respectful of your time and attention.  So I’ll do the rest next week and going forward either split each month to come into two parts or do just one omnibus recap at the end of the month as dictated by my reading list.  Anyway!  January got off to a strong start, as you can see – I enjoyed everything I read, to the point of finding it near impossible to pick a highlight.  Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther was definitely one, and The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables was another, but really – the whole month was filled with one readerly delight after another.  In 2020 I have decided to worry less about buzzy new releases or literary trends and just read what makes me happy, and you can see the results – sixteen books (eight here and eight more to come), all of which I enjoyed.

How was your January’s reading?

 

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (February 3, 2020)

Okay, here we go, new week.  Imbolc blessings to all of you, and happy day-after-the-Superbowl and day-after-palindrome-day, and Monday.  Go sports team!  I’ll be honest, I didn’t know who was playing in the Superbowl this year until the teams ran out on the field.  I’m not a football fan, but I usually at least know who the two teams in the championship are – not this year.  That’s how checked out I’ve been, between traveling for work and then being super tired and also having to watch the country fall apart.  Anyway!  It was a low-key weekend.  Steve and Nugget had plans to go to an auto show on Saturday, and I had intended to take Peanut out for a girls’ day, maybe to tea at Laduree or the American Girl Store, but she was a hot mess at school all last week so we went to the grocery store instead.  I didn’t want to make it a completely miserable day for her, though, so I told her we could bake something in the afternoon.  She asked for apple pie, so I picked up the ingredients and got everything together.  The kids helped me mix up the pate brisee dough, but then they flaked (see what I did there?) as soon as it went into the fridge to chill.  So I ended up making the rest of the pie myself, which was maybe better, because it came out really well.  Sunday was another dialed down day.  I spent the morning going through some old cooking magazines, ripping out the few recipes I actually wanted to try and then recycling the rest, then took the kiddos to the playground to run off some energy in the afternoon.  Nugget has strep throat, poor guy, but still somehow wants to move at a hundred miles an hour all the time.  He sacked out early, though, and Steve and I ended the weekend with both kids in bed and asleep in the first quarter of the Big Game.  I didn’t make it to the end, either – I never do.

Reading.  Pretty decently busy reading week!  I finished Murder in the White House on Monday – so fun, and I will definitely continue with Margaret Truman’s Capital Crimes series.  Over the rest of the week, I alternated between How to Do Nothing, which President Obama loved but which was mostly over my head, and The Lager Queen of Minnesota.  After loving J. Ryan Stradal’s first book, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, I had high hopes for Lager Queen, but I felt mostly blah about it.  Finally, I spent the weekend with E. M. Forster’s masterpiece, A Passage to India, which I am loving.

Watching.  All the Harry Potter, still.  The kids are on a major jag and I love it.  Except for when they have “wizard duels” with Lincoln Logs and hit each other in the face.  I don’t love that part.  Steve and I also started series seven of The Great British Bake-Off, and I watched a few Superbowl commercials (“ghost cah!”).

Listening.  Working my way through all the back episodes of Shedunnit, still.  I’m down to five episodes to go and then I’ll be caught up.  Don’t know what I’m going to do with myself when I’m current.  I’ll have to listen to one of the other podcasts on my podcatcher.

Making.  Lots of cooking and baking.  In addition to the apple pie (which really was a huge success – the secret was adding more ice water than Martha Stewart thinks I really needed to) I made a super high protein chili (Impossible ground, black beans and quinoa) and a bunch of crudites for snacking this week.  Yum.

Blogging.  January books coming atcha on Wednesday, so clear your schedules because it’s a long post – I read a lot last month, and if I keep up this pace I’m going to have to start splitting my reading recaps into two posts a la Katie.  And on Friday, a belated look at our post-New Year’s visit to ARTECHOUSE for #AURORAinDC.  It’s not showing anymore, so I’m afraid I’ve missed the boat on alerting you all to something fun you can do next weekend, but I still want to share my snaps because it was a beautiful interactive art show.

Loving.  I try not to brag on my kids in this space, especially as they are getting older and I am more protective of their privacy.  But can I tell you how sweet little Nugget is?  This dear little boy, who when he grows up wants to be a scientist or a bunny and who wanted only one thing from Santa last year – a book about birds – had just one request for his birthday: he wants Hogwarts robes in his house colors.  What house?  You can probably guess, but our happy-go-lucky little fella, who plays with everyone and is always the cheeriest face on the playground, self-identifies as a Hufflepuff.  Of course!  I just love that his sweetness is his defining personality trait, and I love how much he embraces it.  (He takes after his dad, also a Hufflepuff.)  While I’d love some company in Ravenclaw, I am proud of my little badger and his lion sister.

Asking. What are you reading this week?