Month: October 2021

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Reading Round-Up: September 2021

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby. I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book. Here are my reads for September, 2021.

Where Stands a Winged Sentry, by Margaret Kennedy – I flew through this memoir of the tense summer between the official declaration of World War II and the beginning of the Blitz. Margaret Kennedy is a renowned and respected novelist, but her war memoir, taken from her diaries of that hot and anxious stretch, never mentions work – Kennedy is consumed with her children, her responsibilities, missing her London-bound husband, and invasion worries. This was beautifully written and a wonderful read.

The Hour of Land, by Terry Tempest Williams – I brought this with me to Shenandoah National Park for Labor Day weekend and it was a perfect choice. Williams, a noted environmental activist and nature writer, shares twelve of her most personally significant national parks. The writing is beautiful and atmospheric, although I did start to bog down near the end.

Slightly Foxed No. 70: Tigers at the Double Lion, ed. Gail Pirkis and Hazel Wood – Not much to say about Slightly Foxed that I haven’t said before! I thoroughly enjoyed the summer issue – as always.

Goldenrod, by Maggie Smith – I preordered the new volume of Maggie Smith’s poems and I did enjoy it, although some spoke to me more than others did. Smith’s bittersweet reflections on motherhood were the highlight for me.

Crooked Sixpence, by Jane Shaw – Loved this recent reprint from Girls Gone By publishers! Six friends team up to investigate who is sending poison pen letters to the cherished and cuddly local squire. There’s a ghost – maybe! – and some Roman history. Good fun all around.

Spam Tomorrow, by Verily Anderson – In the mood for another war memoir, I picked up this reflection on life on the home front. I’d been saving it, and am so glad I finally read it, because it was a total delight from the first chapter – when Anderson goes AWOL from the FANYs to get married, but it’s fine because she was a terrible FANY anyway – through to the harrowing birth of her first child. There is a lot of moving houses, and a hilarious chapter in which Anderson and her friend/roommate Julie decide to open a B&B to earn extra cash in the absence of their husbands; they’re not born hoteliers. Altogether a total delight – highly recommend.

Period Piece, by Gwen Raverat – I decided to re-read Period Piece, as it was the September choice for Miranda Mills’ comfort book club. It ended up getting downgraded because Raverat reports a deplorable racist attitude that her mother held (I’d read Period Piece before, but that didn’t stand out to me the first time). I say this every time I read a book that is “of its time” – but perhaps there is a blog post there. I tend to take an “if you know better, you do better” attitude and use those moments as reflection points. Other than that one paragraph, this is a lovely book and I enjoyed it just as much the second time as the first.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot #1), by Agatha Christie – Total spur-of-the-moment pickup, but I have been itching to read The Mysterious Affair at Styles and how it all began for Hercule Poirot for ages now. Totally ingenious mystery, as always, and good fun all around.

The House Party: A Short History of Leisure, Pleasure and the Country House Weekend, by Adrian Tinniswood – This was a quick one – the work of about ninety minutes – but fun. Tinniswood explores country house parties “between the wars” – from the transportation to the guests to the food and more. Interesting and enjoyable.

Business as Usual, by Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford – This is going to be another one of my highlights of the year. Business As Usual is an epistolary novel following a young woman as she decamps to London with the novel idea of spending a year working and earning money before she marries her surgeon fiance. It was a fabulous, funny and sweet read. I loved it.

All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot – This is something of a triumph – after about eight months of listening in fits and starts, I finally finished All Creatures Great and Small on audio. Really enjoyed this classic memoir by a Yorkshire vet, but it was rather more detail about bovine birth than I bargained for. I expect I’ll continue with Herriot’s memoirs, but I need a little break first.

The Greek Myths, by Robert Graves – Read for the Classics Club Challenge, this is the definitive compilation of Greek myths. All of your murder, incest, forced marriage and eye-gouging, you can find it here. I’ll have a full review coming later in the month, but… it was a bit much.

Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life, by Marta McDowell – I needed a palate cleanser after The Greek Myths and this was perfect. I love these Timber Press books about famous authors and the gardens and landscapes that inspired them (I’ve read The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh and The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables already) and this tour of Beatrix Potter’s life in gardens was lovely. And the books are absolutely gorgeous.

Fresh From the Country, by Miss Read – This standalone book by Miss Read has been staring at me from my shelf for months – it was time. Young Anna Lacey, fresh-faced and innocent, leaves her idyllic farm home and embarks on a new career as a teacher in an overcrowded suburban school. At first, Anna is desperately homesick – cold, hungry and lonely in her penny-pinching boarding house landlady’s clutches – and lost and confused at school. But friendship and romance await, and her first year of teaching proves to be eventful. I so enjoyed this book, and will re-read it again and again.

At the Pond: Swimming at the Hampstead Ladies’ Pond, by Various Authors – So, this is a classic “I bought it for the cover” book, but that cover didn’t lead me wrong – it was wonderful. Women of all ages, shapes, sizes, and backgrounds muse on the peculiar magic of the Hampstead Ladies’ Pond in a series of essays. I especially loved “The Lifeguard’s Perspective” – an essay by a lifeguard who watched the life of the pond swirl around her from her yellow canoe, while a new life grew inside her. And I appreciated that the essays weren’t universally adulatory – a non-binary writer mused that they don’t swim at the ladies’ pond anymore because they don’t feel female enough, for instance. I’ve never been to the ladies’ pond, but I feel like I have now.

Whew! Some month. I definitely got my reading mojo back after the long, hot summer of not-much-book-time. It would be hard to pick a favorite for the month; Business As Usual was an absolute joy, but so was Fresh From the Country. And then there were two – not one, but TWO – standout World War II home front memoirs, and wonderful nature writing, and the Queen of Crime… no, I can’t pick a favorite. But I’m grateful for this lovely month of reading, and excited for October’s books ahead.

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (October 4, 2021)

Well, it’s Monday again! And October. Shut the front door. Y’all, I am drained today. It was a busy weekend – good busy, but I’m wiped out. Last Wednesday, my very best friend Rebecca arrived in town from Florida. She was here to attend a CLE (that’s Continuing Legal Education for you non-lawyers out there) conference in DC, and squeeze in friend time around the margins. I picked her up from the airport and she was able to welcome the kids home from school before I drove her to her friend Shannon’s house to stay closer to the conference for a few days. She rejoined us on Friday and stayed all weekend – YAY! It was nice to have her company because – another reason I am drained – Steve was out of town for a partners’ retreat with his law firm colleagues, and I was solo parenting for four days straight. I was supposed to attend the retreat with him – spouses were invited and he turned out to be the only one without a date, but all of our overnight childcare fell through. I wasn’t super sad about not traveling this weekend, but solo parenting two feral pandemic children wiped me out. Plus something always happens when one parent is alone. This time, it was a playground injury during soccer practice on Friday. We narrowly avoided a trip to urgent care, and were very happy to see Aunt Rebecca’s welcome face walk through the door. The rest of the weekend was lots of good running around – soccer, a haircut for Nugget, garden center (and bouncy castle!), a Sunday morning hike, swim class, neighborhood walks, cooking – the list goes on. We did a lot, and I’m tired now but I regret nothing.

Reading. Whew! Although I didn’t have much reading time over the weekend, I apparently made up for that during the week. Three print books finished (all total delights) and one audiobook (Richard Armitage reading Agatha Christie is everything, ladies), and I’m now well into O, the Brave Music and loving it. Bodes well for the week ahead!

Watching. I am deep down a Monty Don rabbit hole on Britbox and not even mad about it. I watched an episode and a half while Steve was out of town, and +100 would do it again. Nugget, who loves plants, indulgently watches with me. Everyone else grumbles.

Listening. Most of the week was given over to my audiobook – The Murder on the Links – but I did turn back to podcasts after wrapping that up. And Nugget is more of a tunes guy in the car, so there was a lot of singing along to Decemberists songs on the way to and from his haircut.

Making. Well, Nugget and Aunt Rebecca and I made a masterpiece of driveway chalk. Behold! It got a lot bigger than the above – this was just the beginning. Also made: progress on a rather sloppy scarf I’m knitting; a clean guestroom; a fairy garden with Peanut, and some BIG travel plans. I’ve hinted a few times that Steve and I had a big trip on the horizon in February. I was oddly reluctant to talk about it though, because I had a funny feeling it was going to fall through. It kind of did, and kind of didn’t, but the short story is that over a year ago we had booked – and fully paid for – a trip to Antarctica in February 2022, and we learned a few weeks ago that our trip has officially been pushed to 2023. After spending two weeks trying to find a solution to still travel to Antarctica in 2022, we finally accepted that we’re going to be waiting another year, and we pivoted to thinking about what we could do to make this feel okay. I’m deeply disappointed, but I was not letting myself get too excited about it to begin with, because I did sort of think this might happen. As a consolation we spent last week researching, and this week we booked a different February trip – so we will have something really cool to look forward to in February after all. Our reshuffled travel plans are basically the polar (har, har) opposite of Antarctica: we’re trading in parkas for board shorts and penguins for sloths – we’ll be road tripping around Costa Rica. I think this is going to happen – hotels are booked, and some of the adventures are already arranged, with more to come. I’m taking stock of my camera arsenal and plotting out the best way to see sloths. I love making plans, and the will-we-or-won’t-we aspect of our Antarctica trip (we will, but just a year later than planned) was stressing me out. But I’m feeling good and confident about Costa Rica, which is a strange – but nice – sensation.

Moving. Meh, not much movement this week. No running – lots of neighborhood walks; gotta get those 10,000 steps in – and just one short hike. Must do better next week.

Blogging. September’s reading round-up coming atcha on Wednesday, and back to the ‘dacks on Friday. Check in with me then!

Loving. Can’t say it enough – I love, love, love seeing my cherished friends! Especially during a pandemic, when we don’t see each other nearly enough as it is. It’s been wonderful having Rebecca for a few days. We’ve been cooking, walking, laughing, and wishing we could do this every weekend.

Asking. What are you reading this week?

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ADK 2021: Cobble Hill

Each evening in Lake Placid, after we wrapped up work/adventures for the day, Steve and I would wander out to dinner somewhere on Main Street and plan out the next day’s wandering. We’d compare work calendars and notes about fun ideas, and hash out a plan to tackle an adventure around conference calls. Because we were working, most of our adventures were bite-sized; that doesn’t mean they were lame. On Wednesday morning, with calendars clear of conference calls until 11:00, we woke to an early alarm and set out for Cobble Hill.

Cobble Hill rises 2,343 feet above downtown Lake Placid; it’s the local hike in a town full of local hikes. These days there isn’t even trailhead parking; you stride out of your hotel, walk up Main Street and partway around Mirror Lake, and you’re there. It’s a short-ish trail (just about 5 miles round trip counting the town portion) but with plenty of classic Adirondack granite and views.

There’s a pristine pond.

A decent amount of climbing – and you’re at the top, with a stellar view of a Lake Placid landmark – the ski jumps.

There’s Adirondack granite boulders to scramble over.

And lots of space for dorky summit selfies. What happened here? Steve looks creepy and I look terrified. I joked that he could be a serial killer.

Summit slayer, woman about to be murdered.

We were up and down this mountain before my West Coast colleagues had even woken up, and settled in for a day of lawyering – but feeling pretty smug about having climbed a mountain before the workday even started.

Next week: paddling another Adirondack lake!