Month: April 2022

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Reading Round-Up: March 2022

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 March, 2022.

The Dud Avocado, by Elaine Dundy – Sally Jay Gorce is a pink-haired American dilettante, exploring Paris on her rich uncle’s dime, breaking hearts and dabbling in being a stage actress. This story of a gaggle of American expats in the 1950s was supposed to be charming and funny, but I found it vaguely depressing. It may be that I took a hiatus from the book while traveling in Costa Rica (I don’t travel with hardcover books anymore) but it was heavy going for me.

The Fairy Tale Girl, by Susan Branch – The first volume of Susan Branch’s trilogy of memoirs focuses mostly on her marriage to her first husband, Cliff. I love Branch’s artwork and her life story is fascinating, but I’d have liked more about her California girlhood and less about the parade of red flags in her marriage. I know the point of the book was that she was young, naive, and didn’t value herself highly enough, but it made me sad.

Martha’s Vineyard: Isle of Dreams, by Susan Branch – The second volume of Branch’s memoirs begins when she has finally escaped her toxic marriage and flown across the country, on a whim, to Martha’s Vineyard. She buys a small, derelict cottage and builds a new life for herself. A lovely read.

The Robin: A Biography, by Stephen Moss – I just love Stephen Moss’s bird writing! In this, the first volume of a new series in which Moss turns his keen eye on one bird per book, the reader follows the English robin through an entire year in the life. It’s a mix of nature writing, social history, and total delight.

The Armourer’s House, by Rosemary Sutcliff – I couldn’t resist this pretty hardcover from new publisher Manderley Press, and the story was a joy. A young girl is sent to London to live with relations in Tudor times, where she finds fun and adventure with her cousins – perfect. There’s no one like Rosemary Sutcliff for fascinating historical detail, too.

Agnes Grey, by Anne Bronte – A re-read for me (review coming soon for The Classics Club), I loved this novel just as much as the first time I read it. Bronte, a governess herself, exposes the upper classes with a clear-eyed glare. Anne is my favorite Bronte sister, and while I still love The Tenant of Wildfell Hall best, Agnes Grey is a triumph, of course.

English Climate: Wartime Stories, by Sylvia Townsend Warner – As with any volume of short stories, I liked some of these better than others. (From Above was by far my favorite, but I also enjoyed a story of a thrifty couple gleefully plotting their course of destruction in the event of an invasion by German troops.) Overall a really fun read.

Hons and Rebels, by Jessica Mitford – It’s been a very long time I’ve been meaning to read Jessica Mitford’s take on her famous family and oddball upbringing, and it didn’t disappoint. “Decca” was the most left-wing of the sisters, famous for eloping with Winston Churchill’s nephew to go fight in the Spanish Civil War. I loved her wry voice and her clear view of her famous family.

Before Lunch (Barsetshire #8), by Angela Thirkell – I really enjoyed this installment in Angela Thirkell’s Barsetshire series. Before Lunch follows Jack Middleton and his wife, Catherine (I know!) as they welcome Jack’s widowed sister, Lilian Stonor, and her two adult stepchildren, Denis and Daphne. Denis is sensitive and musical and a little too delicate for Jack’s sensibilities, while Daphne is just a bit too hearty (yes, Jack is a bit of a Goldilocks). Naturally, romance and hijinks ensue. This one was a lot of fun, as with all Thirkells you never doubt that things will come right in the end, and there was no dated language – wins all around.

I felt like March was a bit of a wash, but nine books is respectable! And all really enjoyable – especially toward the latter end of the month, but I don’t think I could choose a highlight. If I started saying things like “any Thirkell is good fun” or “a visit to Tudor Britain can’t be bad” or “you have to love Jessica Mitford” I’ll just run through the entire month in books. So I’ll leave it there. I have plans for lots of garden reading in April, so here’s hoping that works out – both reading about gardens and reading in the garden.

What were your bookish highlights of March?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (April 4, 2022)

Hello from the other Washington! I’m off on business for the week – attending internal meetings at corporate headquarters in Seattle. Lots of interesting and timely stuff on the agenda, and there has been talk of karaoke, so please wish me luck. TBH, I can’t believe it’s Monday already. The last couple of weeks have been really fraught – just a lot of work deadlines, many of which involved relying on other people, and I’m a bit fried. These meetings should be a lot of fun and very interesting, but I’m already worried about getting behind on my to-do list.

Rewinding to the weekend, it was a good one – a bit more low-key than they have been recently, although we still got out and about quite a bit, and I got a fair amount done around the house. Saturday morning was devoted to cleaning out and restocking the fridge so Steve and the kids have plenty of fresh food to eat while I’m away, and we also started Phase One of spring cleaning: Steve dragged a metal shelf from the garden shed into the sunroom and I filled it with camping gear that was laying all over the floor. Much better now! In the afternoon, I took Nugget out for a fun outing: indoor skiing! Yes, you read that right. There’s a ski shop in Leesburg that offers two carpeted slopes, one of which works as something like a “ski treadmill” as Steve called it, and Nugget had a lesson. The instructor worked with him on wedge turns, and he’s already looking more consistent. We’re planning to keep up the lessons all summer, probably on about a monthly cadence, to keep his skills sharp for when the mountain opens in December. So fun! Sunday was more of the same – productivity in the morning (this time laundry – I folded about four baskets full – and packing for Seattle) and fun in the afternoon, in the form of a bike ride with Nugget. We took our bikes over to Great Falls Park and rode part of the Old Carriage Road. Other than being menaced by a terrifying butterfly (isn’t it too early?!) it was a delightful ride.

And now I’m off – hopefully; I’m flying Alaska Air and my flight has already been changed once – hoping to get in a couple of Seattle runs in between educational workshops and team bonding sessions.

Reading. Another slow reading week, between work deadlines and trying to get the house in order before I jet off for a week. But a good one! I finished up Before Lunch around midweek and then turned to Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden, one of my stack of gardening books I’ve set aside to read in April. I’ll have to put it down for the next few days, since I don’t travel with paperbacks these days (have plenty loaded on my kindle, though, so don’t worry about my reading material!). Around the edges, while commuting and washing dishes and running errands and folding mountains of laundry, I finally finished up 4.50 From Paddington, by Agatha Christie – listened to it on Audible (more below) and really enjoyed it. I’m not sure what my next audiobook will be.

Watching. More this and that. Back episodes of Springwatch, via Britbox. Miranda Mills’ YouTube channel, always. Gardeners’ World on the margins. And a rewatch of one episode of Rock the Park, at the kids’ request. Jack and Colton night-diving with manta rays in Hawaii, prompting Steve to declare that we need to go night diving. We definitely do.

Listening. Mostly Audible this week – 4.50 From Paddington, as noted above, read by Joan Hickson. I keep mentioning that it’s read by Joan Hickson because this is really, really relevant. She played Miss Marple in the iconic TV series and she is, in fact, the quintessential Miss Marple. I can picture her in her grey suit and hat with her knitting as I listen to the audiobook and it’s just the best. And – bonus – she doesn’t try to make her voice artificially deep when reading a man’s dialogue; in fact, she doesn’t change her voice at all for any of the characters; she’s just Joan Hickson throughout. It’s literally like being read a story by Miss Marple. It’s everything.

Making. More work product again last week, which is good – it’s nice to be busy – but goodness was I stressed out for awhile there. But I made some other good stuff. The aforementioned folded laundry and filled camping shelf; all right, that’s not very exciting but it was satisfying. More exciting: a roast chicken, the remains of which are now in the freezer waiting to be made into lemon-ginger scented bone broth when I get home from Seattle. And I finally finished Nugget’s scarf, which he tried on and proclaimed “the coziest.”

Moving. Not a good week in movement; I was just too busy with work and all that, and I didn’t do a good job of prioritizing my own self-care. One barre workout via the Peloton app (and it was a good, tough workout, but I kept internally pouting that it was not my beloved barre3). And a couple of walks and that trail ride with Nugget, but should have been more. I have ideas about running Greenlake in Seattle this week, so cross your fingers that I find the time!

Blogging. March reading round-up coming for you on Wednesday, and then back to Colorado on Friday. Check in with me then!

Loving. If you’re on Instagram and looking for a little extra gentle wisdom, can I recommend @peacefulmindpeacefullife and @peaceful_barb? Somehow, Barb and her daughter Michelle always know just what to say, and their posts and reels are full of joy and kindness and validation. They’ve recently started a podcast, Barb Knows Best, which I’ve not yet listened to – but it’s on my list.

Asking. What are you reading this week?

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Colorado & Utah 2021: Arches National Park – Double Arch

As we fished up our Delicate Arch hike, the sun was finally out and the skies were blue. No one was in a hurry to hit the road back to Colorado just yet, and Dan and Danielle were itching to show us the glory of Arches in the sunshine, so we made for Danielle’s favorite spot – Double Arch. I had to agree that the sun made all the difference; I loved the muted desert colors of Delicate Arch under the clouds, but the red rock against the (finally) deep blue sky was absolutely breathtaking.

The trail to Delicate Arch was short (maybe a third of a mile, max?) and basically flat – a good bet for a final stop in the park with two tired anklebiters. Nugget brought his Junior Ranger book along and did a couple of activities along the way.

Even taking our time and pausing for Junior Ranger activity breaks, we were at the arch in minutes. Wow! Between the bright sky, red sand, and cool rock formations – we could see why Danielle said this was her favorite arch.

Climbed up under the arch, and out came the cameras.

There were people climbing and scrambling all over the rock under the arch. We found a quiet spot to look up and take in the glory of Double Arch.

We spent about half an hour checking the place out, then reluctantly headed back to the cars for the two hour drive back to Dan and Danielle’s home. As we were strolling along the trail back to the parking area, a woman stopped Danielle and me and asked, “Did you see the elephants?” We were both confused, until our new friend pointed out that several of the rock formations around the arch looked like elephants, and even the arch itself appeared to be two elephants touching trunks. Once she put it that way, we couldn’t un-see it.

I love elephants (they’re my second favorite animal, after whales – yes, now that you mention it, I do like all the most enormous critters) so Double Arch immediately became my favorite, too.

Elephants kissing! How can you beat it? Perfect way to end a perfect day in Arches.

Next week: checking out another national park in very different weather.