Are you all getting tired of seeing another post headlined by Shirley and no other books? Me, too, fam. Me, too. Clearly I bit off more than I could chew when I decided, you know what, I think I have the time and attention span right now for a doorstopper. The problem is, most of the books left on my Classics Club list are doorstoppers, and I’m getting down to the wire – I have exactly one year left on the challenge and I seem to have left all the really, really loooooooong books for last. Figures.

Anyway, I decided that trying to read Shirley in my omnibus volume of Charlotte and Emily Bronte’s complete novels was making it harder – it’s not easy to focus on a Victorian classic while constantly shifting positions around to get comfortable holding a massive tome. I read at the kitchen table for a few nights, which served me well when I read War and Peace about ten years ago, but a lot has happened in the intervening years and the kitchen table is not as cozy and welcoming of a place as it used to me. (If you must know, what has happened is two kids: the kitchen table is now permanently sticky no matter how many times I clean it.) So I downloaded a free ebook of Shirley to my kindle and am now reading much more comfortably, and – magic – my reading speed has picked up! I’m about three-quarters of the way through and will definitely finish it in the next couple of days. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m reading more comfortably on an e-reader than in a giant volume, but it also feels like the story has picked up and gotten more interesting, too. Looking forward to some time relaxing with Shirley today, and maybe I’ll even get ‘er done.

Happy Fourth, American friends! I feel a little sheepish these days admitting that Independence Day is my FAVORITE holiday, but there it is. It used to be second behind Christmas – when I was a kid – then moved into tie position when I was a young adult, and now as a mom it’s clearly in the lead. (Still love Christmas but it’s become very expensive, pressure-packed, and a LOT of work since kids arrived on the scene. #grinch.) Give me a day on the water, a turkey dog, and some sparklers to close it out. Now that’s a holiday!