Morning, friends. It’s still morning here, although barely. I’m having one of those running around Mondays where I’m trying to juggle errands and appointments with work. But I have a minute to pop in here and tell you what I’ve been reading, and this will be a short post, because as you can see – it’s been a light reading week. I spent most of the week over Winter in the Air, a new collection of short stories by Sylvia Townsend Warner. They’re not all wintry-themed, and even the titular story isn’t as seasonal as the cover would imply. But I really enjoyed this volume; as I mentioned last week, Warner is one of the few writers who can hold my attention over an entire volume of short stories.

Anyway – it took me all week and I finally wrapped it up on Friday evening, and then turned to Scott’s Last Expedition, a collection of Robert Falcon Scott’s journals from his ill-fated final Antarctic voyage. I have a gorgeous Folio Society edition, but it weighs as much as a preschooler – so there have been some shiftings of reading position. (I tried out the dining room table and then moved back to the couch with the book propped up on a big pillow – that seems to be working.) What with one thing and another over the weekend – skiing on Saturday and rushing around trying to do house chores on the weekend – I didn’t have much time to devote to reading, so I’ve only just gotten Captain Scott and his crew out of the pack ice and on to their first sight of Antarctic land. (They have, however, done plenty of skiing. Antarctic skiing! Color me jealous.)

Finally, I forgot to mention last week, but – I’m also midway through Smallbone Deceased on audio. It’s good, and quite funny in parts, but I definitely don’t like it as much as I liked the last Michael Gilbert book I read (Death in Captivity, which was one of the best books I read in 2022). I’m not sure what my next audiobook will be; I do have a credit to spend, so I might use it on Peril in Paris, the latest in the Her Royal Spyness series, but that’s rather up in the air right now. I still have almost three-and-a-half hours to go in Smallbone, after all.

My friend Dorothy asked me if we are up at our local ski mountain every weekend because it seems like we’re always there. The answer is yes – we have been going up every weekend the mountain has been open, except when out of town. As you can see, Nugget is really benefiting from all the practice! We were there again on Saturday and skied blue square (intermediate) trails the entire day, and he did a great job at controlling his speed and avoiding other skiers. Of course now he’s pestering me to let him ski a black diamond (advanced) run. I’m holding firm because he is NOT ready. Send chocolate, friends.

What are you reading this week?