After our morning at Corcovado National Park was packed so full of highlights and life memories – seeing scarlet macaws and a SLOTH! (very high up in a tree but it still counted), watching a massive American crocodile swim lazily around the bay where we’d had a wet landing just hours earlier, and swimming in a gorgeous waterfall – it seemed hard to believe that the day could get better. But as our boat motored up to the beach to pick us up, Steve, scanning the horizon, said: “I see a spout!” We all darted toward the water and sure enough – way out at see, it appeared – we could just barely see a whale spouting at the surface. There was a mad rush to the boat.
It didn’t take us long to catch up to the whales – and we quickly confirmed that there were actually three of them: a mother, baby, and escort. (Worth noting: we did cut the engine and stay a responsible distance away from them. I have a zoom lens.)
The escort was in a very protective mood, and kept himself positioned firmly between our boat and the mom and baby. Baby, by contrast, was feeling very energetic – we saw a few adorable breaches! (Sadly, I didn’t get a picture of any of them – next time.)
There was waving and pec slapping, too. The cutest.
^My favorite picture from the day!
At one point, the escort decided to come over and have a better look at us. We bobbed like a cork in the water while he swam around the boat, checking us out – he was really curious. I’ve never had a whale get so close before!
So crazy! It’s always an amazing experience when one of these spectacular creatures decides to approach you and engage.
The whales made a sounding dive, which was our cue to be on our way – back to the hotel, and lunch, and an afternoon of enjoying Osa before moving on to our next stop the following day. It was a beautiful send-off.
No matter how many times I see whales in the wild, it’s never anything less than absolutely magical.
What is your favorite animal? Have you ever seen them in the wild?
Continuing the catch-ups on the other media front: it’s been a decent summer of listening. Recently, I read an article about whether thirty- and forty-somethings are moving away from listening to music (it was shared by Modern Mrs. Darcy if you’d like to go look – in her weekly links roundup). The article definitely held true for me; I’ve certainly moved more towards podcasts and some audiobooks, and really only listen to new music when the Decemberists drop a new album.
So, on the subject of the Decemberists, definitely my highlight of summer listening was their concert at Wolf Trap last week. These days, there are not very many bands that I would bend over backwards to see live – in fact, they’re probably it. I’ve seen them twice now: in the spring of 2018, at the Anthem in Washington, D.C., and last week at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia. They were supposed to visit Wolf Trap on tour in 2020, but that tour was cancelled – for obvious reasons, like everything else in 2020. This tour, appropriately called the “Arise from the Bunkers Tour,” was the replacement. And it was worth the wait! Since they’re not promoting a new album this time, they played selections from all across their back catalogue, and it was incredible. I pregamed by listening to the old albums for a few days leading up to the concert, and then got the joy of hearing so many favorites from over the years. They opened their set with “The Infanta,” which was actually the first Decemberists song I ever heard – back in 2003, when I first heard about them. I still remember pressing play on that track and then listening, enthralled, thinking: this is like nothing I’ve ever heard before, who ARE these guys? I was captivated from the first, and hearing the opening riff and then the lines “Here she comes in her palanquin // on the back of an elephant” live was a thrill. And then they moved directly into my absolute favorite, “Calamity Song,” from their 2011 album “The King is Dead.” There were more favorites to come – namely “Rusalka, Rusalka/Wild Rushes” and the tour closer, “Sons and Daughters” – but even just the first two songs would have made the evening for me. It was a perfect night.
That’s pretty much it on the music front. I listened to R.E.M. a little bit, because I always do, and went through my summer playlist a few times (including playing Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic” on my parents’ boat because why not), but most of the summer was devoted to podcasts and audiobooks, like every season. Especially podcasts. I’m on my way to being finally current, after purging my queue of episodes and shows that just weren’t doing anything for me. I’m now down to just the podcasts that I still enjoy regularly listening to, and I’ve worked my way through almost my entire backlist.
The strategy has been this: I’ll listen through the “latest episodes” section in my podcatcher, and when that’s cleared out, I go into one show and listen episode by episode until I’ve either completely cleaned it out, or cleared everything except for episodes that I am holding for some reason or another. Basically I treat it like an audiobook – and every so often I’ll sprinkle an audiobook in, too, instead of listening to the back catalogue of a show. And then I go back into the “latest episodes” section – which will have restocked by then – and start the whole process over. With this method I’ve made it through the following audio content this summer:
The Mom Hour – My favorite parenting podcast. I had over sixty unplayed episodes this spring and am now down to just eight, all of which are seasonal (Halloween, fall, and holiday-themed). I’m saving those to listen to around the holidays they discuss.
Read-Aloud Revival – I’ve been listening to this podcast about reading aloud and cultivating a love of books in kids since I first started listening to podcasts back in 2015. I think my days of listening to this might be drawing to a close, but in the meantime I’m down to two unplayed episodes, both of which are Christmas themed – so I’m saving them, like I’m saving the holiday episodes of The Mom Hour. (Worth noting: I don’t play every episode of every podcast; if I know I’m not interested in an episode – like the Read-Aloud Revival episodes on homeschooling, since I don’t homeschool – I mark it as played so it will disappear from my queue.)
Tea or Books? – I’m usually fairly close to current on this bookish podcast, because I love it and always listen to new episodes close to when they drop. I had about four stacked up, though, so I listened to those over a few delightful neighborhood walks.
The 46 of 46 Podcast – Somehow I had piled up a big stack of unplayed episodes. I usually only listen to about half of these, and that’s about where I landed this time around. I’m completely current now.
A Caribbean Mystery, by Agatha Christie – I took a break from my “listen to podcasts like audiobooks” scheme to listen to an actual audiobook while on my way to Roatan in July. Finished it up while overlooking the actual Caribbean, which felt very apropos.
Shedunnit – This might be my favorite podcast in my library. I had a big stack of episodes thanks to a habit I have of saving up treats long past the point by which I should have enjoyed them. In this case, that was okay, though – post-vacation errands and commuting were much more fun with several hours’ worth of Shedunnit to keep me company. I’m now down to just the episodes that contain spoilers for books I’ve not yet read (but intend to read soon).
Going Solo, by Roald Dahl – With only one podcast left to clear out back episodes (The Slightly Foxed Podcast, unpictured above) I decided to treat myself to another audiobook. I’d initially planned to listen to Mr Mulliner Speaking, by P.G. Wodehouse, but couldn’t get the file to play. But Going Solo was a very satisfying substitute, especially because Dan Stevens – who played the wonderful and perfect Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey – reads it. I usually listen to audiobooks on 1.1 speed, but I slowed this one down to 1.0 to have more Dan Stevens time. Don’t hate, appreciate.
So overall, I think, a pretty productive season on the listening front! My clutter-hating brain is very stoked about a clean podcatcher – almost there. It’s the little things, right?
On Saturday evening, we went for a family walk after dinner, just around the neighborhood. I commented that while it had been fun being on vacation, I was happy to be home for awhile now. Nugget replied, “Not me. I would like to spend at least three more weeks in South Dakota.” Sorry, buddy, all good things – even vacation – must come to an end! And actually, we were on the go so much over the last few months that I really do feel a little relieved to be home and back in a routine, even if I do hate back-to-school (and oh, I do, I hate it so much). I have one more trip in September – a business trip to Nashville for a team retreat. And then really home until at least the holidays, and possibly even longer, since we haven’t decided if we will make any Thanksgiving or Christmas visits this year. With the return to routine should come more reading, too, and I’m also glad about that.
Notwithstanding the routine, last week was a slow week on the reading front. There were a few reasons for this: one, I went to the office four days last week. I usually aim for working in the office two days per week, and from home the rest of the time, but we had visitors from other offices and I went in to see them. And even more outside the usual course, last Monday and Tuesday I drove into D.C. to work from our office there (my normal office is in Arlington), so the commute was longer, the parking was different – everything was a little off. I did Wednesday and Thursday in Arlington and that was better, but still a lot. How did I commute into the city five days per week before the pandemic? Anyway, it didn’t impact my reading time so much – that’s confined to evenings no matter where I work – but it definitely drained my energy levels, especially when you consider that last week was also the first week of school. I’m tired just typing all of this out. And then on Thursday I had an unusually stressful day, which spilled over into Friday, and that drained my energy levels even more. All of that does impact reading.
All this to say, I spent the entire week over Father, which normally would take just a couple of evenings of reading, and didn’t finish it until Saturday afternoon. I really enjoyed it, though – it was such a delightful read. Possibly a 2022 highlight? We’ll see. I devoted Saturday afternoon’s reading to the summer issue of Slightly Foxed, since I’m expecting the fall issue in my mailbox soonish. And then after the multiple work stresses of Thursday and Friday I was looking for some soothing “convalescent literature” to pick me up, and there’s nothing for that like Agatha Christie. Five Little Pigs it was. I flew through it, didn’t guess the solution – well, I guessed partially, but fell far short of figuring out the whole puzzle – and enjoyed myself thoroughly. Finished it this morning over my coffee, and haven’t decided yet what’s next.
It’s nice to be home and stomping our old familiar hiking trails again, even if some people would prefer to still be in South Dakota…
The Osa Peninsula, in the southwestern corner of Costa Rica, has been described by National Geographic as “the most biologically intense place on Earth.” Corcovado National Park is the flagship park in the region and was a must-visit on our itinerary. So after spending two days scuba diving, we set off on a different adventure – a boat ride to Corcovado for a morning of hiking with an expert guide. Our new friends Garry and Donna joined us, along with another couple. The energy was high!
Before we even set off on our journey proper, our guide (“Tony the leader, Tony with the waterproof boots”) shepherded us around a section of the same river Steve and I had kayaked on our first afternoon in Osa, pointing out a herd of wildlife right near our hotel – yellow-crowned night herons, Amazon kingfishers, pisotes, and several lizards, and more. We heard, but didn’t see, a troop of howler monkeys – LOUD. Finally, with everyone riding a high from bird sightings, we set off into Drake Bay on our way to the park, and immediately encountered a gorgeous double rainbow. Classic Costa Rica at its finest!
After a lovely hour on the water, we arrived at the park and hopped out of the boat via a wet landing in a sheltered bay. Tony pointed out a pond right near our landing spot and we all scanned in unison for crocodiles. (Didn’t see any – then.) We did see a blue morpho butterfly flapping at us across the pond. I hid behind Steve. (New friends: I am terrified of butterflies. Cannot abide them.)
We escaped the scary bug and set off on a hike through the newer rainforest, eyes constantly scanning for jaguars. (We didn’t see any, but we did see jaguar poop. And it was pretty fresh. You’re welcome for the visual!) Along the way, Tony pointed out more birds than even I could keep track of by memory.
He also showed us this tiny lizard, which hung off his ear like an earring. You can’t make this stuff up!
I had a few animals I was really, really hoping to see during our trip, and up near the top of the list was the scarlet macaw. I just love them and their gorgeous bright feathers! Tony told us that they love to eat almonds and our best chance of seeing them – they move pretty quickly, even for a bird – would be in an almond tree. Sure enough, a flash of red near the shoreline! We scrambled out onto the rocks and aimed our cameras up at the branches. Sighting of a lifetime!
Back on the trail, Tony led us up into the old growth forest section of the park, continuing to point out birds, other wildlife, and trees with unusual properties – including one that can walk (!!!) and one that cures hangovers. Fam, if you had your doubts about whether Costa Rica is a magical place, let me put them to rest for you.
The climax of our hike was to two waterfalls – one, Tony said, that was just for looking at (the above, tucked away behind a pile of slippery dangerous rocks and sharp sticks; I could understand why it was just for looking with your eyes) and one for swimming. It was a hot, sticky day and we’d been hiking for miles, so the prospect of a cool, crisp waterfall with – and this is key – no crocodiles and no leeches, was too good to resist.
Luckily I was prepared with quick-dry capris and a midkini top. Bucket list item – swim in a Costa Rican waterfall – check. (That’s Garry’s hand over on the left side of the photo. Don’t worry, he’s fine.)
All smiles!
After a swim and a snack, we made our way back to the visitors’ center to meet our boat. As we were gazing out over the waters where we’d waded ashore just a few short hours before, someone pointed out that what we’d all taken to be a log was… not a log. Oh, hello, American crocodile, how long have you been there? Now this is rather terrifying.
We watched the croc swimming around for about twenty minutes, snapping away with our zoom lenses, before Steve pointed to the horizon and said “I see a spout!” More to come on that next Friday.
Do you think that crocodile was there when we landed on the beach?
With moving away from recapping every weekend and toward just talking about reading week by week – a change I still like – one side effect has been that I haven’t been sharing what I’ve been watching, listening to, making, etc. on a weekly basis. Which is a bit of a bummer, although not enough of a bummer to convince me to go back to the old format. So I thought I’d catch up seasonally instead, since I do watch and listen to some good stuff, and it’s fun to share and get recommendations. This isn’t an exhaustive list (and I’m leaving out some of the more kid-focused viewing, like “The Adventures of Tip and Oh,” which the kids and Steve are obsessively watching right now), but here’s a cross-section of what I’ve been watching over the summer of 2022 (with listening to come next week).
By far, the viewing highlight of the season has been James May: Our Man in Japan and James May: Our Man in Italy, on PrimeTV. For context, for years now, Steve has been a fan of Top Gear, the long-running show for (and about) car aficionados – he watched it first on BBC and later on Netflix (I think?) when the show transitioned over. Top Gear has never been my jam. Cars do nothing for me (other than get me from point A to point B) and I found the main host of the show off-putting. James May is another of the original three Top Gear hosts, and was always the one I could best tolerate watching. So when we were surfing around our streaming apps, looking for a non-European focused travel show to watch, and happened on James May: Our Man in Japan, it seemed like the stars aligning – a television personality Steve really likes, and a show on a subject that interested us both. You guys. It was absolutely HILARIOUS. Informative and beautifully filmed, yes, but also – HILARIOUS. Between all of the bonkers tour guides, James’ misadventures with language and physical comedy – the snowball fight! – and some seriously ridiculous robot shenanigans, we were laughing until we cried in almost every episode. As the episodes ticked down to the end of the series, we were bereft – until we discovered there was a new series dropping: James May: Our Man in Italy. We’re down to the final episode of that one, which we’re planning to watch with pasta and wine on Saturday night, and then I really don’t know what we’ll do with ourselves.
Not a new viewing experience, but a repeat – and a repeat we’ve repeated over and over – Penguinsis my favorite Disneynature film (closely followed by the wonderful Dolphin Reef). Recently I actually got to decide what we were going to watch – a very rare treat – and given our postponed trip to Antarctica is now, finally, actually on the horizon… a visit with Steve and Adeline was just what I wanted. I’m happy to report that the jokes are as funny as ever, no matter how many times you watch this.
I’m not a big YouTube person – never have been – but there are a few channels that I like and follow. As a family, we follow Rock the Park and we re-watched a few episodes to prepare for our Dakotas and Wyoming road trip this month. (Many Jack and Colton references were made at Devils Tower, Custer State Park, and Badlands!) And on my own, I’m always up-to-date on Miranda Mills‘ channel for the best bookish chat (and just generally lovely, relaxing viewing) that I can find. Steve and the kids have no interest, but that’s fine – it’s nice having something just for me. 🙂
Finally, still on the agenda for this month is a re-watch of Chris and Meg’s Wild Summer, in which BBC nature presenters Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin go on an epic road trip around the U.K. in a fully electric campervan. Chris is Meg’s stepdad, and they have a cute, bantering relationship that is fun to watch on the BBC Springwatch suite of programs. Steve and I tried to watch Chris and Meg’s Wild Summer a few months ago – and we did technically watch every episode – but the kids were so wild and distracting (jumping on the couch, playing loudly right behind us, bickering, punching each other…) that we barely retained any of it. We’re keen to see what we missed and planning to watch after bedtime this round.
What have you been watching this summer? Any recommendations for me?
Another missed post last week (sorry! blame late summer) and another slow couple of weeks on the book front. (I expect the pace to pick up considerably come September, so thank you for hanging in there with me.) Last week started on an especially hectic note – we returned home from our summer road trip through the Dakotas (with Wyoming interlude) at 8:30pm, and I left the house for a business trip to Connecticut at 4:30am the very next day. Oof. It was a whirlwind couple of days and I didn’t get home until after midnight on Tuesday night – or technically, Wednesday morning – and I didn’t read at all. When I wasn’t in meetings or driving between sites, I was trying to catch up on a mountain of work that piled up during my vacation, and I spent my almost non-existent free time on Monday night chatting with my favorite aunt over the phone, not reading. No regrets!
Anyway, bookish focus came back in direct proportion to the amount of work that I whittled away, and by the weekend I was back deep in pages, which is how I like to be. By midweek I finished up Midsummer Mysteries and mostly enjoyed it – although as with every short story collection, some of the offerings were better than others. (The Marple and Poirot stories in the collection were, of course, the highlights!) There’s a sort of matching edition for winter and the holidays, so I’ve got that on my to-purchase list for this fall.
Then I stayed in the general mystery/golden age crime category and returned to my kindle book – Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life. I usually only read on my kindle when I’m traveling or reading something so large and unwieldy that I don’t want a physical book, but I also don’t like leaving a book partially read. I enjoyed this doorstopper of a literary biography, but was pretty much over it by the weekend, with hours of reading still ahead of me; I finally got through on Sunday night. I’m still rather in the mood for golden age detective fiction (and ancillary nonfiction) and have a few titles on my to-read-soon pile, but in the meantime I decided to take a break from murder and mayhem and read something different. Father, by Elizabeth von Arnim, is Miranda Mills‘ choice for the Comfort Book Club this month, and I happened to have a copy – so decision made, and that was an easy one! I started it so late on Friday that I’ve only read the first chapter so far, but I’m already enjoying it – Father’s determination that there should be “no fuss” about his surprise marriage, and adult daughter Jennifer’s determination to move out as a result, had me chuckling out loud within the first couple of pages. Can’t wait to see where the story goes from that strong beginning.
No instagram picture to share this week! We did literally nothing over the weekend, which felt AMAZING. Back to busy life, and posting regularly, this week – I PROMISE.
Oof. I flaked on you again, friends! I’m so sorry. In my defense, I tried to write and schedule posts for last week, but I was out of town on vacation and WiFi was spottier than expected – chalk it up to technical difficulties. I’m back now (sort of – vacation is sadly over, but I’m already back on the road, this time for work for two days and then really back from this intense summer of travel… until September, anyway).
Anyway, once again, because it was a heavy travel week, I didn’t do that much reading. I read more than I usually do on vacation, because we were camping in South Dakota and there was a fair amount of downtime while the kids played around the tent. So I got in a few pages with one eye on my kindle and the other on the anklebiters, alternating between enjoying book time and shouting things like “Don’t hit your brother/sister!” or “Hey, that tree is alive!”
So most pages this week were electronic: I finished Someday, Someday, Maybe, by Lauren Graham – and as already reported, enjoyed it. But would have enjoyed it more if I didn’t mistakenly think it was her memoir (it’s actually a light and funny novel about an aspiring actress in New York City). That one’s on me. Then I picked up Elizabeth von Arnim’s In the Mountains, which felt like an appropriate choice for camping (although the Swiss Alps are not quite the same as the Black Hills of South Dakota). It was a quick read, lovely and poignant as all von Arnims are. Finally, on the last day of the trip, I started Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life – satisfying a recent craving for a big literary biography. I’m not quite a quarter of the way through, but really enjoying it so far. It may have been a mistake to start a chunkster right before ending the trip, because I usually try to time my reading so that I finish a kindle book right as I am wrapping up travel. But I’ll be in a hotel tonight and on a long train ride tomorrow evening, so I expect progress. I will report back.
Last book to mention – Midsummer Mysteries (a collection of mostly forgettable short stories from Christie, which I will freely admit I bought because of the beautiful cover). It’s been mostly on hold the last week or so, as it’s a hardcover and I no longer travel with physical books. But I did put myself to sleep last night with one story, so it counts. I’ll finish it when I get home from my business trip on Wednesday.
Hiking Devils Tower in Wyoming! Really, really epic.
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 July, 2022.
Shirley, by Charlotte Bronte – One of the few Charlotte Bronte novels I’d not yet read, Shirley proved to be a wonderful read. I finally picked it up for The Classics Club Challenge, and only wished I hadn’t waited so long. Fully reviewed here.
A Quiet Life in the Country (Lady Emily #1), by T.E. Kinsey – I’d been meaning to try out this new-to-me mystery series starring Lady Emily Hardcastle and her intrepid maid, Flo Armstrong. Lady Hardcastle and Flo have an unusually close relationship, forged in the fires of some sort of swashbuckling espionage work that is hinted but not fully explained in the first book in the series (presumably more of the backstory comes out later – I’ll find out). They decide to retire from danger and enjoy a quiet life in the country – hence the title – but naturally, several dead bodies show up almost immediately to disturb their peace. This was a light, fully and fun read.
A Caribbean Mystery(Miss Marple #10), by Agatha Christie – I almost regretted my decision to listen to this one on audiobook while looking out over the sparkling blue Caribbean myself (in Roatan, Honduras). Miss Marple’s successful writer nephew, Raymond, has arranged for her to have a relaxing getaway to a Caribbean island, but she’s feeling bored and tepid. At least, she is until a fellow guest confides that he’s seen a real-life murderer – and then he turns up dead the very next day. Now that’s something to introduce some interest into a vacation. This was fun, if a bit alarming to read while on my own Caribbean travel.
Nothing is Wrong and Here is Why, by Alexandra Petri – Just a very quick read on the flight home from Roatan – this was a collection of Alexandra Petri’s current events satire columns for The Washington Post, most of which I read when they were published in the paper. Most date from the previous administration – so they’re a bit dated now – but still funny and sharp.
The Wimsey Papers: The Wartime Letters & Documents of Lord Peter Wimsey, His Family & Friends, by Dorothy L. Sayers – This was a very quick read made up of fictionalized letters and documents between Lord Peter Wimsey’s family members and friends from the mystery series. The letters were published mostly as one-offs in various magazines during World War II and seemed to be mainly an excuse for Sayers to flex her philosophy muscle (check out Square Haunting if you want to know more about that!). I noted a few negative reviews on Goodreads that seemed to be from people who thought this was going to be a mystery novel and were put out by the lack of plot – so reader beware, if you’re looking for a Lord Peter mystery, this is not that. But if you want to spend more time with the characters and in their world, and you’re aware that you’re not getting a mystery, this is a delight.
Clouds of Witness (Lord Peter Wimsey #2) – After reading The Wimsey Papers in Roatan, I felt like visiting Lord Peter and friends for a full-on novel. I’m gradually reading my way through the series – I’ve read a bunch, but skipped around and missed a number of the novels, especially the ones that don’t feature Harriet Vane. In this second installment in the series, Lord Peter is caught up in investigating a murder with a very personal connection – his brother, the Duke of Denver, is accused of murdering his sister’s fiance. Not my favorite of the Lord Peter mysteries, but still a good read.
The Wren: A Biography, by Stephen Moss – I love Stephen Moss’s writing, and his bird biographies – covering everything from behavior to cultural significance of a particular bird – are great, fun, quick reads. I enjoyed The Wren even more than the first installment, The Robin, mainly because we have wrens here in the U.S. too, so I could look out my window and observe some of the classic wren behavior as I was reading about it. (In case it’s not clear, The Robin – which is wonderful – focuses on the English robin, not the American robin, which is actually a completely unrelated bird and a member of the thrush family.)
Edinburgh: Pictorial Notes, by Robert Louis Stevenson – I wanted a fast read so that I could squeeze in one more book before leaving on a business trip, so I grabbed Edinburgh, the first publication from new indie publisher Manderley Press, from my shelf. I’d loved The Armourer’s House, which was actually Manderley Press’s second publication, but found Stevenson’s writing a bit too dense for the attention level I had at my disposal while reading. I do love the city of Edinburgh, though, so will definitely go back and revisit this one when I’m less tired and better able to concentrate on the text.
Pretty standard month of reading in the summer, here – not too many books, but eight is a decent round number. Visiting with Lord Peter Wimsey was definitely the highlight of the month, but listening to A Caribbean Mystery while looking out over the actual Caribbean was pretty cool, too. (Even if I was very nervous about murders after that.) With more travel coming up in August, followed by back-to-school preparations, I’m sure it will be another short month, although I do have some fun books queued up for late summer reading.
Well, look at that – I flaked on you again last week. Sorry about that. Everyone is fine here, in good health and spirits and all that; I just got busy and blogging went out the window. That tends to happen more in summer than the rest of the year, I’ve noticed, so I appreciate your indulgence.
Anyway, even though this is two weeks of reading here, and not the usual one, as you can see – it’s a pretty short list for me. Again, more of a summer thing, but this is just not a heavy reading season for me and really never is. Either I’m traveling, or just rushing around managing the usual chaos of life but without the benefit of a school routine to keep me grounded. The past two weeks were a little of both of those: first, a week of re-entry after Steve and I returned from our non-vacation week of diving and working remotely from Roatan, Honduras (pictures and stories to come!), followed by a week in Seattle (just for me this time – business trip). The re-entry and business travel combined left almost no time for reading, but somehow I still got through five-ish books over the two weeks.
Five-ish. Right. So, first up: after reading The Wimsey Papers in Roatan, I wanted to spend more time with Lord Peter & co., so I picked up Clouds of Witness. I’ve read many of the Wimsey mysteries, but have skipped around in the series, so I’m now gradually reading my way through in order, and this was one I’d never gotten to before. (I’m going to try to continue to read in order, although Have his Carcase is calling me and that would definitely be out of order for where I am in this read-through of the series. Such a perfect summer read, though. We’ll see.) After Clouds of Witness I was still looking for something light and fast to read over the rest of the week – knowing I was going to be traveling again soon I didn’t want to start a big chunkster. So I picked up The Wren: A Biography. Stephen Moss’s books usually take about a day to get through, for me – and a very enjoyable day at that – and this one was no exception. Finally, with the clock ticking down to the next flight, I grabbed the very slim Edinburgh: Pictorial Notes, recently republished by Manderley Press (new indie publisher alert!). I loved the last Manderley Press title I read (The Armourer’s House, by the fabulous Rosemary Sutcliff) but this one fell a little flat for me – Stevenson’s writing was a bit too dense for the attention levels I had to offer at the time. I’ll have to revisit it when I’m not distracted by an impending business trip and see if I get on better.
These days, I don’t travel with a stack of books anymore, so my next read came from my library of kindle downloads. And here’s where I get the “five-ish” number, because I picked up Someday, Someday, Maybe, by Lauren Graham (better known as the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore) and haven’t finished it yet. Partly that’s because I should not be allowed to choose a new read before coffee – I’m sure Lorelai would agree. I fired up the book while waiting for caffeine at about 6:00 a.m. at Dulles Airport, and I mistakenly thought it was Graham’s memoir (Talking as Fast as I Can). It’s actually a novel about an aspiring actress in New York City – fun, light and frothy, but not what I thought I was getting. And I should emphasize that the disconnect was entirely on my end, but yeah – don’t start this if you’re looking for a memoir. But you know how when you’re not quite feeling a book, it’s hard to motivate to pick it up? Combine that with a business trip keeping you super busy, plus almost no sleep due to an extremely noisy hotel… so, I barely read all week. And I still haven’t finished Someday, Someday, Maybe – saving it for the next plane flight.
I got home from Seattle late Thursday night and decided to devote my weekend reading time to something I was more excited to pick up – The Feast, by Margaret Kennedy. The recent reissue (from Faber & Faber – the cover is gorgeous!) was under the Christmas tree for me in 2022 (thank you, Steve!) and I’ve been saving it for this season because the action takes place over a hot summer week at a seaside hotel in Cornwall. I’m about three-quarters through now and absolutely captivated. I heard so many good things about the book going in, and it’s lived up to every expectation.
I’ll probably finish up The Feast tonight or tomorrow, and am not entirely sure what’s up next. Likely Father, by Elizabeth von Arnim, which I’ve heard is another good summer read – but I could change my mind in the moment and decide I’m feeling something else more. (The benefits of shopping my own shelves and not being tied to library deadlines right now!) And at some point soon I’ll get back to Someday, Someday, Maybe, because I hate to leave a book unfinished for no good reason.
The weather was glorious in Seattle last week!
What are you reading this week? What’s on the rest of your bookish summer agenda?
Last week was a week of reading in short little bursts, between long stretches of doing other things. Steve and I were living the digital nomad life in Roatan, Honduras – scuba diving in the morning and working in the afternoon. That whirlwind didn’t leave much time for leisure reading, and I never read much on vacation anyway – I’d rather be staring at beautiful Caribbean blue water and catch up on books when I get home. (Anyone else?)
But I did get a bit of reading done over my morning coffee – a few pages here and there from The Wimsey Papers (which is not a Lord Peter mystery – it’s a collection of letters and “family documents” that Dorothy L. Sayers wrote as one-offs during World War II). Great for spending a little bit more time in Lord Peter and Harriet’s world, as long as you don’t expect an actual plot. (I went in knowing what to expect, so I was completely satisfied.) On the plane home, I read Nothing is Wrong and Here is Why, which turned out to be a collection of Alexandra Petri’s Washington Post columns, most of which I had already read when they came out in the newspaper. But time spent with Alexandra Petri is always worthwhile and I blazed through, alternately chuckling and cringing, as we winged our way back to the U.S. Then finally, once home and back to perusing my shelves, I felt like spending more time with Lord Peter, so I picked up Clouds of Witness, which was one of the Wimsey mysteries that I missed when I read a bunch of them in high school. It’s been a busy couple of days of running around doing post-travel re-entry, so I’m only about fifty or so pages in, but of course it’s wonderful.
Totally in love with scuba diving! We had an amazing week exploring the glorious, vibrant, and healthy Mesoamerican Reef that rings Roatan Island. Can’t wait to go back and dive more!
covered in flour 