Santa Baby, just slip a Hamilton film under the tree for me… Been an awful good girl.

Recently I was driving along listening to my favorite podcast (Tea or Books?, for those who aren’t listening – get it in your podcatcher immediately) and nodding along with one of the hosts as he lamented the fact that more people don’t know about and appreciate A.A. Milne outside of Winnie-the-Pooh.  I started wishing that his work was more readily available and then began to muse on all of the other things I would like Santa to work on this year.*

…I would like someone to reprint A.A. Milne’s collected Punch columns, in cool-looking, affordable hardcovers.  They’ve already been collected, in volumes that were rolled out in the 1920s, so this shouldn’t be an impossible task.  Penguin UK, maybe this would be a good task for you.  Get to work.

…I would like the original Broadway cast of Hamilton to get together and film the entire show, start to finish, for BluRay or digital download so we can all see it.  I am indifferent as to whether they utilize time travel to accomplish this, or put a revival together just for one night.  But those of us who can’t afford $5,000 theater tickets need this.

…I would like Persephone and The Folio Society to open up outposts on this side of the Pond, and I would like those outposts to be in Washington, D.C., not New York City, please.

…I would like Virago to print its entire Angela Thirkell line in paperback.  Why are two titles being released as ebook only?  I don’t understand this.

…I would like The Folio Society to release the full set of Anne books, not just Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea, or I would like a promise that this is a move that is in the works.  While we’re talking about reprints I want.

…I would like J.K. Rowling to write a four-book series about the founders of Hogwarts, one volume for each founder.  And I would also like a longer series about the Marauders and the First Wizarding World War.  And I would like to see Hogwarts, A History published and I would like it to be 1,200 pages long.

…I would like The Kennedy Center to put on both The Dover Road and Long Day’s Journey Into Night in 2017, and I would like to be the director.

…I would like a Time-Turner, so I can get more reading done on my Classics Club challenge.

I don’t think that any of these things should be a problem.  Some people do need to get to work churning printing presses and bending the space-time continuum, but both of those things are doable if you really try.

What do you want for Christmas?

*Obviously, this is not a real Christmas list.  Or is it?  If you are actually able to get me something off this list, then please, go nuts.  Otherwise, HA HA.

How – I mean, seriously, how – is it Monday already?  I’ve got a super-busy week ahead of me, a super-packed weekend behind, and my head is just spinning.  After spending last week catching up from Thanksgiving and running from meeting to meeting, what I should have done, if I was a sane person, was collapse on the couch and spend the whole weekend mainlining herbal tea and reading my way through my library stack.  Instead, I spent the entire weekend subjecting my defenseless family to an endless agenda of Forced Family Fun, starting with Christmas tree decorating on Saturday morning (complete with matching Christmas jammies, Christmas Traditional Pandora, and the relaxing strains of a mother berating herself for not making muffins).  After naps – well, one nap; a certain someone whose name rhymes with GREAT has been on strike – we headed out to the Alexandria holiday boat parade of lights on the Potomac.  It was a lot of fun, despite being freezing cold.  Peanut surprised me by loving the train boat; Nugget, predictably, was all about the fire boat.  On Sunday we drove out to Little Washington, our new favorite outside-the-Beltway getaway, for their annual Christmas in Little Washington event.  They had an artisan market set up, a food fair with multiple stalls staffed by the world-renowned Inn at Little Washington (we got soup and cider donuts, so I can now say that we’ve eaten “at” the Inn at Little Washington! and it was delicious), and at 1:30, there was a Christmas parade through the tiny and picture-perfect historic district.  It was a very Virginia parade – opened by a platoon of Colonials playing fifes and beating drums, followed by George Washington on horseback, a line of vintage cars, lots of dogs, and local attractions like the high school marching band, two church choirs, the “Notorious Lunch Bunch” (seated around a picnic table on their float), a ranger van from Shenandoah National Park, and not one but two fire trucks – among lots of other sights.  Peanut liked the parade, but Nugget was on cloud nine.  (At one point, he blew a fuse in his little brain and just started shouting “Santa! Fire truck! Santa! Fire truck!” over and over.)

Too many books to fit on one line!  Despite that super-busy week I was complaining about above, I blew through three books and two comics.  Finished up Americanah on Wednesday, then tore through the sixth volume of Saga the same night, followed by Another Brooklyn on Thursday, A Countess Below Stairs and the seventh volume of Fables over the weekend.  I think the highlight was A Countess Below Stairs.  It was quite possibly the silliest plot EVER – Russian Countess flees the Revolution, loses everything, takes a job as a housemaid in an English great house and catches the eye of the sensitive young earl – but goshdarnit if it wasn’t satisfying.  Especially with all the dark stuff happening in the world and on my bookshelf.  Note to self: read more frothy light-hearted books in 2017.  Finally, on Sunday night, after wrestling with Shutterfly for awhile (have to get those Christmas cards made!) I settled in with a shandy and Bloodline, about which I’ve heard great things.  You know I’ll have opinions!

After I finish Bloodline, I think I’m going to pick up Angels and Demons.  The only Dan Brown I’ve read was The Da Vinci Code, eons ago, and I want to correct that.  Then who knows?  I’m finally making progress on my library stack.  I won’t get through it in time to read any Christmas books this year – boo – but I have a big stack of Persephone titles I ordered from London that just arrived, to welcome me back to my own shelves when I finally do get out from under that teetering library pile.

As for the blog, on Wednesday I have a post scheduled that answers a question I get all. the. time. – why do I refer to Virginia as “home” when I didn’t grow up here?  And on Friday, something light – my literary Christmas list!  Santa, take notice!

What’s the best thing you read last week, friends?

Hey there, my friends.  Happy belated Thanksgiving to my American readers, and happy new week to everyone!  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and that those of you who were celebrating last week had a fun and safe holiday, filled with all the jellied cranberry sauce you could ever wish for.  Sorry for being out of touch last week!  We were called out of town for a family memorial service the weekend before Thanksgiving – our family suffered a loss which wasn’t entirely unexpected, but which still left us all bereft.  So it was good to all be together to remember as a family, and then to have a few more days together to reflect on what we are all thankful for.

In between all of the family and holiday stuff last week, I squeezed in a surprising amount of work (still not everything I’d hoped to get done – that never happens) and some fun.  Steve and I let my parents put the kids to bed one evening, and snuck away for a date night to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which we both LOVED.  And we had a lovely quiet Thanksgiving with my parents (well, quiet-ish; it couldn’t be entirely quiet when one of the dinner guests, who shall remain nameless, has exuberantly discovered “CHEERS!” – drinks everywhere – and also decided that it’s more fun to pile Thanksgiving food on your placemat than to actually eat it).  And on Friday, I spent a fabulous mamas-only day with my high school BFF.  We got coffee, ate pie for breakfast, and watched all four episodes of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.  (We were able to do this without conflict, because we were both Team Logan.)  It was a refreshing week, spent with family and friends, and now it’s back to the grind.

As for reading, I basically kept up my normal pace last week, which was pretty good considering it was a holiday week.  (The days when holidays meant laying around and reading for hours on end are in my past, and probably my future, but certainly not my present.)  After I finished The Invasion of the Tearling, I picked up The Fishermen, which I’d been wanting to read since it was released (last year?).  I liked it, but didn’t love it, so that was a bit of a bummer considering all the hype that it got.  Still very glad I read it!  The next book choice was a bit of serendipity that turned out to be just what I needed.  I’d meant to turn to Here I Am, the newest release from Jonathan Safran Foer (and a library hold I couldn’t renew).  But I finished The Fishermen in the car on the way to Albany, with several hours left in the journey, and Here I Am was packed in a bag in the trunk.  So instead I picked up The Audacity of Hope, President Obama’s well thought out, erudite musings on public policy (I’d checked it out of the library and it happened to be in the front seat pocket, well within reach when I needed it).  President Obama’s sensible, reasonable thoughts on the policies he believed we need most in order to lift the whole country were a joy to read, especially after an election season that has been anything but reasonable (and in light of the four years we have to look ahead to – ugh).  It was also fun to read the little snippets he gave into his life as a U.S. Senator – I’m now eagerly anticipating the memoir I’m sure is coming after he concludes his term as President.  The Audacity of Hope took me a little longer than usual to read, given all the family stuff we were doing at the same time, but I enjoyed every minute.  I finally finished it up on Thanksgiving day, and after a little shuffling decided to return a few library books unread (I can always check them out again, or that’s what I’m telling myself) and grabbed another book I’ve been meaning to read for ages – Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.  I’m only about 100 pages in, but I am completely wrapped up in the story.  It’s turning out to be one of those books that I can just disappear into until something jolts me out of the gorgeous writing and I realize that an hour has passed while I was miles away in Nigeria.

Well, this was lengthy.  Even lengthier than usual, I think, which makes sense since I’ve been unplugged for a week!  I’ll leave it there.  Coming up this week on the blog, I’ve got plenty of fun bookish content.  On Wednesday, I’ll have my diverse kidlit pick for you – I’d hoped to get it up last Wednesday, but that didn’t happen.  Oh, well, Wednesday is still November, so we’re getting this one in just under the wire!  And on Friday, my November reading wrap-up – and then it’s full steam ahead into the holidays!

Happy Monday, my friends!  What books were you thankful for last week?

Well, that was interesting.  So, how’d you all weather the election storm?  I’m guessing probably about as well as I did – which is to say you freaked out and fell screaming into a black hole of thinkpieces about the dismal fate of humanity.  As you all know, I have been a fan of HRC for a long time, and I proudly cast my vote for her on Tuesday – but despite our votes, and despite the fact that she’s up about 1.8 million votes in the popular vote total (with millions more ballots still to be counted, mostly on the stalwart blue West Coast) we have instead a President-elect who rode to office on a tide of bigotry and misogyny.  (Tell us how you really feel, Jac…)  Suffice it to say I’m disappointed, discouraged by an electoral system that has outlived its usefulness, horrified by the reports of people of color, LGBTQ+ folks, religious minorities and other groups being targeted for hate crimes and bullying and especially horrified by the President-elect’s refusal until the eleventh hour to disavow the crimes being committed in his name.  (And I think his disavowal was lukewarm when it did come.) We’re in for a really hard few years, friends.  A really hard few years.

Anyway, this weekend we mostly laid low.  I’m pretty beat down and depressed by the turn of events, and – very unusually for me – I didn’t want to do much.  I’m exhausted; Steve was traveling for work last week so I had to fly solo and balance the kids and work on my own without help for four days, which always takes a lot out of me.  Plus I haven’t slept too well in the past week – now why might that be?  So we just hung out at home, mostly.  We took a couple of walks around the neighborhood – including our usual weekly stroll to the library, and a walk down to the waterfront to see El Galeon, which has been visiting the harbor for the past week.  Other than that, I just wanted the comforts of home.  We did a lot of playing in the kids’ rooms, I worked on some unpacking and food prep, and we relaxed and tried to rest up for another week ahead.

What with all the news pieces I have been reading this week, I haven’t spent much time in between the covers of an actual book.  I finished Crowned and Dangerous, the latest “Her Royal Spyness” mystery from Rhys Bowen, early in the week and enjoyed it very much, as I always enjoy a visit with Georgie.  On Tuesday I picked up Before We Visit the Goddess, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, whose 2012 book The Palace of Illusions I had read and loved.  (She has a long bibliography, as it turns out!  I’m going to have to seek out more of her work.  Her writing is so beautiful.)  Although Goddess is short – only just over 200 pages – it took me almost a week to finish, between watching election coverage, reading news article after news article, and general fretting (not to mention working full time and taking care of both kids full time while Steve was away last week).  I finally finished it late in the week and turned to the next new release on my library stack, The Invasion of the Tearling (second in the Tearling trilogy).  But I still can’t seem to focus, despite having loved the first book in the trilogy.  My library stack continues to grow and is totally out of control, so I have to buckle down, log off Facebook and block The Atlantic (I would never) and get to reading.

Hopefully I will be able to turn off the news and get back into my book world, because reading is the most comforting thing for me and so I really do need that.  When I do finally manage to sit down and read The Invasion of the Tearling, the next book on my agenda is (finally!!) Chigozie Obioma’s The Fishermen.  I’ve heard such wonderful things and I can’t wait to read it at last.  And after that – I don’t know!  Maybe Bloodline, the new book about Princess Leia.  Maybe something else.  We’ll see!

On the blog this week, some slightly more organized thoughts about the election on Wednesday – maybe; I’ve scheduled the post, but I could still change my mind and take it down – and then something light-hearted on Friday: my book-buying rule and a list of exceptions that render it basically meaningless!

How are you holding up this week, my friends?  And what are you reading?

Happy Monday-Before-Election-Day, my friends!  Does everyone have their plan for voting tomorrow?  I had hoped to find time to vote early, but it didn’t work out.  So I’ll be braving the lines at the polls – book in hand, of course.  Go, Hillary, go!

This was an unusual weekend.  Usually we’re either on the go all weekend, or we’re just hanging out (and maybe getting stuff done around the house) – but this weekend covered both extremes.  On Saturday, we were out the door early for a very exciting special exhibition at the Folger Shakespeare Library in DC (I’ll tell you all about it on Wednesday!).  Going to the Folger was high on my to-do list anyway, and the exhibition we saw was smack dab in the middle of my wheelhouse, so I was basically beside myself with glee all morning.  Saturday afternoon was spent running errands around town, doing a massive grocery shopping, and being generally productive after a “lost” week when I did nothing but work long hours.  On Saturday night Steve and I finally found a moment to kick back, but instead of picking up a book, we turned on the first episode of The Crown, the new Netflix original series about Queen Elizabeth II, starring Claire Foy (who played Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall and basically stole that entire show).  Aside from some graphic scenes related to King George’s lung cancer, I loved it (and so did Steve, who has a stronger stomach than I do).  Sunday was a rare low-key day at home.  We hung out in pajamas most of the day and made roasted pumpkin seeds in the morning, then I squeezed in a little work during naptime.  We capped off the day with a walk to the library, then about half an hour hanging out in the alley behind our house, chatting with our neighbors while Peanut ran around with their two little girls.  Perfect.

I actually had a decently productive reading week, which is kind of a surprise considering how crazy work was – about twelve hours spent behind the wheel (I did manage to catch up on a few podcasts as I drove) and one night working at my kitchen table until midnight, plus all the regular stuff, too.  Next week is looking like another packed one, so I’m extra glad to know that I can still check a few books off even during the craziest week – because my library stack has really taken on a life of its own.  This week’s outbox was comprised of My Brilliant Friend, which I finished earlier in the week, and The Fire This Time, which I wrapped up on Saturday night.  I seem to be working at a pace of about two books per week, which is good but is not going to cut it if I don’t want to return unread library books and don’t want to incur overdue fines.  Next I picked up Crowned and Dangerous, the latest installment in the Her Royal Spyness mystery series – which I love, they’re such fun.  I’ve been picking at it all weekend and could really use a couple of hours to sit down and sink into the story.

After Crowned and Dangerous, I’m trying to work through the new releases on my library stack, and I think my next read is going to be Before We Visit the Goddess, by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni.  I’ve worked out that if I alternate one “diverse” book with one “non-diverse” book through the end of the year, I’ll surpass the goal of 33% “diverse” voices that I set at the beginning of the year.  The problem is, a lot of the “diverse” books on my library stack are older, and they have to compete with new releases that can’t be renewed – like The Invasion of the Tearling, by Erika Johansen, and Here I Am, by Jonathan Safran Foer, to name just two.  I guess that just means I will have to read all the faster, right?

I have good stuff coming up on the blog this week.  On Wednesday, that recap of the special exhibition at the Folger that I teased at the top of the post.  Trust me, you don’t want to miss this one.  And on Friday, I’m talking about my favorite way to take in the news – political satire!  I’m psyched about both posts, so do check in.

What are you reading this election week, my friends?

Boo!  Mermaid and Fire Truck send you their spooky greetings and hope that you had a fabulous Halloweekend.  I loved seeing all of the creative (adult!) costumes that my friends have been posting on social media.  As for us, our Halloween was considerably more kid-focused this year – we have a certified Halloween-lover in the house.  Halloween is Peanut’s faaaaaaaavorite holiday.  Yes, more than Christmas.  So we’ve been going all out finding all the fun stuff to do around town.  On Saturday morning, we met up with Peanut’s BFF from her new school, S, and S’s family for a children’s party at one of the historic mansions in Old Town.  More on that coming on Friday, but it was a blast and the kids had a fantastic time.  Peanut loved running around in her mermaid costume and was so excited to see her friend outside of school, and Nugget’s morning was a huge success – he almost destroyed a centuries-old door knocker (but he didn’t! no historically important artifacts were harmed!), won the prize pumpkin (his prize was a stuffed bat) and left his fire truck costume alone all morning.  Winning!  On Sunday we’d hoped to trick-or-treat at Mount Vernon, but I misread the date.  So we ended up having a more low-key day – just walks around the neighborhood, to the waterfront, the library and the playground, and unpacking (the job that never ends) during afternoon nap.  It was a nice, simple weekend full of fun for the kiddos, and it was way too short.

Had I had more time, I would have gotten more reading done, I’m sure.  The library situation is getting dire.  I have fifteen books currently checked out (although one, as mentioned last week maybe, is a book of Halloween poems that the kids are reading).  But fourteen books is a stretch even for me.  I did finish To the Bright Edge of the World last week, which was an endeavor not quite on the scale of the Alaskan trek depicted in the book, but still pretty darn daunting.  But it was an absolutely gorgeous book – exciting, heart-rending, and beautiful to look at (pictures!!!).  Then I picked up My Brilliant Friend for a second attempt at catching Ferrante fever.  I’m partway through now and am definitely starting to sink into Elena and Lila’s world – I hear it keeps on getting better.

Next up on the reading agenda, I’m excited to have The Fire This Time, a collection of essays on being black in America, edited by Jesmyn Ward.  I’ve been patiently waiting for about a month and my library copy has finally come in.  After that, who knows?  I’m not exactly lacking for choices right now, even if my library stack might actually fall over and kill me.

On the blog this week, I’ve got two round-ups coming to you!  WHAT?!  On Wednesday, I’ll have for you my October reading round-up.  I had a great month and read a lot of excellent diverse titles, so I’m looking forward to sharing that.  And on Friday, I’m catching up on fall fun with a giant photobomb of a post recapping apple picking, pumpkin picking and Halloween festivities.  It’s going to be epic, and if anyone but my mom makes it through the whole thing, I’ll eat my hat.

Happy Halloween, my friends!  What are you reading this week?

In 2016, I set a goal to read more diversely both to myself and aloud to my kids.  As this year has unfolded, celebrating our differences has become more important than ever.  2016 has brought unspeakable tragedies born out of hate and ignorance – and the best way I know to fight those evils is to read books celebrating love and diversity.  This month’s diverse kidlit choice is Grace for President, by Kelly DiPucchio.

Grace Campbell is a young political enthusiast who gets a rude surprise one September day in school.

When her teacher, Mrs. Barrington, displays a poster showing the faces of all of the country’s Presidents, Grace notices a glaring omission, and she’s not pleased.  “Where are the GIRLS?” Grace demands.

Mrs. Barrington explains that no woman has ever been elected President of the United States.  Grace, naturally, thinks this is ridiculous.  (I agree, Grace.  I agree.)  So she decides, with the impeccable logic of an elementary school student, that she’d like to be President.  Although the rest of the class giggles and snickers at Grace’s declaration (see what I did there?) Mrs. Barrington seizes the opportunity for a hands-on lesson about the electoral process, and immediately declares a school-wide election.  Since nobody else in the class is interested in running for President, Grace figures the election will be a cakewalk.

Whoops – not so fast, Grace.  “In the name of democracy,” Mrs. Barrington invites another class to participate in the election.  Mr. Waller’s students nominate Thomas Cobb, general extracurricular overachiever, as their candidate.  Grace is disappointed to see her hopes of an unopposed election evaporate.  Mrs. Barrington and Mr. Waller prepare a drawing in which each student – except for Grace and Thomas – randomly selects a state to represent.  Once all of the states are assigned, the teachers explain the Electoral College and the concept of electoral votes.

Thomas and Grace start their campaigns and before long, they’re in full swing.  In what will sound like familiar language to my American friends, Grace urges her voters to make history.  Thomas, meanwhile, promotes himself as “the best MAN for the job.”

While Grace takes her campaigning seriously, Thomas slacks.  He’s figured out that the boys hold a slim majority of electoral votes.  Predicting that the boys will all vote for him and the girls for Grace, Thomas figures he’s got the election in the bag.

On election day, the school gathers in an assembly to watch as the states cast their electoral votes.  The election seems to be going as Thomas predicted – all the boys are voting for him, and all the girls are voting for Grace.  Thomas sits smugly as Grace becomes more and more worried.  Finally, it’s down to the last vote.  Grace has 267 electoral votes, and Thomas has 268.  With the final three votes to cast, the election is up to…

The Equality State of Wyoming, represented by Sam.  In a turn of events that shocks the entire school, Sam casts Wyoming’s three votes for…

Grace Campbell!  History… made!  When Grace asks Sam why he voted for her, he replies simply, “I thought you were the best person for the job.”

The next week, Grace and her classmates make their career day presentations.  Grace stands before the class waving her American flag and declares that when she grows up, she’s going to be President.  The book concludes, “This time, everyone believed that she would.”  Oh, and spoiler alert…

She does!

When I decided to take on this yearlong project of seeking out and reading diverse books to Peanut, I knew immediately that I wanted to include Grace for President on my list.  I love the empowering message and the fact that it is embodied by not just any little girl, but a little girl of color.  And what better book to read in the weeks leading up to Election Day?

One of my favorite things about Grace for President is how layered its message is.  Peanut is too little to understand the Electoral College or the nuances of the Presidential election process – although for older kids, Grace for President makes for a great introductory lesson.  (It’s a bit simplified, but consider the audience.  I think Grace for President does a pretty good job of explaining an antiquated and nonsensical system to kids, who are notoriously intolerant of things that are antiquated and nonsensical.  Gotta love kids.)  For Peanut’s current age and stage of understanding, we’re mostly talking about Grace for President in the “girls can do anything!” context – and of course, I love the diversity of Grace’s classmates, which I think adds a wonderful visual message to the story.  But I expect we’ll be returning to Grace for President in four years, when Peanut will be eight years old and able to understand more of the complexities of our political system.  I think it’ll be a useful teaching tool at that point, and one that we’ll still enjoy using.  I do, however, hope that one aspect of the story will be outdated in four years.  When Grace places her hands on her hips and indignantly shouts, “No GIRLS?” I’d love to be able to tell Peanut, “That part was true when the book was written, but it’s not true now!”  (Although this isn’t a political blog, I doubt anyone who reads my posts will be surprised to hear that #ImWithHer.)

What diverse books are you reading this month?

Right-hand man!  Show of hands if you watched Hamilton’s America on PBS on Friday night.  All of us?  Good, then we can discuss it.  HOW FREAKING GOOD WAS IT YOU GUYS AMIRITE?  Steve and I watched it on Friday when it aired, and then again on Saturday (we recorded it).  And I’m sure we will be watching it plenty more over the coming months.  We pretty much spent the entire weekend in a Hamilton haze, either watching the #Hamildoc, singing along to the soundtrack, discussing a trip to Broadway (not likely) and driving down to Mount Vernon on Sunday to soak in more Hamiltonia – like this stained glass window showing the General and his right-hand man.  (We would have gone to Mount Vernon this weekend even if we hadn’t been in a revolutionary mood from Hamilton’s America, because it was the fall harvest days family festival, which I put on our calendar weeks ago.)  Anyway, it was such fun to stroll the grounds of Mount Vernon rapping “We are outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, outplanned” – oh, and we taught Nugget to shout “Rise up!” from the backpack, so basically we were the coolest people on the farm. #YayHamlet

So, Hamilton mania aside, I had a pretty decent week in reading.  I finished two books: Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d, the eighth Flavia de Luce mystery, and Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality, and started To the Bright Edge of the World.  In a turn of events that will surprise exactly no one, my library stack is completely out of control – I have eight books checked out (although two of those I’ve finished and another one is a book of Hallowe’en poems for the kids) and five to pick up from the holds shelf.  (Being back in a library system that doesn’t charge for holds is going to be good for my wallet but bad for my spare time, such as it is.)  Anyway, it was a good reading week.  I always enjoy a visit to Buckshaw, even though Flavia’s story seems to be taking a sadder turn lately.  And Love Wins was spectacular.  I spent about a third of the book ugly-crying – including sobbing through the last couple of chapters on the metro.  This was not a shock, since I cried when I read the Obergefell v. Hodges decision on the day it came out, too.  Now I’m working my way through To the Bright Edge of the World, Eowyn Ivey’s sophomore novel.  (I loved her debut, The Snow Child, when it came out in spring of 2012, and have been looking forward to her next book ever since – so I’m excited to finally have it in my hands, courtesy of the library.)

When I finish To the Bright Edge of the World, I’ll pick up another library book – I’m just not sure which one.  If I’m feeling nonfictiony, I’ve got Waiting to be Heard, the memoir written by Amanda Knox after her release from prison in Italy.  I followed her case with fascination as it was unfolding and always believed that the “evidence” against her simply didn’t hold water, so I was very happy to see her come home and am looking forward to reading her book.  Or I might pick up the seventh volume of Fables, which I finally have in hand after waiting weeks to get it (the library only has one copy, and it was overdue for about two weeks).  Or maybe something else from my holds queue – I might end up surprising myself!

On the blog this week, my diverse kidlit pick for October, and it’s another good one, coming on Wednesday, and a visit to Shenandoah National Park on Friday.  Have a good one, my friends!

What are you reading this week?  And more importantly, how many times have you watched the Hamildoc?

Oof.  Is it really Monday?  As so often happens, I find myself needing just one more day.  One more day to get my house back in order, one more naptime to tear through boxes or scrub the bathroom or – dream of all dreams – sit on the porch and sip tea with a book in my hand while the kids sleep.  But instead I’m dashing around making breakfasts, making lunches, wiping hands and mouths and noses, pulling school uniforms out of the closet and tossing extra t-shirts into the nanny bag, and getting ready for another week, myself, somewhere in there.

We had a lovely, albeit very busy, weekend.  On Saturday morning I dragged the whole family to Loudoun County to go apple-picking.  It was the tail end of the season (somehow I thought we’d have more time down here, but we didn’t) and the only way we were able to get any apples was by hiking across a stream and finding one lonely tree with apples up top, which I had to climb and then pick the apples from the top branches and pass down to Peanut, who was waiting with a bucket.  (Also, when did she get old enough to actually be useful?  Hold me.)  We raced home with everyone shouting at the top of their lungs in their outdoor voices (gotta fight that car nap, can’t let the car nap win) and then while the kids napped the afternoon away, Steve and I ran around getting things done around the house – including putting one of our new IKEA bookshelves together!  One down, three to go.  I’ll post a #shelfie as soon as I have the shelves completed and my books out and organized and shelved.  On Saturday night, my parents came over with some family friends.  Thanks to traffic, they didn’t make it before the kids’ bedtime, but that was okay – it gave us the rare opportunity to catch up as adults, which was much appreciated.  Sunday morning, we went to a special school service at the church with which Peanut’s school is affiliated.  I’m sure it was very nice, but I spent the entire service running back and forth in the back of the nave, trying to corral a toddler who was determined to escape and run into the road.  So the less said about that, the better.  We headed home for bagels and more chatting with my parents and our family friends, until they all hit the road to head back to New York.  We spent the rest of the day on our normal Sunday activities – football (Steve); unpacking (me) and napping (kids).

Of course, with all that activity, you can probably going to guess what I’m going to say next: I didn’t read much.  Over the course of last week, I finished The Obelisk Gate, second in the Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin.  I think I wrote about it last week, so (in the interests of brevity) I won’t say much.  It was well-written, of course, and very engaging – no surprise there.  But I’ve been stepping out of my comfort zone and reading a lot of sci-fi/fantasy this year, and I’m starting to get a bit weary of it.  I liked The Obelisk Gate, but I wonder if I wouldn’t have liked it better had I not been sort of burnt out on the genre from the start.  Anyway, my next move was straight back into the very heart of my comfort zone: a cozy mystery.  And not just any cozy mystery… the new Flavia de Luce!  I think that the Flavia books might be my favorite currently-in-progress mystery series – even edging out Maisie Dobbs.  I am loving the return to Buckshaw and Flavia’s usual exploits.  (Corpses and coppers and chemistry, oh my!)  Although I’m sure that the Nide, the super-secret spy agency of which Flavia’s mother was a member, will pop up somehow, and I’m looking forward to that because I’m quite enjoying that storyline.  That’s all the reading I managed this week.  Between a busy week and several days of tension headaches that made it hard to read during my commute, it was the best I could do.

After I finish with Flavia, I think I’m probably going to read Eowyn Ivey’s new book, To The Bright Edge of the World.  I have a few other library books on the stack that are calling me a bit more loudly, but I suspect I’m not going to be able to return that one, so I want to make sure I squeeze it in before it’s due back.  If I make it through that this week, my next read will be Love Wins, the story of the Supreme Court battle for marriage equality.  I’ve been wanting to read it since it first was published, so I’m excited.

On the blog: my extremely belated September reading round-up (oops!) on Wednesday, and a recap of our weekend getaway to Little Washington on Friday.  Have a great week, friends!

What are you reading this week?