Monday, August 01, 2016

Monday Malarkey - Surprise!

I can't even remember how long I've been gone but SURPRISE! I'm back!


Three books arrived, this weekend, and I've been considering returning for one reason: I miss reviewing children's books. I'm still having an off reading year and I'm still just trying to tolerate it. It's distressing when you're used to reading 3-4 books per week and you frequently (not just occasionally but frequently!) realize you don't feel like reading at all when your normal reading time rolls around. It is what it is. I'm sure I'll move past it someday, but 2016 is just not going to be a high-volume reading year and I'm learning to live with it.

The new arrivals, from top to bottom (all from HarperCollins):


  • Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
  • Intimations by Alexandra Kleeman (short stories)
  • Mercury by Margot Livesey


At least two or three other books arrived from HarperCollins but I neglected to set them aside to photograph. However, I'm reading one of them.


Current reads (sorry, no picture):


  • Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye - I'm finding this one beautifully written but a bit of a slog. Might just be my inability to focus for long; I think it's a solid read and I'm going to continue.
  • A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression by Jane Ziegelman and Andy Coe (this is the HarperCollins) - Beginning with ravenous soldiers returning from WWI to feasts held in their honor, this book proceeds onward to describing how "efficiency experts" tried to teach housewives to reduce their movements and minimize their kitchen time, also encouraging them to build smaller kitchens for efficiency. Farm wives kept track of how they spent their days, using pie charts. Amazingly, they didn't care about efficiency. They were accustomed to working 16-hour days but loved the satisfaction of a job well done. Absolutely loving this book. The writing is a little flat but the content is engrossing.


July ended up being my worst reading month, by far, in an already sluggish year. But, for good reason. We were on vacation for nearly two weeks and it was a go-go-go vacation to Australia.


We were on our feet almost all day, every day (except for the two days of bus tours). I brought home a few Australian books, naturally, all inexpensive classics because Australian books are shockingly expensive but these were reasonable and I want to continue with my Australian reading:


Top to bottom:


  • For the Term of His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke (a book I read electronically, last year, and have wanted to own in paper, since)
  • The True Story of Spit MacPhee by James Aldridge
  • The Commandant by Jessica Anderson
  • Sydney Bridge Upside Down by David Ballantyne (pretty sure this one is set in New Zealand, in spite of the title)
  • The Chantic Bird by David Ireland


I'll post my pitiful stack of July reads, tomorrow. There are two more Australian books in that stack. The fact that I began the month with a chunkster (which I had to quit reading when it started to fall apart) and then read another probably contributed to my thin stack. I'm hoping to purchase a replacement of my 1970s copy of Gone With the Wind and return to it, soon. That's the book that started falling to pieces as I read it. Fortunately, it's so memorable that I know I'll have no trouble picking up where I left off.

What's been up in your world?


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12 comments:

  1. Yay! You're back! How was Australia? I've always wanted to go there. I think there's something in the water down there that grows great writers.
    I think tons of people are having a hard reading year. I know I am. Especially in the summer. I don't do well reading in the summer for reasons unbeknownst to me.

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    1. I'm back! Australia was wonderful. I'd have happily stayed forever. They do have some terrific writers. Also, great scenery, whopping fine animal life, and I love the people.

      Yes, I know quite a few bloggers or former bloggers who are having a rough reading year. Summer has changed for me. I used to take a siesta in the afternoons because our old house was so hot that I couldn't accomplish anything else during the worst of the heat. But, now I'm in a well-insulated house and I've taken up painting mid-afternoon. So, that's out. And, I'm often finding that bedtime (my usual reading time) arrives and I just don't feel like reading at all. It's annoying but what can you do? I don't think fighting it works. In the past, it's always worked best if I just watch TV or do something else completely different, if reading my favorite slump-breaking genres doesn't work. So, I'm just trying to roll with it. Hope your reading year improves.

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  2. I loved Safe from the Sea but itbdoes require focus. I loved all your pictures from Australia. Gorgeous.

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    1. Oh, good, I'm glad you enjoyed Safe from the Sea. I know who recommended it to me and I trust him, so that's the another reason I'm sticking it out. I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed it, too!

      Thanks! I've only loaded 4 days' worth out of 11, but I kind of hate sitting in front of the computer for long, these days, so it'll take time to get the vacation pics loaded. :)

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  3. Glad to see you are blogging! So jealous of your trip. One day I will get there! And one year you must come to Nova Scotia!!

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    1. Thanks, Kelly! I've wanted to go to Australia for as long as I can remember, I kid you not. I just finally put my foot down. It's a good time to go. The Australian dollar is weak, right now. I was hoping I'd make it to Nova Scotia *this year* but it just can't happen. Gotta go visit the grandbaby around the time we talked about. Marg and I talked about how much we both want to visit you, while I was in Melbourne!

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  4. Welcome back and what's this? Australia?! Jealous! Seriously though, hope you had a blast!

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    1. Yep, Australia! I've wanted to go there for as long as I can remember. Decided it was time to make it so. :) We did have a blast, thanks. It's a beautiful country full of wonderful people.

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  5. Glad to see you're back and it was fun seeing your photos on Facebook of your trip to Australia, including rare photos of you yourself. :)

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    1. Thanks! Haha, yeah, photos of me are rare. Not too fond of my own face. :) Glad you're enjoying the photos!

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  6. Welcome back from your vacation! Would love to see more pictures of your travels!

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    1. Thanks, Iliana! I'll load more pics but it's a slow process because we took so many (about 5,000 photos, between the two of us). I'm trying not to post so many that it's exhausting to look at them.

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