Tag: books

Day 282: Some Books

~ Dona ~ 2 Comments

After our Tybee Island trip, I went through a spell of not reading for a while. I read a lot while I was there, then lost my taste for it when we got home. I finally (and delightfully) feel like reading again.

Here’s a list of books I’ve found delightful over the past few weeks/months:

  • The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
  • How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
  • The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
  • The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks
  • Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Right now I am reading News of the World by Paulette Jiles on Kindle and Audible and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer — hardcopy.

I finished listening to A River Runs Through It — a book I bought on Audible back in 2013 when Clare and I drove through Missoula. I didn’t realize it was really just a [long] short story. There are two other stories on that recording that I doubt I will listen to.

Day 154: Two Delightful Books

~ Dona ~ 3 Comments

Book One

Karen from book group chose A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra as her book choice for our September 2017 discussion. I tried to read it, but it didn’t appeal to me. While I understood the writing was beautiful, I couldn’t get past the violence. It was set in Chechnya during the first and second Chechen wars and really terrible things happened during that time.

Determined to read it, I picked it up again about a year later. I started over and didn’t get much farther than I got the first time, but this time I didn’t just understand that it was beautifully written, but saw that it was.

Not too long ago I was again determined to finish it. It sat there in my Kindle and Audible libraries looking at me with contempt because I’d abandoned it twice. This time I didn’t start over, but picked up where I left off. I alternately read and listened to it, finding it easy to switch between formats. I was surprised that I remembered what I’d read in the past and only a few times had to look back to remember who a character was. I finished it this evening and said aloud to no one, “what a beautiful and terribly sad book that was.”

Book Two

The book Karen (again!) has chosen for her book discussion next month is Have You Seen Luis Velez by Catherine Ryan Hyde. I borrowed it from Amazon Prime Reading as soon as my tears stopped after finishing A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. I loved it right away.

Day 107: Cataloging Books (aka Procrastination Day 1)

~ Dona ~ 1 Comment

It has been brought to my attention that I need to go to Costco to buy a whole bunch of cheese to send to Clare. We also need toilet paper. I hate shopping at Costco because 1) people, 2) pandemic, and 3) I always buy things I don’t need.

Even though it was not on my original “to do when retired” list, I had the sudden urge to update my LibraryThing list of books to correspond with the books we actually had in the house. I knew this would be a long undertaking because we have lots of books.

Today I finished the living room bookshelves. It took all day but was actually delightful. Next I will tackle the bookshelf in our bedroom but probably not tomorrow.