This is has been a tough spring but so happy that summer is almost here and G is out of school. Online schooling is done and over. Such a weird and crazy school year. G is halfway vaccinated...two more weeks till his next dose. We're slowly getting used to no masks...very slowly. We still mask up indoors with lots of people but the summer is opening up and we're close to eating out as a family in a restaurant again!
My neighbor also threw a little end of school party for her kids and invited some neighbors, her friends, and all the kids too. The kids got wet, adults had a few drinks, ate hamburgers and junk food and sat around the fire pit when the sun went down. It was a great feeling to hang out with friends again and relax.
It's been a tough few weeks for one reason or another and I have not posted much this month. I'm hoping I can get back into a better schedule and visiting other blogs as well.
Reading Life:
I'm reading a couple of bigger books so I have not finished anything the last two weeks. It's been a slower reading month. I'm ok with that but sometimes I get anxious about it!
I'm about 2/3 done with The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, still reading The Trespasser by Tana French, Dust Tracks on the Road by Zora Neale Hurston, and I just started a book-for-review from Quirk Books. It's an interesting sci-fi thriller.
G and I are almost done with The Book Thief. Now that it's summer we're planning on doing a little comparative religion course/reading adventure. I think it'll be fun and informative. Hopefully he does too...
I also finished off the May reading schedule for The Count of Monte Cristo! One more month left and I will be done with that behemoth!
I'm about 45% done with The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir so I'm still holding out hope I'll get it all done by December 31st.
This week I'll be starting my sci-fi reading marathon for June. I've got a few on my pile!
Watching Life:
Basically, all I've been watching is NBA Playoffs! I'll watch a little Call the Midwife in between and Mare of Easttown finishes off tonight (Sunday) so...I did start High on the Hog, a Netflix limited food documentary based off the book with the same name, tracking how the African food diaspora has influenced American cuisine. So fascinating. Really good.
My son and I have been watching the Conjuring series to gear up for the new one coming out...The Woman in the Window was not great but it was somewhat entertaining. I definitely have no desire to read the book now...Saint Maud is another horror that I didn't love yet I enjoyed its ambition. And another great horror is The Vigil about an ex-Orthodox Jew trying to come to terms with his grief and religious transition. Great Jewish horror. Loved it!
Looking forward to:
Memorial Day should be fun. DH gets the day off. We'll be bbqing up some kebabs and corn and then playing games in the evening. It'll be good structured family time! lol. It needs to be planned or else it doesn't happen. Amiright?
I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day!
Joining in with Deb from Readerbuzz's Sunday Salon
Since it turned cold this weekend, I'm using the extra time to get things done so when it does warm up again I can hit the pool without feeling guilty about the housework. Check out what I read and more at Girl Who Reads.
ReplyDeleteI say never feel guilty about the housework! I hope it warms up again soon, though.
DeleteI'm glad to see you've been able to get out more and see friends. I'm sorry that you have had a few tough weeks lately. Somehow I think I'm imagining that we are not just going back to normal, but to the excellent-normal of our memories, and we are forgetting that we are badly wounded from this time in the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteI am interested in your idea of doing comparative religion/reading. I'm thinking about setting up a schedule of spiritual reads for me. I am not quite sure where I'm going with that idea yet.
I do have Count of Monte Cristo pencilled in for this year. The ideal time would be to read it during Paris in July, but my plate is already pretty full for that month.
I think so too. Life is always in transition but we forget it while we're going through it. I'm starting to see the light out of the end of the tunnel with some family issues so fingers crossed!
DeleteI hope you find some inspirational reads for yourself this summer. It's nice to have reading goals that help us grow.
I hope you get to The Count of Monte Cristo. I'm surprised at how readable it is. But I'd have a hard time reading more than about a chapter a day...which is why it's taking me 6 months to finish it!
Sounds like things are slowly returning to normal for you, too. We're not quite ready to shed masks indoors yet either, but maybe soon...
ReplyDeleteYou've got a lot of books going now! The Name of the Rose is one I've considered reading for years and just never got around to it. Loved The Count of Monte Cristo and have Dust Tracks on the Road tentatively on my June schedule... probably on audio.
Hope you're enjoying the holiday weekend!
Dust Tracks has been really interesting. I am loving her story.
DeleteThe Name of the Rose is a very interesting book. Not my usual read but it's been hitting the spot for me right before I go to bed!
I hope you enjoyed your weekend too!
It's nice being able to get out again. We went out to eat over the weekend and it was nice.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about the Name of the Rose, having seen the movie a few times.
I kinda want to watch the woman in the Window. I read the book and mostly liked it.
Happy Memorial Day!
I'd be interested in your thoughts on the movie compared to the book. Obviously they had to cut corners and take things out and rewrite a few things, I'm sure.
DeleteGlad you are able to get out again as well!
We're slowly getting back to normal again. Even that's a weird feeling. I have to try Mare of Easttown. That looks good. Hope you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI hope you try Mare of Easttown. Really well done. Kate Winslet is a goddess!
DeleteHope you have a great BBQ tonite on Memorial Day. It sounds like it's pretty normal & open there now. You have several big reads going on at once, wow. Ha. I'm too much a monogamous reader. I wish that could change a bit. We enjoyed the finale of Mare of Easttown last night ... and will have to look for a new series. Hmm. Summer is just starting here and it feels good .... and finally things are beginning to open up this month. We'll see.
ReplyDelete