Sunday Salon: A Quiet Weekend

Time Midafternoon on Saturday

Place At the kitchen desk, under the ceiling fan, listening to the TV in the other room, waiting for a furniture delivery (a small sleeper sofa for the guest room and a matching chair, the last of our big purchases for the new house)

Eating Nothing right now, but I may go hunt for a snack soon–most likely a granola bar. I don’t want to fill up too much, since we may go shoe shopping (for Tall Paul, not me) after the furniture comes, and chances are we’ll grab some dinner after that. I’m thinking Italian.

Drinking Water. Aside from coffee in the morning and iced tea at dinner, it’s almost always just water.

Reading I’m having trouble settling in with anything that’s not audiobooks lately, it seems. I’m making headway on my e-galley of The Salinger Contract–it’s a fast read when I actually make time to spend reading it! I still need to get started on the She Reads October selection, which is just not calling to me (although I’ve seen some really good reviews of it from other people already, and the author is pretty well-regarded), and I’m not sure which of my November review candidates for Shelf Awareness to start on first. I think I’m not-so-subconsciously protesting being back in the “required-reading” zone, and am reconsidering the book-club thing going into next year. My blog reading has been spotty as well–aside from posts about the new TV season and iOS 7–but I promise y’all I’m skimming my book-blogs folder every day, and Sundays usually are a good chance to do some catching up on that.

Watching The new TV season has started! We haven’t added too many new shows to the DVR rotation, but we’re glad to see some of our old favorites returning, especially the comedies. I’ve needed those this weekend, after the wrenching finale of Broadchurch–an outcome I didn’t foresee until about 15 minutes before it was revealed (and for which I deliberately avoided reading recaps, because for once I cared about not being spoiled). That show was so well-done in every way–writing, acting, characterization, setting–but I’m wondering how they’ll approach a second season…and how much I’ll want to go back there. (Oh, who am I kidding? If David Tennant comes back, I most likely will too.)

Listening I spent Banned Books Week with the audio of Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park, giving part of my attention to the story itself and part to trying to understand why it had so provoked parents in one Minnesota school district. I’ll get into both when I write up my thoughts on the novel, which I should be posting in the next few days. I’m in “catch up on podcasts” mode for the next couple of commuting days while I decide on what my next audiobook will be; my new Audible credits came in on Friday, and they’ve already been used on two books I had wish-listed.

Pondering I’m still thinking about what seems to be a shift in my reading preferences (content, not format), and I hope to spend some time working through it during the next day or two, so I can post about it and discuss it with you.

And speaking of posts, I’m 22 away from hitting the milestone of 2000 posts here. I’m thinking that either #1999 or #2001 will be some sort of retrospective–I haven’t done one of those for a while. But it seems like P2K should stand alone and be about something significant, and I’m trying to decide what that might be. Do you have any ideas, suggestions, or questions you’d like me to address for the occasion? Please leave them in the comments if you do!

Blogging I blogged about the assorted e-books in various apps that constitute my “phantom TBR,” and how I struggle to keep up with them–or even remember to read them at all! Thanks to Anastasia for recommending e-book management app Calibre in comments; I downloaded it and uploaded my e-books into it this afternoon, and we’ll see if it helps with the “keeping up” side of things. (It’s up to me to manage the “remembering to read”–and not be distracted by the other things I could be doing on the iPad instead–side of the issue.

Anticipating My online writing workshop starts on Monday! I’ve never done something like this before, so I’m a little nervous, but I’m eager too.

Gratuitous Photo of the Week
Point Mugu August 2013
Point Mugu, August 2013–one of our favorite “scenic drive” spots
How’s your weekend going?

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,318 other subscribers
The Phantom TBR: Or, Me and an E-Book

The Phantom TBR: Or, Me and an E-Book

I gave up using a dedicated e-reader well over a year ago. I was fond enough of my original Kindle, but when I “upgraded” to a Kindle Touch a couple of years later, I just couldn’t get comfortable with it. On the other hand, I was quickly coming to love using the iPad I bought for myself with some Christmas money (on December 26, 2011) for many things, including reading. It turned out that I […]

WW: I’d Rather Be Sailing

WW: I’d Rather Be Sailing

I don’t know how to sail. No one in my family has a boat. But when “Envious/Jealous” popped up for our Linked-Up Wordless Wednesday prompt this week, I knew it was time to own up to my envy of people who get to spend their days like this. Sailing, East-Coast style: New York Harbor, Boston Harbor, and Boothbay Harbor, Maine (bonus: Portland Head Light, Portland, Maine) document.write(”); Subscribe to Blog via Email Enter your email […]

(Audio)Book Talk: THEN AGAIN, by Diane Keaton

(Audio)Book Talk: THEN AGAIN, by Diane Keaton

Then Again Diane Keaton (Twitter) Audiobook read by the author Random House Trade Paperbacks (2012), Paperback (ISBN 0812980956 / 9780812980950) Nonfiction (memoir/autobiography), 336 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Random House Audio (November 2011), ISBN 978-0-307-93402-4; Audible ASIN B0067VIYKE) Reason for reading: Personal (recommended by Beth Kephart) Opening lines: “Mom loved adages, quotes, slogans. There were always little reminders pasted on the kitchen wall. For example, the word think. I found think thumbtacked on a bulletin board in […]

Sunday Salon: “Happy Hobbit Day” Edition

Sunday Salon: “Happy Hobbit Day” Edition

Time Between 9:50 and 11 AM (Elevenses!) on the day on which we celebrate Autumn, Hobbits, and good TV Place I’m at the kitchen desk. Tall Paul was at his office desk–he had to go into work for a few hours, but he’s home now–and Spencer is hanging out in the living room after finishing a stack of geometry homework. (I love that the boy hates proofs as much as I did.) Eating Probably nothing […]

Some Uncensored Thoughts on Censorship

Some Uncensored Thoughts on Censorship

I didn’t plan my September reading well enough to have a book lined up for Banned Books Week 2013, which begins on Monday, and I didn’t plan this week well enough to put together an original piece on censorship for Sheila’s annual Banned Books Week event. She’s holding it a week in advance due to a schedule conflict, and calling it “Reading to Beat the Banned.” But I’ve written about this before, and my feelings […]

Book Talk: I DON’T KNOW, by Leah Hager Cohen

Book Talk: I DON’T KNOW, by Leah Hager Cohen

I don’t know: In Praise of Admitting Ignorance (Except When You Shouldn’t) Leah Hager Cohen Riverhead (September 2013), Hardcover (ISBN 1594632391 / 9781594632396) Nonfiction, 128 pages Source: ARC from publisher Reason for reading: Personal interest From Chapter One: “I was twenty-two and in my first week of graduate school in journalism. I knew by their appearances that most of my classmates were older, just as I knew from the school’s brochure, which promised to provide […]

WW: Change–Outdoor Dining, circa 1600

WW: Change–Outdoor Dining, circa 1600

Mealtime rituals have changed a bit since the 17th century, haven’t they? Fine dining at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire, April 2013 An InLinkz Link-up Subscribe to Blog via Email Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Email Address Subscribe Join 2,318 other subscribers

Sunday Salon: Monday Check-In

Sunday Salon: Monday Check-In

Time Sunday evening Place In the living room, on the couch, watching a Simpsons rerun and typing on the iPad Eating Done eating for the night–had a very good chicken-salad sandwich from Togo’s for dinner Drinking Just water Reading An October memoir I’ll be reviewing for Shelf Awareness, and trying to figure out if I’ll be able to work in a Banned Books Week read next week–I’d like to, but I probably should have started […]

Sunday Salon: The Organization

Sunday Salon: The Organization

I find that if I get something organized when I start out with it, it’s a lot easier to keep it that way. I returned from vacation this summer to find a refurnished and refurbished office, and I’ve succeeded in keeping clutter from regaining a foothold for almost three months. See? You may recall that last Sunday, I was organizing our new bookshelves. Do you mind if I show you how they turned out? Here’s […]

Three Reasons Why I Blog

Three Reasons Why I Blog

Bryan posted a link to Jeanne’s post “Why I Blog” in the Book Bloggers Google+ Community as discussion fodder–and it worked there, but it’s also a topic that warrants an in-kind response. I’m starting to feel like the longer you do this, the more important it is to revisit your reasons periodically, and with 6.5 years and close to 2000 posts here, I think I qualify as having been at this for a pretty long […]

WW: Shelved!

WW: Shelved!

We’ve got a “wild card” week in our Wordless Wednesday linky group, so I thought you might like to see what we did with our dining room this past weekend. It gives a new meaning to the concept of “devouring books.” It may seem like an odd place to put them, but the dining room just happens to have one wall that’s the perfect size to line with bookcases. At intervals between Saturday evening and Sunday […]