Dateline: Saturday evening, on the MacBook, at the kitchen desk, about to spend a quiet night at home by myself. (Well, maybe not that quiet–I do have iTunes cranked up right now.) Tall Paul is out for the evening, shooting photos at a “movie star gala” that you won’t see on TV. I’ll probably be spending the time after I finish this post reading, since I don’t really know how to work all of our TV-related remotes. (I wish I were kidding.)
What I’m reading
- in print
Another week has gone by without cracking The Book Thief open again–at this rate, I’ll do well to finish my “first book of the year” before the year is half-over! Having said that, I’ll be bringing it with me to jury duty on Monday in hopes of getting a few hours of reading time then. This weekend, I’ll be trying to finish an ARC of The Perfect Score Project, a parenting memoir/SAT guide (really) that publishes at the end of this month, and get it reviewed for Shelf Awareness.
- on audio
I finished Going Clear, aka “the Scientology epic,” a few days ago, and am taking a few days to catch up on podcasts before I start another audiobook. I’ll be trying to get my thoughts on this one written up over the next few days, but they may not show up here till next week.
What I’m watching
It’s the BIG DAY of the BIG GAME–Puppy Bowl X!
That’s my kind of football, folks. We’ve got it set up on the DVR in case we decide to join Bryan and his wife watching and tweeting Groundhog Day while it’s on live–or if we’re just not home or something. We usually make a point of getting out and about on Super Bowl Sunday–crowds tend to be pretty light–but my husband is nursing a cold, and after his Saturday-evening public obligation, we may be breaking that tradition this year.
Also, the third season of Sherlock ends tonight. (Insert sad face here.)
What I’m writing
As I mentioned in my “late edition” Sunday Salon post last week (the one that went up on Tuesday), I’ll need to slow down the blogging for the next several weeks–probably through most of March, actually–due to various work and non-work prior commitments. There may be more lag time than usual between when I finish reading a book and when I post my “talk” about it, and I doubt I’ll be talking about much besides books and whatever comes up in these mostly-weekly updates for a while.
What caught my eye this week
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“(O)ur personal blogs hold enormous value to the writer and the reader. Without readers, few bloggers have the wherewithal to keep writing regularly, and without blogs to read, readers become bored and moan that Feedly is empty…℗ersonal bloggers need their readers to keep interacting with them in the comment section and sharing their posts. When site statistics drop or comments stop being left, bloggers lose confidence.”–“What Would Happen if Your Favourite Blog (or Website) Died?” by Melissa Ford on BlogHer
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“If your TBR is…not giving you more than it is taking from you, get rid of it. Go into each new book-choosing moment with an idea of what you want, and then pick up the book that feels right in the moment. Selecting books should be pleasurable. It should be exciting. It should promise you the thrill of discovery. It should not be about ticking boxes and satisfying arbitrary, self-imposed requirements. Goals for reading are good, and being mindful of the ways you’d like to expand your reading life is good. Forcing yourself to read books simply because you at some point in the past added them to a list is, well, kind of pointless.”–“Throw Away Your TBR List: A Radical Reading (un)Plan”, by Rebecca Joines Schinsky on Book Riot
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5 reasons why Rebecca@Love At First Book loves her blogging community
What Else is New?
Five years after it was launched, Armchair BEA is one the verge of some big changes in 2014–watch for news about that in various locations in the book-blogiverse, including this one, during the week ahead. Also this week (I think), look for the return of the “Nerdy Special List” at Pop Culture Nerd. I’ve been invited to be a contributor to this monthly column of new-book recommendations, but you’ll have to check out the post when it goes live to see what I picked for February!
Gratuitous Photo of the Week
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| I was chosen at random during last week’s Wednesday-morning #fabchat on Twitter as one of five participants to receive a dozen chocolate-dipped strawberries from Shari’s Berries. They arrived on Friday evening. We’re still working our way through the box. |
Happy Game Day, and I hope you get the news you want from the Groundhog today!
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