Sunday Salon: “Fall Back, Fall Off’ Edition

I’m not sure that posting these “Sunday Salon” updates so late in the day on Sunday catches as many dedicated Sunday Salon readers as morning posts do, but since I usually have more time to write them on Sunday, I think may keep to this schedule for now. Bonus: I almost get to count these for Monday, too, since I know most of y’all won’t see them until then anyway.

What I’m reading

  • in print / on screen

Between a weekend away followed by a week of meetings at work, I’d have to officially declare my reading “slumped” for the past few days. I’m taking advantage of the fact that Shelf Awareness doesn’t need as many reviews for December to take a few weeks off from “required reading”…but with a break from obligations, I’m finding myself at a bit of a loss to decide what I want to read. I’m not actually asking for suggestions; I have an abundance of options in waiting on both my physical shelves and my iPad, but I’m struggling to make decisions. In keeping with this being Nonfiction November, I’m leaning toward keeping my reading focused in that general area, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten right now.

  • on audio

Audio may be the exception—or at the very least, the late arrival—to my personal nonfiction November. I’ve decided to listen to the entire Magicians trilogy straight through, and not write about it here until I’m all done. I’m more than halfway through Book 2, The Magician King, right now.

What I’m watching


We’re saving the first half of the two-part Doctor Who season finale on the DVR so we can watch the whole thing as a piece next weekend. No spoilers, please!

What I’m writing

The writing has been as slumpy as the reading this past week. I blame tiredness from the aforementioned work meetings and being more interested in editing photos from the aforementioned weekend away. As many of you long-time bloggers probably already know, November is the original NaBloPoMo—the differently-ambitious answer to NaNoWriMo—and when I make the occasional public commitment to “post every day for a month,” November is usually when I’ll do it. I’m not doing it this year…but I have missed only one day of journaling since starting my “100 Days of Day One” project on September 21, so there’s that.

What Else is New?


The morning after the clocks “fall back” is usually the first day it really feels like Fall to me. Since Southern California doesn’t have much seasonal variation weather-wise, it’s the time change—especially the early sunsets and long evenings—that really gives me a sense that winter is coming, with the associated cozy cocooning at home. I’m hoping that it will be a good thing for my currently restless reading habits.

Also, the numbers for the 2014 Reading Challenge widget in the sidebar are not current, so please feel free to ignore them. I’m not sure I’m going to have such a feature in 2015, to be honest. I’ve kept up my book-a-week average well enough for the last few years that I may just use a good old-fashioned spreadsheet to keep up with things.

Gratuitous Photos of the Week


This is the first year my office decided to observe Halloween by encouraging staff to come to work in costume.

A photo posted by Florinda Vasquez (@florinda3rs) on Oct 10, 2014 at 6:20am PDT

A photo posted by Florinda Vasquez (@florinda3rs) on Oct 10, 2014 at 9:21pm PDT

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