Good morning, friends. It's time for another weekly update and, once again, the week has passed in a flash. Technically it's still early August, so I was horrified to see a Halloween candy display going up at my local Wegmans. This has me concerned... it could be Christmas by Labor Day at this rate!
It was pretty much an ordinary week around here - the usual round of errands, doctors appointments, lunch with my parents, cooking, blogging, and even a little reading ;-) The highlight of the week was a peaceful Friday evening on the boat. Here is my instagram photo for #100HappyDays.
Reading// I finished The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and ,while it got off to a very strong start, was left feeling underwhelmed. Not a bad book by any means, just not as wonderful as I'd expected.
After that, I pulled a pile of possible reads and ended up selecting a library ebook that has now expired (thanks goodness for airplane mode!). The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price Purveyor of Superior Funerals by Wendy Jones is a quietly understated comedy of manners. I'm enjoying it very much and will finish this afternoon.
Listening// The will be the last week I mention Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck, I promise. I'm closing in on the 90% mark of this nearly 18 hour audiobook and am tempted to finish it in print. It's good, but I am more than ready to begin something new.
On the blog//
- a Tuesday Intro from The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
- my review of The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
- Book Sale Bounty, my haul from the latest Friends of the Library event
- a new Classics Club Spin (the number will be announced Monday)
In the kitchen// There was one more batch of soup for Twin A as she recovered from the removal of her wisdom teeth. Butternut Bisque from Susan Branch is my favorite butternut squash soup and since Twin A is happily eating solid food again, I finished the last of it myself.
I also tried a recipe for Tunisian Halibut for the next edition of Cook It Up, Trish's cookbook challenge. This month I'm cooking from Weber's Real Grilling.
Looking ahead// It's time to set aside a day for review catch-up again and I may even start my Classics Club spin book (can't wait to see which number comes up on Monday!), but mostly I just want is to kick back and enjoy the final weeks of summer.
Are you doing anything exciting this week?
This post will link to It's Monday, What are You Reading hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.
I love AJ Fikry, but kudos to you for your honesty! It's sometimes hard to go against the grain on something so many people love. I did it with The Vacationers :)
ReplyDeleteAnxiously awaiting your We Are Not Ourselves review!!
Sarah - Definitely tough to go against the grain, but I know that happens to all of us! Can't wait to for your reaction to the end of We Are Not Ourselves. I'm saving my review for publication.
DeleteThat looks like a lovely evening on the boat. Glad you had a good week :)
ReplyDeleteSam - Friday evening was definitely the highlight of the week... such a beautiful evening.
DeleteI wonder if you would have loved Fikry more on audio? I'm not a crier generally, and everyone said they cried at the end. So I was being very strong, but it leveled me. I had to lay down.
ReplyDeleteSandy - I wondered the same thing. Guess I was expecting light and sweet, not a weep-fest at the end.
DeleteI am looking forward to The Invention of Wings, at some point. Thanks for sharing your week, and it does fly by! And thanks for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteLaurel-Rain Snow - The Invention of Wings is excellent... definitely worth a read!
DeleteLove the food photo. It looks like the perfect way to end the work week. Enjoy the week ahead and thanks for stopping by my blog.
ReplyDeleteCatherine - After all those snacks, neither one of us was hungry for dinner, lol! Hope you have a great week.
DeleteSince I refuse to entertain any negative thoughts about Wegman's (we're still on the honeymoon around here), I think it depends on what kind of candy it is. Chocolate pumpkins, no. But candy corn? Corn is summery.
ReplyDeleteAudrey - I'm so glad you and Wegmans are hitting it off. This may be the first thing they've ever done to annoy me... and we got back 30 years! ;-)
DeleteI haven't seen Halloween candy yet but pumpkin beers are out. I don't understand why everyone has to push the seasons these days.
ReplyDeleteKathy - I haven't seen the pumpkin beers yet, but our local brewery Saranac has a good one!
DeleteLike Sandy, I listened to AJ Fikry on audio, and really loved it. I had your same underwhelmed response to The 24-Hour Bookstore book, and think I might have liked it better if I had listened to the audio version.
ReplyDeleteLaurie C - The 24-hour Bookstore is still on my wish list, so I'll be sure to to the audio route with that one. Thanks for the heads up!
DeleteYes, thank goodness for airplane mode. I have saved many an expired library book that way. I love weeks that are "normal" - definitely better than weeks that have zero reading going on.
ReplyDeleteAthira - Airplane mode feels like cheating in a way, but what can you do ;-)
DeleteI'm hoping for another normal week!
It has been perfect boating weather lately - gonna miss this delightful weather.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy - The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price Purveyor of Superior Funerals - as much as I did.
Diane - I finished Wilfred Price this afternoon and loved it! So glad it's going to be a miniseries.
DeleteI will have to try AJ Fikry on audio as well. I did love The Fault in Our Stars on audio after feeling so-so about it in print. I always love seeing what you are cooking as I am not using my kitchen at all these days!
ReplyDeleteAnbolyn - Hmm, I have The Fault in Our Stars on my kindle. Wonder if I should go the audio route instead...
DeleteSounds like you have the right attitude for the "beginning of the end of summer". Nice photo from the boat. I just joined your classics club and am anxious for the spin # tomorrow. I want to read The Invention of Wings, and still want to read AJ Fikry, even though it wasn't as good as you hoped. Have a good week!
ReplyDeleteRita - I'm so glad you joined The Classics Club! Will have to stop back over to your blog and see what your #17 was... I'll be reading An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. It's a long one!
DeleteMmm Butternut Squash soup!
ReplyDeleteI know, I see Halloween up everywhere here! It is my favorite holiday, but even I am not ready for it yet!
Quixotic Magpie - Not sure why that Halloween candy caught me so off guard... you'd think I'd be used to this rushing of the seasons by now :)
DeleteThat's interesting that the AJ Fikry book was underwhelming, in the end. This tends to happen to me with some books that have been seriously hyped. That's one of the books I keep thinking about reading but somehow haven't started . . . .maybe it's just as well.
ReplyDeleteLeila - Maybe it was that the hype raised my expectations a little too high... or could be I was still recovering from We Are Not Ourselves. Still can't stop thinking about that book!
DeleteYeah... that is a powerful book. I can see how it might be hard to switch over to something light after We Are Not Ourselves.
DeleteI hate it when stores start displaying upcoming holiday stuff so early. The time rushes by fast enough. Just two weeks and I am back to school for year 39. Come see my week. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteKathy - I usually expect those early holiday displays, but for some reason I hadn't even thought about it yet this year and was caught totally off guard. Just want to enjoy the end of summer, you know? Hope you get to relax before you head back to school!
DeleteThat looks like a great way to spend a Friday evening! Your mention of soup sounds good, that must mean fall is on the way if I'm starting to want soup. I basically don't want to see anything fall related until after the first of Sept, but I guess the stores aren't going to accommodate me on that! LOL have a great week.
ReplyDeleteGreg - I wish they would wait until after September 1, too, but know that will never happen, lol! Hope you have a great week :)
DeleteI think I had a similar experience with AJ Fikry. It was a nice read but I wasn't blown away by it. The Wendy Jones book looks very promising. It sounds like it could be very unexpected. I'll have to add that to my TBR! That looks like a pretty amazing Friday evening!
ReplyDeleteKatherine - I suppose my expectations were too high with A.J. Fikry because it really was a nice read...but not amazing. Wendy Jones book was really good!
DeleteWhy is it that your pictures always make me want to jump in them? :-) I'm not doing anything exciting this week, just trying to cram in as many summer activities as possible. We start back homeschooling next week.
ReplyDeleteIf it's not the pictures, it's the food. Now I want to try some of that soup! I'm glad Twin A recovered from having her wisdom teeth removed. Fingers crossed that your Classic Spin book is a good one.
Vasilly - Hope you enjoy your last week before homeschooling begins... summers are so short! I ended up with An American Tragedy for the spin. It's pretty long, but I've wanted to read it for years.
DeleteI have Fikry. I just renewed it because I didn't get to it in time before it was due but I have it for another three weeks. I am sorry it underwhelmed you in the end. A book club member was raving about it so I plan to read it at some point.
ReplyDeleteTi - Fikry may have fallen victim to the expectations game... mine were probably too high :(
DeleteI just want to relax on your boat. lol Glad Twin A is feeling better, and sorry AJ Fikry left you underwhelmed. Superior Funerals looks fascinating!
ReplyDeleteAndi - I think I expected Fikry to "rescue" me from We Are Not Ourselves (such a good book)... didn't realize there would be tears involved with A.J, too ;-)
DeleteOh my goodness, your Friday night looks just about perfect.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who is freaked out by the early advertising. I see all the advertisements for Back to School stuff and panic because we don't even have our son's class assignment yet, much less a supply list!
Lindsey - Retailers just want us to buy early and often, lol! Already have my fingers crossed for good weather again this Friday.
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