Sunday, May 24, 2015

Weekly Update 5/24/15: Summer Begins


Here we are, summer at last! Unofficially, anyway. Memorial Day thru Labor Day. Longer days, dinner on the patio, a glass of wine by the lake, cruising on the boat, lounging by the pool, maybe a road trip or two... and so many events!

The season kicked off yesterday with my daughter's boyfriend's college graduation. A three hour drive on either end, plus the ceremony, moving out day, and a celebration barbecue made for a very long, but very happy day. Onward we go.. to Father's Day, high school graduation season, and the 4th of July!

Finished reading//
Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler
I loved this read/listen combination and will try to post a review this week.


Current reading//

Another read/listen combination


The Seven Sisters by Margaret Drabble
very quiet and introspective


On the blog//
Tuesday Intro: Shotgun Lovesongs 
Review: A Taste of Upstate New York by Chuck D'Imperio (Weekend Cooking)

Around the blogosphere//
Here's a post of note that's just too good not to share. In fact, I kind of wish I'd written it myself!
Bibliophiliac's Top Ten Reasons to Read Anthony Trollope


I'll leave you with this photo from one of my walks this week... a beautiful purple mailbox garden. Enjoy the rest of the long weekend. What will you be reading?

34 comments:

  1. I am curious about Shotgun Lovesongs.

    I read The Seven Sisters a while ago...love Drabble, but sometimes I get confused between her books and those of other "Margarets," like Atwood. My bad.

    I am going to check out my review of The Seven Sisters...LOL

    Thanks for visiting my blog.

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    1. Laurel-Rain Snow - I think I read Drabble a long time ago, but don't remember which title... and I get her confused with those other Margarets, too! LOL!

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  2. Love the mailbox garden! So pretty. Congrats to your daughter's boyfriend! I just sat through a high school graduation and it was long enough. I can't imagine sitting through a college one! Have a great week!

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    1. Katherine - This graduation ceremony was nearly 3 hours long!! I couldn't believe it!

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  3. Looks like a busy and fun month ahead for you! Congrats to your daughter's boyfriend!

    Hope you are having a great weekend thus far. I love not having to go back to work tomorrow.

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    1. Athira - They've been together over 3 years now and he seems like part of the family!

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  4. Busy weekends abound, I agree! Love the mailbox photo. Sadly, my reading has slowed a bit lately, too much other stuff.

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    1. Diane - May has got to be one of the busiest months for weekend activities, but thankfully it's all happy! Hope you're enjoying the long weekend.

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  5. So glad you are finally into spring and even the beginnings of summer. That mailbox garden is beautiful. I love purple. Congrats to your daughter's boyfriend. Enjoy your holiday weekend, JoAnn!

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    1. Kay - That mailbox garden has caught my eye all week and I finally just had to take a picture! I should really try and plant something similar... I love purple, too.

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  6. I like all those things you listed- yay for summer! A glass of wine by the lake sounds good. :)

    Taste of upstate NY sounds good too, i like to read about local food lore and that one looks very interesting. May have to look it up.

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    1. Greg - We had our fist glass of wine by the lake tonight... so relaxing! I'm happy summer is finally here.

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  7. Ah, summer! Yes.

    I'm quite interested in trying another big classic after finishing Middlemarch. Madding Crowd is on my possible list. I'll check back to see what you think.

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    1. Deb - I really like Far From the Madding Crowd so far, but am already looking forward to the next book in Trollope's Barsetshire series.

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  8. You have so many events to look forward to! I love the picture of the mailbox garden.

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    1. Vasilly - There's a lot happening these next few weeks, that's for sure. Next weekend we're moving Twin A down to NYC for the summer for an internship.

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  9. I'm so glad it's summer - this is my time of the year!

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  10. That's good news that Shotgun Lovesongs is a fun read. Look forward to your review. I'm interested to see you're reading the Hardy book now. Should be a good comparison to do with the new movie. Have a great week.

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    1. Thecuecard - The movie release pushed me to read Far From the Madding Crowd sooner rather than later. It's very good so far!

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  11. Fun to celebrate the graduation even with the long drive, and now I will read the 10 reasons to read Trollope.

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  12. I love your mailbox photo, too. The purple is gorgeous! Also, I'll look forward to what you think about the audio book of Far from the Madding Crowd. And I loved the Top Ten Post about Trollope. I have added some Trollope titles to my Classics Club list! :)

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    1. Monica - I'm glad you've added Trollope to your list. The Barsetshire novels are so good, I'm considering the Pallisers for next year!

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  13. Yay for summer. I have mixed feelings about Margaret Drabble -- but haven't read that one, so hope you love it.

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    1. Beth F - Could have sworn I'd read Drabble before, but none of her titles sound familiar. Will have to consult my old reading journal...

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  14. Hello, summer!! If the rain holds off, I plan to get outside and do a little weeding today. It's been chilly and damp ever since I returned from San Francisco! I also need to hose down our front porch. It's still covered in pollen from last month!

    I'm hoping to finish A Man Called Ove later this afternoon. I'm loving this novel and the only reason it's taken me a full month to read is that I'm reading at bedtime and haven't lasted more than 10 minutes before falling asleep.

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    1. Les - So glad to hear you love A Man Called Ove! I picked it up as a kindle daily deal a few weeks ago... sounds like an ideal summer read. "Bedtime books" take me forever to read, too. If it happens to be an audio, I set the sleep timer for 8 minutes and never hear it end.

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  15. So glad you loved Shotgun Lovesongs! Now you need to try Beneath the Bonfire :)

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  16. Exciting happenings in your family! Congrats. I loved Shotgun Lovesongs too.

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    1. Nise' - Butler's latest book is on my wish list now.

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  17. So happy to have dinner and drinks on the patio season back! It just makes life better, doesn't it?

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