Hello, friends and happy May! Our winter in Florida is quickly coming to an end... always a bittersweet time for me. The "end of season" events are over and islanders are enjoying a little calm before summer vacationers begin to arrive. Meanwhile, we are packing and getting the house buttoned up for hurricane season....shhhh!
April turned out to be a good reading month for me. In addition to staying current with the War and Peace group read, I managed to finish four other books. One of those books was the nearly 700 page chunkster, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai.
Recent reading//
The Irish Goodbye: Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann Fennelly
After reading a couple of long novels, this slim memoir in essays was a welcome change of pace. The essays deal primarily with marriage and family, but Fennelly's sister's untimely death at 39 is also a recurring topic. Some essays are as short as a sentence or two, but I preferred the longer ones.
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The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Volume 8 by Beth Brower
I've finished and I'm bereft! How long will I have to wait for volume 9?? I've loved spending the past eight months with Emma M. Lion and company, reading one book per month with a small group of readers from Modern Mrs. Darcy book club. I may just start all over again...
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Current reading//
The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markoovits
Shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize, I picked this up on an impulse and read the first 30 pages. It's an easy read, but I'm not completely hooked yet. It's a short novel (just over 250 pages) so I'll keep going for now.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
My yearlong chapter-a-day readalong with Footnotes and Tangents continues. We've passed page 500!
The week ahead//
We'll start our drive north this weekend and arrive in CT by midweek. The kids plan to visit next weekend for Mother's Day, then we'll be off to see my mother in central NY on Monday morning. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks, so I'll see you back here sometime after mid-month.
How was your week? What have you been reading lately?
I like that you are taking a few days to drive north and enjoy the experience rather than just over-doing it to rush. Nice that you'll see family for Mother's Day
ReplyDeleteHelen - We like to stop and see friends and family, or discover new places... we mix it up!
DeleteI'm reading The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke, which so far is a fun romp and just what I need at the moment. I just finished Fonseca by Jessica Francis Kane, which felt like a slight book, and yet I ended up kind of loving it.
ReplyDeleteAmy - Fonseca has been on my radar, but I haven't seem many reviews... glad to know you loved it!
DeleteIt's a gentle book, if that makes sense. Hard to describe! Oh--and weren't you the one who posted a link to a recipe for a slow cooker Korean beef dish? I made that last week--YUM!
DeleteAmy - Yes, I posted the slow cooker Korean beef recipe! Big hit for my famly, but I haven't made it again - yet. So glad you liked it.
DeleteI'm always a little sad when you leave Florida. Weird, huh? I guess I just enjoy your beautiful beach/sunset photos, and I don't know if I'll ever get to Sanibel to experience it myself.
ReplyDeleteI had a big book in April, too, but I didn't finish it until May 1st, so it will go on next month's summary. I'll probably finish The Winds of War, as well, so my page count in May will be pretty high!
I'm looking forward to the Brower books this summer. Putting together my summer reading list in a few days and they'll definitely be on that.
I have a busy few weeks ahead myself. We'll hit the road on the 14th for a rv trip up to Washington for a couple of weeks. It's been a long time since we've gone anywhere and I'm really looking forward to it. So thankful my brothers will tag-team and be here to help my mom while we're gone. I have nothing planned for the trip other than walks, gazing at the water, and reading.
Safe travels and have a lovely Mother's Day!
Les - We've been saying what a strange season this has been. We haven't ventured too far afield this year - north to Sarasota and south to Naples to see friends. We weren't "home" as long, so got all of our medical and dental appointments in... but we did spend time with our local friends. I opted to cook and entertain more at home, so fewer evenings out. And , of course, as many sunsets on the beach as possible!
DeleteHope you enjoy your upcoming trip - your agenda sounds pretty perfect to me! I'm glad your brothers are available to tag-team. My siblings stepped in with my parents when we moved to FL to help out my FIL, and now I'm doing the same every month with my parents.
I'll be posting photos from the New England coast soon, and look forward to my first lobster roll of the season. Happy Mother's Day to you, too!
Despite being on holiday I read two books, both very engaging reads. I like Desai very much
ReplyDeleteMystica - Glad you finished a couple of books while on holiday... and even better that they were both good reads! I look forward to reading more Desai.
DeleteSad FLA is over but it's probably getting too hot there ... and Conn will be perfect for spring & summer. You live the best of both worlds. I'm glad you are enjoying your reads. I guess I'm not too sure whether to pick up Sonia & Sunny but it'll likely be a while before I do. It's a great achievement that you finished it. Wishing you safe travels ... and happy reunions there.
ReplyDeleteSusan - The temps weren't too bad yet when we left, but the humidity was already way too uncomfortable! We just got back to CT, but we're heading up to NY in just a couple more days.
DeleteHope there is no big hurricane season this year for Florida! We have lots of relatives up and down the state and into Georgia.
ReplyDeleteHarvee - Supposedly the early forecasts have the hurricane season being less active than usual thanks to el nino... but I don't put much stock in the pre-season forecasts. Keeling my fingers crossed for sure!
DeleteHope you guys have a good trip back north, JoAnn. I think the weather has been a bit odd this year. We had warm February and then cooler than normal April, etc., etc. I'm going to be in and out in the next few weeks as we are helping my in-laws transition to senior living housing. Their choice, but it's going to be a big job. My mother-in-law loves her 'stuff' and it can't all go with them. Ha! Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteKay - Good luck helping your in-laws move and I hope they love their new community! We helped my FIL transition to senior living in FL 2013... that's when we started spending more and more time down there. That move had a few bumps, but stuff was never an issue. He was such a minimalist! Hope your MIL enjoys going through all her treasures... and I hope it isn't too painful for her to choose her favorites. I'll be thinking of you all!
DeleteHurricane Season! Yuck…just paid my annual insurance premium for flood insurance this morning, and it seems to go higher and higher every year. The Houston area had a very quiet 2025 hurricane season, so I’m hoping that the law of averages doesn’t catch up with us this year. I didn’t read the Booker nominees this time around, and wondering if I have the energy to go back and catch up. Probably not, but the one you mentioned sounds like a pretty good place to start.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - Those flood insurance premiums do indeed get higher every year - ugh! I'm running out of steam reading old Booker nominees and now want to concentrate on new books that may be contenders. Thinking John of John by Douglas Stuart (released today) may be in the mix.
DeleteSafe travels as you head north for the spring migration.
ReplyDeleteEmma has been such a good companion--hopefully you won't have to wait long for the next installment.
JaneGS - Thanks, Jane. We're back in CT now, but took a spontaneous detour to Harper's Ferry on the drive back, We had one short day in the middle, so decided to spend a couple of hours there... what a beautiful (and historic, of course!) spot.
DeleteBeth Brower says the next installment of her Emma M. Lion series will be out sometime this year. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Safe travels! I'm starting the Emma M. Lion series this month and am so looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Katherine. And I hope you love the Emma M. Lion series as much as I did!
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