My greatest achievement over the past two days was the acquisition of a new pair of flats to wear with my skinny jeans. The pair I’ve been wearing for over two years are stretched beyond comfort. They flop when I walk and give me blisters. I bought Minnetonkas, shoes I last wore when I was 8 years old, so I’m not sure if this achievement isn’t in fact a regression. We’ll see how these work out.
I have Senioritis. I’m waiting for summer and becoming increasingly overwhelmed with everything on my plate, real and imagined. I knew baseball with two kids would be challenging on top of choir, school, everything…but in these past few weeks it seems like we have something to do every single day. Practices six days a week between both boys, games, homework, my niece is in a play, the Mister is traveling on business, family visiting, birthdays, holidays…none of it serious and none of bad. Just everyday stuff. Some people come alive with constant activity. I don’t. I hate having something to do every day, even when that something is good and fun and evidence of a full and happy life.
I’m aware that I’m ungrateful and, also, an enormous wimp. I have two kids! Round of applause to those with four children in sports. I can think of at least three families I know living this…dream? Nightmare? Either way, YOU WIN.
Over the weekend I reached a breaking point, and since I’m trying very much not to eat my emotions, I fell back on my next favorite vice: reading books of questionable quality. Since Sunday I’ve read this one, this one, and this one. I was hoping to find another series of ridiculous, campy awesomesauce (to wit: Dark Fever) but so far no such luck. The hunt for literary oblivion continues.
I do feel better, though, having decompressed a bit between the pages of three bad books. Truly, how can you be stressed about conflicting baseball games and school plays when you know somewhere out there a half breed vampire and her blind vampire king (full-blooded, impressive lineage) are struggling to rebuild a crumbling paranormal empire?
You can’t, obviously.
I’m getting sidetracked. I really wanted to come here to ask for a list of books you’ve been dying to read. I want a summer reading list for our book club so those of us with lackluster libraries [raises hand] have a chance at getting the book in time to participate in the discussions. I have a few ideas, but instead of linking to a million books and cluttering up your browser page, I’m linking to my book club page on Pinterest. I’m thinking about allowing people to pin suggestions to that board. What do you think? I also troll Goodreads for ideas. If we’re friends there, I look to see what books everyone has in common in their “to-read” lists. So friend me on Goodreads if you haven’t already.
I’m off to buy a tank filter since ours bit the bucket last night. Then I’m going to eat lunch, pick up the boys from school, and get Mikey ready for practice. After that, I’m going to studiously ignore the stains on the floor because I don’t feel like mopping.
I just finished Mudbound by Hillary Jordan and enjoyed it. It was a quick read, but dealt with some interesting themes about post-World War II life in the Deep South. It also won the 2009 Bellwether Prize for Fiction.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2138727.Mudbound
I’ll check it out, thanks! Looking good in the profile pic, btw.
Stress is a sign that something in an environment isn’t good for you. Who cares if other people have three or four or five kids in various stages of crazy activities and thrive on the energy? If that energy isn’t good for you, more power to you for recognizing it and choosing something better. I did something similar when sick last week — but I read 19th Century YA lit of questionable moral value, instead. :)
I very much want to join your bookclub, but I keep getting sidetracked and unable to keep up without a physical time and place noted in my calendar. I’ll keep trying, and will also share a couple of books that might be good:
– I just read and loved Cynthia Ozick’s Foreign Bodies — a masterful revisit of Henry James’ The Ambassadors. Highly recommended as a conversation-maker.
– If a graphic novel might be interesting, Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home is fantastic. I finished her Are You My Mother? last night and found it far less wonderful, but the “family tragicomic” was a major bestseller. I’ve not been a big fan of comic-style reading, but there’s so much room for exploration and interpretation in Alison’s writing; I’ve found Fun Home, too, to be a great topic for conversation. Particularly for people who like talking about their parents!
– If you’re looking for a very short volume to help you through the hot sticky months, E. B. White’s Here is New York is stunning. It’s a love letter to New York City written in 1949, as someone who once lived in the city but is now a “vagrant” visitor, and he rejoices in the city in the gorgeous, simple prose he is so well know for.
I went on a bit of a book-buying binge on Saturday, and put together some quick notes on why I selected the list I did — you’re welcome to it if you think it will help!
Thanks for all the recommendations! I will definitely check out your blog post, too. Right now, I have to go get dog food. Blargh. Ran out of time…
Okay, I’m back and now going to check out your blog. Also, thanks for the high-five on stress management. :)
My bookclub just finished and discussed “Doc A Novel” by Mary Doria Russell. 8 double thumbs up. One of the women listened to it and said the reader was fantastic. We’ve read just about everything she’s written starting with The Sparrow and liked them all to varying degrees but will continue to read what she puts out.
Is it fiction? I just looked at in on Amazon, and it looks fantastic. My husband would really like this one, too, which is always a plus. I pinned it.
I’m a big fan of Mary Doria Russel, FWIW.
Just have to “brag” that MD Russell lives in my city and we used to shop at the same grocery store. Someone told me I looked like her. She did all her research for the “Sparrow” book at our local library. That’s all I’ve read from her–but Doc does sound great, so it’s on my list. I can just picture a movie in the future.
I would say it’s non-fiction based but she probably took some license on details that are unknown. I found it rather enlightening as I’d always thought Doc Holiday was a gunslinger train robber type, not so! I think this book will appeal equally to both sexes. Enjoy!
No, *I* am the wimp — 2 kids in soccer, each with 1 practice a week — that’s my limit. My husband doesn’t travel, I don’t even volunteer that much at the school this year — and I’m good. And grateful that so far, more isn’t being required of me!
As for books: drawing a blank on current lit-fiction, but you know, this summer I’m really wanting to dive into some 20th century Western canon stuff — Gatsby. E.M. Forster’s “Passage to India.” Paul Bowles, “The Sheltering Sky.” Or “The Lover,” by M. Duras, the favorite book of a reader I highly respect. For someone with an English grad degree, my gaps are heinous, and I’m hoping to correct that — by even just 1 title!
Totally wanting to do some classical reading, too. Right now–in between fits of trash–I’m reading Villete.
I read all three of Tana French’s books in short order. They’d be excellent Book Club fodder, especially the first two: In the Woods and The Likeness. They’re character-driven, and yet they’re murder mysteries. I’m not a murder mystery reader but these drew me in from the start because it’s not so much about the crime but how the main character (each book focuses on a different detective) reacts to the world around them.
My mom LOVES murder mysteries. I’ll have to buy these for her birthday! Thank you!
I’m reading these in reverse order – I read Faithful Place recently and then added the other two to my To Read list. I agree that they’d make good book club fodder, and they’re definitely a step above many murder mysteries.
Ooooh … I’m enjoying browsing your Pinterest page. Handy! I like seeing covers instead of links.
I’m on a major literary junk bender right now as well. Just giving myself permission to get through it. Sadly, I’m running out of serial killer novels. How can that be possible?
Well, as you know, I was on a serial killer kick for a LONG time. Ever since Dark Fever, I’ve been on an Urban Fantasy/Fantasy kick, but I haven’t been able to find something as good. Good being relative…
I too read trashy Harlequin novels – they don’t require an ounce of energy like a book that TEACHES you something – and I can read them amidst distractions (like stuffed animals flying through the air and sitting in the doctors office). I haven’t read one in awhile because I have a tendency to sit there and finish the whole book in one sitting – ignoring – completely things that need to be done – like making dinner or cleaning the house – oops. Sometimes I just need to tune out and a smutty romance novel does the trick! I did just read a really good novel “A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving – an older book – but worth it – quite funny in some parts and thought provoking in others. Check it out.
They really are like candy. I call them Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup books.
p.s. A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my favorite books of all time. :)
Oh me too. In fact it’s on every one of my bookclub members personal top ten lists!! Sorry I seem to be having issues with exclamation points today.
Laura Anne, I’ve never read Harlequin, but I can relate. I’ve tried reading some of the old classics at the airport or doctor’s office, and it’s almost impossible, especially if you’re just starting chapter one. Ten minutes later, I’m still reading the same sentence.
On the other hand, once I start one of those “beach novels,”I can’t put it down. I guess that’s why they call them page turners. It’s like eating a bag of chips — at the moment it seems compelling, but afterwards you think, “That was a bunch of empty calories.”
Sweet girl, go check out my Grownup Books and my YA fiction boards on Pinterest. Maybe something will catch your fancy. http://pinterest.com/juliabookbag/
Also I’m about to do my 2nd annual summer reading list and I’ve got some that I personally am really excited to read. I’ll try and get that post rolled out next week.
Also, I don’t really know the range of interests you have in reading but I truly think ‘I Capture the Castle’ by Dodie Smith is a lovely and special book, a sweet little breeze of a book. I really love it.
I am WITH YOU on the senioritis. I am so blessed on nearly every level but I’ve been dealing with some health issues that are impacting my sleep and I’m really tired lately and I just feel so blah. You hang in there! We’ll hang in there together, shall we?
Chiming in to second the recommendation of “I Capture the Castle.” I read it every couple years, just for fun.
Two Melissas can’t be wrong! :)
Well now I have to look it up! (Like I wasn’t going to before.)
Yes, yes, and yes! I adore I Capture the Castle!
I recently read the first two books in a YA series that reminded me of it – the first is A Brief History of Montmaray. It has some similar elements, but goes in its own direction. Not as amazing, but definitely worth reading.
I am so with you on the senioritis. For two weeks now I have been looking at the (unpacked, out of the box) peel and stick floor tiles sitting in a pile in my kitchen, in the hopes of having a post for Wm Morris, and yet…there they sit. I really want to sit around and read trashy romances but the short people don’t agree with my plans. (Right this second someone is shrieking in my ear to fix her Dora puzzle.)
As for “mindless” literature, I am not ashamed (well, slightly ashamed, but it doesn’t stop me) to say that I am a member of the Harlequin Club, and every month six new Harlequins show up on my doorstep without me ever leaving the house. They are like eating candy floss; airy and insubstantial yet always have a happy ending and can be eaten in one short sitting. (If you consider catching a rich man a happy ending. Feminist they are not.)
You can also get them delivered to your e-reader. Trouble. I haven’t done that–yet–because I really think I would lose sleep and get nothing done. They are RIDICULOUS but addicting, like bad reality tv.
So, I’ve just picked up Fifty Shades of Gray to see what everyone is talking about, and it’s horrible. Like train wreck horrible and I cannot stop reading! Definitely NSFW….
It’s a break from the Piers Anthony re-read bender I’ve been going on. First read the Incarnations of Immortality series and am now on Adept.
I love seeing what everyone else reads. It’s intriguing!
Oh, I’ve had an entire post on 50 Shades tumbling around in my mind for weeks! Funny you should mention Piers Anthony–my brother and I were just talking about him this weekend. We LOVED him as kids.
You don’t owe us an explanation, but I find myself curious about the “why” behind your statement that you hate having something to do every day *even if* it’s something good and fun.
For lighter summer reading, I always enjoy revisiting Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances (especially Arabella) and Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series (starting with Soulless). Carriger blends vampires, werewolves, steampunk and Victoriana and somehow makes it all work, probably due to the “comedy of manners” and the truly unfortunate hats.
I have no idea. I’ve always been that way. I guess I’m one of those extreme introverts who needs a “cooling off” period after doing something social. It’s what I hate most about conferences. I need blocks of time where I can just be alone with my thoughts.
I’m fine when I’m in the moment, but it really takes it out of me to be “on” for long periods of time. Like other people mention below, it’s not even that I have loads of time to be quiet or that I can even explain my thought process.
I feel you on this. My husband is a worship leader, which means any time he gets a new job, we join a new church. Our first Sunday at Current New Church was Palm Sunday, and the incredibly nice members of the worship band threw us a welcome BBQ last weekend. After spending three hours at the home of a stranger amid a gaggle of yet more strangers, I felt like I’d spent the day bench pressing large appliances.
Perhaps you, like moi, are what Myers Briggs refers to as an EFNP . . . the oddball extrovert . . . the introverted extrovert, etc. etc. We love people; we can, more often than not, hold our own in social settings, but afterwards we . . . well . . . we need a nap. :)
I’m an INFP myself. :)
I’m am INFJ: http://typelogic.com/infj.html
Well, drat! I keep hoping to find fellow oddballers, but alas, most everyone seems to be fairly straight forward . . . :)
I am sooooo with you on disliking activities every day. My kids don’t like it, either. We all need time in the day to just be home without an agenda. It still isn’t very much time, between homework and dinner and bedtime, but it’s necessary. We don’t even like two nights in a row. I kind of dread the point next year when my older son will have to take karate twice a week if he wants to continue, and little brother will likely add piano and karate to his (our) schedule. Fortunately, we have a piano teacher who comes to the house, so that’s not so draining. At least I can make dinner and comment on blogs during a lesson. :)
Yeah, that’s why we are considering piano lessons!
“Some people come alive with constant activity. I don๏ฟฝt. I hate having something to do every day, even when that something is good and fun and evidence of a full and happy life.”
You nailed it. This is so exactly me. Can’t tell you why.
Yeah, it’s a mystery to me, too.
Yay – books! I just read State of Wonder by Ann Patchett and really liked it – although she’s a little contrived and I still don’t like anything as much as Bel Canto, which is set in South America so you might really like it (or really think it’s unrealistic). In maybe the next stack to read I have Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks – loved The Year of Wonder and People of the Book. Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith by Gina Nahai is one of my favorites ever – and I’m about ready to re-read it. My mindless reads are usually the murder/detective type, but I did read a wonderful series of “murder mysteries” that were much richer than the usual – by Ariana Franklin they take place in medieval England, involving a Jewish woman “medical examiner” from Italy in a time when autopsies were evil and women were witches.The Tiger’s Wife is also in my stack to read soon-ish. And my next non-fiction will be The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – there is an amazing Terri Grose interview with the author.
I’m a big fan of both Ann Patchett and Geraldine Brooks. I agree that Bel Canto is probably Patchett’s best, but I did like The Magician’s Assistant a lot, too. I think everything Brooks has written is wonderful.
I’m excited to look into your other suggestions!
I need to check out all these books!
I just read the 19th wife, about b. young’s wives. and also a modern day tale of polygamy. 500 pages and I COULD NOT put it down. great read.
those covers were great!!! hah!! i sometimes need this kind of escape, too. I’m reading
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy. i’ll be curious to see what you read this summer….
Those covers! My favorite is the subtlety of the guy grabbing the girl’s butt. Whatever could he be thinking?
I’m currently reading “The Passage” by Justin Cronin. I think you recommended it via recommendation a few posts ago. It’s HUGE (785 pages) and I didn’t realize a sequel was coming out in the fall … but I like it. So far so good, although I’m only on section 2. These aren’t your average sparkly vampires, I’ll say that!
Looooooved The Passage!
I didn’t recommend it. I think Rachel or Abbey did, and I mentioned that I would like to read them. There are seriously too many awesome books in the world.
Well said. I have a list as long as my arm and about 30 seconds to read in a week. *sigh*
When I get tired and stressed out I revert to juvenile fiction, which is why I just knocked off A Wrinkle in Time in two days. Of course, that’s also how I got started watching Downton Abbey–I was so tired I just wanted to lay in bed and watch tv or read, and I didn’t have any good books handy!
Luckily, guilty reading and/or watching can still be tons of fun :)
You know, A Wrinkle in Time is actually on my to-read list. I need to pin that book, too. I’m going to watch Downton Abbey soon. I’ve never seen an episode!
OMG, you HAVE to read it!!! And all the rest of the series as well. OR, the more adult books The Small Rain and The Severed Wasp. Sorry, I get a little fan-girl about them. :) Madeleine L’Engle’s books really shaped my worldview (religion, science, ethics…) I’m trying to get my 9-yr-old to read A Wrinkle in Time, but he’s flying through the Pseudonymous Bosch books at the moment and will not be distracted.
I can so relate to the crazy baseball schedule – fortunately we finished up last weekend, but it was pretty intense. As a Brit newly arrived in the USA, I had no idea what to expect, so it all came as a bit of a surprise. Still, all that being said, my little guy has already decided that he will definitely do it again next year – so I will just have to enjoy the less hectic schedule until January.
Nico finishes up this weekend. I’m pretty sure Mikey is going to the playoffs. Yay? I wish I had until January. I have until August, which is when soccer starts.
I’m used to crazy busy schedules but my husband is not. It definitely is an art of compromise, especially when it comes to the kid’s activities. I marvel at the neighborhood moms who create a busy schedule for their toddlers because they (the moms) don’t like to stay home. I get a glazed over look and suddenly feel tired when they talk about their calendars. Ugh!
Anyway, I digress. Buddha in the Attic is supposed to be good and it won the 2012 PEN-Faulkner award. Worth a look-see. It’s on my summer to read list.
BTW- I can’t wait for Summer! Not the heat and humidity, but man, bring on the lazy days by the pool please! Throw in a cute cabana boy serving drinks and a good book- LIFE IS GOOD! ;)
Buddha In the Attic is indeed fantastic, and different from anything I’d read before. It’s the story of Japanese mail order brides, told in the first person plural.
I’ll check out the book, probably pin it. Are either of you on pinterest? If you are, let me know and I will “invite” you to pin to that PIBC board.
I have a friend–several, actually–who live for busy schedules. If they are in their homes for more than 10 minutes they go nuts.
When I want something light and easy, I dip into my daughter’s YA collection. An interesting but easy author you might like is Gabrielle Zevin. I liked her first book, Elsewhere, a lot–an exploration of life and what constitutes being alive. (The main character dies and goes Elsewhere, where people enter at the age of their death and regress backward until they are born again into this world.) Just finished her new one, All These Things I’ve Done. It’s a futuristic dystopian romantic adventure–little bit of something for everyone. Didn’t like it as well as Elsewhere, but it sucked me in after the first few chapters.
As for sports, I had a big aha this weekend (having also struggled through seasons when both kids were playing and I felt I could never catch my breath): Sports are not a mandatory part of childhood. Some parents actually like going to their children’s practices and games. These are parents who love sports themselves. I do not. While I rarely disliked the parents I hung out with at those games and practices, they weren’t really my tribe. Being with them was OK, but it depleted me. It never filled me up. I never made good friends there. I’m a bookish introvert homebody. While I love and need interaction with others, I love and need it in small doses. Giving up every evening (and any semblance of a calm dinnertime around the table) and most of a Saturday wore me down. For some reason, it was only this weekend that I realized that not every parent puts their kids in sports. That maybe it would have been OK (better?) for me to have spent more time doing with my kids the things that are “my” things: Going to museums and movies, doing community projects, spending a Saturday afternoon lost in a book. They are 14 now. One doesn’t really like sports at all and complains about how we forced them on her. (She’s a huge reader and also an introvert.) The other one likes them more, but it’s not his passion, either.
I keep asking (strongly suggesting) to Mikey and Nico that they can skip soccer/baseball but dangit…they love it. They are total athletes, which I don’t get. My husband and I aren’t (that much).
I’m like you–I need interaction in small doses because I do love it, just not all the time. It’s the late dinners and rushing around that gets to me.
Yeah, that’s the rub: When they love it. If my kids loved it, I’d endure it. And I always thought the sports were good for them in lots of ways. Just wish I’d realized there might be other kinds of good for them things. Hindsight and all that :-)
Funny you mention hating being so busy because just last night as I drove my son home from soccer practice, I thought “being busy and active is what life is all about”. I was trying hard to talk myself into accepting & enjoying constant activity. Instead of sitting in my chair for an hour, I walked around the soccer complex 3 times, it was 2 miles. I have nothing to offer in the way of books. I’ve fallen off that wagon and have yet to get back on. :)
That’s great that you walked! Maybe I should do that and bring my ipod. I would be more “alone” walking instead of sitting around the field with the parents.
I’m totally in agreement about needing downtime in between activities. I’ve been feeling the same way with end of year school events, sports, trying to keep up with family events and full-time work outside the home. Even when it’s all ‘good stuff’, I do need at least one day to decompress and just be. I think it’s just fine and clearly from the posts, we aren’t the only ones. I’ve been taking my iPod to practices and listening to books so I can block out some time to myself (I think when people see me plugged in, there is less chit chat) in all the busy-ness .
Summer reading? I’m in the same boat as you trying to figure out a list. I love scrolling through the ideas that people are already posting.
People are offering great book suggestions!
p.s. Good idea on the headphones/earplugs.
Say, nice shoes! I do so love a cute pair of flats–I’ve been wearing them ad nauseum for the last month or so. Of course, I went to “the home” to pick up my grandma the other day. Her friend saw me coming and said, “Oh, is the little one learning to drive?” To which my grandma replied, “The ‘little one’ is 38–she’s just short.” Perhaps I should rethink the flats.
In bookish news, loving the suggestions. I just finished P.G. Wodehouse’s Ukridge, which made me chuckle. Not sure what’s next. As for Goodreads, I joined years ago. I think I added two books, before becoming overwhelmed. Huh. Perhaps I should do something about it . . .
Haha! Your grandma would say the same about me. :)
Hey Jules :)
Do you like political non-fiction? I only ask because most people don’t find the autobiography of Colin Powell particularly interesting, but I love that kind of thing.
If you DO….
I would recommend “The Presidents Club” by Nancy Gibbs. It’s fascinating to learn about the relationships forged between the past 15 presidents or so-in feast and famine, so to speak.
If politics/government isn’t your thing, I have a fond place in my heart for Sandra Cisneros and her works: “The House on Mango Street” and “Caramelo”. Her work is so beautifully vivid and multi-cultural/multi-generational. It’s a wonder.
I’ve never read political nonfiction, but my mom and husband do so you’ve taken care of my mom’s b-day present this year. :)
Hello- I am a long time reader, but I don’t think that I’ve ever commented before. Anywhozzle, if you are looking for a fun series to read for the summer I would like to suggest Pack Challenge, Go Fetch, and Here Kitty, Kitty by Shelly Laurenston. The characters are smart, funny, brutal, sarcastic and addicting. The books themselves are campy, fun, and totally addicting. Shelly Laurenston made me NOT hate the paranormal genre! (if it helps all of the above titles have gotten 4 or more stars on Goodreads!)
Happy Reading
Jully :o)
I’ve seen those books! They look HILARIOUS. In fact, I poked fun at them on FB a long time ago, and my husband has been egging me on to buy some. I just might have to now. :)
You’re fun.
Ummm, books. I’m a big reader and tend to find new series/authors to consume by randomly pulling novels off the library shelves and reading a few paragraphs in the middle. I’d guess these are all pretty well known authors as they’ve written a lot, but maybe something will be new to you.
Anne Perry – Victorian era murder mysteries, very true to period, well characterized, and grippingly structured.
Elizabeth Peters – Victorian era egyptologist feminist woman and her family. More of a caricature of the period, but very fun and easy to read without being brainless.
Barbara Delinsky – the classic Women’s Novels, about women, for women. Modern era, good insights into what makes us tick.
Rosamund Pilcher – English author with some truly great novels. Homecoming is a favorite, spanning the 30’s and 40’s while remaining very close to the characters, rather than being an Epic Novel.
Katie Fforde – fluffy, wonderful, sweet chick lit that maintains a slight connection with reality
I’m going to have to buy these books for my mom. They sound PERFECT for her. I actually would like to read them, too, especially the Anne Perry.
I love mystery (every since I received my first Agatha Christie boxed set in 4th grade), and I love Elizabeth Peters (but get the Amelia Peabody books rather than Vicky Bliss). Fun, funny, a bit of history. They’re so cheerful!
Ahh! I just have to say Vilette was so good until the horrible, horrible, horrible end! I read it once maybe 10 years ago and I am still reacting like this.
I recently read two books by Monique Truong – The Book of Salt received lots of awards, and I really liked it, but Bitter in the Mouth knocked my socks off. Decadent, yet simple. Yum.
.
The titles sound great. I’ll have to look those up!!
The Book Of Salt was excellent.
I bought a pair if Minnetonka Thunderbirds a few months ago because they were exactly like the ones my mom used to buy my sister and I ever spring at Stride Rite. I hated them then but I love them now.
Did the corners of the top flap thing poke you a bit? They poke me, but I don’t know if it’s because I bought them in an 8.5 when I should have bought an 8.
I had to laugh at your decompressing books. I call them “brain drain books” and I personally believe it to work better than food but not as well as exercise – which is probably why I tend to read more brain drains in the winter.
I love that this book club brings me to read books that I wouldn’t have encountered otherwise, so I’m hoping that the next book is not only available at my library, but isn’t something already on my to-read list. I don’t know about everyone else, but the unpredictability is what I like the most about PIBC!
Haha! That’s nice to hear. Actually, that’s funny you should say that because the few times I have vowed to do more consistent/predictable posts (like recipes on Tuesdays, or other such nonsense) people have said that it’s not necessary. The not knowing what the hell they are going to get when they click my blog is part of the allure. ;)
Jules, I don’t have any book suggestions, but I think you just explained why I always have this urge to go to the library on my way home from food shopping. Food shopping is one of my least favorite things to do in life, and I guess my mind is looking for a way of escape or some kind of reward. Unfortunately, stopping at the library is never an option when I’ve got a car full of groceries to unload. :)