reading — Page 69

On the Road: Coffee, Reading & Snow

February 21, 2015 at 9:08 am by Claudia

2-21 Billy's

I posted this photo on Instagram yesterday. Isn’t this the best diner-like mug? I couldn’t resist. It’s very heavy and solid. Why is it that coffee just seems to taste better when it’s in a mug like this?

Don’t know. But it does. And it’s helped by that gorgeous shade of pale aqua on the logo.

I’ve read two books since I’ve been here: The Swimmer by Joakim Zander, which I’ll be reviewing in a few weeks for TLC Book Tours, and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, which I’ll talk about on the book blog. Now, I’ve moved on to All the Old Knives by Olen Steinhauer. Being out of town with a certain amount of free time on one’s hands and frigid temps outside that make walking more than 100 feet painful seems to be conducive for reading. Now, if I only had a fireplace…

I am going to venture out today as I don’t have a rehearsal to attend. I hope I can swing a visit to The Mysterious Bookshop again. The shop isn’t open on Sundays, so this may be my last chance to spend some time in that little slice of heaven. We’re also due for some snow this afternoon, so I’m going to try to get going early before it really starts coming down. Poor Don – 4 to 8 inches due in our neck of the woods. Where the heck is he going to put it? Really. I’m serious. I don’t think there’s anywhere else to put it. (This reminds me of last winter, when I felt actual panic about how I was going to lift the shovel high enough to dump the freshly shoveled snow.)

I’m assuming that I’ll go home on Monday, but I have to confer with the director to get her take on how it’s all sounding. I believe I only have the apartment through Tuesday and Monday is the day off. I’m homesick and really need to see my husband and doggie again, but if I have to stay one more day, I will, of course.

That, my friends, is it. I’ve arranged to see the matinee tomorrow, so I can watch the Oscars in the evening. I suppose Mr. Sparks and I will be watching it together via an ongoing conversation on the phone. We’ve done that sort of thing before.

Happy Saturday.

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In and Out: Two Views

February 2, 2015 at 8:33 am by Claudia

2-2 view

This has been my almost-constant view lately, as I sit in my chair, kleenex in hand, sniffling, coughing, drinking orange juice, generally feeling yucky. Sometimes I read; actually, I’ve been reading a lot, sometimes I browse on the old internet, sometimes I feel sorry for myself. Waaah.

Last week was a tough week and this one….well, it’s starting out with a bang. We’re in a snow event here with snow falling all night and about 7 or 8 inches on the ground this morning, with snow expected to fall all day long. Here’s another view for you today:

2-2 snowevent

Soon it will be higher than our chairs on the funky patio. I got up around 6 this morning, jolted awake by a coughing fit, and Don got up just long enough to go out and shovel Scoutie’s little corral for her. Then he went back to bed. This picture was taken about an hour later. You can’t even tell where Don shoveled.

And the temps are frigid out there, which doesn’t bode well.

I’m ready to shovel, but Don won’t let me. (I may sneak some in.)

We are ready for winter to be over.

Unfortunately, it’s only February 2nd.

Thanks for all your wonderful 10 favorite movie lists yesterday! What fun it was to read everybody’s faves. As I suspected, each time I read a list, I was reminded of yet another movie that I loved. (I stealthily added Cinema Paradiso to my list later in the day.) If you haven’t read the comments on that post, you may want to make some hot chocolate, or coffee, or tea and peruse everybody’s favorites.

What else? I’m just about to finish Howard’s End is on the Landing by Susan Hill and I’m diving into The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney. I have a book review coming up on this blog tomorrow.

I’m taking a little survey on Just Let Me Finish This Page, inspired by a chapter in Susan Hill’s book. Do you jot notes in the margins of books? Are you someone who never writes in the pages of a book? Or are you somewhere in between? Stop by Do You Scribble in the Margins?

Happy Monday.

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One a Month

January 31, 2015 at 9:00 am by Claudia

SFC – Still Feeling Crappy. In fact, crappier. That’s all I need to say about that.

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One a month.

A Penguin Classics hardbound edition in this series costs between $18 – $20, less than most new hardcover books. The latest, Emma, was about $18. I don’t spend money at Starbucks. I rarely eat out. I rarely buy magazines (too pricey, not enough original content.) I figure I can get away with one of these editions monthly. When I’ve collected all of the Jane Austens, I’m also going to get Middlemarch by George Eliot, another favorite of mine.

They’re so beautifully done.

What will be next? Persuasion? Northanger Abbey? Mansfield Park? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see.

Remember that photo of Scout I posted the other day? Where she was sleeping on the sofa?

1-31 Snooze

Here she is just a few minutes later. She makes me smile.

It is COLD out there. Wind chills well below zero, more snow on the way Sunday into Monday – right now, the forecast is for 5 – 8 inches. Bitterly cold all next week.

Maybe we should build an igloo.

This – whatever it is, Don thinks it’s a cold – is sapping my strength. I was able to concentrate long enough yesterday to finish the book I am to review on ~~Monday~~ Tuesday (my brain is mush.) Now I have to start another. No big sacrifice since I love to read, but my attention span is spotty, at best.

I’m also reading Howard’s End is on the Landing by Susan Hill. Hill is a well-known English author (and she shares my surname – maybe we’re distant relatives?) This book was inspired by a search she made for a particular book in her full-of-books cottage. In the course of the search, she discovered all sorts of books that she had never read, so she decided to stop buying books for a year and, instead, read the books in her home library. It’s really a lovely read. I think you’d like it. I’ll review it on Just Let Me Finish This Page when I’ve finished.

That’s all for today, my friends. Back to blowing my nose and sniffling.

I’m thankful for flannel pajamas.

Happy Saturday.

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On the Road: Coffee, Reading & Snow

In and Out: Two Views

One a Month

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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