Tuesday in the Hudson Valley. A sunny day, no rain, temps in the seventies.
I can’t complain.
Oh lord, did I have a weird night last night. It was one of those nights where I wasn’t sure if I was sleeping or not. Have you ever had one of those? It seems like you’re in some in-between state; not sleeping and not awake. I do know that I feel very tired this morning, so I can’t have slept all that much. This happens rarely, thank goodness, but its a surreal experience. I finally gave up and got out of bed at 5:30, which threw off Don’s morning rhythm. He’s usually up before me, but this time I trailed him downstairs.
Funny how we have our daily rhythms. Don is up for at least an hour before me, usually, and by the time I get up, he’s read for an hour, had his coffee, and upon hearing me come downstairs, proceeds to make mine. I have my rhythms as well, and you’ll sometimes hear one of us saying to the other, “You realize you’re throwing my rhythm off, don’t you?” Or, when the day requires an early trip into Manhattan, for example, we’ll comment that the whole day’s rhythm has been thrown off.
That happens to everyone, but maybe even more so as you get older and have more time on your hands. There was a time when my days were incapable of having a rhythm because my schedule changed so much from day to day and I just went with it.
But now I’m older and, boy, do I love the pattern and structure of my days. So does Don.
I happened to glance up yesterday and saw these little dots of light (from the blinds) all over the den. Sort of magical!
I’ve started a new book, The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn. It’s a mystery that I’ve had on my shelf for well over a year. So far it’s quite good and I’m intrigued. I finished The Feral Detective by Jonathan Lethem this morning. It was one of the books I picked up at Oblong Books last week. Excellent read; very modern, post-2016 election (with references to the shock and unreality of that day), edgy, and surreal. It’s a mystery. I liked it very much. It’s also interesting to see That Man referred to in a work of fiction. But then again, he deals in fiction, so I guess it’s appropriate.
I plan to lay low (not enough sleep) and read.
That’s it. That’s my plan for the day.
Happy Tuesday.
Hi Claudia, I just finished the new Louise Penney book. It is marvelous. I know you are saving it to read. I got mine from the library and read it quickly. There are 52 people on the waiting list for this particular copy of which the library has several! There are a lot of her fans out there. Enjoy your day reading. I certainly enjoyed mine. 😊
Glad you enjoyed it, Janet! I was a wee bit disappointed with last year’s so I’m hoping this one is back to the usual high standard!
Good Morning Claudia,
The other day I learned something about the author A. J. Finn. The New Yorker wrote a piece about him. Seems there is a lot of controversy around him. I have the book. I haven’t read it yet. Other books keep calling my name. Something else I learned recently concerning Anne Perry. Her new book just came out today. She is actually Juliet Hulme. There was a movie made concerning her and her friend called “Heavenly Creatures” by Peter Jackson.
Yes, it sounds like Finn aka Dan Mallory is a scammer and a not-very-honest person. I already had the book so I’ll continue with it. The article will surely harm his reputation.
Enjoyed Woman in the Window …of course I love the genre of psychological thrillers and have read many. That being said I still maintain that one of the best books this year-and for years is The Guest Book by Sarah Blake..
Thanks, Brenda. I’m not usually a big fan of psychological thrillers, but it’s here, so why not?
I got a chuckle from you talking about throwing off each other’s rhythm. Brian’s been on vacation again and so is home…and it’s totally thrown me off. The thing is, he doesn’t get it. I think he feels slighted. So I thought it was maybe just me and my quirky INFJ personality and need for a lot of alone time. I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one! And the need for this structure and my own rhythm of the day has definitely grown stronger with age.
After a ton of rain here, yesterday and today are beautiful and sunny and 80 degrees. Brian’s mowing the grass right now and I just took a break from cleaning out more stuff in the basement, unpacking fall clothes, and doing laundry. Have a good day and happy reading!
You are definitely not the only one!
I know you’ll get some reading in today, Melanie. Have a good time with Brian home!
I’ve read Woman in the Window recently and thought it was quite good. I also read online The New Yorker article, it would make an interesting drama in itself! I enjoy psychological thrillers and there’s certainly been a plethora published in the last few years. Though if I see one more book that references The Girl on the Train or Gone Girl on its cover, I might just scream😀
It’s funny how genres go in phases, about twelve years ago due to the success of Twilight, it was all vampires, then the dreadful Fifty Shades came along and lots of equally awful stuff was published so I can’t complain about the thrillers. I wonder what the next big thing will be?
When I first started working The Exorcist had just been published and I remember reading loads of well written horror stories. One of my favourite authors was Thomas Tryon (?) , who was also an actor.
Happy Tuesday
Neither of which I liked, by the way. In fact, I threw Gone Girl across the room, I hated it so much! And so many titles now have ‘girl’ somewhere in there. I remember Tom Tryon, who was an American actor and quite handsome. Thanks, Dee Dee!
I need to jump in here—Tom Tryon wrote a couple of my favorites, The Other and The Dark Secret of Harvest Home. The latter was made into a TV movie in the seventies, with Blythe Danner and Bette Davis. I loved it! So dark. I read the book several times and never tire of it. (Weird, I know, but…) I also remember his acting—was it in the sixties or the fifties?
I’d say sixties.
Funny you should mention our “rhythms”. I have finally adjusted to retirement & am SO into my new routine! When something knocks it off, I get very fussy for a few minutes but of course, then recover quickly, as I realize it’s all good at this point!!!
Love your book reviews….
Thank you so much, Priscilla. I get fussy about my routines, as well!
We had our routine down for a good 30 years. Then when Jim retired…I worked too, but at odd jobs, so I didn’t “retire” as such from a career…I just quit! His retiring was strange at first…until we got into our rhythms. Now…if I get up too early for some reason…he says “ what are you doing up?” And funny enough…it even seems to throw off our cat. I do like my routines…keeps me centered. But, I do enjoy the occasional break, as we travel.
Enjoy your day of reading…it’s too nice out here, to do much of that today. I have gardening chores to do! ;)
I agree – travel is a different thing entirely! It’s nice here, too, but I’m tired and all the leaf mold is bothering my allergies. Thanks, Donnamae!
Sorry you did not have a good night’s sleep. I have had those nights. They are very disturbing. Enjoy your book.
Marilyn
Thank you, Marilyn!
I read The Woman in the Window last year and did enjoy it. A thriller for sure. Also, Brenda mentioned The Guest Book…that was so good!! I did love that read a lot!! And I read, but did not like Girl on the Train, and was not a fan of Gone Girl. The women, in my opinion, in those books were NOT likeable in any way, shape, or form. I was kind of angry with both of them. Another one I tried to read 3x and could just not do it was The Goldfinch, and now it is a movie. Maybe I could make it through watching it, but will do so when it is someday on TV, and not spend $$ to see if I can finally get through it. I read so much, but sometimes I have to cry “uncle” and just put a book down when I can’t bear one more page. Rarely ~ but it does happen.
Such a pretty day today. Would like to bottle these days like diamonds to be able to pull one out in Jan or Feb!! Hope you have enjoyed a peaceful day.
I agree – they weren’t at all likeable. Every once in a while I make that same decision. No more of the book. It has to be pretty bad before I do that, but life’s too short, right? Thanks, Chris!
Hope you won’t be disappointed in the new Penny book. Her words on a difficult topic resonated with me. I thought it was one of her better books.
I’m never truly disappointed because anything she writes is so much better than most books. I just felt that she was slightly off last year. I’m sure she’s back to top form, I would be surprised if she wasn’t. Thanks, Brenda!
I hate nights like that. It feel sort of other worldly the next day. Enjoy your reading day. xo Laura
Indeed it does. I slept better last night. Thanks, Laura.
Those dots look like dangling diamonds!
The book sounds good. I’ve heard Finn is a wonderful writer!
Very good writer, Jeanie. Keeps you on the edge of your seat!
I had those kind of nights. Ugh!!!
They’re terrible!