Finished reading: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree 📚a fun read! Orc opens a cafe. Also interesting because it was a NaNoWriMo project, first novel, and became a social media hit.
Currently reading: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree 📚
Finished reading: The White Mosque by Sofia Samatar 📚An all over the place book. Some parts were lyrical and insightful and I gasped at the perfection of the writing. Other parts were long-winded and self-indulgent. It’s about Mennonites. And about crossing cultures.
First morning of my two-day personal retreat and things are going well
I think we need a recipes emoji. I can imagine a day when I’m looking for inspiration and I check the Discover tab for recipes. Witness @josephaleo ‘s recent corn salsa for salmon. @jean
I like Apple Music Classical, as a not-very-well-informed enjoyer of “classical” music (and all the widely varied stuff they lump under the heading Classical). I had hoped we would get album liner notes as part of this new app but I cannot see where to find them. Any ideas?
When I’ve been sick and have to decide whether I should get out of bed and start doing stuff, it’s helpful that my watch says keep resting. It’s some sort of odd flu but so far not COVID.
Finished reading: The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery by Adam Gopnik 📚I had high expectations that were not fulfilled. An interesting read but I learned nothing new except a little bit more about the author, who I’ve always liked.
Today I used a tote bag that had been resting in the closet since 2019. In it I found the AirPods I lost right around then.
There’s some me in here, talking about one of my favorite pastimes, contra dancing
Finished reading: All Join Hands by Thomas Curren 📚Much better written than I had expected, this is non-fiction about one of my favorite pastimes: contra dancing. History and personalities. A few errors of fact but most people won’t notice.
Finished reading: Translation State by Ann Leckie 📚I got to read this pre-release and enjoyed it. Somehow much different from her other novels, though there’s still quite a bit of tea drinking. The sci-fi storyline is mostly a backdrop for a tale about relationships. Recommended.
Finished reading: The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler 📚A good read. Thought-provoking, interesting characters. Dystopian near-future science fiction. The second novel I’ve read recently where the Buddhists save the planet.
I’ve been on such a run of work lately, barely time to breathe. Starting tomorrow, I’m unemployed until July. Bliss. The joys (and stresses) of self-employment, 20-year anniversary coming up!
Currently reading: Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond 📚
Currently reading: All Join Hands by Thomas Curren 📚
Currently reading: Translation State by Ann Leckie 📚
Currently reading: The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler 📚
Finished reading: The Empress and the English Doctor by Lucy Ward 📚A good read, interesting history of inoculation and vaccination in the smallpox era.
Still reading: Clarissa by Samuel Richardson 📚Perfect “about to fall asleep” reading because nothing ever happens. I’ve been reading it for weeks and still have 80+ hours ahead of me. And I’m enjoying it but am glad I wasn’t a 19th-century female.
Currently reading: The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain 📚
Currently reading: The White Mosque by Sofia Samatar 📚
Finished reading: Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett 📚Such a fun novel! It’s about death, addiction, depression, and a few more dark subjects but somehow the whole is light and life-affirming.
Finished reading: Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder 📚Worth reading, stories of the unhoused. But woefully short on solutions.
I’m planning to do a personal retreat in June. I’m at a crossroads in my work and want to take some time away to think about how I want to spend the next 7 years before retirement. I have some good questions to ponder, but would love to hear what’s worked for others.