I’m at a standstill with putting together furniture thanks to an Ikea dresser having a wrong piece in one of the boxes it came in. Once I get the replacement part, I’ll be able to finish it, put the bed frame together, and then most of the apartment will finally be done. The rest will be just odds and ends to make it cozier.
“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life. All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted. Currently Reading:
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart
Finished:
The Kindness Handbook by Sharon Salzberg
Bilbo’s Last Song by J.R.R. Tolkien
Total pages read this week: 358 Total books for the year: 20 of 90. Yesterday was Tolkien Reading Day and I chose to celebrate by reading Bilbo’s Last Song. I’m still trying to catch up on Les Misérables, but I found The Piano Shop on the Left Bank on the free book cart at the VA and immediately started reading it. I’m loving it so far and it made me spend far too much time searching and considering buying a piano for which I have absolutely no room in my tiny one-bedroom apartment. I also added quite a few pieces of sheet music to my wish list on Amazon and ordered a copy of The Road Goes Ever On, a book of poems and songs from Middle Earth put to music for guitar and piano. I only have a 5 octave keyboard, but I’ll do what I can with it until I find the room and money for a full-sized weighted-key digital piano with pedals. It’s probably a good thing I don’t have one right now anyway since my synovitis has been acting up again.
What are you reading this week?
Image: hjl Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story. All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
How it works:
Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
Order on ascending date added.
Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
Read the synopses of the books
Decide: keep it or should it go?
I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR. My TBR has gone up, again, to 724 books thanks to my fave book blogs providing amazing reviews and recommendations.
This week’s five books:
So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane – KEEP. I loved Duane’s The Book of Night with Moon and I already own this one. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks – KEEP. If I’m ever going to get around to watching the TV adaptation, I need to read this classic Fantasy first. The Year of Shadows by Claire Legrand – KEEP. Gothic Middle Grade Fantasy? Yes, please and thank you! The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde – KEEP. I don’t remember why I initially added this one to my wish list, but I wouldn’t doubt it had something to do with the VW Bug on what is obviously part of a dragon. How could this not be an awesome story with that cover?! The synopsis backs up my theory, too, so I’m keeping this one on my wish list. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones – KEEP. Why have I not read this yet?! I have it on my “Readathon Maybes” list, so I’m going to move it to the top of the stack for the 24-Hour Readathon in April.
My to-read shelf is stuck at 724 books. See you next Saturday when I start with book #131.
I’m having some difficulty getting my steps, but I’m going above and beyond my active minutes goal without much trouble. I’m not going to adjust any of my goals yet, though, since I’m still in the process of unpacking, putting together furniture, rearranging things, and organizing all the stuff.
“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life. All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted. Currently Reading:
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
The Kindness Handbook by Sharon Salzberg
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton
Finished:
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
A Philosophy of Walking by Frédéric Gros
Total pages read this week: 481 Total books for the year: 18 of 90. I’m doing my best to finish up my current reads now that my reading slump has passed.
What are you reading this week?
Image: hjl Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story. All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
How it works:
Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
Order on ascending date added.
Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
Read the synopses of the books
Decide: keep it or should it go?
I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR. My TBR is up to 720 books thanks to a small reading slump coupled with adding quite a few books to my wish list.
This week’s five books:
Wizards of Water and Wood by P.J. Owen – KEEP. I’ve already read the first 2 books in this Middle Grade Fantasy series, and I really need to get around to reading this one since I already own it, and it’s only 104 pages. Sages, Swordsmen, and Scoundrels by P.J. Owen – KEEP. This one is on my wish list since I haven’t read the 3rd book yet. I think it’s the final book in the series. Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky – KEEP. This was written by a Ukrainian-born Jew prior to her death at Auschwitz. She was also a well-known author in France. There is no way I’m not going to give this book a chance. The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Sansom – KEEP. I adore cozy mysteries set in libraries and bookstores or having to do with books. I prefer them on audiobook, but I couldn’t find this one in that format so I settled for the ebook instead. Voracious by Cara Nicoletti – GO. Normally, I love to get my hands on any cookbook about food mentioned in books. However, I’m often disappointed by the recipes which tend to be too difficult for my limited cooking skills, require too many strange ingredients or an entire kitchen’s worth of pots and pans, or sound like nothing I would ever want to eat (my “foodiness” is much more about comfort than exploration). Adding all that up and considering that I already have two amazing book-related cookbooks with more than enough recipes for me to try (Outlander Kitchen and An Unexpected Cookbook), I’m taking this one off my wish list.
My to-read shelf is down to 719 books. See you next Saturday when I start with book #126.
“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life. All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted. Currently Reading:
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
The Kindness Handbook by Sharon Salzberg
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
A Philosophy of Walking by Frédéric Gros
Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Finished:
These is My Words by Nancy Turner
Challenges: Total pages read this week: 392 Total books for the year: 16 of 90. I’m finally back to listening to audiobooks while I do stuff around the apartment. I’ve got most of the boxes unpacked, and a couple of the rugs we ordered arrived but there was a major screwup with the furniture so I’m still waiting on that. Once it arrives, I’ll be spending the majority of my time putting it all together. I foresee lots of audiobook listening over the next week or so.
What are you reading this week?
Which means I’ll be reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I’ve been wanting to read it for awhile, but I’ve been putting it off in the hopes of reading it for RIP. I honestly don’t know if I will finish it since I’ve been an extremely moody reader lately. I’m also in the middle of several other books. I’ll try though because I have just a little more than a year to finish the 50 book challenge.
Though I’ve been unpacking, organizing, and hauling stuff around all week, it did not show up on my FitBit as active minutes or a huge number of steps. My body sure feels it though *sigh* At least the apartment is looking much more like a home than a storage unit.
I’m finally on the Tennessee-Virgina border section of the Appalachian Trail on Walking 4 Fun. I’m hoping I’ll be able to read the next section of A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson soon.
