To live the Hobbit life this week, I ordered everything I needed for Burns Night. The Boyfriend and I will be having a traditional Burns Night dinner, which includes haggis. I’ve also been decluttering and reorganizing the house a little bit at a time, including the pantry, to make our home more comfortable and cozy.
“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.
Currently Reading:
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
How to Hygge by Signe Johansen
A Mindful Year by Dr. Aria Campbell-Danesh and Dr. Seth J. Gillihan
31 Days to a Clutter-Free Life by Ruth Soukup
10-Minute Digital Declutter by S.J. Scott and Barrie Davenport
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Nordic Lifestyle by Susanna Heiskanen
Finished:
The Medici Manuscript by C.J. Archer
Total pages read this week: 388
Total books read: 5 of 80
TBR: -3 (Goal is -36)
I’ve been going from book to book looking for coziness and comfort, but not finding it in any of my current reads, which are mostly Non-Fiction. This time of year isn’t helping by making me want to sleep all the time thanks to the cold and lack of sunlight, and I’m struggling with my mood.
What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!
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?
My shelf is down several books to 1105. I finished and started a few books this past week.
This week’s books:
The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 1 by Diana Wynne Jones – KEEP. Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favorite Fantasy authors, and I just love books full of cats.
The Black Arts by Richard Cavendish – KEEP. I remember seeing this on Jenny Lawson’s bookshelves at some point and thought it sounded interesting.
The Gutsy Girl by Caroline Paul – GO. I’m not the intended audience of this book. While that has never stopped me from reading something I want to read, this book is truly written for young girls, and I’m going to let it go so that it hopefully finds its way into the hands of a girl who needs it.
Alice Takes Back Wonderland by David D. Hammons – GO. I have a gut feeling I won’t enjoy this book. Maybe someone else will.
The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier – KEEP. This one sounds bizarre and I’m not sure I will enjoy it, but I’m willing to give it a chance.
My want-to-read shelf is down a couple more books to 1103. The next post will have yet more of the physical books I own.
I spent most of the past week stuck at home sick with some kind of stomach thing. I’m not entirely sure if it was something I ate or a bug, but it was not fun.
To live the Hobbit life this week, I wasn’t able to do much until this weekend when I went out to run an errand. After I accomplished that, I decided I wanted some comfort food (it was windy and icy cold out and I hadn’t wanted to go anywhere). I headed to an Irish pub-style restaurant and had Shepherd’s Pie and a much larger-than-expected glass of cider. Then I walked over to a bookstore, enjoyed perusing the shelves for a while, bought a few books, and got a London Fog at the cafe there before heading home.
“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.
Currently Reading:
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
How to Hygge by Signe Johansen
A Mindful Year by Dr. Aria Campbell-Danesh and Dr. Seth J. Gillihan
31 Days to a Clutter-Free Life by Ruth Soukup
10-Minute Digital Declutter by S.J. Scott and Barrie Davenport
The Medici Manuscript by C.J. Archer
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Finished:
Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell
The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie
The Dalai Lama’s Cat: Guided Meditations by David Michie
Total pages read this week: 405
Total books read: 4 of 80
TBR: -3 (Goal is -36)
I continue to start new books before finishing the ones I’m reading, mostly because I can’t decide what to continue reading and instead look at my shelves. Luckily, I did manage to finish a few books and get back on track for my TBR goal. I’m also lucky to have a three-day weekend with lots of reading time thanks to the weather being bad enough to make going out not worth it. I will probably be listening to audiobooks quite a bit since I also have a new puzzle to put together. Life is good!
What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!
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?
My shelf is down several books to 1112. I finished and started a lot of books since my last post in December.
This week’s books:
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan – GO. The Boyfriend gave this to me after deciding he was no longer interested in reading it, and I’m no longer interested either.
The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl – KEEP. I read The Dante Club well over a decade ago and greatly enjoyed it. That fact is the only reason I’m willing to give this one a chance after seeing such low ratings for it on Goodreads.
We Have No Idea by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson – GO. I want to be the kind of person who wants to read this book, but I’m accepting that I, at least not at this time, am not.
The Nirvana Threads by Rachel Tremblay – KEEP. I have a feeling I will either love this book and not be able to put it down or I will despise it and stop reading within a couple of pages.
The Many-Colored Land by Julian May – KEEP. I loved Jack the Bodiless and, based on that, the Boyfriend said I will probably enjoy this one as well, even though they’re very different stories but related in a weird wibbly wobbly timey wimey sort of way. Perhaps I’ll finally get around to reading it during this year’s #SciFiSummer reading challenge.
My want-to-read shelf is down a couple more books to 1110. The next post will have more of the physical books I own.
To live the Hobbit life this week, I celebrated my birthday with pancakes for breakfast, a trip to the bookstore, and dinner at my favorite Korean restaurant. I also went to a Japanese market to get taiyaki, a fish-shaped pastry filled with red bean paste. They go great with hot chocolate! I ventured outside to the park twice to go for a walk, and I went out to an after-work hangout with a few coworkers (something I have never done before) and had a good time over a pint.
“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.
Currently Reading:
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
How to Hygge by Signe Johansen
Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell
A Mindful Year by Dr. Aria Campbell-Danesh and Dr. Seth J. Gillihan
The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie
31 Days to a Clutter-Free Life by Ruth Soukup
Finished:
Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland
Total pages read this week: 757
Total books read: 1 of 80
TBR: +1 (Goal is -36)
I have a habit of starting many different books around the beginning of the year before settling back into my usual reading patterns, and this year is no exception. On top of that, I nearly always go to a bookstore to celebrate my birthday, and while I only bought 2 books during this trip, that means I’ve put myself behind on my TBR goal when the year has barely started. It’s a good thing I’ve got the whole year ahead of me!
What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!
I met my (adjusted) goal for the year! With that in mind, my 2024 mileage goal will be 800 miles. However, I’m adding a goal of 100 miles (of the 800) to be walked outdoors. I would like to try several walking and easy hiking trails that aren’t too far from where I live, but I also live next door to a park with a paved loop I can walk whenever I want, no driving necessary.
My overall life goal for the year is to live a more Hobbit-like lifestyle, with my word for the year being “Hygge.” That doesn’t mean that I will be eating 7 meals a day or enjoying sweet treats regularly; instead, I’m simplifying, slowing down, and cozying up. Since my “diet” goal is to cut the sugar and fast food again (other than 1 sweet treat and 1 fast food meal a month), I’ll bake my monthly sweet treat instead of buying it, and I’ll go through my cookbooks and start trying the recipes that sound yummy on the weekends instead of going to restaurants. I’m going to garden again this year, with plans to expand to a 2nd raised bed and maybe grow a tea garden. I will enjoy lots of tea, whether in a thermos outdoors or reading a book indoors. Essentially, I will continue to work on all of the things I’ve been working on for years regarding my physical and mental health; however, my path to good health will look much different. It will be less about productivity and more about my quality of life.
I’m going to continue to track my stats Sunday through Saturday and post on Sundays. Since living the Hygge life isn’t about stats, I’ll also include a few sentences in my weekly posts about what activities I did or what things I decided to let go of to better reach my goal.
“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.
Currently Reading:
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
How to Hygge by Signe Johansen
Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland
Finished:
The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Total pages read this week: 338
Total books read: 101 of 80
This has been an excellent reading year! I finished 21 books over my goal, read nearly 30,000 pages, and rated 12 books at 5 stars (10% of my total reading for the year).
In 2024, I’m participating in a couple of reading challenges, #COYER and #BookSpin to tackle my digital TBR. I own over 400 ebooks and audiobooks combined, some of which I’ve had for more than a decade, so I would like to chip away at that a little bit while enjoying my new Kindle.
While I’m keeping my overall reading goal at 80 books for the year, I plan to reduce my TBR by 36 books. My plan for this is to change up my habits a bit by going for walks outside instead of going to the bookstore, which will also help me with my 2024 fitness goals (I’ll write more about that tomorrow in my #FitReaders post).
What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!
