Life
I guess I spoke too soon and jinxed myself last week because my health worsened again. I just have no energy and have been sleeping my life away. I think it's just a matter of getting the right combination and dosing of thyroid meds, so I'm hopeful I can get back to feeling better after I talk to my doctor this week and maybe get another set of lab tests.
I did start the week off well and finally got to enjoy a walk at our local nature center with one of my closest friends ... long overdue! It was a gorgeous day--the only one all week with blue sky--and we talked nonstop and enjoyed catching up.
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Blue skies and our lovely creek
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Our iconic covered bridge
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I'm continuing my #sky365 daily photos, even when I don't feel well. The clouds' patterns and textures have been interesting, but I'd really like to see some sunshine and blue sky! This was probably the most gray and overcast January I've seen in my 33 years in Delaware.
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Pretty clouds but I'd like to see the sun!
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On the Blog
No energy meant very little blogging (sorry for those blogs I didn't have a chance to visit last week!). I'm very glad I decided this year to reduce the number of reviews I write. I did manage to finally sign up for my 2023 Reading Challenges, so you can check those out.
Who else out there is already planning what to read for Big Book Summer 2023??
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On Video
I didn't have the energy to record new videos last week, either, but luckily, I had recorded several the week before:
Top 10 Novels Read in 2022 - a quick recap of my favorite fiction last year
Top 7 Nonfiction Books Read in 2022 - the best of the best!
So, if you're looking for outstanding books to read, check out my top picks. I still have one more Best Of video to edit, covering my favorite YA and middle-grade books from last year.
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What We're Reading
(Just a note that I finally finished Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver on audio, and it was outstanding! Definitely going to be a top book of 2023. The audio took me a full month to finish, but I was sorry when it ended and am missing the characters. It's wonderfully written, clever, funny, heart-breaking and heart-warming.)
I finished reading The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, my first classic of the year.
I've never read Buck before and learned that she lived in China as a
child and went back as a young adult. This book is set mostly in rural China in the 1920's, during the
revolution, about a farmer named Wang Lung, the slave woman, O-lan,
he takes as a wife, and the children they have. The family endures terrible hardships, including drought, floods, and near-starvation, but ultimately they thrive due to Wang Lung's connection to the land. It was a captivating story that I thoroughly enjoyed (though I wouldn't have wanted to be female in 1920-30's China!).
Now I am reading a review book from last year, A Serpent's Tooth by Matty Dalrymple. This is book 5 in her Ann Kinnear series, about a women who can sense and communicate with spirits. Her brother acts as her business manager, and she hires out to people who want to hear from the dead. Each book has a mystery at its heart and thriller-type action, but with a supernatural twist that I love. I've only just started this one, but it takes place at a family-run winery located in southeastern Pennsylvania (about 15 minutes from where I live!). I love her writing, the characters, the suspense, and how she makes each location an integral part of the story. Book 6 was just released, and I have that one, too, to look forward to!
I started--and finished--a middle-grade audio book, Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar. It's an immigration story but different than ones I have previously read. Nine-year-old Betita lives with her parents in East LA. They are descended from Aztecs, who originally lived in the southwest U.S. in a land called Atzlan. When their home in Mexico became too violent and dangerous, they migrated to the US and to their people's original homeland. Betita's Papi gets arrested by ICE and deported to Mexico, and Betita and her mom have applied for asylum. On a trip to the border to visit Papi through the fence, her uncle misses their exit, and they end up at customs, crossing the border. Betita and her mother--eight months pregnant--are sent to a detention center, where they are kept in a cage on a cement floor with 30 other mothers and children. All of this is told in lyrical verse from Betita's perspective. I loved listening to this powerful, poignant story on audio, but I see that the print version includes drawings and you can see the poetry structure, so I think that both versions would be wonderful.
My husband, Ken, is still reading No Plan B
by Lee Child and Andrew Child (his brother). This is Ken's all-time
favorite series, and I get him the latest book each Christmas. He is, of
course, enjoying it!
Our son, 28, is still reading The White Tower by Michael Wisehart, book 1 in The Aldoran Chronicles, in preparation for book 2, which he just bought with a Christmas gift card.
Land of the Cranes sounds heartbreaking, how awful for them. I am not sure if I'd like Demon Copperhead. Maybe one day as a slow read. Sorry you are not feeling well again, hope it passes as soon as possible for you. I am enjoying The Matzah Ball. What a great idea to take photos of the sky every day for a year.
ReplyDeleteIt is heartbreaking, Kathryn, and all too real here, though it does have a hopeful ending. Glad you're enjoying The Matzah Ball! It's a fun read.
DeleteDemon Copperhead took me a long time to get through, but I also thought it was a fantastic book. I totally felt immersed in Demon's life.
ReplyDeleteYes, I felt that way, too! I hated to leave him at the end :)
DeleteSorry you're not well. I traveled and came back sick again! Enjoyed myself on the trip and felt fine right up until the last day when I started to think I might be sick, not just jet-lagged and tired from overdoing it. So the all-day return trip was miserable, and now I'm missing more work and have spent every moment in bed until this morning when the coughing forced me to get up. It's hard not to feel sorry for myself, when my husband is just fine, with maybe a tiny bit of nasal congestion, and I'm laid out like a dead fish. I'm trying to do a little something before conking out again.
ReplyDeleteI listen to Lee Child's books on audio, and I forgot to put a hold on this new one. It'll probably be a long wait from the library, but that's OK because I have too many holds coming in now as it is. I can't decide whether to listen to Demon Copperhead or read it.
Yes, I've been thinking about Big Book Summer! I just listened to The Ink Black Heart which was 32 hours long or something like that, so that would have qualified, but I couldn't wait. I'm also listening to Project Hail Mary now, and not waiting. I bought World Without End by Ken Follett and I may save that to read for BBS.
So sorry to hear you're sick - keep testing for COVID, even if the first test is negative. In November, my son's symptoms began on Sunday, and he didn't test positive until Thursday! Check out my review of Demon Copperhead and listen to the audio sample - that might make your decision! Yay for Project Hail Mary - my #1 book read last year - filled me with joy :) One of those Follett epics is perfect for BBS - that's whty I started the challenge!
DeleteI've been having trouble logging into my Google account to comment on blogs, and I just left a long comment using the Name/URL option, but it may get lost. I finally figured out the third-party cookies issue for Google, but I won't try to reconstruct my comment, in case it does show up eventually!
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better soon. I'm sick and stuck in bed this week too. :(
Looks like they both came through, Laurie! So sorry you've been sick - hope you've had good books to keep you company :)
DeleteSo sorry you aren't feeling well again. I hope you get more energy as your thyroid meds are worked out. I know how that goes as I take synthroid (well, levothyroxine) every day
ReplyDeleteIt's newish to me, the thyroid dysfunction, but it was stable and easily managed with 1 low-dose med for about two years. Hoping to get back to a place of stability again!
DeleteHope you feel better soon.. and get back to normal energy levels..
ReplyDeleteI have not read Barbara Kingsolver before and was hoping to start with reading Demon Copperhead.. And Land of the Cranes is on my TBR (since forever)...
Thanks! All of Kingsolver's books are excellent, but Demon Copperhead is among her best!! Land of Cranes was excellent.
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