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Life
Honestly? Last week was mostly just stressful and exhausting. I enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (especially since we decided to buy our Christmas meal last year instead of cooking it all ourselves!), but I actually dread the rest of December. My chronic illness is usually flared up (thankfully, not as bad this year as in years past, thanks to a new medication), I have way to much to do for my limited energy and stamina, and I just feel overwhelmed. This year, we have some added stress from a family crisis/rift, so I spent a lot of last week worrying about that, trying to figure out how to help, and talking to my sons (all very emotional conversations). So, I'm not much in the holiday spirit yet, and I still have a very long to-do list! But, we got a little snow last week to get us in the holiday mood, and my husband and I went to Trader Joe's to get wreaths and holiday goodies (as well as our usual food re-stock!).
And this weekend, we met our younger son and his girlfriend at our local tree farm to cut down our trees. Our son came home for a little while afterwards, to unload the tree and watch the first half of the snowy Bills game with his dad. Having him here gave me the motivation to hang our wreaths and start putting up our decorations (which might have stayed in the boxes another week otherwise!). So, it is starting to look a bit like Christmas around here!
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| My son and his girlfriend picked out their tree! |
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| Happy family at the tree farm! |
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| Our husband and son wrangle our tree |
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| Stockings on the mantle, ready for Santa |
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| We put up our wreath and some lights |
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If I Owned a Bookstore Tag - This fun tag gave me the chance to think about what my own bookstore would be like - I took inspiration from some of my favorite indie bookstores (and included some photos and videos).
November Reading Wrap-Up - I recap the 6 books I finished in November (plus one still in progress) - all outstanding nonfiction and many dealing with indigenous peoples. It was probably my best Nonfiction November ever!
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A Man on the Inside - We absolutely love this warm, funny Netflix show with a mystery at its heart, and season 2 did not disappoint! Ted Danson stars as Charles, a widowed older man and retired engineering professor who is at loose ends at the beginning of season 1. His daughter encourages him to find a hobby, so he answers an ad looking for an older person to be an assistant to a PI (not what his daughter had in mind!). He goes undercover in a fancy retirement community to find out who is stealing jewelry. In this second season, he's becoming (slightly) more adept at detective work and goes undercover as a professor at a local college where someone is blackmailing the college president over a huge donation being made by a prominent billionaire. And in this new season, Charles even has a love interest (played by his real-life wife, Mary Steenburgen). This show is hilarious but also poignant, and the mysteries are twisty and satisfying. Ted Danson is fabulous in it, as are his co-stars. It's an all-around great show: warm and entertaining and fun, at a time when we needed something lighthearted!
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I haven't had much reading time lately, so I am still reading Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a book I've been hearing rave reviews of for several years. The author, a member of the indigenous Potawatomi Nation, is also a biologist, so she weaves together (see what I did there?) scientific information about plants, stories from her own life, and indigenous stories, myths, and uses for plants.She also addresses damage that has been done to the environment. It's beautifully written, entertaining, and engrossing. I love the whole tone of the book, focused on the indigenous ways of interacting with the natural world in a respectful and reciprocating way. I'm enjoying it very much, especially since she has lived much of her life in upstate New York, close to where I'm from (she also spends some time in the Pacific Northwest). She has a TED Talk on the Honorable Harvest, which is a recurrent theme throughout the book.
I was thrilled when my Libby request for The Black Wolf by Louise Penny came through (long wait list!) just as I finished my last audio book. This is the 20th book in her Three Pines mystery series and a sequel to last year's book, The Grey Wolf (I wrote a mini review in this post). Inspector Armand Gamache and his team discover that the stunning, sinister plot they uncovered in that first book was just the beginning (I'm avoiding spoilers!). I'm already almost halfway through because her books are always so gripping and immersive. I love listening to her compelling mysteries on audio.
My husband, Ken, is still reading one of my favorite books from Big Book Summer this year, Bridge by Lauren Beukes. This is a novel about alternate realities, one of my favorite topics. The main character, Bridget, is grieving after her mother's death. Her mom struggled with epilepsy and recurring brain cancer since the age of 14, She used to bring Bridge, when she was just a child, along with her on some very strange adventures. Using something her mom called the "dreamworm," the two would temporarily inhabit other lives, where they were each themselves but different, and everything around them was different. Since then, Bridge's therapist has convinced her those were just dreams or fantasies, but while cleaning out her mom's house, Bridge discovers the dreamworm and her mother's journals, and she begins to realize there really are other realities that she can access. Bridge gets the idea that her mother is still alive in some other reality, so she goes hopping through parallel universes (and into other Bridgets, leaving them very confused and upset). This book was so good! My husband is enjoying it so far. (It's taking him so long because it's football season, and now basketball has started, too!)
I have no idea what our son, 31, is reading because we had more important things to talk about this week. Last time I asked, he was getting ready to start World's Edge by David Hair, book 2 in The Tethered Citadel series. He enjoyed book 1, Map's Edge, a few months ago.
Our younger son's girlfriend finished listening to The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger on audio, based on my recommendation. This is my all-time favorite book, so I am thrilled that she enjoyed it! I asked if all the time shifting was confusing on audio, but she said the audio was very well-done and made it easy to follow the story.
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What are you and your family reading this week?
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