Half a Year Away: Where I Was, What I Read, and What I Wore

 I really didn't mean to take such a long, long, long break. No excuses. Just caught in a gentle drift. Now I'm back. Not ready to be a not-blogger yet.

Where I was: Home, work, book group(s), an overnight trip to Springfield. Also, on my phone too much.

What I wore: The usual stuff. Haven't found a white Emily Dickinson dress that suits me.

What I read: 27 books. Not a huge amount, but some of them were chunksters.

1. A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life. (nonfiction) - Ayelet Waldman. Audiobook.

2. Be Ready When the Luck Happens. (memoir) - Ina Garten. (I thought Garten's memoir would really resonate with me, but something fell flat, like an unsuccessful souffle.)

3. Long Island. (novel) - Colm Toibin. (enjoyable Edith Wharton vibes!)

4. Giovanni's Room. (novel) -James Baldwin. (so glad I finally read this book!)

5. Burning Bright (novel) - Tracy Chevalier. Audiobook.

6. Who Is Cynthia Erivo? (nonfiction) - Crystal Hubbard.

7. Waiter Rant. (nonfiction) "The Waiter".

8. Who Is Ariana Grande? (nonfiction) -Kirsten Anderson.

9. The Man Who Lived Underground. (novella) - Richard Wright.

10. Carrie. (novel) - Stephen King. (Intro by Margaret Atwood!)

11. The Only One Left (novel) -Riley Sager. (read for the first meeting of my very newest book group.)

12. The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol I. (nonfiction) - Mark Twain. Audiobook.

13. Animal Dreams. (novel) - Barbara Kingsolver. (read this one for my other book group. I adore and revere Barbara Kingsolver, just not this book, and one of the other members got huffy at my saying so.)

14. Who Was Shirley Chisholm? (nonfiction) - Crystal Hubbard.

15. The Poppy War. (novel) R.F. Kuang. (new book group; it has no name. The more I read of Kuang, the more impressed I become.)

16. The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 2. (nonfiction) - Mark Twain. Audiobook.

17. Mary McLeod Bethune. (nonfiction) - Sandra Donovan.

18. The Constant Rabbit. (novel) - Jasper Fforde. (read this one for new, no-name book group)

19. The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 3 (nonfiction) - Mark Twain. Audiobook.

20. Three Days in June. (novel) - Anne Tyler. (Anne Tyler was interviewed on a Sunday morning talk show. I nearly swooned from happiness.)

21. What Was The Renaissance? (nonfiction) - Roberta Edwards.

22. Who is Carol Burnett? (nonfiction) - David Stabler.

23. Woe. (graphic novel) Lucy Knisley. (Linney! You're my new favorite cartoon cat!)

24. Severance. (novel) - Ling Ma. (new no-name book group read. It's an immigrant experience novel! It's a dystopian, apocalyptic tale! It's a zombie story! Who says you can't have it all? Not Ling Ma!)

25. A Promised Land. (memoir) - Barack Obama. Audiobook. (wise, wry, reflective. can't wait for volume 2.)

26. Jane Austen's Bookshelf. (nonfiction) - Rebecca Romney. (favorite book so far this year. It woke up the extreme bookloving part of myself and made me realize that I wanted to keep blogging. Read it, please!)

27. The Dog Stars. (novel) - Peter Heller. (read for new no-name book group. Not my favorite. Author is a travel writer who channeled Hemingway and Cormac McCarthy and came up wanting. Also: clunky sex scenes.

I was going to tidy this post, but I've almost lost it twice, so off it goes to meet the orange Publish button.