My My July

How do people 'bookworm' in the United States? It's such a distracting place! So much is coming at people all at once, over and over. I'm still reading (with both eyes and ears) but it's by sheer force of will. I will be a bookworm, dammit! I will!!!

Here's what I'm reading now:

Bossypants - Tina Fey. Audiobook. I could've read this a few years ago, but someone told me that the audiobook was the way to do it. Thanks, whoever you are! (Teri?) That was good advice! Even better: I've finally made (early morning!!!) exercise and reading fit together. Was it that hard? Well, awkward is the word. I feel like a chimp at my first fire.

Wish You Were Here - Stewart O'Nan. My Stewart O'Nan summer nearly floated out to sea, but I reeled it back in. There is also going to be a Stewart O'Nan autumn.

Coco Chanel - Justine Picardie. This book is gorgeous. So many photos. Drool.  I love how Picardie is so obsessed with Chanel and she's not afraid to let it show.

Here's what I just finished reading:

Hissing Cousins (Sorry, blanking on co-authors, and I'm not going to stop to look because I will finish this blog post; I will be a blogger again, dammit! I will!!!...wait! I've got it: Marc Peyser and Timothy Dwyer. Whew.) - A puckish biography of Eleanor Roosevelt and her first cousin, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, who was Theodore Roosevelt's oldest child. Cleverly and clearly written and no history is left behind. I loved this book so much!

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up - Marie Kondo. I've read it twice on my Kindle. I bought a copy for my bookshelf of greatest hits. For my third outing with Ms. Kondo, I audiobooked it. Round and round the apartment complex I went, sweaty and illuminated. This book never gets old. There's something so dear and fresh, even in repeated readings. Excuse me. I need to go fold the things in the dryer.

Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight - Peter Walsh. I've already been thoroughly Kondo'ed, so this book felt a little repetitive and there wasn't that piquant charm. Still, I appreciated his breaking it all down step by step. I took one of his flow charts to heart. There's also a soft spot in my heart for his old show Clean Sweep.

Here's what I'm not going to read:

Go Set a Watchman - Harper Lee. I'm not going to go into all my reasons here, but I will say that the book has made me feel uncomfortable from the moment last year that all of this came to light.

Here's what I'm going to read pretty soon:

What To Do About Alice? - Barbara Kerley. A children's nonfiction book about Alice Roosevelt that was the genesis for Hissing Cousins. My library lost/misplaced their copy, and I got all Veruca Salt and decided that I must have it NOW!!! I'm expecting a package from Amazon in a couple of days.

I know this post looks like my bookworming is still full speed ahead, but that's not what it feels like. My book group dream went belly-up earlier this month, so I've got to start from scratch again. Carving out a life here often feels more like the space is being carved for me and I must find a way to fit in it. I have to believe that bookworm power will prevail.

Bookworm Transitions

One month home, and it's gone by in a blur. Shortly after my last post, Mom and I went to Tulsa to visit The Spawn, and she fell ill. Scary stuff. Somehow, we got her into the car and back here. Her doctor took one look at her and said, "Hospital." One week in the hospital has now turned into 2 or 3 weeks of physical and occupational therapy in a nursing home. Looks like I showed up in the U.S. at just the right time.

In other news,  I have finally gotten the Bybeeary unpacked and organized:

Nonfiction on the left, fiction on the right

Pulitzer fiction winners

As you can imagine, reading has taken a back seat. No, that's not right. Reading isn't even in the car. If anything, it's clinging to the back bumper.

This seems like a running joke, but I'm still reading A Game of Thrones.  I'm also reading Without You, There is No Us by Suki Kim and Let's Just Say It Wasn't Pretty by Diane Keaton.

Book buying: I picked up a copy of the newest Pultizer fiction winner, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and I couldn't resist a hardcover copy of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.

Dewey's Readathon: I missed it, as I suspected I might, but it never dawned on me that I would MISS IT miss it as in not even being aware that it was going on until I saw some posts on social media. I hope that part of my life isn't truly gone. Let's see what October brings.

Read Life and Real Life seem poles apart, but I'm slowly finding my way back. Today, I have errands to run and a meeting with my new boss, but first, I want to stop in here for my library fix.

My beautiful hometown library in Sedalia