Fireside Chat for the Holiday Season

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Karen

How is it going my fellow readers? Today, I’m stepping aside from a mostly bookish post and inviting you to a fireside chat all about the holiday season. Never fear, there will be *some* bookish talk towards the end. But mostly, this is a cozy chat all about the holidays and traditions. So do please join me around the fireplace for tea and sharing. I am sharing in this post and I hope you will share in the comments. 🙂

Here in the states, this week is Thanksgiving week. So lots of preparation takes place for many people over the next few days with Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday. Thankfully, we already did all of our grocery shopping. My two oldest kids who are both adults, are each making dishes for the Thanksgiving meal. And my oldest son is actually making the turkey! Our oldest daughter is bringing a dessert as well as making her homemade mac-n-cheese which she has become famous for in our family. 🙂 My dad picked up rolls and will make sure there are drinks. So my hubby and I are only having to make side dishes this year! We’re doing mashed potatoes, dressing, sweet potato casserole, and green bean casserole. The nice thing is the two casseroles and the dressing can be made the day before and that leaves only making mashed potatoes on Thursday. Pretty sweet I say!

We have special traditions on Thanksgiving Day apart from the big family Thanksgiving meal. We put up the Christmas tree, decorate the house for Christmas, have snacky foods and watch Miracle on 34th Street while we do the tree. We do this during the day before the Thanksgiving meal. Then that night, I make homemade hot cocoa (which can totally be made with plant-based milk!) and we watch The Polar Express. Yes, I am 48 years old and still love watching The Polar Express. 🙂

Thanksgiving Day also marks full on Christmas season for us. We do listen to Christmas music and watch some Hallmark Christmas movies before Thanksgiving; but no other Christmas movies until Thanksgiving Day. So for me, that means the day after Thanksgiving I will be watching Elf…a movie I love! This weekend, we will be watching all three of The Santa Clause movies then we’ll begin the new Santa Clause series on Disney+. Very excited to watch this new series! These are usually the first Christmas, Christmas movies we watch each year. I say Christmas, Christmas because I kind of put Hallmark Christmas movies in their own category. Many of those are similar if you know what I mean. 😉 Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Hallmark movie. I have many favorite ones, including favorite Christmas-y ones (like the hilarious The Most Wonderful Time of the Year for instance). I just put them in their own holiday category. 🙂 There will also be me watching The Holiday, my husband and I will watch While You Were Sleeping, and we will all watch White Christmas and a host of other classic holiday favorites. That’s just a few of our seasonal holiday traditions.

And now, for the bookish part. I started Winter Solstice by Rosamund Pilcher this past week. Y’all, reading the first two pages was like the feeling of home. I just wanted to sink back in a comfy chair, cuddle up with a warm blanket and some hot tea, and get lost in the book. I’m reading it in ebook format which works so well for night time reading. The chapters are a bit longer and I’m taking my time with it. So right now, I’m still on the first chapter. But I am loving it so far! I am fast becoming a fan of Pilcher’s writing!

Now it’s your turn! What are some of your favorite holiday traditions? And yes, do please add in your favorite holiday movies! 🙂 Reading any winter-y or holiday themed books?

Novellas in November 2022 – Week 3 #NovNov22

Posted on November 18, 2022 by Karen

I only managed to get one non-fiction novella read this week for Novellas in November and that is Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington/Nuge Garimara.

In the early 1900’s in Australia, many mixed race children were taken away from their families and sent to the Moore River Native Settlement, a place that was more a prison than a “settlement.” These children were literally stolen from their families. The forced removal of mixed race children in Australia started in the early 1900’s; but these children were still being stolen up into the 1970s. The children taken from their families in that time frame came to be called the Stolen Generations, also known as the Stolen Children. This novella tells the story of three young mixed race girls who were taken from their families and homes and placed at the Moore River Native Settlement. These three very brave, courageous girls dared to escape that settlement and make the long journey back to their home and their family. Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence is a harrowing story of escape and survival that is heart-breaking, poignant and moving. I read that there is a movie based on this book. I plan to see if I can find it and watch it. Thanks again goes to Cathy for putting me on to this very powerful short work.

Next week, the theme for Novellas in November is contemporary novellas. I’ve already read Foster by Claire Keegan which was my choice for contemporary novellas week. So I probably won’t try to add in anything else. But we’ll see!

What non-fiction novellas have you read recently?

Looking Ahead to Winter Reading

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Karen

On Saturday we had our first snow of the season! To say everyone in my house was excited is an understatement. We went from temperatures in the 70s straight to the highs being in the 30s and snow. Crazy weather! We all love the snow over here so it was a welcomed surprise.

Well the cold and snow has got me ready to hibernate with all the snug, warm, cozy winter vibes. And that includes my books. So I’m already thinking about what I want to snuggle up with and read not just for December holiday reading, but winter reading in general. I started taking stock of books on my shelves and on my Kindle that would suit well for winter reading.

You see, I want to make a winter book stack. I made a stack of my novella options for November and placed them on the top of one of my bookshelves. And I found that I really liked seeing the options all together right there where I could look at them. So I’m planning to do the same with my winter reads. It’s helpful because in our new house, my books are not all in one place. I have two bookshelves in my bedroom, and the rest of my books are stacked in shelves and on a table in my closet. (Which I still need to organize. Ahem.) So making a seasonal reading stack, or even a stack of books that grab my interest currently, and putting them on the shelf out in my bedroom, puts them in my view more.

Anyway, here’s a look at what I’ve got so far.

These are print books on my shelves. And not included in the picture are my Kindle books. On my Kindle I have three Jenny Colgan holiday books: The Christmas Bookshop, Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery, and The Christmas Surprise. And then a Kindle book I’ve already read (and really liked!) but I remember being a good winter read is Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.

Winter time also seems to be a good time to tackle a longer tome. Well, I am planning to read Winter Solstice by Rosamund Pilcher with Katie at The Cozy Burrow in December. I really enjoyed The Shell Seekers and so am really looking forward to reading another Pilcher novel. I’m getting ready to order the book but I keep going back and forth on whether I want to buy it in print or get the ebook so it’s easy reading at night in bed. I can’t decide! Anyway, I wanted to make a stack of other longer books to put in my winter stack – from classics to historical fiction. Here’s what grabbed my interest:

I’ve included Kristin Lavransdatter because I do still want to read this huge tome. I may not get around to it, but wanted to put it in the stack none-the-less. And of course, I wanted to look through my classics TBR to see what I might be in the mood for. I already made a list of several that I might want to give a go this winter:

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell – I’ve been wanting to re-read this for awhile now. The first time I read it, I found that I didn’t like it as much as the PBS mini-series (which I absolutely love). So I wanted to give it another read and see if my opinion on that changes.

Far from the Maddening Crowd by Thomas Hardy – I think I might be in the mood for another Hardy read and this is one I’ve wanted to read for some time now.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque – This novel has been described as the greatest war novel of all time. It’s on many high school reading lists. My oldest daughter has read the book and told me it was such a powerful read. With the new Netflix movie adaptation out now, I really want to read this book then watch the movie. I’ve been told the movie is very hard to watch. So….I think I will need to plan to have to turn my head or close my eyes at times and also have tissues handy. Has anyone seen the movie yet?

The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie – This is the next book in the series for me to read for my Simply Christie Chronicles. I really enjoyed The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which I actually still need to write my review for. *oops*

Being the big mood reader that I am, and being that this year has been all about me trying to lean more into that mood reading, and given that I just recently came out of a big reading rut, all of these books represent options. All the books I’ve put together I can pick and choose from or read something entirely different. Whatever suits my fancy at that time. 😉 It’s just so fun to look at all the possibilities and make the book stack!

Are you looking ahead to winter reading yet?

Novellas in November 2022 – Week 2 #NovNov22

Posted on November 12, 2022 by Karen

This week for Novellas in November, it was novellas in translation. I ended up reading two novellas, one in translation and the other was our buddy read for the month. I was quite excited about both of these reads. One was a bit disappointing; the other was beautiful and lived up to my anticipation of a good read.

For novellas in translation, I had three options I was looking at: The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, A Dog’s Heart by Bulgakov and The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery. I had been quite excited to read The Invention of Morel so it was my first pick. Unfortunately, it panned out to only be a 3 star read for me. I could see how this book might need a second reading and that second reading might be a better read. However, this first read was a bit disappointing. In the end it was just okay. You can read my full review of it HERE. I may still try to work in A Dog’s Heart by Bulgakov before the end of the month as it’s one that’s been on my classics TBR for quite some time.

After two back to back sadly disappointing reads for my novellas this month (you can see my review for the other one HERE), I decided that I would go ahead and pick up our buddy read for the month, Foster by Claire Keegan. I knew this one was likely to be a good read as I really liked Keegan’s book Small Things Like These which I read last year. I had read Cathy’s review of it for Novellas in November last year and knew I wanted to read it. Anyway, Foster did not disappoint. The story is powerful and moving. It is about love, loss, compassion, kindness and simplicity and how the warmth and tenderness of a couple impact the life of a child. You can read my full review HERE. So thankfully, the second week of Novellas in November ended much better with a very compelling story that I didn’t want to put down.

I’m still slowly reading The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald. I am enjoying this one okay but it’s not unputdownable by any means. But I want to finish it and then watch the movie. 🙂

Next up, I am going to start Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington, Nugi Garimara. It is my top pick for non-fiction novellas. This is another book that I immediately ordered after reading Cathy’s review of it.

Happy Reading Friends!

The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares #NovNov22

Posted on November 9, 2022 by Karen

The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares
Length: 103 pages
Genre: Fiction,Classics
My Rating: 3 stars

This novel is set on a mysterious island; a place that was heard to be once inhabited by a small group but was now abandoned. A man on the run flees to this island. But there’s something odd going on. He hears what sounds like footsteps. Then he sees some people. While he hides and tries not to be seen, he ends up exposing himself; but reactions are really odd. What’s going on?

The opening sentence is a great one:

“Today, on this island, a miracle happened: summer came ahead of time.“

That sentence is beautifully written, with a mysterious hook that makes you wonder – what does this mean? The first few pages grabbed me. But the further I read I found myself wanting to ditch it at different points and move on to something else to read. Yet I kept on with it. It had this odd mix of at once beautiful writing then next, short, less than engaging writing. I think this gave it an odd feel maybe.

As far as the story itself goes, I found this novella strange. There’s multiple elements to this story: partly science fiction, partly philosophical, partly mystery all with the element of romance thrown in. And I do think all those elements were weaved together fairly well. At times, it reminded me a bit of a Robinson Crusoe by Defoe meets Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro.

I felt in the dark for a good portion of the story but then things started being revealed and I began to piece together what was going on. By the end, I could see how this book might need a second reading and that second reading might be a better read. I admit, though, this first read was a bit disappointing. In the end it was just okay and I give it 3 stars.

Novellas in November 2022 – Week 1 #NovNov22

Posted on November 6, 2022 by Karen

This past week it was classic novellas for Novellas in November. I had three different titles picked out for options and I went with The Time Machine by H. G. Wells first. And it’s the only one of the three options that I managed to finish reading this week. I am, though, almost halfway through The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (one of my other options).

The Time Machine is about time travel, obviously. There’s more to it than that though; it also speculates about the state of humanity in the future. I suspect there’s more layers to this short novella; but honestly, I wasn’t impressed by it. It started out very promising and the writing was engaging. But then the story just didn’t hold my attention. Still, I decided to finish it out. I chose to go ahead and finish it by listening to the audiobook. I knew I could get through it faster with the audiobook. LOL Of course, if you know about my track record with fiction on audio, then you’ll know that I often miss things and have to continue to rewind or just decide to keep going. So I know I didn’t catch everything once I switched to the audio. However, in this case, that didn’t bother me because as I said, the story just wasn’t holding my attention.

In the end, I gave the book a 3 star rating mainly because the writing style was very good. My husband and I are planning to watch the more recent movie adaptation of it probably this coming weekend.

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald, on the other hand, I am enjoying so far. I plan to spend some time reading it today and hopefully get closer to finishing it. If not, I know it will likely get less reading time this week as I switch my focus to the theme for the week which is novellas in translation. I’ve got The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery, and A Dog’s Heart by Bulgakov. I already know I’m starting with The Invention of Morel. I have been excited to give this one try! Since it’s on my Kindle and will be perfect for my nightly reading, I may also read A Dog’s Heart at the same time but during the day. We’ll see.

Happy Reading Friends!

Novellas in November 2022 #NovNov22

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Karen

I am really looking forward to participating again in Novellas in November! I mentioned in my last post that I thought that coming off of a major reading slump, novellas might just be perfect because they are short! 😉 So this post is all about the all the various titles I’m looking at for the different categories.

Novellas in November is hosted by Rebecca and Cathy. They’ve listed four categories, one for each week in addition to hosting a buddy read for the month. Here are the categories:

November 1-7: Short classics

November 8-14: Novellas in translation

November 15-21: Short nonfiction

November 22-28: Contemporary novellas

November 29-30: You can do a “My Month in Novellas” or a “New to My TBR”

They suggest 150–200 pages tops for a novella, as well as post-1980 for a contemporary novella.

I’m going to list a selection of titles below. Because I’m such a mood reader, and because I am just coming out of a major reading slump – (1) I have listed a number of options, and (2) I may go with something completely different than what’s listed below if I happen to come across something that catches my interest. 🙂

Short Classics

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

Both The Time Machine and The Red Badge of Courage are on my classics TBR and so would be ones I can cross off my list. The Bookshop is one I actually read as part of last year’s Novellas in November, except that I listened to it on audio. I know I missed things when I listened to The Bookshop; but what I did pick up was lovely and I knew I wanted to read it in print. So I ordered a print copy and it has been sitting on my shelf just waiting for me to read it. 🙂

Novellas in Translation

The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares

A Dog’s Heart by Bulgakov

The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Both The Invention of Morel and A Dog’s Heart are on my Classics TBR. I can’t remember whose review of The Invention of Morel I read that prompted me to add it to my Classics TBR, but I remember thinking that it sounded like a book I would like to read. When I was looking at potential options for novellas in translation, I looked it up again and read the synopsis on the back of the book and it sounds very intriguing! So I immediately bought the ebook and am leaning towards picking it for this category. I’ve read The Little Prince before but would like to read it again at some point. So I’ve added it to my list of options. 🙂

Short Nonfiction

Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington, Nugi Garimara

The Analects by Confucius

I hadn’t heard of Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence until the other day when I was reading through Cathy’s various novella choices. When I read her description of the book, I knew I wanted to read it; so I promptly bought the ebook. The Analects is a collection of sayings by Confucius. Confucius is considered one of history’s most influential teachers. I’ve only seen/read a handful of his sayings in things I’ve read in the past so was intrigued when I saw this book listed in a high school reading list. I am thinking that I will read Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence during the specific week for short non-fiction novellas; and then start The Analects on Nov. 1st and read just little bits over a few weeks. We’ll see…..

Contemporary Novellas

Foster by Claire Keegan

Of course, since Foster is a contemporary novella and the Novellas in November buddy read, this is the only option I am listing as it will be the only one I plan to focus on. 🙂 I really liked Small Things Like These by Keegan and can’t wait to read this new release by her.

And that wraps it up for various options I have listed so far for Novellas in November. I am quite excited to get started!

What are some of your favorite novellas?

Reading Life Regained – Recovering From a Major Book Slump

Posted on October 22, 2022 by Karen

Hi everyone! If you read my last post, When You Can’t Settle Into a Book, you know that I have really struggled recently with not being able to settle into a book. First, I just want to say a big thank-you to BookerTalk, Katie, Juliann, and Cathy for all their kind and encouraging words they left for me. I just love the book community! They were all right there to encourage me and left me such wonderful comments. Thank you!

I’ve had book slumps before; and typically, reading a shorter book or grabbing a favorite and re-reading it or reading a book from my favorite genre typically does the trick. But this time, nothing I picked up, nothing I started to read, was working. It was unsettling. Not in the sense of feeling stressed about it, but in the sense that I always have at least one book I’m reading (oftentimes more than one) and it felt odd to not have one for such an extended time as I did this time around (that is, aside from some non-fiction that I dip in and out of or books for school). Reading is like second nature to me. So it felt odd to have a longer stretch of time like I did this time of not being able to settle into a book.

Yet I know that with everything that has been going on (I mean it’s been like one thing after another), I feel my brain has just been overloaded and overwhelmed. I have had moments where I literally stood there and thought, what do I need to be doing? It has felt very much like brain fog with this impending fear that I was going to forget something important. Lists are my friend. I have been making lists. Lots of lists. Jotting down reminders. I know that partly this is also a hormonal thing as I am on the edge of periomenopause and staring full on menopause in the face.

So with all that, lately, I have mostly wanted to just veg with the TV in any free time I had…..mostly re-watching Gilmore Girls...

Watching Gilmore Girls is like a good tonic for my soul. 🙂 My hubby and I have also been re-watching the Twilight movies and I did re-watch a bit of The Crown in preparation for the new season coming out next month. Who’s excited for this next season? *me raising my hand*

But then.

I picked up a book I needed to start pre-reading to see if it would be a good text for school; and ironically, it has happened to be the one that has caught my interest and I suddenly found myself looking forward to reading! I won’t share the name of the book yet as I’m not that far into it so I don’t know yet what I will think of it once I’m finished with it. But so far, it is fascinating and engagingly written.

And so I sit here this morning…a beautiful autumnal morning sporting clear blue skies, beautiful fall foliage on the trees in our new neighborhood, and mild temperatures…and find myself with that desire for reading peaking back around the corner. And I can’t be more happy about that!

So that begs the question then – what *am* I going to read? Gosh, now I see all the possibilities and don’t know where to start! LOL I am continuing with the history text – underlining, highlighting, and annotating. And we are still reading Dracula together as our read-aloud. Although we are bit behind our schedule for it. I had it scheduled out to read and be finished with it by Oct. 31st. I thought it fitting to try to finish the last pages on Halloween. 🙂 But we are a couple of readings behind. So that may not happen. No big deal. Enjoying the reading of the book is the most important, not the schedule. And my hubby has actually enjoyed sitting in on our reading of the book when he can. So that’s been fun as he has also already read the book before and he and I comment on things we notice or things we remember, etc.

Last November, I participated in Novellas in November and you can see my wrap-up post for that HERE. Novellas in November is hosted by Cathy at 746 Books and Rebecca at Bookish Beck. You can read each of their introduction posts for this year’s November reading HERE and HERE. I really enjoyed the month of reading novellas last year and thought I’d like to participate again this year. I also thought, coming off of a major reading slump, novellas might just be perfect. They are short! 🙂

And they are also choosing a Claire Keegan novella for the buddy read for the month! I really liked Small Things Like These and would love to read another work by Keegan. So I’m planning to pre-order a copy of Foster this weekend because I am thinking I will want this one in print. 🙂

I really enjoyed last year’s Novellas in November buddy read which was Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. I felt this story was well-written and I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. Wharton’s prose in the book was magnificent! You can read my review of it HERE. It was a solid 4 star read for me.

Anyway, over the weekend, I’m going to think about the different categories for each week and come up with a list of potential novellas to read. So be looking for a post on that this coming week. In the meantime, I will continue reading the history book I’m enjoying right now and I think I am ready to begin diving into Agatha Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles for my Simply Christie Chronicles reading project. Of course, if anyone is interested in reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles, feel free to join me. I am not scheduling this book like I typically do. I’m just going to read. I have a feeling that making myself a schedule for the book, having just had this huge book slump, would not be a good idea. 😉

When You Can’t Settle Into a Book….

Posted on October 8, 2022 by Karen

Just a beautiful, autumnal picture for us today. Don’t you just love the Fall season???

But Autumn is not the topic for this post. Y’all, I can’t settle into my books. I think it’s because of all the upheaval as of late with unexpectedly needing to find a place, finding a place (quickly too which was such a blessing!), packing, moving, then after moving in, the house having some issues that have had to be dealt with which, while I’ve handled them well, it’s still been challenging for my anxiety.

I love books. I love reading. We all know this. 😉 But it seems like almost every book I pick up to try, I just can’t settle into it. Even if I am liking it! I was enjoying Kristin Lavransdatter but was dragging my feet with it. I figured maybe right now wasn’t a time for a really long tome. I wanted to read The Woman in White. And I was excited it was my Classics Club Spin pick! I have wanted to read it for a long time now – and have even enjoyed the beginning of it. But am already dragging my feet again and don’t want to read it. I am really enjoying Midnight Sun…even almost 70% through it….but don’t want to sit down and finish listening to it.