Sunday, June 8, 2014

For the Record: May 2014

The speed with which the last month has evaporated is truly astonishing. I wrote a wonderful post about getting out of reading slumps, but Blogger dumped it into oblivion and I didn't have the motivation to recreate it.  Basically, I've been having a hard time with long or slow books, but have been pushing myself through anyhow.

We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with our house project, and are hoping to be able to move back this autumn. We've passed our rough inspections and are getting ready to start insulating and installing floors, drywall and tile. I am more than ready for it to be done, and I can't wait to get my books back on their shelves!

3 Books Read in May: (28 year-to-date)

1 Nonfiction/Classic/Book Club:
  - 12 Years a Slave, Solomon Northup (4.5) I recently watched the film, and then had the pleasure to read it for book club.  The movie followed the book remarkably well.  Such an incredible first hand account of American slavery.

1 Read Aloud to my kiddos:
  - Folk of the Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton (4) The end of the trilogy - these will go down as some of my daughter's favorite childhood books for sure.

1 Other:
  - I Shall Be Near to You, Erin Lindsay McCabe (4.5) An impulse buy at my local book shop and SO worth it.  I was sobbing in bed at midnight because it was just that kind of book.  Based on true accounts of women who followed their husbands in to the American Civil War, it is necessarily both touching and (when the time comes) harrowing.

    


2 Current Reads:
  - Cloudsplitter, Russell Banks.  I'm still reading this. It has been very good, just Long.  On page 500 of 750+ so I'm finally getting there.
  - Devil in the White City, Erik Larson.  I'm still listening to this. Also very good, just haven't had much time for audio lately.  I'm over halfway though.

      

On My Nightstand:
I have a 2 week vacation approaching (celebrating my 20th anniversary!) so I'm beginning to decide what to take along with me. My goal is to have finished Cloudsplitter and be able to move onto other things. What those will be, I'm not quite sure. Perhaps I'll finally finish Les Miserables!