"All is right with the world": Don said this to his brother in reference to the opening of the College Football season and our presence at the Oregon Ducks first game verse UC Davis. We won. (See photo above.)
Labor Day: Official end of summer but it feels different this year since we started school last week.
Look for my end of summer wrap-up post for more details but in a nutshell I read 32 books this summer. We went on three different vacations/types of trips: Whistler, BC for relaxation; Oregon Coast for family reunion and to celebrate my parents 65th anniversary; New York/New Jersey: to help move Carly into her new home for the next two years of graduate school. Favorite one-time event: seeing The Color Purple on Broadway with Cynthia Erivo singing the lead. Visitors: Claire and Robert from Australia, I had fun showing them around the area; the whole Wicks family for a wedding and lots of visiting. Weddings: four---one at a restaurant in Seattle which is now closed for good; one on a beautiful, private estate set by a creek; one in a pasture with a large barn for the reception; and one in a church. All were children of our friends.
Books: I hate it when this happens, and it happens all too often, I am stuck in the middle of four books. None of the books are calling my name to finish them so I am plodding along in all of them. Yet other books ARE calling to me and I have to ignore their siren's song.
Currently reading:
- The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen---audiobook. This is the selection for my RHS book club this month and I am leading the discussion so there is no excuse for not finishing it. It is a Pulitzer Prize winning yet a very challenging book to read. The audiobook eliminates some of those problems but it is still often hard to follow. Literarily, though, the book is a gem. Don and I listened to it on our way to and from Oregon this weekend. 50%
- Arcadia by Lauren Groff---ebook. Another book club selection, this one for my SOTH group. Set in a utopian society which is starting to fall apart. 25%
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling and others. I am beginning to wonder at my wisdom in selecting this book. I don't like reading plays and this feels a lot more like fan fiction than the 8th book in the Harry Potter series. I had hoped to finish this one before school started. That didn't happen. 25%
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen. Still plodding along. I will finish it, but when? 63%.
- When We Was Fierce by e.E. Charlton-Tujillo---I listened to the audiobook of this controversial novel, which is the only way I could consume it since the publisher has decided to not release the print edition. Read about the controversy on my review here.
Back-to-School: We started back to school yearly this year, before Labor Day. My days have been completely obsessed with textbooks and iPads. This next week will even be worse. Then, finally, things will settle down to a trickle. Don't expect too many posts this coming week as I will likely come home from school and crash every day.
Prayers for my brother: he is having surgery on polyps in his lungs tomorrow.
Update on Carly: she is settling in to her apartment and getting set to start school at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She had a week of orientation this past week but was able to get in to the city for two shows on Broadway: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time", a play and she won the lottery to buy two tickets to the musical: "Something Rotten." She went to this with a classmate. Lucky girl!
Happy Day!
Love the photo of Don and you! I'm so glad that Carly is adjusting well and doing fun things! Henry really likes The Sympathizer and I found it fascinating(learned a lot) but it was NOT an easy read. That's why we're in a Book Club though--to challenge ourselves and find great discussion books.
ReplyDeleteThat's great about your daughter. So glad college life is starting well for her. Good luck on all your books! I'm trying to limit myself to 1 print, & 1 audio book -- so that I don't lose track or mix up the stories.
ReplyDelete