Monday, June 17, 2024
Reading Lately: Women's Prize Longlist 2024
Friday, June 7, 2024
The Great Big World
Right after I published my last post, I saw that Jeremy at Read More Books had written about two books that are probably a lot more articulate about the flattening of culture. Check out his post!
Sometimes I avoid starting a blog post because I think it has to be paragraphs and paragraphs with tons of photos. That amount of work is overwhelming - so I'm going to make this one a short one, and hopefully relieve some of that pressure and post more often!
About every 5 years I convince my employer to pay for me to attend a conference, and you better believe I choose that conference based entirely on where it is located. This year, I found one in Portland, Oregon, a city and state I have always wanted to visit. The conference itself was held in what I can only term the "dungeon" of a hotel, rooms with no windows, dim lighting, and visible air ducts. And they didn't even give us a free totebag! The Portland weather was typically rainy, which hardly mattered due to the lack of windows.
I enjoyed the city but didn't see much of it, spending my time as a dungeon-dweller 9 hours a day. I visited Powells, the largest used bookstore in the world, but other than that, I missed many of the main attractions. I didn't mind because that's not what I was looking forward to; after the conference ended I headed out to see the more wild parts of the state (and neighboring Washington.)
I lucked out SO MUCH on the weather. For the remainder of the fun part of my vacation, the skies were clear and sunny. I visited Cape Disappointment in Washington, then drove down (over the extremely terrifying Astoria Bridge) to Cannon Beach in Oregon.
I was in awe of this beautiful place. Most of the time, I could hardly believe I was there. Pretty much all I did was walk around - over 90,000 steps over the course of the week! I'm not a big foodie (most of my meals came from Safeway) and I'm not a big shopper, so walking along trails and the beach was the best I could ask for.
Next I turned myself around and drove east, back through Portland to the Columbia River Gorge. As a waterfall lover, I was in heaven! My first stop was Multnomah Falls, which is the tallest waterfall in Oregon. From the bottom it was easy to look up and say, sure, I'll walk up to the top, but about switchback 11 of 17 (they were helpfully labeled) I was starting to regret my decision. I always finish what I start, though, and almost 1000 vertical feet later I was looking down at the falls from the top.
On my final full day, I achieved a life-long goal of walking part of the Pacific Crest Trail! I have long been obsessed with long-distance hiking (mainly reading about other people doing it), and the PCT is the ultimate beautiful long trail at 2,650 miles. I hiked a connecting trail up to the PCT and hiked to Lake Gillette.
It was nearly 90 degrees that day, and a lot of the trail wasn't shaded, but I powered through because how often does one get to hike the PCT?? I sat by the cool stream above to have my lunch. When I finally returned to my car, I was completely sweat-soaked and dehydrated, but because I still had to return the rental car and take a shuttle to my airport hotel, I spent the next several hours very gross, and I'm sorry to everyone at Safeway who passed by me later that day!
This was an amazing trip that I will forever be thankful for. It seems like whenever I travel, something goes wrong - bad weather, long waits, delayed flights, weird noises in hotel rooms. On this trip, the forces of the universe must have aligned because nothing went wrong.
Oregon is now one of my favorite states, and I will definitely be back!
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Against Sameness
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Reading Lately: Winter 2024
Reading Lately
Women's Prize Longlist 2024
Saturday, March 9, 2024
Late Winter
I recently finished my second ceramics class, an 8-week series. I spent my last class in the glazing room with several other students, finishing up our projects. Questions and advice flew from one woman to another as we made decisions about what glazes to avoid, what to layer, how to finish the bottoms of our pieces. A young student in her early twenties timidly asked us older ladies for guidance, so nervous about making a mistake. I wanted to tell her that in general mistakes are not a big deal, and us middle-aged ladies love sharing what we know - but that confidence comes with time and boy, am I glad I'm not 20 anymore.
Saturday, January 13, 2024
Another Year Ends
I will refrain from commenting on how fast the past year seemed to go, as that appears to be the pace of life. In December I wrapped up my first pottery class, bringing home nine completed pots. Everyone in my class commented on how productive I was, but you know me - have to get my money's worth! My goal was to learn and practice as much as possible, with little expectations for the finished products. My vessels just ended up how they did. They are all fairly small and I plan to give most of them away. I have already signed up for and started my next class, which is completely student-led. There are students of all levels, so everyone picks their own projects and asks for help when they need it. I'm working on some mugs now and hope to make some larger items that can be actually used in kitchen. Then I'll have to take a break until next fall, as flower season is upon us.
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Read in December 2023
At the beginning of the month I decided that I wanted to break my all-time reading record of 101 books in a year. So, I went to the library and scanned the shelves for the thinnest books I could find. This turned out to be a fun exercise and led me to pick up several books I wouldn't have otherwise. If I didn't like them, then the time commitment would be low. I did it: I read 115 books in 2023!
Because there are so many, I'm doing brief reviews and ranking the books by how much I liked them. I'll be back soon for my 2023 Reading Wrap-Up!
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
An absolutely gorgeously written memoir about the author's divorce
Dancing At the Pity Party by Tyler Feder
A sensitive and raw graphic memoir of the author's mother's death at a young age
The House At Riverton by Kate Morton
A very Downton Abbey-type feel. All of Morton's books are so readable and immerse you in the past.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
A re-read to celebrate my age being the meaning of life (if you know, you know). One of the funniest books I have ever read!
Into the Planet by Jill Heinerth
Heinerth is a cave diver: yep, swimming into tight caves filled with water. Everything she does is so incredibly dangerous you will be screaming "WHYYYYY?" constantly.
So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan
Three brilliant short stories. I don't know why there isn't just one Claire Keegan book containing all of her stories and novellas in one. I'm sure it's just a way for publishers to make a profit!
Fire Story by Brian Fies
A graphic memoir about the author's home burning down in a wildfire.
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
Following the collective lives of Japanese women immigrating to the US in the 1920s (I think?), this short book has no named characters and is told in the first-person plural. The structure was creative, I learned a lot, but I probably would have become annoyed if it had been a longer book.
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
Set in the early part of the 20th century in Penang, we follow the author Somerset Maugham and the family that he's visiting. Beautifully written with a strong sense of place.
The Life-Changing Manga of Tiding Up by Marie Kondo
Nothing new if you've read Kondo's other books, but it's a cute illustrated story about a woman who is helped by Kondo to clean up her apartment.
The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett
I didn't realize this was part of a series, so I missed a lot of background on the characters. The whole story is told in emails and texts. The mystery wasn't engaging but there were tons of funny lines.
Look at the Lights, My Love by Annie Ernaux
A memoir entirely about superstores; relatable because we've all experienced what these places are like!
The Young Man by Annie Ernaux
Truth be told, this should not be considered a book. It's an essay about the author's affair with a man much younger than herself. Well-written and insightful.
In Light Years There's No Hurry by Marjolijn van Heemstra
This reminded me SO MUCH of Enchantment by Katherine May. There is even an identical scene! Read if you are very into outer space.
Going Zero by Anthony McCarten
A fun thriller about 10 people who are in a contest to disappear for 30 days - if a big-brother-type corporation can't find them, they win 3 million dollars. I liked the strategies that the contestants tried, but about 2/3 of the way through the book jumped a big 'ol shark.
It's Lonely At the Center of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood
A graphic memoir about dealing with depression - can someone please write a memoir about kittens and ice cream?
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman
A short novella about a man with dementia and his grandson. Heartfelt but a little on the cheesy side.
Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide by Isabel Quintero
I had never heard of Graciela Iturbide before, who is a Mexican photographer. Her work is interesting, but the book is written in an avant-garde way that lost me.
A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
Not exactly a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, involves some other dimension travel(?) where somehow cellphones still work.
Commute: An Illustrated Memoir of Female Shame by Erin Williams
A graphic memoir about some hard subjects (alcoholism, sexual assault). I found it to be too much, too explicit, too intended to shock. [I'm ranking books based on my enjoyment of them, not on their merit, so you might connect with this one. Definitely these subjects shouldn't be silenced.]
Whew! Even reading through this list made me tired. I won't be repeating this level of reading for a long time. January is already shaping up to be a slow and steady month. Happy New Year everyone!
Sunday, December 17, 2023
Read in November 2023
With these 7 books, I am now at 95 books read for the year - with the rest of December to go! I think I will definitely reach my goal of 100, but I'm so temptingly close to an all-time record that I am picking up the shortest books I can find to pad my numbers. I know, it's is silly, this is my personal reading and who cares how many books I read? Next year I'm hoping to focus on quality over quantity, finally diving into some long books and trying to complete the backlist of my favorite authors. I know I am not the only type-A reader out there!
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