my choice of single serve coffee machines

nothing is sponsored

Will it be convenient?

Does it contribute to massive waste?

Will the coffee even be good?

Will it really save me time?

Those were the thoughts I had been having for the past year or so as I debated getting a Nespresso machine.

As I gear up to go back to school (not for literature), I am debating if this will make sense for me. Perhaps I am projecting that it will be helpful for me, but really it won't and I'll regret the purchase. 

Long story short

I found out that Nestle owns Nespresso. So that's an easy NO. ❌ 

Longer story long

I bought a Ninja ✔️ I use it for freshly ground coffee and I don't use the K-Cup feature. The frother is excellent and I adore the entire system. Wish it were a bit smaller, but overall, I love it. 

Benefits of a single serve (if you love pour overs)

I love pour overs, but grinding daily, boiling the water, measuring in grams, etc. each and every morning (and heaven forbid if you want two cups), take more time than I am willing to give right now. 

I've been pondering ways to make sure that I am lowering my stress in areas that I repeat the same exact actions (coffee, cooking, cleaning, etc.) during this busy/stressful time of my life.

I love coffee and I still grind fresh every day or two, and buy (mainly) single origin, ethically sources, light roasts from the West Coast.

As Autumn 🍂 begins to whisper across the late nights and early mornings make her presence known, and the academic year looms right around the corner, I am preparing for an ease of transition.

Wishing you a successful change of seasons soon. ☕️ 

bedtime books

Anxiety has gripped me lately - there are life circumstances that have ushered me right into anxiety's living room that's for sure. 

I've found that I need something light for bedtime. I can't bring myself to pick up The Brothers Karamazov after a long day of stressful events. I am making time to read TBK and other extensive novels when the sun is up. After sundown, it's time to unwind a bit.

I accidentally purchased this novel, and I am glad that I did. Late one recent night, I opened it and I have been enjoying it honestly.

happy accidental purchase

Reasons that bedtime books are a good idea

1. It's a great way to unwind at night
2. You don't need a lot of brain power to consume them
3. It "lightens" things up
4. Feels like reading a tv movie/show

It's all about reading for well-being

I said it before and I will always say it. I don't read to impress anyone. I don't read for challenges or numbers. I read because without reading I would have a full on breakdown.

My life is very stressful, and reading allows me to slow down, focus and enter into another realm/world. It gives me pause from my own. That is powerful for me- and for all who experience it.

I will continue to have bedtime books. I'll seek to source them from my digital library (I read on kindle for sure when it is bedtime). I'll make a list of them in my library's "save" feature, and just see what I am in the mood for as I finish or dnf each one.

For now, it's helping me to turn screens off at night and sink into a novel before bed. I'll report back. 💤 

continuing my thomas hardy reading (and re-reading) project

Not sure what prompted the change, but I've decided to sub Vilette by Charlotte Brontë with Hardy's The Trumpet-Major. I just felt in the mood for Hardy.

I have several serious things going on in my life, and Hardy allows me to sink into that melancholic place that allows for deep, reflective thought.

I mentioned my plan to read all of Hardy's works I was just in the mode or another re-read- clearly my favorite activity.

I will definitely read Vilette, but I was just ready for Hardy. I'm so glad that I started it.

He is so masterful with description. It's so wonderful to sink down into one of his novels.

Here's the book summary from Goodreads

Anne Garland, who lives with her widowed mother in a mill owned by Miller Loveday, has three suitors: the local squire's nephew Festus and the miller's two sons, Robert and John. While Festus' aggressive pursuit deters the young woman from considering him as a husband, the indecisive Anne wavers between light-hearted Bob and gentle, steadfast John.

 

But as their Wessex village prepares for possible invasion by Napoleon's fleet, all find their destinies increasingly tangled with the events of history. The Loveday brothers, one a sailor and one a soldier, must wrestle with their commitments to their country and their feelings for Anne. Lyrical and light-hearted, yet shot through with irony, The Trumpet-Major (1880) is one of Hardy's most unusual novels and a fascinating tale of love and desire.

My reading list of Hardy

I'm off this rainy Sunday to get a lot done, drink extra coffee, and have a personal reading day.

august reading plans

Oh my... I've been busy busying used books from nonprofits lately. I have a few still left to come in and then I will "record" a haul here. 

I thought I would have reread Anna Karenina, but I was in the mood for War and Peace. I took my time to read it, and finished it while on vacation in New York this summer. Some don't think of War and Peace as a traveling summer story, but I do. It was the best companion for my train ride, and to sink into in the morning with my coffee before the busy hot days, and late at night after getting back in.

I do love making lists and plans, and it just works with my personality and makes me so happy (and I have a new collection of post its to prove it), and I am surrounded right now by my commonplace journal, my favorite Japanese pens, and a few books (and a kindle).

It's 9:00 pm (on the dot!) and this is a favorite way to spend a Friday night. I had a cup of green tea, a homemade brownie with walnuts, and I am eager to see where my mood will take me for my novel choices for this month.

Starting in a few weeks, my life is going to get very very busy. As much as I wish I had prepared more for this month, I've been treading and keeping my head above water with all of my responsibilities at home. 

This post is an attempt to organize my bookish plans and thoughts. Remember, this blog is my personal reading journal- much like my BookTube channel used to be.

Women in Translation Month pick

Classic Continuation

Letters

Non-Fiction

I'm sure I will other novels alongside all of this, but as I am gearing up to go back to graduate school after decades of being away from a full-time academic course (terrified), I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.

I'll keep all updates posted here. Happy reading ☕️ 

women in translation month 2024

 

I am always reading women in translation, but I do long August where the bookish community collectively highlights the stories and voices of women in translation.

While in the city a few weeks ago, I grabbed a beautiful hardcover of Banana Yoshimoto's 1988 novella The Premonition- translated by celebrated Asa Yoneda. I love her writing, and I can see sitting to read this on a long and slow morning with lots of coffee at hand.

The internationally beloved author of Kitchen and Dead-End Memories returns with a beautiful and heartfelt story of a young woman haunted by her childhood and the inescapable bitterness that inevitably comes from knowing the truth.

Yayoi, a nineteen-year-old woman from a seemingly loving middle-class family, has lately been haunted by the feeling that she has forgotten something important from her childhood. Her premonition grows stronger day by day and, as if led by it, she decides to move in with her mysterious aunt, Yukino.

No one understands her aunt's unusual lifestyle. For as long as Yayoi can remember, Yukino has lived alone in an old gloomy single-family home, quietly, almost as though asleep. When she is not working, Yukino spends all day in her pajamas, clipping her nails and trimming her split ends. She eats only when she feels like it, and she often falls asleep lying on her side in the hallway. She sometimes wakes Yayoi at two in the morning to be her drinking companion, sometimes serves flan in a huge mixing bowl for dinner, and watches Friday the 13th over and over to comfort herself. A study desk, old stuffed animals--things Yukino wants to forget--are piled up in her backyard like a graveyard of her memories.

An instant bestseller in Japan when first published in 1988, The Premonition is finally available for the first time in English, translated by the celebrated Asa Yoneda.

Eight African Women to Read for WIT Month

source: center for the art of translation

Eight African women to read for WIT month

A few translated books that I've loved 

This is only a few of the novels I've loved over the years, but usually if it's rated about 3.1-3.5 stars online, I will most likely love it :) 

Happy translated reading ☕️ 

saturday with dostoevsky

Only a quick note to myself: ☕️ 

Dostoevsky is an existential therapist. 

source: dostoevsky.org

It's time for me to join The International Dostoevsky Society. Period. You're welcome :)

stealing minutes to read

as the month ended i read these

There are so many "how to read more" videos/list, but that isn't what this is about.

It's more a "how to make more time to do the things that help you to feel sane" kind of thing. 

I carry a small tote/bag with books/journals/kindles/highlighters wherever I go. Period. 

I also keep a kindle in my purse at all times. Nothing will ever change my mind. 

reading in the car in between appointments

I am gearing up for a very busy fall of 2024, and this is my favorite reading time of the year. I am up this Friday night making August reading plans, school plans, caregiver plans, life plans.

Without reading, I would not be able to maintain my sanity. I've been loving my re-reads in 2024. My classics tbr has fallen a bit apart, but I don't mind. :)

I don't mind "stealing" even 5 minutes to read. It's great to have a night to myself with nothing to do, but even 20 minutes during a busy day is sufficient until the night time. 

Happy reading. ☕️