busy, rereading, making coffee, and poetry

Of course the compulsion to read lives in my bones, but with graduate school work (mid-life student), and all my caregiving duties, I find myself incapable to reaching for the 10 novels/books I am working on. 

Poetry always eases me back into the written work, and I sometimes read and re-read the same poem for 15 minutes deciding how it will land and live in me.

morning cup and reading

I don't spend too much time editing posts or editing my life. 

This is the reality.

Caregiving is hard. Going back to school again in mid-life is hard. America is hard to live in right now.

This combination makes me yearn for re-reads. Familiar stories. Books that I can pick up, or turn on audio and know that meeting these characters again soothes my heart.

I don't use Goodreads... or Storygraph.... I do feel quite isolated in my reading life and may return to BookTube to rectify that, but for now I let myself swim between the pages of books I adore and new stories that don't feel like a waste of my limited reading time. 

I do have a feeling I'll emerge from this intensely focused time in my life with a renewed sense on all things, but for now, my head is down...  I'm chipping away at small and large goals, and finding comfort in the chapters that have carried me before.

Books/Collections/Stories I return to over and over:

1. Giovanni's Room
2. Anna Karenina
3. Anything by Mary Oliver
4. Everything by Audre Lore
5. Pride and Prejudice
6. Jane Eyre
7. Anything Doestoevsky
8. Toni Morrison's Sula
9. BBC Radio Adaptations of my favorite classics

Now, let me go and make another light roast pour over, and get started on my school work.

If Spring is finding you floundering... ignore all of the pressure to perform and live through great works of literature. 

I'll meet you there.

Happy reading ☕️ 

07: authors i'm always reading :: currently forever reading list

That wasn't a typo. There are authors whose work I never want to be without. 

I have multiple copies, editions, and formats of their novels. This isn't due to a "collector's mindset", but rather I enjoy filling their works in my "free" time. 

Let me explain...

I am a caregiver and am always honestly more busy than I like to admit. I am not one of those people who values being busy or loves saying, "Oh I just have so much to do".  I am embracing this season of life and what it demands of me. With that said, I keep kindles in my caregiving medical bag, in my purse and on on my phone.

I don't purchase from Amazon anymore, but I did not get rid of my kindles. I bought a kobo, but it mainly stays at home. Until I get a case, it will live on my bedside table.

There are authors whose works I read and re-read from start to finish over and over, and those same authors have works that I just open and read a few chapters from while waiting for appointment times or to fill anxious space.

I never tire of these authors, or of these works and this isn't about collecting a total number of books read or re-read; it's only about living inside of these novels and being shaped by them.

my planner and favorite candle

Authors and Novels I Never Tire of...

I wanted to post a ton of photos, but I will make a list and keep it simple (with a few photos :)

1. Fyodor Dostoevsky
1. The Brothers K
2. The Idiot
2. James Baldwin
1. Giovanni's Room
3. Jane Austen
1. Persuasion
2. Pride and Prejudice
4. Clarice Lispector
1. Near to the Wild Heart
2. The Apprenticeship
5. Leo Tolstoy
1. Anna K- always
6. The Brontës
1. Jane Eyre
2. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
3. Wuthering Heights
4. Agnes Grey (not a typo)
7. Anita Brookner
1. Every single novel
8. Thomas Hardy 
1. Far From the Madding Crowd
2. Two on a Tower
9. Vladimir Nabokov
1. Lolita

Of course there are others, but these novels I return to over and over and over again. I don't ever want to be done reading these. I want to always be reading these. 

Happy re-reading ☕️ 

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 ☕️ 

big summer re-read: war and peace: I love tolstoy

I've written about my stressful life, and nothing helps me feel better is working through a huge mammoth tome like War and Peace.

This will be a re-read for me. I have just been having a craving for it. I pondered with several titles (Middlemarch, Moby Dick, etc.), but something is calling me to War and Peace. So, that's enough for me. 

At 1382 pages for the Penguin Edition that I owe both physically and on kindle, I'll be starting on June 1st and having a goal of 25 pages per day.

i have this physical edition & this same translation on kindle

I love sinking my teeth into sprawling classics, and taking my time to structure my reading life around a "big read". 

Leo Tolstoy is one of my favorite writers of all time. I seriously have re-read Anna Karenina (one of my top 3 favorite books) over and over again. I find so much peace inside the complicated characters and stories that Tolstoy wrote.

Like Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy creates psychologically complex characters that help you learn so much about yourself as you read them.

If you read Anna's story and connected with her desire to be unfaithful because she felt restrained- you can better know yourself and what you think about infidelity. Do you lean more towards Levin's story? In War and Peace, I am eager to get back into the Napoleonic Era and the French invasion of Russia. Nothing like a good fictional account including Bonaparte. 

I'm aways reading a biography of Napoleon which should be a good accompaniment. 

side by side, this should be a great reading experience

Plans for Reading War and Peace this summer

1. 25 pages per day
2. Read physically
3. Read on kindle at night time (hello eye strain + light)
4. Blog my weekly experience here (along with photos!)
5. Keep notes in my physical book journal

I only read what inspires or motivates me. I don't read for number goals. I don't read to keep up with the literary Joneses. 

This is my life. My mental health. My sanity. I'm excited to dive back into this amazing novel. Feel free to join me. I'll be writing about it here.

Happy reading ☕️ 

2024 Reading Intentions

I love a good goal. :) However, setting intentions is so much better. It's an energetic exchange. A crafting of a lifestyle...

As a quiet, coffee drinking, multi-book at-a-time reader, I have some intentions for 2024.

Intentions for my 2024 reading life...

1. Re-read to my heart's content. Who cares what's newly published. If I want to re-read the SAME novels. I shall continue to do so. (Hello Persuasion, I shall re-read you for the umpteenth time this Winter, along with Anna Karenina).
2. Always have a classic re-read AND new classic read going. I basically re-read the same classics every year, and I will make sure to always have one going.
3. Stop leaving Goodreads word reviews. The time it takes to write my review on Goodreads, I could be writing it here on my own blog. 

My one true quest is for a quiet and calm reading year. 

quiet + calm day

Classics I Want to Read by the End of 2023

one of the best lattes I've ever had made with macadamia nut milk

{This is an update to a post I made back in the fall of 2022}

I don't wait until January to make any of my goals- reading, life or otherwise.

I have been playing around in my physical book journal with titles and authors that I love and have wanted to read more of. Now I've landed on a dozen or so novels that I feel I MUST get to within the next year of my life.

While reading Proust, I am reminded of how powerful it is to remember one's life. For me, this means to sort out my reading life. I remember my life by what literature I was reading at specific times on my journey.

My life is rife with stressful circumstances- I am a full-time caregiver this year for a loved one battling cancer, as well as a mom to a child with special needs. "Escaping" into literature is a must for my mental health. 

I see "escape" as a deep diving into great works. 

I am on a mission to read less, but more deeply. This is helped by my being very selective in which BookTube channels I watch, avoiding Bookstagram (not sure if I'll ever go back), and reading quality bookish blogs that help to inspire my love of literature.

updated december 3. 23

Classics left to read in 2023 

1. Another Country by. James Baldwin - currently reading December 2023
2. Notes from the Underground by Dostoevsky - currently reading December 2023

Classics I've read so far in 2023

1. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope ✔️ 
2. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky ✔️
3. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert ✔️
4. Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell ✔️
5. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol ✔️
6. A Room With a View by E.M. Forster ✔️
7. Persuasion by Jane Austen ✔️
8. East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood ✔️
9. Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov ✔️
10. Mistress and Maid by Dinah Mullock Craik ✔️
11. First Love by IvanTurgenev ✔️

Classics I'm moving to 2024 and beyond

1. Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon 
2. Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau 
3. The Story of Ivy by Marie Belloc Lowndes

Catching Up and Reading Slower in 2023

I go back and forth on if I"ll make reading vlogs again.

Sometimes it feels like that would be the easiest way to get my content back out there, but I remember the time commitment- so I'm playing around with a few ideas and concepts.

It doesn't bother me to start my channel over. I always desired a small viewership, so that will be just fine. I'll keep you posted.

Lately, I've been very busy helping my loved me adjust to life after illness- while maintaining emotional health and all other appointments, and I have been very conscious to slow down my reading.

My reading life has felt cozy and consistently fun. I've been reading loads of non-fiction and doing my zillionith re-read of Anna Karenina. My favorite novel. 

This week I'm reading:

I'm also reading a host of informative non-fiction reads and wellness books.

As I get ready to head to New York, I'm so happy that I don't ever have to decide what book to bring with me because my kindle holds them all.

Off to enjoy this cozy peaceful Sunday.

Happy reading. 

Private Book Blog and Thoughts This Week

I've decided finally to make this reading blog private in the future. I'd like my daughter (if she chooses to) and myself to have a space where I catalog what I'm reading and how I'm feeling about it.

This incessant need to turn every single thought and action into a productivity march is exhausting and I quit. I may even quit this blog. I am unsure. 

In the meantime, I've cleaned up my kindle and I am now keeping just a currently reading folder open and that has helped to organize my thoughts. My reading has slowed down tremendously and I really enjoy that. 

I've discovered Jill Mansell- who I am sure I read a million years ago, but I have a host of her books on hold at my library and I am excited beyond measure to get to them. I thought I might go out to the library later, but there is truly no need so I will stay in and read what I have in between some business.

This week and month are almost rounding down and I quite interested in the process of reading less and reading so much slower.

My current re-read of Anna Karenina is going so so so slowly and I just love it. I could honestly read this novel in a week or two, but my goal is about 3 months or a little less.

I love that.

The less BookTube I watch (or the more specific BookTubers I watch), the more my own reading tastes naturally come back.

I know the order of the world is all social internet connections, but I have to admit, it doesn't gel with me. I'm going to keep forging my own path- even if it leaves me on the edge alone.

Happy reading. 

I'm Not Forcing Myself Anymore

Force is a strong word, but I won't be trying to make myself read as many romance novels anymore.

I continue to struggle to finish them. 

I can read a 815 page classic with no problem, but a 215 page romance novel often leaves me bored.

THIS is NOT some crusade against romance novels. The world is ready to vilify any woman who doesn't stand on the mount of "Romances are Better Than Anything", but there has to be enough room for everything women like to read- and shocker that isn't JUST romance.

I enjoy the idea of romance novels. There was a time I could read like 4 back to to back. 

Those days are gone. 

I've always been a classics lover. Literary fiction is a close second, but the depressing theme and nature of most literary fiction (as if the only way to tell a beautifully written story is to lace it with tragedy) wears thin, and translated fiction comes in right at the same level.

But, there are times I want something light. Something that I can sit with at night and really enjoy.

I tried cozy mysteries. Over and over. Sometimes I land on a gem, but most times I care about the cozy and NOT the mystery. Well, some would say THAT is a romance novel... well, it isn't.

The cozy part of cozy mystery has our central female protagonist, but she is in a community and has other things going on (her bakery, candle shop, etc.) and the guy part is secondary.

It all leads me to this point:

When I was in college and a young mom shortly thereafter, I found solace between my graduate studies and a failing marriage in UK based chick lit. Before you send pitchforks for the term chick lit, that's how it was classified (and sometimes still is)- and I don't find any problem here.

The novels were SO far from anything that seemed realistic, that like a Harlequin Presents novel it felt hysterically unlikely for anything my life could imagine.

I began to escape into the Cotswolds or somewhere in England. The novels are women's fiction with a slight romance and very little steam. It's truly a story of the woman's journey, mixed with friends, families, etc.

There is usually a serious element found within (divorce, infertility, loss of a parent, etc.) and lots of other things that plague women. 

Sure you can go with the Shopaholics lighter side of things, or you can venture to other authors who provide a more robust view of women's experiences- although I ADORE the Shopaholic books.

I'm saying all this to say, after Nora Roberts scared the skin off of me, I realized that I can'r deny how my reading becomes influenced by BookTube, how I am NOT reading for a degree when I'm reading fiction, and I should only EVER read novels that I think will be 5 star ⭐️ books, or 5 star ⭐️ experiences.

I miss the lightness of having a coffee and being lost in a fun and breezy story.

My classics will remain. I will continue to read and re-read them for as long as I'm alive. Right now I"m on my umpteenth re-read of Anna Karenina (and I discover new things every time) and I added a cute Jill Mansell story late at night as I tried to scrub my brain free of the beginning of The Obsession. 

The Benefits of Constantly Re-Reading The Same Novels

I know I know. It seems tedious, unnecessary and boring.

I assure you, it is not.

if anna were alive today...

Let me start by telling you which novels I constantly re-read:

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. Jane Eyre by Charolette Brontë
3. Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
4. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Now that you can see what I always re-read, can you sense a theme? 

If you didn't notice it, the theme is: GREAT moving literature. Sweeping stories of love, loss, family, duty, morality, and so much more.

There are amazing books NOT on this list that I have re-read, but I am only mentioning those that I re-read frequently and often.

I simply cannot get enough of the novels above. I just keep squeezing, and squeezing the life out of these characters. I feel like I know (were they alive in real life) what each of them would do in certain situations.

They feel wholly real and authentic to me. Endlessly affecting. 

I've been known to

Ignore contemporarily published literature that bookish friends recommend, in order to curl up with Anna Karenina for the umpteenth time.

Have audio, physical, and ebook editions of my favorite novels to pull parts from at all times.

Let library books be due back before reading them in favor of picking up a frequent re-read

What pleasure do I derive from this behavior?

I get to meet old friends on the page. I get to hang out again with Levin. I get to go back with Kitty to the party where she prays that Vronsky will FINALLY ask for her hand in marriage.

I allow myself to be transported back to the dinner table with the Bennets as Mr. Collins compliments the "excellent boiled potatoes".

I get to gasp as Bathsheba Everdene does the wildly feminist thing of turning down Gabriel Oak at first take as she proclaims that she is her own person with her own wishes and being a wife isn't at the top of that list.

A challenge:

I dare you to ignore the "recently published" shelf in favor of a comforting re-read.

I dare you to curl up with a favorite book for a quiet afternoon and I dare you not to be moved by it.

I'll be over here doing my zillionth re-read of Anna Karenina after just finishing my millionth re-read of Jane Eyre.

Sure it's a new year and new shiny titles are the shelves. I read more than one book at a time, so I'll able to read new to me books (though rarely newly published books), AND stay in the company of my beloved classics.

Happy re-reading

Unconventional Reading Goals for 2023

tea and books

This year comes on the tail end of a stressful and manic year for me. Even if it hadn't, I can feel forces calling me to: Do less. Own less. Read less.

I don't see anything wrong with Goodreads goals, or goals in general, but I am seeking to continue to LIVE the great books this year. I want to sandwich my busy upcoming year between the chapters of great works of literature. 

Unconventional reading goals that I have for 2023

Read fewer books on purpose

I aim to digest all of the literature that I consume. I don't keep up with prize lists reading (though nothing is wrong with that), but there can be a FOMO to the book community. SO many seeming great books being published. SO many people discussing the same book, and you feel like you're on the outside.

Well, that's okay. I'll stand out here thank you very much. I"ll watch the vlogs of others who read through the list and I'll stick to my classics with sprinkles of romance or mystery thrown in for levity.

Take bookish readathons as suggestions, NOT mandates

This is pretty clear. I never have felt forced to participate in any readathon, but I have to say now that I've left BookTube and am just a viewer, I can see how many people tailor their reading around the month of the year.

"I'll save this for Victober." "This will be the perfect read for March Mystery Madness"

It goes back to the FOMO thing. I am going to embrace the joy of missing out on it honestly. 

I'll keep a digital notepad nearby as the TBRs roll in each month dedicated to the readathons, but don't expect readathon bingo boards over here. 

Non-negotiable nightly reading time

I know this seems simple, but so many people WANT to read, but can't carve the time out to do so. I will set some nightly time (TV off, YouTube blocked) to sink into my literature. 

Avoiding social media has been great for my attention span and personal development. I enjoy the ability to settle my brain waves down into a chunk of Anna Karenina. 

Read what I own

Stop feeling like I need to purchase ANY books unless I will be reading it IMMEDIATELY. Get rid of that "let me grab it" attitude, that I picked up from watching so much BookTube. 

If I own it, read it. If I don't own it and I want it, I need to download and read straight away.

Live the novels I read

Discuss them daily. Ponder them. Attempt to get inside the character's minds. LIVE the books out. Imagine what I would do if I were the character.

Remember MY book adage: 

If it isn't worth reading twice, it isn't worth reading once. 

And with that, I start off 2023 with re-reads of my favorite classics because I am not in a race to "out read" anyone. To "keep up" with anyone or to be "relevant" in any way. 

I'm using reading great literature as a way to increase my empathy and live a better life in a stressful world. 

Happy reading my slow living friends. 

No New Novels, Only Classic Literature

Keep a blog. Delete the blog. Get back on Bookstagram. Stay off Bookstagram. Should I recreate a BookTube channel... no it is a waste of time.

2022 conclusion: time for massive changes. Not just in my reading life, but in my life as a whole.

2022 was one of the worst years of my life (it isn't over yet), but I can see the light at the end of this long long long tunnel.

I found myself reading with almost every second of my free time. While some will say, "That was a healthy way to get through a rough time". I know that I neglected other healthy habits like exercise and yoga. Mentally I was so exhausted, but having a HUGE roster of "read" books, doesn't supply me with a good feeling.

I have some unconventional reading goals coming for 2023 and I have decided to do my best to keep this blog as a space to share my love the novels that have truly changed my life. Novels that have shaped me.

I'm going to have a much more balanced year coming up, and that includes being MUCH more select (as I was before) with any novel I choose to spend my time with.

small organic latte + reading in the early morn

What I've learned about myself

I don't enjoy reading most contemporary literature. Watching BookTube gives on a feeling of FOMO. You feel you're missing out on keeping up with the Booker Prize long list (though I don't go and read most of the books), keeping up with new releases, readathons, book clubs, etc.

There is a direct correlation between watching BookTube and weird feelings with my reader identity. I honestly didn't think I would be susceptible to these feelings because I was so aware of how consuming social media affects us (hence my NOT being on Bookstagram and definitely not BookTok), but alas here we stand.

Changes I've Made

I've accepted that this hard year has opened my eyes once again to how short this life is. I want to focus on reading mainly classic literature and some nonfiction books for all of 2023.

I asked myself, "What I focused on great literature only? What happens when I stop watching BookTube channels who cover all new releases and prize lists (to avoid FOMO- or anything that feels like it)? 

I have a long list of classics to reread, but also a list of classics I've had my eyes on but didn't make time for in lieu or reading literary fiction novels that disappoint me 50% of the time.

I'm an e-reader person. My vision is helped by e-ink, but my absolute favorites (I'm looking at you Anna Karenina), I like to reread and annotate in physical form. 

No need to wait until the new year, I've already deleted some of the "must read" (as recommended by others) literary fiction and genre fiction from my kindle and downloaded a few new, well formatted classics and began my rereads.

I thought ending the year reading a few of my favorite novels would be a great way to go out of 2022. 

Day 2: Reading LESS This Cozy Season and Next Year

This has been one of the hardest years of my life, and I can feel this year coming to a close. While I do still have so many difficult things to complete and do, and the stresses are still on my shoulders, I've found that I haven't been using reading to cope or deal, it has somehow become it's own stressor.

I've identified a distinct correlation between BookTube/ internet bookish consumption and stress in my reading life. 

Yes reading was a comfort. A place to hide while my life was falling apart. But, now it's time to get my head from facing down as I run forward at 100 mph and take a long, slow look around.

Yes, I love books. Yes, I love crafting an exciting reading life. But, I also had other hobbies and they have disappeared. Reading is so easy for me, that I just allowed myself to be carried away with ALL the classics, literary fiction, occasional romances + cozies, and I almost forgot that it isn't a hobby if it starts to feel obsessive.

I've heard others discuss this to some extent, but no one really talks about it. 

I'm acknowledging that it sucks and that I want to go back to how my reading was pre pandemic. Scouring the kindle sales page, watching endless TBR videos, and scanning websites for cool titles isn't fun- it's depressing. I could always feel that I should be doing something else to alleviate some of my life stress.

Things I am intending on focusing on that I used to love before my book/reading addiction

☕️ Baking (I still bake, but I used to bake so much more)
☕️ Homemade body care products

☕️ Photography (completely fell away from this hobby)

☕️ Crafting (tie dying, candle making, etc.)

☕️ Writing (just for fun)

I have written about having a reading template and the need I have to read books that move/change me in some way. I read or entertainment, but that is entertaining to me. 

When Clarice Lispector's witchcraft style writing transports me out of my head and somehow into my body, that is entertaining. As I reread Anna Karenina for the fourth time, I was entertained.

When I read less, I read more deeply. I read better. I don't have an invisible bird on my shoulder telling me that "there are so many other books to read... just get it on audio...hurry and check the sales". 

The only thing swimming in my head is that current read. I miss that feeling and I am setting an intention to return to it.  

How to read less

☕️ Don't have more than 1-2 books going at a time

☕️ Don't make a monthly TBR that has more than 2-3 books on it

☕️ Stop watching TBR videos (yes I did just say that)

☕️ Journal about what you're reading either digitally or in a paper journal. 

☕️ Choose your reads more carefully

☕️ Don't be afraid to pick up a dense novel that you've always wanted to read, but you know will take a lot of "time". Finally pick it up!

☕️ Don't speed up your audiobook if you do audio. 

I'm on a mission to slow every single thing down in my life. I successfully did this about 15 years ago, but recent years have not been very kind to me so it's time to readjust and that starts with my hobbies- the things that are intended to be calming.

Hope it helped. Happy cold and cozy reading.

Books to End 2022: December Reading Plans

my morning practice

I don't use really strict TBRs. I eschew that kind of tightly bound structure in my reading. After all, I'm not in the field of literature, neither am I gunning for the arbitrary title of "most well read" amongst any set of people.

I say it over and over and I'll say it again... I read to be transformed. To be entertained. And to be made anew. 

I reread because revisiting the books that helped me through hard time (hell The Street by Ann Petry) or shaped my empathy for those who cheat (hello Anna Karenina) feel like a warm hug and a freshly hot organic cup of coffee. In essence, it feels delightful.

As 2022 comes to a close, I have so much to reflect on. Not just in my reading, but in my life. This has been one of the hardest years (and if you knew my life's story that statement alone would make you pause).

I deleted Storygraph AND Goodreads initially and lost track of my books. I deleted my spreadsheet and lost track of ALL my books. I've since recreated a spreadsheet and rejoined Goodreads with a fresh and brand new account.

I've assessed my reading and realized with going back to school (NOT for Literature), I won't have nearly as much time for bookish musings, so I will have to choose very, very carefully come next year.

This last month of year will find me indulging in some Kindle Unlimited novels and I am planning to end the year with a reading of Clarice Lispector's The Hour of the Star. I am most excited for this one.

I'm carrying a few over + adding some other entertainment

I Remain in Darkness by Annie Ernaux

The Debut by Anita Brookner

So excited for this one

Black love = sign me up

This cover is stunning

Long biography carry over of my fav

My first Trollope

The Half Life of Valery K

What I'm most excited about for my reading in December

1. To wrap up and move away from Kindle Unlimited reads so that I can focus on my owned books
2. To finish the year with a new to me classic author (Trollope)
3. The few novellas which are great for anxious days
4. Early dark nights ripe for hot decaf and a charged kindle
5. Ending the year with another Anita Brookner novel
6. Balancing what I anticipate to be transformative literature with entertaining reads

It's at this time of year that lots of creators make vlogmas or blogmas. I believe that I will participate in blogmas in an independent sort of way. I have a few things I'd like to write about and novels I'd like to show, and blogmas is a great way to do so. 

This bookish site is meant to be a catalog of my reading life and experience with novels so that I can come back and look at how I felt about what I read. I have a low readership and I appreciate every person who comes by this site. 

I hope that as you design your reads for the end of the year, you focus on what YOU truly want to read and before you participate in all the many readathons set forth by the bookish community, that you check in with yourself and progress along your own personal reading journey. It's all about letting novels (no matter the genre) to change you.

Happy book choosing my deep reading friends. 

I Tried Audible Plus for Classic Literature Text + Audio Combos

I'm not a big audiobook listener. I like to create my own world. The voices that I imagine for the characters; however, in the past year or so I picked up some audiobooks of novels I know very well (Pride and Prejudice and Anna Karenina) in an attempt to keep me company as I sat bedside with my loved one who is battling cancer and I am the sole caregiver.

What started out as an experiment to keep me entertained and to slow my brain from going into dark and dangerously sad places, quickly morphed into a beloved past time.

I learned to SIT with the audiobook playing WHILE reading a great work of literature.

Up next, was an audiobook for Wuthering Heights. Oh my! I was so delighted to see that I really enjoyed this process.

Things I've noted:

1. It takes longer to read the book this way. If I leave off the accompanying audio, I could finish the book SO much more quickly, but who cares about reading books quickly.
2. All audiobooks are NOT created equally. I have to use the samples of audiobooks. Some authors have voices that grate on my ever loving nerves, and others swing me into a melodic sleep. It's all subjective, but I'm highly sensitive to sound, so it takes a while for me to find someone who agrees with my taste.
3. Speeding up the audiobook too much takes away from the joy of it and makes reading feel like a race. Ignore the 2.5x crowd, and forge your own slow reading way. Savor the work. Pause and reread a section with your eyes or rewind by 30 seconds and re-listen.

Audible Plus With No Credits

I don't get credits from Audible. I just get on the waiting list at my local library. I don't care for much of what is released in literary fiction, so I just use my library. 

I read light novels from kindle unlimited or kindle and it's easy for me to just breeze through those novels. I don't use any audio. There are a few exceptions to this. Audible has (included in the plus catalog) a few cozy mysteries and romances. I don't read along with those because I would need to speed it up greatly and I hate that chipmunk sound- and at that point it's no fun.

All in all, I am a new audiobook convert. While I still don't seek out the audible catalog for every book or classic I read, I have found great joy in making a hot pot of tea at night (all coffee by daytime!) and listening + reading at the same time.

A few novels I've enjoyed as audio + text combinations

I will continue to experiment with audiobook combinations with text alongside, and possibly some of my lighter reads on audiobook from the library to accompany me while cleaning or baking. I will use my library for them rather than paying to "rent" them from Amazon. There is definite appeal in not having a "deadline" for the book, but it isn't worth the monthly fee IMHO.

 I'll report back.

Happy slow listening

Books I Want to REREAD in 2023: The Year of the Reading Slow Down (Even More)

I live by the adage (that I honestly believe I made up) "If it isn't worth reading twice, it isn't worth reading once". This is of course not always true, but it is for me 80+% of the time.

2023 will mandate that I slow down even more. Each year I aim to read less books per year. This is the antithesis of the bookish culture's need for more books, more hauls, and higher page counts, but I am seeking the sublime here. I want to stand in awe of what I read 80% of the time.

I've added lighter reads to balance out the stress in my life and I find immense value in that. 

I am however a HUGE proponent of the Rereading Movement. I capitalized the words, but I have no idea if that is a true movement or if I am starting one with this post :)

In the vain of having "comforting reads", I am going back to authors and works who have delighted and fascinated me before. There are some comfort reads that are so sacred to me that I return to them again and again and again- yet they don't lose their hold on my heart.

Here are my rereads for the next 12 months (2023 focused)

Classics I want to read in 2023 can be found here.

Tess of the D'urbervilles by my favorite
Mr. Thomas Hardy

Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
 Volume I of In Search of Lost Time

Anna Karenina by Count Leo Tolstoy
I reread this novel every single year

Emma by Jane Austen
It's time for an Emma reread

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
Love the Brontës. Adore Anne

I highly encourage you if you don't reread, to give it a shot. Pick a favorite of yours and revisit the world of those characters.

If you're afraid it won't hold up, that's okay. Put your book to the test. It will either reaffirm it as one of your favorites, or clear the space for you to put something better in it's place.

Happy slow and deep reading. 

Lightening My Reading Load

I love reading and learning from the great works of literature. Anna Karenina. All of Austen. James Baldwin. Dostoyevsky.

But, this week something changed. Shifted. 

My anxiety and the stress of caring for my loved one through cancer has taken a toll in a major way and one night I decided around 10 pm after finishing Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell (so sad and depressing), to download a lot of holiday romance and cozy mysteries.

I struggle sometimes with "lighter" reads. And I don't say "light" to mean anything other than the heavy mental brain energy needed to sink into the classics.

It is important of reading what you feel called to read.

In our age of constant streaming, we can be influenced by what others are reading. The book community has a bad reputation of buying books, and watching others read books, and not actually reading the books. I am not saying that to say be careful of over watching book hauls and adding to a never ending TBR. 

Nothing makes you better or worse for having read it. When I spend 6 months at a time reading 100% literary fiction and classics, I can sometimes feel a bit of intense weight that I carry around.

Now with my loved one battling advanced cancer, my days are long (haven't slept at all this year), I have made my way to October only haven read deeply intense reads.

I don't (and neither should you) explain away what you choose to read.

It's your reading life. It's your time. It's your energy.

If I have one dollar for every public bookish person who says, "Well, I'm just going to read this trashy book quickly and then back to my real books".

I think cozy mysteries are valid reads. I know that romance novels are valid reads. Sometimes people will try to tell me, "Don't worry, you can read a few throwaway novels, and then get back to Proust".

I kindly let them know that no matter what, there is nothing to get back to. The great works will never leave my constant perusal. I enjoy getting into bed at night with a light book ready to be opened on my kindle. 

It's not that I don't love constantly thinking about what Mary Barton's going to do when it comes to Jem Wilson in Elizabeth Gaskell's novel, I love just going back into a good atmospheric romance or the small town of the cozy mystery world. 

I'm not laying brick after brick on myself. My life is hard right now. I will lean into the Kindle Unlimited subscription and indulge in some extra creamer in my coffee alongside comforting cozy mysteries and holiday romance novels.

I would never part ways with my beloved classic literature, Clarice Lispector's works, or entering into the worlds that Anita Brookner makes, but I will allow myself to get lost in the escapism that lighter reads provide to me. 

Consciously Building My Small Physical Library- Only Repeated Rereads

I'm a digital book reader. 

But not only a digital book lover. The new world wants us to be ALL one thing or another. We are more complex than that.

As a slight minimalist and someone who struggles with visual clutter, I don't currently desire a vast (even neatly done) physical library.

There are a few books that call to me. They demand that I pick them up and thumb through them often.

I have a slightly different opinion on rereading. TL;DR: reread ANY part of a work, and that IS rereading.

While yes, I do full rereads of several novels every single year- it's my favorite way to read ... to reread, but I also thumb through different novels on a daily basis. Most of those being my favorite novels.

It feels partially addictive... I am compelled to pick it up and page through what Bathsheba says when she first meets Farmer Gabriel Oak (a love of mine). 

I oftentimes likes to break my own heart repeatedly by reading what Anna Karenina does towards the very end of the novel. (I seek to avoid anything that even seems like a spoiler when I can).

Weekly, I need to page through something by Jane Austen. Right now, it's a slow full reread of Northanger Abbey. (I normally reread this one every Autumn).

Jane Eyre is another that I HAVE to pick up at this time of year. Just seeing Jane on her journey away from Thornfield in the dead of night... sleeping outside... I glance out at the Autumnal leaves and I am right there with her. 

Recent Additions to My Physical Library

Additions (all used) to my physical library

I have been spending time combining some of my life philosophies (consuming less + supporting charitable organizations) and I decided to only buy my physical books from Better World Books.

I loathe that I have to say this, but NOTHING I put here is ever sponsored by ANY company. EVER. 

I had a coupon for savings on used books and I grabbed myself 5 new additions to my library! All paperbacks and with the exception of the last two, all are being replaced after giving away the others to fellow readers who were anxious to get into classics. 

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
2. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy 
3. Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
4. Soulstorm: Stories by Clarice Lispector
5. The Illustrated Dracula by Bram Stoker; Illustrated by Jae Lee

I am so excited for these titles. They will come over the course of the next 3-4 weeks. I don't mind.

I work on having a more analog way of looking at life (as I type on the internet :), and it's perfectly fine if it takes longer than 2 days for a book to arrive. 

Wishing you a great start to the Autumn season filled with pumpkin spiced candles, comfy pajamas, and plenty of time to sink down into a good novel. 

I'm off to read about 45 minutes of Proust and carry on with Dracula and Shirley.

Happy reading my slow living friends.