Tag Archive | reading

hanging out post

Dec28

I’ve been enjoying a little post-Christmas (pre New Year’s) time off! I got some lovely clothes, some books (one more gift exchange to go this weekend, so I’ll hold off on the books until all presents are received), a cake pop maker (!!!!!!!!) and a smaller keurig coffee machine for my office (won’t I be popular at work!). It really feels like forever since black friday/the start of shopping season.

The day after Christmas, I gave myself another gift, my much longed for “day of doing nothing!” I just wanted one day where I felt no obligations…just hung out on the couch doing whatever I wanted. And it turned out that what I wanted to do was read the first book of Harry Potter! And I did! I really enjoyed it and think I will intersperse them into my reading this year.

If I’ve done my calculations correctly, this is my 175th post this year…meaning I’ve met my (revised) goal of doing 175 posts this year. I learned some interesting lessons with this goal (mainly how I shouldn’t lock myself into a schedule with something that’s meant to be a hobby for fun..), but I’ll save the goal review talk till new years (I’m planning to post even though the idea of saying “Yes! 175! Time for a break!” is alluring).

Otherwise, strivingcynic cat is thrilled to have company and has made a point of being very cute and climbing on us for long naps. We’re all enjoying some laziness.

the frustrating and the fun

Jul16

I’ve been managing my “read 25 books this year” goal pretty well…I just finished book 15 (People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks, which I’d recommend). For those of you keeping track :-) , I am reading Sophie Kinsella’s Remember Me?, which was on my list of books I wanted to read this summer.

I wanted to talk about the two books I read, 13 and 14.

The first was the Ann Packer novel, The Dive from Clausen’s Pier. I’m not spoiling anything when I tell you the book opens with Carrie’s boyfriend Mike having a diving accident that leaves him comatose. Adding into the issues Carrie confronts in dealing with the aftermath is that she was outgrowing the relationship before the accident took place (she and Mike were high school sweethearts, now engaged). The book portrays Carrie as she deals with the accident and makes choices that affect everyone around her.

This was a weird book for me because although I liked the writing and the book, I really didn’t like Carrie very much. Not so much because of her doubts about her future with Mike, but how she treats people in general. I thought I would have more empathy, but I found her character to be flaky and impulsive in ways that tended to hurt other people. I was surprised at the fact I disliked her so much.

The second book was Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? This was a totally fun book that I read in a day, detailing Kaling’s life from nerdy schoolgirl to Hollywood medium-to-bigwig-dom. Kaling has a brilliant chapter on peaking in high school that pretty much sums up my thoughts on the subject as well (ie, it’s kind of sad if high school was the best time of your life…).

One of the things I liked so much was how “regular person”-like Kaling seems. She’s part of Hollywood, but doesn’t put on airs about what got her there. I also found it interesting reading her take on being a normal size woman in a “you must be skinny” business. She tells a revealing story about doing a “People‘s Most Beautiful” shoot with her colleague Ellie Kemper and how the only dress that would fit her “large” (size 8) frame was hideously unflattering. The other dresses (size 4, thank you very much), were beautiful, so she put her foot down and insisted that she wear one of those, much to the clothing stylist’s dismay (the dress had to be dismantled to work). I remember that issue and how pretty Kaling and Kemper looked and how I was surprised to learn they were both Ivy Leaguers (Dartmouth for Kaling; Princeton for Kemper–the section they were in was on beautiful smarties). So, it was fun to learn the back story.

Needless to say, I would totally recommend Kaling’s book as a great summer/beach read. I would recommend Dive as well, when you’re in the mood for something more serious!

Do you have a preference for light versus heavy reads, or does it depend?

top ten non-book blogs I read

May22

I’m back from my vacation and looking forward to getting back into the swing of blogland. For my first “I’ve returned” post, once more, it’s  Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the folks at the Broke and the Bookish. This week’s challenge: Top Ten Blogs/Sites You Read That AREN’T about Books.

This one is actually easy for me…most of the time, I do not inhabit the world of book blogs as much as I enjoy my visits there. The blogs I visit, I came to through “healthy living” blogs, but I think most of the bloggers (myself included) do not consider themselves healthy living blogs…I think although we were inspired by them, we’ve come to blogging about the quirks of day-to-day living.

So, who do I read..

1. Cathy over at 1970KikiProjectBlog. I first clicked on Cathy’s blog thanks to seeing her blog title in a comment. I was going to turn 40 in the not too distant future, and wondered if the 1970 might mean she was about my age. I’m glad I clicked. I aspire to be Cathy when I get to be her age (which I already sort of am since we’re about a year and a half apart in age). Her posts are funny and fun and so is her attitude towards her adventures.

2. Stephanie at Clay Baboons. I found Stephanie through Cathy. She had another, more healthy living, blog, but decided to focus on her clay figures (she calls them plasticine…same thing?). Sharply observed, funny as hell, surprisingly heartbreaking at times…Stephanie is one of a kind.

3. Fran at Broken Cookies Don’t Count. Ha. I found her through Stephanie. Another New Jerseyan who chronicles her life adventures (and food). She is also never happier than when she finds a good book for 50 cents at goodwill. A woman after my own heart.

4. Alex at Raw Recovery. Alex is just amazing. She’s scary bright (I get to say that because I’m 40 and she’s…23? she’s very young and she’s much smarter about everything than I was at her age). Alex writes about her recovery from an eating disorder, living with borderline personality disorder, philosophy, finding a happy place in life, and her sweet dog Angie. I’m always blown away by how articulate she is (I feel patronizing saying that though…more about what I was like at her age…).

5. Lindsey at Happy Or Hungry. Lindsey’s adventures pretty much make me laugh until I cry. She draws cartoons for her blog that are just perfect accompaniments to her stories. Check two of my favorites out: The Time I Almost Got Arrested and The Party and the Rowboat.

6. Fit and Forty Something. Kalli is another person I found because of a comment (and of course, her blog title spoke to my quest to find other bloggers my age). She is always on the go…always doing something fun and exciting..and is inspiring in her ability to get so much done.

7. Vampy Varnish. I don’t go here as often, but I like to look at the cosmetics reviews. I like the fact that VV focuses on cruelty free cosmetics (although they’re getting harder to find these days).

8. Renxkyoko’s space. She doesn’t post as often as the others, but I always get a laugh reading Renxkyoko’s stories and observations.

So, that’s only 8…and although I do look at other blogs, these are the ones I visit the most!

What are some of your frequent non-book blog haunts?

top ten books I’d quickly save if . . .

Feb21

Welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the fine folks at The Broke and the Bookish (thanks again guys). I actually decided to throw an extra challenge onto this week’s challenge. But first, the topic

“Top Ten Books I’d Quickly Save If My House Was Going To Be Abducted By Aliens (or any other natural disaster…you get the drift.)”
This is a great question…but I quickly realized that I would end up naming books I’ve named in probably more than one post already (Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, The Handmaid’s Tale), so I decided I had to choose from books that I have not already listed in my Top Ten posts (to be fair, some of these may have been mentioned once, but I’m pretty sure most of them have never been discussed in my Tuesday posts). And I have to say, adding that twist in made me appreciate some books I hadn’t really thought about. So this list combined books I wanted to save with books that I thought might be helpful to have in the face of the unknown….

1. Milton, by Haydé. As far as I can tell, this book has nothing to do with John Milton, but that’s what people think of when they see/hear the title. Milton is a cat and his story/philosophy is probably told in less words than I’ve used up to this point (okay, not so sure on that…but this post will definitely have more words). It’s just a perfect little book that says so much for what it is. I picked this up on impulse and would be sad to ever lose it.

2. How Not to Look Old, by Charla Krupp. Somehow I think this might be useful in the alien scenario…maybe for a zombie apocalypse as well. I could be wrong….but I’ll want to look my best.

3. World Almanac, Also a handy book to have for my uncertain future (I won’t bother listing out dictionary, encyclopedia..).

4. Any book from Vicki León’s Uppity Women series. I always enjoyed reading these anecdotes of feminine stealth, outrageousness, and acumen. I think they’ll serve to inspire me in the possible new world order.

5. The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family, created by Matt Groening, edited by Ray Richmond. Whatever the heck is happening with my house and the world, this book, which gets detailed in its description of The Simpsons, will help me maintain my sense of humor. I hope.

6. Knitting for Dummies, by Pam Allen. Again, this disaster might just be the opportunity to catch up on those knitting projects I’ve been neglecting. I just need a little reminder about how to do things like, cast off and purl…

7. Precious Bane, by Mary Webb. I loved this wild, weird book when I read it…and Prudence Sarn deserves to survive. I only managed to read one other Webb book (Gone to Earth..) and totally understood why Stella Gibbon would lampoon her writing style in Cold Comfort Farm (which could also be a candidate for this list).

8. A Splendor of Letters, by Nicholas Basbanes. I love books about books and reading and the history of books and reading. Basbanes writes so well about this subject that he’d be in the pile for sure.

9. Can Jane Eyre be Happy? by John Sutherland. One of several books in which Sutherland discusses puzzles and errors in famous novels and then offers an explanation. These books are so much fun to read, I’d have to have one with me.

10. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. I haven’t read this yet, and I’ll be very angry if I don’t get a chance to, so into the pile it goes!

How about you, what books would be useful or fun to save? Which books could you just not live without. Feel free to link to your list if you have one!

…and, now it’s 2012

Jan2

First, it feels weird to know I can’t used the postaweek2011 tag for this post (or can I since I referred to it?).

Although I don’t always make resolutions, I felt that I needed some for 2012 since there’s some stuff I don’t seem to be getting done otherwise. My experience with my countdown goals in 2011 showed me that I can be good about following through…at least sometimes. And I’m also realizing that just like everyone says, having a plan helps (it is funny how I can ignore certain pieces of advice like “don’t just make up in the air goals with no plan to back it up” expecting that I’ll be fine…apparently it doesn’t work that way).

I thought about it, and although I have a number of goals, I decided to select five to write about on the blog for 2012. And yes, they’re in my countdown form. I’m doing this for several reasons. First, I don’t necessarily want to do monthly goals every month…if I do, fine. If I don’t, I’m still (hopefully) working on the others. Second, seeing how some goals made it on the list for each month I had goals, I think it would save me from repeating myself by just setting them up at the beginning of the year.

And here they are

In 2012, I’d like to be able to run 10 miles (or 2 times 5 miles). I started 2011 at 2.5 to 3 miles and am now up to 7.5, so I think this is doable if I’m able to keep my schedule.

In 2012, I’d like to write 200 posts (which would average out to almost 4 a week–giving myself a little break with travel or things that happen that might pull me away). I seem to have found a groove with 4 a week this last month (although sometimes it’s challenging). I had 132 posts in 2011, so we’ll see if I can pull this one off.

and yes, that does mean more pictures of strivingcynic cat!

I did indeed get the Organize Now!  book I mentioned in my “books I want Santa to bring” post. The book is broken down into 56 chapters with the idea that you’ll do one a week. Not every chapter applies to me, so I’ve decided that in 2012 I’d like to get through 3 chapters a month in my quest to be more organized.

I actually managed to get two more books read by the end of 2011, bringing my total up to 25. I discovered last year that I was good about reading books when I set book reading as a goal. So, now it’s a goal for the year. In 2012 I’d like to read at least 25 books again (so mostly 2 books a month).

One thing that I’ve put in monthly goals and failed on is taking better care of my hands (they get chapped/cracked in the winter and I wash/sanitize them to death) and they start to hurt/flake/peel. So in 2012, I want to use hand cream on them at least 1 time each day and will do “higher” maintenance (nail clipping/filing/buffing…maybe even a manicure one of these days) twice a month (so 1 time every other week). Sadly enough, this would be more than what I do for them now!

I’m not sure how often I’ll do checking in posts on these. For now I’ll say quarterly and if I decide to do it more often (I don’t think it should be less…), then I will!

Other areas that may pop up as goals through the year would involve doing more cooking and getting back into my knitting (other things I wasn’t as successful with in 2011).  I can see that a big challenge with these goals (particularly 4-2 will be making and finding time [perhaps this will help me keep off the iPhone a bit too...)].

Happy 2012!  Feel free to tell me about how organized you are, that you’re a  running, blog posting, or book reading machine, or that you’re a hand model…anything to help inspire me (or make me feel better…)!