Monday, May 23, 2016

Monday Malarkey



Recent arrivals (top to bottom):


  • Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera, 
  • I Can't Begin to Tell You by Elizabeth Buchan, and 
  • The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor - all purchased
  • The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman - from HarperCollins for review
The covers of three of them are so pretty, it just occurred to me that I probably should have snapped a photo showing the covers, so here's a crappy phone photo I just took. While it's better than nothing, the cover of Signs Preceding the End of the World is black, not a grainy grey, and quite striking.



Books finished since last Tuesday's twaddle:


  • Raising Ryland by Hillary Whittington - working on the review and finding it a bit difficult to express how I feel about this book. 
  • The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark - The classic I settled on after deciding to ditch my first selection because it turned out to be a series of short stories.
  • Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera - A one-sitting read, translated from Spanish.


Currently reading:


I plan to focus on Simon Van Booy's short stories in Tales of Accidental Genius, for the next few days. I've also started to read Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones and I like the writing but I'm not sure it's going to stick. I don't feel eager to pick it up at night, so it might not be the right time. If so, I'll switch to another novel, soon. I also need to start a new nonfiction because I like to balance one nonfic with a couple fiction reads but I haven't settled on one, yet. So, kind of a wishy-washy start to the reading week.


Last week's posts (only one after Tuesday Twaddle):




In other news:

Just two days after I posted a photo of our tomatoes, squirrels stripped the tomato plants of fruit, so Huzzybuns is pondering the possibility of building a small greenhouse. Bummer. We had a lot of tomatoes growing and they took every single one, even the tiny ones.

There's not much other news. We had a quiet weekend and the only real excitement was going shopping with a friend for canvases while they were on sale 67% off. They didn't have a couple of the sizes I was looking for, unfortunately, so I may have to go back to see if they've restocked, later in the week, but in the meantime I've got plenty of variety to work from. I've been painting mostly on small canvases because I only have a tabletop easel, so finding an easel that will hold larger canvases is next on the agenda. If you paint and can recommend a particular brand or type of easel, I'm open to advice. I want something sturdy that will adjust to hold either a large or small canvas.

What's up in your world?

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8 comments:

  1. Had no idea squirrels would eat tomato's! Can't wait to hear what you think about I Can't Begin to Tell You.

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    Replies
    1. They eat anything, even the flowers. We were hoping that the fact we're not feeding the birds would help keep them away but I guess we just have really hungry squirrels in this neighborhood!

      I'll let you know what I think of I Can't Begin to Tell You. Her upcoming release is also WWII.

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  2. Those squirrelly squirrels! Sorry. I hate that.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. On the plus side, maybe I'll eventually get a little greenhouse. I would love to give that a try.

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  3. I want The View from the Cheap Seats. All you lucky people. :(

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    Replies
    1. I do feel very lucky getting a copy of The View from the Cheap Seats. I've wanted to read it since I first heard about it. Hope the reading experience is as exciting as the anticipation!

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  4. Squirrels (and rabbits) can be so irritating! Bummer about your tomato plants. :(

    I gave up on a couple of library books and have just started Anna and the Swallow Man. Fingers crossed this gets me out of my mini-slump!

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    Replies
    1. They certainly can be irritating. However, I think we're going to have fun looking at ideas for a greenhouse, even if it takes us a couple years to get around to building one. So, there's that. :)

      Oooooh, Anna and the Swallow Man is so good. I hope you love it as much as I did and that it helps you out of that slump!

      Delete

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