#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) went to the doctor and got a reasonable treatment plan for my spinal issues that doesn‘t require surgery (yet). Also started a virtual PT program through my insurance that lets me have the 3 sessions I need a week without missing work.
2) the heat wave broke for a day!
3) summer flowers and baby tomatoes
4) ran into Not My Cat on a walk. Turns out he was heading to my house 🤣
5) the Litsy crew. ❤️

Have a good one

Just finished my July #BookspinBingo list. I‘ll post the titles in the comments. I‘m going heavy on fiction this month. It‘s too hot for facts!

I love this idea! Here‘s 2 from me:

1) we do not care that we had to briefly pause a work meeting because a cat was sleeping on the papers we needed
2) we do not care that we ran by a friend of a teenager to get outside when the temperature suddenly dropped to 89 and it was finally tolerable to sit in the yard

In a world where so many serious things are happening it was perfectly timed that #AuthorAMonth brought me this book where very weird things are taken completely seriously. I loved the cats. I loved the dolphins. I loved the audiobook narration too.

I accidentally used a Everand credit on this when I meant to grab Yukon Alone. After a half hour of confusion about the book being about King Salmon and not an adventure race I figured it out and found the book very interesting. King salmon run along the Yukon River but like many other species are suffering with climate change and overfishing. The author takes a canoe trip to talk to the people who live along the river and see the salmon.

A simple #hyggehour tonight. Reading and ice water is all I want in this heat.

Whew, this one really packed a punch. It‘s a billion degrees here and sweaty, but I felt as if cold ocean water was creeping in all around me. The island and the whales were my favorite characters.
#CampLitsy @BarbaraBB @Megabooks @squirrelbrain how will I ever decide between this and Audition? How how will the rest of the summer live up to this great month of reading? Can‘t wait to discuss the rest on Saturday.

I didn‘t enjoy this one as much as Lippman‘s later books.

The neighbor‘s tree had the bad manners to fall in our yard so now it shall burn while I read.

Also mailed my #staycationintime package to @mcipher today but forgot to mark the outside of the package. So that‘s what the priority box from Virginia is. Should come Wednesday. @Chrissyreadit @DinoMom

Somehow between all of these storms we got a beautiful night for field hockey. Don‘t worry I‘ll put my book down when the game starts.

I read this book in some form every year on this day, and every year I get something new out of it. This year I just felt old. There‘s no way I could go to all those parties and get up and sell bonds the next day.

Don‘t miss it!

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) cherries are here!
2) cats standing guard at the back door
3) napkins with puns (seas the day & squeeze the day)
4) nasturtiums blooming
5) a rainbow after one of our many storms this week

Everyone hang in there and stay safe!

We had just finished the yard work when a quick storm came through and knocked our neighbor‘s tree into our yard. Next time I‘ll just stay inside with my books and my cats. (No damage to the house or occupants luckily.)

This book took me months to read but it was worth it. It‘s a chunkster about a troubled family trying to make their way through the 60‘s and the 70‘s in Washington. I recommend it.

@Susanita this is a great baseball book if you haven‘t read it

It‘s a yard work day, but I‘ve got my water, sunblock, and kindle all set up for breaks.

I was annoyed with this anonymous author at first, but somewhere around the time she met Lyle Lovett she began to grow on me. Her Twitter posts appeared on my feed but I wasn‘t a devoted follower. I have seen the portrait at the National Gallery a few times though.

Letting the rain water my plants while I read the tagged. The weather has been spectacularly weird today in the DC area.

Started the next #camplitsy book out on the porch tonight. So far it‘s perfect for a long hot night outside.

Summer card swap going out a little late. 🤞they‘ll get there soon.

#HyggeHour time! Books and cake and tea and silence. It was a full day today with brunch and a long walk. I‘m ready to wind down before the whole thing starts again tomorrow.

Today I got to vote and pick up my library books all in one stop!

There‘s a lot going on here. Let‘s see what happens….
#NancyDrewBR

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) got some answers from my MRI which aren‘t great, but they‘re answers. I was so afraid they wouldn‘t see anything and tell me to lose weight and drink more water!
2) All the year end stuff - promotion, field hockey, last days
3) cats being good friends during a frankly shitty week
4) summer flowers
5) a bumper crop of peas in the garden this year. Yum!

Hang in there friends ❤️

It‘s been a long time since a book made me stay up past my bedtime. This one was so worth it though. It‘s one of those books where the story is about one thing (missing hiker in Maine) but really it‘s about something else (women.) I loved this. Might be my favorite all year.

Finally a quiet night on the porch. Got a good book, baseball is on, and my candle is lit.

I enjoyed this novella set in Greenland. It‘s the prequel to a series of mysteries set in the country by a Danish author so I want to try and seek out more if I can find them in English. This is actually the second or third mystery I‘ve read set in Greenland and for whatever reason they work for me. #FoodAndLit #Greenland

Starting one of my most anticipated summer reads tonight. Hope it doesn‘t disappoint!

Disclaimer: by giving this a pick I am in no way saying I understood what happened. I CANNOT WAIT to talk about this Saturday for #CampLitsy

One of the weirdest books I‘ve read in a while.

I was designated seat holder at the 8th grade promotion ceremony today. No problem- I brought my book. You haven‘t lived until you hear an 8th grade orchestra play Green Day.

Super privileged and unrelatable but still a good listen in a roll your eyes kind of way. (Ina don‘t panic if you can‘t find the perfect antiques to furnish your Paris apartment. It‘s not that serious.)

Re-read this because a work friend is going to Norway next year and I remembered Bill Bryson going. Interesting to remember what traveling in Europe was like in the 90‘s.

Today is the last of the really busy days for the spring. Prepping for #hyggehour tonight when I will celebrate that it‘s all over. I miss my books!

I‘m trying some of the lemonade @TheBookHippie posted this week and trying to decide between Milano and biscoff cookies.

I read The Great Gatsby every June. It‘s one of my favorite summer traditions. #Naturalitsy @AllDebooks @TheBookHippie @Chrissyreadit

I took a lot of walks this week and there was joy to be had. #5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) yard signs for grads and college bound students
2) pollinator gardens
3) my neighbor‘s trash arrangement made me chuckle
4) bunnies everywhere this year (joyful as long as they stay away from my garden)
5) painted rocks

Hoping the medical tests I had this week will lead to the joy of answers and plans next week. TGIF.

A low pick. Holly deserved better.

Found out my daughter‘s field hockey practice is only a half mile walk from a used bookstore. Good thing this is the last practice. Couldn‘t resist this cozy with the unhinged cover.

Finally finished this chunky book for #BookedInTime #SpanishCivilWar @Cuilin

When I saw last month‘s theme I wanted to re-read this book. I wasn‘t sure if my fond memories of it were because it was a good book or if it was the book I brought with me the first time I traveled without my kids. Sometimes just being able to think makes a book better.

Happy to say it held up and I was just as into this spy novel in translation as I was 11 years ago.

From the warped brain of Stephen King….

Really enjoyed this one- an author kills off his pseudonym but his pseudonym doesn‘t want to die.

A great kick off to my summer reading, and possibly one I‘ve never read before.

The best hour of the week! #HyggeHour

I actually took a hike and a nap today so for once I‘m feeling good about the week to come. Not a common feeling this year so I‘m going with it!

My May stats from StoryGraph. Hoping to keep this momentum going in June!

Excited to start another chunky classic with #hashtagbrigade #boringkindlecover

(I realize my scone is as big as my book. Don‘t judge.)

Thanks to #ShelfShifter Readathon I read more books in May than I had in a long time. Here are my top 12. Lots of mysteries in May. Looking forward to calmer weekends and #CampLitsy in June.

Last day of #ShelfSweeper

Thank you @Andrew65 @Tove_Reads

RIP @eanderson

Listening to the tagged and weeding the front yard. I don‘t think I have time to finish today, but I‘m holding off on my month end wrap up just in case.

Wow this week flew.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) mushrooms on a hike
2) hydrangeas starting to bloom
3) baseball with the fam
4) love the new color in my sunroom. It‘s called Cape Cod so of course I do.
5) 17 candles for my baby boy

Happy Friday everyone!

This week has flown by and so has this month. Can‘t tell you what I‘ve been doing, but I know books were involved. #ShelfSweeper

Day 28! Wow! A topsy turvy week trying to fit 5 days of work into 3 (training on Friday WHY??) plus getting my sunroom painted. Still making progress on my books but not sure if I‘ll finish this month. #ShelfSweeper @Andrew65 @Tove_Reads

I get so excited when I start a new to me series. I enjoyed this one and can‘t wait to binge listen to the rest.

This lacked the humor of Middlemarch, but overall I‘m not mad I read it. A light pick. #hashtagbrigade