It's Monday! (12/21/15)

It's Monday! is sponsored by Sheila at Book Journey.

 

This will be my last It's Monday! post for the year. I'm off from work this week and next, and I plan to read, read, read. Hopefully I'll finish my December list early so I can get started on a chunkster from my January list. It's dispiriting to lug a big book back and forth to work each day, making small progress. I like to attack big chunks of one when I'm home on breaks. That's not always possible, but I take what I can get.

 

Also this week, I'll be: wrapping presents; having my son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and son's mother over on Christmas Eve; going to my mom's house on Christmas Day; opening presents with my hubby alone; and watching old movies off the DVR.

 

But mostly? Reading. Under a blanket. In new (hopefully) Life Is Good apparel.

 

 

Last week I finished these:

 

Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island grew on me over time. In fact, I enjoyed it more when it was over than I did while I was reading it--which sounds negative, but is sort of a compliment. Sometimes it felt slow and kind of "who cares?" but looking back, I rather enjoyed it.

 

Anna Quindlen's Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake is a re-read, and it's one that held up well. I love this book. It's personal essays (Quindlen is the queen of the personal essay) about being a woman and all that entails. She's so wise and frank and witty. I highly recommend this book, in fact I gave a copy of it to my mother this year.

 

 

I continue to listen to:

 

Hopefully this week I'll be finishing The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. You wouldn't think it would take six weeks to get through three audio CDs.

 

And I'm relishing my re-read of Michael Perry's Coop on audio. It's one of my favorite books of the year, and one I wouldn't mind owning on audio in addition to hardcover.

 

 

This week, I'll finish:

 

I wasn't sure what to expect from Leah Remini's Troublemaker. I adored Remini in King of Queens, my all-time favorite sitcom (and that right there is saying something), but I had a feeling her past was full of vices and poor choices. And it was. Also, there's the whole Scientology thing which strikes me as a religion developed on a experimental lark by a sci-fi novelist to see if it would catch on. To each his own, but Remini (who left Scientology) paints a weird, dark picture of the belief system.

 

 

This week, I'll be reading: