What I'm reading this week (2/15/16)

One of my favorite events of the year starts tonight: the Westminster Dog Show! This will be the 140th show. Can you imagine? People have been registering and showing dogs in America for 140 years! Anyway, tonight and tomorrow night I'll be glued to the couch watching the dogs and cheering for my favorites (the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, the smooth-haired Dachshund, the Boston Terrier, the French Bulldog, and a dozen others). Who am I kidding--I love them all. Anywho. Books might be taking a backseat a couple nights this week.

 

Last week, I finished:

I enjoyed my re-read of Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman. After seeing a lot more of her show, it's nice to flesh out her and her husband a bit. This was a nice, quick read. There's a lot of kissing and lust, but it's all tasteful. And there are a lot of funny situations, especially involving city girl Ree on the ranch. All in all, I enjoyed it and recommend it.

This week I'll be continuing with:

 

Still enjoying The House at Pooh Corner. I'm reading it slowly so as to savor the hilarity and goofiness. I think my favorite character is Piglet.

This week I'll be finishing:

 

It feels like I've plowed through Where I Live, and considering it's kind of long for a single collection, and I only read it a few minutes per night, it's gone surprisingly fast. I haven't found a lot of new poems that I really love, but I do enjoy Maxine Kumin's writing overall.

This week I began the audio version of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry. This is one of those books I liken to a train wreck. I don't want to look, but I can't help it. I don't want to finish it, but I can't help going on. I want to know what happens, but the whole plot has involved just too much suspension of disbelief. I like my fiction to be a bit more realistic and masterful. This book is serviceable enough, but it's not masterful. I know a lot of folks love this book, and I went in with an open mind, but it's not my cup of tea. To its credit though, it is keeping me listening.

This week I think I'll begin:

 

I think I'll read Dead Presidents next. I love behind-the-presidency stories, so I've been looking forward to this one for weeks.

And I'm going to tackle another book of poetry, this one by the brilliant Donald Hall. As I remember, his poems tend to be straightforward, but deceptively simple, one of those poets you get out of what you put in. We'll see if I remember correctly.