It's Monday 8/5! What Are You Reading?

Book By Book

 Life

Another quiet week at home, recovering from COVID. I’m still very restricted, but I definitely saw some slow improvements over the past week, which is very encouraging! And I reached out to my ME/CFS (my chronic illness) specialist in NYC to ask if she or her colleagues knew of anything that might help someone with ME/CFS to recover more quickly from COVID. Much to my surprise, she said yes! She called in a prescription and gave me the name of a combination of amino acids to order. Both won’t arrive until the end of this week, but just the hope has helped greatly. So, some good signs and highlights from last week:

• Less time spent lying down (by necessity) and more time sitting up.
• I’ve managed some brief periods in my usual “office” – the recliner by the window – instead of on the couch.
• Some very slow, short walks around the cul-de-sac in front of our house.
• I recorded two book videos on Thursday … and didn’t “crash” (i.e. worsen) the next day – big victory.
• I left the house Saturday! I was getting a bit stir-crazy, so my husband drove me to our little local natural foods store and the library. It felt good to be out in the world!

We had horrible heat and humidity here again last week, but I tried to get outside whenever I could manage it. Our screened porch is a nice, peaceful place to read, and we love to watch our bird feeder.

 And my husband built my Little Free Library! Now, I just need to figure out how to paint it. I’m not very artistic, but I love bright colors.

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Friday Reads 8-2-24 and Birthday Book Haul! – my brief weekly update of what I am reading and listening to, plus the books I received for my birthday.

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After finishing the biggest of my books for #BigBookSummer, Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, I moved onto the Big Book that’s been in my summer stacks for several years: Cloud Cuckoo Atlas by Anthony Doerr. I’d heard this novel is similar to Cloud Atlas, which I loved, and I can see why the comparison was made. This book, like that one, includes multiple narrative threads, from different places and times, from 1450 Constantinople to Idaho in 2020 to a future where Earth has been destroyed and a group of families are traveling on a space ship to a far distant planet to begin again. There are multiple perspectives in the 1450′s and modern-day narratives, which makes it even more interesting. The thread that pulls all of these stories together is an ancient Greek story (made up by Doerr) by a real-life author, Antonius Diogenes, that is gradually told throughout the novel, as various characters discover it. I’m about halfway through now, and so far, it is engrossing and original.

I am very much enjoying listening to The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune on audio (also a Big Book). Yes, I somehow missed this very popular novel, though I enjoyed Under the Whispering Door. What finally pushed me to read it is that the publisher (Macmillan) reached out to ask if I wanted an early audio review copy of the sequel, Somewhere Beyond the Sea. It’s a beautiful, uplifting story of hope and love, about a quiet man named Linus Baker who is a case worker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY). He is assigned to visit and assess a top secret facility (the title house). Though Linus is a by-the-books man who can quote the department’s Rules and Regulations (and often does), what he finds in this home surprises him, opens his heart, and changes his life. I’m loving it on audio.

My husband, Ken, is still reading Lonesome Dove (my review at the link). He’s enjoying it very much, and it’s fun to be able to talk about it with him.

I talked to our older son, 29, this weekend, and he said he’s still reading book 2 of the Licanius Trilogy by James Islington, An Echo of Things to Come. He started a new job last month and hasn’t had any reading time! He’s loving his new job so far, but it’s keeping him busy; he even worked Saturday this weekend.

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