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Book By Book

Hosted by The Book Date

Life 

Many people know that life can change in an instant, but that is especially true when you live with an unpredictable chronic illness. A week ago, I was recounting our wonderful vacation and thrilled that I could manage some short (1-mile) but challenging hikes in Shenandoah National Park. I usually do quite well in spring and summer–last year, I didn’t have a single “crash” day from March through August–so I was looking forward to being able to be a bit more active, with my usual winter relapse behind me. Then, on Thursday, I noticed I was very hoarse while recording videos. By Thursday evening, I had a severe sore throat, swollen glands, and a mildly elevated temperature: all my usual signs of the start of a major relapse. So, here I am again–exhausted with flu-like aches, lying on the couch, with no end in sight. I haven’t made a final decision yet, but it’s highly unlikely I will be able to go to Booktopia this week, an event my mom and I look forward to all year. I’m frustrated and disappointed … and feeling very helpless, at the mercy of this disease once again.  

Sorry to be all doom and gloom. But there were some highlights this week! Before this relapse hit, I enjoyed a lovely walk in a local park, Brandywine Creek State Park. It had just stopped raining, so I enjoyed the fresh smell of the air, all the green in the trees (it changed a lot in the week we were away!), and beautiful views of the river. 

I was thrilled when we got back from vacation to see that I hadn’t missed our lilac tree blooming! My grandma loved lilacs, and that smell just takes me back. My hometown of Rochester, NY, is known as Lilac City and has a huge Lilac Festival in May every year (they bloom later up there).

In addition, the blue moon phlox and anemones are in full, gorgeous bloom right now. I had fresh flowers from our gardens on the kitchen table all week.  

Our son helped us all week to clear out our garage–a very big job after living here for 31 years! It’s usually filled with our pop-up camper, my car, and LOTS of other stuff! We couldn’t have done it without him, especially after my health took a dive. We found some forgotten things, lots of happy memories, and some strange things, too! But, by Sunday afternoon, it was mostly empty. The reason for this clear-out was much-needed mold remediation, which started this morning. I’m hoping this will help my health in the long-term.

A skull?? Kids probably found it in the woods years ago.

Almost empty garage! Used to be a single path through the middle.

Demo started.

And we had two happy surprises this weekend. Our older son and his fiancée made a surprise visit Sunday! Our son needed his birth certificate to get his Real ID. It was a short visit, since they had to drive more than three hours each way, but they picked up lunch for us, and the five of us enjoyed a little unexpected time together.

The other surprise is that our younger son and his fiancée got a puppy. His name is Chester, and he is so incredbly adorable! He was here while we our son helped us yesterday, and since I was pretty limited, I spent some time sitting on the ground and playng with him.  He’s just like a human toddler – goes and goes and goes and goes … then suddenly konks out! And they had us over for dinner last night, and Chester fell asleep in my lap after dinner. Just so stinkin’ cute!

The newest member of our family – Chester!

Our son with his new puppy

Sound asleep! He wore himself out.

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 Shenandoah National Park: Camping, Hiking, Sunsets & Gorgeous Views - my 22-minute video summary of our trip last week, filled with beautiful nature, birdsong, and some fun hikes.

Greenbrier State Park, MD - this brief 8-minute video of our weekend camping features relaxing kayaking footage, peaceful birdsong, and tranquil nature.

Weekly Reading Wrap-Up: It’s Almost Time for Booktopia! Even if I can’t attend Booktopia this year, I’ve been reading some really outstanding books for the event.  

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I finished reading Counting Lost Stars by Kim van Alkemade, a Booktopia pick. Besides being a best-selling author, Kim also works at one of Northshire’s stores as a bookseller and was a last-minute fill-in guest author at Booktopia last year. I’m so glad I finally have a chance to read one of her books! This is fascinating historical fiction, with a dual timeline. In 1961, 21-year-old Rita Klein has just been released from a home for unwed mothers. When she became pregnant after one night with an older businessman she met in one of her college classes, she was kicked out of college (in the midst of her senior year) and sent to the home. While her family and the manager of the home insist that giving up her baby was the best thing for both of them, Rita isn’t so sure. She gets a job working with early computers, one of the few women in early computer programming, and meets a man named Jacob who survived the Holocaust and Auschwitz. In 1941, Cornelia Vogel is a punch-card operator in the Dutch Ministry of Information, run by her father. The more she works with the early computers, the more she realizes the full extent of the horror of what Hitler is doing … and using Dutch citizens like her and her father to do it. After meeting a young Jewish woman her age named Leah, Cornelia begins to wonder if there is anything she can do to help. This engaging novel pulled me right in from the very first chapter, with some surprising twists, and the history about early computers is really interesting. I was equally engrossed in both storylines and loved the way they came together and the very satisfying ending. My mom is reading it now and loving it! 

I was finally able to start listening to another Booktopia selection on audio: All the World Can Hold by Jung Yun. When I first checked, it was not yet available on Libby–and now there’s an 8-week wait list!–so I got the CDs from the library. The CDs are somehow defective, though. I wasted hours trying to upload them to my laptop (so I could download to my iPod), but that didn’t work. So, I tried listening on my laptop–nope. My son’s old CD player? Some discs worked but not all of them. My old Discman? Nope. My husband finally dug my father-in-law’s old CD player out of the basement, and for reasons I don’t understand, they play on that! I also have the print book (but was running out of time), so I am now both listening and reading print. Anyway! This novel is set on a cruise ship, less than one week after 9/11. Frannie convinced her reluctant husband (they live in NYC) to stick with their plans to celebrate her mother’s 70th birthday on the cruise. Doug is a washed-up B-list (C-list?) actor who used to co-star as the friendly bartender on a Love Boat-style TV show filmed on this ship. He agreed to come on this cast reunion cruise, though his agent didn’t tell him everything. Lucy, with a graduate degree in computer science, gets on the ship in a suit, fresh from a job interview, convinced by her roommate to go on the cruise. She’s worried about her interview with a new company with a weird name, Google, and finds that the ship lost her suitcase. You get the perspectives of all of these characters during the cruise, at a difficult time to be in a celebratory mood. It’s great so far!

My husband, Ken, finished reading Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby. He enjoyed it and said it’s well-written but quite violent … which is exactly why I haven’t yet tried this author, despite all the rave reviews I’ve heard! He said he would definitely read another from Cosby. He is now reading The List by Steve Berry, a book I put in his Easter basket. He is struggling a bit with the premise so far: an evil corporation that kills off its older retirees to save money!

Ken’s daytime “slow read” is Moby Dick by Herman Melville, a classic we’ve both been meaning to read for years. He says he’s enjoying it, and he’s amazed by how relevant the writing is, given how long ago it was written.

Our son, 31, finished Kagan the Damned by Jonathan Maberry, book one of a series, and enjoyed it. He found this one at 2nd and Charles, a used bookstore we have here, on his last visit. We got to catch up a bit on books yesterday while playing with the puppy during his quick visit! He said he is now re-reading Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson, book 4 of his famed Stormlight Archive series, in preparation for reading book 5, which he got for Christmas. Sanderson is one of his favorite authors!

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 What are you and your family reading this week?