Sunday, January 5, 2014

Happy Sunday

I had every intention of doing productive things today, but I've decided that it's a day of being non-productive. Which can be productive in itself sometimes when you're needing just that sort of day. I slept in late today, got a massage for the first time in three months, came home to decide what to do with the rest of the day and then said screw it....it's about to get really cold and rainy, I'm going to stay inside and read by the fireplace this afternoon!

We're about to get weather that we just aren't prepared for down here in south Louisiana :p The low temperature for tomorrow is 19 by me!!!! 19! That's the title of an Adele album, not a temperature! I do love the cold, but not that cold. I'd gladly take it if it came with some snow as I don't ever get to see snow, but sadly, no snow in the forecast. Right now it's 63 degrees, but that'll be dropping 30 degrees within the next three hours. From shorts to coats! That's the south for you.

So reading it will be. It's been a slow start for my reading year so far. I've finished one book, Patti Smith's Woolgathering, and it was quite a beautiful, surreal little book. It's her memoir of her childhood told how only Patti Smith can tell a tale. It reminds me of her music and her lyrics, powerful yet subtle and poetic.

For the rest of the month, I plan on reading Long Awaited Reads! Here's my ginormous pile of possibilities:

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
Ratha's Creature by Clare Bell
Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster
A Cool Moonlight by Angela Johnson
The Secret Fruit of Peter Paddington by Brian Francis
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost
Voice of Our Shadow by Jonathan Carroll
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Red Market by Scott Carney
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo
Saplings by Noel Streatfeild
An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks
The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie R King
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
the House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
The Summer Book by Tove Janssson
One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak
Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams
Virgin by Hanne Blank
Code Name Verity
Little Boy Lost by Marganita Lahski
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
The Enchanted Places by Christopher Milne
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
To Bed With Grand Music by Marghanita Laskhi
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Once by Morris Gleitzman
Dying to Know You by Adrian Chambers
Anna and the French Kiss
Castle Waiting Volume 1

All books that have waited far too long to be read and sadly many of them will continue to wait :( But random.org has chosen Ratha's Creature as my first book so that's what I'm currently reading! I hope you are all having a wonderfully cozy Sunday as well. Cheers to you all.

9 comments:

Kailana said...

That is a lot of books... Daddy Long Legs is good and actually a relatively quick read. Ella Minnow Pea was really good, too. By then end it takes some concentration. :) I liked The Beekeepers Apprentice but am very behind in that series. Code Name Verity was good. I really must get to the companion book. Of Mice and Men is the only Steinbeck I have ever read. I really loved it and need to read Steinbeck. Castle Waiting was good, too.

Amanda said...

Have fun Chris! We're not getting quite as cold here - only 28 - but it's still going to be crazy considering yesterday it was at 71. Sheesh!!

Jeane said...

OOooh, I can't wait to hear what you think of Ratha's Creature. Still one of my all-time favorite books. Most of the sequels are good, too. Did you know, there is a graphic novel coming out, funded (I think) by donations from fans!

I'm surprised to see Enchanted Places on your list- I have it on my TBR and I was sure I'd read a review of it on your blog. Must've been someone else's...

We are very cold here, too. I won't even let the kids go outside. Worried because I'm supposed to get shipment of worms for my new vermicomposting bin tomorrow! But the cold might kill them en-route.

DesLily said...

it won't get that cold by me but it will get to the about 40..and I will love every moment of it!! I always wait 11 months just to wear my sweats once or twice a year! lol..

wow I've only read 2 books on your list.. Daddy Long Legs (cause I loved the movie) and Beekeepers Apprentice. Both good books so I know you will enjoy them.

Have you seen the Sherlock series on pbs with cumberbatch and freeman??? (Khan and Bilbo as Sherlock and Watson! lol) I did a post about it on my blog

Debi said...

"From shorts to coats!" Unless you're Max, then you'd still be in shorts. :P Although 19 degrees is par for the course here, we've had colder than normal weather around here lately. Friday night it got down to -13 (temp, not even accounting for wind chill). Of course, in the upper midwest and much of Canada -13 isn't all that odd. Just depends on what you're used to, I guess.

I so hope random.org picks Last Chance to See for you next. I guarantee you will love that book--it's amazing how he can show so much respect over such a sad subject and yet still make you laugh till your eyes water.

Castle Waiting is soooo good too--I sort of consider it one of my comfort reads now. Love everything about it!

Hope you get to a ton of them, Chris, and enjoy the ever-living-heck out of every one you do get to!!!

Unknown said...

Having experienced some of the heat over there for myself, I bet that drop is noticeable! ;)

You must read Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. 'Tis very good!

Anonymous said...

The weather has been JUST SO WEIRD in Louisiana the past few weeks. I don't know what to expect when I wake up every morning!

Anyway, whenever I start to feel bummed out, I think about the last Saints game of the season when we won really hard and Drew Brees got a rushing touchdown. That was magical.

Vasilly said...

Ha! "19 is the name of an Adele album not the temperature." Love that! :-) I hope it has warmed up since last week when you wrote this.

You have some really fantastic books in your stack including Castle Waiting, Anna and the French Kiss, Of Mice and Men, and House on Mango Street. Happy reading!

Also thanks for the wonderful Xmas card. I plan on buying some stationary and sending you a card back.

I hope you have a good week at work! ;-)

Melanie said...

Hope you made it through the cold ok! If it makes you feel any better, it got down to 2 here in Nashville. much better now though. :)