After not getting any reading in yesterday for this extended weekend’s Thankfully Reading Weekend, today I did get a little in toward the end of the day. I continued reading The Lord God Made Them All, the fourth book in the All Creatures Great and Small series (at least in the order here in the U.S.), which I started a couple of months ago but haven’t finished yet. I slowly am making my way through the series (the first couple a reread, the rest new to me) that I started last year.
Most of the day, though, was spent with my my wife celebrating Thanksgiving here at home since she is going back to work tonight (midnight shift into Friday morning) after being off from work since last week. We had turkey and all the fixings. Well, I did anyway. Since she is a vegan, she didn’t have turkey but a “Tofurkey” ham, but all our fixings were the same: sweet potato and green bean casseroles, and pumpkin pie.
As planned, we watched our traditional Thanksgiving movies Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and Pieces of April. We also watched Home for the Holidays, one of my wife’s favorite Thanksgiving movies.
After she went to sleep for a few hours, I finally was able to settle down and read:
Tomorrow, I still plan to start a reread of Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. However, I might not get to reading Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography by Eric Idle as I initially had planned this weekend. For now, I just plan to go back and forth between The Lord God Made Them All and Good Omens. We’ll see how that goes.
Stay tuned. I’ll be back to report on my progress tomorrow night, Saturday and Sunday nights too.
Starting today and running through Sunday, I officially am joining Jenn of Jenn’s Bookshelves and other book bloggers for Thankfully Reading Weekend Nov. 27 to Dec. 1. This week, I have tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day (here in the U.S.) and Friday off from work. I do work Saturday, but only from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. so most of the day Thursday, Friday, and Sunday and some of the day on Saturday I plan on spending it reading.
I didn’t do any reading tonight, but my wife and I did watch a movie, Nobody’s Fool, based on the book of the same name by Richard Russo, so I guess it sort of counts as “literary.” Tomorrow, I plan on continuing with The Lord God Made Them All, the fourth book in the All Creatures Great and Small series (at least in the order here in the U.S.), which I started a couple of months ago but haven’t finished. I slowly am making my way through the series (the first couple a reread, the rest new to me) that I started last year.
Also tomorrow my wife and I will celebrate Thanksgiving here at home since she works tomorrow night (midnight shift into Friday morning). She’s already made the pumpkin pie, part of the green bean casserole, part of a sweet potato casserole and tomorrow she’ll finish the casseroles, a turkey breast for me, a “Tofurkey” ham for her, and stuffing. We also will watch our traditional Thanksgiving movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles sometime during the day and also maybe Pieces of April, which is also a Thanksgiving favorite.
On Friday, or Black Friday as it is known here in the U.S, I plan a reread of Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. We just watched the adaptation on Amazon and I felt it was/is time for a reread since it’s been so long since I have read the book.
On Saturday and Sunday, I plan to read Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography by Eric Idle. I bought it via a Kindle deal last year but haven’t read it yet.
To sign up, even if only for a day, click on the button above to go to Jenn’s blog to do so.
Jenn at Jenn’s Bookshelves is hosting Thankfully Reading Weekend again, this year from Wednesday, Nov. 27 through Sunday, Dec. 1, and I’m joining in. As Jenn says, “There are no rules to the weekend, we’re simply hoping to devote a good amount of time to reading, and perhaps meeting some of our reading challenges and goals for the year.” I plan on starting at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, after work, and continuing through Sunday night.
The only time I know for sure that I won’t be reading — well, of course, other than sleeping — is Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. when I’m working at the library. I also probably won’t be reading during times when my wife and I are watching something on streaming together as she is off both Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. Other than those times, I plan to devote a good chunk of the long weekend to reading.
So what will I be reading? I’m not exactly sure, but I have possibilities, including the following three very strong probabilities:
The Lord God Made Them All, the fourth book in the All Creatures Great and Small series, by James Herriot, as I continue making my way through the series (the first couple a reread, the rest new to me) that I started last year.
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, since we just watched the series on Amazon and I felt it was/is time for a reread.
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography by Eric Idle, which I bought via a Kindle deal last year but haven’t read yet.
I only just noticed that all of my choices are British. While not by design, it will be nice to get out of the U.S. for a while over the holidays, given our current political climate. I mean, the United Kingdom isn’t having any issues right now politically, are they? 😉
So how about you? Are you reading over the holidays? If so, what are you planning to read? IF NOT, — because I’m not judging if you spend time with family and friends and/or busy at work — AND PLEASE SEE THIS PART OF THE POSSIBLE QUESTIONS :), what are you reading otherwise that is good? Or what do you have on the radar that you are looking forward to reading?Because I really want to know and I and my readers might get some good ideas for you and vice versa.
November didn’t begin with a long weekend, unlike the last few months. However, it did end with a long weekend as I was off extra from Nov. 21 to Nov. 25, including our 22nd wedding anniversary on Nov. 23.
Before that long weekend, we did get a short weekend away on Nov. 10 and 11, as we went to Maryland for a baby shower for one of Kim’s sisters, then the next weekend, I worked on my one Saturday of the month and then watched the NASCAR championship race with neighbors that Sunday.
The shower itself went well, but we had to leave the hotel we were staying at (the in-laws’ house was full) because of roaches. In our case, it was dead roaches. In the case of some other family members who were staying at the hotel, we learned the next morning, there were live roaches. We ended up back at the in-laws anyway and, though it was overcrowded, we made it work.
Thanksgiving Week, we participated in a “hate watch” of all the Twilight movies, inspired by a friend on Instagram. We were assisted by copious amounts of alcohol and Rifftrax. Thanksgiving Day, we had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. On our anniversary, we didn’t go out to dinner, but instead stayed in, ate leftovers, and watched Crazy Rich Asians, which was amazing. Then over the last three days of my long weekend, I reread The River Why by David James Duncan for Thankfully Reading Weekend 2018.
Other than that, the primary focus (obviously) the rest of the month was on getting good, restful sleep. And on that front, I succeeded, as with my CPAP, my numbers stayed below four incidents per hour. Before the CPAP, the number was 87 (!!!!), thus necessitating the CPAP in the first place.
Forward to December
December comes in like a lion and hopefully will go out like a lamb. Tomorrow is an annual Christmas event in our town, Dickens of a Christmas, and I am working at the library, where we have a book sale (today and tomorrow). We won’t see a lot of patrons, as they are trying to avoid town and most of the visitors aren’t buying books but are partaking of cookies and cider provided by our library’s Friends group and using our facilities. All in all, it is a hellish day, especially for an introvert like myself who loathes crowds.
The following three weeks are (should be) uneventful with the only thing of note on the agenda a staff Christmas luncheon next Friday, with the library closing early, meaning that next weekend begins early.
The month ends with a long series of days where I’m on vacation (starting on Friday, Dec. 21) and the library is closed (Saturday through Tuesday, the day after Christmas) interrupted by two days of work on Thursday, Dec. 27 and Friday, Dec. 28. Those two days could be as atrocious as (the?) Dickens, as we could have lots of books (and movies) to shelve and most patrons coming in for movies. But it will be OK, since we will have spent time with my parents and sister and her family Christmas Day (the worst is really over *just kidding, for sister who will be reading this*) and I have a holiday weekend to look forward to (the best is yet to come *2019*). I say “I” because my wife, who is a 911 dispatcher, will be working all weekend. However, unlike years past where we haven’t been together New Year’s Eve, we should be able to be together this year, because Tuesday is one of her regular days off. Fingers crossed.
So how was your month of November? Read any good books, seen any good movies and/or TV shows, listened to any good music? What was the highlight of your month? What are you looking forward to in December? Share in the comments.
Still an unfinished person... 