Happy August, reader friends! Part of me is sad that it's August, because it means summer is going to be over in a few short weeks. And the other part of me is not sad at all, because this has been an AWESOME-SAUCE SUMMER. We have had maximum fun since the weather warmed up, and I'm not sad at all for the coming autumn, because I know we have taken advantage of every minute. Our boys are at such fun ages, and able to do so much more than last year. When I think of last summer, it is a psychotic blur of trying to chase a 3-year-old while bottle feeding/diapering/lugging a 7-month-old baby that hated touching grass (seriously?). This summer, much improved.
For example: this past weekend, we did our first family hiking day at Letchworth State Park in Castile, NY ("The Grand Canyon of the East"! As all my west-coast friends roll their eyes.) It was gorgeous, and the boys had a fantastic time. My husband and I were big hikers before Small Fry was born, but we eased it back once babies arrived, as small infant + mountain climbing did not sound like fun. However, we are now SUPER excited to share our love of the outdoors with the kiddos as they get older.
Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying these last weeks of summer as much as we are! Let's talk books! I'm reading:
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
I grabbed this one at random. It's been on my TBR for ages, and landed on my 30 before 35 list as well. I'm about 60% finished. At first, I was intrigued, couldn't put it down...then I started to feel weirded out by the entire thing...and now I'm hitting a little bit of a bored lull. It's quite a ride. My review should be interesting!
Upcoming reads:
I've got my first book tour in quite a long time coming up, The Invisibles by Cecelia Galante. Looking forward to this one! Afterwards, I'm hoping to jump into Katie's Nonfiction Book Club with Packing for Mars by Mary Roach, and Other-But-Equally-Awesome Katie's Fellowship of the Worms readalong of A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki.
How has your summer been so far? What are you reading this week?
That picture is gorgeous and I hear you on hiking with young kids. I bet you end up carrying them the entire second half! I'm thinking about participating in the Packing for Mars book club as well....possibly.
ReplyDeleteHaha, my husband ended up carrying our 4 yr old (while the 1 yr old was still on his back) for half of the return hike. I offered to help, but he said it was his strength training for the day...lol.
DeleteYou are courageous to even think of hiking with kids!
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks! Sometimes we like to throw caution to the wind. :)
DeleteI'm so glad you're enjoying the summer, Kelly! I'll be sort of sad and sort of not...the weather is just too hot around here to enjoy being outside, much of the time, so I always look forward to cooler temperatures. Sounds like you've got some great reading ahead! I've just finished Days of Awe and started reading Everybody Rise; it's good, so far!
ReplyDeleteAh, well this week we've ended up with a 90+ degree heat wave, so I feel your pain a bit. Ran at 6am this morning and was coated with sweat within minutes!
DeleteI read A Tale for the Time Being...it wasn't memorable, but I enjoyed it at the time! right now I'm reading Running Away: A Memoir. I thought I'd try it out for the book club, but even though it is incredibly well written, I want to reach into the book and strangle the author. He's seriously self-absorbed.
ReplyDeleteOoooh I have read books with narrators/authors like that, they are supremely annoying. Paris, My Sweet is the first memoir that comes to mind like that...I found the author to be infuriating!
DeleteYay! I'm excited to see Packing For Mars on your reading list. So far, I'm enjoying it just as much as Stiff. Mary Roach is just so funny!
ReplyDeleteAgreed, and thanks again for hosting the readalong! It's been fun to compare notes with others!
DeleteA Tale for the Time Being was a different sort of book, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of it.
ReplyDeleteI've heard similar sentiments from a lot of other readers. At this point, I'm not sure if I'm going to pick it up in time for Katie's discussion, but i'd still like to get to it at some point.
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