Hello world. I've been absent for a bit but probably haven't missed anything crucial. I guess. Life got mad at us in November. Earlier in November my husband had to go to the emergency room. They transported him to a larger hospital and kept him a night so that was stressful all the way around, for all of us. He is doing well now. Then I was violently ill from some stomach bug. Knocked me for a loop. Also had other things come up and frankly, besides a little bit of reading and starting a puzzle - nothing worth getting on the keyboard to share.
Apologies for my lack of visitation and response. Hope to catch up soon.
Thanksgiving was quiet as it's just the two of us. We were able to talk to our son for a bit and hear how his turkey roasting was going. Doug and I had meatloaf, potatoes and gravy, veggies and I had also made a pumpkin pie. You can't beat Libby's recipe for pumpkin pie. I hope you all had a nice holiday if it's one you partipate in.
Books // Recently I finished The Art Thief by Michael Finkel and it was a buddy read with Susan. (Review in link)
Also read a novel by John Boyne which was well done, in my opinion. Review of All the Broken Places HERE on Goodreads with spoilers mentioned but hidden. I will be looking for more John Boyne novels in 2026.
I was reading The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller. This is set in 1962, rural west England shortly after WW II. Apparently there actually was a severely frigid winter in that year. It's slow but I thought it would pick up soon with some revelations about our main characters. Perhaps I am an unsophisticated reader as it was nominated for book awards but...just didn't resonate with me. The extreme detail and minutiae in some passages had me wanting to flip ahead. But again, I am probably in the minority about this book.
As I get older I tend to DNF something I'm not loving because i have so many other books I want to read.
Currently reading Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks. Sad and absorbing, can't put it down.
Watching / We finished season one of Bad Monkey starring Vince Vaughn. A good mixture of crime, drama and humor.
Also finished season 5 of Slow Horses. Love Gary Oldman.
First Christmas movie of the year was It's a Wonderful Life and that was a treat for me.
Wishing you all well, good health and plenty of whatever makes you happy.
Sharing with:
Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon
Joy for British Isles Friday for Slow Horses
Wow, you did have a rough November. Hopefully, December will make up for it!
ReplyDeleteI still haven't ever seen It's a Wonderful Life--maybe this year!
Jane, it's a very old ovie but has always been a favorite of mine. I love Jimmy Stewart. Thank you for your good wishes :-)
DeleteOhmygosh I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's trip to the ER and your illness!!! Hope you're both feeling better and on the mend!
ReplyDeleteJinjer, everything is looking much better now! That was a crap month for sure. Ugh,
DeleteGlad your hubby is doing better, but sorry to hear you got a stomach bug. Those are the worst!! I hope you are both feeling 100% by now.
ReplyDeleteGuess your son got some snow for Thanksgiving, right? My brother and niece were flying home on Saturday and said the interstate was closed for a bit.
I'm eager to read All the Broken Places, but will try to get to one of his I bought about 5 years ago when we were in Nashville. It's The House of Special Purpose. I think I've been avoiding it because it's pretty long. Might be good for this winter.
I should work on giving up on more audiobooks. Since I can listen while driving or walking, I tend to stick with them when they're not terribly good, but have a good reader. I just finished one that was over 21 hours and I'm only giving it 2 stars. I would have easily quit the print edition!
Yep, Memorial Days is a real page-turner despite the sad subject matter. I loved it.
Thank you for both cards. Yours are the first birthday and Christmas cards I've received, so far. You inspired me to buy some Christmas cards today while I was out and about. :)
Les, thanks so much, we are doing better now. Loki was displeased to be left so long on the ER night but now we are all together and doing better.
DeleteYes indeed, Tristan had some snow and he just hunkered down. He likes living there but doesn't like the snow. But he hates the heat of Florida so he will stay there in Nebraska. Overall we loved it there as well.
That Boyne book is one I will add to my list. I was impressed by his writing. And the Brooks book is very good. I have tucked into that on, We are supposed to get rainfor a few days so I will be able to read quite a bit.
Glad the cards made it!
You were thrown for a terrible loop & night with the ER trip. I hope you both are feeling better and that Christmas time will be more joyful & peaceful. Glad to see you posting again. Good report on the books & shows. Wait till you get to Chernobyl. oh man. ps. it was so nice getting your card after my knee surgery ... thx so much
ReplyDeleteSusan, I am looking forward to Chernobyl and we will probably start it after this season of For All Mankind. That is an alternative version of what might have happened if the Russians had landed on the moon before the USA. The acting is top notch and it's cool to see real historial figures in an alternate reality. Such as Ted Kennedy is president.
DeleteGlad the card made it fine and i will write again soon. I have this cool new pen so I like using it. I am such a nerd for that stuff :-) Thanks for the good wishes.
I am so sorry that your husband had to go to the emergency room and that you were so sick! I'm glad you are back to your blog.
ReplyDeleteIt's frustrating for me to read a book like The Land in Winter and come away from it feeling like I've missed something. I remind myself that not every book is for every person.
Thank you, Deb. Seemed everything happened all at once, ugh. As for the book, I agree about us having differenet tastes but when it wins awards and it's a genre I like seems strange it didn't resonate. I love the setting and the book flap sounded like a good for for me. Oh well :-) Pleanty of other books to pick from here!
DeleteI am often bewildered when a book that has been recommended to me by someone whose tastes in books is similar to mine doesn't work for me. Often, for me, it is pacing.
DeleteOh gosh, what a difficult month! I'm sorry you both had to go through all that but am glad things are improving.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about The Land in Winter, but you are not the only one to mention how slow it is. Not sure if I'll try it or not. I do want to read (or maybe listen to) Memorial Days after both Les and Susan wrote about it last month.
And you're right about Libby's pumpkin pie recipe! I've been using it for years, maybe even decades. This year ahead of Thanksgiving I experimented with a different recipe. It had a streusel topping and the filling used a can of sweetened condensed milk. The whole thing was too sweet for us... so back to Libby's for Thanksgiving!
JoAnn, I have sure had better months! Feeling better now, thankfully. And, I may make another pie today because Libby's is calling to me from the pantry. Haha
DeleteMemorial Days is amazing and I think I will finish it today because we are supposed to get thunderstorms all afternoon so...reading for me.
What a month you've had! Any month involving a hospital stay is going to be exhausting and that's not counting the stomach bug which are awful. A quiet Thanksgiving sounds nice and I'm glad you were able to check in with your son. I've had a few books that I've either DNF'd or regretted not DNF'd that had lots of rewards or that everyone seemed to love. It always makes me question myself just a little. Thank you for the Christmas card! I've been dragging and not feeling well the last few weeks and it was such a nice bit of cheer!
ReplyDeleteKatheirne, I'm glad November is over. That's for sure. I agree with you about the DNF of books. Just because others like it or it's very popular doesn't mean we all feel the same. Different strokes. Glad the card arrived. Maybe moving into a neighborhood got me into the spirit to send cards for those whom I have their address. It was fun!
DeleteOof, sounds like November was a lot. I'm glad things are going better now!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nicky. That was a one star month for sure!
DeleteSorry November was pretty rotten, hopefully December will be much better!
ReplyDeleteThank you Cindy. I imagine it's oonly upwards from here :)
DeleteSorry to hear that you and your hubby have been unwell. I hope everything settles down soon. I read The Art Thief earlier this fall and really enjoyed it. What a story! I also enjoyed Memorial Days and found it very insightful. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteMy Sunday Salon this week is really my 2025 Best Books Round-Up. I'm excited to share it. I'm been completely focused on it for the past two weeks. https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-top-50-books-of-2025-best-books.html
Anne, thank you so much for the good wishes. I agree, both the Art Thief and Memorial Days were good books. The one by Brooks was so moving. Will check out your post as I love a good roundup of people's favorites.
DeleteThat's a lot to be dealing with in one month! I agree about DNFing books that aren't working for you. There are too many books calling to continue with a book that just doesn't resonate.
ReplyDeleteJoy, So true about so many books awaiting my attention! Thank you for the good wishes.
DeleteI sorry to learn you and your hubby have had a difficult time recently, I hope your are both feeling well now. Take care x
ReplyDeleteWishing you a happy reading week
Shelleyrae, thank you so much. So far December is treating us much better. Happy reading to you as well!
DeleteGood to hear that you're all doing so much better! I've reserved The Art Thief, it does sound intriguing.
ReplyDeleteClaudia, I hope you like that book. It was so crazy how he could steal so much...in plain sight.
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