It's been a chaotic few weeks. I've been reading, but I haven't felt like posting because very few cheerful things have been happening. Our business computer crashed and burned (as did my husband). We had to buy a new desk computer and have our brilliant computer guy, one-arm-Brian, spend the day recovering lost data. A few days later, our backup program went into action restoring files we had already restored and deleting new data. Brian came back, gave them a good whacking, and straightened out the problem. I think we lost only two files.
In addition, my step-daughter is now in week three in the ICU, recovering from major surgery. I have one thing to say to any smokers reading this: STOP! You don't want to go through what she's going through.
We did have a lovely lunch at Great Sage in Clarksville, MD, a very busy vegan restaurant with delicious food. And, on the same trip to visit my step-daugher at Johns Hopkins, I got to stop at Daedalus Books in Columbia, MD. I've mail-ordered from them for years but had never visited, despite driving past several times. I was so overwhelmed that I only bought four books, two of them for my little grandnieces, a mystery for me, and an adult coloring book for me about Paris. For those days when all I can do is sit quietly and color in my coloring book.
So, here's what I managed to finish reading in September:
The Studio Crime - Jerrold
Blood Sinister - Harrod-Eagles
As the Pig Turns - Beaton
The Nature of the Beast - Penny
Four Seasons in Rome - Doerr
A Street Cat Named Bob - Bowen
The Clue of the Tapping Heels - Keene
Reckless - Hynde
A Murder is Announced - Christie
How's that for diversity, with a heavy lean on mystery? I've blogged about some of the books but not others. That doesn't mean that I didn't like them, I just didn't have a lot to say about them. Or they were finished while in the midst of the above referenced chaos. I started two mysteries and abandoned them. If they don't grab me fast, I'm not staying.
I hope you had a good September.
Surely October must be better than September was. I have a Harrod-Eagles book, somewhere -m but I can't remember which one. I haven't read anything by her yet, I think her extreme popularity has put me off a bit. Have you used a colouring book before?
ReplyDeleteNot for a very long time. A woman I worked with back in the 1970s confessed that she kept a coloring book and crayons under her bed for times when she felt stressed. I suppose anything that takes you back to your childhood, assuming you didn't grow up in a Charles Dickens novel, like my husband did, would do the trick. If things keep up as they were in September, I may start sucking my finger again!
DeleteIn spite of everything you still read a good deal in September. Sorry to hear about your step-daughter. I hope she is on the mend soon.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a decent reading month, but you'll notice that most of the books were mysteries, easy to keep track of the plots.
DeleteThanks for your wishes for my step-daughter. She was moved from ICU yesterday, but she still has a long recovery, which we hope will be continued at home soon.
Joan so sorry about your step-daughter! My son is a heavy smoker and I worry so about him. Still you did have a good reading month. Much better than mine! Terrible year for me!
ReplyDeleteI've looked at the coloring books but don't think I would actually do it. I'm not very artistic. I color with the grandkids occasionally.
Coloring with the grandkids is okay, too. You don't have to be artistic to color in the books. Just pick some pretty colors!
DeleteJack and I are both reformed smokers, both of us quit back in the 1970s. Smoking just destroys your body, not just the lungs. So many of her complications could have been avoided if she didn't smoke. I hope she'll quit now.