Hi everyone. I hope you are enjoying your summer immensely. I’ve been supervising a lot of this:
And cracking up at this sort of thing:
And introducing Cormac to new adventures:
And generally feeling very busy.
And what have I been reading lately? Well, I wrote a review of Vanessa Blakeslee’s short story collection Train Shots, which you can find here. Also:
- Anthony Trollope’s Can You Forgive Her, which was satisfying long and great.
- Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, which was a reread for me, although my first read was decades ago, so it was practically new. I loved it. Both the Christies I’ve read in the last few years have been fabulous.
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, which I liked very much. It felt very … shall we say … loosely structured, but still, the story was good and the commentary on American and Nigerian cultures interesting.
- Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Glamorous Ghost, a Perry Mason novel which was just okay, kind of formulaic.
- Iris Owens’s After Claude, which was darkly, satirically funny and sad at the same time.
- Justin Hocking’s The Great Floodgates of the Wonder World, a memoir about surfing and Moby Dick. I liked it, even though those aren’t subjects I’m particularly interested in. Hocking makes them interesting.
- Richard Yates’s Revolutionary Road on audio, which was devastating. In a good way.
I hope your summer has been full of good books too!
Of Books and Bicycles 
So nice to hear from you. Busy, busy, busy, that’s what summer is all about.
Me too, I am busy — but mostly from work, and then from being tired AFTER work. Tonight I only had time for a sort of “summary” of what I have read lately, much as you have done here. I get it. I get it.
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Summaries of responses to books are great and the busy blogger’s best friend, right?
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I heartily concur!
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And Then There Were None is my favourite Agatha Christie book, I recently read Hickory Dickory Dock after many years and thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Well, I’ll have to give that one a try! I’m certainly ready to read more Christie now.
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Been busy? 🙂 Anyone with a toddler stays busy!
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True. Very true. 🙂
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I was just thinking about you the other day! Cormac is getting so big and is as adorable as ever.
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Thank you! I’m not going to argue with anyone who calls him adorable! 🙂
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So glad you are still alive and well. The Bears were ecstatic to see pictures of their baby – except he isn’t a baby any longer is he? Where does the time go to? Have you managed to get moved yet or is that still an ongoing project?
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He’s definitely a toddler now. Unbelievable! Yes, we moved, and that’s part of why I’ve been so silent here. Moving is such a ridiculous amount of work. Plus moving with a toddler and a new puppy. Insane.
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Yes, we noticed the puppy. What’s his/her name?
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He’s Finnegan, and we’ve taken to calling him Finn. He’s a great dog, except for the fact that he tore apart one of my favorite shoes today….
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Ah well, The Bears would tell you that this is one of the perils of having a dog and the major reason I’m not allowed one – although it’s not my shoes they’re worried about 😉
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Nice to hear from you. Good for you to have managed to read that much with a toddler at home!
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The toddler is an amazing sleeper, thank God, so I have most evenings to myself to read for a couple hours. It’s lovely and it keeps me sane. Plus I listen to audio books whenever I can, and that helps.
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Wow–look how big he is! And what a cutie! I see you have a new dog, too. It looks like you are having a really good summer which I am happy to see! I want to read Armericanah, too, and the Yates…. Hope all is well with you otherwise. I miss reading your posts more often but hopefully you’ll keep us updated on your reading and share more photos of Cormac. I see he likes books, too! 🙂
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We got a puppy about a week after moving to our new house, which was … crazy. And today he just ate a shoe of mine. Sigh. But yes, we are having a good summer and all is well. I hope to post more — I miss blogging! Cormac likes books, but not necessarily sitting still and reading them 🙂 He likes to move them around, throw them, open and close them. Eventually he will enjoy reading them I’m sure! I hope you are doing well.
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