*All I Want To Do Is Read
Tuesday, August 6
- Book: Evening Class
- Chapters: 1 – 2.5
- Location: Front porch, it’s raining and 63 degrees. In August.
- Smoking: Copy Kat
What I’m listening to:
Did I cry?
naw bud
Thoughts while reading (could be about the book, could not):
Look at this I tried something different again today!
Normally I read after dinner – Mickey’s home, we’ve eaten, watched an episode or two of “That Girl“, and then we either do something together or apart.
When we do things apart, I normally go read. Mickey video games or yard works or hangs on the porch and tries to do a relax.
Today, it’s early afternoon, I’ve finished all my work and it’s RAINING.
So I’m gonna curl up on the front porch and read until Mickey gets home.
Let’s see how my brain likes that.
Here is my view:
So, like I said, I read this book quite a few times already.
It’s one of those Maeve Binchy books where it’s a person per chapter and I didn’t remember that about this one. I thought it was a normal book!
Here’s a thing I have a lot of trouble imagining that comes up in Maeve Binchy books a lot: how often couples get to sexin’. This book opens up with a question from one of those magazine quizzes that help you determine the state of your relationship. You know asking questions like “How often do you go on a date?” and “How often do you make love?”
The options for the latter question were:
- more than four times a week
- twice a week on average
- every saturday night
- less than this
I’m option 1, of course, but more to the point… this song. TMI, TMI, I know.
And I’m not judging anyone who does the deed less (or somehow MORE?!) than this – I’m just fascinated by the way relationships fit together.
Or don’t fit, which is the point that the quiz at the outset of this book is trying to make.
brb reading (definitely no birbs today)
OK OK OK ANOTHER WEIRD THING
The main dood I’m reading about now, who I always looked at as older and wiser than me, but most importantly older? He’s younger than my own main dood, Mickey.
Mickey still seems like he’s in his 30s, though, so I think that’s fake.
I love Aiden (the character that is somehow younger than Mickey) a lot and I have determined that his wife is 100% an NPC.
So are his daughters.
They simply are NOT interested in the world around them. I cannot fathom that one bit.
Okay, the first chapter is done. I love reading in the cold, man. This is such a nice treat after the last few days of sweltering heat.
Also, I love this book. It’s so familiar. My body knows what’s about to unfold and, while there’s some sadness, most of this book is just beautiful.
I feel like I’m getting into the home stretch with the novels here and that feels wild to me. I was getting worried that it would take longer than a year to get through them, but here I am – ready to read about all the characters I love the most.
LIKE SIGNORA WHO THE NEXT CHAPTER IS ABOUT.
Let me go fall in love all over again.
brb (say it with me now: not. birb. related.)
New birds heard:
🎵they can’t stand the rain🎵
Thursday, August 8
- Book: Evening Class
- Chapters: 2.5 – ?
- Location: Backyard, looking at a yard that is half cut and half not.
- Smoking: Copy Kat
What I’m listening to:
Did I cry?
yo I did not
Thoughts while reading (could be about the book, could not):
It’s kind of gloomy out today, but that seems to keep the bugs away, so yay for that. This playlist is perfect for days like today because I feel like I can feel the darker music from Search Party, while still basking in the abundance that is Nicholas Brittel’s brilliant Succession score.
Okay, I’m diving into this book. I’m hoping to be out here til the sun sets.
Current view:
Back to Signora’s story. Ugh, I love all these characters so much.
Look. I know I say this all the time. But this would make a great series. But it would also have to be the exact right director. Cause the light has to be just right. The light in this book feels really golden to me, like the part of my neighbor’s yard, that no matter the time of day or year, looks like a literal fairytale.
I want to create some kind of portal to it in the trees. I wonder if she would let me. I told her how much I loved it.
Have I mentioned how much I love having seasons lately? It’s so wonderful. I don’t know how I survived so long without it.
Oh, one story before I move on to the next chapter, which is about Bill.
Today, I made one of the batches of lollipops for my sucker subscription (click “Sucker” on the menu above”) this afternoon. The flavor drop email will have already gone out by the time you read this, so this is not a spoiler.
The flavor I made this afternoon is called “afternoon coffee” and it’s based on these coffees Mickey and I have been having in the evenings when he tells me about his day at work. It’s the leftover coffee that I brewed that morning, some brown sugar, some ice cubes, and a metric fuck ton of oat milk.
So, I made a lollipop that tried to capture that taste. And, when I finished it and ate one myself, I felt a bit disappointed, because my brain was so used to the Vietnamese Coffee flavor I used to make for Big Tim’s Fancy AF Lollipops back in the day.
That one was strong and bitter with a slice of sweetness. The lollipop I made today was the opposite of that, frothy and sugary with a slight hint of coffee.
Then, I tasted my actual afternoon coffee this afternoon and tears came to my eyes. I nailed it. The lollipop tastes exactly like the afternoon coffee I’d make you at the Professor Haus.
Okay, let’s go hang with Bill a bit.
Holy shit, look at this spiderweb I just noticed.
I had to zoom in a lot to get it, but dang.
Okay, back to Bill.
New birds heard:
Probably none, because there are all these yellyass bugs yelling their asses off at the current moment.
Friday, August 9
- Book: Evening Class
- Chapters: 3-midway through 3
- Location: Front porch looking at the grass I freshly cut that morning.
- Smoking: Copy Kat
What I’m listening to:
Did I cry?
Ok, yes, because I thought with worry about the very real possibility that D could have easily ended up believing I was her older sister. That thought is very scary to me and I am glad 17-year-old Jacki didn’t let that happen.
Thoughts while reading (could be about the book, could not):
Bill was great, we finished him. He has a problematic girlfriend who spends too much, with a problematic mother who neglects her and has for her whole life. They are gonna take these Italian classes together.
We started Kathy first, which was a classic Binchy character – a daughter whose mom is pretending to be her sister. There is at least one storyline in each of her books that deals with an unwanted pregnancy and this one gets the aftermath.
It’s a good twist on a common theme in her books. And it really makes me think about my own situation. I was a bit older – 17 to Fran’s 15 and a half. (Fran is Kathy’s mother/sister).
Fran’s mom had no idea about the sexin’ that was happening. My mom, on the other hand, pushed me to it.
Regardless, everything is out in the open together and Fran and Kathy are going to take Italian lessons together. Even though her teachers think Kathy is not good enough at school.
It’ll be good for her though. I both feel it and know it (because I’ve read this book many times before).
New birds heard:
Nothing new yo
