Here is a list on Bookshop.org with all the Maeve Binchy books I’ve read/am reading all year.
Monday, December 16
- Book: Heart & Soul
- Chapters: 3 – 5
- Location: Front stoop, it is about 50 degrees
- Smoking: Jar ouid
What I’m listening to:
Did I cry?
Yes, when the twins (Maude and Simon from previous books) were referred to as “those children who speak like aliens.”
And then multiple times after that.
This book is EMOTIONAL, y’all.
Thoughts while reading (could be about the book, could not):
It is gloomy today, but it is kind of warm, so I’m gonna read out here til I get hungry for dinner.
Mickey is out of town for training again. Last week, I ate tuna noodle casserole almost the entire time he was gone. This week, it’s penne alla vodka with SO MANY PEAS. I can’t eat enough peas right now, and I do not know why.
I don’t have a lot to say. I did a bunch of work today and organizing and even got all my lollipop subscriptions out! Feeling accomplished and ready to read.
This book sent me down a spiral-y hole about dementia. Goddamn. The prospect of that in any way is terrifying, but mostly the unknown. Like, what do I do if it starts happening to someone I love? Where do I get help? When do I get help? And then the same questions for my loved ones if it happens to me. Will they notice, or will they just chalk it up to me being weird again?
It was a lot to think about in a short span of time and made me think how frightened Maeve must have been at this stage in her life. She conveyed it amazingly on the page.
Maude and Simon appeared! They are teenagers and are planning to go to Greece for the summer. Fiona (who I didn’t realize until just now is a character from the book I just read!!!) is helping them find their way to Agia Ahna, where they can meet up with Vonni and Andreas!!! I want to read THAT book (yes, even if it is in Greece, not Ireland – it’s Maude and Simon!!!!!!!)
New birds heard:
None!
Tuesday, December 17
- Book: Heart & Soul
- Chapters: 6 – END
- Location: Backyard
- Smoking: Mish Mash of nonsense
What I’m listening to:
Did I cry?
Yes, when I realized I’d be getting an entire chapter about Maude and Simon.
More than an entire chapter. They’re just hanging out for the rest of the book, apparently.
Thoughts while reading (could be about the book, could not):
It’s nippy out, with a high in the 40s. It’s also gloomy, but I finished my work early, and I want to read, so that’s what I’m gonna do.
I watched a really good movie last night, and it’s been on my mind all day (Conclave, if you’re curious). I love Oscar season.
Now it’s reading season.
I have moved to the front room because I wanted to make some sugar cookies.
In the mystery boxes I got the other day, in addition to literally thousands of dollars worth of flowers, I also got two cookie presses: a pie slice and a turkey, and I was dying to try them out.
I was lazy and bought a tube of dough, so don’t get too excited.
It was a bit of a learning curve to get the press to work to my advantage, but I think I got it in the end:
Now I will read while my cookies bake!
Welp. I think maybe this was the wrong dough.
Ah well. I’m getting a WHOLE chapter about Maude and Simon instead.
I don’t know why I latched onto them so hard this read-through. Now that they are 17, I love them even more. If I encountered them in the real world, I would do whatever I could to support them.
I’m finishing this book today. It’s just too good.
I did finish it, and it was honestly a delightful romp with a bunch of past characters and a few new ones that were A+, too.
New birds heard:
None
Wednesday, December 18
- Book: Minding Frankie
- Chapters: 1 – 3
- Location: Front Stoop. It is supposed to snow in a bit. Yeeps.
- Smoking: Mish Mash Paddywash
What I’m listening to:
Did I cry?
I did not.
Thoughts while reading (could be about the book, could not):
Today I had a lil business meeting and it went incredibly well.
A couple in Colorado is opening a board game bar/restaurant, and they need a logo. So we had a meeting!
Meetings nowadays go so much differently than they did when I was first getting started. Then, I did more talking than listening and more selling than feeling. This is because of a couple of things.
Back then, I was convinced my clients, in addition to myself, that theirs was a job I could do. Now, I’m just figuring out if we’re a good fit. I know I can do the work. The potential client knows enough about me to know that I could do the work and my visuals match their vision. However, to me, it doesn’t make sense to work with someone who doesn’t match your brain energy, you know?
Today’s meeting was a perfect match. One of the questions I ask potential clients is what movies and TV shows they are currently digging. The first words out of her mouth were, “Well, I don’t think enough people are watching For All…”
“MANKIND!” I jumped in, so happy to talk about this special show with someone else who gets it.
The rest of the call went similarly. We ended with me asking if she and her hubby were familiar with Dropout TV, and they were, so we had a little Sam Reich love fest, and all felt great in the world.
I got the job, y’all. It’s gonna be a real fun logo design. I’ll keep you posted on my new client’s dream as I help make it come true.
For now, though, I’m gonna read.
Oh, I have read this book exactly once and don’t remember anything about it.
Aside from one sad thing that I think might happen, if so, I am dreading it. I *will* cry that day.
This book is another St. Jarlath’s Crescent book!!!! Yaaaay! Mattie has been mentioned once so far, but no mention of my favorites, Simon and Maude.
I don’t recall the story of this book at all, but this rhythm is so familiar after this full year of re-reading these Maeve Binchy books, that I just fall into it. This is another book filled with rich, flawed, lovable characters, and I look forward to learning more about them.
New birds heard:
None – too many cars outside, and then I came inside where there’d better not be any birds.
Friday, December 20
- Book: Minding Frankie
- Chapters: 4
- Location: Front Room. It’s too cold, wet, and windy out there to spend too much time outside.
- Smoking: Mish Mash Paddywash
What I’m listening to:
Did I cry?
No.
Thoughts while reading (could be about the book, could not):
First up – I skipped a book. In between Nights of Rain and Stars and Heart & Soul, I was supposed to read Whitethorn Woods.
I did not. I kind of realized this halfway through H&S when I felt warm, familiar feelings for some of the characters that were “new to me.” I probably loved them when I read Whitethorn Woods the first time.
Oops. I’ll read it next.
After that, I’ll have only two books left before completing my project: A Week in Winter and Sister Caravaggio.
The latter is a collaboration with a few different authors, and I don’t recall ever reading it. It will be a good way to wrap up the year.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do next year, because I DO want to keep reading and documenting it. I’ve come to a few conclusions:
- I don’t want to have a set weekly post. I think I will start a book, and start a post, then I will post the post when I am done with the book.
- I will rotate between books I’ve read and want to reread (we’ll be doing Dave Eggers at least twice and all of Marisha Pessl because I really don’t think I’ve ever been a whole year without reading Special Topics in Calamity Physics and my body (and brain) are ready.)
- I will WELCOME suggestions. However, my brain has to be in the right mood for something for it to not feel like a demand. So please don’t get offended if I read something else before I read your suggestion. I just want to give it the best shot at success!
- I loved reading the unpublished manuscript last year. If you have one, I’ll give it the same treatment!
- I’m 100% kicking off the year with Darkly. Marisha Pessl doesn’t crank out books all fastlike, so when a new one hits, I am at the height of excitement. It’s currently taunting me.
And on that note, I’m gonna bust through these Binchys. Luckily, I have a solid amount of free time until next year.
I am glad your work is thriving! I may get myself a writers guide to the market and try to work a little myself :)