A travel day today — heading home from England (London and Blackpool)— so I’m at the mercy of public WiFi and airplane mode to get this post up.
The good news is we had a great day of sightseeing in London last Wednesday, and a great time at the weekend dance event we were attending.
The bad news is our connecting flight from Manchester to London was delayed this morning and we missed our flight from London to Boston this afternoon. Couldn’t get on a flight till tomorrow morning and too exhausted to trek anywhere tonight to do any more sightseeing, so we’re just holed up in a hotel near Heathrow Airport and will both have to waste a vacation day getting home tomorrow.
Obsessive Facebook reading and scrolling has been eating up a lot of my reading time lately— trying to keep up with the fire hose of political news and checking throughout the day to see if we’re still a democracy here in the US.) I will be starting this week to contact elected representatives.
Due to all that, my “Currently Reading” hasn’t changed much from last week. I had to leave Against All Obstacles at home unfinished, because I was trying to pack light on reading material (only two books, one unread New Yorker, and an iPad) and there were just a few chapters left. But I finally started Shrines of Gaiety — my chosen “First Book of the Year”. (Starting out the year behind.)
Of course, during our one full day in London, we did wander into an OxFam bookstore where I bought another book — The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt. (Just in case I got sick and had to quarantine in my hotel room!)
Please let me know what you’re reading in the comments and/or share your blog link! (If you can’t see where to comment, try clicking/tapping on the title of this post to open it in full.)
Currently Reading
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
From the incomparable author of LIFE AFTER LIFE and DEATH AT THE SIGN OF THE ROOK, a story of nightclub owners and socialites, gangsters and dancing girls set in 1920s Soho.
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
“The God of the Woods, like The Secret History, transports readers so deeply into its richly peopled, ominous world that, for hours, everything else falls away. . . . Breaking free of the spell Moore casts is close to impossible.” — Washington Post
The God of the Woods is definitely hard to put down once the story gets going. I listened to Long Bright River by Liz Moore on audio; it was also a suspenseful pageturner. The God of the Woods is longer, I think, and a slower burn.
Against All Obstacles by Jennifer Safrey
“At 45, Rachel’s given up on love. Competition ended all her relationships, and she’s fine running her race alone. At 38, Evan’s given up on love. He’s just not the commitment type, and he’s declared himself retired from trying. When Rachel, a teacher and obstacle-course racer, and Evan, a former English soccer star, meet as competitors in The Golden Crucible endurance race, winning is the only thing on their minds.
I’m enjoying Against All Obstacles by Jennifer Safrey. It’s a romance and it’s by a local author, which might be two strikes against it for some readers, but if you like contemporary romance or are willing to give it a try, I recommend it!
Continue reading “It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? 2-3-25”