I'd Rather Be Reading, this author gets me and Rules for Visiting novel

 Hi Anne Bogel, can we hang out? You get me, and I get you, as your book shows.

I don't know anyone who loves to read as much as I do. Reading is a bit like oxygen to me. I have friends who read, and we trade books. Yet, when Anne Bogel wrote of a Reading Twin, I was a bit jealous. She met her reading twin after many years. They share titles that mean a lot to them, fiction and nonfiction, of many genres. I keep acquiring books and work hard to give them away, and aim to have my book collection grow smaller, not larger. My favorite book that I read this year is The Splendid and the Vile. I don't know how Anne (yes, we are on a first name basis, on my side) would like this book, but perhaps it is a wowser of a read for her too.

Does Anne love Anthony Trollope, C.S. Lewis and P.G. Wodehouse as I do? Perhaps so. How could she not? Ha ha.

Here is quote from her book. "People read for a multiplicity of reasons. Nearly forty years in, I can tell you why I inhale books like oxygen: I'm grateful for my one life, but I'd prefer to live a thousand - and my favorite books allow me to experience more on the page than I ever could in my actual life. A good book allows me to step into another world, to experience people and places and situations foreign to my own day-to-day existence." 

I laughed at some of the stories she shares. Any other bookaholics out there? I have a list of novels I want to read, and now that our library is open (you can request books and pick them up outside the library) I am reading them. 

 

I just read "Rules for Visiting" by Jessica Kane and found it a delight. A lonely 40 year old single woman who is a landscape gardener at a university is given a month off of work and she has a brilliant idea to visit her four friends from long ago and re-connect. This involves quite a lot of traveling as they live around the USA and in England. Along the way, at the request of her father, she searches for the ideal tree to plant. I enjoyed this book and give it 4 stars. I just put "House of Trelawney" by Hannah Rothschild on request at the library, a story of an eccentric English aristocratic family, their crumbling home, and the ties of family and love. Hey, does that sound good? Others I want to read are "Ordinary Grace" and "The Church of Small Things." How about you and your reading?

Dog in my cat clubhouse, Teapot with Blue Lights, Peacock , Social Isolation

 

Above is Bounce tasting the catnip in the clearly signed Cat Clubhouse. He is a rebel and rule breaker, like me. Below is Princess Fluffy enjoying her clubhouse.

Just for fun, here is my new electric teapot. It is glass which I like, glass is so inert, which is healthy to boil water in. The entertaining part of the teapot is its blue lights and how they dance when the water boils.

This photo below shows the teapot when I have just turned it on.

Just some light hearted things from around my home, with the aim of bringing smiles during this difficult time of pandemic.

Here is my blue metal peacock, which my younger son assembled and installed in my garden. Some readers asked to see the peacock when in my garden.

 

Occasionally I invite a friend to come over and sit on my patio, six feet apart, while we enjoy a coffee. Now that colder weather is on its way, I will miss those outdoor chats. Perhaps we will meet indoors, I have a sitting area in my living room where chairs are 10 feet apart. That is a big decision. How are you handling social isolation? I read today that Florida schools opened a month ago and there is NO SPIKE in virus cases. In particular, no increase in Florida in school age children getting ill, that is good news. New York City has opened its schools to its 500,000 students. This social isolation is hard on children. A family friend is eager to have his children, here in California, return to school; he says they are being damaged by this isolation. These are hard choices for all of us, and especially for parents.

Oh and I am praying for quick and full healing for our President and our First Lady. These are difficult times indeed. Best of health to them both.

3 books I ordered, Carol and I at the Yacht Harbor

 Our local bookstore needed help; they sent customers an email saying if they are to stay in business we need to do our Christmas shopping now! I debated going in the store but decided to use their online site, found three great sounding books, ordered them online, and they will contact me when I can drive there and pick them up curbside. So no going in the store. Much as I miss browsing in the store, I am a senior and am glad I can help the store in this safe way.

I haven't received these books so am not actually recommending them, though they sound wonderful.

"I've Been Thinking: Reflections, Prayers and Meditations for a Meaningful Life" by Maria Shriver. This book has wonderful reviews including "wildly gorgeous, inclusive and accessible."

"Church of the Small Things: The Million Little Pieces That Make Up a Life" by Melanie Shankle. I am attracted by this cover and have been wanting to buy this, so, voila. 

"House of Trelawney: A Novel" by Hannah Rothschild. This novel was published this year and sounds charming. An eccentric English aristocratic family tries to save their family home which is crumbling around them. The author writes sly humor and has been compared to Austen and Dickens. I haven't read it, so that is what reviewers are saying. 

Just for fun here is a photo of my friend, Carol, and me on our walk around the local yacht harbor. We wore masks but took them off for the photo. We also ate lunch harbor side at an outdoor dining venue, her treat. I had fabulous crab cake, real crab, and coffee. I am on the left, the photo is rather dark. We stopped on the deck of the yacht club and the manager, her friend, took our photo.