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Chicken.. Baked chicken with roasted veggies to be exact... That's what's on my mind right now as we are 5 hrs away from ringing in the new year🤣
In the UK we are half an hour in to 2024! 😊
Happy New Year to all members and especially Jean and Werner for moderating!
Thanks, Michaela!The nominations thread for the February Group Fiction Read is now open, here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... . If anyone would like to join in the process of choosing a book, I invite you all to place your nominations there!
Also, the January Fiction Group Read (of Parable of the Sower starts today, with discussion on this thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... .
Oooh, a shiny new chat thread!Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2024 is a good one for you, with plenty of good reading too.
Hope you all had an awesome new year and are reading some good reads so far for 2024. Just finished the debut Thriller fiction novel by Michael Caine called Deadly games which was pretty good, and Thomas Locke's Merchant of Alyss was pretty good too, so I'll get to my next reads shortly. hope you all have an awesome first weekend of January coming up as well.
Food for thought from the author of our previous classic read Umberto Eco "It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.
"There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.
"If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice!
"Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity."
Bionic Jean wrote: "Food for thought from the author of our previous classic read Umberto Eco "It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those wh..."
Great quote! When the pandemic started here and libraries were closed, a friend said she had nothing to read. I laughed because I could be quarantined for several years and not run out of books already in my house. I lent her a selection to pick from. After while, the libraries set up so that you could order books on line and pick them up bagged outside the building. For me, I replaced my used book shopping with bargain ebooks, so I probably ended up with more than ever. Sometimes I do cull my existing books, realizing I'm no longer interested in something I bought long ago.
Bionic Jean wrote: "If, for example, we consider books as medicine..."That's a great quote! And if books were medicine, I think I could open a pharmacy.
Bionic Jean wrote: "There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion...."Those are all really good quotes.
I laughed at the one above because of all the "plenty of supplies" that I have around the house for various crafts and interests. Books, yarns, threads, wood, paint, etc. I completely get this quote....on so many levels. LOL...
I also really like this quote. Having lots of books around is a comfort to me.
I completed a book three days ago. My first finished book in several years! 2024 is already off to a positive start.The book was a real game-changer, Brené Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection. It helped me understand my pre-Christmas burnout and truly luxuriate in my long holiday break. Back to work on Monday to start learning how to pace myself!
I like the idea of books as medicine and it is not a totally unique concept, I've read about this several times over the last few years i.e. the idea that books can help with mental health, with some doctors even prescribing particular fiction books that help people deal with specific issues etc. Here's an article I found about this - https://www.theguardian.com/books/sho...
Steve wrote: "I like the idea of books as medicine and it is not a totally unique concept, I've read about this several times over the last few years i.e. the idea that books can help with mental health, with so..."This is very true.. My husband suffers from back pain due to a past injury... Meds prescribed to him never fully takes the discomfort away, but him reading actually numbs the pain...
JenniferAustin wrote: "Thanks, Amber! I just ordered a copy of Deadly Game!"no problem Jennifer, enjoy. It was a pretty good cop thriller fiction novel.
The poll which will choose the book for our group's February Fiction Group Read is now up and open for voting, at this link: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2... . If you think you might like to join in next month, please vote for the book of your choice!
Bionic Jean wrote: "What's on your mind right now?.."Help. I am floundering, trying to remove my psyche from the holidays and family issues and return to a quiet life of the mind.
I am writing this in the evening of January 9 of the New Year 2024. I am having struggles getting back into my routine of reading and writing about books. I have an "upper room" in my house which is totally my own, complete with an enormous desk and 4 shelves for - ostensibly - my theology books.
Of course, none of us have a physical magic book shelf which can hold all our books. My theology shelves overflow downstairs, to another 16 shelves full of books of not just theology but other genres. The majority of my books I have read, about 8% are new and unread, and I see on my shelves countless books I dearly wish to re-read.
Oh, if only I could share a photo of the desk in front of me now! It is stacked with 15 books I read last year but never got around to reviewing, and 4 books I am actively reading. I feel overwhelmed, stuck and a bit discouraged. I can't seem to get my reading focus back on!
The Christmas ornaments have just been put away but the myopia of family entertaining, preparing meals, travel and general chaos has taken its toll.
Does anyone else have to isolate themselves to begin focusing on our books again, and to re-enter the world of ideas?
😰 Forgot to mention: I had to give up my Upper Room for our guests. I just now cleared all the bedding off my favorite reading chair. The room isn't quite mine yet. 😪
Lee wrote: "I feel overwhelmed, stuck and a bit discouraged. I can't seem to get my reading focus back on!..."I'm sorry to hear this Lee. I do think it's difficult to balance everything at the best of times, and after a busy time like Christmas, many feel a bit stymied. And some feel they are permanently trying to "catch up" ... you can see this in readers' names sometimes.
Be easy on yourself, and think what you want to do. There's nothing wrong with having books in every room is there? (I have LOL!) And when you are back reading you will appreciate your lovely room for itself, complete with big desk and shelves perhaps overflowing with books. Wonderful! Cut yourself a bit of slack until you get your mojo back, and feel more like yourself. This is temporary 😊
That's what I think, anyway! You are the one who sets the rules, and so what if you have 15 books not reviewed ... you don't have to review one ever again if you don't want to! If your inner voice is nagging you about it then tell it to shut up! 😁
Ask yourself the question, do I really want to do this? And if the truthful answer is no, then walk away from it, at least for now. (As an aside, I asked myself that same question about a month ago, decided well yes I do, and am currently putting the finishing touches to a review of a book I read last March 😂 Hopeless! So you might say that I am not the best person to advise in this situation, but I still think it's the right strategy, as it sorts out in your mind what you can and do want to cut back on. For me it is other aspects of Goodreads.)
Take a deep breath and find what is fun for you right now. I think you'll soon be itching to get back to your own space, in your own upper room.
Just to add, if I'm feeling a bit jaded I pick up a fun book which I know I will enjoy, but not feel challenged by. Or if the sun happens to come out (rare at the moment here!) I go outside!
Does anyone else have any tips for Lee, or anyone who has the post-Christmas blues?
I didn't get a lot of reading done before Christmas and started the year off finishing two books I'd planned on finishing before Christmas.My reading has gotten back on track. I started the year reading two short books, one of which is a favourite-Le Petit Prince(a copy I purchased for a university course in the early 70s).
I'm also reading multiple lengthy books at the same time so I have a variety to choose from.
We've had a lengthy stretch of warm grey dreary days, which thankfully appear to be being blown away as the cold winter weather is arriving.
I can only say as much: I learned not to be so hard on myself, also regarding reading. I never make a challenge of how many books I have to read, I only write reviews when I have books from Netgalley, I read more books that I really want to read and I also make breaks if it´s necessary and I´d rather do something else. I mostly start with a higher number of books in January than I read in summer f.e. Of course this only relates to reading for pleasure not if you have to read for your work. Hope you´ll find your way in the New Year Lee!
Is everyone gearing up for the cold front that's coming through next week? We are currently in South Texas and our low on Tuesday is supposed to be 20 degrees, which is COLD for Texas. LOL! I love the cold and snow, but I may stay in that day and try to catch up on reading.
Bionic Jean quoted this in her conversation: ..."If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice!" ...That hit home with me, books as medicine. I know if I don't read every day then my mind isn't right. It's the way out of my own head and into somebody else's head. My current mood, and mindset also determine what I feel like reading, and it can change midway through a novel, and I set it aside for a while, or just DNF. Time is too precious to waste on something you dread. But I started a new challenge this year, and I'm determined to complete it, but now I'm reading a book I really do not enjoy and feel compelled to complete so I can check off that prompt on my list, especially since it was a difficult prompt to fill, and, in theory, this was a great book that fit.
There's a book for that - The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You and I'm quite sure there's another one about books for different emotional states.
~*Kim*~ wrote: "Is everyone gearing up for the cold front that's coming through next week? We are currently in South Texas and our low on Tuesday is supposed to be 20 degrees, which is COLD for Texas. LOL! I love ..."Yes! We're going to be having a not so fun weekend ourselves with freezing Temps and all their cousins of the snow flake variety.. but we are in the Midwest.. So it's been crappy weather since late October to be honest🤣🤣
~*~Princess Nya Cross Vasiliev~*~ wrote: "Yes! We're going to be having a not so fun weekend ourselves with freezing Temps and all their cousins of the snow flake variety.. but we are in the Midwest.. So it's been crappy weather since late October to be honest"We are having some absolutely horrible winds down in south Texas right now. I'm hating it because we are staying in an RV (we travel for my boyfriend's work) and it's rocking like nobody's business. LOL! To be honest, I'd rather have it snowing outside right now.
Winds are scarier than snow, unless it's blowing snow on the highways. That's the worst!
I’m in Texas - Austin - and the winds are cold and up to 45miles per hr or more. Awful. We are getting ready for the big storm & freeze arriving Sunday/Monday. Austin lost 1/3of ALL its tree canopy from the big ice storm of 2023. Weather in US is freaking crazy right now!
Our snow last week wasn't an unusual amount - maybe 6 inches followed by another 3 that night, then another 2 or 3 the next night But it was very wet since the temperature was around freezing. It was heavy to move or snowblow and it bowed down and broke branches on our two small trees. We couldn't go down our walk or steps without ducking way down (and getting snow dumped on us from the trees) until my husband trimmed off some of the branches. Expecting somewhere from 5-10 more inches today and tonight. 2nd snow day in a week for schools.
Lee wrote: "I’m in Texas - Austin - and the winds are cold and up to 45miles per hr or more. Awful. We are getting ready for the big storm & freeze arriving Sunday/Monday. Austin lost 1/3of ALL its tree canop..."
I'm in Beaumont right now, so we'll probably be a few degrees warmer than you guys, but still cold for Texas. We were in Athens, TX for the 2021 freeze and that was insane! We had just moved into our RV at the end of 2020, so needless to say, we learned what to do/not do the hard way. At least this time it's supposed to warm back up pretty much right away, so we hopefully won't have to deal with a week of frozen (exit) hoses.
~*Kim*~ wrote: " ~*~Princess Nya Cross Vasiliev~*~ wrote: "Yes! We're going to be having a not so fun weekend ourselves with freezing Temps and all their cousins of the snow flake variety.. but we are in the Midwe..."🤣🤣
"rocking like nobody's business. LOL!"
Kim and Princess Nya - "rocking like nobody's business. LOL!"We were in our caravan on the Dorset coast during 35 mph winds a couple of years ago, and it was definitely a bit worrying! I thought it was going to come off the rollocks or something but it was sort of exhilerating too! 😨
Stay safe everyone 😊
everyone stay safe. This arctic cold front from Canada is supposed to be bringing snow, hail, and heavy winds. I'm definitely looking forward to warmer climates in the future. have a great weekend of reading for pleasure everyone.
Amber wrote: "everyone stay safe. This arctic cold front from Canada is supposed to be bringing snow, hail, and heavy winds. I'm definitely looking forward to warmer climates in the future. have a great weekend ..."Even the warmer climates are going to be cold. LOL! We are in south Texas (about 30 minutes from the coast) and we're going to get temps below freezing. I know it's not NEARLY as bad as up north, but for Texas??? That's cold. LOL!
LOL. well at least Tennessee is going to get a little bit of a warm up coming up but I am definitely looking forward to Spring and St Patricks day after I get to celebrate Singles appreciation day on Feb 15th cuz I don't celebrate valentines day.
We got down to 11F (or -11.6667C) for about 12 hours last week in Austin, Texas. THAT was really cold for us. But given the horribly hot summer we had in 2023, which you know broke all records almost around the globe, I can't complain.Amber Valentine's Day has tormented me ever since the 5th grade in elementary school when I was 11. I sent a Valentine to my "crush" and tried to disguise my handwriting. (I am left-handed, so it didn't work).
The kid I sent it to decided to see which of his 25 classmates sent the card, to my horror, and showed my "I love you" to every single person in the class.
He figured out it was ME. I was totally humiliated.
Later, this kid grew up to be Peter MacNicol, who played Stingo in the movie Sophie's Choice. He looks exactly the same now as he did in the 6th grade. I wrote to him 40 years later and Yes! He still remembers me! And he remains a really cool guy, to this day!
I miss my books, I had to get rid of a lot of physical books when I got divorced and moved out, I haven't been able to get many of them back.I currently subsist on books from Kindle Unlimited most of the time, and splurge for one to buy on my pay days sometimes
Kiki wrote: "I miss my books, I had to get rid of a lot of physical books when I got divorced and moved out, I haven't been able to get many of them back.I currently subsist on books from Kindle Unlimited ..."
Hi, Kiki! Divorce happened to me too, back in 1984! Don't worry, you have plenty of years left in which to rebuild your library. And till then, the books are waiting for you. I use Kindle too, but there is nothing like having a book in your hands, and then looking up at it years later on your bookshelves (the real bookshelves)!
Happy reading!
Lee wrote: "We got down to 11F (or -11.6667C) for about 12 hours last week in Austin, Texas. THAT was really cold for us. But given the horribly hot summer we had in 2023, which you know broke all records almo..."We weren't quite that cold down here in Beaumont, but the wind chill was in the low 20's the other morning. I love the cold weather, though. I was absolutely miserable this past summer.
We have a solid winner in the poll for what book to read as our February Fiction Group read: it's
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. Our actual read/discussion will start on February 1; but the discussion is up now, at this link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... ,
Lee wrote: "We got down to 11F (or -11.6667C) for about 12 hours last week in Austin, Texas. THAT was really cold for us. But given the horribly hot summer we had in 2023, which you know broke all records almo..."That's crazy Lee that your crush ended up being a famous actor and that he remembered you. hope you guys still keep in touch as pen pals. I went to school with the lead singer of 15Rain who is now a country music singer named Dustin Lynch and I attended his only concert for his band 15Rain when I was a freshman in high school and I still own his CD that I paid $5 for so its cool that he's a celebrity now.
On Jan. 11th Robin P wrote: "There's a book for that - The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You and I'm quite sure there's another one about books for different emotional states."I found the book used and picked it up. I'm skimming through it now, and it's interesting. However, I do not agree with the suggestion for Agoraphobia, but others seem intriguing. Thanks for the suggestion.
OMG, if it doesn't stop raining I'm going to turn into a duck! I swear it has rained for probably 33 of the last 36 hours. And now it's storming, so I definitely can't sleep. Had thunder so loud a bit ago that it knocked a picture off the wall. LOL! (and as if Mother Nature heard me, as soon as I finished typing that, there was another LOUD clap of thunder)
~*Kim*~ wrote: "OMG, if it doesn't stop raining I'm going to turn into a duck! I swear it has rained for probably 33 of the last 36 hours. And now it's storming, so I definitely can't sleep. Had thunder so loud a ..."🤣🤣🤣.. same here, but without the actual storms... I'm just glad the increase in temps and water 💦 got rid of all the dreadful snow we had for days..
LINK HERE.
So here's our sparkling new thread, all freshly painted and with comfortable seating. Pull up a chair, select your favourite snack and tipple, and relax.
What's on your mind right now?