Recent Arrivals:
- Moonlight Over Paris by Jennifer Robson - from HarperCollins for review
- Empire of Deception by Dean Jobb - Unsolicited from Algonquin (and it definitely looks intriguing)
- The Beautiful American by Jeanne Mackin - via Paperback Swap (I have exactly one point left and am still trying to decide whether to continue swapping after I run out of points)
- Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian - Unsolicited from Algonquin; I also have a hardback copy, which I recently moved to the "read soon" stacks. I'll pass that one on to a friend.
- Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge - Purchased, thanks to Susan at Blue-Hearted Bookworm. I noticed she was reading it and made the mistake of reading the description. Oops.
Currently Reading:
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
- Don't Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change by George Marshall (recommended by Eldest Son)
On goals and such:
I've decided to stop calling my goals for the new year "resolutions", this year, because I find it easier to think of goal setting as a continuous mission, whereas resolutions tend to feel like things that generally end up falling by the wayside (possibly because I tend to fail miserably at following through). Having said that, I really haven't made any specific goals regarding the blog, apart from trying to do better at visiting other blogs. I did consider quite a few possibilities over the holiday, but in the end I decided that for now I'm going to continue with the status quo because I have a number of personal and reading goals that I'd rather focus on.
Among my reading goals are reading a chapter a day of an introductory Latin course (which may be altered to reading a chapter every 2-3 days and spending the time in-between on rereading and practice), reading at least one classic per month (hence Lolita), and trying to read as many books off my shelves as possible (without a specific number goal).
As to personal goals, I've returned to the regular gym exercise that lapsed over the holidays and hope to find a place to take Red Cross Disaster Training. The rest of my goals for the year are similarly self-improvement oriented and I'm hoping to go back to school in the fall but have not even begun that process.
Kitty happenings:
Both kitties got cystitis over the holidays, probably because Huz and I were sick for a few days and fell down on the litter-box cleaning job. They starting fighting about 10 days ago -- vicious, growling, hissing, claws-out fighting, not the usual wrestle-chase fun and games -- so we took both kitties to the vet and they came home with antibiotics the next day. Fiona is easier to pill than Isabel and has reverted to her normal, mellow self but Isabel is a hissing machine. So, we've been playing Musical Cats. One will be closed into the master bedroom/bathroom area while the other roams free or we'll put one in this little gazebo (meant for outdoor use) while the other has the run of the house:
So that's the current state of our breakfast nook. It works but it's just a wee bit bizarre, isn't it? Hopefully, Izzy will start feeling better soon. It took a full five days before we figured out a way to pill her. She is quite the little tiger when she's not happy.
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Um, yeah, if I had to give Finn a pill I would be in a panic. He still won't let me pick him up let alone shove anything in his mouth. lol Casey on the other hand... A few treats... a pill... more treats. She is good to go.
ReplyDeleteYep, Isabel hates to be picked up. I can do it but it upsets her. She's lovable but on her own terms. Fiona is a peach, though, so we haven't had much trouble with her. Fortunately, using a dremel to make a hole in her treats and stick in the pills is working for Izzy. Whew! I was beginning to think she'd have to go back and forth for shots, which would still be awful for her.
DeleteI'll be interested to hear what you think of Lolita. A few years ago, a book club I was in did that book and our discussion (which was actually about the book!) lasted almost 4 hours!
ReplyDeleteOh, wow, it sounds like that was a terrific discussion! So far, I'm both repulsed and fascinated by the way Humbert justifies his perversion. I always love Nabokov's writing so I'm enjoying his use of words, as usual.
DeleteI look forward to your thoughts on Lolita. I've always wondered about that one. Still so sad about your kitties I hope they feel better soon. My friend had cats that suddenly started fighting all the time. I wonder if she had them checked out. I'll have to ask.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to take me a while to get through Lolita because I have to keep looking up vocabulary words! On the plus side, my copy is used and the previous owner underlined many of the same words I'm unfamiliar with. Normally, I don't write in books but that feels like "permission" to me. So, I'm just writing the definitions inside the book. It's kind of freeing to be able to write notes to refer back to.
DeleteAs to your friend, I do hope she got her cats checked. When a cat suddenly behaves different, it can mean kitty is feeling bad. We couldn't tell who was the aggressor, so we took both in and that turned out to be a good decision since both of them had infections.
Latin? Whoa. You continue to impress me, lady. I like the idea of one classic a month too. Lolita was a great book, but yes, creepy. I won't be rereading it. I didn't know you were planning to go back to school in the fall either.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I doubt I'll reread Lolita. It's not only difficult to read because of his lofty vocabulary, it's just hard to read his nasty thoughts. I don't know how anyone at all can call it a romance! Next month will be Cakes and Ale by Maugham, if you want to read along with me.
DeleteWell, don't admire me, yet. I skidded to a halt when I got to translation of sentences. There's no key so I don't know if I did them right or not. I ordered a different Latin book. Still plan to work on it and maybe I'll eventually see if I can take it locally, but I'm waiting on the new book.
School is a loose plan. I need to go to the local college and community college to talk about degree programs vs. just taking random classes. I'm not sure which I want to go for, yet. Wish me luck, though. I've wanted to go back to school for as long as I can remember.