Monday Malarkey - Quiet malarkey week

Today's Monday Malarkey is brought to you by a juvenile redheaded woodpecker (with just a tiny hint of feathers turning red at the back of his head).  He believes you should just keep hacking away at whatever your heart desires.  Really, he told me (telepathically, of course).

Recent Arrivals:

A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead via Paperback Swap 
Some Nerve: Lessons Learned While Becoming Brave by Patty Chang Anker from Riverhead Books via Shelf Awareness
The Blooding of Jack Absolute by C. C. Humphreys from Sourcebooks for review

This week's reads:

Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You by Dr. Mardy Grothe
The Buccaneering Book of Pirates by S. Pirotta

Reviews:

August Reads 2103 - Brief looks at each of the books I read and/or DNF'd in August
Help for the Haunted by John Searles - a nice spooky read

Other posts:

Fiona Friday - Playing "Stuff on My Cat" - honestly, Isabel didn't mind.

Currently Reading:

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri - and it's so beautifully written that I might not come up for air for a couple days.  We shall see.
Prehistoric Avebury by Aubrey Burl - I just read this one a little at a time.  I'm trying to orient myself but -- let's face it -- I'm terrible with directions.  I "see" Avebury Stone Circle in my memory from the ground, without reference to direction.  I'm trying to overlay my memory with the correct directional orientation and thinking, "Nah, I'm just going to have to go there."  I did learn something interesting during this week's reading:  My favorite place on the planet, the Iron-Age earthworks known as Barbury Castle in Wiltshire, is just about a 6-mile walk, as the crow flies (although there is apparently no need to morph into a crow because there used to be a Roman road, nearby, and the ground is walkable) from Avebury.  I had no idea!  Anyway, this one will linger in my sidebar for a very long time because I have to sit and ponder everything. I can't just breeze through this book (so far).

In other news:

I haven't felt like writing book reviews so reviews may be short, this week. On the plus side, I have loads of story ideas floating around in my head.  That hasn't happened for nearly a decade, so I'm happy about that.  Now, I need to just get back into the habit of sitting down to write on a word processor.

It is still hot. Normally, we go somewhere in August or September to escape the worst of the heat but that's not possible so I'm hiding out indoors.  The cats are not particularly thrilled that I'm so sick of heat I've begun to leave all the blinds closed.  Neither am I, actually.  I thrive on light.

I've decided I'm just going to continue reading what I want to read as it calls to me.  Fortunately, a blend of books from my personal library and ARCs seems to be working nicely, right now.  I'm hoping to start Colleen Gleason's first YA, The Clockwork Scarab, later this week.  

Oh, and this is book club week!  Wahoo!  This month we're discussing The Great Gatsby.  Should be interesting.  

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