Monday Malarkey

Recent arrivals (above):

• A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders, and 
• Frantumaglia: A Writer's Journey by Elena Ferrante - from Square and Off-Square Books in Oxford, MS
• Nazaré by JJ Amaworo Wilson - unsolicited from Meryl Zegarek Public Relations, Inc.

And, two more recent arrivals (below):

• The Autumn of the Ace (Daniel Pitt #3) by Louis de Bernières and 
• The Boatman and Other Stories by Billy O'Callaghan - both purchased

The two purchases in the top photo were . . . kind of a bribe? My husband has noted that the not-going-anywhere-but-places-I-absolutely-must thing (the Delta variant has been ravaging our state and we're still lingering at a mere 43% fully vaccinated) has been getting to me. He planned to spend some one-on-one time with Kiddo so I was not intending to tag along on their trip to Oxford to meet up with his sister's family. But, at the last minute, Huz talked me into going by seducing me with the promise that he would pay for any books I wanted so they wouldn't count (because, you know, "book-buying ban"). So, I grabbed the #1 book on my wishlist, the George Saunders, and an off-price book on writing by Elena Ferrante. 

The two purchased books in the lower image are the reason "book-buying ban" is in quotation marks. OK, well, so I looked at Book Outlet just to see if they had the third in the Daniel Pitt series, after finishing #2. They did! So, I looked up The Boatman and Other Stories. It was there, too! And, I just read Spy School and wanted to continue on. They had most of the books!!! I wasn't going to place an order but I told my husband about how disappointed I was not to be able to place an order, since they had quite a few books on my wish list. Guess what he said? "You've done very well, this year." I said, "You mean with my book-buying ban?" and he said, "Yes." And, then he told me it wouldn't bother him if I placed an order. Pardon me while I enthuse. 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So unexpected. Anyway, there were more books in that order than the two I've shown but I've already decided to continue my book-buying ban into 2022 so I think I'll save the rest of the arrivals to share with you later. 

Books finished since last Malarkey:

• Golden State by Ben H. Winters
• Gobbolino the Witch's Cat by Ursula Moray Williams
• Spy School by Stuart Gibbs
• The Lighthouse Witches by C. J. Cooke

This felt like a really good two weeks. 

Currently reading:

• How to Astronaut by Terry Virts
• The Boatman and Other Stories by Billy O'Callaghan
• September Moon by John Moore 

How to Astronaut has become my stationary bike book so I don't read much. Half of my time on the bike is usually spent explaining myself to Isabel, who naps in the room with the exercise bike and absolutely hates the sound of it (it has a squeaky seat) but thinks she can convince me to stop biking and give her head rubs, instead. Funny cat. 

I'd totally dropped the ball on my goal to constantly have an anthology or collection of short stories going at all times, a couple months ago. Billy O'Callaghan has got me back to work on that goal. And, it's no work at all. His writing. Oh, people. If you like short stories, you really need The Boatman. And, September Moon is a book I bought for a readalong in 2019. Unfortunately, I had to order a secondhand copy of the book from Across the Pond, so it didn't arrive till September was over. I don't know why I didn't fit it in last year, but I'm happy to finally read it during the title month. It is a fabulous read, incidentally. My reading is totally rocking, right now. 

Posts since last Malarkey:

• Ungifted (Ungifted #1) by Gordon Korman (book review)
• South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami (book review)
• Fiona Friday - Paws to appreciate (cat photo)
• So Much Life Left Over (Daniel Pitt #2) by Louis de Bernières (book review)
• Golden State by Ben H. Winters (book review) 
• Fiona Friday (cat photos) 

In other news:

Um . . . there isn't any? No, wait, there's a little. Oxford was fun and I am so freaking excited that my niece from Colorado will be attending Ole Miss, next year. We'll have another relative in the state!!!!  She's already planning to come down for visits!!!! When you move 500 miles from home and then almost your entire family moves even farther away, there can be nothing more exciting than to have family move near you. Also, any excuse to go to Oxford is a good one so we'll drop by to take her out for a meal, now and then. The only bad part of this is that we have to wait a year. She's still a senior in high school. 

And, the only other news I can think of is that I'm taking a gazillion art classes, including a two-week "taster session" that's free (to entice you to buy the full years' worth of classes), an abstract course, a geometric drawing course, and . . . coming up . . . one about David Hockney's art. So, I'm still just watching Chuck while I eat my lunch. We didn't even manage to squeeze in an episode of Blake's 7, last week. Oh, well. Maybe we'll fit one in, this week. 

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