a lifestyle blog for book lovers

Links I love and what I’m reading.

Merry Christmas to me

Favorite finds from around the web:

Downton Abbey hotel to open on Valentine’s Day. Book my suite, please.

A psychological explanation for why ‘Serial’ drives some people crazy. “Surprisingly, someone’s stance on “Serial”’s ambiguity may actually tell you a lot about who he or she is as a person. How do you handle ambiguity, whether in real life or fiction?”

A daily reading plan for Shakespeare’s works. “After searching high and low, I could find no daily reading plan for Shakespeare. So I created one, and read all the works in 2013—even the plays Shakespeare co-authored—in less than half an hour a day. You can do it too.”

What I’m reading:

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I’m listening to this one on Audible. I’m less than 2 hours into this 18 hour book, but I’m enjoying it so far.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves: A Novel by Karen Joy Fowler. I started this because I realized on New Year’s Day that it was already overdue at the library. The library was closed for the holiday, so I thought I might as well read it. Let’s hope it’s worth the fines.

Chance or the Dance by Thomas Howard. This was one of the books I’d been meaning to read that I resolved to read in 2014. 2014 is over, and I’m almost done with the book. Almost.

2015 reading challenge

On the blog:

The 2015 MMD Reading Challenge. Are you in?? 

My favorite books of 2014. The best books I read last year.

What worked for me in 2014. My two favorite reflection questions at year’s end are 1. What worked last year? and 2. What didn’t?

Have a great weekend!

13 comments

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  1. Lori says:

    I’m definitely looking forward to the reading challenge!!

    Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is next months reading selection for one of my book clubs, so it is very high up on my TBR list! I’m interested to see what you think of it!

    Have a great weekend!

  2. Have you read The Remedy for Love? I swore I heard about it from you, but when I looked into it further, I didn’t see mention of it on your site. I think maybe I bought it on Amazon when they were having those crazy 12 days of Christmas book sales.

    Anyway, I am really enjoying it. Right up my book isle.

  3. I’m listening to Serial but am only four podcasts in, so I don’t want to click through and discover something I’m not yet ready to know. But I’m really, really curious.

    Also, I know of a 2015 book with a lovely cover in a genre I’m sure many of your readers have never read. 😉 Just sayin’.

  4. Erin says:

    I LOVED We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. It deals with a lot of tough subjects — family dynamics, the ethics of animal testing — but is so well-written from the perspective of a very quirky narrator. Can’t wait to hear what you think about it.

    Americanah is on my to-read list. And even though it’s over, I’m still obsessed with “Serial.”

  5. Sarah says:

    Downtown Abbey hotel? Yes, please!
    I’m not sure I would want a Shakespeare reading plan. An entire semester’s class devoted to his work was probably more than enough for me, but our teacher insisted that we all buy the Riverside edition of his complete works (apparently we’d want it later in life, even though we could have all gotten all of his work for free…). I still have the massive textbook. Maybe one year…

  6. Dana says:

    Anne,

    I hope you like We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. I read it last winter and thought it was very different and very good. I am reading A Sudden Light by Garth Stein now. Just started it. I just finished Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good, which was a quick and enjoyable read. I love food memoirs! Am also re-reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.

  7. Molly says:

    I am going to take the 2015 Reading Challenge, but between taking grad classes and my book club reading I may need to do some double dipping.

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