Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Two friends and I have decided to establish a weekly game night.

2. Sarah and I have lunch and then meander through the sunshine to eat ice cream outside.

3. I add more cayenne to my chocolate chip cookies than I really mean to, and am surprised that it is still noticeable after baking. I fear the slight warming that comes from eating one makes them even more addictive.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to share our list of authors we discovered last year. Here are ten of mine that I’d gladly read more from (I’ve included the genre of their book I read to make it easier for you):

1. Freya Marske, A Marvellous Light: Historical fantasy
2. Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These: Historical fiction
3. Amber McBride, Me: Moth: Contemporary fiction/verse
4. Ryka Aoki, Light from Uncommon Stars: Science fiction
5. Malinda Lo, Last Night at the Telegraph Club: Historical fiction
6. Jane Pek, The Verifiers: Mystery/Light suspense
7. Rachel Smythe, Lore Olympus: Mythology/graphic novel
8. Claudia Gray, The Murder of Mr. Wickham: Historical fiction/mystery
9. Stephen Spotswood, Fortune Favors the Dead: Mystery
10. Laura Taylor Namey, A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow: Romance

How about you? Did you encounter any new-to-you authors in 2022 you’d recommend?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I run into a friend as we’re on our way to volleyball. We walk the rest of the way together and he proposes planning to do that in the future, rather than allowing happenstance to run its course.

2. A Christmas card from my cousin doggy paddled its way across the ocean to arrive in our mailbox. (She mailed it before the holidays, but the U.K.’s postal strike has been slowing things down.)

3. An overseas friend replies to my November email asking for her mailing address without giving me her address but with an update about how life is going.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Yes, I know this would be better with photos, but it’s late, I want to go to bed, and I haven’t charged the iPhone that doubles as my camera these days.

I’ve been reading up a storm and finished books both yesterday and today. Which means I need to start something new and I’m feeling ambivalent about what that should be. What would make the most sense is to read some more of Sloane Crosby’s Cult Classic and decide whether I should keep it past its due date (tomorrow) and finish it this weekend or give it back as it continues to annoy me. Also, to download whichever audiobook is due back first (I may have five currently checked out) and get listening. But none of that appeals. Maybe tomorrow I’ll pick up one of the books I own that I started last year and give that a whirl. Or read the first ten pages of every book within reach of where I’m sitting and see if that solves the problem.

On the knitting front, I’m working on a Rilke hat, which is knit in garter stitch, and I’m not sure if I’m liking it with this yarn. I’ll probably keep going until after the brim, at which point it will switch over to a larger circular needle and I’ll be able to try it on. I have one sock of a pair done and just stumbled across a gorgeous pair of socks that’s several years old and just needs me to knit a toe. That would make the most sense to pick up, particularly because I also stumbled across a hat I’d knit a friend twelve years ago that I hadn’t ever given her, and I appropriated it, so it’s not like I need another one right this second.

I hope you’re having a more certain week than I am.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to share our reading goals for the new year. I don’t know that I have ten, but here are some of what I’d like to do:

1. Read 52 books. This has been my Goodreads goal number for years, but I haven’t hit it since 2019.
2. Read more of my own collection. We did some rearranging this fall and there’s now a bookshelf that’s entirely comprised of books I own, but haven’t read right in the middle of our living room.
3. Listen to more audiobooks. I start a lot. And then I get distracted or I don’t finish them before they expire or … whatever. Anyway. I finished ten last year, and I think upping that number to a round dozen doesn’t seem unreasonable.
4. Read more diversely. Last year, about a quarter of the books I read were by authors of color, and I’d like to think I could get that number up to at least a third without even trying very hard.
5. Read more nonfiction. Last year, I finished three books, so let’s aim for five minimum.
6. Read more internationally. Sure, British and Canadian count, but let’s try for a book in translation.
7. Read more poetry. I love poems. And if you hurry me into a bookstore and give me only five minutes to buy one book, I’m walking out of there with a poetry collection, because I can definitely find at least one book with one poem in it that resonates in that time and if I can find one, I’ll find more than one. And that just means I own a bunch of poetry books that I haven’t read.
8. Read at least two classics. Last year it was one. One of my 50 by 50 goals is to read a Russian author and The Master and Margarita was recommended to me, so I have to at least give that a shot.
9. Put a book in every bag I own and read them instead of playing on my phone while I’m out. Also, consider finding a couple more pairs of the headphones that are floating around and throw them in, too.
10. Actually review everything I finish. I peter out every year.

Okay, that actually wasn’t very hard at all, and nothing I’ve written here, other than the writing bit seems especially hard, so I’m declaring that a good set of reading goals for 2023. How about you? Do you have any reading goals?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I started a new volunteer coaching gig this week and arrived early, when a couple of little kids were playing around with a basketball. The smallest one seemed to be in kindergarten or maybe pre-K, and as I was trying to stave off a tantrum, I put my hand out for him to take, and he slipped his hand into mine long enough to calm back down.

2. We had some apple cider that was going a bit scrumpy. I cooked it down and had steaming mugs ready for when Rudi arrived in from his night of coaching and the rainy drive home.

3. Today marked a year since Rudi’s mom died. After a year, the end is starting to fade, which makes remembering easier.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?