It’s been a while since I’ve participated in a formal readalong, but this seemed like a good time for one. Marg of The Intrepid Reader is hosting a Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

I’m going to sign up at the Victorian Reader level, committing to read 5 books of historical fiction. That seems reasonable, given my current output of reads the past two years has been at an all-time low.

I’ve got Sherry Thomas’ Miss Moriarty, I Presume? sitting on the coffee table and a Victorian romance on hold at the library in Virginia, which seems to be a good starting place. I’m looking forward to reading along.

See you on the other side of my birthday!

My birthday weekend has arrived. I’ve done no formal planning, short of taking Monday off from work. But here’s how I think I’ll spend at least some of the time:

My friend Neal and I are going to do something outside on Saturday. It’s still supposed to be ridiculously warm for February and he’s even more cautious about COVID than I am. So maybe we’ll explore Kingman Island or something like that.

I’ve got some books to read (I started four the other day in an effort to figure out which one would stick first) and some more to pick up at the library.

And I really want to do some baking. Some cookies or brownies or a cake… Since weather is expected tomorrow night, that’s probably a good time to make some comfort food.

On Sunday, it’ll start with the farmers market.

I’m thinking I might head over to Planet Word in the afternoon to see if I can score a day pass. It opened during the pandemic, and I have yet to add museums back into my repertoire. But it’s one devoted to language and that seems an appropriate gift to myself.

I’m going to plan on watching Around the World in Eighty Days and All Creatures Great and Small on Masterpiece on Sunday, plus some Olympics and a movie or two to stream (I caught Legally Blonde tonight) in the meantime. I might even pull the knitting out of the bag and work on it.

Monday, maybe Rudi and I will just head to the movies for the day. There are several things playing, and I’d like to think daytime movies aren’t too crowded. The zoo and the museums aren’t open on Mondays, so it’s either that or go for a drive. There will be pizza for supper and a stop for ice cream at some point, since you should never turn down free ice cream on your birthday.

What’s on your weekend agenda?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A long, chatty phone call with my BFF. We hadn’t spoken since Thanksgiving, and it felt like we had tons to catch up on.

2. My volleyball team brainstorms solutions for a problem I’m having as we sit at the bar after our game. Some ideas are perfectly reasonable, and I’ll definitely use them. Others have unintended lewd connotations (wrong word choices, mostly), and while we decided those should end up on the cutting room floor, they provide a genuine laugh track during a week where the humor has otherwise been grim. Either way, I come away feeling more certain of myself because people I care about believe in me.

3. A nap under the duvet surrounded by books while Rudi’s on a conference call.

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

One of the things my parents gave us for Christmas was a smores maker that you can plug in. It’s a kitschy gift, but precisely the sort of thing that I adore. We didn’t get a chance to test it out during January, because while eating gooey chocolate and marshmallow sandwiches may make you feel better about a loved one’s demise, it’s tough to pack the cooker in your carry on.

Tonight, though, we were both home, neither of us had meetings or activities, and we’d had a healthy diet otherwise for the day, which meant overindulging for dessert was not only allowed, but encouraged.

In addition to the maker, my parents also outfitted us with our first few rounds of ingredients, including jumbo marshmallows. This makes eating a little more challenging as you’ve got to worry about leakage on all sides of your dessert, but also means you’re pretty content with two.

Thanks, Mum and Dad!

I thought I’d share some of the books I’m hoping to read during February as part of Black History Month:

• Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon
• Moth by Amber McBride
• Black Boy Joy, edited by Kwame Mbalia
• Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
• The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
• So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo

What are you reading this month?