Just so you don't think I always complain about the weather (though sometimes it does feel like I talk about it too much), this weekend promises to be downright springlike. Next week may be another matter, but I am happy to focus on the here and now. I have two birthdays to celebrate and a ticket to the symphony so reading time might be limited but I will squeeze in as much as I can.
Welcome to the 21st century--I finally replaced my poor dead MP3 player with an ipod! I was thinking it was all music but it is an ipod touch and seems a mini version of an ipad (I have use of an ipad from work). I can see why Apple kind of rules the world when it comes to techie things--they are so intuitive and easy to use. I was a little disturbed when I pulled it out of its lovely packaging to not find a thick instruction manual, but when I turned it on--magic. I have been loading apps of all the things I use and have logged into the places I most visit and when all that stuff is mostly in the clouds anyway, I can get to it anywhere and with any device. Now, the weather needs to stay nice so I can take my long walks and listen to music and podcasts and all sort of other cool things. If you have an ipod and have any tips or tricks or places that work especially well on it--do share, please.
Now that I have such a slick portable listening device, I think I am going to do this! It is not a book I would ordinarily have picked up, but I'll give it a try.
So just a little bookishness to kick off the weekend!
I think I might have to order this shirt. Is this a new thing? Are they going to keep tempting me with limited edition literary t-shirts that I cannot resist?
In honor of the Oscars this weekend, I love this list of awards--if books won Oscars! Unsurprisingly I don't think I have actually read any of them, but I own a few and have hand a number of them in my hands for a peek anyway.
Speaking of awards, we have less than a week to go now for the longlist to be announced for the Women's Prize for Fiction. Even though my reading of the list is haphazard at best, I always am excited for the list to come out. Last year I even managed to read a small handful of the books, and I will try and so the same this year, too. So, it is with much interest that I have watched a few other blogger's prediction videos--here and here! I have jotted down titles that sound tempting to me and I have to refrain myself from ordering them rightnow. Better to wait until the actual list--I am sure there will be a number of those books on the list, but there likely will be some surprises, so I can cherry pick the ones that appeal the most.
And then comes the reader's dilemma. You know I am always reading and always looking and always tempted, but I seem to pick more older book, or books off the beaten path or 'less literary' than many of my reading peers. It does make me look twice at my own choices and think I am missing something--not reading more current releases and more 'literary' books, and I tell myself I am going to pull something from my shelves this minute so I can be part of that discussion. But then I look longingly at my genre fiction or books that maybe far fewer people are looking at (or shh, more popular and less highbrow). Of course there is no right answer or right book, but I always feel that tug.
Hey, a 'new' list of anticipated books coming this spring and I must say there are indeed a number on that list that I, too, am anticipating!
I feel a need to splurge on the newest novel by Laura Lippman and I see it has been heaped high praise! That always makes the decision to buy a book rather than borrow much easier. (Especially when I would be #59 in line for a copy at the library). No worries, I have plenty of other books I am waiting for and there are five (yes, five!) books ready for me on the hold shelf to pick up this weekend! And after seeing the trailer for the novel Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler, I kind of want to pick up a copy of that to read, too.
I will definitely be hitting the library, and maybe I will try and squeeze in a bookstore visit, too. How will you be spending your weekend? Happy reading everyone!