Hope you’re having a fun Labor Day! I am very glad to have the day, especially since I’m filling in for our Saturday librarian, so I will only have to work five days in a row instead of six. Yay Labor Day!
I hit a reading wall last week. As you all know, I read a lot, all the time. I usually have at least three books going at any time: the book I am reading during the day and into the evening, the book I am listening to, and another that I read when I go to bed. I generally read just a chapter or two in bed, so it takes a while to finish one of those books. Audiobooks have been great for me since my vision is going, and I’m glad I’ve finally found audiobooks that hold my attention. My daily reading includes the hour I am forced to take for lunch, so I get a lot of reading in. These are books that are generally not out yet; they are review copies or galleys, and depending on the book, I usually read 3-5 of these a week. But last week, every book I started, I put down again. I just couldn’t get into anything, and I blame Lucy Score!
I had stumbled upon the last book of her Blue Moon series, loved it, and went back and read the entire series. After that, nothing was appealing to me. I went to my library’s reading apps and found some older books by her that I hadn’t read, and that seemed to work. I read a standalone, Rock Bottom Girl, then I found the first book of the Benevolence series in Kindle Unlimited, and now I’m on the second book of that series. Reviews to follow!
I had put Julie Soto’s last book on hold at my library. I loved her first couple of books, but the new one is a romantasy, a genre that has taken over the romance industry, but I am not a fan. I’ve read a couple, and since her last book made my best books of the year list last year, and this new one has hit the NY Times bestseller list and is blowing up everywhere, I decided to give it a try. Well, it came in for me the other day, and I read the first couple of pages and closed it. I may go back to it if it is still available, but I am finishing the second Benevolence book, and there is a third, so maybe after that I’ll try again.
Have any of you ever run into this type of situation? Where every book you pick up, you put down because it isn’t holding your attention? I think it happened this time because Lucy Score, and also, I was listening to a book that I didn’t like. But it was on the LibraryReads list, and had great reviews, so I kept plugging along. Finally, at about the 75% point of the book, I put it down and started another audiobook instead. Hopefully, I’ll go back and finish it. It seems kind of silly to get that far in a book and not finish.
This seems to happen to me once every few years or so, and sometimes I get out of it by rereading an old favorite or reading something completely out of my usual genres, like romantasy. But this time, neither of those worked, and I’m hoping that I will get through my obsession with Lucy Score and be able to move on. All suggestions welcome!
I love Disney World. I went to Disneyland for the first time when I was fourteen years old. I was about eighteen when I went to Disney World for the first time, and I’ve been many times over the years. It keeps getting more and more expensive. I’m not the only one who noticed – check out this opinion piece in the New York Times. I
t made me feel so sad to read this. In 2023, we took my grandson at Christmas; in fact, we went to the Magic Kingdom on a drizzly Christmas Day, and it was great. He was not quite three years old yet, and maybe he won’t remember it, I don’t know. Now his sister is almost that age, so maybe we’ll go back next year when they both can enjoy it. I’d better start saving now – one day in the park, staying off-site at an Airbnb, meals, etc., all add up to a ridiculous amount of money. But I want to create those memories for my grandchildren, so that’s my choice.
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Food News
The salad I’m obsessed with!
I found this recipe in the NY Times Cooking App, Prosciutto and Melon Salad. Now that is a classic pairing, but this salad took it further than just wrapping wedges of melon with prosciutto. It put it on a bed of arugula mixed with a bit of fresh basil, added some lemon juice and olive oil, and fresh mozzarella.
I am allergic to melon, but I have an amazing mango tree, and I thought the flavors would work together, so I tried that. I was right, it worked beautifully. Then I started reading some of the comments, one of my favorite things about the NYT Cooking app, and I saw someone recommended skipping the lemon and using balsamic vinegar instead. Since I love balsamic, especially with fresh mozzarella and basil, I tried it, and that was the winner for me. My mango tree has stopped producing, but peaches and nectarines are fantastic right now, so I pivoted. I’ve been making this salad probably once a week all summer. If you’re vegetarian, skip the prosciutto. If you’re vegan, skip the cheese, too. Enjoy!
Good News
As always, thanks for reading, and stay safe.
Thanks to The New York Times for allowing me to “gift” my readers with free access to these articles, a lovely perk for subscribers.
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