Monday Musings & Merry Christmas

Mele Kalikimaka!

My week: It was a fine week here. I feel like it was a busy one, but I can't actually remember why or what I did. I had to work all day on Saturday, but I made the best of it by wearing reindeer antlers and a Christmas shirt. Sunday we went to the beach; Jarrod goes surfing at least once a week, but it was the first time my toes had been in the sand since October!

I actually managed to snap a good picture of Alohi and me this week! We're driving home from her afternoon at doggie daycare here... but what you don't see is the desk leg she chewed into a thousand shards in the morning!

Reading: I finished "Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery" by Jenny Colgan and enjoyed it well enough. I'm soooo jealous of the protagonists' pet puffin, as well as their quaint English village. It's the third in a series and I do think I want to go back and read the first two.

Then I read and LOVED the first Rat Queens volume. It was so different than I expected. I knew it was about some spunky, badass girls, but I had no idea it was also a sort of medieval fantasy! I already checked out the second volume from the library.

After that I read the sequel to "The Bear and the Nightingale," "The Girl in the Tower." It took me for-ev-er to get into it -- I actually fell asleep reading three times in a row before making it to page 100 -- but once it clicked, I blew through the rest. I enjoyed being back in magic-tinged medieval Russia.

I felt like I needed one more holiday read, so I grabbed "Last Christmas in Paris" from the library. It's a WWI book told in letters -- right up my alley -- and I'm enjoying it so far.

Watching: We watched the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie this week. It was ok, though I started losing interest toward the end. I didn't really watch any TV this week, or movies, but Jarrod has to work all day today (yes, on Christmas) so I'm planning to catch up on all those Hallmark Christmas movies on the DVR!

Knitting: I didn't do a single bit of knitting this week, but I did snap a picture of the bird ornament I knit for my work Secret Santa last week. (The bird is from the Flock mobile pattern on Ravelry -- my go-to pattern for knit birds.)

Buying: Tickets to see Luke Bryan! One of the things I hate about living in Hawaii is the utter lack of decent people coming for concerts, so we were thrilled when we heard Luke Bryan would be here in March!

Baking: Some really tasty cranberry-white chocolate-pecan cookies with brown butter icing! The recipe is from Taste of Home, and I was very pleased with the results. Plus I was excited to find a recipe for fresh cranberries! I highly recommend it.

Blogging:
Monday Musings
Holiday Q & A
The Grinch Book Tag

Looking forward to: My upcoming three-day weekend!

Merry Christmas to you all!

*I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Monday Musings

Alohi's birthday hike!

My week: Alohi turned 1 on Saturday! To celebrate we took her on a hike. She got a little bored and bratty in the middle (in her defense, it was nearly 5 miles), but I think she had a great time! And my mantra is a tired puppy is a happy puppy, and she was definitely contentedly tuckered out.

My husband's and my Christmas roles seem to be reversed this year. Normally I'm the super-festive one and he's the Grinch, but I just haven't been feeling it this year. He actually had to convince me to go cut down our tree (I was all, "Ugh, it's soooooo much effort just to take it down in a couple weeks"), when usually I'm the one saying, "Let's go, let's go!" We had some lighted garland around our front door and I finally gave into the trend and bought a blow-up Rudolph this year, and honestly I felt like that was enough; it's ok to take a break once in a while! But no, Jarrod has been bitten by the Christmas bug and after this week our house looks like the Griswold's and our electical sockets look like the ones in "Christmas Story" that keep blowing the fuse. And, happily, I'm finally feeling a bit more festive -- I'm actually listening to Christmas music as I type this.

Reading: I stayed home from work last Monday with a cold and I spent hours and hours reading -- and blazed through "Magpie Murders." It was really two mystery novels in one -- one set in the '50s, one in present day, both in England -- and I loved it!

Then I read "Big Mushy Happy Lump," the second Sarah Scribbles book. I didn't find the comics in this edition to be quite so "OH MY GOD, that is SO me!" as the first one, but it was cute and fun nonetheless.

Next up was "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng, one of the most hyped books of the year. It was deserving of all the hullaballoo, though not perfect -- I gave it 4 stars. I will say, though, that it was one of those books that sucks you into a situation that's obviously spiraling out of control, and you just can't look away -- or put the book down! It was the first book in a while that got me to stay up way past my bedtime reading.

And now I'm reading "Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery" by Jenny Colgan. It's cute, and I love that it features a PET PUFFIN(!!!!!), but I'm 2/3 of the way done and it doesn't feel quite as Christmas-y as I'd hoped. It's actually the third book in a series (though the other two aren't necessary to enjoy this one -- there's enough background) and I do think I might go back and read the first two. I want more of this charming island off Cornwall!

I've now read 95 books this year -- fingers crossed that I make it to my new goal of 100!

Watching: We watched the movie "Get Out" this week. It didn't seem like something I'd like and I had no intention of watching it until I saw Allison Williams talking about it on The Tonight Show and then a co-worker recommended it. It was... definitely a unique plot. I didn't hate it, but it certainly wasn't my favorite. Have you seen it? What did you think?

Also: a couple Hallmark Christmas movies. One, "A Gift to Remember," was pretty much made for me in all its cheesy glory -- it involved a bookstore-working bibliophile who likes to make crafty displays in the shop, and a cute dog.

Knitting: A Christmas-y bird ornament for my work Secret Santa. I finished it yesterday but it was too dark to get a good picture, so here he is partially completed.

Eating: I discovered this reeeally yummy peppermint-white chocolate caramel corn at Target. Peppermint is pretty much my favorite flavor, and I am now addicted.

Dreading: Going to the post office after work today! Ughhhhh! I'm usually the early bird as far as Christmas shopping and mailing, but this year I was waiting and waiting and waiting for the books I ordered from Book Depository for my Broke and Bookish Secret Santa to arrive. A month later, they are still not here, and I'm now going to be the crazy lady braving the post office a week before Christmas. And I have a ton of stuff to mail, too (the joys of living far, far away from family and friends!).

Blogging:
Monday Musings
The Book Series I Started in 2017 -- And Which Ones I'll Continue
I Judge Books By Their Covers: Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery
Christmas Song Book Tag

Looking forward to: Taking Alohi down to the Honolulu City Lights to see Shaka Santa and Mrs. Claus. And finally doing some Christmas baking this week!

*I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Kimberly of Caffeinated Reviewer for Sunday Post.

Monday Musings

Our Norfolk pine Christmas tree!

My week: It was a pretty good week here, other than the cold I've come down with. I had been busy at work the past couple weeks getting stuff together for a bookish ornament-making program at the library and we had it on Wednesday. It went well and I think the kids really enjoyed the ornaments I came up with! Plus we gave second life to some books that were victims of the big book-weeding we're doing in advance of getting new carpet.

Saturday we cut down our Christmas tree. We got a Norfolk pine again this year -- the only kind you can get in Hawaii if you want to chop down a fresh one -- and we took Alohi with us to pick out her first Christmas tree.

Reading: I finished "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann, and it's a book I would highly recommend. It was definitely not a happy book, but it taught me about some disturbing and sad events in our country's history that I'd never even heard of before, and in Grann's typical style it was fast-paced and readable.

I also read "Escape From Mr. Lemoncellos' Library" by Chris Grabenstein for the kids' book club at work. It's about a super-cool library and a game to find a secret route out by using literary and library clues. My co-worker and I actually came up with a similar (much abbreviated) game for our book club kids to play at our meeting this week.

Then I blew through "Young Jane Young" by Gabrielle Zevin. I read it in just over a day -- it was a very fast and easy read -- but it was pretty disappointing. It was absolutely nothing like Zevin's previous book (which I LOVED), "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry." Pretty much every single thing I enjoyed about that book was missing here.

I finally finished "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I had intended to read a chapter a day during Non-Fiction November, but it got pushed to the wayside. Overall it was a good book and I learned a lot, though I'll readily admit some of it was over my head!

Now I'm reading "Magpie Murders" by Anthony Horowitz, which is a mystery story within a mystery story. The second story reminds me a bit of one of my favorite PBS shows, "Grantchester," which is involves solving crimes in an English town in the '50s. So far I'm really enjoying it!

I'm up to 92 books read, and I think I'll be able to meet my new goal of 100 books in 2017!

Watching: We watched "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and I really liked it! A lot of people like the Toby McGuire Spiderman best, but I've actually enjoyed each iteration more than the last, and this is my favorite so far. I liked that Spiderman acts like an actual teenager, and he's just learning -- not always flawlessly -- how to use his special abilities.

Knitting: I finished the hat for my Broke and Bookish Secret Santa!

From the Field of Wildflowers pattern by Joji Locatelli.

Receiving: The package from my TBTB Secret Santa! Once again, I was totally spoiled. My wonderful Santa sent two books ("The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" ultimate edition, and "Vicious" by Victoria Schwab), socks to go with my "Hitchhiker" book, personalized notepaper with a knitting theme, the adorable "This is How We Roll" library-print pouch from Out of Print, some bookish postcards, and a canister of Starbucks peppermint cocoa. I love everything!

Blogging:
Monday Musings
10 Book Settings I'd Love to Visit
Turning the Page on November 2017

Looking forward to: Kicking this cold! And then baking Christmas cookies!

I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Monday Musings

My week: It was on ok week here... a little hard to get back into the swing of things when I was still on vacation brain from our trip to Colorado. I just wasn't feeling work, and then Saturday I had a several-hour CPR/first aid training for work. At least I learned some useful information, though I was a little sad to give up a Saturday in December! I did at least get my Christmas decorations out, so the house is nice and festive!

Reading: I finished and loved "The Heart's Invisible Furies" by John Boyne, which I guess could best be described as an epic portrait of one gay Irishman's life spanning several decades -- and at the same time it's a portrait of Ireland itself.

I also read "Artemis" by Andy Weir, my most-anticipated book of the year, and found it to be just-ok. I had such high expectations, but it was nowhere near as good as "The Martian."

And I finally read "Adulthood is a Myth," a compilation of nerd- and introvert-centric comics by Sarah Andersen. It made me chuckle and I could totally relate to most of them. It only took about an hour to flip through and I closed the back cover wanting more; luckily I also checked out this year's installment, "Big Mushy Happy Lump."

Now I'm reading "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann. It's a fast-paced narrative non-fiction book about a string of (disturbing) events I'd never even heard of before. I'm about halfway done and I'd definitely recommend it so far!

Watching: We finally finished up this season's "Sherlock," and overall I wasn't all that impressed. I miss the first season when it was all about solving individual cases.

Movie-wise I watched a few Hallmark Christmas movies, and together we watched a DVD of "2:22," which was ok... it had a twisty-turny plot that kept me interested, but I was kind of confused by the whole thing.

Knitting: I took a break from the Newt Scamander scarf I've been working on for a friend to knit a hat for my Broke and Bookish Secret Santa swap partner. Hope she likes bright colors!

Receiving: The dictionary-print Toms I ordered (could there be better shoes to wear to work at a library?!).

Blogging:
Monday Musings
My Winter 2017/18 Reading List

Looking forward to: Getting our Christmas tree this week! Here in Hawaii we like to go to a local farm and cut down a Norfolk pine. They look kind of Dr. Seuss-ish, but it's the only way to get a locally grown Christmas tree rather than one that traveled in a container on a ship from the Mainland.

*I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Turning the Page on May 2017

It was a bit of a hectic month here, mostly due to Jarrod having some crazy ridiculous hours at work, leaving me to entertain a 5-month-old very energetic puppy on my own. Not a lot got done around the house, I'll say that much!

Luckily things finally settled down, and on the very last day of May I made it to the beach for the first time in months! It was warm and peaceful and lovely, and I simply must get back into going every week or two like I did pre-puppy!

Books read: 9

"A Conjuring of Light" by V.E Schwab (4.5 stars)

"Saga" vol. 7 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (4 stars)

"Umentionable: A Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners" by Therese Oneill (3 stars)

"Maisie Dobbs" by Jacqueline Winspear (4 stars)

"The Lost City of Z" by David Grann (4 stars)

"Waking Gods" by Sylvain Neuvel (4 stars)

"American War" by Omar El Akkad (4 stars)

"The Stranger in the Woods" by Michael Finkel (3.5 stars)
"Into the Water" by Paula Hawkins (3.5 stars)

Currently reading: "A Twist in Time" by Julie McElwain (book 2 in the Kendra Donovan historical mystery/time travel series).

Favorite book: Definitely "A Conjuring of Light." What a fantastic ending to the Shades of Magic trilogy! If you haven't yet met Kell and Delia, I highly recommend this fun fantasy series. (The first book is called "A Darker Shade of Magic.")

Biggest let-down: "Unmentionable" wasn't horrible, and I did learn a few things about Victorian life, but the author's sarcastic, snarky tone started to wear on me pretty quickly.

June release I'm most excited about: "The Essex Serpent" by Sarah Perry.

Book I'm most excited to read in June: So many! June is going to be a month devoted to reading backlist and books I already own -- something that's been sorely lacking this year. I've read almost entirely new releases, and that's probably why I've yet to award any book 5 stars.

Books added to to-read list: 10 (not bad!)

Most intriguing TBR addition: "Artemis" by Andy Weir. I'm so excited to finally read another book by the author of "The Martian"!

Here's part of the Goodreads blurb: "Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself -- and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first."

Favorite bookstagram: This picture has some of my favorite things: historical fiction, a cup of tea, flowers, and a yummy dessert (apple cake!). Find me on Instagram @knittinglindsay.

I actually did a little bit of knitting this month! My best friend at work is getting ready to move from Hawaii to Virginia (that's the way the military goes -- you make a friend and one of you moves away!) so I whipped up a hat for her as a going-away gift. I used the Slouchy Copycat Hat pattern, which I used once before to make a hat for my Bookish Secret Santa swap partner, and it came through for me a second time. I think this hat looks good on everyone!

I also splurged and ordered a kit of absolutely gorgeous hand-dyed merino wool from Tanis Fiber Arts to knit the So Faded sweater, which I'm hoping to cast on soon!

Favorite post: 10 Beautiful Night Sky Book Covers. I love book covers, and it was so fun looking back through my Goodreads lists to compile the post.

Book reviews:
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
The Lost City of Z by David Grann
Unmentionable by Therese Oneill

Monday Musings

My week: My week was ok. I stayed home from work on Monday because Alohi had diarrhea and I just couldn't bear to put her in her crate knowing she'd be sitting in her mess for over six hours, then Tuesday and Wednesday I had all-day training for work. Thursday and Friday I spent the workday getting my big volcano wall display ready to put up later this week before the summer reading kickoff (it's a STEM theme this year, and the volcano ties into both science and Hawaii).

Reading: I actually had a fairly productive reading week. I finished "American War," read the non-fiction book "The Stranger in the Woods" and Paula Hawkins' new much-anticipated new release "Into the Water," then started "A Twist in Time," the second book in a historical mystery/time travel series.

"American War" and "The Stranger" were 4 star reads, and I'm still deciding whether to give "Into the Water" 3.5 or 4 stars. After seeing so many mediocre 3-star ratings, I was worried I'd hate it -- I assumed it would fall into that formulaic psychological thriller category -- but I was actually pleasantly surprised to find it was much more of a straight mystery than a thriller.

Knitting: I whipped up a hat for a going-away present for a friend who's (sniff, sniff) moving away. It's the Slouchy Copy Cat Hat pattern, and I used Malabrigo in the hollyhock colorway.

Watching: After checking it out three separate times from work, I finally watched "The Light Between Oceans," and I was kinda disappointed. I remember loving the book, but the movie was a bit of a snoozefest. On a more positive note, we watched "Hidden Figures" and I loved it! I kept getting indignant on behalf of the ladies (out loud! -- poor Jarrod!) but it was such an inspirational, well-done movie.

Also, Jarrod went on a deep-sea fishing trip on Saturday morning, so I turned Harry Potter Weekend on and Alohi and I tuned in throughout the day. Some of the scenes got me brainstorming how I could do up the big display wall for Halloween at work. I even looked up a DIY for making giant pumpkins like the ones around Hagrid's hut in "Azkaban."

Blogging:
Monday Musings
12 Books Perfect For Your Beach Bag

Looking forward to: My day off today! Jarrod is at work, but I'm still looking forward to getting some stuff done around the house, reading and taking it easy!

*I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Yarn Along: "Lincoln in the Bardo" and Hufflepuff Scarf

Yarn Along is a weekly link-up hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog about two of the best things in life: books and knitting.

I finally picked up the Newt Scamander Hufflepuff scarf again! I've got quite a long way to go, but it's nice to have TV knitting again. I still haven't had time to block my teal heart hat or make the pompom for the top, but I hope to soon. And then I'll post some pictures!

I'm just a little ways into the much-hyped "Lincoln in the Bardo" and I'm not too sure about it. The format is reeeally different and I'm having a tough time getting into the story. I'm intrigued by the plot (to do with Abe Lincoln's son Willie, dying and Abe visiting him at his crypt with several ghosts for company) and I'm hoping the unique, experimental style will grow on me. (Here's an example: entire chapters are told in short couple-sentence excepts taken from non-fiction books. And this is a novel.) People generally seem to love it, though, and I'm going to persevere!

Yarn Along: "A Monster Calls" and Je T'aime Hat

Yarn Along is a weekly link-up hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog about two of the best things in life: books and knitting.

I made some progress on my Je T'aime Hat this weekend! The puppy and I had a girls' night in on Saturday evening and I got caught up on some episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" while working on my hat. I really like the way it's coming out! I think the flecked white yarn goes really well with the deep, rich Malabrigo teal. All that's left are the decreases (and most likely a white pompom) and it'll be done! (The pattern is From Norway With Love, here; there's a link to access it on the Wayback Machine in the comments section.)

My main read at the moment is Veronica Roth's new book, "Carve the Mark," which I'm really enjoying so far. It has much more of a sci-fi/fantasy bent than the Divergent series did, but that's right up my alley these days.

Today, though, I'll be reading "A Monster Calls," an illustrated novel by Patrick Ness, the March selection for the adult book club I facilitate at work. Much to my chagrin, all the upcoming books for the adult book club I inherited are young adult books -- not my cup of tea (yes, yes, I know "Carve the Mark" is YA, but that's a rarity for me). I wasn't too psyched about it until I saw the artwork is by Jim Kay, the illustrator of the gorgeous new Harry Potter books, and I thought maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. And I'm actually (gasp!) enjoying it! It's a very quick read -- definitely one you could get done in a day. I read the first half yesterday and I'll finish it today.

Yarn Along: "The Hating Game" and Je T'aime Hat

Yarn Along is a weekly link-up hosted by Ginny at the Small Things blog about two of the best things in life: books and knitting.

I really should be working on the Hufflepuff Scarf on request from a friend, but I was craving something different and I decided to whip up a (totally unnecessary) hat, which I'll probably give away when it's done. The pattern is From Norway With Love, and it'll feature four rows of colorwork hearts, which will be done in the white yarn against a teal background. The teal Malabrigo (which is so, so much prettier in person) was a gift from my Broke and Bookish Secret Santa, and the white speckled yarn is left over from my Gilmore Girls MKAL cowl.

I'm still reading an advance copy of "Dead Letters" by Caite Dolan-Leach (which came out yesterday), but next up will be "The Hating Game" by Sally Thorne. I don't normally go for chick-lit/romance these days, but so many other bloggers were raving about it that I figured I'd better check it out. (If you're curious, I'm finding "Dead Letters" to be just-ok. I feel like thrillers almost never live up to my expectations.)