Hi there. We escaped to the mountains, spending a week in Glacier National Park and Yellowstone. It was glorious – the mountains, the lakes, the wildlife AND being off the grid. No TV, no phone, no wifi. Perfect.
Right before we left, the robins hatched. When we came home, the nest was empty. I'm feeling blessed to have seen this little slice of new life.
Without electronic distrations while we were gone, I read 6 books. Here's a list in case you are looking for some summer reading. I recommend them all.
Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton Disclafani
The Last Summer of the Camperdowns by Elizabeth Kelly
The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls
The Light Between Two Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Have you read anything recently that you'd recommend? I'm always looking for a good book. Or three.
In other news, everything in the studio has been painted – floors (!), walls, ceilings, trim and new built-ins. I'm getting ready to move everything back in (as soon as our A/C gets fixed – can you say HOT?!?) and plan on doing some de-stashing within the next month so stay tuned. I've also got a handful of projects that I'm finishing this week so I should have some goodies to share with you soon.
How incredible to see the just hatched robins out your window!
P.S. Thanks for the list of books! I always love adding more books to my ‘to-read’ list at the libraray.
I just finished “Where’d you go, Bernadette”, which I loved. And am midway through Infero by Dan Brown right now. Not loving it, but it is entertaining.
Thank you for the book recommendations!! I am going to add them to my library wishlist! I recently read “Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson….I didn’t know it would be such a great book!
I read "Where'd you go, Bernadette?" this spring and liked it a lot, too. It's a good one!
Oooh! I haven't read that. Adding it too the list! Thanks, Lisa.
gah…. it sounds so much less hot where you were. we’ve never had a/c, but we are thinking this is the last summer without.
to me, summer is all about reading. i just cannot stop.
i read the ‘call the midwife’ series by jennifer worth. can NOT recommend them highly enough. (the bbc series is based on these.) i started the lytton trilogy, but got sidetracked waiting for #2 to get to me with ‘eleanor and park’ by rainbow rowell (is teen, but is all about first love – NOT for teens, i would say. i adored it) and am reading ‘and the mountains echoed’ by khaled hosseini.
i just read about how good ‘crossing to safety’ by wallace stegner is, so i picked that up today. (can you say so many books, so little time??)
i love reading carl hiaasen on vacay. and i’ll have to write down your others.
hope you survive the heat!!
It is HOT here – 97 today! We are surviving, though.
I have "And the Mountains Echoed" in my queue. And "Crossing to Safety" is a favorite of mine – you will like it!
Thanks for the book recommendations. I have been wanting to read “Riding Camp”. Just now I started reading the new one from JK Rowling…Cuckoo’s Calling. It’s growing on me.
Thanks for the recommendations. I’ve had ‘The Interestings’ on my list for a bit. I’d recommend “The Good House’ by Ann Leary. I absolutely loved it. And about that heat . . . anything above 85 and I’m feeling a little woozy. My porch thermometer said 109 late this afternoon. Not much quilting getting done here! Take care, Byrd
Love your reading inspiration. I picked up Inspector Montalbano books after your post last summer. Thanks.
I enjoyed reading Mrs. Lincoln’s Seamstress, The Aviator’s Wife and The Last Runaway this summer. Now am working on The Good American, and next up is And the Mountains Echoed, which will be followed by Jeanette Wells’ book.
I read the Call the Midwife books last winter and loved them, although there is a chapter in the first book I would skip if reading again … kind of disturbing. IT’s my absolute fav series on PBS; I thought it was even better than Downton Abbey. I also loved Walk in the Woods and Crossing to Safety.
I pulled my old tattered copy of Lake Woebegone Days off the bookshelf last week — it is one of my favorite beach reads, and I’m feeling the need to revisit that special place again. I do like to reread the really good ones. I go through books too quickly, and I enjoy new things on the second trip (and it’s been 30 years since the first read!)
I read about JK Rowling's new book. I read "Casual Vacancy" last year and hated it. Hopefully, this one is better!
Thanks for the recommendation, Byrd. Putting "The Good House" on my list!
This is a great list! Thanks, Janet.
such a sweet, perfect pic of the robin!
I read Light Between Oceans – such a beautifully written book, and oh so terribly sad. I really loved it, though I shed many tears.
I also recently loved Burial Rites by Hannah Kent – it’s a novel based on the real story of the last person executed in Iceland (in the 1830s) – amazing subject matter and again, beautifully written and so terribly sad! What’s also interesting is that Hannah Kent is a young Australian writer (she’s not even 30, I don’t think) – and she has so beautifully told the story of an Icelandic woman from so many years ago.
Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots by Jessica Soffer is a lovely story – set in NYC.
I’m about to start The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel – about the wives of the first few US astronauts.
And I love Bill Bryson’s books – someone mentioned him above. And anything by Lily Brett or Ann Patchett.
I just checked to see if you are on instagram (I’m hellofromcat) – there’s an awesome hashtag for book-lovers – #book_chat – every month a new topic is posted, by @julie_gibbs and @kimpearsoninteriordesigner (two gorgeous Australian ladies – Julie is a publisher), and people share their book suggestions. It’s great! Happy reading! Cat.
Just finished Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Enjoying The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna can Praag (awesome cover, btw). Thanks for the books recs.
I just finished, Joyland, by Stephen King (don’t let that deter you if you’re not a King fan, this isn’t a horror book, it’s a beautifully written coming of age novel with a mystery thrown in – a really fun quick summer read – probably my favorite book of the year). Also really liked Sarah Addison Allen’s, Garden Spells (although I read it several years ago, it always strikes me as a summer read).
Summer greetings. I just finished a delightful summer read: The House At the End of Hope Street. It’s part fair tale, love stories, and mystery.
Cheers,
Traci
I second ‘the good house!’ thanks for the recommendations! Love simmer reading!
I love Ann Patchett, too! Thanks for the good recommendations, Cat! I'm acquiring quite the reading list.
Thank you, Susie!
Thanks, Elizabeth!
Thanks so much for the recommendations – it’s much too hot to do much of anything else but read! I just finished Wild and enjoyed it very much! Here’s a short list of some of my favorites… I Know This Much is True, The Red Tent, The Prince of Tides, The Kitchen House, Caleb’s crossing, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,Women of the Silk, The Samurai’s Garden, The Street of a Thousand Blossoms, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Shanghai Girls.
Stay cool – happy reading!
Ohhhhh I just finished The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea – I was so sad when I was done. Always a good sign 🙂
I’m reading The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin. Sparse dialogue in a rich environment. Intriguing characters.
“The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”. Story about Guernsey island, off the coast of England, post WW2. Written in letters sent between all the characters.