Alfresco Blogging
Currently reading:
Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde
The start of this book was a bit rough, but I think I’ve finally found the right reading rhythm and I’m enjoying it now. Hoping this one helps kickstart my reading, because, full disclosure, it’s been slow-going recently.
Books finished this week: 1
★★★☆☆
Where this book came from: Kew & Willow, the light of my life
Why this book: purchased for book club! (Spoiler alert: I did not go to book club.)
Thoughts: I think the summaries I read of this novel before I actually started reading had a negative impact on my reading experience. I was expecting some more horror and thriller elements, but got something more focused on the main character's interior. And dang, but it was a confusing place to spend 300+ pages. Don’t make my mistake and go into this expecting a true-crime-inspired novel and maybe you’ll fare better. I can't say I enjoyed this, but I feel like I will——or should——read it again someday.
Library updates:
When I was first plotting out this project and how and when to post every week, I worked out the missive template. What information to cover? How to present it? I wanted to give the people what they wanted——you want half-assed book reports, right?——but also get to do some writing. I think I’ve mentioned that I like journaling, but it’s fun to do a vague, free-flowing round-up of events for public consumption. The way I think about these posts, it’s sort of like those annoying food blog recipe write-ups. But you get the “recipe” (the book reviews; see also: the content I assume you read for) at the top, and you can skip my nonsense at the bottom, if you want. I won’t be mad.
I watched Yellowjackets this week. Finally. A friend (hi, Iris!) mentioned the show a couple months ago and insisted I’d love it. Of course, she was right. I just wasn’t in the right mindset to watch TV the first few times she mentioned it.
I’ve talked about this with a lot of friends, but, see, one thing I’ve noticed about myself is that I go through media consumption cycles. If I want to be reading books, then I read books. In the right mood, I can roll through a book or two a week, just devouring words, insatiable. I used to do a lot better when my commute was longer. (Not just pre-pandemic, but pre-current-living-situation.) I’d sit on the train for over an hour, and if I didn’t have editing to finish or writing I wanted to do, I had nothing to do but read. I’d read at least a book a week, sometimes more. There was a time when I read 100 books in a year.
Anyhow, during those reading years, I was usually in a reading mood, cycle be damned. But now, with more leisure time and less ability to focus, I jump from media type to media type. If it’s TV season in my brain, I’ll watch an entire season in a day or two and want to do nothing but talk about it and research it and read all the reviews and think-pieces and Wikipedia articles I can find. I’ll listen to six seasons of a podcast in a blink or catch up on a comics run I bought months ago.
Folks, right now, I am not in the book-reading phase of the media consumption cycle.
I did manage to finish reading Hangsaman, thank god. I finished it not long after posting last week’s missive, actually, but once the missive is posted, I consider the week over, so it counts for this week. I did skip the book club meeting, because I don’t think I had anything intelligent to say about it. I was also just . . . tired this past week. So the break was nice.
So, I finished reading Hangsaman on Sunday and started Vagabonds!, but then, instead, I finished watching Yellowjackets. I worked on a watercolor painting and added some rows to a knitting project while I watched, so I feel pretty accomplished. But the Library is suffering for it.
You’d think I might’ve done more reading with the extra time I gave myself this week, but I think there’s definitely a level of burnout in my mind and body. On book club night, I probably just watched a bunch of YouTube videos. YouTube is my top vice.
But going back to my media cycle theory, the good thing is that I’m now frozen with indecision about what to watch next. I did start a new watercolor project, so I am primed to have an excuse to sit on my couch and not move for a few hours. But I’ve been looking at the stacks of books waiting for me and I think they might win out. As I mentioned above, Vagabonds! was a bit tough to get into at first, but I’m about 60 pages in and enjoying it now. I have high hopes that it will put me back into the reading phase of the cycle.
Sorry if this post is a little scatter-brained. I’m trying to write this at a coffee shop by me that’s usually pretty quiet, but it’s a gorgeous Sunday afternoon and there are a lot of people here just shooting the breeze. Despite the distractions, I’m still enjoying being out in the sun. A slight breeze just started up, knocking away some of the heat and humidity that’s been sitting on top of us for the last few days. But I might go inside in a bit to order food and find a quieter place to read through and edit this.
It’s been getting warm here in New York, at long last. Rainy, which puts a damper on things (literally), but full of hope. Not having to wear a coat instantly brightens my mood. I keep some flowers and herbs on my balcony and spent one morning this week tidying things up and planting new things. Everything is still alive, so far, I’m happy to report. And once everything starts to bloom, I’ll have a nice reading oasis ready for the summer.
Closing thoughts:
Anxiously awaiting summer.
