Mini Reading Retreats
These days, any time I have an afternoon or a day to focus on reading, I’m calling it a “reading retreat.” The truth is, I’m longing for a real reading retreat, where I go away and just read for a few days… but that’s not going to happen anytime soon, so I’ll take what I can get! My first “mini retreat” was last Wednesday. It’s my day off from work and I had a few hours free, so I sat in Starbucks and read this entire book: I heard about this from Meredith on the Currently Reading podcast (it was on her top 10 list for 2024.) It’s a mystery/horror story, but the horror doesn’t involve anything supernatural. The story takes place all in one night. It starts off as a little puzzling, then disturbing, and then becomes terrifying (if you’re prone to being scared by books- I’m not, but I could see how someone would find this scary). It’s hard to talk about it without giving spoilers, but it’s a book where you’ll be questioning what is actually happening, and the ending, while not hard to understand, left me thinking about it for a while. I definitely recommend reading this all in one sitting and letting the experience wash over you. My second mini retreat happened Sunday. My husband wasn’t home and my daughter was invited to go out with friends on a boat for the ENTIRE DAY. I picked up three other kids and took them all to the meeting place at 9 am. PRO TIP: If you are driving a carpool, always volunteer to drive THERE. Pickup times can be iffy (more on that later). Yes, I had to get up early, especially since I ran first thing (I actually broke my resolution of not letting the wakeup time start with a “5” this summer). But by 9:30 am I had finished my run, dropped everyone off, and had the whole rest of the day to myself. I did some blog reading, took a nap, and then sat on the couch and read this: It was mentioned in this list of the best Agatha Christie books. As I’ve said, any Agatha Christie is a re-read for me, because I read them all in my teens and twenties. I’m starting to be a little concerned about my memory, because I didn’t remember this one AT ALL. But that was a good thing, because I enjoyed it all over again. I personally wouldn’t put it on my list of the BEST Agatha Christies, but it was good, and it was the first Miss Marple book. It was fun to see how her character was introduced. In between these two “retreats”, I read this: It was also on Meredith’s top 10 of 2024 list. I really liked it, but didn’t love it. The fantasy elements were great, and the mystery was solid. What I didn’t love was, the mystery was a little hard to follow just because of the magic in this world. I like a mystery where I can’t guess the ending, but all the clues were there, cleverly hidden by the author. In this one, you’re just following along as the investigator makes brilliant deductions based on knowledge she has but you don’t, since we don’t yet understand the elements of the world they live in. BUT- I did really like the characters and wanted to find out what happened to them. That kept me engaged more than the answer to the mystery, and I enjoyed reading it. Up next: Allison left a comment on Engie’s blog that she didn’t like Night Film, but did enjoy this book by the same author. I was intrigued, they had it at my library, so I’m reading it! So far so good- thanks, Allison! By the way, remember my “pro tip” about carpools? Well, the mom who picked up from the boating adventure told me she got there at the appointed time, and then had to wait 45 minutes while they cleaned the boat. See what I mean? Always volunteer to drop off, NOT pick up. Have you ever read an entire book in one sitting? Ever had a reading retreat? Top photo by Lilly Rum on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- Getting There
Hooray! After two weeks of feeling pretty horrible, I finally started to feel like my old self this week. I wasn’t exactly killing it in my workouts, but the spark is starting to come back. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown! Here we go… Sunday Since I missed so much work while I was sick, I decided to work on Sunday. I knew I was feeling better when I opted to get up early and run outside- 3 hot miles before work. Monday “Never miss a Monday” is NOT one of my mottos! It had been a week since I had a day off, so this was a rest day. Tuesday Leg day at the gym! I did my usual squats, glute press machine, and added hip thrusts to the mix. I ended this with core and side planks with leg lifts. Wednesday 4 lovely air conditioned miles on the treadmill at the gym! I ended this run with some core work. Thursday In the morning I did the Caroline Girvan dead bug workout, and after work I went to the gym for upper body. Bench press, overhead press, rows, and reverse flys. I really pushed myself, working to failure on most exercises (not benchpress, obviously- I’m not getting pinned under the bar!) Friday 4 miles on the treadmill- and I added some tempo intervals! Trying to figure out my tempo pace was pretty challenging- I can’t say I nailed it, but it was a start- the start of my “summer of speed”??? I followed the run with some core, and side planks with leg lifts. Saturday Core, and hip stability exercises. Wow, those are boring- but I need them. I feel like my hips are getting stronger! Sunday On tap- “long” run outside! I’m planning 5 miles, and I’m bringing icy cold water in my hydration vest. I’ll get out nice and early and hopefully the heat won’t kill me. How was your week? Were most of your workouts inside or outside? Top photo by luca dorata on Unsplash
June Runfessions
Oh hi! It’s been a while since I’ve joined Marcia for Runfessions. I haven’t had much to runfess- first I was recovering from my race, then I was rehabbing my hamstring, and then I got sick. But now I’m itching to get back to it… which means I have things to say! My first runfession is that I’ve been embracing the treadmill lately. Five years ago, if you told me it was too hot to run outside I would have said “Don’t be a sissy! Suck it up!” But, every year the heat bothers me more and more. I’m not running a summer race, so why should I be miserable? The gym is air conditioned! Yes, it’s a little boring- but I have my podcasts to keep me engaged. On a related note, I HAVE to do something about my speed. Around the same time I developed this heat intolerance, I started to get slower and slower (coincidence? Hmmm…) Every summer I say I’m going to work on speed but it never happens. Will this finally be the summer? The treadmill is a great place for speed work…so we’ll see. The last runfession I have- and this could throw a monkey wrench into all my plans- is that my hamstring is not 100% recovered. My chiropractor wanted to do some expensive laser treatments; I decided to fix it myself. I’ve been working to fix my weak hip muscles, and also avoiding any strength moves that irritate that hamstring (no deadlifts, lunges, or split squats). Sometimes I’m running pain-free, and sometimes I still feel it. So there it is- a running update and some runfessions. Onward! Does the heat bother you? Would you run on a treadmill to stay cooler? Top photo by Birk Enwald on Unsplash
And Now For Something Completely Different… Reading
Ha ha, I know- it seems like all I’ve been talking about lately is reading. But, Elisabeth and Stephany recently had interesting posts about reading, and I have THINGS TO SAY! Growing up, I was a classic bookworm. I was shy, introverted, and I was always, always reading. My best friend also loved to read, and one of our favorite things to do was go to the library. We would stop at the drugstore first (yes, this was the 1970s and we called it a “drugstore”) where we each got a big bag of candy. Then we would go to the library, browse through the YA section, and settle down in a cozy nook to read and eat. One time, we decided to leave the library briefly (probably to get something to eat that WASN’T CANDY). But we didn’t want to check out our books and carry them with us. We also didn’t want to leave the books there, in case someone else found them and checked them out. We had a brilliant idea, which was to “hide” our books in the bathroom. Imagine our chagrin when we returned and our books were GONE! Imagine the librarian’s chagrin at having to re-shelve 20+ books that had been found sitting on the bathroom floor. Ha- we were terrible. In middle school, I was constantly getting in trouble for reading a book in my lap while the teacher was talking. Special apologies to my seventh grade US History teacher. That was the year I discovered Agatha Christie, and I could not put her books down- even after I had already been yelled at for reading during class. Moving forward to high school- I read everything. I read “dumb books” (teen romances), I read classics (like Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy) and everything in between. I didn’t like fantasy or science fiction, although I did read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy to impress a boyfriend at one point. Moving into my 20s- I read so many classics. Jane Austen, Tolstoy, Proust… Yep, I was a nerd! Over time my tastes changed. I read Harry Potter with my son (still my favorite books of all time) and that opened me up to fantasy. My son also got me interested in science fiction, and I’ll be trying out horror this summer- Stephen King’s Holly is on my TBR. But really, I’ve come back around to my first love- mysteries. There doesn’t need to be a detective tiptoeing around with a magnifying glass- I just like a story with some mysterious aspect. Some plot point that we don’t understand, but will be revealed by the end- that’s my kind of book. I do all my reading in print. I don’t listen to audiobooks or own a kindle. I just love having an actual book where I turn the pages and use a bookmark. And I track my reading the old fashioned way- with paper and pen. I have a page in my planner for my TBR and more pages to write down the books I’ve read. Please answer some questions (I really want to know!) Were you a bookworm growing up? What’s your favorite genre? Did you ever hide books in the bathroom of the library? – Ha ha… hopefully the answer to that is “no.” Audio, kindle or paper books? How do you track your reading? Top photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash