Tuesday, September 30, 2014

So InKlined

Autumn begins for me when I start to hear the local high school band drum core in the evenings, when I want to run outside again after the breathless heat of summer, and when my reading lists shift to biographies instead of quick reads.  This evening I checked all three fall items.

For those reading along, our October read is The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Cline.    Ms. Kline will also make an appearance at the Southern Festival of Books on October 10th if you're in the area.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Circle, Column, Square

It's a small world after all.

Epcot
September 2014
Hope you've had a good week.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Grateful not Grating

Perhaps it takes the really hard, awful, long days to fully appreciate the early morning crispness of a dark starry sky, the wisdom from an older man solicited because you made the time, the arm around the shoulder in comradery from a fellow athlete, and the pause for a photo for a visiting stranger now friend.

At least this is what I'm thinking for Wednesday.  

Monday, September 22, 2014

Faster, Better, Stronger?

I didn't know that Annie Jones is the top competitive speed reader with a 2,246 wpm and 60% comprehension or that she has won the National Speed Reading Championship* a hefty six times.  This Guardian article was interesting for that piece of trivia and for the review of the speed reading app, Spritz.  Rob Boffard knocks out one of the Man Booker shortlist books in just under four and a quarter hours**.  I honestly don't know if I have the fortitude to sit that long with the intense focus that is apparently required when ramping up to 700 wpm.  I found the speed a little dizzying (and I don't think it was just the reading water).  There are some novels I'd love to spin through, but for others, I enjoy the time on the page, savoring the small effort and the time devoted to a simple pastime.  How about you?

*    I also didn't know there was a National Speed Reading Championship.
** This is shorter than the time to cook a turkey (old-school baked).

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Know your Place

If this month had a subtitle, it would be "September from a Suitcase."   I downloaded Dark Places by Gillian Flynn just before boarding last weekend in the frenetic gate getaway.  I was both hooked and creeped by the story, changing my guess along the way for our culprit.  (I was wrong.)   This title is a fairly quick read and the story moves along nicely, however the ending crescendoed a bit too much for me and I felt the closing was almost too tidy.  (Was that just me?)  Still, it was a novel that allowed me to completely block surroundings and disappear from numbers into words for a little while.  I won't spoil the ending; she'll keep you guessing.

I'm saving Sharp Objects for a stretch of sunny days just to be on the safe side.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Light to Dark

Sunny late summer morning
A balcony
Two cups of coffee
A banana

Dark Places*
e-reader
Park tickets
Sunscreen

Hoping that this quiet morning of reading (or the coffee) gives me the courage for an afternoon water park. Have a great Sunday adventure.

* I'm not sure this Flynn novel was the right one to read in an unfamiliar dark room.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Unbind the Mind

For any of my fellow GBC members who have ever used a hot plate in a science fair (mine was to create a tornado), take a few minutes to read Alison Flood's piece in The Guardian, "Artist creates book that turns black as it is read."  Leproust's book to black in four hours is highlighted in the Unbinding the Book Exhibition as part of London's Art Book Fair.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Saturday Night's All Right

Reading, knitting, biking, baking.

Hope your Saturday has been filled with things you love.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

The White City

Mid day swim
Pizza whim
Saul Bellows in my bag

Chicago city
Trying to be witty
A dress deal snag

Waiting on a train
Running in the rain
Wow, it is good to be back.

A little glass of wine
All is really fine
And always more than I lack.



Tuesday, September 2, 2014

I Wander

"Not all those who wander are lost.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

BNA
August 2014
I've been wandering more and writing a bit less.  
Reading more and talking a bit less. 
Walking with music more and driving a bit less.
Savoring more and questioning a bit less.