Links I Loved This Week – 01/21/2018

Hi everyone! I think I’m actually back from my blogging break for good after two weeks of posting just once per week. I have several post drafts lined up so I think I’m all set to get back to a normal schedule.

My break in Italy was very relaxing and restorative. I ate pizza al trancio to my heart’s content and read for hours on a daily basis. The cold weather helped to ‘motivate’ me to stay indoors and do absolutely nothing. I actually read 8 books in about 2 weeks and started several more. I was a reading machine!

The return to real life was a bit rough because I got the flu the week I got back, but I’m getting into a new rhythm for 2018 and am looking forward to everything I plan to accomplish both blogging-wise and not this year.

Without further ado, here are this week’s links…

• Top Ten Tuesday has moved from being hosted by The Broke And Bookish to now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic was an interesting one – Top Ten Bookish Goals/Resolutions For 2018 (full list of links here). I loved reading through the list of bookish goals put together by some of my favorite book blogs, including: Death By Tsundoku, Dwell In Possibility, Novel Visits, What Cathy Read Next, Boundless Bookaholic, A Cocoon Of Books and Lindsey Reads.

• I found this review of Louise Erdrich’s new novel – Future Home Of The Living God – on The Book Stop very interesting. Deb had similarly ambivalent views on the book as I did. At least I like it better than The Round House, which I DNFed.

• On the topic of DNFing (Did Not Finish-ing) books, Jackie at Death By Tsundoku included a post on the motivations behind DNFing and the swirl of guilt and self-loathing that accompany it (I kid, but only kind of).

• Gone With The Wind is one of my favorite novels of all time (and yes I realize there are very controversial and problematic parts in it). I was jealous of the fact that Theresa from The Calico Books was able to go into reading it without knowing anything about the story, because I definitely watched the movie first. I envy that pure experience. Here is her review.

• This post on Paper Fury about the different kind of TBR piles book lovers and book bloggers accumulate made me chuckle. Definitely guilty as charged, particularly when it comes to review copies, books I bought and never got to, and books considered required reading. Though they are all sitting in two mixed up piles.

• I’ve read my fair share of North Korean memoirs, so when I saw that a new one (A River In Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa) was included in the revamped Amazon First Reads free ebooks for December, I was skeptical but also interested. I ended up selecting it and luckily saw this very positive review of the memoir on What’s Nonfiction? for it. Definitely trust her opinion on anything nonfiction, so this one will be included in my next update to my North Korea book list.

• I’ve pretty much limited my book podcast listening just to What Should I Read Next? from Modern Mrs. Darcy, but this updated list of 9 active podcasts about books on Bustle made me want to start exploring new bookish podcast options again.

• Speaking of Modern Mrs. Darcy, she posted this list of 16 Books To Cozy Up With This Winter that I thought had a great mix of snowy and non-snowy books that I either have read and loved or have been planning to read.

• Here are the individual book reviews I read this week that inspired me to consider reading the books they covered:
  • Left Neglected by Lisa Genova on Reading Ladies Book Club (contemporary fiction)
  • The Girl On The Velvet Swing by Simon Baatz on Jessicamap Reviews (true crime)
  • Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore on Books And Wine Gums (historical fiction)
  • The Good Doctor Of Warsaw by Elisabeth Gifford on What Cathy Read Next (historical fiction)
  • Read Player One by Ernest Cline on Curiouser And Curiouser (Sci Fi)
  • The Tattoist Of Auschwitz by Heather Morris on The Last Word Book Review (historical fiction)
  • Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar on BookBum (nonfiction)

• I’ve had a slow return to blogging after my holiday break, but I did post a Sign-Up for the Les Miserable Chapter-A-Day Read-Along Challenge hosted by Nick at One Catholic Life. I really like the idea of ending each day reading just one chapter of this beautifully written and inspiring book, letting the meaning of it soak in. I am reading the unabridged version in the original French (out loud to my appreciative rabbit) to keep up my proficiency.

• So my plan for this week is to hopefully post regularly! Really reaching for the stars here 😉 I have 3 posts 90% drafted so this should be achievable. On Monday I’ll post my review (and Blog Tour submission) for Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict. It was a quality historical fiction read for lovers of the genre and newbies as well. I also have a review post for Evicted by Matthew Desmond drafted and my October 2017 Book Of The Month reviews. Wish me luck!

• Like everyone else setting goals for the new year, I’m hoping to really focus on my health (and weight) in 2018. I don’t have a huge amount to lose but all my efforts failed last year due to my lack of consistency, and there’s no reason that I can’t succeed this year. I bought a Fitbit Alta (and this metal band to go with it because the silicone band gave me a rash within a few months with my last one), and have been walking for 30 to 40 minutes first thing every morning and hitting my 10,000 steps goal for the day regularly. Pray for me that I keep up with it 🙂

• The other thing I want to focus on in 2018 is decluttering. My space is far from cluttered – I’m highly organized and not a pack rat – but I really want to streamline and simplify what I own to work towards being truly minimalist. I got lost in going through the weekly posts on this blog last week because there’s something both numbing and soothing in seeing someone else’s decluttering process. I’m going to take a similar approach and I’ve designated areas of my apartment to declutter every week in a spreadsheet. Last week was my nightstand and the results are making me feel very zen when I look at them, so onwards!

• If you haven’t read this interview with Ellen Pompeo from Grey’s Anatomy it’s a truly insightful read – not just for people working in the entertainment industry like me but for anyone thinking about how to get their worth recognized in their life.

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Any articles or blog posts from the book world that you really enjoyed this week? Share them in the comments!

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