Month: January 2019

Jarring

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You know how some people spend a lot of time on playlists (the same type of people who used to spend a lot of time on mix tapes)? They want to get the right songs in the right order because it matters.  There’s a scene in High Fidelity (book and movie) where the main character talks about that.

I have never been that kind of person, and it shows most blatantly in my book choices.  Occasionally I’ll pick a book because I’m looking for a certain kind of experience (one year, I timed it so that I would be reading a book by Robin McKinley on my birthday because I knew I would love it and I wanted to be reading something I’d love on my birthday), but that choice (or any other book choice I make) almost never has anything to do with the book I just finished.  It leads to some pretty abrupt transitions.

Case in point: today, I finished a light and lovely book about two girls making their debuts in society in Regency England.  A few hours later, I started book 5 in a series about an alien invasion and the soldiers who have to fight them in space.

Keeps me on my toes.

One Way by S.J. Morden

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Started: 12/30/18
Finished: 1/3/19

The Mars base has to be built, but it’s risky and dangerous, so let’s get convicts with life sentences to do it.  Pretty good, but the main character has this lack of curiosity (that gets lampshaded in the story) that means I was frustrated when he wouldn’t take the next logical step.  A built-in character flaw is one thing, but when that character is the reader stand-in, it’s hard not to see it as a clumsy attempt to keep the reader from figuring out what’s going on.  There’s a sequel.  I might read it.

Hello 2019

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Did we make it to midnight last night?  Yes, but barely.  Jack was in his crib by 10:30, and we were struggling to make it 90 more minutes.  Our plan for the evening was TV, Chinese food, and champagne.  TV and Chinese food happened, but if we had added champagne, we would have been unconscious.  Now we’ve got two bottles of champagne in the fridge, which is a nice problem to have.

Our New Year’s Day started with a happy baby (he woke up quiet, no screaming – yay!) who had a massive diaper blowout overnight (ew), then a walk to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, then a trip to the grocery store, and then a long walk just because the sun was out.  Now we’re in, warming back up, and I’m waiting for Jack to wake up.  He fell asleep in the cart at the grocery store and has been asleep ever since.  Too much partying last night.