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Greetings everyone,

I'm getting this out on time this week. We're traveling for Easter weekend to my 95YO mother so I wanted to get it out before we leave. It is definitely feeling more like spring here. Allergies are starting to notice too!

I don't actually have any finishes this week. I'm still listening to These Trees Tell a Story: The Art of Reading Landscapes. Most of it takes place in the Berkshires area of MA. I get the impression that the physical book as a bunch of photos in it. I might look that up. But I'm also motivated to try to find some of these places and maybe visit sometime.

I'm still reading Give Her Credit: The Untold Account of a Women's Bank That Empowered a Generation. While the topic was interesting, the writing is not great. It reads more like a HS Social Studies project than a book. It jumps all over the place from one thought to another. I have entered "skim faster" mode with this one. I do want to finish and see what happens, but the prose is distracted.

I have planned listening to When the Moon Hits Your Eye for our car ride there and back. This is the new John Scalzi book and I am really looking forward to it for the drive.

QOTW:
Do you prefer reading physical books, ebooks or audiobooks?

I often read all three, often having one of each medium going at the same time. I really like audiobooks because I can read while doing other things. I also love audiobooks because I can run the speed at varying levels and still get the whole story. If I try to skim or read faster I usually miss things. But listening faster I don't.

Happy Thursday!

Finished:
To Steal from Thieves by M.K. Lobb - 3 stars - not for a prompt. I didn't enjoy this one as much as I'd hoped. I spent a lot of the book bored and waiting for something interesting. The last third of the book does get better, which I why I gave 3 stars rather than 2, but overall, this was pretty 'meh'.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi - 4 stars - for a book where nature is the antagonist. I did not expect to cry at the book about the Moon turning to cheese, but here we are. At times silly and at times poignant, despite the goofy premise, this book is more about human nature and what we would do in the face of potential disaster.

Currently reading:
Last Chance to Save the World by Beth Revis - not currently for a prompt, although I'm considering switching this into my highly anticipated 2025 prompt and finding another prompt for the book I currently have there.

Upcoming/Planned:
Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff - not currently for a prompt.

QOTW:
I used to be a staunch physical-only reader, but convenience has turned me into mainly an ebook reader. It's just so much easier not to have to lug a book around, especially a hardcover, when I can just read anything in my library from anywhere on my phone or ereader.

I like audiobooks as well, but I tend to get distracted if I try to listen to them while doing anything else, so I don't listen to them that much. Sometimes when I work out, I listen to audiobooks or audio drama podcasts.

I dyed eggs and ate jelly beans, what more could one want?

The Discovery of Pasta: A History in Ten Dishes - Right, so this is actually A History of Ten (Italian) Pasta Dishes. The author's thesis is basically that arguments about the true and correct way to make "classic" Italian dishes are silly because the recipes have evolved over time and are in many cases surprisingly modern. It's well done as far as that goes, but it wasn't really about the pasta itself, and I'm not super knowledgeable about most of the dishes (hard to care whether it "should" be pancetta or guanciale if you don't like pork).

The Enchanted April - Another 1920s book, read in April! I didn't love this one. The prose was at its best when describing flowers but otherwise not particularly special, and the plot is nonexistent. It should be character-driven but I didn't find the characters all that compelling somehow. The moral of the story is that all your problems will be solved by spending a week in Italy.

QOTW: I slightly prefer physical books over e-books but will happily read either. I get distracted from audiobooks if I try to listen to them while I could be doing anything else, whether or not I intended to be doing it, so they are for extremely limited circumstances: car trips (if I am not driving; short stories are best) and bedtime stories if I am having trouble sleeping (episodic children's books are good; the Winnie-the-Pooh books are ideal).