I had so many plans for reading in August, I thought that since I don't like summer and didn't plan on being outdoors much, surely I could get a ton of reading done. Surely!
But like everything else in life, when you make plans, sometimes those plans go down the drain. So did my reading for this month. That's ok though.
I did manage to finish a book this week, which was the Willa Cather O Pioneers and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the writing style, I enjoyed the fact that it was a shorter book and I enjoyed the genre.
I have now decided to go back to the book I was reading before Jane Austen July and Prairie August. The Sara Donati Into the Wilderness, and today was the perfect day for it.
We've had the most glorious past 3 days. Cooler temperatures, a chill in the morning air, rain and even the first scent of fall in the air. It caught me by surprise and I even mentioned it to Curt, to which he replied that he too had noticed it. You know what I'm referring to? It's hard to put into words, if you know, you know.
It's grey, cloudy, cooler and since I didn't have to workout because it's my rest day, I decided that today I would take it slow, go through my bookshelves, pick some books to put into my reading basket, sit by the window, drink coffee with a little bit of hazelnut Stevia creamer and read.
There's a calmness that comes from a day such as this. The usual homemaking chores are still there, still waiting and we never take a break from those, but I focus more on the slow moments where I can grab a book, or flip through a magazine or cookbook and allow my mind to relax.
I love my bookshelves, not just for the books that sit upon it, favorites, must reads, new purchases anxiously awaiting their turn to be read, and knick knacks. Little bits of me and the things I love, a candle here, a plant there, twinkly lights. The whole atmosphere draws me in.
I dropped a few into my reading basket which sits next to my big chair by the window. Two Phillipa Gregory books that I have been wanting to read for a while. A book about Roanoke but with Queen Elizabeth thrown into the mix to make it even more alluring, a a book about history with bits of fiction intermingled that will take us through the relationship or friendship rather, of Alexander Hamilton and Peggy Schuyler.
I am still a person that tends to choose a book by it's cover, what can I say, give me a pretty cover and I want it. But over the years I've learned to read the summary too and see if I will actually enjoy it, but for the most part, all the books on my shelves have beautiful covers that catch my eye.
And along with beautiful covers, I am a sucker for a cute bookmark, such as this one below. I know it sounds weird, but I think it makes reading that much more enjoyable.
I have sat by the window, I have read to the sound of birds and my chickens playing in the back yard. I have drank coffee and snuggled in a cozy blanket even though it's not blanket weather yet, and I have watched dark clouds roll in with the promise of rain tonight.
I've loved this bookish kind of day and I will have another very soon. But for now, I am going to close the book, set it down, take my empty cup of coffee and get started with dinner preparation. There will no doubt, be more reading before bed as I'm quite enjoying the story in the Sara Donati book.
