We are fully in the holiday season, and I’m not reading as much as I would like. But probably more than I should.
This has been the busiest week of my life. We spent Thanksgiving in North Carolina visiting family. When we came back on Sunday, our six hour trip turned into an eight hour trip. So it was rush rush rush to get my daughter dinner and to bed before we all crashed. Normally, I’d have a day or two built in to relax before I got right back into things. Not this time.
Monday was the kick off of the Winter Hike Series in Columbus. I decided this was a priority this year to help my daughter interact more with the outside world and to have more practice following directions. But man, I had regrets on Monday about that as we drove there. Still, it was perfect. My daughter loved walking through the Christmas lights and singing songs.
Then Tuesday and Wednesday was two different holiday parties at two different libraries. And ballet was Thursday. Of course, the preschool holiday concert is tonight, which is followed by Breakfast with Santa and two other holiday events tomorrow. Oh and did I mention that I’m in the middle of trying to finish a dress so my daughter has something to wear for her concert?
Ugh. The good news is that we’re almost through this week and next week is looking pretty empty. Let’s just hope I survive long enough to get there.
And with that, let’s check out what I have been reading this week.
Reading Social Media News
When no one believes what you say about yourself anymore, you have to show the proof. I love what Gini Dietrich has put together on corroboration loops and how it can help you get people to buy into what you’re doing.
Google is looking at ways to give more clicks to websites again. The latest is hover links in AI Overviews. Will it work? Who knows? But it’s even more reason to make sure you are answering the questions people are asking in AI. It just might get you some more clicks.
Reading Books, Books and More Books
Past
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney was a book that I wasn’t expecting much from. It kept falling down the line of books I was reading, and I decided that was a good sign I wasn’t meant to read it. I had even considered just taking it back to the library, so someone else could read it. But nope. It stayed on my desk staring at me. I think it was just waiting for the right time to pounce on me.
Boy was it the perfect timing for this book. It has an unreliable author and confusing elements, which made the ride that much more thrilling. And the last few pages were just delicious. This is just a great book for when you don’t want to be taxed heavily but you also want a healthy dose of not knowing what’s going on. You know, like during the holiday season when you just want to curl up with something that doesn’t take. It only gives. Score: A-
I thought I’d learn something from Like Family by Erin O White, because of its roots in the LGBTQ community. But instead, I felt like I was just questioning why this book was written. It just wasn’t much of a story and it had even less resolution.
This is the kind of book that makes me feel like I need to get my book published when books like this are out there. But that’s a whole other thing. The male characters were overall flat. The female characters were meh, despite the fact that the main characters seemed absolutely obsessed with two of those female characters. The children seemed interchangeable to me. And I just never felt any desire to get to know more about the mysterious non-binary character that seemed to float through their lives. For a book that seemed to be a character study, none of the characters were worth studying. Score: C
Present
Darkenbloom by Eva Menasse is another book that has just been sitting on my desk forever. I’m sure the library will yell about this soon. I’ve started it and it feels very much like it could be a slog. I’m hoping that I’m wrong and just adjusting from reading a much easier book. The only way to find out is to keep going through. Maybe it’ll be a huge surprise like Beautiful Ugly was. *fingers crossed*
What are you reading? What books are you looking forward to?