{"id":325,"date":"2016-06-13T11:09:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-13T11:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/13\/book-plans\/"},"modified":"2020-10-28T02:48:13","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T02:48:13","slug":"book-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/13\/book-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\"flower\"<\/a><\/div>\n

My daughter is at a friend’s house, my son is doing homework, and my husband is listening to the news. \u00a0I am sitting on the couch planning my reading for the next week or so. \u00a0I don’t usually plan what I am going to read and in what order I will read it but we are going away at the end of the week so that means packing books. \u00a0This is very serious business.<\/p>\n

We are going to Chicago for a week. \u00a0My husband’s family lives in Illinois and we used to live out there. \u00a0We are flying into Chicago, spending a few days with his family and then the second half of the week is fun things with the kids and catching up with some old friends. \u00a0I don’t think I will have much time to read for the second half of the week but the time with my in-laws is usually pretty quiet. \u00a0They don’t have the best health or that much energy which leads to a lot of downtime. \u00a0Books are essential for distraction and for my mental health.<\/p>\n

I am definitely bringing the third book in the Lymond Chronicles. \u00a0I do like to take my time with those though so I want something light and easy to read when I am tired or don’t have much time or have too much chaos in the hotel room around me to concentrate on what I am reading. \u00a0This is where I am not sure what I want. \u00a0I think a reread. \u00a0Maybe Angela Thirkell? \u00a0They are soothing and fun and I have read them multiple times. \u00a0I am thinking Pomfret Towers<\/i> might be a good choice. \u00a0I also want something on my Kindle. \u00a0I prefer reading real books but Kindles are great for when you are stuck in a hotel room with your family, they are all asleep, and you have insomnia. \u00a0Then I bless my Kindle and its lighted cover (I have a very old Kindle) and I wonder how I ever survived without it. \u00a0I don’t usually buy books for it, most of the ones I have are the free books that are out of copyright. \u00a0I just can’t convince myself to spend money on ebooks. \u00a0If I am going to buy a book I want the physical copy. \u00a0I will probably start either The Song of the Lark<\/i> by Willa Cather or Armadale<\/i> by Wilkie Collins. \u00a0Both are on my Classics Club<\/a> list.<\/p>\n

I am hoping to find a few used bookstores while I am in Illinois. \u00a0I haven’t lived there in years so I am sure many of the ones I remember are gone but I will see what I can find.<\/p>\n

\"books\"<\/a><\/div>\n

I bought a few books at a thrift store the other day. \u00a0I went in looking for a summer dress but came out with a stack of books. \u00a0That is typical of my life. \u00a0In my defense, the dresses were all ugly and the books were unusually good, very cheap too. \u00a0I got Travels With Charley<\/i>\u00a0by John Steinbeck. \u00a0I read a review of a Steinbeck novel over at areaderofliterature<\/a>. \u00a0I have never read anything by him so thought maybe it was time to start. \u00a0I also got The Angry Wife<\/i> by Pearl Buck. \u00a0She is another author I have never read though I do have one of her novels on my shelf already. \u00a0This caught my eye because I thought her novels were all set in China and this is set in the US right after the Civil War. Besides, that cover! \u00a0It does not fit the mental image I have of her novels at all which just makes it more intriguing. \u00a0Continuing the theme of authors I have never read we have The Golden Apples<\/i> by Eudora Welty. \u00a0I don’t know anything about it, I just liked the dust jacket and was familiar with the name. \u00a0Next is Forever Old, Forever New<\/i> by Emily Kimbrough. \u00a0I love, love, love Our Hearts Were Young and Gay which she wrote with Cornelia Otis Skinner. \u00a0I know her other books are a bit of a mixed bag but I am hoping it is half as good. \u00a0Lastly, I bought The Portuguese Escape<\/i> by Ann Bridge. \u00a0I have read a few other novels in this series. \u00a0Julia Probyn is a beautiful journalist who always seems to find the story and unmask the spy–a 1950s spy series, a bit dated but fun. \u00a0I might take that last purchase with me.<\/p>\n

The kids have about five million things they want to do in Chicago. \u00a0We haven’t been there in four or five years. \u00a0We usually meet the in-laws somewhere halfway in between Illinois and Connecticut but they aren’t up to the drive this year. \u00a0Even halfway is ten hours or so. \u00a0The kids have zoos and aquariums and science museums and restaurants and stores and tons more things on their list. \u00a0The second half of the trip is mainly for them since we had London in the spring. \u00a0I think they are going to wear us out.<\/p>\n

Going back to Illinois is bittersweet. \u00a0We used to live there, my husband grew up there, so it is home in a way. \u00a0But at the same time, it is so different after so many years have gone by. \u00a0It feels familiar and strange all at the same time. \u00a0I wonder sometimes what our lives would be like if we had never moved east.<\/p>\n

For one week we will pretend we still live there. \u00a0My husband’s speech will slow down and his mid-west drawl will reappear. \u00a0We will eat Chicago hot dogs, but without the ketchup, because ketchup on a hot dog is a sin in Chicago. \u00a0We will cheer for the Cubs because that is what you do even though they never win. \u00a0We will call every slight incline a hill. \u00a0I will feel exposed in the flat landscape and my husband will breathe a sigh of relief because he isn’t hemmed in by trees anymore. \u00a0We will merge our past with our present.<\/p>\n

It will be interesting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My daughter is at a friend’s house, my son is doing homework, and my husband is listening to the news. \u00a0I am sitting on the couch planning my reading for the next week or so. \u00a0I don’t usually plan what I am going to read and in what order I will read it but we are going away at the end of the week so that means packing books. \u00a0This is very serious business. We are going to Chicago for a week. \u00a0My husband’s family lives in Illinois and we used to live out there. \u00a0We are flying into Chicago, spending a few days with his family and then the second half of the week is fun things with the kids and catching up with some old friends. \u00a0I don’t think I will have much time to read for the second half of the week but the time with my in-laws is usually pretty quiet. \u00a0They don’t have the best health or that much energy which leads to a lot of downtime. \u00a0Books are essential for distraction and for my mental health. I am definitely bringing the third book in the Lymond Chronicles. \u00a0I do like to take my time with those though so I want something light and easy to read when I am tired or don’t have much time or have too much chaos in the hotel room around me to concentrate on what I am reading. \u00a0This is where I am not sure what I want. \u00a0I think a reread. \u00a0Maybe Angela Thirkell? \u00a0They are soothing and fun and I have read them multiple times. \u00a0I am thinking Pomfret Towers might be a good choice. \u00a0I also want something on my Kindle. \u00a0I prefer reading real books but Kindles are great for when you are stuck in a hotel room with your family, they are all asleep, and you have insomnia. \u00a0Then I bless my Kindle and its lighted cover (I have a very old Kindle) and I wonder how I ever survived without it. \u00a0I don’t usually buy books for it, most of the ones I have are the free books that are out of copyright. \u00a0I just can’t convince myself to spend money on ebooks. \u00a0If I am going to buy a book I want the physical copy. \u00a0I will probably start either The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather or Armadale by Wilkie Collins. \u00a0Both are on my Classics Club list. I am hoping to find a few used bookstores while I am in Illinois. \u00a0I haven’t lived there in years so I am sure many of the ones I remember are gone but I will see what I can find. I bought a few books at a thrift store the other day. \u00a0I went in looking for a summer dress but came out with a stack of books. \u00a0That is typical of my life. \u00a0In my defense, the dresses were all ugly and the books were unusually good, very cheap too. \u00a0I got Travels With Charley\u00a0by John Steinbeck. \u00a0I read a review of a Steinbeck novel over at areaderofliterature. \u00a0I have never read anything by him so thought maybe it was time to start. \u00a0I also got The Angry Wife by Pearl Buck. \u00a0She is another author I have never read though I do have one of her novels on my shelf already. \u00a0This caught my eye because I thought her novels were all set in China and this is set in the US right after the Civil War. Besides, that cover! \u00a0It does not fit the mental image I have of her novels at all which just makes it more intriguing. \u00a0Continuing the theme of authors I have never read we have The Golden Apples by Eudora Welty. \u00a0I don’t know anything about it, I just liked the dust jacket and was familiar with the name. \u00a0Next is Forever Old, Forever New by Emily Kimbrough. \u00a0I love, love, love Our Hearts Were Young and Gay which she wrote with Cornelia Otis Skinner. \u00a0I know her other books are a bit of a mixed bag but I am hoping it is half as good. \u00a0Lastly, I bought The Portuguese Escape by Ann Bridge. \u00a0I have read a few other novels in this series. \u00a0Julia Probyn is a beautiful journalist who always seems to find the story and unmask the spy–a 1950s spy series, a bit dated but fun. \u00a0I might take that last purchase with me. The kids have about five million things they want to do in Chicago. \u00a0We haven’t been there in four or five years. \u00a0We usually meet the in-laws somewhere halfway in between Illinois and Connecticut but they aren’t up to the drive this year. \u00a0Even halfway is ten hours or so. \u00a0The kids have zoos and aquariums and science museums and restaurants and stores and tons more things on their list. \u00a0The second half of the trip is mainly for them since we had London in the spring. \u00a0I think they are going to wear us out. Going back to Illinois is bittersweet. \u00a0We used to live there, my husband grew up there, so it is home in a way. \u00a0But at the same time, it is so different after so many years have gone by. \u00a0It feels familiar and strange all at the same time. \u00a0I wonder sometimes what our lives would be like if we had never moved east. For one week we will pretend we still live there. \u00a0My husband’s speech will slow down and his mid-west drawl will reappear. \u00a0We will eat Chicago hot dogs, but without the ketchup, because ketchup on a hot dog is a sin in Chicago. \u00a0We will cheer for the Cubs because that is what you do even though they never win. \u00a0We will call every slight incline a hill. \u00a0I will feel exposed in the flat landscape and my husband will breathe a sigh of relief because he isn’t hemmed in by trees anymore. \u00a0We will merge our past with our present. It will be interesting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books-i-bought","category-chicago"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2823,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325\/revisions\/2823"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}