Nourish/Challenge: Week 12.

Spring began this past week. I didn't do well with my winter focus on children's books. I did finished Felicity's Story Collection, which made me feel old and young at once. My spring focus is young adult lit, and I hope to do better with that. Bruce and I have been reading a YA novel, The Memory of Light.

I had a scary night. I was putting Oliver to bed, and he had just fallen asleep. The door was locked (he tries to escape from us at bedtime sometimes), and it began to rattle as if someone were testing the door and getting frustrated. I texted Josh to ask if he had gotten home. He was ready to call the police. He called Bruce, who came right to me. He stayed with me until Josh got home. I felt so lucky to have such a close friend so nearby and so quick to come when I needed him.

I wondered if I could be hallucinating. I said that the people upstairs were being loud. Josh said that they sometimes make our doors rattle, so we concluded that that's what happened. The experience challenged me, and I was able to keep calm for the most part. Every time something scary happens to me, I get stronger and hopefully not more cynical.

I needed the nourishment of some good childhood memories, so I found the soundtrack to the original Charlotte's Web on Spotify. Lyrics came right back to me, and I felt light.

I'm still trying to watch a movie each week. I've been enjoying the soft sci-fi show Maniac with Jonah Hill and Emma Stone. Bruce took me to see Us. Every scary movie challenges me. I've gotten better at handling them without going numb. Before Bruce, movie theaters weren't really a part of my life, but he's changed that.

Somehow, I failed to write about Dear Evan Hansen last week. But it will get its own post. The show gave me a kind of surge of energy I've not felt in a very long time.

Nourish/Challenge: Week 8.

This past week, Bruce and I finished reading Bird Box. It was so good. The book and the movie complement each other well. The book was a bit scarier. Now, our tiny book club is ready for book #20!

I have a goal to watch at least one movie a week. I think it enriches my mind, gives me something new to ponder. This past week, I saw two movies! I watched Loving Annabelle on my own; I didn't much care for it. Bruce took me to see Glass at the theater. I really liked it! It was exciting. James McAvoy impressed me, and the movie had some sweet moments. I've read a couple of books about DID, and I may look for more. I found it fascinating (though tragic) that a trauma could cause one to create a new person to handle it. That's oversimplifying it, of course.

I've been reading a DK Eyewitness book on ancient Egypt bit by bit. Wow. Anything that makes me say "Wow" (in a positive way), is probably good for me, expanding my mind.

I've also been reading American Girls Felicity's Story Collection. I want to finish it before spring begins (and the children's literature focus time ends). I'm not doing well with my seasonal themes. I have less than a month left. But I'm challenging myself to make progress.

I went to Target twice. I always feel inspired there, even if I'm just picking something up for the boys. I found three new kinds of vegetarian soup for Josh. I feel good when I do something thoughtful. It makes me feel like a worthwhile person. So I've been challenging myself to be kind in new ways.

Josh made a fire one morning, and I fell asleep beside it. I love memories like that.

My main challenge for this coming week: read more!

Nourish/Challenge: Week 1.

I've finished my first week of Nourish/Challenge. I didn't finish any books this week, but I did read one-per-day-plus extra-short stories--Hint Fiction. I've nearly finished Mary Oliver's Winter Hours. I'm also almost done with the tiny-book-club pick Acceptance--the last book in a trilogy!

Right now, I feel the nourishment of reading more than the challenge, but staying on track is still difficult. I challenge myself to read for one hour without stopping. I'm usually so distracted even when I'm alone. I also need to push myself with my children's literature focus. I have chosen several books, and I need to get going.

I picked up 'Salem's Lot again after a long absence. I don't remember much, but the storytelling still draws me in. Right now, it's a treat.

I've been responding to many prompts in my journal--just ideas I write on the top of a blank page to address later. Many of my responses become blog posts. I think that challenging myself with some focused prompts is good for me. Some of the prompts come from questions or thoughts from other writers, so I feel they are challenging me.

I didn't make it halfway through my To-Do Wish List, but I worked hard at it. It's time to make a new list, a new challenge. I also need to watch for or create nourishment--scraps of time with Josh, talking and good TV with Bruce, phone calls with Mom, enjoying good magazines before Oliver shreds them, and reading something sweet.

A Bold Reader: Week 45.

This past week, I finished Twenty Days & Nights, poems by c. b. eady. I like the impact of brief poems.

I looked at magazines--something I always mean to do but don't find time for. But the good thing (other than the soothing effect) about Oliver loving to shred paper is that it pushes me to give him my magazines...and I want to read or peruse them first. I've mainly looked at Glamour issues that Bruce brought me from the college library. I'll soon work on the two-shelves-worth of my own magazines. I love the ethereal advertisements and the bright colors, the crinkling streamers of ideas.

I began reading Winter Hours, which is actually a book of essays and prose poems in addition to regular poems. Mary Oliver said in the introduction that the contents are autobiographical, so I'm counting the book as poetry and as a memoir for my fall focus.

I've been thinking about starting a collection of The Phantom of the Opera books in various editions and with different cover art. When Josh and I went to 2nd and Charles, I saw three different covers. I'd want to display them somehow.

I've now read 55 books this year. My goal was 50, so I feel pretty bold. I like surprising myself that way.

A Bold Reader: Week 38.

This past week, I finished Best Small Fictions 2015. Now, I only have BSF16. I hope '18 comes soon. I love flash fiction more and more.

This summer, I read 104 short (and short-short) stories. I feel I honored my short story summer focus.

Fall began: the focus is diaries and memoirs, which I may open up to creative non-fiction. I began reading Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham. I binge watched her series, Girls, which is inappropriate for all audiences. This is going to be quite a read!

I've continued reading Boy on the Bridge with Bruce.

I got to 48 books for the year last week. What will I read in the remaining months? Anything! Maybe fairy tales. Maybe more about ancient Egypt. Maybe horror.Maybe Brontes and Austen. Maybe books that have long been on my guilt list.

In any case, I will keep reading. Who knows how far I'll go?

A Bold Reader: Week 35.

This past week, I finished Kay's book Black Shawl. Reading her work has been a way to grieve--something I don't do very well. I began her final book, Descent. I may also read some of the anthologies that feature her work. I miss knowing she's in the world.

Bruce and I will (will!) finish The Midnight Disease this coming week. I hope I'm learning and retaining some of it.

One day this past week, I began Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes. It looked like a nice, light read. This first story is more like a novella, but I kept still and read 70 pages at once! I struggle with focus, so this was exciting.

I've read 90 short stories (many of them quite short I'll admit) this summer--almost one for every summer day. I'm going to push for 100!

A Bold Reader: Week 25.

I've continued to struggle with reading. But I did finish Kelle Groom's Luckily poems. I've read all 3 of Kelle Groom's books of poetry! I plan to read her memoir in the fall.

One of my 40 before 40 goals is to read a total of 50 books of poetry during my 30s. Just this year so far, I've read 16!

I'm starting to feel the flow of contemporary poetry again as I did when I was working on my MFA: 21-23, gobbling my way through the library's poetry section. I was learning a new language that I had only encountered before; I tried to create immersion. I'm surprised that reading all this poetry has not pushed me to write more of my own poetry. Not yet anyway.

I've been wanting to read more Shirley Jackson. Josh got The Haunting of Hill House from his school library. It's a huge yellow book covered with red tape. That library only had the book in large print! It's like reading my first "chapter book." But it's certainly grabbing my attention though nothing has really happened yet.

Bruce and I are making slow but steady progress through Le Guin's story collection.

It's officially summer! Short story time. I'd like to read a story each day of summer--90+ stories! I need to find some good flash fiction!

Other Reading Seasons.

Currently, I have my literary seasons lined up like this:

Spring: Young adult literature
Summer: Short stories
Fall: Diaries and memoirs
Winter: Children's literature

I'll probably stay with this plan, but I have other ideas for future seasons or months:

• Pulitzer Prize winners
• horror
• general fantasy--fairies, mermaids
• fairy tales (of any culture)
• books on writing
• books about artists
• books about musical theatre
• books about bipolar disorder
• books about autism
• science fiction
• movie tie-ins
• Newberry Award winners
• biographies
• humor
• Christian lifestyle
• food books

I can plan each year as I wish. I'm still trying to work in as many of these as I can. I don't want to lose sight of any of these genres. 

A Bold Reader: Week 22.

I finished one book this week, Mistress of All Evil, part of the Disney Villains series. I've read all four books. Apparently, a fifth book comes out in August. I liked the books well enough.

I've reached five YA books for the spring, But I want to try to finish at least one more in the next couple of weeks.

Summer will arrive soon, and I'll be wading happily through short stories. Short stories request a different kind of reading...maybe like something between a novel and a poem. I put the reading seasons in place mainly to make sure I could focus on that different kind of reading and practice it.

Bruce and I are still reading The Unreal and the Real. We're not even half way through yet! Our reviews have been mixed. I may not devote more of my reading life to Ursula K. Le Guin after I finish this book.

I've been reading the same poets, poem by poem, in the bathtub. I like the ritual. They are all female poets whose work  I've read before. Growing a relationship with those poems seems bold. It's a language I've started to learn, first to read and then, I hope, to speak.

A Bold Reader: Week 19.

I finished one book this past week: Rita Dove's Selected Poems. I've been working on that one for a long time, and I enjoyed it. That puts me at 29/50 books for the year! I'm going to reach my annual reading goal.

I replaced Dove with Susan Ludvigson's new and selected poems, Sweet Confluence. I loved Everything Winged Must Be Dreaming, so I expect to love this selection.

Bruce and I started Ursula K. Le Guin's The Unreal and the Real selected stories. We didn't love the first four stories, but I'm liking the 5th so far. The book is huge. But we can handle it. I love our tiny book club.

I'll finish the Disney Villains series this week. That will give me a total of 5 spring young adult books, but I hope to read more. But I'm also looking forward to my short story summer.

A Bold Reader: Week 18.

I finished just one book this week: Poor Unfortunate Soul. It's the third book in a four-book series about Disney villains. I like the first book, ,and I really liked the second, but I didn't like this one much. Still, I've now reader four YA books this spring! I plan on reading five as a minimum for my focus, but I hope for more. Summer will sneak up quickly!

I've been trying to keep up with my Bible and my poetry. I think that requires a bold reader!

This coming week, I hope to

• Catch up and keep up with everything
• Spend some time on books that have been waiting for my attention (such as The Broken Way and Uniquely Human)
• Finish Mistress of All Evil, the final Villains book
• Finish a book of poetry
• Finish Block's Thorn Necklace

Yes, that's rather ambitious, rather bold. But I'm going to try for it!

A Bold Reader: Week 13.

Alas, I didn't finish any books this past week. But I continued reading poetry, and I've caught up on reading my Bible. I need to restore my confidence as a reader. It has been building up slowly. The Bible is not an easy read, and neither is poetry. But I've not given up.

Bruce and I liked the first two stories in George Saunders's The Tenth of December. Short stories are little adventures.

I got some advice on Stephen King horror, so I've begun 'Salem's Lot. I don't know what to expect.

And for my young adult focus for spring, I've begun Stealing Snow, a retelling of "The Snow Queen." I like it so far. Oliver tore a lot of the pages (he's obsessed with tearing paper right now). I taped what I could, and I hope I'll be able to figure out the rest.

So this coming week, I want to keep up with my Bible day by day instead of in marathons. I want to start another YA book and finish Stealing Snow. I'd also like to finish Thrall, poems by Natasha Tretheway. I can do it.

A Bold Reader: Week 12.

This has been a wild reading week! I finished four books! I'd been reading them for weeks, bit by bit; I just happened to finish them all at once! I finished Flowers in the Attic (absorbing, sad, and strange. I liked it, but I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series), The Complete Book of Flower Fairies (I should have read all the poems years--decades!--ago. This book wrapped up my children's lit focus for the winter), New Southern Poets (I wrote down names of poets to pursue), and Stephen King's Sleeping Beauties (my pick for the tiny book club that is Bruce and me. I didn't love it).

I was terribly behind on my Bible reading, so I decided not to read anything else (except on the treadmill) until I caught up. Now, I've caught up!

Next, Bruce and I are going to read George Saunders's short story collection The Tenth of December. I look forward to reading some short fiction. I'm sure I'll find plenty for summer. I also plan to catch up on my other books and perhaps to read some actual Stephen King horror. Spring has begun, so I also need to get going on some young adult lit! I'm excited about variety.

A Bold Reader: Week 11.

I finished two books this past week: Underwater City, poems by Kelle Groom; and Gwendy's Cutton Box, a novella by Stephen King and a friend. I may seek out more books of Groom's poetry. And I'm finally reading Stephen King! I read On Writing many years ago, and now, Bruce and I are almost done reading Sleeping Beauties. 

I began reading Flowers in the Attic. I watched the movie because Emma Donahue (Room) mentioned the book in an interview. The book is good so far, and if I end up loving it, I can read 3 or 4 more books in the series.

I'm' back to reading Thrall, poems by Natasha Tretheway. I lost track of it at some point, so I've started over. I may finish New Southern Poets this coming week!

I'm ahead on my reading goal for the year! Amazing! It makes me happy.

My children's lit focus hasn't gone as well as I'd hoped. I read Tiger Eyes, Ozma of Oz, and Rollerskates. I plan to finish The Complete Book of Flower Fairies by Tuesday, when winter ends. Then, I'll switch to young adult lit for the spring.

A Bold Reader: Week 9.

This past week, I finished another book on capsule wardrobes, this one by Sophie Claire, on my phone. The book was a little better than the other I read on capsule wardrobes. I haven't read many ebooks, but I love the ease of reading on my phone while I'm on the treadmill, in a waiting room, or just stuck somewhere without a book.

GoodReads sends me notices when a book on my to-read list is on sale. I bought two ebooks for $1.99 each.

I caught up on my Daily Bible! Now, I just need to keep up.

I'm still reading aloud three books of poetry. Josh is a fan of Rita Dove too, so he may want to read her Selected Poems when I finish it. I like it when we have read the same books.

I need to do better with my children's literature focus. I only have a few weeks left. Of course, I can continue with those books as I start young adult literature in the spring. Maybe this week I can finish the American Girl Felicity story collection. I don't want to save any books for another season; I can always find more.

Reading is like moving slowly through cool water with the sun shimmering on it.

I'm so thankful for books.

Book Seasons.

Some years ago, I was trying to write short stories and realized that I had actually read very few volumes of stories. I love those I'd read at Queens, but I knew I was far from prepared to write my own.

So I decided to have a "short story summer." I read lots of different books, but I focused on short stories. I bought them used and checked them out from the library's new releases. Josh bought me a volume for my birthday and wrote in it: "For your short story summer."

So now, I realize that I've not read many short stories lately. So I want to bring back the short story summer but also add

• The Children's Lit Winter
• The Young Adult Spring
• The Memoir/Diary Fall

I won't limit myself to these, but they will be my focus. I should be reading novels and poetry all the time.

The Children's Lit focus starts now!