"But you didn't even take a shower today" chimed in my darling husband. No, no, I didn't, but these pictures do fairly accurately capture how tired I've been feeling the last few weeks.
Also, I really should have grabbed the lip gloss before we started. Lip gloss makes everything look better, right? I'll try to remember that for October when my outfit changes.
I set aside my more challenging reading when summer officially hit and went on a couple of week bender with these. It was pretty glorious. I mean I had to read through them quickly. They were library books. Well except for the last one. I've been unsuccessfully trying to finish that one since January.
The Guernsy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer
This was my favorite of the bunch. I was telling Chris all about it and he asked about the setting. I replied that it took place in post WWII England to which he responded, "is there any other time period?" I suppose it is my favorite time period--for both fiction reading and television specials. The book is told through a series of letters from the main character (a journalist) to her family and friends and then to members of The Guernsy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society through which she finds out about the Nazi occupation of the Guernsey Island and also finds her own place in the new post-war world. This book was wonderful not only for the story, but also for the history of the island which I'm just going to go ahead and assume is accurate because I'm really good at source checking. So good.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, by Helen Simonson
This book was perfectly fine but as the whole plot revolved around a widower and a widow finding love later in life I just couldn't fully appreciate the story. I mean, if something should happen to me obviously Chris should spend the rest of his life in mourning--reminiscing about how wonderful I was and resting secure in the fact that no one could ever replace me. If the children were grown he could maybe join a religious order of some sort. Or take up one of those hobbies he never got to commit to because of family obligations--like golf. He definitely should not pursue a relationship with the local shopkeeper no matter how exotic she was or how awful our children might turn out to be. I of course would do likewise.
The Weird Sisters, by Eleanor Brown
Three sisters who've lost their ways in various ways return to their childhood home and find themselves again. Growing up the eldest of two sisters I found the relationships between the sisters very relatable--if not quite as dramatic. I loved the tag line on the cover, "See, we love each other. We just don't happen to like each other very much." What sibling couldn't relate to that, at least at one time or another. Also, Shakespeare references abound so that's fun.
The Awakening of Miss Prim, by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera
I started out not enjoying this one very much because the story felt a bit...forced, but I ended up enjoying it and it has stuck with me after I finished it. The main character, Miss Prim, finds herself in a town that I know I'm not the only one who fantasizes about. One where everyone knows everyone and a real community exists to help each other and interfere in each other's lives--but you know, in a good way. It's kind of a manifesto on the joys of living more simply and finding the things that truly bring a full life--which obviously include lots of time outside, time to think, time to read and of course time to drink tea and eat cakes. I actually came away inspired.
The Everlasting Man, by G.K. Chesterton
This is an outline of Christian history with sections comparing different world religions that I really wish I had read when I was younger. It's Chesterton so obviously it's amazing but I picked it up and put it down so many times in the past six months that by the time I finished it I completely lost the thread of the thing. I'll have to try again later and really it's worth reading several times anyway. Luckily this one is not a library book so I can do what I like, although apparently I do better with library deadlines hanging over my head to give me that nudge I need to focus on one book at a time and finish the ones I've already begun in a timely fashion before moving on to other things.
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And going back to what I wore to mass, this maxi is slightly too short. I tried to explain it to the husband but he really didn't understand at all. Also, he didn't manage to get any pictures of the entirety of the thing so I could show you. Do I hem it and make it more of a tea length dress or should I just leave it as is, chalk it up to giantess problems, and just be thankful I never have the problem of my dresses dragging on the ground?
dress // Old Navy on super sale a couple of weeks ago. I'm talking $10 ladies :)
(same dress, different pattern here)
shoulder covering wrap // I'm thinking from an airport somewhere round about fifteen years ago
Also, my Amazon links are affiliate but all others are certainly not. I'm not that fancy :)
