Sunday 26 May 2013

Sam Sunday #16 / Library Haul #4


This weekly update is bought to you by my adorable nephew, who is now six and a half months old.  He's recently started trying food that isn't milk and he's become utterly obsessed with the act of eating - last night he was watching me eat a curry for almost twenty minutes looking like he would like nothing more than to try some for himself!  In the last few months, his curiosity about the world has dramatically increased, as he's learned to sit up and use his hands to grab things.  As all the other women in the family have short, dark hair, he loves my longer, lighter hair and misses no opportunity to grab it and give it a good hard yank!

This weekend marks the start of the half term break here in the UK, which means a week off of work (school).  Although I still have things I need to do, I can at least do them from the comfort of my own home. The most recent half-term was exhausting (inspections and exams), so the opportunity to recharge my batteries has come just at the right time.

I'm also hoping to get a lot of decorating done.  We've booked a plasterer to completely re-do the main bedroom, but he isn't available for a month, so we're going to start by redecorating the living room, which already has a nice laminate floor and smooth, even walls.  It's the only room in the house that doesn't require plastering on the walls, although the artex on the ceiling will need plaster-boarding when we have enough money.  Tomorrow, we plan on painting the walls camomile, a nice buttery pale yellow shade and then painting the woodwork and window frames white, to brighten it up.  It's a quick fix and it'll be lovely to have one room done to our taste.

Reading wise, I've been in a bit of a slump ever since the end of the Bout of Books readathon.  I've picked up and put down lots of books, including Kim by Rudyard Kipling, which I know I would have loved if I had been in a normal frame of mind.  In the end I decided to revisit an old favourite, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and that seems to be doing the trick.  I also visited the library and tried to pick out books different from those I would normally read:

  

1. Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire - Although I didn't love Wicked, I do enjoy fairy-tale retellings so this retelling of Snow White seemed worth a read.
2. Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin - Historical fiction is usually my go-to genre during a reading slump, but I haven't felt like reading it much lately.  Lavinia comes well recommended by lots of bloggers I trust, and will be my first Ursula Le Guin novel.
3. Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie - This might seem like a strange choice, as I really couldn't get into Midnight's Children.  But this one was written for his children and promises to be a magical fantasy quest, which I could totally get on board for at the moment!

Any tips for getting out of a reading slump?

14 comments:

  1. Oh lord, I wish I had some tips about getting out of a reading slump, but mine is basically 'watch loads of TV until you get sick of TV and you want to get back to books again'. It really works! Failing that, sunshine and reading outside seems to help me, but there's not much we can do to control that!

    And awww, your nephew! I remember that phase with my cousin's baby SO WELL (he's 3 1/2 now, which is TERRIFYING, btw!) when all of a sudden he had this PERSONALITY and wanted stuff and absolutely wanted ALL THE FOOD, and awww. Lovely :)

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    1. I have been watching lots of TV (our old friend Australian Masterchef!).

      My nephew is the first baby I've ever really known as I was the baby of the family until he came along! I'm loving watching him go through all of his stages, he seems to get more personality every time I see him.

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  2. I find a bit of TV watching helps my reading slumps too. At the moment I'm struggling going from one book straight onto the next which isn't usually a problem for me. I've wanted to read Lavinia for a while, will look forward to your thoughts.

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    1. TV seems to be the general consensus!
      Lavinia is going to be the first of the library books I read, really looking forward to it.

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  3. Cute little nephew! Isn't being an aunt wonderful?
    My only advice for getting out of a slump is to just wait it out and don't get frustrated. It will pass.
    Lavinia has always intrigued me - I hope you enjoy it.

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    1. Being an aunt is wonderful, all the fun plus the ability to hand him back to his Mum/ Dad when I don't really know what to do!

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  4. My nephews and nieces are all grown up now but I now have 7 great-nephews and great-nieces! They can keep me going until I'm a granny myself....a long time yet! Re reading slump, a children's novel, some old favourites to re-read or re watching some decent film adaptations of favourite reads all help me..sometimes it can take a while.

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    1. He is the first baby I've really ever been around, as I was the youngest in the family until he came along. It's lovely being around him :)

      I'm finding that rereading an old favourite is definitely helping. I think a children's book would have done the trick too.

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  5. Awww, your nephew is THE CUTEST! It's wonderful that he's getting the urge to explore more of the world and learns to appreciate food! :)
    I'd love to see a picture of the living room once it's done! Have fun decorating your house and generally just recharging a bit before the full on work starts again!

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    1. I'm totally biased, but he is obviously the cutest baby in the WORLD!!
      The living room is going well - the walls are painted :)

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  6. Sometimes I feel funky after a readathon. I think our brains get almost too full of words :)

    Your nephew is the cutest! I love being an aunt. I have 3 nephews :)

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    1. I would love more nieces & nephews but I don't think my sister is up for another one so soon and the husband's sister is only 18!
      Being an aunt is the best :)

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  7. I hope you enjoy the Rushdie! Goodluck on rereading The Historian, once was enough for me :)

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  8. I usually get out of a slump by reading something fun, fast-paced and not particularly serious. The last time a slump happened I picked up the 5th Dresden Files book, which is just my kind of urban fantasy/mystery series. Laura's TV overload works too, but I feel kind of guilty during and brain-dead after, so I tend to not do that too often. (Watching Big Bang Theory is the exception, that I can watch guilt-free for hours and days and not feel zombified afterward, highly recommend.)

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