It's impossible to know how to "pick up" the blog after such an embarrassing hiatus.
Better not to go into the mournful details, but:
I enjoyed reading
The Obamas by Jodi Kantor (2012) and
The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley (inexpensive on the Nook) while continuing to make progress with
Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier.
The Rose Garden has been so much fun because it's set in Cornwall, one of my beloved foreign places. I've visited twice, but never long enough to come close to satisfying my appetite. A couple of days once, a few days twice just didn't do it! I long to walk the coastal route. I also want to hop over to one or two of the Channel Islands.
I think I should just do it--in late May to early June--just take a "card" and run it up. Problem is, I have other places in Europe I'm DYING to visit. Prague is at the top of my cities list.
Problem is, I keep wanting to return to England, so beautiful a land! I've loved every bit of it I've visited: Yorkshire, Northumberland, London, Kent, Devon, Pembrokeshire, Cotswolds, on and on, and yes, I love London, too, though primarily for the theatre first and the museums second.