A Word to the Reader: This post is less about books than it is about my current life situation as it pertains to books.
My Boston trip had some wonderful highs and a few unexpected lows. The good news is that my mother and I had a spectacularly beautiful day on Saturday to drive to our old haunts and to the cemeteries where our loved ones are buried. We had a splendid lunch at Amarin, the best Thai restaurant in the Greater Boston area. Mom loved her meal and I was so pleased she liked it as much as she did. Sunday we had a wonderful heart-to-heart talk about some family issues, the best we've had in I don't know how long. The low points for me involved the realization that aspects of her finances that I thought were being managed well are not, and aspects of her health care directives are not being adequately addressed the way I thought they were. So I need to make many, many more trips to Boston this fall.
And all of this leads to more READING. Five hours to and five hours fro.
Listening to audiobooks while driving is pure survival. This weekend I listened to Maeve Binchy's A Week in Winter, and I'm not done yet, though I am enjoying it.
FYI: I don't know about you, but I can't concentrate on literary fiction while driving. I can do biographies, memoirs, and light fiction. Anything else is begging for an accident.
And to rest and relieve stress, I need to force myself to sit down on my favorite couch and read regularly. The problem is this: If I'm busy, I feel I need to work and take care of business, but this fall I'm going to need to do everything I can to make stress relief my #1 priority.
I'm really enjoying The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. I need to take my own advice and give myself permission to sit and read in the next week. My classes start Thursday, September 5.
Lots of excellent new books on the horizon! I'll try to keep you informed.
The House of Second Chances by Lauren Westwood
5 hours ago
Audiobooks were my salvation when I was spending hours on end in the car. Hope they make your travels easier, too. Good luck in sorting out your mother's affairs... but be sure to take care of yourself, too!
ReplyDeleteJoAnn,
DeleteThanks so much for the good wishes! And I am vowing to take good care. And, as I well know, when I don't take care of myself, I'm much less able to help the people I care about: family, students, friends. I appreciate your understanding!
Judith
I went through a lot dealing with my mother's health and other issues, and since she passed away a year ago, there is much I'm still dealing with. The more that's worked out in advance the better; that is the lesson I learned. My sister, fortunately, dealt with the health and housing problems.
ReplyDeleteReading is the best stress reliever, especially fiction. One can be distracted and entertained. I know that a good book can lift my mood as well as chocolate.
We all have to give ourselves permission to read, to refresh and sustain ourselves -- and reading is as crucial as air, food and water.
I think we have to schedule it in and not let other things interfere, except emergencies. It's vital to our well-being.
I never listen to books unless you count radio books when doing the dishes - no accidents likely! At the moment I'm gobbling books, mainly of the light reading variety, it's the only thing which is keeping me semi-sane due to the stress of not being able to sell our house as quickly as I would like.
ReplyDelete