“It’s Monday! What are you reading?” is a weekly event hosted by Sheila at Bookjourney to share with others what we’ve read the past week and planning to read next.

We had a busy weekend!  We were out and about early, taking that hour-plus drive from the East Bay to the city to make use of our passes (from the library!) to the Bay Area Discovery Museum in the Marin headlands. To get there we crossed both the newly opened Bay Bridge (above, you can see the old bridge on the left) and the always lovely (and especially gorgeous on a sunny morning like today) Golden Gate (yes the sky really was that blue – no photoshopping here!)

The center has a lovely view of the bridge too. And we got to have our little picnic lunch of sandwiches, carrot sticks and homemade oatmeal raisin cookies while gazing at the bridge on a nice warm sunny day.

 

 

As well as this fascinating sky-typing by five planes flying in formation.

And when we got home, I made pizza!

Currently(-ish…)

Reading:

The thin man – Dashiell Hammett
Ugh the things that happen in this book. Is a strange man pointing a gun at your wife? Well knock her out of course!

Hikikomori and the rental sister – Jeff Bauhaus
Hikikomori is a Japanese term for those who retreat from society, usually young men, who seek out isolation. In this case, an American, a married man who has, as we find out, lost his child. Sad.

The Interestings – Meg Wolitzer
I am kind of adoring this book and Wolitzer’s writing so far.

How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm: And Other Adventures in Parenting (from Argentina to Tanzania and Everywhere in Between) – Mei-Ling Hopgood

The Argentines keep their kids up late at night! The Chinese start toilet training before the age of two!

Listening:

张信哲 (Zhang Xin Zhe or Jeff Chang). I used to listen to him when I was a teenager in Singapore! And I just discovered that Spotify has some of those very songs I used to sing to… nostalgic!

Eating:
Apple pie! (Unfortunately not a very good one.) A Whole Foods recently opened nearby! I’ve never really shopped there (too far) so we went in to have a look and to try a few things and this pie called out to the husband. One of the first things I saw when entering was the price of organic avocados – $2.99 each!

Drinking:
Rooibos chai from Trader Joe’s.

Last week

I read:

The Accursed – Joyce Carol Oates
I have no idea what to say… it’s kind of bizarre, but fascinatingly so (although a little rambly at parts). It’s set in 1905 Princeton, and has among its cast of characters Woodrow Wilson, Upton Sinclair, Jack London, and demons!
I wrote:

       Library Loot (October 11 2013)     

       Books read in September 2013     

 

What are you reading this week?