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Currently | Travel and Car Troubles

THE NEW YOU

Briefly | It’s been an unexpected couple of weeks! The last week of January, I was out of town for a few days at the Minnesota Newspaper Association Convention. While in the Twin Cities, I started to have some car troubles that, unfortunately, seem to have gotten worse. I’m dropping it off for a diagnosis tomorrow, but it looks like my plan to buy a new car is accelerated — maybe to this week when I go to see Newsies with my sister on Wednesday!

Reading | Being out of town last weekend really cut into my reading time. I did stay up well past my bedtime finishing The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry, a YA book that I saw described as Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife. I have complicated thoughts about it. I also finished Stars Above by Marisa Meyer, a collection of short stories set in the Lunar Chronicles universe (delightful).

I’m not sure what’s on for today — I’m just a few chapters into both The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert and The Interstellar Age by Jim Bell (nonfiction about NASA’s Voyager missions). But I might skip both and jump into The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee (the buzz on this one is so, so good).

Watching | The Magicians, a SyFy series based on Lev Grossman’s awesome Magicians trilogy, started this week. The first three episodes were great — I’m totally on board with some changes they’ve made to characters and timeline and excited to see what’s next.

Listening | I finally finished Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes on my drive home last Sunday. I started out pretty lukewarm on the book, but the last several chapters were really great.

Making | I’m seriously considering making this Granite Cape from All About Ami. I love the way it drapes and I think it looks pretty simple. I just need to decide on a color!

Blogging | The last couple weeks, I pulled some fun nonfiction from my bookshelves, shared some thoughts on Girl Through Glass and Read Bottom Up, reviewed my January reading and plans for February, and recommended some nonfiction if you loved The Turner House by Angela Flournoy

Promoting | I’m likely biased because it’s about my state, but this essay from the Star Tribune about how great Minnesotans are when it snows is lovely.

Hating | The car trouble has been a little frustrating. I did have plans to purchase a new car pretty soon, but I was hoping this one would stay in good shape so I could sell it to my brother. We’ll see what the mechanic says tomorrow.

Loving | I’m addicted to a new Spotify playlist, Ultimate Covers. Anything with an acoustic version of “Pony” is bound to be delightful.

Anticipating | It’s going to be such a big week. The Super Bowl is tonight. My car issues (hopefully) get figured out tomorrow. We’re going to Newsies on Wednesday. And I might get a new car. Whew!

Happy Sunday, everyone! What are you reading today?

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links through Amazon. If you make a purchase through any of those links, I will receive a small commission.

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  • Bryan G. Robinson February 7, 2016, 8:25 am

    I’m sorry to hear about your car problems and hope it all works out for a new car, whenever it happens.

    Today, I plan on doing a little reading (still Alexander Hamilton) and then my wife and I are going to watch the Super Bowl with a couple of neighbors.

  • bermudaonion (Kathy) February 7, 2016, 9:46 am

    Ugh, I hate when car trouble forces your hand. Good luck with that. Carl and I saw Newsies last month and loved it.

  • Justice @ manuscripts & marginalia February 7, 2016, 12:45 pm

    Ugh, car troubles blow! Good luck. Hopefully it is something minor so Plan A is still a viable option.

  • Masanobu February 7, 2016, 1:49 pm

    Ugh, car troubles are the worst! My first car was extremely old (it was my age, in fact), and it would let me down on the worst possible situation. I hope you get it solved soon!

    I’ve been hearing only good things about The Love that Splits the World, but I can’t pull the trigger on this one and don’t know why. Maybe your complicated thoughts will help me see whether this book is for me or not!

    • Kim February 14, 2016, 10:27 am

      I haven’t found the brain space to write about the book yet, but basically it gave me tons and tons of feelings — I sobbed through the last 40 pages — but intellectually I can see that it had some problems with exposition and over complication and possibly cultural appropriation. But I also can’t quite bring myself to care because I was so absorbed by this story. So, complicated.

      • Masanobu February 14, 2016, 4:14 pm

        The book is entertaining, but you aware of its problems. That happens to me a lot, but mostly with comics or video games. I have less tolerance for cultural appropriation in novels, for some reason. At least when I’m aware of it.

  • Lisa February 7, 2016, 3:00 pm

    Argh – car troubles are so frustrating…and always so much more expensive than you would like to spend! Hope you get good news.

  • Vasilly February 7, 2016, 4:30 pm

    Car problems are the worst! I hope everything works out for the best.

    Today I’m just cleaning and organizing my new place.

  • iliana February 7, 2016, 6:16 pm

    Oh no, car troubles are no fun. Hope it all gets resolved for you!
    Today I’ve been enjoying the beautiful sunny day and wondering why I haven’t read more. Always happens every weekend 🙂
    Have a wonderful week ahead!

  • emma February 7, 2016, 10:47 pm

    ah, I see you ARE going to try The Queen of the Night. Let me know what you think

    • Kim February 14, 2016, 10:20 am

      I started it, but I’m not quite in the brain space at the moment to get into it so I’m trying something a little easier for now 🙂

  • Meg February 8, 2016, 8:03 am

    Ooh, thanks for the reminder on “Year of Yes.” That’s definitely a book I want to listen to on audio!

    Sorry to hear about the car issues — that seems to be going around. Though my 12-year-old Corolla is going strong (knock on wood!), I know a bigger vehicle is in our future. A sedan with a baby — and all his junk — is just getting really difficult and inconvenient, but I’m not looking forward to a car payment. At all.

  • Shaina (@shainareads) February 8, 2016, 4:19 pm

    Oh man, you’ve got a lot on your plate! I hope the car troubles don’t turn out to be too bad.

    I’ve been trying to decide if Queen of the Night sounds up my alley or not… I know it’s been getting a lot of good reviews, but so uncertain if it’ll fit in my wheelhouse. We’ll just have to see if I eventually break down and try it.

    It’s funny how the last few chapters can take a meh book to a pretty good one. I think it has something to do with those chapters being so fresh in our memory compared to the rest.

    Have a great week!

  • Citizen Reader February 8, 2016, 6:06 pm

    Wow, if there’s anything that brings people together–it certainly seems to be car troubles. I can tell from the heartfelt nature of the comments that people really feel your pain on that. As do I–I hope the visit to the mechanic was not too costly. It never seems to be a good time to go car shopping.

    • Kim February 14, 2016, 10:25 am

      Absolutely, I think we’ve all been there at least once. Car troubles just seem like they’re worse than other problems because they’re almost always expensive and not usually something you can handle any other way than to just pay the money.

  • Athira February 8, 2016, 7:16 pm

    That cape is gorgeous! Makes me want to learn crocheting just to make it. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

    Ugh, car troubles are the worst. I would never know what to do if I ran into one. I hope you are able to resolve it well, and yay for a new car!

    • Kim February 14, 2016, 10:24 am

      I’m obsessed with it. I keep going back to the pattern just to gaze at it. I just can’t decide what color to go with and I have a couple of other small projects to work on first.

  • Jenny @ Reading the End February 8, 2016, 9:07 pm

    I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you on the car!

    I’m pleased to hear that you’ve been liking The Magicians. I haven’t watched any of it, and since it’s not apparently on Hulu?, I guess I’ll have to wait for it to show up on whichever streaming service it’s going to contract with. But I’m excited to hear that it’s good. I want it to be good!

    • Kim February 14, 2016, 10:23 am

      I think I saw somewhere this week that it’s streaming online for free somewhere? Maybe on SyFy, I can’t remember. I splurged and bought the season on Amazon because I’m kind of obsessed.

  • Beth F February 9, 2016, 6:02 am

    Bummer on the car! I think I should add The Love That Split the World to my list.

  • Julie @ Smiling Shelves February 9, 2016, 3:35 pm

    Yay, Newsies! I drove all the way to Toronto to see it, and it was totally worth it. Enjoy!