The library’s slowed down a bit in serving up books this week. Which is good, because I’ve been having trouble keeping up. My reading speed’s gone down since editing fried my brain. This week I only had one new book come in! (If I run out of actual books, I have a Kobo that’s so full of books it can’t hold any more unless I delete something. So…)
There’s no real news this week, other than spring has sprung around here. We’ve got pollen and it’s earlier than I think it ever has been. Usually it gets going around the end of March, but this year I first noticed it on 2/28. Unfortunately, there will be freezes between now and the arrival of “real” spring, so I’ll be out on plenty of evenings covering my azaleas and sensitive plants.
It also means that outdoor writing has been temporarily halted. I don’t have allergies, but I can’t stand the gritty feeling in my eyes, and I’m pretty sure that pollen isn’t great for the guts of a laptop. So while I want to go outside, I don’t and I hate it. I can’t even open the windows unless I want to clean up a green cloud of ick in the house.
The arrival of the pollen also means that my house painting project is on hold. I’d hoped to do it before pollen season, but since that came early, I have to wait. I need the windows open when painting so I don’t gas myself and I don’t want green pollen sticking to my fresh paint!
Happy Spring!
The Reading List
(A whopping one book this week.)
The Valiant, by Lesley Livingston. I’m learning more about the Roman Empire this year, so when I saw this YA novel about a girl who’s captured and conscripted into the gladiators, I was interested. I figured it might be a nice tie-in. Plus, I love books about female characters who know how to fight their way out of trouble. Of course, there’s romance here and I’ll reserve judgment until I see if it’s just tacked on (as I’m beginning to feel is the case with a lot of YA novels lately), or if it makes sense for the plot.