For the past two weeks, I’ve been feeling down on myself for reasons I’d rather not say, so when this occurs, I like to remind myself of things that have made me joyful lately. You know, to help put everything in perspective.
1.) Small Road Trip
Last Tuesday, I went on a small road trip with my mom and sister. Every year (usually in September), we visit a particular town almost two hours away. We left the house later than we were planning on – and it slightly rained on the car ride there – but it was nice to get out of my hometown for a few hours, visit some stores, buy a few items. It was a little humid, but the weather resembled summer as we walked the downtown streets.
2.) Basement Renovations
We finally got carpet installed in our basement last Thursday and Friday. And it only took three months! (insert sarcasm here) I guess there was a backlog with all the carpet orders, and once it arrived at the store, we had to wait three weeks for the carpet company to fit us into their schedule. But now all the basement renovations are officially completed, so we can begin the process of moving all the junk laying in piles on our main floor back to where it belongs in the basement. Well, everything we plan on keeping anyway. We’re hoping to throw out or donate a lot of it.
3.) Poetry
I recently subscribed to a poetry youtube channel, Ours Poetica. They just launched last Friday, so there are currently only two videos, but they plan on uploading three times a week. Not sure how many will be uploaded in total, or how long the “season” will last, but I plan to enjoy it in the meantime. I like to listen to the speaker read the poem aloud first, and then I’ll watch it again to actually read the lines at my own pace.
4.) A Book Rave
I read and finished WILDER GIRLS by Rory Power, and it was. So. Good. Power’s debut was published in July, and even though I try to read one of my older books in my TBR pile first, this one called to me and I caved in. The genre is definitely up my alley, even though I feel like I hardly ever read any isolated sci-fi/thriller novels.
It mainly centers around the protagonist, Hetty, but probably a quarter of the chapters were also written in Byatt’s viewpoint. (Hetty’s friend who she views as a sister.) I noticed some juxtaposition between their chapters at a few points, and I appreciate the subtle comparisons.
From what I’ve gathered, it’s supposed to be a standalone novel, which I find refreshing. I feel like many genre books out there prefer to draw it out into a series of sorts. Even if the ending of WILDER GIRLS most certainly didn’t answer all of my questions. (Which I heard was the biggest complaint about it. That, and some people thought the pacing was too slow. The book was written with a literary slant, so of course the story was allowed to take its time and breathe compared to the more fast-paced genre fiction.)
When I finished the book, my brain went: What? Does Byatt ever get better? How come we never learned why Hetty’s body decided going blind in one eye was considered an adaptive measure? And what was the deal with the…thing…Hetty threw up in the last scene? Do her parents actually believe she’s dead? And I still don’t know why the cooler was just sitting there in the forest back in the beginning of the book. Ah!
I guess it’s one of those instances where the rest of the story belongs to the reader. All of my unanswered questions may make me frustrated, but at least it made me think more about the story after I finished it.
But if Power ever decides to one day revisit the story for a sequel… Sign me up.
Side note: This book was also part of Barnes & Noble’s YA book club back in the summer. I may be a little late to the game, but I can see why it was chosen.
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