Wouldn’t it be great to know what Katie has been doing lately. Good thing this post exists so you can find out. I haven’t checked in too much about what I actually have been doing, so it is great that we have this time to catch up. If you want to revisit what I was up to at the end of September, read this post.
- I have been reading for fun and for the book club that I belong to at my local library. Since September’s checking-in post, I have read three books. In October, I read The Magic Kingdom by Russell Banks for my book club. I give this book three stars. I thought much of it was very slow but the ending was illuminating. It is about a man who grows up in a Shaker colony in Florida on the land that eventually is made into Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Fun Fact: There really is a Shaker cemetery in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I have never been there but apparently if you wander off the beaten bath you can find some Shaker gravestones there. While I was reading and listening to the audiobook for The Magic Kingdom I was also reading Book Lovers by Emily Henry purely for fun. I have never read her books before. I really liked the banter bwtween the main characters in Book Lovers and thought that I might want to try another one of her books. So I checked out Happy Place from the library that I work at and I liked it too but not quite as much. I have also started Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar because it is the November selection for discussion for my book club. It is a thriller that takes place in the Middle East in 1979.
- I am still working on my decluttering project. I encouraged Mr. Katie to listen to the audiobook Decluttering at the Speed of Life by Dana K. White. I borrowed it first from Libby but didn’t quite get to finish it in the two weeks I had it checked out. Mr. Katie was after me in the queue to borrow it, so he got it next. He listened to it on his commutes to and from work. He finished listening to it and I have it again. I need to finish. We both have been making progress on various rooms of our house. I have kind of taken a break from decluttering for the past week or so but I had been going at it hard before that. I have been happy with the results so far. I have started using our office for practicing the guitar, which is pretty revolutionary. We haven’t been able to use our office for much besides storage for kind of a long time.
- Speaking of guitar. I started taking guitar lessons in October. I like my teacher and have been very happy with what he has taught me thus far. I don’t 100 percent feel like I understand the rhythmic strumming that was introduced at the next lesson but I am working hard practicing. At times I doubt that I will master the chords and the new things I am learning but I am reassuring myself that I will get it. I hope to be able to play songs from the 1990’s and early 2000’s soon. I also want to learn some songs that I could play during storytime if I ever become a children’s librarian again. I like accustic guitar music and hope to be able to play well. Maybe some day I will be able to play Push by Matchbox 20, just like Ken in the Barbie movie.
That’s all the news that’s fit to print!
