My apologies for not posting at all in the last week—I have been away from the computer. In my life, family comes first above all else, and this week I was needed in Wisconsin. My dear, sweet gramma passed away on Sunday after a twelve-year-long battle with Parkinson’s. I had been in Green Bay since Saturday with my family. Gramma was a tough lady with a strong body, but her mind and spirit weren’t really with us anymore as we had known it for a while, so it’s okay that it was her time to go. And, good Wisconsinite that she was, she even waited until five minutes after the Packers won on Sunday to depart this plane of existence. Seriously, ONLY IN GREEN BAY.

So as you can imagine, I didn’t have a chance to read hardly at all in the last week, and couldn’t concentrate anyway whenever I tried. I’m still working on True Grit by Charles Portis for the Kansas City Public Library’s 2013 Big Read, about two-thirds of the way through, and I think I may be able to finish it this weekend (the group discussion is on Wednesday).

I pretty much have decided to give up on About This Life by Barry Lopez, which was our last library book group pick. Again, while the writing is beautiful, it’s a dense, quiet read and that sort of vibe isn’t working so well for me right now. Speaking of quitting, I think I’ve basically given up on my 2013 TBR Pile Challenge and the Eclectic Reader Challenge. It’s not that I haven’t been enjoying them, I just got sidetracked by life and other books so much so that by now, with only 2.5 months to go in the year, I’m certain I won’t finish either. Well, maybe that will allow me to sell/donate the books I didn’t get to on those lists, or drive me to at least try again next year to beat my records!

With my grandmother’s death (and speaking of reading challenges), it is probably time I finally get around to Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. My gramma gave me this book YEARS ago, telling me it was her favorite book ever, and I’m embarrassed and guilty to say that I never read it. However, I never got rid of it, either. My heart is still a little too tender right now, but once I’m past some of my grief I’d love to read it, to honor and connect with my gramma in a small way still. I also have had The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe on my shelf for several months now… yeah… just can’t do it yet. But I will.

And… confession… I have been sneaking chapters of Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood, just bit by bit over the last few weeks and I wouldn’t admit to myself I was really reading it, but here I am, about halfway through. 🙂

AND AND! Stay tuned for a special read-along announcement this week!