Stories & Shout Outs #25

Some days the word won't flow.

I have several posts half-written, but over the past few days I haven't been able to find the inspiration or energy to complete any of them. I guess a big weekend away, is enough to throw my routine these days.

So it's time for a housekeeping post to clear my head.

I Am Reading:

• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (chapter-a-day readalong)
• Blakwork by Alison Whittaker (Indigenous poetry)
• Yield by Tara June Winch (Indigenous author)
• The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (#1 in a new cosy crime series set in 1920's India)
• The Fast 800 by Michael Mosley (time to get back on track and into my jeans)

Read But Not Reviewed:

• a stack of Indigenous picture books that I've read for Lisa's Indigenous Literature Week.

My Week:

B21 moved out of home last weekend - a week before he became B22. He hasn't accumulated much stuff yet, so the move was hassle free with only minimal withdrawal symptoms on behalf of myself and Mr Books.

When someone is so ready and so pleased with themselves about taking this next step into the adult world, it's hard to feel sad about it. Pride in the lovely young man he has become as well as in our efforts to get him there have been the predominate feelings instead.

We enjoyed one night of being empty-nesters before B18 came home for a week during his Uni semester break.

Off My Radar Completely Until Right Now:

Writing about my week just now made me realise that I missed the 10th anniversary of my blog!

How on earth did that happen, I hear you ask?

On the 6th July 2009, I sat down with a great deal of trepidation and opened my first blogging account. It was B22's twelfth birthday. I should be able to remember that date, but every year, I forget.

So, anyway, YAY me!

I wish I had something profound to say after all this time, some blogging words of wisdom to share with you all. But really, it's quite simple.

• If you love what you're doing, then you'll find a way to keep on doing it.
• If you want to be a writer, then write. 
• Even when you don't want to or when it feels too hard. 
• Especially when you don't want to and it feels too hard. 
• Write something.
• Write what you would like to read.
• Edit.
• Write some more.

Recently Discovered:

• The Guardian Books podcast during a solo roadtrip last week. 

New To The Pile:

• The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt by Andrea Wulf & illustrated by Lillian Melcher (gorgeous, coffee table, graphic non-fiction that I discovered thanks to the Guardian Books podcast)
• The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman (a book about books? how could I possibly be broken hearted)
• Autumn Light by Pico Iyer (it's Japanese, enough said)
• The Parisian by Isabella Hammad (rave review from a regular customer at work)
• Dear Reader by Debra Adelaide (October release - part bibliomemoir, part user's manual apparently)