In Minnesota

So, as I’m sure many (all?) of you know, it’s been a rough couple of weeks here in Minnesota. Except for some morning writing and work on The Marigold Miracle, I’ve been away from the computer.

I’ve been doing what I can to help my friends, my neighbors, and my community, and I’m going to keep doing that for as long as it takes.

I’m still hosting Booking Through Thursday. Fortunately, I scheduled several posts in advance, and I will respond and comment when I can.

Be well, everyone. Take care of each other. Keep creating and putting good things into this world.

Booking Through Thursday: Self-help books

Welcome to Booking Through Thursday, a weekly bookish meme about books and reading for everyone who loves both. Booking Through Thursday was first hosted by Deb. With permission, I’ve restarted it in 2026.

This week’s prompt:

On a sliding scale of they’re the elixir of life to no one tells ME what to do, how do you feel about self-help books? Do you read them? Only certain kinds or at certain times? As background noise while you clean ALL the things.

Let us know!

Self-help books: Yea or nay?

How to play:

  • On your blog: Copy the question/image for your blog, answer it there, and post a quick comment here with a link or trackback to your post so we can read it.
  • On social media: Copy the image, answer the prompt, and post a quick comment here with a link.
  • Right here: Answer in the comments and start the discussion here. No need to have a blog to play.

Note: If it’s your first time here, your comment may end up in moderation. (My spam filter is aggressive.) I’ll be in after my writing sprints to set it free.

P.S. The prompt is always open, and you don’t have to play on Thursday. Comment whenever you like!

Booking Through Thursday: Reading Challenges

Welcome to Booking Through Thursday, a weekly bookish meme about books and reading for everyone who loves both. Booking Through Thursday was first hosted by Deb. With permission, I’ve restarted it in 2026.

This week’s prompt:

Do you participate in any reading challenges throughout the year? If so, let us know (and feel free to share a link to the challenge).

Or maybe you have one of your own devising. Maybe it’s simply a goal to make a dent in your TBR pile.

Whatever the case, happy reading!

Are you participating in one (or several) reading challenges in 2026?

How to play:

  • On your blog: Copy the question/image for your blog, answer it there, and post a quick comment here with a link or trackback to your post so we can read it.
  • On social media: Copy the image, answer the prompt, and post a quick comment here with a link.
  • Right here: Answer in the comments and start the discussion here. No need to have a blog to play.

Note: If it’s your first time here, your comment may end up in moderation. (My spam filter is aggressive.) I’ll be in after my writing sprints to set it free.

P.S. The prompt is always open, and you don’t have to play on Thursday. Comment whenever you like!

Reading in 2026

So, I read 91 books in 2025. This is a good number, great even. Generally, I read between 85 and 100 books a year. (Although one year I logged 118.)

This might sound strange, but in 2026, I want to read more. Or perhaps differently. Most of my reading this year was recreational—which is awesome—but I need more variety if I’m going to write.

Odd thing: when I was commuting to the day job, I was getting that. The fastest I ever got to work (door to parking garage) was 45 minutes. Heading home? Oh. Don’t get me started on that, but easily an hour and a half. (Some days? In winter? A three-hour drive home.)

I was a captive audience; I had to listen to whatever I’d checked out from the library. Either that or drive-time radio and … no, thank you.

This, I realize, really fed my writing. The reading wasn’t necessarily research-related. It was more like fueling my brain for writing, filling the gas tank, if you will. (In CliftonStrengths terms, I’m a #2 Input; I need input.)

Despite how busy I was, I could get several hours of reading in each day.

What’s my problem now?

I’ve confined my reading to (mostly) the evenings. I’ve always read in the evenings, so this isn’t a surprise. What I need to do is add afternoon sessions.

This feels decadent. I feel like I should be doing something. (I blame the hustle/grind culture and toxic productivity for this.)

But isn’t reading doing something? I think it is. And it’s something I need to do if I’m going to write. So, one thing I want to do in 2026 is practice those afternoon reading sessions. And I have one planned for today.

Booking Through Thursday: Let’s Read in the New Year!

Welcome to Booking Through Thursday, a weekly bookish meme about books and reading for everyone who loves both. Booking Through Thursday was first hosted by Deb. With permission, I’ve restarted it in 2026.

This week’s prompt:

So, there’s a saying that how you spend New Year’s Day is how you’ll spend the year.

I think all of us here would like to spend at least some of the year reading. That being the case, the very first prompt of the year is:

What book are you reading (or hope to read) on this first day of 2026?

I know some people are working today, some are still cleaning up after the holidays, but I hope everyone can find five minutes for a bit of reading.

Happy New Year!

How to play:

  • On your blog: Copy the question/image for your blog, answer it there, and post a quick comment here with a link or trackback to your post so we can read it.
  • On social media: Copy the image, answer the prompt, and post a quick comment here with a link.
  • Right here: Answer in the comments and start the discussion here. No need to have a blog to play.

Note: If it’s your first time here, your comment may end up in moderation. (My spam filter is aggressive.) I’ll be in after my writing sprints to set it free.

Booking Through Thursday relaunches Jan 1 (that’s tomorrow!)

Booking Through Thursday launches tomorrow. Visit the page to get a sneak peek at the prompt.

I’m excited about this and hope we can build a fun book community here this year.

Anyone can participate, and you don’t need a blog to do so. Read all the details on the Booking Through Thursday page.

Oh, have it

In The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff (essentially the sequel to 84, Charing Cross Road), Helene confides to Joyce Grenfell:

“I’ve been fighting a cold all weekend.”

She thought about this a moment and then leaned over and whispered back:

“Oh, have it.”

This is where I’m at. I’ve been fighting a cold all weekend, without the part about being in London and attending the theater with a celebrity. Honestly, I feel like I end up fighting a cold or virus every other week. I suspect this is a part of a post-pandemic world.

But for today, I’m having it. I’m in the softest of my soft pants. (The great thing about working from home: soft pants every day!) Snow is already falling, and we’re supposed to have blizzard conditions later, so clearly, I’m not leaving the house. Plus, I’m in the middle of (re)watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy (extended version, of course).

This is one of our holiday traditions. My son mentioned that a lot of his friends’ families watch Harry Potter. For us, though, it’s always been Lord of the Rings. We’ll watch it at Thanksgiving and then again at Christmas.

And since I’m partway through The Two Towers, I have plenty of watching left. I have the fireplace going and hot chocolate I can brew (and leftovers, so I don’t have to cook).

I’m all set to have my cold.

Wishing you all a restful (and cold-free) last Sunday of the year.

If you build it, will they come?

This week’s admin focus was on author websites, which I already have. But it made for an excellent reason to do some maintenance. Most importantly, I needed to update my WordPress template.

As I mentioned in my housekeeping note, the old template had been retired. While it still received security updates, the old template didn’t support new features.

But I’m also considering what else I might do with my blog. One of the things I loved about blogging in the early aughts was the blogging and book community. One of my favorite blog memes was Booking Through Thursday (which started on Blogspot and migrated to WordPress).

Real life being what it is, BTT has been inactive for several years. So, I asked myself: what if I restarted it?

With permission, of course. Deb graciously gave her blessing. So here I am, wondering: if I relaunch BTT, will anyone show up?

The book blogging community is still very active, with plenty of weekly book memes. Do we need another? Maybe not. But I have the online real estate—no ads, nothing distracting.

According to WordPress, I can add a selected category to my blog subscription so people can sign up to receive the Booking Through Thursday posts via email, and not any of the others if they don’t want them. (This may take a few tries to iron out, but it’s possible.)

All this to say, I’m going to give the book meme thing a try. If people enjoy it? Hooray! If it falls flat, then it falls flat.

So, look for the relaunch of Booking Through Thursday on January 1, 2026.

Adventures in research: Stayin’ Alive

So in today’s adventures in research, the only thing I really wanted to know was how the song “Stayin’ Alive” was spelled.

But, in true internet rabbit-hole style, I also discovered the subreddit Ask Old People.

Y’all, I’m an old now.

But I do remember when the song “Stayin’ Alive” came out along with the movie Saturday Night Fever. Oh, that was a big deal, made bigger by the fact that the movie was rated R and I was in junior high at the time, much too young to go see it.

Saturday Night Fever was so popular that they eventually released a cut-up PG version, and we all packed the theaters to see it. Other than the iconic opening sequence, the only thing I remember is that the film was so sliced and diced as to be incomprehensible.  

I never did see the full rated-R version. To this day, I have no idea what the movie is actually about. But I have this memory.

Honestly? That’s enough.