I have had one of those weeks. I was on a business trip until Thursday. (It was very successful! But long.) Then I came down with a sinus infection that is still kicking my butt this weekend. I am trying to take it easy and rest. Yesterday I took a two hour nap, hence the lack of a Saturday Farmer’s Market on actual Saturday, but sitting out on my balcony mixing soil, transplanting things, and fertilizing plants was exactly what I needed today. Plus, I took LOTS of pictures for you.

This is what the balcony looks like right now. There’s still a little bit more room for expansion, which is good because we have three tomato plants still inside under the grow light! Thankfully we’ll have room for those and a few more herb disks. Speaking of herb disks – Johnny’s Seeds has a customer for life. I called them on Friday because our cress is turning yellow and there was no information about it online. No one seems to have that problem. So I called the help line and I was on the phone for about twenty minutes while the woman researched their cress and finally gave me a suggestion saying that if it didn’t work, to please call back. So we transplanted the cress into a bigger pot and gave it lots of water (but not too much!), so hopefully it perks back up.

This was my big project last weekend! I bought a bunch of succulents and I put them in this letter holder that my friend bought me as a house warming present. We don’t get a lot of mail, so I wanted to do something with it that would be useful and interesting and I finally figured it out! I love this as a succulent planter and I’m just so so happy with it. One the spiny ones had a branch fall off, so I’m trying to grow it back up:

He’s already perked up a bit and straightened out! He was leaning over slightly. I just think this is the cutest little thing ever.

While I do enjoy the thrill of growing plants from seed (I mean, there’s nothing better than finally seeing them sprout up!), I also like the instant gratification of buying plants that are already started. I bought this celosia and this lovely smelling grapefruit mint plant at Lowes last weekend. Celosia is so cool looking and apparently you can eat it. The grapefruit mint does in fact smell like grapefruit. I think I might put some in a smoothie or two today.

Remember what my lettuce looked like two weeks ago? You couldn’t even see them, so I circled the seedlings. They are getting bigger and bigger! There were a few that were crowding each other, so I plucked those yesterday and soon I’ll have to thin these again.

Finally, barely visible, are the swiss chard we planted last weekend! I’m so excited for these to come up, because they are very brightly colored and pretty. And, hopefully, tasty.

I never really thought of myself as someone who would enjoy gardening as much as I do. Like with most things in my life, I feel like I have to have a little success to really feel attached to it, and we have been successful in a lot of ways. I love to get my hands (and feet) dirty on our little balcony. I love mixing our own potting soil, keeping the plants healthy, trying to solve problems that appear. We’ve started keeping a record of everything we are doing so that when next year rolls around, we’ll know when we planted things and what worked, and what failed spectacularly.

So tell me, how does your garden look today?

Well, folks, I think this is good night for me. I’ve been reading since 8 this morning and that’s a lot of uninterrupted reading time. I read over 800 pages, 400 of which belonged to Clash Of Kings and 400 of which were from this lovely book called This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith. It’s an absolutely perfect book for the readathon. Quick and funny and charming. I don’t think I can recommend it enough for something like this! I’m sleepy, but I’m not exhausted. I might read a bit more tonight, but I don’t think I’m going to be finishing any more books.

This cover and this title are just fitting for today. This is what happy looks like! Sitting on a couch, reading all day, forgetting about responsibilities and stresses, if only for a little while. Sharing some time with someone I love. I’ve just had so much fun today. I ate yummy snacks, I read good books, I lounged on the couch, I spent some time with Michael (who had a studython today), and I talked to all of you wonderful friends on Twitter and Tumblr and Instagram.

Can I just say how amazing all the organizers for the Readathon are? I have helped out a few readathons and I know how difficult it is! I did not know Dewey. I started blogging in December 2008, but I feel like she’s always been such a huge presence. I have found myself thinking over the years: if only I had started blogging earlier. So many of the bloggers I love loved her, and I wish I had had the chance to know her. I know how much Dewey means to so many of us and even though I didn’t know her, I think she’d be proud of the Readathon that we have all continued in her honor. The book blogging community can seem like a huge and fractured place these days. But the Readathons are the two days out of the year when we stop and remember why we do this day in and day out: because we share this common love, this common passion. So thank you for sharing that with me. I love you for it.

I think I liked this book a lot better than the first one, even though there wasn’t nearly enough Daenerys and her dragons. I have heard that I will like the third book even more!

Here are my readathon stats:

Pages read: 469 (Clash of Kings)
Minutes listened: 32:02 (Seraphina)
Books read: 1
Snacks eaten: Bread with smokey goat cheese and garlic jelly, chips and queso, Dunkin Donuts coffee, and a couple munchkins. (ETA: Totally forgot! I had a salad, too. Keeping this readathon healthy.)

What’s next?

And pizza!

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

The lovely NYC. Mostly from my bed, my couch, and the walk to Dunkin Donuts.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Poison by Bridget Zinn. I’ve heard such good things.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I am woefully underprepared when it comes to snacks.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I am blogging from my phone right now, so I apologize of this post looks weird. Or if there are strange autocorrects.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

Read all day! I haven’t had a readathon without some kind of plans, so this time I’ll really just be reading ALL day!

It is a novel about global warming and it is not subtle about it. Sometimes the story is sacrificed to get that message across. Lengthy discussions of global warming and what it means and how hopeless it is. Things that aren’t untrue, but perhaps could have been more artistically woven into the story.

But it’s also a novel about a marriage and a mother and a friendship and a mother-in-law. And in those moments, it’s lovely. Now, for the quotes:

They faced each other, a towering, morose man and his small, miserable wife, both near tears. How could two people both lose an argument? (174)

My favorite quotes are ones that express something you’ve seen but never known how to describe.

She could see that his old generosity was still there, but was sometimes being held captive by despair, like a living thing held underwater. (239)

It was hard to feel the remotest sympathy for any of the fools she had been. As opposed to the fool she was probably being now. 394

In one transcendent moment buoyed by two ounces of Riesling she saw the pointlessness of clinging to that life raft, that hooray-we-are-saved conviction of having already come through the stupid parts, to arrive at the current enlightenment. The hard part is letting go, she could see that. There is no life raft; you’re just freaking swimming all the time. (394)

I feel like the quotes I picked aren’t even particularly beautiful. They are just ones that I liked. If blog posts are supposed to recommend a book or not, I’m not sure I could tell you one way or the other. You might be put off by the constant reminder that this is a novel with an issue at its heart instead of a plot. Or maybe you’ll get something out of this book, like I did, even if it’s only a few quotes and a pleasant reading experience.

It’s a rewind week for Top Ten Tuesday and I thought this would be a good topic after my discussion on Sunday’s post. I’m trying not to do this anymore. I want to read books as soon as I buy them or just put them on a wish list. But here are the books that have been lingering a little bit too long.

1. The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss – I bought this immediately after reading The Name of the Wind, which I really enjoyed. To be fair, I’m trying to savor this series. I don’t want to have to wait too long for the third book, which has no confirmed release date.

2. The Thorn and the Blossom by Theodora Goss – I think Ana’s review of this one was the one that made me purchase this one and I’m not exactly sure why I haven’t read it yet. Other than the fact that it seems too beautiful and delicate to carry with me on the subway.

3. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente  - Truthfully, I’ve started this book a dozen times and every time I try to read it just comes across as so precious. I know that all of you have read it and loved it – could you please convince me?

4. Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson – This has such an interesting premise and got such great buzz. I bought it after reading the dedicated Maximum Shelf from Shelf Awareness about it. No reason I haven’t read it yet, other than it’s a hardcover and the subway ride is long.

5. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot – So I actually bought this one for Michael, but I knew that after he read it, I wanted to too. Still sitting on my shelf.

6. The Language Instinct by Stephen Pinker – I tried to give myself a nudge to read this one back in January but it didn’t happen. I know Sara was even thinking about reading it with me. Did you finish this one, Sara?

7 & 8. The Art of Losing and Dear Darkness by Kevin Young – I bought this anthology and poetry collection by Kevin Young right after reading The Best American Poetry of 2011, which was also edited by Kevin Young. I’ve been awful about reading poetry this year, so I really just need to get my act together and read these two.

0. The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell – So, as you know, I needed to own this so bad that I bought it twice!

10. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and illustrated by Siobhan Dowd – I keep meaning to read this one, but I know how sad it is and that’s been putting me off. I’m sure I’ll need a sad book one of these days, but not right now.

What has been happening is I will buy a book and then want to treasure it. You see, I paid money for that book, so I have to make it worthwhile. So I put off reading it. Because if I buy a book and read it right away… somewhere in my mind that’s akin to buying a bag of chips and eating it all in one sitting. Logically that doesn’t even really make sense, but there it is. I’ve realized that the books sit and languish on the shelf and then I don’t read them and I forget why I ever wanted to in the first place.

So I’ve been reading books as soon as I buy them. Or I’ve been getting from the library instead and reading those right away. The longer I have a book out from the library, the less likely it is that I’ll read it. I obviously do want to read the books on my shelves, but only when I want to. I’m not going to force myself to read them, but I’m also going to be more careful about the books I buy. Is this a book I want to read right now? If not, then I’ll wait and put it on my wish list. It’s living in the moment when it comes to what I want to read.

It’s admittedly not a reading style that lends itself to tours or review copies, so I imagine those will be even fewer and farther between, though I don’t really accept many review copies now, it will truly only be the ones that are screaming: READ ME NOW.

Sometimes, though, there are too many books at once that are screaming the same thing. I’ve been feeling almost overwhelmed by the amount of books that just sound too good to pass up. I’m currently listening to The Great Gatsby, which I got from Audible, read by Tim Robbins. It has just gotten very intense and I will probably finish it tomorrow on my subway ride. I do really love it, even though I didn’t think I would at first. I started Indiscretion by Charles Dubow, a book I received to review, but that is also what my co-worker and I are reading for our book club-of-two. From the library I have The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord, which Iris reviewed and sounds so thought-provoking and interesting. Though the US cover is hideous compared to the UK cover! Also A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, which I do need to read soon, because I’m sure someone else has requested it. Thank you to Vasilly for making that one sound irresistible. If I could get most of those read this week so I can start reading A Clash of Kings by the pool this weekend in Florida, I’ll be a happy camper. Nothing screams pool-side reading like a battle for Westeros.

*Not a statistically accurate fact.

When Chris announced last week that he was keeping up Heather’s lovely Saturday Farmer’s Market weekly event, I couldn’t wait to participate and show you pictures of our balcony garden! We finally started transplanting our seedlings into pots and now my apartment smells like dirt and fertilizer. We are completely novice gardeners, taking what we’ve learned from books and Michael’s countless hours of internet searches and Reddit Gardening reading into something that looks like a garden. We’ve already failed plenty, but we’re starting to learn that that’s really what gardening is. Lots of failure, which makes the successes taste that much sweeter.

Here is the start! In the big long pot, we have some lettuce that we’re starting. I’m afraid it’s a bit too late for them. Right now it’s still in the 60s, but it’s supposed to be in the 70-80s this weekend and we’re afraid they’re going to bolt. But they’re supposed to be a bit hardier than most lettuce. It’s the Garden Babies Butterhead from Renee’s Garden. Next to the lettuce is our sad little broccoli, that’s not really doing too well, a second squash, cilantro that’s probably been put outside too soon, whirlybird, arugula, cress. In the big pot are carrots and then a zinnia that looks TINY in its huge pot, but that’s going to need that much space when it gets larger.

We ordered our seeds from Johnny’s and Renee’s. We’re really loving the Renee’s for it’s beautiful package, and hopefully we’ll love it because they’re just good plants. From Johnny’s we got the herb disks, which have been great! You don’t really need to worry too much about them. We’re still waiting for our warm-weather herb disks to germinate inside. I hope the do!

I’m most excited though about our tiny baby lettuces. I squealed when I went out on the balcony this morning. They’re so cute! So I’m keeping my fingers crossed for them.

Still in the works are a strawberry planter and tomatoes and hot peppers that still need some time inside before the weather gets warm enough to put them outside. I’m really excited and proud of us for keeping it up this year. Last year all of our seedlings died when we put them outside too early. Instead of dusting ourselves off and trying again we just gave up. NOT THIS YEAR!

Today I’m going to be starting some strawberries inside and planting some chard in an empty pot outside. What are you doing in the garden today?

There’s a healthy amount of idealism in Jim and his wife’s dreams of owning a blueberry farm. They are both teachers and they are burnt out by the time they decide to buy a plot in the mountains of Virginia to start their own organic blueberry farm. They eventually want a farm that will be profitable and also give them the time they want to pursue their creative endeavors. Jim has some experience with growing blueberries, since his family owns a blueberry farm in Pennsylvania  So they buy a small piece of property (which looks nothing like the farm on the cover!) and begin planting their blueberry plants that will eventually start producing in the coming years.

I really enjoyed The Blueberry Years. It’s set up in a series of vignettes that are arranged more or less chronologically. Each chapter is very short, sometimes only a page or two, and usually around three to four pages. This made the reading go by very fast, but I also liked the way each chapter was like a snapshot of the Minnick blueberry farm. You could tell that Jim and Sarah loved their little blueberry farm, but you also know from the beginning that they are eventually going to leave it. Watching the process from heady idealism, to the growth of the farm, to the somewhat-success of the farm, to their eventual decision to leave the farm painted a complete picture of what it might actually be like to take something like this on.

While this is even less of a how-to than Animal Vegetable Miracle, one of the things that bothered me about Kingsolver’s book is the lack of practical application of what she was doing and the lack of information about what Kingsolver and her family did after they finished the book. The Blueberry Years is a memoir, with some history and science about blueberries thrown in, and it’s certainly not a how-to-start-an-organic blueberry farm book, but it felt so much more realistic. Jim and Sarah were average people with some farming experience, but no professional farming experience, and they built their blueberry farm from the ground up.

Minick is a lovely writer. The Blueberry Years is written in a conversational style and it feels like you are going through a photo album and Jim is sitting next to you explaining what’s in each photo. Like any good nonfiction book, I had a lot of facts to share about blueberries to anyone who would listen. It made me crave a big, huge crate of blueberries to freeze and I can’t wait for them to be available in farm stands. Like Animal Vegetable Miracle, this book made me miss Virginia.

I think what I got the most out of The Blueberry Years is that I really want a blueberry bush and I can’t wait until I have a yard to grow one in. I read this book as a part of Debi’s year of themed reading, with March focusing on gardening books. Of the four I read, I think this was my favorite and I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for whatever Minick writes in the future.