Austenesque Lovers TBR Challenge 2020 discussion
Questions??? And, Maybe Answers
>
reading slump
date
newest »
newest »
Yes, me too. Mine started even before the pandemic, though, with the death of my sweetie in January. Can't bring myself to write either. I feel like I'm missing crucial info if I'm not watching news, and then suddenly I'll overdose on news and watch something escapist for an hour (currently the Elizabeth Garvie/David Rintoul P&P).I think it's just a rearrangement of perspective and priorities, and temporary; at least I hope so!
This too shall pass! I've been going in and out of it, too. Still reading a bunch, but I put them down a bunch to just veg out and play solitaire on my phone, sometimes for hours, because it gets too hard to concentrate. Writing reviews is even harder - I find I can get them done in spurts on the days I feel "normal."I keep reminding myself of the terror my parents' generation had to deal with during WWII and the depression - those times lasted for years instead of the months we're anticipating with the COVID-19 crisis. And I try to focus on all the good things I still have that I'm grateful for.
Ugh!! Wishing you two well. I had a day or two of a mini slump. So far...I'm reading more books than normal at the same time ie 5%the Scottish bandits, 10% the JAFF book, 5-10% little known Civil War battle, etc.
Good things to remember, Debbie! I do realize I am one of the fortunate.Thanks for the good wishes, Kirk!
Miss Abigail I am so sorry for your loss. I must have missed it when it happened. please take care/
Abagail, I really don't have a good memory for these things. I definitely remember some references you have made of your sweetie, but don't remember whether I was aware at one point that he had passed. So I'm going to extend my sympathies - again? - for the second time? I don't know why my memory is so terrible. My father-in-law just told me that he has arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome in both of his hands, and that's why he doesn't sign for me anymore. I did notice that he has pretty much stopped signing. But I could NOT remember knowing that he had those issues, nor did I remember hearing that he had surgery on one of his hands two years ago. Argh! All this to say that I hope you don't think me thoughtless. I'm pretty close to my FIL. They're visiting from Boston for a couple of weeks, and we are sheltering-in-place - with them. They're in their apartment, which is inside their house, and they pretty much have the door open between our house and their apartment from 10 AM until 10 PM. My kids have really benefited from having them here, and each of my kids have a date with Grandma. The youngest two from 10:30-11:30, the youngest two from 3:00-4:00, and the oldest two from 6:30-7:30. The oldest are also included in whatever the adults do from about 7:30-9:30.
We're doing fine here, but my kids don't like me being their teacher. I won't let them do less than their best. Too bad. (The oldest two are independent, but I consult with them to make sure that they're doing SOMETHING.)
I am not doing much reading. I get in 20-45 minutes of podcasts - not audiobooks at present - per day. I'm used to listening to podcasts or audio books for about 5 hours per weekday. Ugh.
And I haven't been doing a good job of reading my Kindle book for months because I have to share that time slot with Goodreads and e-mail.
Almost no reading! Yuck and double-yuck!!! Not a slump - just no time. When I'm not home-schooling my kids, I'm taking care of meals - for ten people - and visiting with my in-laws. Wow. My husband is working from home, but is putting in very long hours. (Eleven hours today, and he didn't even come out for lunch.)
Cuomo just extended the "no school" until April 15th. Sigh.
On the plus side, starting Monday, the teachers will be more consistent across the board about giving the students materials. It took two weeks to get things set up. We have three laptops from the school district here, and the kids are sharing. My middle daughter's teacher finally assigned something just today, but it was only to submit a video, answering four questions. Yeah... I was rather frustrated about that. Some of the students' teachers have set up a classroom so that they can all chat together twice a week with a conference call. I'd rather that they just have more work than something like that. Oh, well. But I know that most people don't have a household of eight (plus grandparents visiting temporarily) and can benefit from talking with others.
Some people must really be going stir-crazy. I want to be alone more.
Love you all. Sorry for the ramble, but I think I'm going to leave it.
Thank you, Marlene! David's life had become quite a trial for him, and I'm glad he could lay down that burden. Especially now that nobody is allowed to visit elder care places--he would not have understood why he was abandoned there, and I couldn't take care of him at home because I couldn't do the lifting. I miss him, though!I can't imagine how you do it all! Teaching everyone and feeding everyone and making it all work for everyone, you must be run ragged. I hope sometimes you get a chance to do something for yourself, even if it's just a walk or a long bath. You make me feel guilty about my lazy solitude!
I think we're all so jarred out of our normal lives that it's impossible NOT to be forgetful right now! You're definitely not alone in that.
Marlene, your life sounds so....shall we call it....busy? I can't imagine having such a houseful in the current global situation. I know I wouldn't cope with it too well, as I'm not generally a social person over long periods of time, even with people I know well.It's interesting to see how things are varying in the way different countries are dealing with the Covid-19 situation. Here in the UK, we aren't currently allowed to have anyone visit our homes, let alone come to stay for a couple of weeks, even family members, if they're not normally resident with us. The only exception is for carers who visit to look after the vulnerable, elderly and infirm. This means even our son and his fiancée are barred right now.
This is just one aspect of our current nationwide lockdown which started last Tuesday. It's in place for at least three weeks and I honestly can't see it being lifted then. If anything, and if the idiotic behaviour demonstrated by some members of society continues, it'll only get stricter at that point, if not before. We'll probably be getting towards the peak of the pandemic in the UK round about that time.
Scary times. Hope everyone is keeping well and staying safe. Has anyone here had any symptoms?
Anji-this our first day of ‘lockdown’ a word out leaders dislike to use. I think,from news coverage,that people are largely obeying it. Guards stopping cars on motorways asking their destination and asking some to turn around and return to their homes. They don’t have official powers at the moment to attest but that will change next week.
Since Thursday, the police here have the power to disperse public gatherings of more than two people who aren't from the same household and to issue on-the-spot fines. It's only Saturday and the first have already been issued. There are also reports of people being turned back on their journeys for travelling without a good reason. I'm keeping my NHS ID card to hand when driving to work now, as my minimum commute is half an hour. They're particularly keen on discouraging people from driving into the countryside for their "allowable once daily exercise". As my commutes take me into the Yorkshire Dales National Park, I could easily get stopped and questioned.
Patricia, I'm still not reading much, but tonight I'm thrilled that I've been up here in my room alone for an hour WITHOUT FALLING ASLEEP. My husband walked in after watching something or other with my oldest two, and I sang, "I'm awake, I'm awake, I'm awake!" So I think after I catch up on Goodreads, I will ACTUALLY READ!!!! Woo hoo. Do you listen to audio books/podcasts at all? I find them to be just lovely when I'm doing housework or working on a project. Sometimes I need to rewind to catch something I missed. Maybe try that?? Abagail, I actually turned the news feed off on my phone because I felt like there was just TOO MUCH coronavirus news to sift through. Something escapist sounds perfect, either way. I watched Jane Eyre last night. Woo hoo! The first time I watched that particular adaptation I didn't like the format very much, but I really liked it a lot the second time around. And the point you make about your sweetie not understanding why he had no visitors is a very good one. One of our friends' family was split in half recently. Mom and youngest daughter in the hospital for 2-3 weeks, and Dad and older daughter (but still a very young child) at home with zero contact. The youngest daughter had a horrible case of pneumonia with a lot of complications. I just cried when I heard about their situation. If that had ever happened to my family, I would have found that so stressful.
Anji, the grandparents actually had a big argument over the trip. They always come to visit for the the last week of March and the first week of April. We celebrate Grandma's birthday, Jasmin's birthday, and Nora's birthday. And they leave gifts for Jacob's adoption day on April 8th. The main purpose of our addition - which took six months - was to build a first-floor apartment for them. They're here for about 10 weeks of the year. Grandma was not willing to give up the trip. Grandpa was urging against it. Once they were here, they stayed in our house except to go to the grocery store. When they went back to Massachussets a few days ago, they knew they had to self-quarantine themselves for a solid two weeks. So my sister-in-law dropped off two weeks' worth of groceries at their front door the evening they got back home. Also, my son is running once a day with two of his friends at a 2500 acre park about 20 minutes away from our house. I don't let him go any further. I don't let him give a ride to either of his friends - or accept one. In New York the parks are open - but not the buildings. I feel that at the park, he's less likely to run into people. There are a ton of people walking in my neighborhood now, and I tell my kids to stay away from the road even if someone talks to them. (I normally let them visit with neighbors who walk by with a dog because my kids are so pet-starved. I'm so mean and won't allow a pet.)
I feel that people are doing a very good job of following the social distancing rules. But I do have a concern about domestic violence increasing and people's mental health. And I also feel that if this goes on too long, people are going to start to rebel. My own mother tells me that she "goes out when she feels like it" not when it's "just essential." Around here, cell phone data shows that people in my county are doing an excellent job of staying home.
My husband's work falls under the umbrella of "essential" but because he CAN work effectively at home, he filled his car with computer equipment 2-3 weeks ago, and has a desk taking up a huge chunk of our bedroom with three huge monitors and a laptop. Very interesting having him here. We ignore him, and whenever he comes out for literally a minute to grab food and go back and lock himself into our bedroom, I tell him, "I see you!!!!"
I'm sorry. I'm babbling again. Love you all and hope that you all found something interesting in this. ;-) If not, skip, skip, skip..... :-) (I hope someone finds it interesting, because it took 30 minutes to write it. :P)
Another thing - our "mother's helper" that we employ for 9 hours per week is no longer coming! It's so SAD not to have someone to wash the dishes and fold the laundry. But now that my husband doesn't have to drive for an hour a day, that time is devoted to... dishes and laundry. Sarah stops by about once a week to pick up mending and book repair work. I don't give her clothes to fold because she has cats at her house, and one of my boys is extremely allergic to cats.
Marlene wrote: "Patricia, I'm still not reading much, but tonight I'm thrilled that I've been up here in my room alone for an hour WITHOUT FALLING ASLEEP. My husband walked in after watching something or other wit..."I have a hearing loss so audio has not been good . I tend to work more when I am listening , trying to make words out . I need to give my ears a rest.
I think I am getting burned out with all electronics going on. I work at a school so been on laptop, bingewatched father brown on netflix
and when my mom is home, (and shes been home from work past couple weeks, ) she likes to have sounds on, (and unfortunately she likes to have the news on so I am finding out all about the virus etc. which is not helping. )when I am home I like to have quiet time as i call it in order to regroup. no sounds etc, except maybe classical music.
I'm there with you, Patricia, TV and the Internet have been overwhelming me a bit. I feel obscurely guilty when I don't have the news on, but I try to carve out periods of several hours at a time each day for peace and quiet, reading, watching the birds on the patio.
Patricia wrote: "I have a hearing loss so audio has not been good . I tend to work more when I am listening , trying to make words out . I need to give my ears a rest."Patricia, I completely understand that. I was like that too until I got hearing aids that are compatible with Bluetooth. My bluetooth clip sends sound directly to my hearing aids, and I can use my phone to control the environmental noises (all the way down) and the audio I'm listening to goes directly into my ears via my hearing aids. It's amazing. The sound is perfect. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before. I do have to listen SLOWLY, but it is a blessing. With a 95 dB loss, never in a million years would I have expected to be able to do that. If you wear hearing aids and are in the market for new ones, you might consider something like that in the future.
We all have to do what works!!! MY frustration is being too tired to stay awake and read. Argh! I hope you get it figured out
I see there have been no new posts here for the past month. Have we all gotten acclimated to the "new normal"? I think I have - the lows seem to have mostly gone away, and the ones I do experience are more reminiscent of what I normally had in the pre-social distance times.
Ha, you're probably right. For me, even unspeakable tragedy became boring when filtered through the repetitive stylings of the 24-hour news cycle. Less TV news was much more impactful for me, so I resolutely turned away and altered the allocation of time. That meant reading, writing, and walking more and I'm coping better as a result.
Abigail wrote: "Ha, you're probably right. For me, even unspeakable tragedy became boring when filtered through the repetitive stylings of the 24-hour news cycle. Less TV news was much more impactful for me, so I ..."That's good news indeed ie less news!!
Debbie wrote: "I see there have been no new posts here for the past month. Have we all gotten acclimated to the "new normal"? I think I have - the lows seem to have mostly gone away, and the ones I do experience ..."Great and moving post! After reading many books at a time for the past month and half, I'm having a bit of "what's next problem" at the moment. Laugh at myself...I'm also fighting the urge to look at my public library holds list. While not a buyer of books, I might dip into a few rereads of books I do own. :)
New York recently announced that we would NOT be going back to school for the rest of the year. That means that I now KNOW FOR SURE that I have hard work to do until almost the end of June. I was pretty bummed. After being in the dumps for about a day - I'm helping my youngest four kids (and my next door neighbor who is in 2nd grade and whose mom is busy all day as a school counselor) with schoolwork from pretty much 8 to 3 each day - and can't get much else done. So our break times are now longer just because I can't sustain running a household without more uninterrupted times. But having one mandatory "go outside and play and don't come in until I tell you" and a couple of "go downstairs or outside and don't come back until I tell you to" breaks is helping me to squeeze in the most important things. I'm very frustrated about it. Not going anywhere doesn't bother me. But the hours and hours of work I didn't have to do before is frustrating. It's not hard - I'm actually a certified teacher - but when do I do those other things? Some of them have to drop.
On the plus side, I am correcting some weaknesses the school is unable to in a large classroom setting, and the attitude of two of my kids who are easily influenced by friends is noticeably improving.
Also on the plus side, my kids have each other (and the backyard and video games) to keep busy - plus that one neighbor girl - and do not complain about being home for days on end. My two teens are painting the inside of the church community center once or twice a week. The attitude of my kids is such a blessing.
And now my husband has told me that he can continue working from home if he wants to. Wow!
You have so much on your plate, Marlene! I'm impressed with how hard to try to find things to be grateful for.
I know that God wants us to be thankful and that it keeps us from dwelling on how we want the way things to be. My family has everything we need, and are actually in a slightly stronger position financially during this time of pandemic. We're fine. But it's hard work, and I don't have the freedom I had before. :-)
None of us does have our previous freedoms, that's for sure! But I have appreciated the salutary lesson that the things that connect us ultimately matter more than my solo liberty--at least in the everyday ways I exercise it!
I'm with Abigail, Marlene. It's admirable the way you manage all your children (plus your neighbor's!) so conscienciously. I'm sure a lot of kids will be returning to school in the fall completely unprepared to move forward because their parents aren't following through on making them do schoolwork right now. You're taking the harder road, but it's the correct one, and you're to be commended! They may not feel it now, but someday your kids are going to be so thankful for the sacrifices you're making to help them succeed.
Abigail, I've never been one to listen to or read much of the daily news - too depressing, even in the best of times and especially since our idiot president took office. (My apologies to those who still approve of him, but I can't listen to the man say more than two sentences without my blood starting to boil. I think the man's an embarrassment to our country. But I digress...) My hubby follows the daily news events much more than I do and directs my attention to the things I need to be aware of. Now that I have a pretty good handle on how to protect myself from the epidemic, I don't see the point of following all the updates about it until testing in my area becomes available, and then when a vaccine is discovered and available.
Kirk, I'm sure your library misses you too, with all the books you usually borrow from them! As you said, there are always books of your own to re-read. Plus, you sure find a lot of unpublished JAFF online to keep you busy!
What you said, Debbie! ;-)Sadly, I don't have a hubby to give me the essential news--what a useful thing! I've always been a news junkie, though, so nothing new--it's an interactive affair with me making lots of "contributions" commenting on the reports, and saying hello and good-bye to my favorite anchors every day. It's just been a matter of finding the right balance, keeping well informed while not drowning in the moment.
Debbie wrote: "Kirk, I'm sure your library misses you too, with all the books you usually borrow from them! As you said, there are always books of your own to re-read. Plus, you sure find a lot of unpublished JAF..."Yes indeed!!!! :) And the Library Dir of the local branch library gave me a long Austen bio that they were taking out of circulation. Although I'm not keen on long bios(laugh at myself...or long books in general), I must read it before they are back...maybe....I suppose...lol. :)
Debbie wrote: "Abigail, I've never been one to listen to or read much of the daily news - too depressing, even in the best of times and especially since our idiot president took office. (My apologies to those who..."To quote Abigail...what you said!!!!!!! :)
Tooooo much news is bad for most people's health!(certainly mine....grrrrrrrrrrr! Yup, full Marianne sometimes)
Debbie, thank you.I'd been in the habit of reading the headlines and then reading the articles of whatever interested me since I got my new smartphone. (Before then, I relied on my husband.) But about a month ago, I disabled the news feed feature I could browse by swiping to the right because EVERYTHING was centered around COVID.
My husband and I watched Kate and Leopold tonight while I folded clothes. It's been a very long time since I've seen that movie, but I was very happy to see it again. I'd recommend it to everyone here who hasn't seen it.
For Mother's Day, my husband ordered the new Emma for me. We'll have to see how I like it. She is dressed in QUITE the bright yellow dress on the cover.
Marlene wrote: "Debbie, thank you.I'd been in the habit of reading the headlines and then reading the articles of whatever interested me since I got my new smartphone. (Before then, I relied on my husband.) But ..."
I am curious how you like the new one. people seem to either love it or dislike it.
Patricia wrote: "I am curious how you like the new one. people seem to either love it or dislike it.."I'm wondering myself! Ha!
So.... have you watched Emma yet, Marlene? I just ordered the DVD - supposed to get here by Monday. If nothing else, I know I'll enjoy the costumes and settings! They look gorgeous in all the trailers.
We got it yesterday! I wanted to watch it tonight, but my daughter had a Google Meet at 7:30, and I wasn't willing to START a movie at 8 PM. I needed to make the grocery list, anyway. It took, no kidding, 1.5 hours. (I refuse to go to a grocery store more than once a week, and a household of 8 requires a lot of food. )
I'm watching it right now! (To be honest, I saw it in the theater right before the shelter in place order came down in my area.) I look forward to hearing other people's thoughts.
I'd had plans to see it in the movie theatre, and that turned out to be the very day they were all required to close. (I'd intended to find a seat far from everyone else and go overboard with my alcohol sanitizer!) Don't subscribe to any of the home movie services that have been running it, so I've been out of luck until the DVD was released. I ordered the 2007 Persuasion with it to get my order high enough for free shipping, so I have a double shot of Austen on film to look forward to when they get here!
It's like we're having a Zoom Austen orgy! I've watched several of the old DVDs during the shelter at home stretch.
We watched it tonight! My 16 year-old son was required to watch it with us, and he did. Mostly. While playing a game on the phone. Overall, I liked it a lot. It was made by Focus, which is the same company that made the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice, which we love for the visual effects and the music. The same here - visually and musically lovely. This one, however, has a couple of characters portrayed to be exaggerated caricatures. (Edit: I actually did enjoy the caricatures, even though they were jarring. The bums were jarring too. At least they both happened near the beginning and then it was over with.)
Also,
However, the organization of the movie is very smart. I did avert my eyes at the beginning when Mr. Knightley was getting dressed. Dan found it interesting. He mentioned that they wet his stockings before they put them on. Sounds uncomfortable to me!
The ladies were wearing earrings, which I was rather distracted by.
There were a couple of changes that I was surprised about.
We were very entertained and very satisfied :-)
Emma had a very expressive face, which I loved.
There was an odd fondness for bums. I suppose I can see the rationale (presenting the characters as ordinary people despite their ultra-ceremonious world) but it was jarring. Caricature is exactly the word for some of the portrayals (thinking especially of Mr. W and both the Eltons), but I really liked the portrayals of Miss Bates and Harriet Smith. And unlike the Keira Knightley P&P, they adhered quite closely to the text in the dialogue, which was a pleasure.
Marlene wrote: "We watched it tonight! My 16 year-old son was required to watch it with us, and he did. Mostly. While playing a game on the phone. Overall, I liked it a lot. It was made by Focus, which is the sa..."
what kind of changes? message me if you think its spoiler
Patricia wrote: "Marlene wrote: "We watched it tonight! My 16 year-old son was required to watch it with us, and he did. Mostly. While playing a game on the phone. Overall, I liked it a lot. It was made by Focus,..."
I'll put what I remember here in a spoiler tag in case anyone else wants to see.
(view spoiler)
Marlene wrote: "Patricia wrote: "Marlene wrote: "We watched it tonight! My 16 year-old son was required to watch it with us, and he did. Mostly. While playing a game on the phone. Overall, I liked it a lot. It w..."
who was in fantastic beasts movie?
Callum Turner was the actor who played Frank Churchill in "Emma." and was a character in the Fantasic Beasts movie. In Emma.:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4360085/m...
In Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4360085/m...
Marlene wrote: "Callum Turner was the actor who played Frank Churchill in "Emma." and was a character in the Fantasic Beasts movie. In Emma.:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4360085/m...
In Fant..."
i thought he looked familiar in emma! could not place him for the life of me
My Emma. (the DVD) arrived yesterday - I just finished watching it this morning. I really loved everything about it. I'm shifting over to our Austen Film Club thread to get into specifics.
with us working from home while this is going on, I thought i would have done a lot more reading.