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Welcome to my weekly update for April 2, 2023!
We spent last weekend with my husband’s cousin and his wife in San Diego, celebrating the cousin’s birthday. We ate way too much and had a great time with them, as we always do. On Monday, we caught a break in the rain and drove back to down to San Diego to see the Japanese Friendship Garden at Balboa Park. We were at the end of cherry blossom season but there were still a few late blooms hanging on, in addition to some azaleas, wisteria, and a few other things I can’t identify. It smelled heavenly!
Later: Oh goodness! As I was saving this post on Friday evening, we had a minor 4.2 earthquake but it’s by far the biggest I’ve ever felt! We have only felt a few very minor little blips in the past. My husband, who was at work, said his co-workers didn’t even remark on it. Nothing shifted in our RV but I thought there were people outside shaking it for some reason. I actually went to the window to look out. That was exciting! And more than enough earthquake activity for me, thankyouverymuch.
Slideshow:
All images © Jennifer G. at Introverted Reader 2023
- Cherry blossoms (I believe)
- Wisteria blooming on a pergola. The wisteria smelled amazing!
- Azaleas blooming around a koi pond
- Individual trees frequently grab my attention when we’re out and about. I loved the root system on this Moreton Bay Ficus tree (I think that’s what it is)
Posted:
All Systems Red by Martha Wells, read by Kevin R. Free: Book Review 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Ten Books I Recommend if You Like L. M. Montgomery
“The Secret Life of Bots” by Suzanne Palmer: Short Story Review 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Read:
I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site.
Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde
The Basilisk’s Lair (Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist #2) by R. L. LaFevers, illustrated by Kelly Murphy
Bite-Sized Magic (The Bliss Bakery #3) by Kathryn Littlewood
Lore Olympus Volume Three by Rachel Smythe
Currently Reading:
Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum #14) by Janet Evanovich
European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman (The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club #2) by Theodora Goss, read by Kate Reading
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Up Next:
This feels silly to say when I finished four books last week, but I’m in a pretty bad reading slump right now. Reading books from easy series I’ve already started seems to be working well for me though. We’ll see where that leads.
What did your week look like?
Hosts:
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
34 Comments
I haven’t read a Janet Evanovich in many, many years. I remember really liking them. And I am glad your biggest earthquake wasn’t too bad. 🙂
Evanovich is always good for a fun, easy escape read. How can you not love Stephanie, Lula, and Grandma Mazur, not to mention Morelli and Ranger?
Your photos are lovely, as usual! It sounds like you are having a good time in California (quakes not withstanding). I wonder where you will be spending your summer.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
We’re trying to figure out summer plans now. My husband’s job market has been wobbly all year and it’s still weird so his recruiter is basically advising us to be patient. We know which states we’d like to go to but we’ll see what actually happens.
Your pictures are so pretty. I’m glad your earthquake was mild!
I’m glad the earthquake was mild too!
Yikes about the earthquake! We had one mild earthquake when we lived in Vermont, but it was over before I realized what was happening. And yikes, to a lesser degree, about the reading slump. I read The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz as a print/audio combo. Loved it! It was recommended by another blogger.
I’ve been reading a lot, but I’m in a reviewing slump and my own writing, aside from occasional blogging, has gone completely kaput.
I haven’t been feeling the reviewing part lately either. I’ve been making notes in my reading journal so I can catch up later. I’ve just been publishing my backlog of GoodReads reviews here. I hope you find your writing mojo soon.
Great photos! I’m so looking forward to Spring if it ever arrives in Minnesota! I’ve never been in an earthquake. It must have been startling. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
I’ve only felt a few tiny blips before and this one lasted several seconds. Startling is a good word to describe it!
I’m glad the earthquake wasn’t too bad. I think that would be a cool thing to experience.
It feels like our California experience wouldn’t be complete without an earthquake but this one was quite big enough for me! I still remember seeing pictures of that collapsed double decker bridge from the Oakland earthquake in the late’80s. I panic whenever we’re on a double decker bridge to this day, even though I grew up on the other side of the country!
Those pictures look pretty.
Have a great week.
Thanks!
Stamped From the Beginning sounds like an informative read. Added to my list. Wonderful photos….spring is such a great time! Hope you have a terrific week.
Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
https://www.bookshelfjourneys.com/post/sunday-post-43
Stamped from the Beginning is definitely informative but it is dense with history. I’m finding it a slow read for that reason.
Lovely photos! 4.2 is a respectable size earthquake. Granted, native Californians will usually just go “huh” with quakes that size, but they’re at least ones that you can feel.
When I lived in California we only had one small earthquake. I was in the kitchen and felt it and my hanging vine was swaying back and forth. I ran outside to my kids who were riding their big wheels on the patio. There were some neighbors outside. My kids and the neighboors were just standing around/riding their big wheels like nothing was going on. Since the kids were ok I just went back inside. I was the only one who even noticed I guess.
Your photos are so beautiful! We visited Balboa Park decades ago when we stayed on Coronado Island for a sailing course… happy memories. That earthquake sounds pretty scary to me.
Love the pictures. I have only been in a small earthquake a time or two, even the small ones are enough to be scary! I hope you have a great week!
I love Balboa Park. I used to work downtown at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and would go for a run on my lunch break, often times heading up to the park. My first memory of the park is of going with my brothers and our grandmother (maybe when I was 10?) to the Museum of Man and getting homemade flour tortillas at an exhibit. I had never tasted anything so delicious!
A 4.2 earthquake is definitely one that I would feel. We felt one once when we lived in Vista and it set off our security alarm. I thought someone was breaking in before I finally realized that the light fixtures were swaying!
I’ve had All Systems Red in my tbr audio list for a long time. It’s quite popular with my friends, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.
Hope you have a great week. My brother texted a photo of snow in their yard in Escondido! It didn’t last, of course, but that’s fairly rare.
Thank you for the lovely pics – and oh my goodness… an earthquake! Glad it wasn’t too bad, but like you, it’s not something I ever want to go through. I recall my father-in-law getting caught up in a big one in L.A. in 1994 and his account of it was terrifying. And being caught in a reading slump is always a bit miserable – so I think picking up exactly what you feel like reading, rather than going down the ‘ought to’ route is always the smarter way to go when trying to break out of it. Have a good week, Jen:).
I loved Balboa Park when we visited! Such a cool place.
I loved The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. And I Capture the Castle. I have the Enid Blyton books on my TBR, as possibilities for read alouds with Wyatt.
Wow!! I don’t know which is worse, an earthquake or strangers shaking your RV. I sort of think a smallish (?) earthquake is the better of the two?
My brother lived in San Diego and loved it. I always ment to visit but time got away. Nice book selection and I will say if I had been around during an earthquake I would have freaked! I guess if you live with them you aren’t as fazed.
As a native Californian, I’d be MUCH more scared of strangers shaking the RV.
I was in LA after the Northridge quake in the 90’s and remember feeling that first big aftershock. It’s freaky!
Lovely photos.
Reading series books is a good way to get out of a reading slump. I read 3 Georgette Heyer mysteries last month when I needed a break from tougher reads, and it helped. Happy spring!
Growing up in the Midwest, I’d never felt an earthquake until I went to Japan for work. It was a very strange feeling indeed. It was just a small tremor, but I felt queasy and dizzy, I suppose because I had never experienced it before.
Nice pics and good pile of books. I can only take Stephanie Plum in small doses – funny and irreverent but she gets annoying if I read too many of her capers in a row, lol. Happy reading.
I know it sounds strange to say you are in a reading slump when you’ve just finished four books, but, oddly, I’ve experienced something similar. It’s something in the quality of the reading, maybe.
Those pictures of the Japanese Friendship Garden are beautiful. I’m imagining some lovely scents as well as the beautiful color.
Your photos are beautiful! The blossoming trees are so wonderful.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I would have been terrorized to be in an earthquake!!
Wow that earthquake sounds wild! I suppose long time residents get used to minor ones, but still… if you’re not used to them! The cherry blossoms looks beautiful… And I love koi ponds!!
The Basilisk looks fun!
Ooh I’lll have to check out your Clarkesworld post… okay I just did mid- comment lol. Thank you for the shout out! And for reminding me how much I liked this… I’m going to go read it again (and I need to read Clarkesworld more as well).
Beautiful photos! We’re in autumn here now, so it’s nice to see some spring blossoms 🙂