My chosen poem this week is by the African-American poet, essayist, educator and social worker, Clarissa Scott Delany (1901-1927).
Joy
Joy shakes me like the wind that lifts a sail, Like the roistering wind That laughs through stalwart pines. It floods me like the sun On rain-drenched trees That flash with silver and green.
I abandon myself to joy - I laugh - I sing. Too long have I walked a desolate way, Too long stumbled down a maze Bewildered.
My next three months are going to be based around my 20 Books of Summer Challenge but I am planning on dividing my planned 20 books between the three months. So here are the planned books I hope to read during June. This month I plan on focusing on physical books as I have my Kindle books planned for July when I am on holiday.
I am currently trying to finish two big books so I’m not sure when I will get around to these but hopefully soon.
I will be honest I am very disappointed with how little I managed to read in May. It felt like I had read a lot but obviously I was wrong. I am hoping June will be a much better month.
Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club. All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.
Hello!
I hope everyone had a good start to the week. I was back at school today which was chaotic as most of my students had forgotten their books.
My chosen book to feature today is one that I have had on my Kindle for a couple of years but I am hoping to read it for my 20 Books of Summer challenge.
Lessons by Ian EcEwan
When the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has closed, eleven-year-old Roland Baines’s life is turned upside down. Two thousand miles from his mother’s protective love, stranded at an unusual boarding school, his vulnerability attracts piano teacher Miss Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade.
Now, when his wife vanishes, leaving him alone with his tiny son, Roland is forced to confront the reality of his restless existence. As the radiation from Chernobyl spreads across Europe, he begins a search for answers that looks deep into his family history and will last for the rest of his life.
Haunted by lost opportunities, Roland seeks solace through every possible means—music, literature, friends, sex, politics, and, finally, love cut tragically short, then love ultimately redeemed. His journey raises important questions for us all. Can we take full charge of the course of our lives without causing damage to others? How do global events beyond our control shape our lives and our memories? And what can we really learn from the traumas of the past?
Epic, mesmerising, and deeply humane, Lessons is a chronicle for our times—a powerful meditation on history and humanity through the prism of one man’s lifetime.
I hope everyone has had a good weekend so far. I have had a lovely couple of days of reading. I always get loads of reading done when the Grand Prix is on.
I’ve got back into Under the Dome and so far I am enjoying it but finding it very different to the TV series. I have also started my reread of The Three Musketeers. This is one of my absolute favourite books and I am so excited to reread it. It is a different translation to the one I am used to though and I am finding it a bit different. My old copy completely fell apart and I sadly lost a few of the pages during a house move.
I thought it was time for a blog post about my recent adventures.
Jersey
We spent a few days in Jersey last month. It was the first time we had been to Jersey but I hope it won’t be our last as it was really lovely. We crammed loads of adventures in and tried to visit as many things as possible. The weather was glorious as well.
Walking
We are still trying to go for a daily walk even though we have completed our Lent challenge and we are now very close to completing our most recent Conqueror Challenge.
English Heritage and National Trust
This week we met up with my friend and visited Wrest Park which was amazing. We walked the extensive gardens all day and still didn’t see everything. My husband and myself also visited Upton House very briefly but the weather was so terrible we only did the house and avoided the gardens.
