This week brought a return of summer weather. It’s hot, hazy, and sticky outside and, by mid-afternoon, even the cool interior of this 19th century house has succumbed to the wave of warmth and humidity. No matter the temperature, my reading list is alive and active. Usually, I read at night, but on occasion, I sneak in a few chapters before dinner or in the early morning.

Here’s what I’m reading now:

Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer’s Craft by Natalie Goldberg. Every short chapter stirs my imagination, pokes at my inhibitions and challenges me to be as real in my writing as I can be.

The Silent Corner: A Novel of Suspense by Dean Koontz. Jane Hawk is the brave, tough, smart and sexy heroine trying to uncover the what, why and most importantly who behind a series of “suicides” that includes her own husband. I’m halfway through and it is fast-paced and full of action and suspense.

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova takes the reader on an intricate journey that weaves between the present and the 1800s. I am over halfway through this book and as unsure of what it’s really about as I was in the first couple of chapters. A mad artist and the women who love him are interspersed with scenes and letters of people from long ago. How do they connect? That’s what I want to find out.

The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood brings the lives of a quirky centenarian, a musician and a librarian together to learn of her past and attempt an entry into the Guinness World Records.

Real Artists Don’t Starve: Timeless Strategies for Thriving in the New Creative Age by Jeff Goins is a positive book declaring that artists can make a living and be successful doing what they do best–creating. Each chapter has examples of people who have thrived with their art. Jeff shares principles that creative people need to incorporate into their life and work if they are to move forward and support themselves with their art.

Beauty: The Invisible Embrace by John O Donahue has been a book I’ve savored a few paragraphs or pages at a time. Almost every sentence makes me stop the book down and ponder the significance of his words and bask in the turn of phrase and way he thinks about life. It is rich, imaginative and emanates beauty. I’ll continue to take my time with this.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone) by Laini Taylor is my first YA read in a long time. It’s set in Prague and there is a young artist with blue hair and other supernatural characteristics. I think I’m going to like it.

Untangled by

What are you reading now? I’d love to hear all about your current reads in the comments.

Alan and I had a fun, full weekend with a gig both Saturday and Sunday. We got to see our friends who showed up, to talk, have a drink and enjoy the places we played at. Bandwagon Brewery just opened up practically around the corner from us and we are thrilled to be playing there once a month at least through the end of this year.

On Saturday when we played there for their Grand Opening, our friends Mimi, Bill and EJ from the Busy Bee came. Some other Bee people came too, but I don’t know their names yet. Judy and Jim were there–my friends of several years. I always ask Jim about sound because he knows what he’s talking about and knows how to make the sound quality great.

On Sunday we played at Barrett Marine in Geneva where our friends Dennis and Sandy have a boat. Dennis got us that gig, which was sweet–playing for a few hundred people while they ate their lunch and chatted. Then we hung out with Sandy and Dennis by their boat for a couple of hours. The day was bright and not too cool and I soaked up the end-of-summer feel.

When we got home and unpacked the equipment, I was exhausted but felt the pull of the sunlit Sunday evening and decided to take a walk. The lake flirted its blue shimmer, the cornfields threw off their golden glow, the cows stared as I passed the first farm and horses watched me from far away as I turned a corner. The Amish must’ve had a wedding that day because the road was busy with a steady stream of horses and buggies on their way home.

I remembered the feeling of summer’s end from when I was small. My mother and siblings would come up from Brooklyn and stay with my grandparents in Interlaken all summer. Right before school started, we returned to the city and I felt so sad to leave what I thought was Paradise behind. The woods, meadows, lakes, fields, waterfalls, birds and other wildlife all would go on through the fall, winter and spring until I came back for another summer. I hated the idea of missing it all. I wanted to see the leaves turn, feel the air become cooler, hear the mornings grow ever more still as birds migrated South.

So there I was walking past farms and woodland with Amish going by feeling as thankful as I knew how that I live here now. I trudged up the hill homeward as the stars came out and sat in the gazebo listening to the night sounds. I heard two barn owls, dogs barking, someone singing far away, more Amish horses clip-clopping on the road and even saw a shooting star. The peace of this place soaked in and filled me with contentment. Eventually, Alan slipped out of the house to make sure I was alright and we sat together enjoying the end of a delightful day.