Midlife Sarah

  The other day I was thinking about how much I love a project.  In addition to my regular seasonal projects I've also done reading projects (52 books in 52 weeks), fitness projects (80 Day Obsession), travel projects (visit every National Park on our travels), and cooking projects (making the top rated recipe of my favorite meals). I've done many other projects but suffice it to say, I enjoy a project. Instead of letting each day turn into a week turn into a month turn into a year--with nothing to get especially excited about--it's fun to throw in some kind of sparkly scheme to educate, challenge, and give our family some fun new memories. So that's what this series is all about. Welcome to what I'm calling,  "Box Office Binge: A Cinematic Journey Through the Top Movies of My Lifetime." This is a small project aimed at directing our screen time away from mindless streaming and toward purposeful and meaningful cinema. We'll watch the top movie of each ...

I'm just realizing a flaw with posting my TBR each month:  If I don't get to a book, which almost always happens, then it gets tacked on to the next month, and the posts become a rolling file of the same books.  To keep my posts from becoming redundant, I think I'll try to shorten them to a realistic length, then keep the alternates to myself until the end of the month.   For March I've got a book club pick, a Close Reads choice, a classic, three new bestsellers, and a book that won the Nobel Prize.  That's seven and who knows if I'll get through even those.  There are two more on my hopeful list but we'll wait to see if they actually happen this month.  A few of these seem heavy so I intentionally put a few lighter reads in to balance things out.   Also in March I'm looking forward to the first day of spring, and just before that is my oldest daughter's 22nd birthday!  The girls in our family booked a quick trip to celebrate, but that isn't unti...

I don't know whether to say "Whoops" or "Wow!" this month.  I read almost none of the intended books and opted instead for titles that became available from my library holds list.   Here are my reviews and warnings for the books I read in February.  My rating scale is not at all nuanced: numbers are assigned after mushing up several factors in my brain space and then pitting the book against other books that I've read.  The takeaway is something like this: 1/5     I really disliked this book. 2/5     I did not like this book. 3/5     I liked this book. 4/5     I really liked this book. 5/5     I loved this book. Story Spotlight:  Too many words about a book that stuck with me this month. "How to Stay Married" is one of the funniest books I've read in ages...but also completely crushing. I don't know how it's both,  but it is.  Harrison Scott Key is known for his humorous approach to storytelling an...