Today is National Book Lovers Day, which should be a national holiday so that everyone can just sit and read. Alas, I am in the midst of my usual responsibilities, but looking forward to reading in bed later. On to the roundup!
Quote of the week:
“Maybe it’s good we don’t know what will happen next in our stories, because if we did, we might not turn the page. Or we might skip ahead and never experience the good that comes out of the hard moment we’re living through.” –Simone Biles
What I’m reading:
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. I am loving this book. The story is woven together in such an intricate way and the characters are all really well done.
What I’m listening to:
Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir by Dolly Alderton. It’s entertaining and light.
What I’m watching:
I’m almost done with Season 3 of Hacks and still loving it. I’ll be eagerly awaiting Season 4. Other than that, I’ve been watching a lot of the Olympics. I also watched an old movie that was new to me—Event Horizon. I was on the edge of my seat the whole movie.
Writing news:
I’m still working on edits to my novel that comes out next year. Really enjoying this process. I am antsy to get back to writing my new novel too (the one that will come out in 2026).
Interesting things I learned this week—Olympics edition:
- I can run 100m in 17 seconds. I was curious how fast I could do this after watching the 100m Olympics final. Those athletes can run 100m in less than 10 seconds. LOL. I literally cannot fathom what it feels like to run that fast
- The U.S. pays gold medal winners $38,000. This is pretty low compared to other countries—Hong Kong and China pay $768,000, Spain pays $102,000, France pays $87,000 (read here)
- With 14 Olympic medals, Katie Ledecky is the most decorated female Olympian of all time
- The Women’s gymnastics floor final led to the first-ever all-Black podium (Rebeca Andrade with the gold, Simone Biles with the silver, Jordan Chiles with the bronze)
- Noah Lyles won the bronze in the 200m while positive for Covid. Given that I could not even muster the energy to walk my dog when I had Covid recently, I am in awe of this
What I’m grateful for:
- Finally feeling 100% better after having Covid. Glad to have that behind me
- My daughter’s “Peter Pan” performance at the Boys & Girls Club. She has become really into theater and it’s so fun to see her gain confidence. I was so shy as a kid and don’t think I could have gotten up on a stage
- Speaking of theater, we went to a “Bluey” play with two of my daughter’s friends and their moms last weekend. It was such a nice little outing
- Reconnecting with a co-worker/friend I hadn’t seen in years! We were pregnant at the same time and it was so fun to see our 6-year-old daughters hang out together
- Dinner with another friend I hadn’t seen in way too long. Grateful to my mom for taking my daughter on a shopping trip so I could get out for this dinner
- Hanging out with my boyfriend, who is just so loving and so easy to be around
- Running in beautiful weather (photographic evidence below)
Must end with a pet photo…