Sunday, March 11, 2012

Sunday Salon- Working Hard As Always

I don't know what to say about this past week. It just sort of came and went. I worked some, I did some other stuff. One thing is for sure, I need to finish some books because I'm running out of things to review. I have a list of 2011 reads still unreviewed but most of them will stay that way. This week I will probably review Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones and something else from this year but like I said, I'm running out. In a couple of cases I'm delaying reviews while I wait on interview answers but I just need to finish more books! I'm now reading three with a particular effort to finish Yellow Blue Tibia, a science fiction satire that has just started to get interesting about 3/4 of the way through. Anyway my reading definitely needs a shot in the arm and once I finish something I'll hopefully find something more electrifying than my current reads.

(If you're wondering why I'm struggling with books I'm not loving to pieces, the answer is "review obligations.")

In the "other stuff" category, I've been working on my quilting more lately. I'm ready to baste two quilts, one for machine quilting and one for handquilting. I should finish the machine-quilted quilt in the next couple of weeks; handquilting takes a lot longer but you have to do what's right for each quilt. I've taken to going through my stash and craft room looking for unfinished projects I can complete with materials on hand. In quilting we call these "UFOs" or UnFinished Objects. Between my UFO pile on the one hand and my TBR piles on the other, sometimes my life just feels like lists of things I haven't done yet!

What have you finished this week? What's on tap for this week? I hope to have a photo or two of a quilt to show you soon. In the mean time I'd love to know what you're up to. Have a great Sunday whatever it is!

More Sunday Salon here.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wait a minute...who has put these review obligations on you? Hmmm, let's think about this. Was it...YOU? :) Well, there you go. I suggest reading something that you're not feeling obligated to read. :) Me? I finished one book, Wycliffe and the Last Rites by W.J. Burley and now I'm onto reading My Thoughts Be Bloody: The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth That Led to an American Tragedy by Nora Titone, which is an intriguing read thus far.

Sandy Nawrot said...

I think it was a little over a year ago, I woke up and decided review obligations were going to end. They were dragging me down and making my reading seem like drudgery. I still accept a few review books, but for the most part I read whatever the hell I want. My issues these days are just getting my books reviewed, period. It is a constant struggle, just because i don't seem to have the time to do it all. I need a Bloggiesta I think!

Aarti said...

I agree with unfinished person and Sandy. I have severely limited the number of books I accept for review over the past few years and it's been wonderful. It's so nice to go to the shelf and pick up whatever you want, rather than feeling compelled to read something you NEED to review. I know the balance is different for everyone, but maybe just put down a couple of those books and indulge yourself for a week with reading what you want to read!

Vasilly said...

I agree with everyone, Marie. Sometimes review obligations can drastically slow down your reading. I think you should just DNF the book and start on something much better.

Kathleen said...

I would love to see pictures of your quilts so please publish them.

Amy said...

I hope you love Silver Sparrow, I really can't wait to hear your thoughts.

Marie Cloutier said...

You know guys, no matter how many times I say on my review policy that I'm not accepting pitches I still get them almost daily. And once in a while something is too good to pass up. And you know what else? Sometimes it's fun too.

Zibilee said...

I am really curious about your quilts and would love to see the pictures when you are done. I also have had to stop with the review obligations, though I do accept some. It made my reading feel too much like a chore, and I was getting depressed and not having fun. Now I choose carefully, but I still feel guilty because there are a ton of books here staring at me that I still need to review from awhile back!

Wendy said...

Marie: How did I miss that you were a quilter?!?!? I am so addicted to quilting these days (and posting more about it on my blog, too). I have MANY unfinished projects, but I've also finished a lot too - way too many wonderful ways to use my stash fabric :) Would love to see some of your work!