Grab the Lapels

Sunday Lowdown #256

UPDATE ON SUNDAY LOWDOWN

Happy New Year! I skipped last Sunday, New Year’s Eve, figuring everyone is busy enough as it is trying to catch up on end-of-year blog posts, Christmas* blog posts, 2024 reading and blogging plans blog posts, etc. I thought, Why not take a break on New Year’s Eve?

At the end of 2023, I wasn’t even in my own state. I made the journey to visit two bloggers, Cupcakes & Machetes and Ignited Moth. We exchanged books and played a horror trivia game (Ignited Moth won every single game). Here we are at dinner:

The husbands are on the other side of the table.

Just recently I got through your 2023 blog posts, meaning I’m only about a week behind commenting. Speaking of comments, thank you to everyone who complimented my 2023 stats. There were many kind words about (and tagging of!) that post. I’m glad to have inspired some of you to change what you keep track of in your own reading. Once I saw that, of course I changed all the categories I’m keeping track of, just to keep me on my toes and stay surprising. What can I say, other than Fleetwood Mac advised, “You can go your own way”?

This is the first Sunday Lowdown of 2024. As such, I’ve been thinking of how I want to change up the Sunday Lowdown. I have some ideas, including subheadings for school, family, something I learned or enjoyed, movie watching, etc. However, since I don’t consider my blog “just for me,” I’m asking what you would like to read about, or which aspects of my Sunday Lowdown you enjoy. Where do you want more info, where do you want less? I will utilize your feedback. Let me know in the comments.

*I have decided I am not taking down my Christmas tree or decorations until 1) it actually snows and stays on the ground, or 2) the sun comes out for more than 5 minutes. No way am I making it less cheerful in my house when it’s been two weeks of gray, some rain, brown grass, zero sun.

BOOKS ADDED TO THE TBR PILE

Thanks to Lou @ Lou Lou Reads for her suggestion!

30 comments

  1. I like the idea of a heading for something you learned or enjoyed. I enjoy a personal angle and hearing about what people who write about books are thinking.

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  2. I like the idea of sharing something you learned or enjoyed. I feel like I’m heading in that direction with my blog as well. Other than that, I always enjoy your Sunday Lowdown as it is.
    I hope we get to see each other more in 2024! If things keep going the way they are for us, I feel like at minimum, we could meet halfway somewhere for lunch and a hangout. At maximum, maybe we can finally get down your way. 😀

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  3. Diary of a Bookseller was a lot of fun! I enjoyed it and the second book, but I thought the first one was better. I also really liked Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire, which is about his adventures as a rare bookseller.

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  4. I have enough problem thinking up ideas for my blog! Happy to go along with whatever you come up with (even including Horror).
    I have that Geo Saunders sitting by my bed, a present from someone special. If you make a start on yours I will have no choice but to make a start on mine.

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  5. I love those pictures of you getting together with other bloggers – how fun! Sounds like a great New Years. I suppose my wish for your blog is just pictures of your life, house, etc. I love those.

    Your upcoming books are so interesting! Sand in my Bra and Secret Lives of Church Ladies both look exciting…

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  6. Happy new year! I always like hearing about the things you’re learning and the things you get up to with your family.

    We took down our Christmas things yesterday – which did happen to be a sunny day so that worked out nicely. I like waiting until January 6th, which is Epiphany and traditionally the end of the 12 Days of Christmas. It helps me to have an official date to be ready for!

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  7. Happy New Year!

    I enjoy your newsy stuff and hearing about your interpreting adventures. I also like hearing about your yard sale finds. This blog could also use more toad pictures 😉

    Are any of the storms sweeping across the country dropping any snow on you? We got a little today with more to come through the week.

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  8. I’m happy to read whatever you like to share! I feel like your blog is indeed for you, but that’s just me. I do like seeing what you’re up to. Makes me feel a nice virtual connection.

    Secret Lives of Church Ladies is a heck of a story collection! I really enjoyed it. And I LOVED the Shaun Bythell – I’ve read the next two after that and hope to read the newest one this year. He’s a curmudgeon but I suspect it’s mostly an act and I love it. Also I’m an Anglophile (Scotland-phile too? What’s the word for that?) So I eat that stuff up.

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  9. It was so fun getting to hang out again! ❤ ❤ ❤
    The book swap was such a good idea. We should do that again next year too. 🙂
    I love reading your Sunday Lowdown posts, and I think the ideas you came up with about things you learned and the stuff you enjoyed are great. It's nice being able to look back on those sorts of things. ^_^
    Haha and I fully support your refusal to take down your Christmas tree until you get the winter weather you want. The snow has definitely started flying out in our neck of the woods, so hopefully you guys are getting more of those Winter Wonderland vibes you want and less of the doom and gloom this winter has been giving us up until now. 😛

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    • My mom texted me that they have 8 inches at her place, and it’s going to snow even more. I’m currently looking at patchy grass, so that’s weird. This morning, the weather person said that there is a band of snow vs. rain coming out way, and even though that is the weather for tomorrow, they’re going to have to update it constantly because the band is “wiggling.” I was like, “Did you just tell me the weather is wiggly??”

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