Weekend reads and many transitions...

The last few weeks have been busy, emotional, and full of transition.  I celebrated my sixth wedding anniversary last weekend, which also marked four weeks until our Little Reader is due.  As we scramble, badly, to finish our baby prep, I learned my youngest cat, Grace, had kidney failure and would need to be euthanized.

Last night, she passed away on her own, in my arms, comforted by our remaining elderly cat who slept with us until Grace's last moments. It's been very hard this year to have lost two cats, both of whom I've had for more than a decade, ahead of Little Reader's arrival -- to lose loved ones just before a new loved one comes feels, well, cold.

I haven't felt much like reading -- clearly a theme of my pregnancy, shamefully -- but have three current reads that are a welcome distraction from the stress and heartbreak. This weekend, I'm finishing up Sherry Jones' The Sharp Hook of Love, which is a decadent and engrossing novel of Heloise and Abelard. I'm quite smitten. I've just started Judith Starkston's Hand of Fire, a historical novel that features a heroine just given just a few lines in the Iliad. It's fabulous. And finally, I plan to begin Lois Leveen's Juliet's Nurse, a historical novel about the nursemaid to Shakespeare's Juliet.

What are you reading this weekend?

Comments

  1. bermudaonionOctober 17, 2014 at 10:22 AM

    What an emotional time for you. I'm sending hugs your way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sherry JonesOctober 17, 2014 at 1:20 PM

    Poor kitties! Poor Audra! I'm so sorry, but excited about your Little Reader and also SO happy that THE SHARP HOOK OF LOVE can distract you! I so want to read HAND OF FIRE and JULIET'S NURSE, as well. I'm looking forward to your review of my book, Audra! If any of your readers want to read the prologue and first chapter, they can download them from my website: http://authorsherryjones.com/swag. In the next day or two I'll be putting up an ebook of Heloise and Abelard's early love letters, as well, as a special gift to my newsletter subscribers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. rhapsodyinbooksOctober 17, 2014 at 1:35 PM

    So sorry for your loss!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Soft Fuzzy SweaterOctober 17, 2014 at 7:11 PM

    I feel your pain...I just had 'let go' of my Tanuki at age 15. I keep looking for her. Even my dog, who had a kind of peaceful coexistence with her, looks at the bed where she napped. The loss is palpable. I rermember as a shy kitten who hid under my tv cabinet

    ReplyDelete
  5. LisaOctober 17, 2014 at 8:48 PM

    I'm so sorry for your loss. They leave such a big hole in our hearts and lives. I'm glad you've found some comfort reading.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousOctober 18, 2014 at 12:13 AM

    also finishing The Sharp Hook of Love, and loving it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. phastingsOctober 18, 2014 at 3:02 PM

    I too am sorry for your loss.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jennifer HartlingOctober 20, 2014 at 10:31 AM

    Big hugs to you, Audra. I'm so sorry :( We lost a cat months ago. It seemed that a lot of people didn't get why I was so sad and why I grieved so hard. (Heck, I thought of him last night and had a little crying session) I just want you to know that there are cat people out there who get exactly what you are going through. I'll be thinking of you :D

    ReplyDelete

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