Hibernation Mode

It's that time of year.......when I want to hibernate.

Besides taking Gillian to school and going to work, this time of year I just want to be a homebody. I really don't want to do anything else. It's cold, and the weather is icky, and if I don't have to be out and about, I am perfectly happy to be home.

So......this time of year, not much is going on. I try to read more. I try to work out more, and I cuddle more with my wonderful daughter. It's hard to get up in the morning (due to lack of sunlight) and it's easy to go to bed early (again, due to lack of sunlight!).

I finished the latest in my favorite mystery series by Shirley Damsgaard. She writes a WONDERFUL series, the Ophelia and Abby series. Ophelia is a librarian in a small town in central Iowa, and she and Abby, her grandmother, are witches. Murders happen, they get involved, things get sticky, but they use their supernatural powers to figure things out, much to the chagrin of the local sheriff! Ms. Damsgaard's latest, The Witch's Grave is the best yet in the series. I highly recommend it. Fun, and suspenseful, and well written.

This weekend I'm going to finish The Rope Walk, by Carrie Brown. It is the 2009 selection for All Iowa Reads. It's beautifully written, and I'm about half-way through it, but I'm still figuring it out. I'm not sure yet where this story is going. The characters are very compelling. And, even though the story is contemporary, it feels older, somehow. I think this is what makes it so compelling to me. Old world, yet current.

It's cold, it's winter, but my lovely books are keeping me warm. OH! And next Saturday is my birthday!!!!!