That's Noteworthy! (vol.1)

books, library, & life

On Thursday nights, my husband usually goes out to play softball. In an effort to discipline myself (because otherwise I’ll just binge Emily in Paris when David’s out), I’m going to attempt a quick weekly note here.

I also find that in reading my own Substack subscriptions, the quick and frequent posts are the ones I gravitate towards regularly. Hat tip to faves like Jenny’s Three Things, Tsh’s 5 Quick Things, Gayla’s Happy Friday Links, and though it’s a bit longer, Molly’s Free Friday MLB Round-Up. We did this a lot in the old days of blogging (my own version was previously called The Scoop), and it’s one of the things that I’m happy Substack has brought more of/back into my reading life.

I’ll share things like the books I finished this week (with more emphasis on the MG/YA reads), any library tidbits I have to share, and something(s) that, for one reason or another, make me smile (because this Substack is called Young at Heart, and experiencing joy helps me feel less cranky/old 😂).

📚. I finished three books in the last week, two for my various book clubs.

• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy :: This was a book club pick. I listened to the abridged version and I’m glad I didn’t spend double the time on it. Beautiful prose; story that was very much not for me.

• The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren :: for the readers of adult rom coms: this was so enjoyable. I absolutely loved it. New favorite CLo book. Fun, entertaining, swoony (but recommended for the adult/married crowd).

• The Firefly Summer by Morgan Matson :: my local YA/MG book club read this and I really loved it. We discussed it overlooking the ocean at a walk-up-and-order restaurant and bar at a campground where I grew up camping often. Since we don’t have any former sleepaway camps nearby in SoCal, this was a perfect alternative. Such a great middle grade summer story, complete with a treasure hunt, mystery, friend and (found) family dynamics, and all kind of fun and games at a camp setting. There were a few moments (dialogue, written notes, parenting moments) when I felt like MM hadn’t spent a lot of time around actual kids, but that was easy to ignore because the story was so captivating. I have read pretty much everything she has written (all YA up to this) and I always love her stories. I hope there is a sequel and I’ll definitely read it. My rating: 4.5⭐️s

🤓. In the library these last two week I’ve been prepping bar codes and bookshelves, decorating walls, and generally getting ready for students (I love our new sitting area near the graphic novels). I share the space with a technology teacher who has added a 3D printer to all her other fun goodies, and when students come in for her classes I’ve been doing introductions to myself and the library (we have quite a few new students this year). I love it every time a student comes up to me and asks when they get to start checking out books (We start book circulation next week!).

Today I gave a first grade class a tour because we’ve moved some bookshelves around, and a little guy said to me: “There are so many awesome things in here. I wish I could live here.”

🥰. My oldest daughter got her driver’s license this week! I will now be upping my time spent on my phone tracking her, instead of driving her to golf practice every day after school.

The latest show my husband and I have been watching (after finishing Ted Lasso a couple of weeks ago 🥹) is The Bear. We have been totally captivated by it. We just started season 2, and you can bet that in the last episode of season 1, I paused the TV to examine all the books stacked up in Carmy’s apartment. I found two that I own (Tartine and Bianco) and more that I’ve read, browsed, or want to read. I love cookbooks, so this was a fun and unexpected bookish moment.

Happy Friday!

xo,

Nicole

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