Inspired By In March 2025

Reading

Tell me this: How many pages do you give a book to win you over before you decide to give up on it? Do you ever give up?  Or are you one of those masochists who needs to finish every book they start?

Also, if you don’t finish books you don’t like, how many pages do you have to read to consider it read? All of it? Just half? Three-quarters?

Recently, I’ve added books to my READ pile that I haven’t finished, even though I’ve read at least 50 pages. Is that cheating? Can I count those books as “Read?” 

I’m only asking because I joined the Goodreads Reading Challenge again this year and pledged to read 50 books in 2025. 

**For those who don’t know, Goodreads is a social cataloging website owned by Amazon on which users can track their reading, find and share books, and connect with other readers to discuss books and reviews. 

Do you think it’s cheating if I add these titles to my READ list, even though I didn’t finish them?

Here are my DNFs(Did Not Finish):

A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

Reasons to Live by Amy Hemple

Roar by Stacy Sims

I read all the sections about postmenopausal women in Roar and got a lot from them. 

A Year in Provence was charming, but I’m visiting urban Paris, not rural Provence, so I let it go after 70 pages.

I found Reasons to Live very challenging, both stylistically and in terms of content. I gave these stories my best effort, but in the end, I didn’t think they were worth the stamina it took to slog through them. Life is short, and my reading list is long. Know what I mean? 

But I still put all of them on my list as READ.

Am I cheating?  

I’m reading this at the moment:

 I’m on page 104. But the jury is still out.

I give a book 50 pages to win me, so the fact that I’m still with this one says something. 

Eating

I wish I could report that I’m over my food boredom, but no. 

I’m still obsessed with that apples and yogurt concoction I eat every day, 

but dinner? Dinner is still a hemorrhoid.  

I got a bag of Wild-Caught frozen flounder filets at Wegman’s last week, and this was a good find. The filets are individually wrapped, and they thaw on the counter in a few hours, so I can decide last minute if I want them. With a baked potato and a vegetable, this is a quick, healthy dinner. 

I thought I might be juicing or making green smoothies by now, but I have no interest. Plus, this week, we had snow, so I’m still craving soups, not salads. Emily said that March is the month that consistently over-promises and under-delivers. True words.

Thinking About

92 Somethings. I decided the easiest thing for me to do is just take a picture every day this spring. I even created an album for them on my phone.

The problem with me is that I am a terrible photographer. Not only that, but I always want to take a picture at the wrong time, like during yoga class when everyone is in Happy Baby, or of someone who definitely does not want their picture taken.

 I take these forbidden pictures anyway. I pretend to just be checking my phone, quickly open the camera, and shoot. The pictures are poorly composed, poorly lit disasters.  

I won’t post the pictures that would make people mad, but here are a few benign ones from this week.

This was a little demonstration on the Ithaca Commons I passed after my writing group on Saturday.

This was Nikki and I after our walk last Friday. It was freaking freezing, but sunny.

It’s not unusual for it to snow around here in March, but that doesn’t making it any less depressing.

And after 21 years, my sign finally rotted out and did a little dangle.  Time for a new one.

Thanks for reading.

I hope you’re good and not letting the world get to you too much.

Till next week,

Stay sane,

Kath