All I want to do is read during a summer thunderstorm

[00:00:22]Good morning. I'm kind of rushing right now because I'm about to go out to lunch with my friends and also go to a used bookstore with them. So, I'm trying to see if there's any books that I want to get rid of and bring to the store to see if they'll take. Um, okay. I was thinking about maybe this one cuz I feel like they would really like this one.

[00:00:40]Honestly, this is really pretty, but I feel like I should keep this as a souvenir. I got this in Japan. Uh, and I read this there. I didn't love it.

[00:00:47]That's why I'm kind of like, should I should I get rid of it? Or also this one. Both of these the covers are so nice. But this is Leo Toltoy Family Happiness. I actually got this when I was in B. So, I should probably keep this too. I don't know. I like buying books as souvenirs when I go on trips because it's a little I don't know memory and if I finish it there uh it's kind of special too. Okay. Honestly, I'm not sure. I might not bring anything.

[00:01:13]But I do need to move my stuff from this bag to this bag cuz I haven't worn this one in a while. I don't think there's anything in here. Um let's see. Oh, I recently got new sunglasses.

[00:01:28]So, I've been searching far and wide, probably for multiple years now, trying to find the perfect sunglasses for me. I feel like I haven't been able to find a frame that suits my face shape. I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like the really trendy um like skinny round ones look bad on me. I've tried it. And actually, when I went to New York, I went to I think it's called Bonnie and Clyde because they're pretty popular. I didn't really know much about it, but I thought why not since I'm in New York City. And I found a pair that I kind of thought I liked. Honestly, like deep down inside, I wasn't 100% loving it.

[00:02:02]But I was like, "Oh, like maybe I'll ask you if they have it in stock." And I asked them like, "Oh, do you have it in stock?" She was like, "Yeah." But they didn't have prices for the sunglasses. I was like, "Oh, how much is it?" She was like, "Something like $260 or $280, which everyone to each their own." But I I just felt like it was too much of a commitment. So, it came with this case, which is really nice. And I got this as a gift for myself for Father's Day because they had a sale. Uh, but I really like these.

[00:02:34]I feel like they look very classy and timeless, especially cuz I feel like Ray-B bands, they've been around for so long. And so, I really like them and they're very light. They fit on my face nicely. So, I finally have a pair of sunglasses. Okay, now I really need to go.

[00:03:50]I'm back home now. I've been doing some reading. I'm sitting in my very cozy reclining reading chair and I have a blanket, a heat pad. I'm actually feeling quite sleepy, so I might make a matcha. But I think that'd be better than going to bed or taking a nap even though it's like 5:00 in the afternoon.

[00:04:07]But I'm reading two books right now, which is why I wanted to share a little update. I started Loved and Missed by Susie Boy last week. And I started this because I had mentioned I wanted to read more female authors and also just stories that are centered around female relationships. And this follows Ruth is our protagonist and she has a daughter, Eleanor, who is struggling with addiction. And Elellanar also has a daughter who she can't take care of because of her addiction. So Ruth is really raising her as her own. And it follows this difficult relationship that she's navigating with her daughter, wanting to love her and support her.

[00:04:40]However, the addiction makes it very difficult. It's just a very hard and heavy story, which is why I'm only 20 pages in because last week I also had a very hard and stressful week, which is why after I started it, I didn't really pick it up much. So, I decided to not really force myself to read that uh but start another book alongside it. And that is Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck.

[00:05:06]So this is actually quite different from anything that I've read by John Steinbeck and what I think John Steinbeck is um most well known for like East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath of Men. I feel like John Steinbeck is known for his very serious works um that can dive really deep into our identity, good and evil, free will.

[00:05:27]It also follows uh these very hard stories of characters and individuals who are marginalized. And so this is different. This is I don't even know the best way to describe it, but is a play on King Arthur and his knights, but it's told in this very funny and comedic unserious way. It follows Danny, so he is the protagonist, and he ends up uh owning this house. And so, he's slowly adopting his friends to live in there, and all the characters, all they really want to do is to find money uh to get wine and to get drunk. and they have all these ways that they're doing it, but you see how they uh all the decisions that they make, they make it seem like it's coming from a very noble and thoughtful uh reason and it's not. And I think that's why it's so funny and ironic at times. Also, I like how it's in short chapters, so I feel like I have good stopping points along the way. But this has been a great respit from reading this. Not saying I don't want to read this. I think I might just pick it up uh maybe sometime next week or whenever I'm in the mood for it. But those are the two books. And I feel like I'm bad at focusing on two books, but I'm going to challenge myself.

[00:06:43][music] >> [music] >> I'm going to the office today, so I'm just packing up my bag. I think I want to make a matcha, but I'm running kind of late, but I feel like I feel like I can do it. I feel like I can do it. Uh thankfully, I don't have a meeting that's too early today. But uh this is my outfit. I guess I have a very casual office. So, this is a Unilo tank top, also a Unilo jacket, and some Levis's jeans, if you can even see. But I'm probably going to have it like zipped up a little cuz I think in the office it gets pretty cold and this is not work appropriate. So I must cover my shoulders. I don't know where my lip balm went. So unfortunate. Oh, but I'm also going to bring a book. I'm still reading Tortilla Flat. I'm actually about I think like 70 or 60 pages away from being done. So I'm going to try to finish it today because today is I think the last day. Yeah, the last day of June. and I wanted to finish it for um June so that I can have I think that'll make three books. What books did I read this year or this month? I'm like so frazzled right now. Confusion. I read Confusion. I read Oh, Butcher's Crossing. How could I forget? That was such a good one. But I wanted to make three because I don't know. It doesn't really matter. But I'm going to bring that, make a matcha, and then go to work.

[00:10:20]Good morning. It's a Friday and I don't have work today, which is really nice.

[00:10:23]But unfortunately, I think it's going to be over 100°. It's actually quite dangerous to be out for too long. So, I don't know what I'm going to do. I wanted to go on a walk. Maybe I'll just go to a coffee shop. I'm not sure. But, I did finish Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck, so I thought I'd share my initial thoughts. I didn't love this one. I think I rated it like a 2.75 maybe. I don't remember. I was kind of half asleep when I logged it. But this is different from the Steinbecks that I've read so far. It's a satirical novel. It's play on King Arthur and his knights. All these men really want to do is to get money, to get wine, and get drunk. And I felt like that was just happening so many times. It was like a similar story, but like a slightly different variation, which is why I kind of got a bit tired of it. But in the last 30 pages, it changes and you get a bit deeper into Danny's mind, how he's feeling about his friends, his life, and he kind of goes through this change.

[00:11:18]He's suddenly, I don't know, his personality changes. I won't give away too much, but I really enjoyed that part. I kind of wish that was a bit longer. This might be, now I'm thinking about it, my ninth Steinbeck that I've read. Okay, maybe eight if you don't count working days. That's his journal while right he was his journal while he was writing The Grapes of Wrath. But I think this might have to be on the bottom of my list. It actually reminded me a lot of Canary Row, like the characters um and some of the things that happen in there. So, if you like Canary Row, you might like this one. But now that I'm done with this, I think I might start Oh no, I dropped my book.

[00:11:53]Okay, Augustus by John Williams. Because I finished Butcher's Crossing recently, and after doing a bit more research, I actually like it a lot more now that I'm like done with it. But I want to read this because people have said that this is better than Butcher's Crossing. I think it's like common that number one is Stoner, butcher's Crossing usually falls like second or third, so we'll see. I think this one is still going to be really good and it won the National Book Award, so I might start this one next.

[00:12:38]I'm back home now and we did not last very long because it is very hot. But now I'm going to do a little bit of packing. We're going on a trip leaving tonight. So I'm thinking about bringing two books. I think Augustus will be my main book. So I'm definitely going to bring this. And then I'm thinking either The Enchanted April or Journey into the Past. I'm honestly kind of leaning towards this one because it's quite short. I think it's about 100 pages. So, I think it'll be easy to pick up. So, maybe these two will be my books for my trip. And then before I go, I also need to do this. These are anti-slip nose pads. You can put them on your glasses.

[00:13:15]I'm going to put them on my sunglasses because I got these recently and I really like them and they fit well on my face for the most part, but I think when it's kind of hot outside, they do slip a little. So, I might add them like on the inside there. But, it's Oh my gosh, it's going to be so hot tomorrow, too. So, I'm not sure how much we'll be able to do.