Bout of Books starts today!

The week-long Read-a-Thon starts today! Readers can still sign up through Wednesday 1/7. For more information check out the Day 1 post on the BOB blog:

There is a book shelf scavenger hunt today, a twitter chat and more! :)

The first book I'm reading is "Under the Lilacs'' by Louisa May Alcott. I was lucky enough to find a 100-year old copy of this book at a junk shop a few months ago. I got busy with life and didn't get a chance to read it until now. I love old books. I always wonder who owned the book before me...what sort of life did they have, did they enjoy the book, what other books sat next to this one over its 100 year life, etc. I loved reading "Little Women" when I was younger, so I have been looking forward to reading this book.

"Little Women'' was loosely based on Alcott's life with her 3 sisters in Massachusetts. I wonder if anything in "Under the Lilacs'' is based on her life? I'm only a chapter into the book, but so far it is an enjoyable children's story.

There is a museum in her former family home in Concord.

With the holidays over and the clean-up beginning (tomorrow we take down our tree and all the decorations head to storage until next year), I needed to start the Read-a-Thon with a happy, simple, joyous book. What fits that better than a book by Louisa May Alcott? And I wanted to read of her lesser known books. None of her works ever matched "Little Women" in popularity. But, so far, "Under the Lilacs'' is a simpler story than LW, but just as magical.
The basic plot is two little girls meet a small boy who has run away from a Circus. They take him in and spend an entire summer having adventures. I've avoided reading any full discussions of the plot because I don't want to know what happens until I get there! The best thing so far is the little boy has a trained poodle who does awesome tricks for the girls. :) Delightful,fun read so far!

Moving on to other topics amid the chaos today......

Finished Week 1 of my 5K training program. Starting week 2 on Tuesday. Happy to be running again.....a bit sad to be starting all over. When I re-opened all my running/fitness apps I could see my last entries from a year ago. I'm six minutes slower than I was 14 months ago. I have to stop myself from thinking where I would be on my fitness journey if I hadn't been sidelined for awhile. Oh well....the experience has strengthened me mentally and is teaching me patience. But it was rough sitting out an entire racing season. Past is past .....  gotta move on and see where I can go from here.

I absolutely hate journaling my food. But I've reactivated MyFitnessPal and I'm going to do it. It's important for my goals......so gotta suck it up and change my attitude. Alright, I will allow myself one grumble about it..... Grumble, grumble, Grumble...stupid food journal.....    ok....moving on. :)

That's all the chaos I have time for this morning.....got a boy waiting on homeschool lessons and a book to read! (plus laundry, dishes, pets to feed......) Chaos awaits!!

TTFN!!!