Sunday Bookends: Disassociation with books is fine, healthy, and, often, necessary

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends, Sunday Salon

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing.

Bear with me on my thoughts this week…read to the end before getting offended! *wink*

I was going to make a comment this week about how I think it’s absolutely crazy when a Booktuber (someone who talks about books on YouTube) or book blogger comes out and says that they read 14 books in one month.

Sometimes I think that’s ridiculous (unless you’re retired) because that’s four books a week and I just can’t imagine fitting in four books a week with the rest of life.

But then I had to remind myself that books are all different sizes and some take less time than others. Then I had a fairly depressing end of my week and realized that disassociating by reading a lot of books is actually not the worst thing in the world and it’s a lot healthier than going out and committing crimes or drinking a bottle of whiskey to get through the hard time (neither of which I did, by the way. I drank herbal tea, ate some chocolate, cried, and read a book).

So it was a bit of a reality check for me that when I wanted to “criticize” somebody for saying they read a lot of books, I really should be telling myself to read more and disconnect from life more. I wasn’t really criticizing but questioning…originally that is.

Luckily, most of those who I watch who talk about how many books they read are not bragging or saying people have to read that many books. They’re simply sharing what they read and many times I like what they’ve read so I had them to my list of “need to read” books.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

Murder, She Wrote:  A Slaying in Savannah by Donald Bain and “Jessica B. Fletcher”. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this one when I started it but I ended up liking it quite a bit.

In Progress

I am slow reading Stillmeadow Daybrook by Gladys Taber. Since each chapter is a month, I plan to read a chapter a month for the rest of 2026 and into 2027. I’m also reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

I am also reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, and The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink, The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham. I’m reading whichever one I am in the mood for that day or night.

Up Soon

I will be starting Endless Night by Agatha Christie, The Two Mrs. Abbott’s by D.E. Stevenson, and Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Moss Covered Mansion.

What The Family is Reading

Little Miss and I are reading Rascal by Sterling North and started The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink together.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

I added three more Tommy and Tuppence books to my shelves last week: Partners in Crime, N or M?, and the first book in their series, The Secret Adversary.

My husband also picked me up two newer Nancy Drew books at a local fair.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week I watched a couple episodes of The Hardy Boys from the 1970s. This was after they dropped Nancy Drew from the show.

I also watched Son of Fury with George Sanders and Tyrone Power and started Cactus Flower with Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, and Goldie Hawn but didn’t finish it before it went off Amazon Prime and now I’m not really sure I want to pay to rent it. It wasn’t really something I was enjoying that much.

I also enjoyed this short video that featured an interview with Miss Read (real name Dora Saint):

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I shared:

Some Housekeeping

Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs), Cat (Cat’s Wire) and I host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea.  This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!). Each link party will be open for a month. You can find that link up for this month here.

Each week, I host the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot with some great hosts. It goes live Thursday night, but you can share any kind of blog posts (family-friendly) there until Tuesday of each week. You can check my recent posts on the sidebar to the right for the most recent link party.

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?

This post is linked up with The Sunday Post at  Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer,  Deb at with Deb at Readerbuzz, and Book Date: It’s Monday! What are you reading hosted by Kathyrn at The Book Date and Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Reading Reality.

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

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4 thoughts on “Sunday Bookends: Disassociation with books is fine, healthy, and, often, necessary”

  1. I am sorry that you are going through a hard/depressing time. I hope things improve soon. Comparison is the thief of joy (says the lady who reads about 4 books a week, LOL). But, like others have said, we all devote our time to different things. I listen to audiobooks when I walk, commute to work, and when doing chores around the house. That makes my number higher than it would be. I also read 1-2 hours before bedtime to take my mind off all the stressors. I read for escapism and I am thankful there are so many good books to read! Have a great week!

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  2. Sometimes life fills up one’s bucket with other “stuff.” Lisa, I appreciate your honesty about this topic. My own reading (as well as posting) has dropped off the past two months, but better days will be awakening ahead of me.

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  3. Another point is that not everyone’s life is the same – alone or with a family, working (full time/part time)/retirement, running on little or much sleep, reading tempo, other hobbies, multitasking (e.g with audiobooks) or not, etc. So many things, reading included, can’t be defined just by a number. And shouldn’t, I think.
    I gladly turn the news off at some point, for example, to read a book instead (like today).
    I hope the next week won’t be as depressing for you as the weekend!

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    1. Yes! That’s the other thing we need to remember — different schedules, different lives. Period. So I was reminding myself of that too while I dismissed my original “judgment” (so to speak). I am personally glad they read so many because I love all the recommendations.

      I hope it won’t be but this weekend is helping me work through the depression. Good time for crying, eating chocolate, etc

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