Snapshot: 17 May 2020

I don't know how many days it's been in quarantine anymore. I have lost track. Time has no meaning, I have forgotten how to interact with other humans, and I am 86% baked goods by now.

Currently reading: still plodding through Pawn in Frankincense (book 4 in the Lymond Chronicles). This book is going to singlehandedly tank my reading goal for May, because I've been working on it for 11 days now and honestly I am not sure it will ever end. There is so much happening, nothing is being explained in ways that make any sense, and all of the characters are making the most extreme choice of their possible options that I have thoroughly lost patience with all of them and if they all end up dead by the end of the book I probably won't even care. Also, there's random incest because of course there is. Dorothy Dunnett has a real obsession with incest. Maybe I'll just push Francis overboard and save us all another 800 pages of this ridiculous nonsense.

Currently baking: I've made a batch of madeleines, half of them chocolate and the other half plain butter. Not to toot my own horn, but they are excellent. I am so pleased with how they turned out. Next up on my baking list is a loaf of plain white bread (I attempted sourdough and cinnamon rolls earlier this month; the sourdough was a disaster, the cinnamon rolls were a success), a fondant pear cake, chocolate macarons, and a pineapple upside down cake.

Currently waiting on: I ordered some linen sheets ages ago and they're meant to be back in stock in the next few days and making their way to me (love me some linen sheets for summer). As anyone who knows me knows, I also love iced coffee in the warmer months and so I have caved and purchased a cold brew maker - and a robot vacuum because A) I have a clean-freak housemate and I hate vacuuming and B) more time to read when a robot is doing my chores for me. My robot vacuum cleaned my entire first floor today while I laughed at it bumping into walls and closed doors for several minutes. I have named him Rufus and I love him. I am so starved for affection that I've transferred onto a robot vacuum. I'm fine, I promise.

I made a Waterstones order of some books I've been eyeing for my June TBR recently, including a copy of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires (if you are a faithful reader of this blog then you know my attempts to get a hold of this book have grown increasingly desperate). I'm really hoping that I can finally get my hands on this one, because I remain desperate to read it and I think some Southern Gothic noir vampire-slaying will be a nice break from Francis Crawford trying to singlehandedly destroy the Knights of St John and the Ottoman Empire all in the same book. I'm also waiting on: If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha; The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd; You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle; and I've preordered Rodham, by Curtis Sittenfeld; Writers & Lovers, by Lily King; The Empire of Gold (the final book in the Daevabad trilogy! I am so excited!) by S.A. Chakraborty; Modern Lovers, by Emma Straub; and I'm debating re-purchasing the Lord of the Rings trilogy as I might want to give those a reread in this never-ending lockdown. My BOTMs are also piling up at my friend's house until lockdown ends in California and she can ship them to me through her office, and the ones I'm waiting on from them are: Beach Read by Emily Henry; A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight; and The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon. Thank God for books. I don't know how I'd stay even halfway sane if I didn't have books.

Currently debating: getting bangs. And possibly cutting my hair short? But I will be waiting for hair salons to open back up before I take that plunge, as I do not trust myself anywhere near my hair.

Currently eyeing: this bag. There is absolutely no justification for purchasing it, but it's pretty and I want it anyway.

I hope you are all staying sane - and hopefully there will be a light at the end of the tunnel soon.

Happy reading,

Amélie xx