It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids [near home dwelling]
And everyone telling you be of good cheer
It’s the most wonderful time of the year

Apologies to whoever wrote that song, but the most wonderful time of the year is summer because the kids are almost home for three months. I can bother them and smoosh them and make them go on ice cream road trips with me.

I really love having the kids close by. And while I know August will be hard as the summer winds down, right now, we’re on the cusp of it starting. So only blue skies.

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Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

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But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

Scientist on the Roof writes about not connecting with a story. I’ve been going through this a lot lately — though it rarely happened before — where I start a book, and I’m even enjoying a book, but I cannot connect with the book. When that happens, I move it back to the TBR. I wonder if there is something about the news cycle and the state of the world that is causing this to happen more than usual. I agree with her: “I do firmly believe that, for maximum impact, you have to read a book at the right time.”

Lastly, The Road Less Travelled marks 50 years since she lost her grandmother. If we count birthdays, it makes sense to count deathdays. She explains, “This was my first real experience with the death of a person close to me.” Sending a hug for a hard anniversary.

The roundup to the Roundup: Kids are almost home. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between May 9 – May 16) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she reads that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better at doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from April.

The Word Is Murder (Anthony Horowitz): I’m rereading the series because it makes me happy. The books are so clever, and I love them so much that I don’t read the next one until there is another on the horizon. I just can’t stand the idea of not having an Anthony Horowitz book in my back pocket whenever I need a book that I know is going to be really really good.

Sunrise on the Reaping (Suzanne Collins): This book is chilling and troubling, maybe more so reading it right now against the current news. I didn’t love the last prequel, but this one feels as familiar as the original Hunger Games and is equally as devastating. I had so many “wow” moments as things came together.

This Is Not a Game (Kelly Mullen): A sweet, easy to read and enjoyable murder mystery with a gaming theme. It made me want to visit Mackinac Island. It was a book that was the perfect read when I needed something a little lighter.

Fair Play (Louise Hegarty): I think the people who are not giving this book 4 or 5 stars just don’t “get” the book. Because once you “get” the book — and you will understand the book if you pay attention to the middle — there is no possible way to read this book without your heart in your throat. I will think about this book for a long time. You will be blown away by the cleverness and emotion and beauty. Amazing job.

The Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King (Harry Trevaldwyn): This book wins for absolute fun. There were so many times that I laughed aloud. I switched to the audio, which was read by the author, and it was even better hearing the story spoken. The most interesting thing was that I would listen to the book when I was feeding Beorn (while he was sick), and his body would relax when he heard the author‘s voice. So strange. But it brought both of us joy, so I will be forever grateful. If you loved Heartstopper, but sometimes wished those kids were a little less earnest and a little more realistic, run to this book. These are the nicest kids and the funniest kids without being unrealistic kids.

What did you read last month?

I was trying to remember something this week, and I wondered if it was written down in an old journal, so I started to thumb through old journals and found one that contained entries from three early trips: a road trip to Canada, Paris, and London.

But what struck me was that in the back of the journal, from the final page moving toward the front, I had written down notes on every photo I took. There were only 24 or 36 photos on a roll of film (though it looked like I must have been able to squeeze an additional one or two onto a roll because I had some lists that stated 26 or 38 photos), so the lists weren’t long. And I only took between two to four rolls on each trip.

But I wrote down notes because I wouldn’t see those photos for weeks. How would I remember that this was a “beautiful building on Rue Rivoli across from the Louvre” three weeks later when I finally developed the picture? The difference today is that you see photos instantly, so you start building those memories from the image instantly. In the olden days, we saw something once, and then we had a long period of time before we saw an image of it again.

It was just funny to find the lists. Even funnier to read about our “romantic kisses over the Seine.”

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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I really like this game. It has had staying power, like Bracket City and 368 Chickens. Every day, you get a picture turned into a 7 x 7 square of dots. Click the dot, and it breaks into smaller dots. Click those dots, and they break into even smaller dots. If you could click every dot, you would see the pixelated image. But the trick is that you only have 60 clicks.

I don’t stress about the clicks (for instance, I don’t try to keep it to only 10 clicks) and find that I can usually guess the image correctly in 30 – 40 clicks.

Have a go at it.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

Mother’s Day didn’t work with the twins’ schedule this year — finals — and nothing is more important than their studies (except their health), so we moved it to a better date on the calendar.

You can do that. You can take any pretend or real holiday, and just move it. Or change it. Or decide not to acknowledge it. Or go all-in.

I mean, it helps if everyone has the same expectation and is on board with the move, but assuming they are, you can literally decide to celebrate Christmas in February, Thanksgiving one week early, or your birthday in a random month.

Is it lovely to mark the actual day? Of course. I will be celebrating my mother today. But it’s also fun to be the only one celebrating something while everyone else believes it to be a random Tuesday.

Whether you are marking the day or avoiding the day, happy Sunday.