727th Friday Blog Roundup

I have been pleasantly surprised by Deborah Harkness’s A Discovery of Witches.  More than one person warned me that I wouldn’t like it, so I avoided it because the first few pages didn’t grab me.  I thought I’d wait and see the television version because the story intrigued me.  But the television version is only offered on streaming sites, and I’m not getting a subscription.  So I grabbed the book from the library, and I’ve been enjoying it in the same way that I enjoyed Twilight.  Is it great writing?  No.  But I love vampires and witches, so… let’s just say that this book is exceeding expectations.

I love Tig Notaro’s I’m Just a Person.  The ChickieNob discovered Tig this week, so I got out the audio book.  But I expected to love this book because (1) I love Tig’s joke writing and (2) I love her delivery.  And you get both with the audio book, even though she’s detailing dark moments in her life.  So this book is meeting high expectations.

I like Becoming by Michelle Obama.  It is a solid book.  A sturdy story.  I remember post-election, pre-White House, I was standing in line at the grocery store with an older woman, and we were both commenting on how happy we were.  “She’s going to be our Jackie O,” I said, “completely redefining the role again.”  And she did.  She invited us into their story, made the White House truly The People’s House.  So my expectations were high for this book because Michelle Obama is an incredible person with an incredible story.  And I’m totally liking it, but I’m not blown away.  It could be the hype that preceded the book and there are zero surprises because it was all discussed in articles before I ever got my hands on a copy.  So in this case… the lead up is making this not meet expectations.

But if I have to rank them in terms of great to decent, it goes I’m Just a Person, Becoming, A Discovery of Witches.  In one case, expectations made me like something more, and in another case, expectations made me like something less.  I’m not sure what this means except that it’s interesting to see how expectations about a book affect the reading of it.

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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 in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

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

• “FB Posts from the Other Side” (Battlefish) — see below, I read it late
• “Yes, ‘Relentless’ is the Right Word” (Not a Wasted Word)
• “Ready to Grow” (Stirrup Queens) — thank you, Cristy!
• “Budgeting Life” (Inconceivable!)
• “Why I Have Zero Regrets About My Childless Life” (Different Shores)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Movable Type has a post about the new year.  She writes, “When I turned 45, anticipating a mid-life crisis of some sort, I started working on a memoir as well as some fiction writing, giving myself freedom and permission to explore writing as a craft. I asked myself what is it I want so much I can taste it? I want to see my name in print.”  I love this.  I love the idea of setting a goal as a way of making the inevitable mid-life feelings navigable.

Old Lady No Baby’s mind is blown because her babies turned five.  Really, how many people think beyond babyhood when they’re going through IF?  But kids grow up and become five year olds and ten year olds and twenty year olds.  She writes, “It took us 14+ years of trying and put us in a ridiculous amount of debt, but our dream of having children finally came true.”  Happy birthday but also congratulations on reaching the happy milestone.

Battlefish writes about Facebook memories and how she feels getting those updates of what was happening a year ago or beyond.  Are they sometimes bittersweet?  Of course.  But they also help her remember how much things have changed, especially when she encounters one that took place during a pregnancy, even if the baby isn’t mentioned.

Lastly, Mine to Command has a totally fascinating post about whether or not to introduce Santa in your child’s world.  Santa fascinates me, especially how people explain why Santa delivers X to one child but Y to another.  So… I just thought this was a really interesting post that left me with food for thought.

The roundup to the Roundup: Three books and expectations.  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 January 11th and 18th) 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.