I am in Southern California, in Santa Barbara. (Actually between Goleta and Santa Barbara but very close to both.) I know where Redlands is although I don’t think I have been there. I worked in Corona when I lived in Riverside and initially lived on March Air Force Base.

Thanks for stopping by Marg. I agree. I don’t put books on my TBR lightly — there must be something about them! So I plow on.
Happy reading.

Have a great week.

Hi Jinjer. DNF-ing frustrates me too much. I see you’ve been trying to find the right read for the Japanese Lit challenge. That can be hard, finding a foreign or translated book you enjoy. I also know these books less — so it’s more of a DNF risk for me to pick up a translated title yet luckily I’ve found a few. I still need to choose a Japanese lit novel for February! I might try another Hiroko Oyamada novel since I liked The Hole. It was weird but good. ha. We’ll see what else she has. ps. I hear L.A. has gotten some rain this week eh? That’s nice. Keep the drought at bay. Cheers.

Hi Deb, -40 was pretty intense. I woke up & saw the temp and I didn’t really go out for days. It got pretty boring. Luckily it’s going away. I also use a floor heater at times in addition to the house heater which helps me through winter.
I hear you on the DNFs. I’m pretty selective about what I pick up so that helps. A little research on books can go a long way.
Cheers. Have a great week.

Hi Shelleyrae, thanks for visiting. I need to get back on your blog too.
It was brutal for about 5 or 6 days. Luckily we’re back at -14C which is still chilly but should be in the + soon.
Glad to hear you’re in the slogging club. Ha. I wish I weren’t but I am too.
Happy summer there. Enjoy your reads.

Hi Stargazer, -4C made me laugh a bit. I think we’re done this winter with the really shocking temps, it’s -14C now, which isn’t near as bad as -30+.
I hear you on the DNF-ing. I get a lot from the library, some I have to give back before I even start because the date passes.
I hope you don’t get flooded there anymore. Fingers crossed.
Have a great week.

That’s nice that you had a lot of trees in Alabama. That makes a big difference. Coincidentally, I grew up in Redlands, Cal, which is near Riverside. We had a lot of orange groves in the 1970s before many were cut down in the 1980s. We had a lot of avocados and citrus living there. Are you now in SoCal or Northern Cal? I moved away in my 20s but I still go home to Cal and check on my parents.

I had to think a while about whether I miss Alabama. When I moved to California with my first husband, we were in Riverside and it was yellow and brown and smoggy. That was a big change from the lush trees and vegetation in Alabama. I was born and raised in Birmingham, in a very urban environment but you could hardly go anywhere without seeing lots of trees. So I miss that, even now. But otherwise, no.
And that is so interesting that you were in Selma in 1980. When I was there I wasn’t that focused on the historic part that Selma played in the Civil Rights movement only 5 years earlier. I cannot explain that except that I was young and newly wed.

No deep freeze here in Los Angeles, I’m happy to report!