January Reads (10)

One star = did not like it at all

Two stars = eh, it was okay

Three stars = liked it

Four stars = really, really liked it

Five stars = absolutely loved it

1-Star (1)

*George & Lizzie (Fiction, Nancy Pearl)

‘America’s Librarian’ (Nancy Pearl) should just stick to being a librarian.  Don’t read this book.  Just…don’t.

(book, donated to LFL)

2-Stars (2)

**The Beautiful and the Damned (Fiction, F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Okay so I’ve read my classic for the month.  This book felt like a poor first (LONG) draft of ‘The Great Gatsby’.  This was his second novel, after ‘This Side of Paradise’ and before ‘The Great Gatsby’.  It’s the story of Anthony and Gloria, both shallow, rich, socialites, who get married and then their lives crumble because of their recklessness and stupid mistakes.  The writing was okay, but just so WORDY, and I had no one to root for, which is important to me.  I am not going to give up on Fitzgerald though.  I have a couple of his other books on my shelf, and I plan to re-read The Great Gatsby again.

(book, but listened to Hoopla free audio version.  Donated book to LFL)

**People of the Book (Fiction, Geraldine Brooks)

I appreciate the effort.  And the story.  But….boooooorrrrriiinnnnnggg.  It started off strong, but then fizzled out  quickly. 

(book, donated to LFL)

3-Stars (3)

***The Marriage Pact (Fiction, Michelle Richmond)

This was quite possibly one of the strangest (and most original) books I’ve read in quite some time.  It’s labeled as a ‘psychological thriller’, and that’s pretty accurate.  Think…Big Brother meets Stepford Wives meets…a cult.  Very odd, with some plot holes for sure, but it kept me listening!

(book, but listened to Hoopla free audio version. Donated book to LFL)

***Young Jane Young (Fiction, Gabrielle Zevin)

This is the author that wrote one of my favorite books last year “The Storied Life of AJ Fikry”.  This one was definitely was not as good as AJ Fikry, but it was still pretty good.  A bit fluffy for my taste.  Sort of ‘The Scarlet Letter’ for the modern age.   

(Audio, Hoopla)

***The House Girl (Fiction, Tara Conkin)

A good, but sad book that weaves 2 stories together (one of a 17-year-old slave), and one of a present-day 24 year old lawyer.

(Audio, Hoopla)

4-Stars (2)

****The Old Man and the Sea (Fiction, Ernest Hemingway) – Pulitzer Prize winner 1953

Man vs. fish.  I have owned this book for YEARS.  My dad gave it to me when I was 9 or 10 I think.  And I never read it!  Until now.  It seems (from other reviews I’ve read) that people either loved this one or hated it.  I really, really enjoyed it.  It’s a VERY short novel, and I’m discovering that I LOVE short novels.  But the thing that was most interesting to me is that for the majority of the book, it’s just the man, talking to himself, or talking to the fish.  It’s also heartbreaking.  But….really good.  He was ON. A. MISSION. 

(book, keeper)

(I wonder if Kevin enjoyed it as well)

****The 365 Bullet Guide (Non-Fiction, Zennor Compton)

This was similar to the ‘Dot-Journaling’ book I read last year, only a bit better.  I really enjoyed this one because it focused more on the ‘artsy’ side of bullet journaling….there are how-to’s on how to make banners, flowers, etc.  Plenty of layout examples and tracker ideas.  I put about 20 tabs on pages of things I want to try in my bullet journal.  Plus, there’s plenty of blank space on each page to practice your doodles.

(book, keeper)

5-Stars (2)

*****My Family and Other Animals (Non-Fiction, George Durrell)

My first FIVE STAR read of the year and it happened in January!  When I was in Oklahoma City a few months ago, I stopped at this eclectic book store that had BEAUTIFUL books.  I picked up this small classic that I had never heard of before.  Apparently it’s the first book in a trilogy.  I didn’t pick it up until last month, and I read it off and on (it’s 300+ pages).  I don’t  think I have ever laughed so hard out loud while reading a book (non-fiction none the less) in my life.  The book was published in 1956, and is George’s (Gerry) account of his family’s 5 years spent in Corfu, an island off of Greece.  Gerry was 10 at the time of the move and was an AVID lover of animals and more so learning about them (he went on to become a zoologist).  I was surprised I loved this book so much because usually books about animals make me nervous and I don’t even read them.  But this one was different….he mostly talks about bugs and amphibians.  But the funny parts of the book are all related to his family.  He travels to Greece with his widowed mother, his dog Roger, and his three older siblings:  his oldest brother Larry, a passionate writer/poet, who provided the most ‘laugh out loud’ moments for me.  His brother Leslie, who has a fascination with guns (and owns many), and his sister Margo, who has just a terrible time with being a teenager living in a strange place.  While parts of the book were admittedly slow (mostly the descriptive parts about bugs), the parts with his family made up for the slow parts and kept me reading.  This is the first book that I have EVER really marked up.  I highlighted so many funny passages.  This will definitely be a re-read for me, and I’m going to check out the other 2 books in the trilogy.

(book, keeper)

*****You Need a Budget (Non-Fiction, Jesse Mecham)

If I had just ONE chance in my life to recommended ONE product or service, I would scream from every rooftop about the software program You Need a Budget.  If just one person would listen to me, I would feel like I truly helped out someone.  The founder of the brilliant, LIFE-CHANGING budget program wrote a book, appropriately titled:  You Need a Budget.  In this book, he does NOT try to sell his software.  Instead, he explains the concept behind his budgeting plan.  Honestly, this book didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know (we’ve been using the software for YEARS).  But I still gave it five stars because it is a WEALTH of information for new budgeters and it is written very well with honest, do-able practical advice.  He doesn’t tell you AT ALL what you should do with your money.  If you want to spend $30 a month at Starbucks, go for it.  If you want to spend $50 on new clothes, go for it.  He does not lecture about savings, college funds (which he is actually highly against), etc.  He just explains about how assigning categories to the money you have RIGHT NOW will give you more financial freedom that you ever thought you could have AND will help you truly see where your priorities are.  Soooooo sooooo good.  I don’t know what I would do without this software.  It truly is life changing and SUCH a stress-reliever.  Knowing where each and every dollar is going is FREEING.  It lifts a huge weight off of your shoulders.  And it’s not restrictive (like I’m making it sound ha ha).  That’s why in our budget we have a ‘Angie’s Spending Money’ category and ‘Josh’s spending money’ category.  If I want to buy glass spray bottles for cleaning products, then dangit, I’m going to, guilt free!!!    

(book, keeper)

Total Books Read: 10 (3 non-fiction, 7 fiction)

Formats

E-Books: 0

Audio Hoopla: 4

Audio CD: 0

Real Books:  6   

Abandoned books: 0

Roi

(apparently I’m titling my blog posts in French now)

We finally bit the bullet (where does that expression even mean, anyways?) and bought a king size bed.  We’ve wanted one for years, but our bedroom in our old house wasn’t large enough for a  King size bed.

Our current bedroom however is much larger.   

So my husband did a BUNCH of research on Consumer Reports (because that’s just who he is, and I love him for it).  We didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars on a mattress.  And they can easily be thousands of dollars.  He compared prices and quality of different brands, discussed it with me, and then we placed an Amazon order.  My main concern with the new bed was I wanted to make sure it would be as tall as our night tables.

We purchased the Sleep Innovations Marley 10-inch Gel Memory Foam Mattress.  It came with a 20-year warranty.  The price?  $425. 

We also purchased the Zinus Quick Snap 18 Inch Platform Bed Frame/Wooden Slat Support, no Bolts or Nuts, Easily Assembly.  Price?  $145.

We also ordered bedding, sheets, and a 100% waterproof mattress protector (a MUST HAVE with animals):  $208

TOTAL:  $778

I think this is pretty unbelievable for an entire king bed, frame, and bedding.  And it was so easy!  We ordered from Amazon and everything came in 3 days (with free shipping since we are Prime members).  Our mattress came in a box about the size of a dishwasher.  We opened it up and put it upstairs in our library for 24 hours (as instructed) to ‘breathe’ and expand.  And my husband put together the frame in like 15 minutes.  I’m not exaggerating.  It was so simple!

We did NOT get box springs.  The mattress did not need them, and the frame we got is 18” high.  We got the taller frame for 2 reasons….I wanted the bed to be at least as high as our night tables, AND it will be sooooo much easier for our dog to get underneath the bed when there are storms.  See:

We’ve been sleeping on the mattress for over a week now.  It’s always a little scary when you order these types of things online without trying them out first.  But so far, so good.  It doesn’t sleep ‘hot’ as some of the memory foam mattresses do (I think the ‘gel’ part is what keeps it cool).  It’s VERY firm which I’m still getting used to.  It doesn’t feel like a bed ha ha.  You lay down and it’s hard as a rock, but then you start to just slowly sink into it and it’s lovely.  My back is feeling much better and I’m sleeping pretty well.

And the size!!!!  I can completely extend my arm to the side and barely touch my husband.  We have so much room!  Hannah has been sleeping all stretched out horizontally between us and she has room to spare by her head and her feet.  Abby just gets lost in the bed and I typically never know where she is.  And Watson stays at the bottom of the bed pretty much, more towards my husband.  I usually can’t tell where he is.  It’s so nice to have the extra space and spread out more.  The difference between a Queen Size and a King Size is unbelievable.

I thought it might make our room look a little smaller with the larger bed, but….no.  We still have plenty of space ha ha.

I also got different curtains.  I didn’t really like the ones I had up there, so I ended up getting the same ones that we have on the other side of the room.  Just simple sheer balloon shades from Target.  I like that you can lengthen them if you want.  I might lengthen the ones above our bed a little since it’s a longer window than the one above the desk.  They’re strictly for looks as they don’t provide any darkening for the room (that’s what the blinds are for).

We gave our old bed (it’s 5 years old maybe?) to my mother-in-law.  And we’re checking to see if anyone wants her old bed, if not, we will dispose of it.  Right now it’s hanging out in the sunroom and Macy (my 15-year-old cat) is having a ball hiding in the rolled up foam topper that was on the bed ha ha.

So anyways….if you do your research (and aren’t too picky and don’t have major sleeping/back issues), buying a bed doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars any more.  It can come in a box and be delivered right to your doorstep!

L'hôpital

My first ever hospital visit happened the week before last.   I think it’s pretty good to be 40 years old before you first hospital visit!!

I won’t go into detail, but it was an interesting experience on many levels.  First off….I work for this hospital system.  And I went to the E.R. straight from work so I still had my badge on.  I got lots of questions.  It was interesting to see in action a lot of the stuff we discuss in our weekly meetings ha ha.   

But it was also like the busiest ER day/night they’ve had in like a year (according to them).  UGH!  Not a great experience. 

I had a myriad of tests done.  Two of the tests I had done were new to me though….the abdominal ultrasound (the one on the OUTSIDE of the body) and a CT scan.  Interesting. 

I’m feeling better, my pain is better, but I need surgery sometime in the near future.  I’m thinking it will be a few months.  I’m just hoping that until then my pain stays away as much as possible.  So far, so good.

I will say that I am a big fan of technology these days.  That night, I was able to see all of my detailed test results via the online portal that my hospital has for its patients and members to access.  I mean, they share your test results when you’re there, but I wanted to read the actual reports (I loved reading the part of my CT scan that said I had ‘no masses’ on my organs.)  I was also able to make a follow up appointment for 2 days later, plus message my doctor for some additional questions I had.  So easy and accessible!  I could pay my bill too, if I had a bill.  All I had was a co-pay which my husband paid while we were there.  But I was able to see what the charges were (yikes).  Thank you, health insurance!

So, not a GREAT way to start off the year, but I still feel blessed.  It could have been much worse, and my condition is not life-threatening at all.  So I’m trying to stay positive about it and not worry about the fact that I may be awake during my surgery since anesthesia doesn’t work on me.  Two sarcastic thumbs up!!  I’m not going to think about that today though.  I’ll think about that tomorrow.  After all, tomorrow is another day!  #GWTWforever