tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47259925769286939522024-03-19T14:59:50.910-07:00My Life in the SouthwestA little journalAngiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comBlogger385125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-87214431603790649212022-01-02T18:14:00.004-08:002022-01-02T18:14:44.231-08:0020 Years of Reading<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt;">20 years. TWENTY YEARS OF READING.</span></span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Okay, so technically this isn’t true. I’ve been reading since I was 5. So (here’s my age)…I’ve been reading for 39 years. But for the past 20 years, I’ve been diligently tracking what I read. I’ve read 876 books in the last 20 years.</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Before I get into that, I would just like to give a shout out to my parents. My parents taught me to read. I knew how to read before I started Kindergarten and I owe that to my parents. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up (we never lacked for ANYTHING though), but my parents worked hard to make sure we had everything we needed. We always had chewable Flintstones vitamins (do they make those anymore? For adults? If they do, I WANT THEM.) We had family vacations every year. We had surprise gifts a few times a year (individually wrapped that Mom and Dad would haul into the living room in a garbage bag). SO FUN. And we always had those educational workbooks that they bought that we worked on during the summer (so you don’t forget what you learn? So you are prepared for the next grade? Honestly, I have no idea, but they worked, whatever their purpose was). I remember in Kindergarten when my teacher, Mrs. Kitt, whipped out the ‘read aloud’ books (Buffy and Mack! Sun Up) for the students to practice on (probably to determine what reading level you were at?) and I was able to read the entire book aloud with no help. I was so proud of myself.</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We were also read to nightly. My dad would read my sister and I the daily text each night. He would always read us the verse and then ask my sister and I who wrote it and we would both say ‘Matthew-Mark-Luke-John-Paul’ super-fast trying to guess the Biblical writer. Because the chances of it being one of them was high ha ha. And when we moved into our white house (2 blocks from the library!), I remember my mom reading a Golden Book every night/day to me and my brother (we would always pick the longest one ha ha). </span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">And so it began.</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I wish I would have started tracking my books as a pre-teen/teenager, but oh well. I started tracking diligently in 2001. Which is very interesting, because looking back at my reading habits, you can clearly see the years when things were bad, when things were busy, and when things were normal.</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I tracked first in an old journal, then I transferred it to another notebook. Then I transferred it to an Excel spreadsheet. Then back to a notebook. Then back to a spreadsheet. And so on and so on. Then finally back to a notebook, only this time I choose a nicer notebook that wouldn’t fall apart: </span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0" href="https://nebulanote.com/product/casual-noteturquoise-dotted/350/?cate_no=108&display_group=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://nebulanote.com/product/casual-noteturquoise-dotted/350/?cate_no=108&display_group=1</span></a></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">(this is a Korean company, but I bought it from a local stationery shop)</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">And so far, so good. It’s just the right size to fit on my bookshelves and with PLENTY of room to expand (at least another 20 years, if not more ha ha). </span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I track the Month/Year read, Title, Author, Fiction/Non-Fiction, Publication Year, Page numbers, and my rating (stars, 1-5). Now, I’ve not been great about tracking publication year or page numbers, but I plan to be better in 2022. Everything else is really easy to track so that’s no big deal. I don’t write reviews or anything, just the star-rating. If I have anything substantial to stay, I write it on Goodreads.</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">My lowest reading years (from the past 20 years) as far as quantity were 2006-2008, which makes perfect sense if you knew what was going on with me personally then ha ha. And my highest years (quantity wise) have been the last five:</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2017: 78</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2018: 159 (!)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2019: 86</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2020: 120</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2021: 82</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">These numbers are interesting. My reading numbers were pretty low (except for 2004?) until about 2011. They picked up a bit, but were still low-ish, until we bought our current house in July of 2017. Did they increase then because I had a library in our new house? A dedicated reading space? More space in general? Less stress because things were settled and we bought our ‘forever’ home? Probably all of the above. Anyways, I’m not complaining.</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So now I give you my 5-star reads from the past 20 years. But first…..a few disclaimers. I’m only including adult/YA/middle grade books that are typically more than 100 pages. ALSO….I had a few 5-star reads from way back when that I don’t even remember what the book was about so I probably won’t include those. This list will only include the books I remember and I remember loving. Just in case you decide to pick one up. I was a completely different person in 2001 than I am now, and honestly some of these older ones may be rated completely different today if I read them again.</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">FICTION - Author, Title, Year Read</span></u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Kingsolver, B. - The Poisonwood Bible (2001)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Berg, E. – The Pull of the Moon (2002)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Berg, E. – Joy School (2002)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Austen, J. – Pride & Prejudice (2002)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Berg, E. – True to Form (2002)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Berg, E. – Talk Before Sleep (2002)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Brent, M. – Moonrakers Bride (2003)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">MacDonald, A.M. – Fall on Your Knees (2003) – I can’t recommend this one, but I am STILL thinking about it 18 years later. I have a copy on my shelf and plan to re-read it again. It’s very heavy and dark.</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Grisham, J. – A Painted House (2003)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Winston, L. – Good Grief (2004)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Steinbeck, J. – East of Eden (2004)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Chevalier, T. – Girl With a Pearl Earring (2004)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Smith, B. – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (2005)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**INTERESTING THAT I DIDN’T HAVE ANY 5-STAR READS FROM 2006 – 2009…OR IS IT HA HA???**</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Korelitz, J. – Admission (2010)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Collins, S. – The Hunger Games (2011)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mitchell, M. – Gone With the Wind (2013) (re-read…I read this a lot as a teen)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Zafon, C. – The Shadow of the Wind (2016)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Turner, N. – These is My Words (2017)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Zevin, G. – The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (2017)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Doerr, A. – All the Light You Cannot See (2017)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Wood, M. – The One in a Million Boy (2017)<br aria-hidden="true" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />O’Farrell, M. – This Must Be the Place (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Tinti, H. – The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Hannah, K. – The Great Alone (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Montgomery, L.M. – Anne of Green Gables (2018) (re-read) – MIDDLE GRADE</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Golding, W. – Lord of the Flies (2018) (re-read) – MIDDLE GRADE</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Applegate, K. – The Wishtree (2018) – MIDDLE GRADE</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Brubaker-Bradley, K. – The War That Saved My Life (2018) – MIDDLE GRADE</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Miller, S. – A Lite Too Bright (2018) – YOUNG ADULT</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Backman, F. – Us Against You (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Steinbeck, J. – The Grapes of Wrath (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Enger, L. – Virgil Wander (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Zusak, M. – Bridge of Clay (2018) – YOUNG ADULT</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Meyer, M. – Cress (2018) – YOUNG ADULT</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Stegner, W. – Crossing to Safety (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Miller, S. – Caroline (2019)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Owens, D. – Where the Crawdads Sing (2019)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Keane, M. – Ask Again Yes (2019)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Waxman, A. – Bookish Life of Nina Hill (2019)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nielsen, J. – A Night Divided (2019) – MIDDLE GRADE</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Patchett, A. – The Dutch House (2019)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Stradal, J. – The Lager Queen of Minnesota (2019)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Hepworth, S. – The Mother-in-Law (2019)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Jewell, L. – The Family Upstairs (2019)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Shusterman, N. – Scythe (2019) – YOUNG ADULT</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">O’Farrell, M. – Hamnet (2020)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Baker-Klein, C. – The Exiles (2020)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Backman, F. – Anxious People (2020)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Young, A. – Fable (2020) – YOUNG ADULT</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cousens, S. – This Time Next Year (2021)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Young, A. – Namesake (2021) – YOUNG ADULT</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Weir, A. – Project Hail Mary (2021)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Heiny, K. – Early Morning Riser (2021)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Maclachlan, P. – Skylark (2021) – MIDDLE GRADE</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Davidson, A. – Damnation Spring (2021)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Adams, N. – The Reading List (2021)</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Author, Title, Year Read – NON-FICTION</span></u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Kondo, M. – The Life Changing Magic of Tidying-Up (2015)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Kondo, M. – Spark Joy (2015)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Kalanthi, P. – When Breath Becomes Air (2017)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Durrell, G. – My Family and Other Animals (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mecham, J. – You Need a Budget (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">O’Farrell, M. – I Am I Am I Am (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Park, Y. – In Order to Live (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Bogle, A. – I’d Rather Be Reading (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mount, J. – Bibliophile (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">King, S. – On Writing (2018)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cripe, E. – Big Dreams Daily Joys (2019)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Higginbotham, A. - Midnight in Chernobyl (2019)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Greger, M. – How Not to Die (2020)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Haig, M. – The Comfort Book (2021)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Patchett, A. – These Precious Days (2021)</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’m sure I inadvertently omitted some and added others, but nobody’s perfect. Over the past 20 years, here are my standouts from the lists above:</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Kingsolver, B. - The Poisonwood Bible (2001) – <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">I was reading this the week of September 11<sup style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">th</sup> when the towers fell. I remember reading it in the break room one day and the next day we were all crowded around the TV in that same break room watching the news reports.</i></b><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"></i></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Berg, E. – The Pull of the Moon (2002) – <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">A gut punch. I remember reading this during some rough times in my 1<sup style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">st</sup> marriage (only 3 years in to it) and just crying my eyes out.</i></b></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Austen, J. – Pride & Prejudice (2002) – <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">A classic-classic.</i></b></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Brent, M. – Moonrakers Bride (2003)<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"> – Historical fiction with many twists and turns.</i></b></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Steinbeck, J. – East of Eden (2004) – <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">An investment in time, but worth it. Amazing.</i></b></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Smith, B. – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (2005) – W<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">hen people ask me what my favorite book is, this is what I tell them. It’s 99% true.</i></b><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"></i></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mitchell, M. – Gone With the Wind (2013) <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">(re-read…I’ve read it multiple times)</i></b></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">O’Farrell, M. – This Must Be the Place (2018) <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">(this cannot be read on a Kindle or audiobook. It must be a physical copy).</i></b></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Hannah, K. – The Great Alone (2018) <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Read if you want to cry. It’s so good.</i></b></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Stegner, W. – Crossing to Safety (2018) <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Another one that I want to re-read. I think about it all the time.</i></b></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Miller, S. – Caroline (2019)<i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"> – <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Simplicity at its finest.</b></i></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Keane, M. – Ask Again Yes (2019)<i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"> – <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">The author of this book liked my Goodreads review of it and I was shocked and thrilled. The kids in this book grew up the same time frame that I did. It was so nostalgic.</b></i></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nielsen, J. – A Night Divided (2019) – MIDDLE GRADE – <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Still one of the most suspenseful books I’ve ever read.</i></b><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"></i></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">O’Farrell, M. – Hamnet (2020) – <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">I think about this book on a weekly basis and can’t wrap my head around how brilliant it is.</i></b></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Backman, F. – Anxious People (2020) – <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Frederik Backman has a special place in my heart. I love his books, and I love how he is so open about his own mental health struggles. I think that’s why I love this book so much.</i></b></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Kondo, M. – The Life Changing Magic of Tidying-Up (2015) – <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Have too much stuff? Read this.</i></b></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Durrell, G. – My Family and Other Animals (2018) – <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">This book made me laugh out loud like no other book has.</i></b><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"></i></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mecham, J. – You Need a Budget (2018) - <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">This book and this budgeting system is the reason my husband and I are completely debt free (except for our house). We have been living by this system/budgeting software for YEARS. I recommend it constantly to everyone. </i></b><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"></i></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Park, Y. – In Order to Live (2018) – <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">One of the most haunting memoirs I’ve read.</i></b></span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I set a goal to read 100 books this year, and I’m pretty confident that I will meet (if not exceed) it. I have lots of middle-grade books on my TBR shelf and I fly through those ha ha.</span></p><p aria-hidden="true" class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yay for another year of reading!</span></p>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-26886428334072007282021-12-16T19:52:00.004-08:002021-12-16T19:52:52.995-08:00Recommendations<p> <span style="font-family: verdana;">I've been compiling a mental list of things lately that I LOVE and would recommend to anyone. So here it is. Randomness at it's best.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">1. Mandolin. This is an app that I have VERY little experience with, but what experience I HAVE had with it, I've absolutely loved. So, a few weeks ago, my favorite band of all time (Of Monsters and Men) put on FOUR live concerts in Iceland celebrating the 10 year anniversary of their very first album. Before they performed the first of four concerts, they announced that these concerts would be available on the Mandolin app to view (for purchase of course). At first I was a bit hesitant, because I have never used this app before and wasn't sure what to expect. So I made an account, signed in, and purchased 'access' for their four live concerts. There were options to only purchase one or two or whatever, but I knew I wanted to see all of them. So I bought them. And it has been AMAZING. Basically, OMAM (Of Monsters and Men) performed these 4 concerts in Iceland, and like two weeks later, they were available for viewing on Mandolin. But not all at once. So for the past 3 Wednesdays, I have enjoyed these concerts greatly. The final one is on the 22nd of this month. The great part is that I can watch it Wednesday night, and then it's available for replay the next day until midnight.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The first two concerts I watched twice. The third concert I watched 3 times. And then at midnight it's gone. :(. Boo. But it's AMAZING. Fantastic quality. I probably will only ever use it for OMAM because I am not a big 'music' person. But being able to watch them perform their first album (plus more) with different concerts has been amazing. I would highly recommend it if you love a band and want to see their concert but can't be there physically. They aren't available indefinitely, it's a set date, and then like the 24 hours after that you can replay it. But it is still totally worth it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Although I did tell my husband that if they ever do this again, I'm flying to Iceland to see them in person again ha ha. (I'm serious).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's so funny because their songs are all in English but they speak Icelandic in between. :). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">2. Wyze. I believe they were a kick-starter company that hubs supported a few years ago, and now they have grown by leaps and bounds. Anyways, we have MULTIPLE products from them and I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan. For example....they have a cordless vacuum that I choose over my Dyson cordless vacuum all the time. And the Dyson is like twice the cost. I LOVE the Wyze vacuum. Our video-doorbell is Wyze. We have Wyze 'smart' plugs for all of our lamps. And, probably my most favorite thing is my noise-cancelling headphones which hubs got me. They are amazing. Especially for watching the OMAM concerts. The great part about all of these things is that they are affordable. I will never buy a Dyson vacuum again. I think the Wyze cordless vacuum is $149? Maybe? The Dyson is like $250? I will never again by a Dyson. Anyways...they make great products. So if you're in the market...just check them out. They also tie-in with Alexa, so all of our Wyze products are connected to our Alexa app so we can talk to Alexa and tell her to turn on our outside string lights (that are Wyze) and she'll turn them on. Technology is amazing!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">3. Mint Mobile. This is our mobile provider. We don't have Verizon or Sprint or anything. Well, I take that back. We do have T-Mobile for mine and my mother-in-law's iPads each month...I think we pay $40? But for all of our phones and everything else...we use Mint Mobile. It's Ryan Reynolds company. I'm not kidding. It's amazing. And super affordable. I guess they use multiple 'towers'. Like it uses Sprint and T-Mobile towers, kind of whatever is available in your area. We've been using them for years.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">What's super funny is that every now and then we'll get random voice mails and actual mail from Ryan Reynolds (he is hilarious). Our most recent piece of mail was like a 10" cutout of him standing on a platform with a note that said to use him as a replacement for the popular 'elf on a shelf' that is everywhere this time of year. Ha ha. Anyways. If you're in the market for a new cell phone provider, check them out. Totally worth it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">4. Neutrogena Hydro Boost. Okay I know this is not groundbreaking. But I have problem skin and always have, and my dermatologist here has recommend Neutrogena Hydro Boost products since I've moved here in the land of no rain/no humidity and my skin is doing great in this incredibly dry climate. So it's pretty much all I buy, with the exception of this for my 'after-shower' lotion:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.amazon.com/OGX-Creamy-Coconut-Miracle-Moisture/dp/B01MCTTDJS</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Not sure if that link will work and I'm too lazy to check, but it's the OGX Coconut lotion. I get it at Target. Along with all of the Neutrogena Hydro Boost products. They are amazing. Hubs uses them too. It actually simplifies things greatly by sticking to just one brand.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">5. Essence Mascara. This is like an Amazon cult-favorite. I didn't believe it until I tried it. I'm a fan of Benefit products (foundation and mascara and brow products) but after seeing incredible reviews of this $5 mascara on Amazon, I thought I would give it a try. And I will NEVER again pay $20+ for Benefit mascara at Ulta. I am a huge fan. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">https://www.amazon.com/essence-Princess-Effect-Mascara-Cruelty/dp/B00T0C9XRK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=15AGGY50AEAOQ&keywords=essence+mascara&qid=1639711870&s=beauty&sprefix=essence+mascar%2Cbeauty%2C127&sr=1-2</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm still fan of the Benefit foundation and their brow stuff, but I'm never buying their mascara again after using this $5 from Amazon.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">6. Wild Basin. If you are in to <u>spiked</u> sparkling water, this one is the best. I've tried them all. It beats White Claw and Truly and all of the other brands....no contest. The flavors are unique and actually have quite a bit of taste (for sparkling water). I believe they are all 100 calories.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">That's all I can think of for now. :)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-58794641076758295392021-12-16T18:46:00.001-08:002021-12-16T18:46:14.480-08:00Hi<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Wow. May 7th was the last time I blogged. Oops. I'm not even going to pretend that I have a good reason for the big pause, just life in general I guess. I've been going through a lot both physically and mentally. It's been rough, but it's getting better. :). Probably won't go into a lot of it, but that's okay.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I finally feel that after 19 months of working from home (how is that possible??), I have my groove down. Well, I had it down quite a while ago, but I haven't blogged in forever. Anyways. It's finally feeling 'normal'. And I LOVE IT. I really do. I feel completely blessed to work for a company that supports their employees 100% and has a fantastic flexibility and so much mental/emotional/work-life support.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm working from home full-time. Hubs is working from home 3 days per week. He goes into his office here in town 2 days per week. Occasionally he will go to his Santa Fe office, but for now, he only has to go to this office here in town. Which is only 2 miles from our house which is awesome.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">On the 3 days that we are home together, our work spaces vary. Most of the time he works downstairs in our sunroom (his choice) and I work upstairs in our joint office. But sometimes it's the opposite. It all depends on what meetings we have going on that day. Like today we both worked upstairs in our joint office for a few hours. If he has an on-camera meeting, I will grab my laptop and head downstairs. And vise-versa. We've made it work. Thankfully, neither of us has a lot of meetings, let alone 'on-camera' meetings.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I still have a lot to work on as far as my general routine goes, but it's pretty good right now.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm still reading a lot, but have obviously failed at updating my reads here. I'm on Goodreads though! So all (well, most all) of my reads are tracked there. I'd like to say I'll go back to the monthly reads blog, but that probably won't happen. I think it's more likely that if I read a fantastic 5-star book that I will mention it here. Maybe ha ha. I have a lofty reading goal for next year, mostly to get my TBR down. It's too humiliating to mention how many books I have on my shelves to be read. Yikes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">We haven't traveled at all, mostly because I am paranoid about Covid still. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I see the horrific numbers and am just still super cautious. We still have strict mask mandates here. We are going to Arizona next month (a whopping whole state away) and I'm even a little paranoid about that. But we really need a get away. We haven't been anywhere just the two of us since December of 2019. It's time!!!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let's see...that's probably all for now.</span></p>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-51747623008473286112021-05-07T15:05:00.000-07:002021-05-07T15:05:14.899-07:00April Reads (15)<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1sqWXBzaKK9bg0ZLbR1bJPllLX6kSdcHjWHIEIA74lk8BJOTyZrvJzZqBSySwTYst_cyr-h_3tE-p4IGZLHAcrdyG_C9drzv8A-gNMtBhsACYs49oRBFD5i1DJlJQ_PWWTt8umy80sn7/s2048/image001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1339" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1sqWXBzaKK9bg0ZLbR1bJPllLX6kSdcHjWHIEIA74lk8BJOTyZrvJzZqBSySwTYst_cyr-h_3tE-p4IGZLHAcrdyG_C9drzv8A-gNMtBhsACYs49oRBFD5i1DJlJQ_PWWTt8umy80sn7/w418-h640/image001.jpg" width="418" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>2-STARS </b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**Summerwater (Fiction, S. Moss)</span></span></p><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sarah Moss wrote an amazing memoir of her time living in Iceland called 'Names for the Sea'. So I was excited to pick up this little big. And then was big time disappointed. There was ZERO dialogue in this book. Each chapter was told from a different perspective of a person staying at a cabin park in Scotland. It's like one giant stream of consciousness. </span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>3-STARS</b></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Girl From the Channel Islands (Fiction, J. Lecoat)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Just....kind of boring. Or maybe I've just read too many WWII novels lately.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Dawn and the Impossible Three (BSC #5, Fiction, Ann M. Martin)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>4-STARS</b></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Beezus and Ramona (Fiction, B. Cleary)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Revisiting these books from my childhood!</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (Fiction, B. Cleary)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Ramona the Pest (Fiction, B. Cleary)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Ramona the Brave (Fiction, B. Cleary)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Ramona and Her Father (Fiction, B. Cleary)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Ramona and Her Mother (Fiction, B. Cleary)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Ramona Forever (Fiction, B. Cleary)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Ramona the Brave (Fiction, B. Cleary)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The Mouse & the Motorcycle (Fiction, B. Cleary)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Mary Anne Saves the Day (BSC #4, Fiction, Ann M. Martin)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The Berlin Girl (Fiction, M. Robotham)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2 journalists from England head to Germany in the summer of 1938, right on the brink of war.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The German Midwife (Fiction, M. Robotham)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4.5. Wow. A midwife working in the prison camps is called upon to deliver Eva Braun's child. Yikes. </span></div>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-39898299612705287472021-04-06T15:44:00.001-07:002021-04-06T15:44:02.462-07:00March Reads (9)<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u></u></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJQBOQVO3mrb16u2nDYu8x4Qow6jLLdJB4g7_HwPhEjzo2CWoZm5X6PR2VTWfKGsiRZBgEIzVg3xruM5V9rL_4tAhlJHTHlXJxJmkNb7fopCRMS1MFpO-s2I8AXEFYEvuKB6ZIpt8vK5K/s640/books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJQBOQVO3mrb16u2nDYu8x4Qow6jLLdJB4g7_HwPhEjzo2CWoZm5X6PR2VTWfKGsiRZBgEIzVg3xruM5V9rL_4tAhlJHTHlXJxJmkNb7fopCRMS1MFpO-s2I8AXEFYEvuKB6ZIpt8vK5K/w480-h640/books.jpg" width="480" /></a></u></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u><br /></u></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u><b>1-STAR</b></u></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt;">*The Secret History (Fiction, D. Tartt)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 12pt;">Donna Tartt has a knack for writing the most UNLIKABLE characters ever. This was about 6 rich kids (well, 5 rich kids and 1 who pretended to be) who killed one of their own because they were worried that he would run his mouth about another murder they committed. All 6 of them were so incredibly terrible that I just didn't care what happened to them. Well, I guess I can't say that because NOTHING HAPPENED TO THEM and that infuriated me. No major consequences for their actions.</span></p><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">All they did was sit around and get drunk, do drugs, and talk about how smart they were and would throw in a Greek sentence or two (in case we forgot they were intellectual people). Oh, and they killed people.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The sad thing is that Donna Tartt is an excellent writer. Had even ONE of these characters been even the tiniest bit likable, this probably would have been at least a 3-star read for me.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*Home Front (Kristin Hannah)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 12pt;">I just need to stop reading books about veterans, the spouses of veterans, and war-related PTSD (and the spouse of someone with war-related PTSD). Because they never. get. it. right. Or even CLOSE to right. </span><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">I realize that every person and every situation is different. But I just could not get past the cringe-worthy </span>clichés<span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> about PTSD and veterans in this book.</span></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">And the children were HORRIBLE. Don't get me wrong, I love a book with a well-written 4-year-old and the drama of a 12-year-old. But these kids were just terribly written.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 12pt;">Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors. But this book was not for me.<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u><b>2-STARS</b></u></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**The Hunting Party (Fiction, L. Foley)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This book started off strong for me, but as it went on I hated each character more and more.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><u>3-STARS</u></b></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Uglies (Fiction, YA, S. Westerfield)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">1st part of a quadrilogy. Is that a word? Anyways. I liked it. I think. I'll keep going with the series. Typically the first book is never the best one.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Light in Hidden Places (Fiction, YA, S. Cameron)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I think the biggest problem that I had with this book was that I listened to it on audio. And the narrator was fantastic....however the book is told from a teenage girl's perspective and the narrator sounded like she was in her 40s or 50s. If that makes sense. It just felt so....distracting.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Shell Seekers (Fiction, R. Pilcher)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Had this been 100 pages shorter, I probably would have liked it better.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u><b>4-STARS</b></u></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The Lost Apothecary (Fiction, S. Penner)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">ALMOST a five-star read. I loved this book. There were parts of it that felt a bit rushed though, so I deducted a star. But I'm still thinking about it. So maybe I shouldn't have been stingy with my stars.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The Art of Making Memories (Non-Fiction, M. Wiking)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">From the author of the Little book of Hygge and the Little book of Lykke. I really enjoyed this one, especially because he stresses the importance of getting out of 'digital photo hell' by organizing and printing off your pictures (whether it be actual pictures or in a printed book from a website). I sooooooo need to work on this big time. It's one of my goals for this year. I'm going to work backwards, so my first book will be for the year 2020. It will probably be thin ha ha. Also, Mark Wiking's books are just so cute. They look adorable all lined up.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u><b>5-STARS</b></u></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*****The Namesake (Fiction, YA, A. Young)</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The sequel to Fable, one of my favorite books last year. It did not disappoint, and I was NOT ready for this story to end! I want more books! And these books win all the stars for their covers.</span></div>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-28632285806347497582021-03-01T10:00:00.004-08:002021-03-01T10:00:34.269-08:00February Reads (7)<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsX98g_pNlJHJYdj5ENXclmPj31PVO5LV6JZH9vM8B7fd6cwFdaO94dzx0zv6XyvJdUivcAueN2_h7Ry2apgF15TOvWxIH0Oi036RRyS-hEWXtOt8igTKzF3qb6MzoM-zQvajOeYNvgUA/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsX98g_pNlJHJYdj5ENXclmPj31PVO5LV6JZH9vM8B7fd6cwFdaO94dzx0zv6XyvJdUivcAueN2_h7Ry2apgF15TOvWxIH0Oi036RRyS-hEWXtOt8igTKzF3qb6MzoM-zQvajOeYNvgUA/w480-h640/image.png" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: verdana;">T</span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 11pt;">otal Books Read: 7 (7 Fiction)</span><p></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">5-STARS</span></u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*****This Time Next Year (Fiction, S. Cousens)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A light, not-too-cheesy rom-com. </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4-STARS</span></u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The Four Winds (Fiction, K. Hannah)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Super depressing, but I didn’t expect it to be a ray of sunshine. The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. But I read this book in less than 48 hours…it was a page turner for me, even though it was difficult.</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The Paris Library (Fiction, J. Skeslien)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This was excellent, and based on a true story of the American Library in Paris. I almost gave it 5 stars, but it was VERY easy to put down, so it lost a star.</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">3-STARS</span></u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Invisible Girl (Fiction, L. Jewell)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Lisa Jewell is hit or miss for me. This one was just okay.</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow (Fiction, YA, L. Taylor-Namey)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Had a hard time getting into this one, but parts of it were very endearing</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Age of Miracles (Fiction, YA, K. Thompson-Walker)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It’s been done before. The Earth slowed down, making daylight extend for up to 60 hours and of course throwing everything else off in the process. An easy audio listen, but nothing spectacular.</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2-STARS</span></u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**Midnight Blue (Fiction, S. Vandervlugt)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2 stars because of the descriptions of Amsterdam, one of my favorite cities. The story and character development…not great. It felt like it was trying to be ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’, but failed.</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">DNF:</span></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">All the Bright Places (Fiction, YA, J. Niven)</span></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ivory and Bone (Fiction, YA, J. Eshbaugh)</span></p>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-51214976253084966112021-02-01T10:16:00.004-08:002021-02-01T10:21:02.793-08:00January Reads (6)<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijug-Z7QY5iQO5P-w_Vdx8ORHvTQxBqQ9X2E_QV8DMzz76xVZ-V6sxrpzyQ-6L2uce8wfWZI1pmdx88smnuUOYcmnfpUatZL23F4DyHh8CQjFTrilwZ07TnI5w75mFhJZNAH_GoIWDC3CK/s640/jan+books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijug-Z7QY5iQO5P-w_Vdx8ORHvTQxBqQ9X2E_QV8DMzz76xVZ-V6sxrpzyQ-6L2uce8wfWZI1pmdx88smnuUOYcmnfpUatZL23F4DyHh8CQjFTrilwZ07TnI5w75mFhJZNAH_GoIWDC3CK/w480-h640/jan+books.jpg" width="480" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Total Books Read: 6</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-family: verdana;">4-STARS<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of
the 2000s: An Oral History (Non-Fiction, A. Greene)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Die hard fans of The Office (like myself) will LOVE this
book. Loads of behind the scenes info
about the show, the actors, the storylines, the staff, etc.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Evvie Drake Starts Over (Fiction, L. Holmes)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This one was a 3 star read up until the last quarter or
so. I liked the way the author handled
the mental health portions and therapy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-family: verdana;">3-STARS<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Watching You (Fiction, L. Jewell)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’m a fan of Lisa Jewell, but this one was pretty disturbing
and creepy. But I still liked it!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Call Your Daughter Home (Fiction, D. Spera)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I think if I had read this at a different time I would have
liked it more. It was EXTREMELY heavy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (Fiction, C. Paolini)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sci-fi, aliens, and about 300 pages too long. But still enjoyable!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Evening and the Morning (Fiction, K. Follett)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">My first Follett book, which is good because it’s a prequel
to his World Without End Series. It’s
DEFINITELY not for everyone and I wouldn’t recommend it, but I also am still
thinking about the first two chapters.
Probably the best ‘first’ couple of chapters I’ve ever read. </span></p></div>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-50189044368385006252021-01-15T13:14:00.002-08:002021-01-15T13:14:55.272-08:002020 Year-In-Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwOeNW5YAmmEsniEcwvolBT46BSn1Ktkywkx6V79m1LMTVvSe5CcnAc754qsouK8gYyXMbKzc3gjcLeZVPv-J5ll_SbH43nGxJTT9tUaDdOYBiskar3X8RFukfsObOuPoZQYn5wGHSU2HZ/s800/2020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="800" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwOeNW5YAmmEsniEcwvolBT46BSn1Ktkywkx6V79m1LMTVvSe5CcnAc754qsouK8gYyXMbKzc3gjcLeZVPv-J5ll_SbH43nGxJTT9tUaDdOYBiskar3X8RFukfsObOuPoZQYn5wGHSU2HZ/w640-h336/2020.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm only going to focus on the positives because as well all know, 2020 was generally awful.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">But here are the 'goods':</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">I got to visit my family in Nebraska before Covid hit.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">I started working from home, and most likely will get to work from home permanently. This is a huge blessing.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">We started having Zoom meetings. Which for me personally is also a HUGE blessing. It has done wonders for my in-person-meeting related anxiety. I can say confidently that I hope it never goes away. Many people take issue with that, but I can also say I am NOT the only one who feels this way. Many family members and also my best friend back in Nebraska and a few sisters in our hall have talked to me about it too and feel the exact same way that I do. There are WAY more people out there suffering from anxiety and depression that we know about. And Zoom is such a blessing. Our meeting attendance (personally and as a whole congregation) has skyrocketed. Our congregation is consistently over 100% attendance. Unreal.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">We celebrated 10 years of marriage. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">We saved a BUNCH of money. Not eating out, not being able to go to stores to just browse, cutting gym memberships, etc. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">We have a pretty impressive home gym now. We definitely need to use it more, but it's pretty awesome. I'll try to do a separate post on it.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">My sister came to visit!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">We took some beautiful day trips around the state.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Hamilton came out on Disney+. Yes, this is a big deal to me.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">We cultivated a greater appreciation for our house. I have always loved our (dated ha ha) house, but now...I love it even more. We have sufficient space with two full-time offices and with us home ALL. THE. TIME. we are not on top of each other, sick of each other, etc. ha ha. We had to move some things around, but that also became a good thing. My library upstairs became my husband's office, and our front room became my library/personal study/relaxing room. Which has worked out great. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">I got another great-niece!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">I got a Nintendo Switch and discovered Animal Crossing. It got me through November, December, and I am still going strong. It is the BEST distraction and one of the best purchases I've ever made. Judge me if you want, I can handle it. If you played it, you would know!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">I got my Matthew-Acts study Bible.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">And last but not least....I got my Covid vaccine.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">A lot of goods. This will be a nice list for me to look back on when I'm feeling sorry for myself. :)</span></div><p></p>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-4764395718123596722021-01-15T12:10:00.003-08:002021-01-15T12:10:58.275-08:002020 Reading Review<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTG-hO69bQt2hU1bvw5pBJGTLAG15_ohsiHLgt478OOih6Chroe2tK9XpfscKmzI2xM5qnkFMYVEQgqrxzG7q46T8AUZykuwMTi64Cg36ytmTY6AsPyCA0MUUapG0vg5zwDoZfqkOmEkw/s640/books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTG-hO69bQt2hU1bvw5pBJGTLAG15_ohsiHLgt478OOih6Chroe2tK9XpfscKmzI2xM5qnkFMYVEQgqrxzG7q46T8AUZykuwMTi64Cg36ytmTY6AsPyCA0MUUapG0vg5zwDoZfqkOmEkw/w640-h640/books.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /><!--[endif]--></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div>2020 was obviously a difficult year. I was in a HUGE reading slump at the beginning of the year, but then pulled out of it.</div></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I track *most* of my reads on Goodreads. On Goodreads, I reported 111 books read. In my personal tracker, I recorded 120 books. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Why don't I track ALL of my books on Goodreads? In short, because I don't want to offend anyone or be judged by some of my reads. Are they bad? No. But they might not be everyone's cup of tea and I just find it easier to keep them to myself. Now...I'm talking mostly fantasy/sci-fi/romance here. And nothing horrific. If you're okay with Star Wars and Marvel movies, then you SHOULD be okay with these books. But not everyone is. And that's okay. That's why I just keep some of them to myself.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Anyways, I tried to pick out my favorite of 2020, but I couldn't. I had nine 5-star reads in 2020, and I could only narrow it down to 3. I tried, I really tried to just pick one. But I couldn't. So, my three favorites:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Hamnet (Maggie O'Farrell)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Anxious People (Fredrik Backman)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Fable (Adrienne Young)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">All were AMAZING. And I would recommend them to anyone (and already have).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">This year I set another reading goal on Goodreads for 100 books. I've read 3 so far. I continue to listen to at least half (if not more) on audio. While playing Animal Crossing ha ha. </span></div>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-71663971505236857252021-01-04T11:09:00.001-08:002021-01-04T11:09:06.110-08:00December Reads (23)<p> <span style="font-family: verdana;">I might just start doing these in list form because I am lazy and it's a lot to keep up with ha ha.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>*Did not like it at all</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>**It was okay</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>***Liked it</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>****Really really liked it</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>*****Absolutely loved it</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">*Orphan Island (Young Reader, Fiction, L. Snyder)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Secret of Shadow Ranch (Young Reader, Fiction, C. Keene - N. Drew #5)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Mystery at Lilac Inn (Young Reader, Fiction, C. Keene - N. Drew #4)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Shatter Me (YA, Fiction, S. Mafi - Shatter Me #1)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Unravel Me (YA, Fiction, S. Mafi - Shatter Me #2)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Wildcard (YA, Fiction, M. Lu - Wildcard #1)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Prey (Fiction, M. Crichton)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Bungalow Mystery (Young Reader, Fition, C. Keene - N. Drew #3)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Vanishing Stair (YA, Fiction, M. Johnson - Truly Devious #2)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Truth About Stacey (Young Reader, Fiction, A. Martin - BSC #3)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Legend (YA, Fiction, M. Lu - Legend #1)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Restore Me (YA, Fiction, S. Mafi - Shatter Me #4)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Defy Me (YA, Fiction, S. Mafi - Shatter Me #5)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Virgin River (Fiction, Virgin River #1)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The Strangers (Young Reader, Fiction, M. Haddix - Strangers #1)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Cilka's Journey (Fiction, H. Morris)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Love & Olives (YA, Fiction, J. Welch)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Miss Iceland (Fiction, A. Olafsdattir)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Princess Diaries (Young Reader, Fiction, M. Cabot)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Front Desk (Young Reader, Fiction, K. Yang)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Ignite Me (YA, Fiction, S. Mafi - Shatter Me #3)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">****I Am the Messenger (YA, Fiction, M. Zusak)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The War I Finally Won (Young Reader, Fiction, K. Bauer)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">DNF: </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Dutch Wife</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">While We Were Watching Downton Abbey</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Total Books Read: 23 (23 Fiction, 0 Non-Fiction)</span></p>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-5230317266572041002020-12-10T09:57:00.001-08:002020-12-10T09:57:06.409-08:00November Reads (18)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2J-icvr-M2gXuDhlPoqWZ9RBZ9BdEjEyKpHi-SgMyByf9SqgKqJ9Q3MIMILmH2xWuOUSIef0L29cVuuBSZyljWJgt_I-c3gDQOq2CyFL1itJ98BfdywhHFkRE_0LPIjkqaHbFjBfLy8nC/s640/november+books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2J-icvr-M2gXuDhlPoqWZ9RBZ9BdEjEyKpHi-SgMyByf9SqgKqJ9Q3MIMILmH2xWuOUSIef0L29cVuuBSZyljWJgt_I-c3gDQOq2CyFL1itJ98BfdywhHFkRE_0LPIjkqaHbFjBfLy8nC/w480-h640/november+books.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">*Did not like it at all<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">**It was okay<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Liked it<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Really really liked it<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">*****Absolutely loved it<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">1-star<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">2-stars<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**Florence Adler Swims Forever (Fiction,
R. Beanland)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I think if I had read this book at a
different time I may have enjoyed it more.
But I just found it to be annoying.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**The Dead and the Gone (Fiction, YA, S.
Pfeffer)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">#2 of a series…I won’t be finishing. It was exactly like the first book, just in a
different location. Pass.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**Home Body (Non-Fiction, R. Kaur)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I liked her first two books of poetry,
but this one…definitely not for me. And
probably not for a lot of people ha ha.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**Pandemonium (Fiction, YA, L. Oliver)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The second book after Delirium. It was just meh. I won’t read the third book.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**Before I Fall (Fiction, YA, L. Oliver)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mean Girls meets Groundhog Day. I tried Lauren Oliver, I really tried. No more!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">3-stars<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Britt-Marie Was Here (Fiction, F.
Backman)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A decent read (or listen, which is what I
did), but definitely not my favorite by him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Sun and Her Flowers (Non-Fiction,
R. Kaur)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Milk and Honey is still my favorite by
her, but this one was good too. I’m just
not a huge poetry fan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Truly Devious (Fiction, YA, M.
Johnson)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The first in a trilogy, although I
believe there’s a 4<sup>th</sup> one that just came out. This was very Sherlock Holmes-y, but YA. I
liked it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Fiction,
H. Morris)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Based on a true story!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Delirium (Fiction, YA, L. Oliver)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I think the best part about this book is
that it was narrated by Sarah Drew (April Kepner of Grey’s Anatomy)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Red Rising (Fiction, Sci-Fi, P. Brown)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The first of 5 I think? I liked this one. Mars is colonized and the people are ranked
according to their status. So one of the
Reds (the lowest rank) gets disguised and is accepted into the Golds to try to
break down the system from the inside.
It’s complicated and definitely not an easy or light read, but it was
intriguing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Secret of the Old Clock (Fiction,
Children’s, C. Keene)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nancy Drew #1. These are fun.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Hidden Staircase (Fiction,
Children’s, C. Keene)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nancy Drew #2. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Heir (Fiction, YA, K. Cass)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Book 4 of the Selection series. I liked it better than I thought I would!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Crown (Fiction, YA, K. Cass)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Final book of the Selection series. I finished!
Now I can shelf these pretty books.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">4-stars<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Aurora
Rising (Fiction, YA, A. Kaufman)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Passengers
(the movie) meets Guardians of the Galaxy meets Stranger Things. A great audio listen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Warcross
(Fiction, YA, M. Lu) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The first
in a duology about a massive gaming system hack and the girl responsible for
it. Very interesting!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****I Will
Judge You By Your Bookshelf (Non-Fiction, Graphic Novel, G. Snider)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Cute,
although it was much more about writing than reading.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">5-Stars<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">DNF: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Total Books
Read: 18 (15 Fiction, 3 Non-Fiction)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /><!--[endif]--></span></p>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-11702565166029805722020-11-07T17:07:00.001-08:002020-11-07T17:07:02.320-08:00October Reads (18)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzWSRo6PSANsOGUqbaVULPbZ2v_acpaz3iuZ1uRWw8S-V8ebw9SBN5fBBUgzqNkfXGZKuJZ9GwO_1GLfOJwzOKJoPIKTuzwwSO6-bpwF-HXtIHMj606a87MApKn7oUi54gYFYRVu8SjfGS/s640/books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzWSRo6PSANsOGUqbaVULPbZ2v_acpaz3iuZ1uRWw8S-V8ebw9SBN5fBBUgzqNkfXGZKuJZ9GwO_1GLfOJwzOKJoPIKTuzwwSO6-bpwF-HXtIHMj606a87MApKn7oUi54gYFYRVu8SjfGS/w480-h640/books.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_MailOriginal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*Did
not like it at all<o:p></o:p></span></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**It was okay<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Liked it<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Really really liked it<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*****Absolutely loved it<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">1-star<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*Tell Me 3 Things
(Fiction,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>YA, A. Buxbaum)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I remember when
this book first came out it was super popular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t know why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found it to
be ridiculous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for me to find a YA
book to be ridiculous it has to be really bad, because I typically enjoy
YA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had it ‘figured out’ from about
page 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only finished it because it
was a quick audiobook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then I kicked
myself for bothering to finish it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">2-stars<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**When No One Is
Watching (Fiction, A. Cole)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This book is
labeled as a thriller, although I’m not sure why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NOTHING HAPPENS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except in the last 30 pages or so.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**Icefall (Fiction,
YA, M. Kirby)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">YA – this one had
such a great premise, but it just failed on many levels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I picked it up at the library sale and am
glad I didn’t pay more than $1 for it ha ha.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**Challenger Deep
(Fiction, YA, N. Shusterman)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">YA – I almost DNF’d
this one multiple times, but it was a pretty short book so I kept plugging
on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m usually okay with books being
all over the place, and books taking place in two different….how should I say
this….mentalities?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to
explain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I just couldn’t connect
with this one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I applaud Neal
Shusterman for writing a YA book about mental health.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**The Bronze
Horseman (Fiction, Simons)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This book was
infuriating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were chapters that
were 5 stars and chapters that were 0 or negative stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it was about 300 pages too long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waste of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I should have really given it 1 star)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**The Moon is Down
(Fiction, J. Steinbeck)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Great idea, poor
execution.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">3-stars<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Five Feet Apart
(Fiction, YA, R. Lippincott)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Good, but it’s been
done before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teenagers that are too sick
to love each other.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Sun Is Also
a Star (Fiction, YA, N. Yoon)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I liked her first
book MUCH better (Everything Everything)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Toll
(Fiction, YA, N. Shusterman)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Not as good as the
first two, but I decent conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4-stars<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Obsidio
(Fiction, YA, A. Kaufman)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Fantastic
ending to the series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fun one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Especially on audio!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****It
Ends With Us (Fiction, C. Hoover)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This
is technically considered a romance novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But there are extremely heavy themes all throughout, particular domestic
violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a tough read, but also
fluffy at the same time (a little too fluffy).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But in the acknowledgments page, the author wrote why she wrote this
book and it’s based on her own experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So it gets 4 stars from me, in spite of the fluff factor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Shiner
(Fiction, A.J. Burns)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This
was one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read, but I still loved it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to keep reminding myself as I was
reading it that it was modern day and not written 50+ years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I love that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Love
and Gelato (Fiction, YA, J. Welch)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Well
this was just a delightful little surprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It's not as 'fluffy' as the cover makes it look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, there's definitely SOME teenage
fluff, especially at the end, but this book is mostly about grief and a teenage
girl trying to figure out her mother's past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In Italy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While eating loads of
good food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And living in a
cemetery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did I tell you it's surprising?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Love
and Luck (Fiction, YA, J. Welch)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I
liked this one better than the first one!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I'm not sure if it was the Ireland setting...Amy told me about SO many
things and places that were mentioned in the book after her trip to Ireland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm excited for the next one!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Between
Burning Worlds (Fiction, YA,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>J. Brody)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This
is a HUGE book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a lot going on,
and loads of action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoyed it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem I have with sequels though is
that because my memory is so terrible I feel like I need to read the previous
book again to understand what's going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In this book though there were pages in the front of the book that
described each person, which was super helpful, especially because there are
LOADS of characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I definitely want
to re-read both of these before the next one comes out next year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Long
Bright River (Fiction, L. Moore)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Very
tough read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dark & gritty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went back and forth from hating the main
character to having sympathy for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then being incredibly disappointed in her again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is definitely not a ‘feel good’ read,
but I listened to the whole audio book in one day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was very engaging.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">5-Stars<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*****Fable
(Fiction, YA, A. Young)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Excellent…I
read this in 3 settings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s definitely
not perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first half of the book
is a slow burn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were a few things
that happened near the end that felt very rushed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I LOVED the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I LOVED Fable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was likable in every way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s also one of the most atmospheric books
I’ve ever read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m looking forward to
the sequel!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*****And
Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer (Fiction, F. Backman)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This
is a little novella by one of my favorite authors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about grief and preparing for loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His writing is just so good and he is the
only author that makes me cry with his books.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*****The
Pecan Man (Fiction, C. Dandridge)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’m
not sure why this book is not more well-known.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Or maybe everyone has heard of it except me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a small book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More than a short story, but far less than a
big sweeping novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been compared
to To Kill a Mockingbird and The Help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
kind of understand the comparisons, but it’s also very much it’s own
story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I listened to it on audio and it
was one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Probably THE best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s free on
Hoopla audio if you have that connection through your library card.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">DNF:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Us
(Fiction, D. Nichols) – couldn’t get into it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Total
Books Read: 18 (18 Fiction, 0 Non-Fiction, 1 DNF)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"></span>
</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
</div>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-78651164465371279892020-10-02T13:15:00.001-07:002020-10-02T13:15:27.111-07:00September Reads (7)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVcQ9VD4bRleoxINBBlglxqROuGjqcjq5mQchoS3pFHy_MZC1cpdygnr3WFR-3Vu2ARp9xaySjSEq7oxWVEa3LoGicq3-6vaMguO37sXKiNRQzYDq268DBXHz3v9WDLf3-u3Sp8MANgHmJ/s640/IMG_7072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVcQ9VD4bRleoxINBBlglxqROuGjqcjq5mQchoS3pFHy_MZC1cpdygnr3WFR-3Vu2ARp9xaySjSEq7oxWVEa3LoGicq3-6vaMguO37sXKiNRQzYDq268DBXHz3v9WDLf3-u3Sp8MANgHmJ/w480-h640/IMG_7072.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxJh_3XOpN6WtkoWfobyq57th4AIJnjjHFETrNwyMUsEpXfdzHT9rHZrDKX7ozBDEPUNG9clf5k-dvfXSefQIsv6ZBVTejpA33eQkWiJEDuUIXnTcjSv-B92UHAfh-KwAoP4Cnx_NEGSz/s640/ACS_1741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxJh_3XOpN6WtkoWfobyq57th4AIJnjjHFETrNwyMUsEpXfdzHT9rHZrDKX7ozBDEPUNG9clf5k-dvfXSefQIsv6ZBVTejpA33eQkWiJEDuUIXnTcjSv-B92UHAfh-KwAoP4Cnx_NEGSz/w640-h640/ACS_1741.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmIUTbSPZWiz7uaWCfIDqM8wCxAI9ZOqTH50kIRO1erxLB0QHLdqyfLMjgS9pzmZ4HDx8drOd1Z0wh6-jPUU_TJMmMzx-JGIS0nU17ufJj1fj7Jn8_s5wz4bfvjDkW4KmXwENYTSgvgrSM/s640/ACS_1742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmIUTbSPZWiz7uaWCfIDqM8wCxAI9ZOqTH50kIRO1erxLB0QHLdqyfLMjgS9pzmZ4HDx8drOd1Z0wh6-jPUU_TJMmMzx-JGIS0nU17ufJj1fj7Jn8_s5wz4bfvjDkW4KmXwENYTSgvgrSM/w640-h640/ACS_1742.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <b>*Did not like it at
all</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**It was okay<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Liked it<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Really really
liked it<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*****Absolutely loved
it<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">3-stars<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Switch (Fiction, B. O’Leary)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Probably the most predictable book I’ve ever read, BUT I
still really enjoyed it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A perfect read
between ‘heavier’ books.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Real Michael Swann (Fiction, B. Reardon)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">A ‘thriller’…more like a cast of (SPOILER ALERT) mistaken
identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had this one figured out
from the beginning, which is disappointing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But even though I had it figured out, it was still a page turner and a
quick read. (Not pictured above, I gave it to my mother-in-law.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Home Edit Life (Non-Fiction, C. Shearer)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nothing earth-shattering organizing wise but it’s a really
pretty book with great pictures.</span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4-stars<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Illuminae (Fiction, YA, A.
Kaufman and J. Kristoff)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Wow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took me a while to get into this 600 page
book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's written completely in journal
entries, letters, emails, interviews, illustrations, diagrams, 'Unipedia'
pages, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I got to page 150 or
so, I decided to switch over to audio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And then I couldn't stop listening until I was finished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If at all possible, listen AND
follow along in the book at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The audio is amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
12 narrators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alarms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Explosions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ugh it's just so good!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Gemina (Fiction,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>YA, A. Kaufman and J. Kristoff)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">#2 in the Illuminae series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one was not quite as good as the first,
but it still gets 4-stars for the creativity and plot.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">5-Stars<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*****The Exiles (Fiction, C.
Baker Kline)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Wow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a beautiful, devastating novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever I read a book by C. Baker Kline, I
always learn so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't think I've
ever read an author who can write historical fiction as well as she can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazing!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*****Anxious People (Fiction, F.
Backman)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here is the review I posted on
Goodreads:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;">Yesterday we had a
freakish wind storm, knocking out our power for 7 hours. I have never been so
grateful for a power outage, because it allowed me to completely read this
book.</span><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Only Fredrik Backman can write a book that makes
you laugh out loud on one page and then drop a passage like this on this next
page:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">"You can get it into your head to do some
unbelievably stupid things when you run out of tears, when you can't silence
the voices no one can hear, when you've never been in a room where you felt
normal. In the end you get exhausted from always tensing the skin around your
ribs, never letting your shoulders sink, brushing along walls all your life
with white knuckles, always afraid that someone will notice you, because no
one's supposed to do that."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">I don't think a book has ever been more
appropriately named. This book is about ANXIOUS PEOPLE all stuck in an
apartment held hostage by a bank robber that botched a bank robbery. Over the
course of the day, they learn more about each other and we learn more about
them, particularly their anxieties, their depression, and their suicidal
thoughts.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">There's twists and turns and connections and now
I want to read it again immediately, knowing what I know about the characters
in this book. It's just SO good. Please read it. And also, please read this:</span><br />
<br />
</span><a href="https://www.fredrikbackman.com/2018/07/02/something-about-the-anxiety/" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #00635d; font-size: 10.5pt;">https://www.fredrikbackman.com/2018/0...</span></a><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">It's an essay he wrote about anxiety and it's
amazing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Also, follow him on Instagram because he's
hilarious.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">And READ THIS BOOK</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">DNF:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Bright Forever (one of the characters creeped me out and I didn’t like where it
was going)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Total Books Read: 7 </b>(6 Fiction,
1 Non-Fiction, 1 DNF)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-84287254815406145042020-08-31T14:24:00.000-07:002020-08-31T14:24:03.949-07:00August Reads (10)<div class="separator"><p style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcR0Y0SWr5v2KpN67KGEAG_JVVxlICi3fCLapoeLF6s9iH-rD44zl0F3buDm6Qw&usqp=CAc" /></p></div><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*Did not like it at
all<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">**It was okay<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Liked it<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Really really
liked it<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*****Absolutely loved
it<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><u>3-stars</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***The Library of Lost Things
(L. Namey, Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’m on a YA kick lately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one was good, but a bit lacking in some
areas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about a 17-year-old who
loves books and lives with a secret:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>her
mother is a hoarder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ending was
rushed and didn’t make much sense, but it was still a quick and not bad read.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">***Pale Rider, the Spanish Flue
of 1918 (L. Spinney, Non-Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Fascinating, although VERY
wordy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found myself skimming a lot.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><u>4-stars</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The Remarkable Journey of
Coyote Sunrise (D. Gemeinhart, Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is a Young Reader books
that is about Coyote Sunrise and her dad (Rodeo), who live in an old converted
school bus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They travel the country
trying to escape the memories of the tragic accident that killed Coyote’s
mother and two sisters five years previously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although heartbreaking, this book made me smile many times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The Flatshare (B. O’Leary,
Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This was a quick easy read (or
listen…I listened to it on audio).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Somewhat predictable, but not cringy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She has a new book that just released called The Switch that I look
forward to reading.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Rules of Civility (A.
Towles, Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Friendships, accidents, deceit,
love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This book moved pretty slow for
me, but Amor Towles writes so wonderfully that I still gave it 4 stars.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Kristy’s Great Idea –
Babysitters Club #1 (A. Martin, Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am going to re-read
these.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were the only thing I read
in 5<sup>th</sup> and 6<sup>th</sup> grade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I LOVED these books!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m so glad
they are making a comeback (due to the Netflix series, which I’m almost 99%
sure I’m not going to watch).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am
kicking myself for not keeping my collection of these books!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****The Diary of a Bookseller
(S. Bythell, Non-Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The title says it all…it’s the
diary of a bookseller in Scotland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
records the day-to-day operations of running a used bookshop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found it hilarious, although he seems to be
a bit grumpy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Empty (S. Burton,
Non-Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The memoir of a podcast editor
that suffers from anorexia and binge eating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And I say ‘suffers’ because she’s not really cured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots of feelings about this one, lots of
triggers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Claudia and the Phantom
Phone Calls – Babysitters Club #2 (A. Martin, Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Book two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>😊<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><u><b>5-Stars</b></u><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*****Hamnet (M. O’Farrell,
Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ten stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maggie O’Farrell has managed to do it
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, let me emphasize that you
do NOT need to know Shakespeare AT ALL to love this book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know very little about Shakespeare, and
what I do know….I’m not a fan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this
is not a book about Shakespeare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
about his son, Hamnet (Hamlet), and his wife Agnes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And his daughters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And his father and mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And his siblings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And his wife’s family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what happens to all of them when Hamnet
dies from the plague at age 11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone
handles grief in different ways, and this incredible book explores every one of
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I didn’t have so many others
book to be read, I would immediately start this one again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s how good it is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">DNF:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Pull
of the Stars (storyline I didn’t feel comfortable reading)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
is Going to Hurt (author had very unkind comments about JWs)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Total Books Read: 10 (7 Fiction,
3 Non-Fiction, 2 DNF)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-65637662585476404302020-08-07T16:42:00.002-07:002020-08-07T16:42:26.687-07:00June/July Reads (5)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1OJWKorTXFyIF3A73zVfc9FhzZ75p95TpkmgxRjr3dJPG4lHVLGIpGsGa-LMEfetAsf50sK2pJ-HVR1PvIdolxPfj6zc_vZYH0sV5k9gDa4nYQFDzg-kcFpdI1DPATm5CBO8F2bh9M-B/s406/9781510703902_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1OJWKorTXFyIF3A73zVfc9FhzZ75p95TpkmgxRjr3dJPG4lHVLGIpGsGa-LMEfetAsf50sK2pJ-HVR1PvIdolxPfj6zc_vZYH0sV5k9gDa4nYQFDzg-kcFpdI1DPATm5CBO8F2bh9M-B/s0/9781510703902_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I think I've FINALLY pulled out of my reading slump. Yay! Hopefully I'll have larger numbers in August/September.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>*Did not like it at all</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>**It was just okay</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>***Liked it</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>****Really really liked it</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>*****Absolutely loved it</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (A. Patchett, Non-Fiction)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Almost a 4-star….this was more of a collection of non-fiction essays that were published by Ann Patchett over the years. She is an amazing writer and I learned a lot about her. Like how she used to work at Gourmet and 17 Magazine. She has no kids by choice (and is fairly vocal about it), she passed all of the mental/physical exams to be a cop. She has an obsession with her dogs. Lots of gems. But a few slow spots…I prefer her fiction books.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***P.S. I Still Love You (J. Han, Fiction)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Book 2 of a 3 book series. Lots of cheese, but lots of sweetness too. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">***I Was Told It Would Get Easier (A. Waxman, Fiction)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mother/daughter college tour trip. There was a lot of back and forth which I didn’t mind, but it seemed that nothing really happened until the last few pages. So I found myself skimming a lot.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Pandemic (Y. Ventresca, Fiction)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">This YA book was written in 2014, but honestly it could have been written about Covid. Even the flu in this book was almost identical to Covid. Lots of heavy themes though going on and the ending was a bit rushed, but I flew through it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">****Always and Forever (Fiction, J. Han)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The last of the Lara Jean trilogy. Overall a very cute series.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Total Books Read: 5 (4 Fiction, 1 Non-Fiction, 0 DNF)</span></p><div><br /></div>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-15999683985590563822020-06-03T14:17:00.001-07:002020-06-03T14:17:21.561-07:00May Reads (5)<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_MailOriginal"><font face="verdana"><br /></font></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_MailOriginal"><font face="verdana"><br /></font></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_MailOriginal"><font face="verdana"></font></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font face="verdana"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-hj0MGxd7-Hfsx3rZFpuWZMB7G38WvRvTLhMe5mTsGRmMhFA6HDOlSkAjcZZeYwQRhr73KQZk7d-Dzk2TCIGa9QhOWYJMS-Q_IFa1T7oV_4ygkJpz7lv_KQFjb1XSSY6bhTcU9Y6s6Qx/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="423" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-hj0MGxd7-Hfsx3rZFpuWZMB7G38WvRvTLhMe5mTsGRmMhFA6HDOlSkAjcZZeYwQRhr73KQZk7d-Dzk2TCIGa9QhOWYJMS-Q_IFa1T7oV_4ygkJpz7lv_KQFjb1XSSY6bhTcU9Y6s6Qx/s320/IMG_5473.jpg" /></a></font></div><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="verdana"><a name="_MailOriginal"><font face="verdana"><br /></font></a></font></p><font face="verdana">One star:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>did not like it at all<o:p></o:p></font><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">Two stars:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>eh, it was okay<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">Three stars:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>liked it<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">Four stars: <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>really, really liked it<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">Five stars:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>absolutely loved it<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><font face="verdana"> </font></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">1-Star (0)</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">2-Star (1)<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">**A Good Girl’s
Guide to Murder (Fiction, H. Jackson)<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">This YA book was
about 150 pages too long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I usually like
YA, but this one fell short.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
bored.</font></span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">3-Star
(0)</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">4-Star
(4)<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">****In
a Dark, Dark Wood (Fiction, R. Ware)<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">This
was a great mystery (although dark) that didn’t require a lot of brain power.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><font face="verdana"> </font></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">****To
All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (Fiction, J. Han)<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">Another
YA, although this one came through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
lighthearted, dramatic, centered on family and gives you all the feels!<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><font face="verdana"> </font></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">****Joy
At Work (Non-Fiction, M. Kondo)<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">Another
book from the tidying expert, Marie Kondo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing majorly earth shattering here, except it did inspire me to clean
out a lot of my digital clutter.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><font face="verdana"> </font></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">****The
Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Fiction, S. Collins)<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">4.5
stars…..this is a prequel to the Hunger Games series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the story of Coriolanus Snow and the
beginning of his rise to the top as President of Panem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me to give 4-stars to a book where the
main character is so unlikable is pretty much unheard of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this book is so much more than story of
Coriolanus Snow and his rise to the top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It really gets into the history of the Hunger Games, when there was just
one arena every year and before there was gambling and sponsors involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found it all fascinating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a bit long though (500+ pages) and it
was a little slow in the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's
also very dark, but no more than the other books are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Definitely a great prequel!<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><font face="verdana"> </font></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">5-Star
(0)<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">Total
Books Read: 5 (4 Fiction, 1 Non-Fiction)<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><o:p><font face="verdana"> </font></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><font face="verdana">DNF
(0)</font></span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div><br />Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-62663580157587693642020-05-15T11:35:00.001-07:002020-05-15T11:35:45.801-07:00April Reads (2)<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One star:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>did not like it at all<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Two stars:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>eh, it was okay<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Three stars:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>liked it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Four stars: <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>really, really liked it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Five stars:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>absolutely loved it</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1-Star (0)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2-Star (0)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="border: none; padding: 0in 0in 2pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3-Star (1)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Don't Overthink It (Non-Fiction, A. Bogel)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This book went from a 1 star to a 5 star multiple times. So I settled on 3. I would have liked more realistic examples, and after finishing it I realized that I am not a big overthinker. Not really for me. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">4-Star (1)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Bookwanderers (Fiction, young reader)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was about a girl who lives with her grandparents who run a bookshop. Suddenly she finds herself meeting Anne (from Green Gables) and Alice (from Wonderland). She is able to 'bookwander' into stories because of her intense reading. There's a bit of mystery involved with finding her real mother and also figuring out the rules of bookwandering. It was just the right book at the right time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">5-Star (0)</span><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="border: none; padding: 0in 0in 2pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total Books Read: 2 (1 Fiction, 1 Non-Fiction)</span></div>
</div>
Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-52918340561236227172020-04-05T10:17:00.000-07:002020-04-05T10:17:00.466-07:00Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DG40N1lJCa7Dj_5fBtMKji2_cd_D49yUj6akN2YMFyg1m73x3-G1DkHODJyzNvyKhLSFa0qqS0oUbrkyXQHe25G6iTs_4l1fw_g-l5j8i7ZS_CjRg0HDPaph5Edc8L-NlyKNvbNT1Bsb/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DG40N1lJCa7Dj_5fBtMKji2_cd_D49yUj6akN2YMFyg1m73x3-G1DkHODJyzNvyKhLSFa0qqS0oUbrkyXQHe25G6iTs_4l1fw_g-l5j8i7ZS_CjRg0HDPaph5Edc8L-NlyKNvbNT1Bsb/s640/download.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Soooooo much going on. But it's somewhat comforting to know I'm not alone. This mess is happening everywhere.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Honestly, I've been a bit surprised about how rough it's hit me. Not physically of course (I'm healthy), but mentally.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am 100% working from home until further notice. I'm guessing it will be at least throughout May...possibly longer. There's just no way to tell right now. I do think people are VERY optimistic about time-frames...I'm not one of them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I work in healthcare. I see/read/hear ALL THE THINGS. All the scary stuff that isn't reported in the news. I see the numbers before they are published. I hear about the PPE issues and what's going on inside hospitals. I get 30-40 emails PER DAY full of nothing but COVID information that I am expected to keep up with. Medicare literally changes things by the minute.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can't get away from it. My work is not an 'escape'. I work COVID all day and then at night the news comes on, alerts come up on my phone, etc. I can't get away. Which is why I am struggling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reading/watching the news stresses me out. But NOT reading/watching the news stresses me out too. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I cannot concentrate on anything outside of work. I concentrate on work for 8+ hours a day, and then after that my brain is just done. I only read 2 books last month because I cannot concentrate on anything. When this first started, my initial thought was 'wow, I'll be able to get SO MUCH DONE!!'. Well...that's just not the case. I just can't concentrate. And I seem to be in a permanent funk, which makes me want to do zero. I'm hoping it gets better.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are following all the rules. We only go to the store once per week (if that). We are home 24/7. We've started starting our cars once a week just so the batteries don't die. New Mexico is on a mandatory 'Stay at Home' order so we can only go out to go to the grocery store pretty much. Which is fine by me...I honestly think the whole nation should be doing this. ? But I guess it's up to each state.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last night my husband did the grocery store run for the week and when he came home, I immediately sprayed down the doorknobs/surfaces/groceries/counters, etc. with Lysol spray. This is our new normal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The cloth masks I ordered from Etsy arrived a couple of weeks ago and now we are using them when we leave the house. I only ordered 4 (2 for my mother-in-law, one each for hubs and I) because, well, we don't leave the house much. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But enough negativity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Things I am thankful for:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Zoom. We are able to see our dear brothers and sisters twice a week on Zoom. We can associate 30 minutes before and after the meetings (before they mute us ha ha). We haven't missed a beat with the Zoom meetings because we need them now more than ever.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Our home. I'm thankful that I love our home and that we all have room to spread out. I'm thankful for the outdoor space so that the dogs can run.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Our neighborhood. It's walkable, it's safe, it's friendly. 6 feet apart, of course.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*The weather. It has been gorgeous here. Absolutely perfect weather.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*My job. I am thankful that I have a job that allows me to work from home. I have moved my workspace into the guest room. The front room just wasn't cutting it space-wise so I moved all of my stuff into the giant desk in the guest room. It's working so much better. It's more like an office. I can shut the door when I'm done. Even though my job is mentally exhausting, I'm glad to have it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*Pure Barre. They have not missed a beat getting everything set up with their Live Stream classes. I am able to still take classes from home which is wonderful. It is so good for my head. AND my husband installed a barre for me in our gym. It is so great!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*My health. I am holding steady with my weight, which is 100% fine by me for the moment. I'll start doing my regular weekly health-check ins soon. For now I'm thrilled to be maintaining.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*The extra time. Even though I can't concentrate and am in a funk, I have still managed to get a few things done/organized. I'll try to post pictures when I can.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*I'm thankful that I never scheduled our 10-year anniversary trip. It's just so odd....It's so unlike me to not plan these things way ahead, but there was just something that was holding me back (we were going to go to Florida for a week). I never pulled the trigger. And now I am soooooo glad that we didn't make those plans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So that's my random brain dump on this past month of life. :) Thanks for reading. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PS: STAY HOME. I hear of people having 'quarantine' parties and it makes me so angry I can't even see straight. I hear of nurses at hospitals with bruising on their faces from wearing masks all day and the back of their ears completely destroyed from the elastic begging and pleading with people to stay home and people aren't listening. Just STAY HOME. And wash your hands. All the time. They should be red and dry and ugly! We keep lotion by all of our sinks (my hands are destroyed).</span>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-3345944564601424252020-04-05T09:41:00.004-07:002020-04-05T09:41:57.233-07:00March Reads (2)<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One star:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>did
not like it at all<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two stars:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>eh,
it was okay<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Three stars:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>liked
it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Four stars: <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>really,
really liked it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Five stars:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>absolutely
loved it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1-Star (0)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2-Star (0)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3-Star (1)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Home Fire (Fiction, K. Shamsie)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lots of people loved this
book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a like not love for
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worth the read for sure, but it was
not one of my favorites.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4-Star (1)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Five Years (Fiction, Serle)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Woman has a vivid dream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then over 200+ pages, we see her story
unfold and wonder which way this story is going to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I can guarantee you, it won’t go EITHER
way you think it’s going to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5-Star (0)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Total Books Read: 2 (2 Fiction,
0 Non-Fiction)</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: dotted windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-21864159756811059482020-03-16T08:21:00.001-07:002020-03-16T08:21:17.202-07:0003.16.20 Health Check-In <span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">January 2020 loss: -2.7</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">February 2020 loss: -4.6</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total 2019 Weight Loss: 38.3</b><br />
<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total 2020 Weight Loss: 7.3</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: -45.8</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Welp. I think I may be on a plateau. The good news is that I haven't gained. The bad news is that I haven't lost.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've done pretty well. There's always room for improvement of course. I know these plateaus happen sometimes. And I am going to KEEP GOING. That is the most important thing. </span>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-60304364958990667082020-03-02T08:30:00.002-08:002020-03-02T08:30:53.497-08:00February Reads (9)<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_MailOriginal"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One star:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>did not like it at all<o:p></o:p></span></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two stars:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>eh, it was okay<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Three stars:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>liked it<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Four stars: <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>really, really liked it<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Five stars:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>absolutely loved it<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1-Star (0)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2-Star (0)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3-Star
(7)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">***The
Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto, The Penultimate Peril, The End (Fiction, L.
Snicket – the last 4 books)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Overall,
I enjoyed this series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are funny
books and I laughed out loud multiple times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>LISTEN TO THEM ON AUDIO.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
audio is fantastic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I was too lazy to
list them all out individually).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
listened to all 4 of these on my way home from Nebraska.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">***As
Time Goes By (Fiction, M. Higgins-Clark)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When
Mary Higgins-Clark died, I remembered that I read a LOT of her books when I was
a teenager and I remembered enjoying them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So I might start reading some of them again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are somewhat light reads, but they’re
not bad!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoyed this one on audio.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">***All
that Remains (Fiction, P. Cornwell)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This
one was easy to put down, but it was still good.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">***All
the Ever Afters (Fiction, D. Teller)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
untold story of Cinderella’s stepmother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was okay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kind of long.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4-Star
(1)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">****Thunderhead
(Arc of a Scythe #2) (Fiction, N. Shusterman)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not
quite as strong as the first book, but still good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little long and slow in the middle but the
ending made up for it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5-Star
(1)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*****Golden
Rules:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wit and Wisdom of the Golden
Girls<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My
sister gave me this book and it’s fantastic, especially if you’re a Golden
Girls fan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Total
Books Read: 9 (8 Fiction, 1 Non-Fiction)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">DNF
(3)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
Most Fun We Ever Had (C. Lombardo) – just ick, which is too bad because I think
it had potential<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
Carnivorous Carnival (L. Snicket #9) – magic, crystal balls, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The
Wife (M. Wolitzer) – hated all of the characters</span></span></div>
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Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-63994608154799043102020-03-02T07:50:00.002-08:002020-03-02T07:50:59.207-08:00Health Check-In<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have been on the struggle bus the last couple of weeks. My next weigh in will be Saturday, March 7th. I put on a couple pounds, so I will be happy to get back to where I was.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been trying to figure out WHY I've been struggling. There are a few mental issues, but I think I've pinned it down and I think it's more of a physical thing actually.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been working out a LOT the past 2 weeks. I've taken 11 Barre classes in the past 14 days. Which is going to become my new normal. My goal is 6 classes per week. But that's another story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whenever I work out more, I feel famished a LOT. Which makes sense. You need to eat more when you work out more. But if you don't plan for it....it leads to disaster. Like Friday. I went to Barre at 6:00 a.m. Then I didn't eat much at work the entire day. So THEN I got home from work and was starving. I started grazing. Then husband came home and I asked him if he was hungry and then we decided to order a pizza. And pasta for me. Sigh. And THEN I proceeded to eat my ENTIRE (large) portion of pasta AND the garlic bread that came with it. I ate WAY past my 'full' feeling. And then I felt miserable for at least 2 hours afterwards. Both physically and mentally. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So this weekend, I bought some chicken salad cups from Costco and a big bag of celery. I washed it, cut it all up and put it right at eye level in the fridge. That way when I come home from work starving I'll have a go-to. I'm also going to divide some oatmeal into ziplocks for an after work snack. After work is my downfall. I don't have an issue with eating/snacking at work OR eating/snacking late night. But between 3:30 - 4:30? I can go to town. I'm also going to start immediately making some tea when I get home. I would like that to become a routine. I also want to stay off my phone from the time I get home until around 7:30 or 8:00. Because what happens is that I get on my phone, start scrolling/wasting time and then I want a snack to go with it. Which turns into a meal. Which turns into 2 hours of total wasted time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So those are going to be my baby steps so far. And I AM feeling better today, both mentally and physically. Onward!</span></div>
Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-5573193867398563122020-02-24T08:03:00.001-08:002020-02-24T08:03:23.557-08:0002.22.20 Health Check-In<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Loss this week: -1.2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">January 2020 loss: -2.7</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">February 2020 loss: -4.6</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total 2019 Weight Loss: 38.3</b><br />
<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total 2020 Weight Loss: 7.3</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: -45.6</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">First things first. I'm changing my weigh-in day to Saturday. I tend to use most of my weekly points on Friday and Saturday and that usually doesn't lead to a good weigh-in on Sunday.</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Secondly....I need to do better. Yes, I had a decent loss. And yes, my February numbers are looking better than January. But I can do better. I've been more detailed with my tracking, but...I can do better. I tend to not track the 3 bites of trail mix or the Fiber One treat that I ate at 9:00 p.m. because I was hungry. Stuff like that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">I also need to drink WAY more water. I was doing so good with a gallon a day and now it's probably half that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Oh well. I'm a work in progress.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Treats I enjoyed this week:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Tacos (twice)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Chips & guac (which I didn't track)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">One donut</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Wine (2 glasses)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-78639397282928033372020-02-17T06:43:00.003-08:002020-02-17T06:43:54.524-08:0002.16.20 Health Check-In<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Loss this week: +0.6</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">January 2020 loss: -2.7</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">February 2020 loss: -3.4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total 2019 Weight Loss: 38.3</b><br />
<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total 2020 Weight Loss: 6.1</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: -44.4</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I gained .6 this week. Which I am completely okay with. I think my body is still re-hydrating. I seem to be hanging on to every bit of water I take in. Plus, I hit Barre as soon as I got back (after a few days off) and so my muscles are sore and hanging on to water. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">But that's okay! I'm not letting the scale mess with my head. Like I said last week, it all evens out in the end. </span>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4725992576928693952.post-569402823472806532020-02-12T13:28:00.001-08:002020-02-12T13:28:19.525-08:0002.10.20 Health Check-In<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Loss this week: -3.0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">January 2020 loss: -2.7</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">February 2020 loss: -4.0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total 2019 Weight Loss: 38.3</b><br />
<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Total 2020 Weight Loss: 6.7</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: -45</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was out of town Thursday - Tuesday. I weighed myself at my mom's on Monday morning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My large loss is all because I got sick and didn't eat for 48 hours and was (and still kind of am) COMPLETELY dehydrated. I'm working on re-hydrating myself this week. So maybe I'll have a gain next week. But that's totally okay! It all evens out in the end. </span><br />
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Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18315645807851444368noreply@blogger.com