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| My current mood. |
The Sunday
Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book
Reviewer. It’s a chance to recap
the past week, talk about next week, and share news. It’s Monday, What Are You
Reading? is hosted by Book Date. I get to tell you what I’ve read recently.
On The Blog Last Week
- On Tuesday I showed you my summer to-be-read pile.
- On Thursday there was a new feature on the blog. It’s called “I’d Love To Read About.”
- On Saturday I mini reviewed a batch of Newbery winners.
On The Blog This Week
- On Tuesday I mini review A Man Called Ove and Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman.
- On Thursday I review A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin.
- On Saturday I do the Mid-Year Freak-Out Tag.
In My Reading Life
Last
week, I finished two books and DNFed one. I finished A Thousand Perfect Notes
by C.G. Drews. I liked it. The kids in A
Thousand Perfect Notes are like depressed versions of the kids in Jerry
Spinelli's Stargirl.
Also, they're very good at screaming bad words in German. My grandma would
approve. She had a talent for that.
I DNFed
When the Moon was Ours by Anna-Marie
McLemore. I read about 1/3 of it before I gave up. The book has lots of flowery
writing and not a lot of plot or character development. All that happens in the
first third is some teenagers having sex and a witch stealing a rose.
It wasn’t holding my attention.
My
favorite book of the week is The Tale of
Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. It's so cute! It’s a lively story about
forgiveness and flaws and how good people (and mice and rats) sometimes do bad
things.
I’m
still reading The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor. Pretty much every character in this
collection is extremely racist, but the plots and writing are okay. I definitely
have mixed feelings so far.
In My Internet Stalking Life
- It's still Pride month. If you're looking for something to read, check out recommendations from Based On A True Story and Brin's Book Blog.
- Immigration has been in the news constantly. If you want to learn more about it (and World Refugee Day), Based On A True Story can help you out with that, too.
- Who's your favorite fictional female villain? JJ @ This Dark Material has a list of badass bookish b*tches.
- Danielle @ Books, Vertigo & Tea asks if we should tag authors in reviews.
- In honor of Readerbuzz's 10th (!) blogiversary, Deb Nance lists her top 100 favorite books ever. Oh, and there's a giveaway.
In The Rest Of My Life
Five things that made me happy last week:
- Old episodes of The Great British Bake Off are back on American TV (on PBS). I love that show.
- Is anyone else watching Lost in Transition? It’s intense, but it’s really interesting. I’m learning stuff.
- Thank you to everyone who read/commented/shared my new feature. I love researching and writing those types of posts.
- My dog’s allergy medicine seems to be working. She’s still disgusting, but she’s not itching or trying to chew off her own feet anymore. That’s progress.
- Speaking of my dog, it was her 10th birthday on Friday. I’m not happy that she’s old, but I’m happy that I have her. She’s a good dog.
Stalk me everywhere. I’m a millennial who needs constant validation from Internet strangers to survive:
Take
care of yourselves and be kind to each other! See you around the blogosphere!
Yaay for the meds working on the dog and happy birthday to him too!
ReplyDeleteI feel like rereading Stargirl now, ha ha!
YOU HAVE GOOD TASTE, I CAN GIVE YOU THAT. I don't have a dog, I don't watch TV shows, so I literally cannot relate to you XD. But no worries! I still enjoyed your recap. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the allergy medicine seems to working! And Happy Birthday for last Friday to your dog :) hope you have a good week
ReplyDeleteYou're so awesome, A.J. I mean - Dr. Sterkel.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to her!
ReplyDeleteAnd I want to read A Man Called Ove, I keep seeing it around blog land. Enjoy your week!
Happy Birthday to your pup - so glad her allergy meds are working!
ReplyDeleteHave a feeling I'll be reading Fredrik Backman soon...
I've never watched The Great British Bake-Off, but it sounds like something I would love.
ReplyDeleteDelighted to hear your dog is feeling better - just occasionally I get patches of eczema and it drives me crazy, so glad she is improved. I hope the summer reading list is fabulous, though a shame you already had to DNF a book. I wouldn't have wanted to continue with so little going on, either. Especially the teenagers having sex *yawn*. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteShame about When the Moon was Ours, I thought the synopsis sounded intriguing. I love The Great British Bake Off too, even though it always makes me so hungry for cake. I love it when they forget to turn the oven on. Loving your new feature, you always have such excellent ideas. Happy birthday to your dog! I'm glad she's feeling better.
ReplyDeleteI've been eyeing A Thousand Perfect Notes. Glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteAdorable dog!
I enjoyed A Man Called Ove, but haven't read any of the other books. I do have the "grandmother" one waiting on Pippa.
Enjoy your week! Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
I've always wanted to try Flannery O'Connor...
ReplyDeleteHahha, your grandma must have been a funny woman. :)
Happy reading!
My Sunday Post
Fan of The Great British Bake Off too LOL Happy Sundy!
ReplyDeleteI'm really happy to hear you enjoyed A Thousand Perfect Notes, I can't wait to read that one! I'm sorry to hear that When The Moon Was Ours wasn't for you, though - but this kind of writing doesn't work out for everyone else, I guess :) I still have to read that one and I'm impatient, also a little nervous, haha :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll have a lovely week! x
Happy to hear your dog's medicine is working! I'm glad you liked A Thousand Perfect Notes, I hope to pick it up soon. Have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteWait, cursing auf Deutsch? My Oma would approve as well. Considering most of my writing was of a technical nature, I am surprised by how much I loved McLemore's flowery prose. I experienced it via Wild Beauty, but I was curious about When the Moon Was Ours. I hope your fur-baby has a wonderful birthday! It's really special when they are in our lives for that long.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good dog :) I am glad that her medicine is working but not happy that it makes her gross. Sounds like a good reading week minus the dnf. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteInteresting book haul. I have an old dog 16 years old and still doing ok except for not being able to see well. Have a great week! Anne - Books of My Heart
ReplyDeleteOoh yay for Tale of Desperauex. It looks like such a cute read.
ReplyDeleteLove the new feature! I learned things! :) And happy b- day to your doggie!
Love the GBBO! Sorry you had a DNF. Happy birthday to your doggie :) Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteAJ! What's your puppy's name? (I always call them puppies and kittens). What's her name? I have two kitties Massy and Makdoosa (Doosa for short). Doosa is a little six-month-old and Massy is a seven-year-old. Do you have more than one pet? If it were up to me, I would have so many fur babies. They bring me so much love and happiness. I am grateful for the two we have now. But, I always hope I can keep all the cute babies out there.
ReplyDeleteI like the format of this post. Curious question here: How do you keep track of your favorite posts? And, how do you know in advance what you are going to post in future? Do you write all posts in one day? My problem is that I have intense mood swings (I have a mood disorder) and I cannot always predict what I can get done throughout the week. Maybe the way you're doing things can help me. Plus, I like that you're not posting every day of the week. That sounds like a nice way to balance your schedule.
When the Moon Was Ours was one of my favorites. It does take some getting used to because it doesn't have a prominent conflict or an intense plot. The atmosphere of it, though, is perfect in the fall or winter months. It's one of those books where you just enjoy the eerie nature and the dreamy tone of the story. I hope you give it a second try someday.
<3 Dina
My dog’s name is Butch-Kiera. She has two names because nobody could agree on what to name her.
DeleteI use a website called Bloglovin’ to keep track of my favorite posts. Whenever something interesting pops up in my Bloglovin’ feed, I click the save button so I can find it again later.
I have depression, so I understand that blogging is impossible sometimes. I try to be extremely organized and get stuff done when I can. I know what I’m going to post in advance because I have a blogging calendar on my desk. At the end of each month, I plan out what posts I need to write for the next month and when I need to post them. I binge-write posts on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Last weekend, I wrote 5 posts and scheduled them for July. I’ll try to write another 5 this weekend.
Aj @ Read All The Things!
Funny timing... Josh and I were at the farmer's market on Friday and there was someone with a little book stand giving out free books and the one we picked was The Tale of Despereaux. Haven't read it, yet, but glad to hear it's good.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you liked A thousand Perfect Notes. I've heard pretty good things about it and I keep seeing it around.
ReplyDeleteKrystianna @ Downright Dystopian
Your dog is adorable. I love those brown eyes. Glad her meds are working!
ReplyDeleteTwo out of three is pretty good in the reading department. Have you tried a medicinal shampoo for your dog. I use it on my dog once a week and it makes his coat sleek and non greasy.
ReplyDeleteMy Sunday Post
We have medical shampoo, but the dog is really strong and hates baths. If I want to put the shampoo on her, I need the help of six sumo wrestlers and an exorcist.
DeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
Thank you so much for mentioning my post, AJ! I was watching some old Great British Bake Off eps on PBS earlier this week too 😂 ASOIAF is one of my favorite series, so I'm really looking forward to reading your thoughts on ASOS :) Hope you have a great week! ♥
ReplyDeleteAw, Happy Birthday to your dog and I'm glad her meds are working. My dog is 15 so yeah, she's old...but I love her so much. :) I still need to order A Thousand Perfect Notes and isn't Desperaux just adorable??
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
We just recently started watching The Great British Baking Show, after trying to resist it for ages, and we are HOOKED!
ReplyDeleteI've heard George R.R. Martin's series is really good. I really need to give him a go. Love the pics of your pup and so glad he's doing better! Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteTressa @ Wishful Endings
I have read the man called Ove, which I loved and Britt Marie was here ( mixed feeling). I want to read Paper fury (C G Drews)'s book soon.
ReplyDeleteGayathri @ Elgee Writes
I haven't seen either of those programs, need to check them out. Adorable dog, and happy birthday to her!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy day for your dog. :) I love the The Great British Baking Show and watched all the new episodes. Good for you for DNF'ing a book that wasn't working.
ReplyDeleteLately I've DNFed a few books that just weren't working for me. I'm glad your dog is doing much better.
ReplyDeleteKate DiCamillo is a talented writer and I enjoyed reading her stuff to my kids when they were younger. Enjoy your reading week.
Happy doggy birthday! I'm glad the allergy meds are working. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI love Bake Off! I was worried when it switched channels and changed three of the four people but I actually like the new line up even better!
ReplyDeleteI like The Great British Bake Off too. So many recipes that I would never try because they are way above my skill set. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteHappy 10th Birthday - such a pretty puppy. Dogs just don't get long enough lives. So not fair!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to your pupper wupper. I'm happy to hear the meds are helping. We once had a dog that was allergic to grass of all things. 😖
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week. 🌞
Happy birthday to your dog and thanks for sharing all the goodies and visiting my blog.
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental Sunday Memes
I LOVE The Great British Bake Off. And I especially love the episodes where I see the contestants actually helping each other out even though it's a competition haha.
ReplyDeleteAnd your dog is the sweetest <3
I've read A Tale of Despereaux and it really is a love book. I had one with the prettiest illustrations - and the movie was also well-made :)
Yay for the allergy meds working for your dog. My dog doesn't have the skin issues with her allergies (though I did have a dog that did) but finding something that alleviated her constant itching was fantastic. That's too bad about When the Moon was Ours as the cover is gorgeous. I really want to read A Tale of Despereaux. I didn't discover it when I was a child but I love the sound of it and we've enjoyed other books by the author. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI don't care much for Southern fiction so haven't read much from Flannery O'Connor (though being in Georgia, I probably read something by her in school). I'm not shocked that her characters are racists - that is how is was in the south at the time - and while it wasn't right I think it can give us a cultural understanding into issues we are still facing today.
ReplyDeleteA Tale of Despereaux wasn't my cup of tea but my kids both liked it. She knows her audience. My weekly updates
ReplyDeleteI ended up DNFing When the Moon was Ours too. I just couldn't get into it.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear your dog's meds are working. Happy Birthday to her too! She's such a cutie.
Happy Birthday to your doggie! A Tale of Desperaux was a good story. Hope you have a great week.
ReplyDeleteYour dog looks absolutely adorable!!
ReplyDeleteA Thousand Perfect Notes is too hyped for me to read. Ack... not sure if I wan't to read it. I've seen the reviews and basically squeeing...
I forgot what I was going to say once I saw your dog! The cuteness! <3
ReplyDeleteL @ Do You Dog-ear?
Oh, so glad your dogs allergy meds are helping. We have two German Shepards that go in and out of severe allergy attacks. It's not fun. Their meds help, then when season gets bad, nothing seems to work.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great week and enjoy your reads!
What a pretty puppy face!!
ReplyDeleteI also love Despereaux. :)
And I love the Great British Bake Off - I could watch that all the time!! Lol.
Have a great week. :)
When The Moon Was Ours has such a pretty cover... It makes me sad inside that the book wasn't up to stuff.
ReplyDeleteP.S - I quite like screaming bad words in German too. It's a hangover from high school and good for when little ears are close by!
Sounds like you've been reading an interesting mix of books. Sorry one was a DNF. I've never watched the British Bake-Off, but I am watching Zumbo's Just Desserts on Netflix. Baking shows are just the best! They're such a stress-free entertainment. Glad your dog is doing a bit better :-)
ReplyDelete