Sunday, July 1, 2018

The Sunday Post #153

Breaking news: This dog has just been voted Goodest Boy.


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 The Blog This Week


  • On Tuesday I show off some bookish photos.
  • On Thursday I wrap up June.
  • On Saturday there’s a book haul.









In My Reading Life


Last week, I finally finished The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor. I have mixed feelings. Some of the stories in this collection are amazing, and others are terrible. I seem to feel that way about a lot of short story collections. I rarely find one that I completely love.




After that, I read Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata. I appreciate that this book has the same name as my dog. I like the end, but the plot takes a very long time to get going.




Right now, I’m reading As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds. So far, I like the voice and setting.








In My Internet Stalking Life











In The Rest Of My Life


Five things that made me happy last week:

  1. Yesterday it wasn’t a billion degrees outside. It was only half a billion degrees.
  2. I actually accomplished my goal of posting on Instagram every day in June. That won’t continue in July, but it was fun while it lasted.
  3. I traded for 15 new books. Yeah. I’m spending the rest of the year on a book-acquiring ban. My TBR shelf is above my bed, and I’m a little worried about it collapsing and killing me in my sleep.
  4. Hamburgers.
  5. My mom took a blurry photo of my dog being baffled by deer. Usually deer run from dogs, but these ones didn’t give a damn.












Follow Me Everywhere. I’m Somewhat Friendly.













Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other! See you around the blogosphere!















49 comments:

  1. It's boiling hot here too. Luckily I have the pool to cool off in. I love hamburgers! LOL And those deer are brave. Or perhaps they're too hot to be bothered. I had a buck come up to my fence and snort at me. Guess he didn't like what he saw. LOL

    My Sunday Post

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  2. <3 thanks so much for sharing my post! :) Oh my gosh, it's so hot here too... all this week it's going to be in the 90's. I got a bit of heat exhaustion yesterday... stay cool!

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  3. Short story collections are always difficult for me because of that reason. I hate loving parts and hating others! Anthologies with multiple authors are even weirder! Good luck with your book buying ban! I feel like those never go as expected... XD And I'm laughing at your dog/deer photo! I love how dogs act tough until they're actually confronted with something unusual. Have a great week :D

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  4. I love your weekly 5 things! Hamburgers - yes. It's a billion and one degrees here but we are loving it. PA is cold in the winter and it lasts a really love time. So, it's nice to have the heat! Have a great week of reading!

    Mary my #SundayRoundup #25!

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  5. I have issues with short story collections, too. I just can't get into them.

    It's literally supposed to be 100 degrees today where I live - I doubt we will leave the house!

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  6. Well, I will be here hoping your TBR doesn't kill you in your sleep. (thanks for the laugh, as always). Summer is on! It's mad hot everywhere. We were only like 100 yesterday, but I finished all my errands by 11 am and just stayed inside the rest of the day. There is a place by us that does $5 burgers every Tuesday. They are normally $12 and all speciality burgers are included. Needless to say, we visit often, on Tuesdays. I am a fan of Reynolds. I am so glad I saw his panel at BookCon and discovered his books.

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  7. It’s only half a million degrees here but the humidity is killing me. I hope you have a great week and I’m off to read the posts you recommended.

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  8. That is ALWAYS my experience with short story collections: some are amazing, others total duds. The cover looks great though!

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  9. It's a billion degrees here today as well. I think I will do the mid year meme as well.
    Have a good week :)

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  10. I really want to hear your thoughts on Jason Reynolds!

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  11. I started off great for the month of June on Instagram, and then my mojo just died all together.

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  12. I adore Jason Reynolds. Seriously. I idolize him. I hope you like this book of his.

    I completely agree with you about short story collections. There are very few that don't vary wildly in quality between best story and worst story.

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  13. Great week you had! I still haven't read the Game of Thrones series yet, but hopefully I'll be able to get to it soon! Hope you have a great week!

    Here’s my Sunday Post!

    Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog and join in this week’s Book Photo Sundays and Cover Spotlight!

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  14. I was thinking about hamburgers earlier today, and trying to decide if I wanted to go out in the heat to get one at the In & Out Burger on the corner. Then I thought: I'd rather have the barbecued ones in a backyard party...and that wasn't happening today...so later.

    Enjoy your week, and thanks for visiting my blog.

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  15. Ahhh screw your TBR shelf, getting 15 new books is awesome! Lol, I wonder what animals think of other animals. Do they always understand that it's a different kind of animal? I actually haven't had a burger in a while, but now I want one! Have a great week :-)

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  16. This is where I come to catch up on what I missed this week! My old dog made friends with the deer... they’d get within 4-5 feet of each other, it was weird. Have a great week!

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  17. I'm the same way with collections of short stories. Usually there are one or two that I love, a some that I like, some that are meh, and then one or two that I hate. I wish I could find one collection that I loved, but I doubt that it'll happen. Have a good week! :)

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  18. Agreed about short story collections--I rarely read books where I love every story. I really enjoyed Curtis Sittenfeld's latest, but I just adore her writing. And so much yes to hamburgers. Happy reading!

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  19. It's beastly hot here, too. I'm so grateful for air conditioning! I think short-story collections are that way for almost everyone; it's rare that a collection or anthology hits it out of the park with every story. But it's fun to uncover the gems. Have a great week!

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  20. I think it is still a billion degrees here. I hope it cools down before I have to walk with the band in the 4th of July parade! That photo of the deer and your dog is amazing. I can't believe that they let you get so close! Have a great week, AJ!

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  21. Oh my gosh it's so hot. Even with AC on it's like 77 in here, I could turn the air down cooler but it would probably explode from being overworked. Ridiculous. Why can't summer be 70's/ 80's? Didn't they used to be?

    Ooh Storm of Swords. I'll have to go read that post.

    Funny deer.

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  22. It's been so hot, I don't even want to check the mail.lol . Hope you Herndon cooler temps soon. Have a great week!

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  23. It is always fun to see how animals can react so differently.
    I couldn't have my tbr shelf above me bed (too many books to start). My husband isn't so handy at times, and shelves have been known to come done if he put them up haha.

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  24. I feel the same way about short story collections. I don't think I've ever found one where I've loved each and every one of the stories.

    My shelf used to be above my bed right by my head too and I moved it for that exact reason. I was way too scared to keep it there!

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  25. Thankfully the weather has been pretty mild here but I saw we're going to get up to the triple digits later this week. Which for San Diego is a bit much. LoL Congrats on posting on IG every day last month. I'm AWFUL about posting on there. Once I found out about stories, I wound up just sharing all the little tidbits on there and sort of neglecting the actual feed of my page. I need to get better about that.

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  26. Great reason to keep your TBR pile under control! ;-) Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  27. It's really hot here too. The humidity is the problem. Yuck! Love that picture! Congrats on your June goal.

    Hope you have a great week!

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  28. Good job doing all those posts on Instagram!

    All of a sudden I have a ton of books that I need to read ASAP! Only one of them is a physical book though, so there's no worry about them falling on my head. I have three library books to read though, so I have three weeks to read them. Some of the library books that I put on hold a month or more ago are starting to become available... so I have to read them as they come in because I only have three weeks to read them! Then I had a publisher DM me today on Twitter for my mailing address... I'm not sure if I won a contest or if they just want to send me a book to review, LOL. Either way, it's cool. That's not counting the three books I just bought. The books I bought can wait. The library books can't.

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  29. Love your critter pic. Looks like you have a good dog. :-)
    sherry @ fundinmental

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  30. Its so hot here as well. I only go outside when necessary! The other day a deer walked across my neighbors yard and I worried my dog was gonna go after it; instead, my dog stood there stock still and just stared! Silly dogs!

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  31. It's been crazy hot in Boston lately too. It's awesome you were able to trade for some many books. But I'm also going to be limiting how many more books I get soon.
    Tori @ In Tori Lex

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  32. I'm pretty sure it was a billion degrees here today. I thought I was going to melt every time I walked outside. Mmm, hamburgers make me happy too. We cooked some on the grill last night and it put me right into my happy place :)

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  33. It's warm here, too... which is a delightful surprise as normally at this time of year it's cold and rainy:)). I know what you mean about the books! We had a tidy up in our bedroom as we are taking delivery of a new mattress tomorrow and the spare room floor is now full of the books that were surrounding our bed. And that is only the books we've acquired this year... Have a great week, AJ

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  34. I'm going to add Kira-Kira to my wishlist. My weekly updates

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  35. Yes most short stories collections are hit or miss for me. I will say I have found a few new authors/series through them though.

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  36. Loved your freak out post! I have begun DNFing books whenever I just can't get into them. Too many other books to try to read! I don't know that I'll ever read the Fredrick Backman books, but everyone seems to love them! We had nice weather here, when I was down in New Orleans for ALA and it was humid and hot. Of course as soon as I get home the weather is hot as can be! Thanks for visiting my post at Lisa Loves Literature earlier!

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  37. It was a billion degrees here too :) Have a nice 4th!

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  38. It is hot and very humid here.

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  39. I'm beginning to consider cooking breakfast on the sidewalk outside it's so hot. The freak out sounds neat. I hadn't heard of it before. I can't even open the door to the backyard if there are deer in the yard. They run away and make the most awful noise.

    Thanks for visiting The Book Connection today. Hope you have a great week.

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  40. I've been meaning to read some of Fredrik Backman's work. In particular A Man Called Ove.

    Love your list of 5 things that made you happy. Hope your coming week has many more!

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  41. I stopped reading short story collections as I felt I was ploughing through a lot of rubbish to get to the few good ones-and I don't really have that time to waste!

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  42. This is my first time checking out your lovely blog! I like your style! Perhaps you should move your book shelf? Then you can relax and take your time reading!

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  43. The deer by my house completely ignore the dogs, even when they're barking crazily at them. They know that the dogs are on a leash, apparently, and they just stand there while the dogs act like they want to attack. It's crazy!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  44. It's been hot here too. Great happy list!

    Have a great week!

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  45. I wish it was a billion degrees over here, I haaate winter!

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  46. Good luck with your book-acquiring ban! Actually, the threat of imminent death is probably the best incentive!

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  47. I find that to be the case for me and short story collections too. I haven't read anything by Flannery O'Connor. Half a billion degrees is much better than a whole billion degrees. Kind of. :-) We've actually had pleasant temps here, although this next week it should be in the triple digits. Gotta love July and August heat. Good luck on your book-acquiring ban! You can do it!

    Have a great week, A.J.

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  48. That's a great photo of the dog and the deer!

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