Sunday, October 21, 2018

The Sunday Post #169

No refunds.



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 explain what makes me love a villain.
  • On Thursday I do the Halloween Creatures 2.0 Tag.
  • On Saturday I review some ghostly nonfiction.








In My Reading Life


I’m writing this post on Friday because Saturday is Dewey’s Readathon. I’m going to read Vengeful by V.E. Schwab. I probably won’t finish it, but we can always hope.

Last week, I finished Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. The beginning got on my nerves because it’s extremely slow and introduces a bunch of characters who we see once and then never again. I loved Part 2. That’s when the crime happens. (This is supposed to be true crime, after all.) The book made me wish I knew some eccentric rich people. Aside from the murders and the causal racism and homophobia, they seem entertaining. It’s hard to believe that people actually live like they do in this book.



Then I DNFed Outsider in Amsterdam by Janwillem van de Wetering. I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t like police procedurals. They’re so . . . procedural. This seems to be another detective novel where the cops have no personality. They do police stuff and ogle women. That's it. What about the rest of their lives? Do detectives only pop into existence when there are ladies or corpses around?



Then I finished Revival by Stephen King. Like all King books, it’s longer than it needs to be, but I loved it. Charles Jacobs is a weird, obsessive dude. He’s one of the most intriguing characters I’ve “met” this year.









In My Internet Stalking Life











In The Rest Of My Life


Five things that made me happy last week:

  1. I won a giveaway! I hardly ever win those.
  2. I traded for some new books because I’m trash and can’t help myself.
  3. Fraterfest Readathon was fun. I liked seeing what everyone was reading on Twitter. I assume Dewey’s was fun, too.
  4. I passed 200 Instagram followers. I have to celebrate now because people tend to unfollow quickly on there when I don’t follow them back.
  5. Who else is doing Nonfiction November? I don’t usually make TBRs, but I’m pulling books off my shelf that I might want to read.








Follow Me If You Want To Live!




















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










58 comments:

  1. Midnight in the blahblah is definitely a unique read. I can't wait for your villain post being a villain girl myself; they are just so interesting. It's not that I want to like be their friend or anything, but they make for good reading.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m the same! I wouldn’t want to know a villain in real life, but I’ll read about them all day.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  2. I completely forgot about Nonfiction November. I need to start preparing. It will be the perfect accompaniment to NaNoWriMo, I think.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good luck with NaNo! This is my first time doing Nonfiction November. I’ve been stockpiling nonfiction all year.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  3. I hope you had fun doing the read-a-thon, and yeah! for wining giveaways. Nonfiction is not my jam, but I will be there to root you on during nonfiction November. =)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The readathon was fun, but I’m still recovering. I’m tired, and my eyes are so itchy!

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  4. Lol @schwarzeneger.... :) Anywho, I need to read Revival now. I hate that I haven't enjoyed reading lately. I'm mad about it. I won a giveaway too! Angela's Giveaway scavenger hunt for Fraterfest! Yay!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Revival was really good. Sorry that you’re struggling with reading. I hope you find a good book soon.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  5. Hooray for winning a giveaway! So fun! I'm definitely doing Nonfiction November. I'm trying to get through a few last library books and then I'll start picking up what I want to read next month. Thanks for the shout-out!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats and on your giveaway and your 200 followers on IG!!!! I am amazed that everyone seems to do some readathon! I am totally useless!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I try to make readathons low-pressure. I Tweet a lot and read a lot, but I don’t do any of the challenges. It’s not fun if it feels stressful.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  7. Congrats on winning a giveaway. I thought about doing Nonfiction November, not entirely nonfiction maybe a mix up. Enjoy your week ahead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you attempt it, good luck! I’m going to attempt to do all nonfiction, but I don’t know if that’ll get depressing.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  8. I have tried to watch the movie for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil so many times. I can't get through it though. I fall asleep before it hits the midpoint every single time. I bought the book at a book fair hoping that it would be more exciting but it sounds like that may not be the case. Congrats on winning a giveaway and reaching 200 followers! Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you can get past the halfway point, it gets really good. The beginning is so slow! I haven’t seen the movie yet.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  9. The Halloween Creatures tag was so much fun to do - I hope you enjoy it too! Also, everyone seems to be reading or buying that book by Stephen King. I am currently reading another book of his, but I agree with you - he always makes them much longer than they actually need to be, although the story is flowing that I don't mind!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stephen King is popular during this time of year. I loved the Halloween Creatures Tag. I took a bunch of photos for it, which I don’t usually do.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  10. Yay for winning a giveaway! :)
    I hope you've been enjoying Vengeful! I've been meaning to read that soon myself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I finished it, and I loved it. It’ll be one of my favorite books of the year.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  11. "Aside from the murders and the causal racism and homophobia, they seem entertaining." LOL!

    Congratulations on winning the giveaway, and on reaching 200 Instagram followers! (I'm one of them.)

    If you want a police procedural series where the detectives have actual lives, try Deborah Crombie's Kincaid and James series. It's very well -written and well plotted, and in feel it is more like classic British murder mysteries, except that the detectives are police detectives. The first book was OK, but everything I've read since has been very good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll look for that series. I’ve tried a few police books, but I find police work really tedious.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
    2. I promise, the police work in Crombie's series isn't tedious. :-)

      Delete
  12. Congrats on winning a giveaway! And your followers on Instagram! I don't know if I'll be reading anything other than my ARC a week (for the blog) in November. I need to make sure I write my 1,666 words a day for NaNoWriMo before I even think about doing anything else book related for the day. I want to win!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I only finished one book for Dewey's, but it's better than no books. 😇

    Yay on the giveaway win, and congratulations on 200 IG followers👍✨a

    Have a wonderful week. 🌞

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I finished half a book for Dewey’s, so you did better than me!

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  14. I was too busy to do Deweys, but FraterFest was fun. Granted, I only got one book read but STILL! lol Yay for 200 IG followers.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I only read 1 book, too. I was hoping to do better, but the readathon was fun anyway.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  15. I've been making a list for Nonfiction November, too... can't wait!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m excited. I have tons of nonfiction on my shelf. I hope to get through a bunch of it.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  16. I have to add Revival to my list. It looks like a good one. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I haven't read Midnight but I sure loved the movie! Have you seen it? I'm getting ready to start King's The Outsider and then I plan on diving into Revival. Happy reading.

    My Sunday Post

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven’t seen the movie, but I want to. I still need to get a copy of The Outsider. It’s been getting good reviews.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  18. Revival looks so interesting! I definitely want to check that out at some point. Hurray for winning a giveaway! That's always exciting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Revival was saggy in the middle, but the beginning and end are excellent.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  19. Congrats on the giveaway! And the Halloween creatures Tag. I just did that one and it was fun- can't wait to see what you come up with!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really liked the tag. I even took photos for it, which is unusual. I don’t love taking book photos.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  20. How was Dewey’s Readathon? I such at weekend readathons so I don't participate. Congrats on winning the giveaway and getting 200 followers. Yeah, people tend to unfollow there quickly.
    Enjoy your reads.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dewey’s was fun. I love reading and Tweeting about books. I only finished half a book, but that’s more than I usually read in a day.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  21. I love that you say you read some fun books about brutal murder. lol. Revival was one of the newer Stephen King books that I've actually enjoyed. I used to devour everything by him, but over the last 10 years or so, it's rare that I have picked up and enjoyed his books. Although I hear The Outsider is supposed to be good! I never have time on weekends for readathons like I think I will, but one time I really want to! Congrats on 200 followers, I still kind of keep track of followers, but more love to see who actually comes and comments on my blog, or interacts with me on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Oh yeah, thanks for visiting my Sunday Post on Lisa Loves Literature earlier.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel the same way about King. I was surprised by how much I liked Revival because I prefer his older books. They have better pacing.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  22. As much as I love Stephen King, his editor really needs to say 'no' once in a while!

    My roundup!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Sounds like you had a good week. I do read police procedurals but you make a good point. Often, the rest of the main characters's lives are just blank. I like the ones with more character development. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’ve tried 2 police books this year and struggled with them both. I’m more interested in the people than in the police work. I get frustrated when the whole book is police stuff.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  24. I DNFed Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil years ago when I tried to read it. My weekly updates

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That’s understandable. The beginning frustrated me enough that I almost gave up. I kept reading because the writing is excellent.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  25. Sounds like a good week of reading. I have some VE Schwab on my TBR as well as some Steven King, but horror is not my thing. So it's more of a mystery book.

    You are NOT trash; everyone should have books!

    Also, if I did nonfiction it would be lots of cooking, sewing, quilting and cooking books right now. lol I do read non-fiction but not so much right now. And there are so many genres I couldn't go there without some fiction also. Anne - Books of My Heart

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I go through phases where I read a lot of nonfiction, but then I burn myself out and go back to fiction. I’m hoping I can survive a whole month of nonfiction.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  26. I hope you enjoyed the read-a-thon and got a lot read! Police procedural can get a little technical sometimes and lack in character development sometimes--but it really depends on the author, I think. I cannot say Outsider in Amsterdam appeals to me. Especially the ogling women part. I hope you have a good week, AJ.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My eyes glazed over with Outsider in Amsterdam. It felt like one endless police interview.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  27. I read one police procedural and knew it was not for me either.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Congrats on winning the giveaway and your 200 followers! YAY! I would love to read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil but I haven't because everyone says it's too slow! I'm glad you loved Revival! Man ONE DAY I sear I'll read a King's book :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. I'm still not sure about Revival...I did get the book for nothing so I guess I will read it!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I have to read some new Stephen King books as it has been a long time for me. Happy Sunday a bit late!

    Mary

    ReplyDelete