Sunday, March 8, 2020

The Sunday Post #215



The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. I’m linking up with The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date. 

*This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.







The Sunday Post #215





Public Service Announcement


Have you ever wanted to find a golden ticket and live out your Charlie and the Chocolate Factory dream? Now you can! (Well, kind of.) Between March 2 and March 15, Book Depository is hiding special bookmarks in the orders they ship. If you find a gold, silver, or bronze bookmark, you can win free books or discounts on your next order. Check this link for details on the contest and how to win free books.









On The Blog Last Week









On The Blog This Week


  • On Tuesday I talk about the books I want to read . . . but don’t really want to read.
  • On Saturday there’s a book haul.







In My Reading Life


Last week’s novels were a bit disappointing. I finished Son by Lois Lowry. It’s a dystopia about a teenage mother who runs away from her community after her baby is kidnapped. It’s actually the final book in a quartet, and it’s my least favorite in the series. The beginning and the end of Son are fast-paced, but the middle drags. I got bored. I’m glad I read it, though. Overall, I enjoyed the series.




Right now, I’m reading If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. So far, it’s not living up to the hype because the characters are all flat, but I have hope! I’m very interested to see where it will go.








In Baby Brooklyn's Reading Life


Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman. It’s about colorful anthropomorphic dogs who “go.” Bright illustrations and simple words. I loved this book as a kid, and Brooklyn seems to like it too. It's a classic for a reason!




Pout-Pout Fish: Easter Surprise by Deborah Diesen. It’s about a fish who helps his friends find Easter eggs. It’s too early for Easter, but Brooklyn put this book in my hand, so we read it. Or, we tried to read it. There are a lot of words on each page. Brooklyn was squirming long before we reached the end. Some of the vocabulary might be too advanced for young readers. I like that it teaches kids to help others without being preachy about it.




Potty by Leslie Patricelli is about a baby who really needs to take a piss. It’s cute, funny, and teaches kids about using the toilet. It has silly illustrations and very few words. I have an immature sense of humor, so I enjoyed this one. Brooklyn did too.




My First I See You: A Mirror Book by Eric Carle. Brooklyn liked this one more than I did. She’s a little narcissist who loves looking at herself in mirrors. She appreciated the mirrors on every page. The illustrations are beautiful, but the words are mostly meaningless. I barely remember this book.




Our biggest reading success was Never Touch A Monster by Rosie Greening. It has silly monsters covered with different rubbery textures. Each monster has a clever rhyme about why you shouldn’t touch it. I like the rhymes. Brooklyn paid no attention to the rhymes and kept turning the pages so she could pet the next monster.








In The Rest Of My Life


Five things that made me happy last week:

  1. It was actually warm when I walked the dog yesterday! I enjoyed not freezing.
  2. I started another 30-day yoga challenge. I’m determined to become not-terrible at yoga.
  3. Bath bomb! (Because I’m sore from being terrible at yoga.)
  4. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to write a horror novella. I actually worked on it last week instead of just thinking about working on it.
  5. I’m still tracking my calories with the Lose It! app. It’s free and super easy to use, so if you’re interesting in tracking your food and exercise, I recommend it.







I’ll follow you back!














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






29 comments:

  1. If you're sore, you're doing it right. Good job! I love seeing the new potty books. We had Once Upon a Potty - book and video. I can still sing the song, though, it never motivated my daughter to do anything but sit upon the potty. Another gold star for working on your novella. I could never write something that involved, and therefore, I salute you

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  2. Ahh congrats on getting to work on your novella! I always find that, the hardest thing about writing is... well, getting started ahahaha :) You got this! <3

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  3. Go, Dog, Go was the first book I remember loving. I think I might have learned how to read from that book.

    My husband and I listened to If We Were Villains on audio during a long trip. The long trip was made even longer by listening to those awful characters. Not my favorite book.

    I want a golden bookmark! But I never win anything....(wipes away a tear)

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  4. We loved Go Dog Go, too. I almost didn't want to give it back. LOL! But it was yours so it's right that it goes to Brooklyn. Maybe if I have grandkids some day she'll let me have it again. :)

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  5. I love the look of Never Touch a Monster - I'll keep an eye out for it for my granddaughter, who I think would enjoy it:). Have a great week, AJ.

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  6. Never Touch a Monster looks so cute!
    Annoyingly Australians are excluded from winning the Golden Ticket :(

    Wishing you a great reading week

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  7. I never finished the last two books in the Giver quartet. Maybe someday.
    These days I start to get sore if I don't practice yoga! I still stick with the easier stuff so it's more meditative than a full workout but I'd love to work up to handstands! Good luck with your practice! Have a great week, AJ! Happy reading! :)

    Stacy Renee @ LazyDayLit

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  8. Aw, I'm glad Brooklyn liked some of her books this week. I'm so curious about this Golden Ticket contest - thanks for sharing.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  9. I'm very curious about the books you want to read but don't really want to read! I have quite a few that perfectly describes!

    Hope you have a good week with some more non-freezing days! :)

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  10. This is amazing news about Book Depository! And what? You are writing a horror story? I had no idea AJ! Have fun with your yoga challenge ;-)

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  11. I love that you include the children's books you've been reading! I keep track on Goodreads, but rarely post about them unless they were AMAZING. Go, Dog, Go is a staple in our house, and we have yes/no book that's similar to the potty book. Pout Pout fish is somewhere... ;)

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬

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  12. Go you with the walking and yoga and tracking food in Lose It! I'm not geared up for any of it. Yet. I wish you a great week and happy reading!

    Anne - Books of My Heart Here is my Sunday Post   

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  13. I love Dr. Seuss books! I remember reading Go, Dog, Go to my kids when they were little. I had some of the books memorized I read them so much. It is nice to walk dogs without freezing, isn't it? I am glad you are still doing yoga. I should try it at some point. Have a great week!

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  14. Yay for Yoga AND writing! Great work! I have We Are Villains bit haven't gotten to it. I do remember reading the first few pages and putting it aside. It does sound interesting. Happy reading!

    Natflix&Books

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  15. I am intrigued by the books you want to read but don't really want to read premise! And I love that you are including Brooklyn's reading too. I was so glad that my kids let me read picture books to them for as long as they did.

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  16. Well what the heck. Now I want to go spend money at Book Depository. I'm sorry you didn't care for Son. I never made it past The Giver. I'm super excited for you to write a horror novella! We need more great horror in the world!

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  17. Son sounds good, despite the dragging middle. I want to check out the series.

    Enjoy your books and your week.

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  18. I remember reading Go, Go Dog to my daughter, but her favorite was a book about a cow... I think she was 3 when I first read Alice in Wonderland to her—I read it to her again when she was in the first grade

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  19. Good luck with the golden ticket. Wouldn't that be awesome? :)

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  20. That Golden Bookmark thing is so cool! And yes as a kid I loved the idea of those golden tickets... :)

    Good luck with the writing!! How fun.

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  21. I saw that about the Book Dep and their bookmarks. I might have to order a few more books although I had just done my orders before! Yoga is good although I myself just am focus on on some simple stretches. All the best with it.

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  22. OOH I could do with a golden bookmark in my life to let me get a few books guilt free! Yeah as if I actually need more books!

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  23. I didn't like the first in Lowry's series and never read the other three. I guess I was burned out on dystopian fiction when I tried it. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  24. Yay for warmer weather! 👍✨

    The monster book looks fun! They didn't have texture books back when my son was little. I love the idea. 💜

    Have a wonderful week! 🌞

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  25. I loved Go Dogs Go! That was my favorite book as a child and a favorite to read to my children. 2nd favorite was the Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown. If the textures are a hit you might want to look for the "That's Not My .." books. There's everything from That's Not My Truck to That's Not My Hedgehog and all kinds of other stuff. They were winners around here. Too bad about the Lowery book and If We Were Villains. Hopefully it will redeem itself. Have a great week!

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  26. I may be an adult and my kids may be teens, but I still love Go Dog Go. My weekly update

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  27. I still haven't read past the first Lowry book. One of these days I'd like to read the rest!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  28. Going for a walk always helps me too. Sad, but the bookmark thing is not for orders from Germany *sigh*

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  29. These books Brooklyn has been enjoying, sound so good. Sorry to hear your own reading life was a bit of a disappointment.

    As for your happy things, these are all wonderful. I love bath bombs and have actually attempted to make them myself. I also love yoga, but am actually quite terrible at it. As for the Lose It app, I cannot seem to work it using VoiceOver on my iPhone, but I’m so glad you are satisfied with it.

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