The Sunday Post #227

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.

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The Sunday Post #227

On The Blog Last Week

• On Tuesday we talked about books with summer vibes.
• On Wednesday I showed you the June book releases I’m excited about.
• On Thursday I wrapped up May.

On The Blog This Week

• On Tuesday I share some not-too-depressing books about characters in isolation.

In My Reading Life

You’re all about to hate me. Brace yourselves because I have the most unpopular book opinion ever. Here it goes: I didn’t like The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. I know. Shocking. I’ve always struggled with the fantasy genre because I can’t live with unanswered “why?” questions. I know that The Raven Boys is a series, and some of my questions will be answered eventually, but I couldn’t cope with the frustration. There are too many underdeveloped characters. I didn’t find the world-building or the characters’ motivations believable. I didn’t hate everything though! The reveal of Noah’s identity is shocking in the best way. It convinced me to finish the book. If you’re not familiar with these books, they star an angsty gang of teens who are searching for the body of a magical king. I don’t think I’ll be continuing with the series.

Then baby Brooklyn and I read The Berenstain Bears’ Home Sweet Tree by Stan & Jan Berenstain. This was a blast from the past. I remember this book from my childhood. It’s kind of like those “Apartment Tour” videos on YouTube. The young bears show the reader around their treehouse. It’s cute. There’s no plot or conflict. There is a delicious illustration of chocolate chip cookies that made Brooklyn very happy. We spent a lot of time pretending to eat those cookies.

Right now, I’m reading It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis. It’s a classic dystopian novel that was published in 1935 but (supposedly) predicted the current US political climate. So far, the writing style is dense and hard to slog through, but I did laugh at this part:

“The Senator was vulgar, almost illiterate, a public liar easily detected, and in his "ideas" almost idiotic, while his celebrated piety was that of a traveling salesman for church furniture, and his yet more celebrated humor the sly cynicism of a country store. Certainly there was nothing exhilarating in the actual words of his speeches, nor anything convincing in his philosophy. His political platforms were only wings of a windmill.” – It Can’t Happen Here

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy last week:

1. I finally got the contracts for a short story I sold in December. I have no idea when it’ll be published, but publishing moves so slowly that I’m happy when anything happens.
2. Virtual BookCon! I don’t usually get to go to conventions. I hope virtual ones become more common. I added so many books to my TBR board. I still have a ton left to add.
3. I deep-cleaned my TV/book/blogging room. Cleaning sucks, but so does having dog hair everywhere. I’m currently enjoying my (mostly) hair-free furniture.
4. I’ve done yoga every single day for 4 months. I’m still terrible at it.
5. I left my neighborhood! This is the first time I’ve been in an indoor public place since March 17. Me and Brooklyn were feeling squirrely, so we went to a greenhouse to look at plants. It was an odd experience. Adults had to wear masks, and there were lines on the ground showing where we could stand. I feel sorry for the employees at that greenhouse because it was so humid that my mask stuck to my face. But, it was awesome to be out of the house.

Stalk Me From A Safe Distance

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