Sunday, August 23, 2020

The Sunday Post #238



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 ReviewerReaderbuzz, and Book Date.

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







The Sunday Post #238





On The Blog Last Week







On The Blog This Week


  • On Saturday there’s a book haul.





In My Reading Life


Last week, I finished An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. It hooked me from the first page. I loved it. Five stars! Unless something drastic happens, it’ll be on my “best books of 2020” list in December. It’s about a husband and wife who are both kind of awful. They have affairs and make other questionable choices. Then, the husband is sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit, and the wife starts wondering if she really wants to stay married to him. Every character in this book feels like a real person. I love how involved the main characters’ families are in their lives. The family members have opinions about the characters’ marriage, and they don’t keep those opinions to themselves! There’s so much drama. This is a novel where you hate everybody, but you feel bad for them at the same time. My only complaint is the melodrama. The characters are over-the-top people. Sometimes I wished the author had scaled back the angst a little. Don’t let that put you off, though. If you like books about family issues, this is a must-read.




Right now, I’m rereading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I’ve read this book a bunch of times. I know I love it.






In The Rest Of My Life


Five things that made me happy last week:

  1. It was my blogiversary! Can you believe this blog has existed for 7 years? I can’t.
  2. I’ve been watching a lot of hockey. The Avalanche survived the first round of the playoffs. Bring on round 2!
  3. I’ve also been watching Stranger Things on Netflix. I finally understand why Twitter raves about it. It’s an excellent horror show. I need to find more spooky/funny things to watch.
  4. I reformatted a few old, broken blog posts. I still have a quadrillion more posts I need to fix, but I made progress!
  5. New books! They’ll be in my haul post on Saturday.





Please Love Me













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





45 comments:

  1. Happy blogiversary! I just finished The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes and I'm dying to do a Hunger Games reread too, as it reminded me of just how exciting these books are. Love your be kind note at the end of your post <3

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  2. Hurray to 7 years!!! And, cheers for a 5-star read. You're really tough, so I know it must be good. You guys are rockstars, going back and fixing old pages. I linked to one of Kiersten's old posts for TTT, and it had some of the old theme and looked ugly, and yeah, I did nothing.

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  3. I was pulling for the Avalanche over the Stars last night, but... yeah. :( Better luck in game 2. My Lightning face off against the Bruins tonight. Fingers crossed! Congrats on 7 years... that's amazing!

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  4. Happy blogiversary! I only know the Hunger Games movies. Maybe I should read the books too. Happy reading and stay safe and well.

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  5. Oo yes I love Stranger Things!!! For me it is part nostalgia too. Lol.

    Congrats on your 7 years!!

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  6. Love the message with the helicopter. I know I'm stocking my car up with sanitizer and although it smells it makes me feel protected.

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  7. I had heard good things about An American Marriage. Sometimes over the - too - melodramatic characters can get in the way of a book like this. I think that the kind of story such a book tells does best when it is realistic. Still, based on your commentary it sounds like the book works on many other levels.

    I loved the first season of Stranger Things. I thought that the second season was good but not as good and that the third season was the weakest of all. I still enjoyed all of it though.

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  8. Happy 7th birthday to your blog! That's amazing!

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  9. Happy blogoversary, AJ - doesn't time slide by... We have recently joined Netflix and I've noticed Stranger Things, so I need to check it out after hearing what you've had to say about it. Have a great week:)

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  10. Happy blogoversary! Seven years is quite a long time.

    I thought American Marriage was a good read, quite realistic. I heard the author speak in Houston last fall, and she was fabulous.

    I need to go back and reformat a lot of old posts. Some of my pictures have disappeared. I don't know why. I'm running out of space (I have a free account) so I need to delete some old things, but I keep putting it off.

    Have a good week!

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  11. Happy bloganniversary and the Vegas Knights are playing great hockey, too!

    www.thepulpitandthepen.com

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  12. Yay for your blogiversary! Seven years is so awesome! I hope you're around for at least seven more. :D

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  13. So much love for The Hunger Games. <3 Happy bloganniversary!

    Happy readings!
    Tânia @MyLovelySecret

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  14. Happy blogoversary AJ!!! 7 years? That's amazing!!!

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  15. Hi AJ! Congrats on 7 years! Whoop whoop!! An American Marriage is on my TBR, might have to bump it up a bit.

    We've also watched Stranger Things and it was great! Loved the 80's vibe. I'm a 80's child. Good times!

    Hope your week will be good!

    Elza Reads

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  16. I'm a big fan of Lysol! Happy 7 years!

    Anne - Books of My Heart Here is my Sunday Post   

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  17. Congratulations on your Blogoversary 🎉

    I believe I have An American Marriage on my shelf, I’m reading something with a similarish premise right now, I Give My Marriage a Year by Holly Wainright

    Wishing you a great reading week

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  18. Happy blogiversary! Stranger a Things is great fun, I keep trying to persuade my husband to watch it but he’s not convinced!

    Have a good week.

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  19. We read AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE for book club and found a lot to discuss in it, as you can imagine. The book really disturbed me but I think it now provides more to discuss with Black Lives Matter. My Sunday Post full of good news, and funny stuff

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  20. Happy Blogoversary!! I haven't watched Stranger Things, but I am curious. If you want spooky/funny, then I recommend iZombie if you haven't already seen it.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  21. Yes! Go, Avs, go! That first game blew, but hopefully woke them up. I'll have to check out American Marriage. I pause everytime I see the cover. Stranger Things is one of my favs. I can't wait for the next season. Happy reading!

    Natflix&Books

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  22. Lysol lol! Love it.

    Happy blogoversary! And yay stranger Things! that show is so fun.

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  23. Happy Blogiversary! And good going on updating old blog posts, I keep meaning to do that too, but it just seems so boring.

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  24. Happy blogiversary! I am not sure if I would update old posts! That seems like it is something that would take forever!

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  25. Stranger things! I think I need to rewatch it, because nothing else is holding my attention right now, that show was just awesome!

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  26. Seven years....congratulations! I loved An American Marriage, too. You might also want to try her earlier book, Silver Sparrow. It's also very good. Have a great week.

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  27. Happy blogiversary! Wishing you many more happy years of blogging.

    Love your helicopter photo. An American Marriage sounds interesting; just not sure I can take all that angst. I like to have at least one character I enjoy.

    As much as I loved The Hunger Games, I don't think I could ever read it again. I could watch the movies again, but don't think I could read the series over. All that death just grates on me.

    I should do some blog reformatting too. Glad to hear you're working on that. It will be a great sense of accomplishment when you're done.

    Thanks for visiting my blog.

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  28. Happy blogoversary! Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  29. I missed celebrating my June blogaversary, so congratulations on yours AND on remembering it! I was a latecomer to Stranger Things but my husband and I both love it. We just finished up seven seasons of Grimm, and really liked that show too. Agreed 100% on An American Marriage too! I think all of Tayari Jones’ books are excellent, but each one has been better than the one before. I listened to the audiobook a while ago but picked it for an upcoming book club selection so I can have a reason to read it in print too. Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  30. I was thinking about re-reading the Hunger Games too! Such a great series.

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  31. Happy blogoversary! Mine was in April, for twelve years. Hard to believe, right?

    I like the look of your blog...nice changes!

    Enjoy your week and your books; I liked An American Marriage. Thanks for visiting my blog.

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  32. Seven years of blogging is quite the accomplishment. I'm in my 12th year. There were days when I wanted to throw in the towel, but I love book blogging too much. I loved Hunger Games back when I first read it and if I had time I would reread it. Have a great week!

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  33. Congratulations on seven years of your blog's existence. I am still in my 2nd year. :) Loved your blog's layout.

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  34. The university I work for is having a virtual event with Tayari Jones next month so I have a hold on the audiobook at my digital library.

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  35. Congrats on your blogoversy! I think mine might be around this time too? I forget how many years it's been, probably 9.

    Wow American Marriage was that good? Best book of the year? I'll definitely read it then!

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  36. Yeah for blogging for 7 years! And it sounds like a pretty great week! Yeah that you're enjoying Stranger Things, I did, too! And a Hunger Games reread! It's just a great series to read! Thanks for stopping by! Happy reading!

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  37. Happy blogiversary! I feel like I have a million broken links to fix on my blog but I just plug away at them as I have time. I'm reformatting posts while I'm doing that too. Stranger Things is so good! You might enjoy The Umbrella Academy on Netflix. I can't think of anything they really have in common except that I love them and they're on Netflix though! :-D Enjoy your week!

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  38. Oh my god HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY! This is so exciting, 7 years, wow, what an incredible accomplishment! <3
    have a wonderful week! <3

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  39. Happy Blogoversary! An American Marriage is sitting on my shelf right now so I'm very excited to see 5 stars from you.

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  40. You felt annoyed by the change in Blogger also? I hadn't posted in awhile and came back to a different format. I don't like to have to fiddle with online stuff. Remember when I went to school, even college level, no pcs, no internet, no cell phones, no dvrs, cd, dvds, nothing...

    Anyway, I do want to read An American Marriage but I put it off because I thought it sounded very melancholy. Glad you liked it! Maybe I'll give it a try.

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  41. Happy 7th blogoversary! I read American Marriage ... and agree both of them are not very likable characters, though still a compelling story. Good luck for the Avalanche .... the Flames here ... flamed out. bahhh

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  42. I agree with your sentiment on An American Marriage about not caring for the characters and feeling bad for them at the same time. And I enjoy rereading The Hunger Games on occasion, too. I haven't picked it up in a while, though. I might have to do a reread soon. Happy Blogoversary and so glad you're getting to enjoy the experience that is Stranger Things. Love that series!

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  43. I remember reading and enjoying The Hunger Games, but it's not a story I've wanted to revisit. Maybe one day! I think it's because the movies are still too fresh in my mind, and I wouldn't want to picture those actors and have them replace the images in my head. :)

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬

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