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

The Sunday Post #319

On The Blog Recently

• Cozy Book Recommendations
• I Made Romance Books (I'm Sorry & You're Welcome)
• Winter Reading Ideas
• Gifts For Book Lovers
• Holiday Book Haul

In My Reading Life

I finished 3 books last week, but don't be too proud of me because two of them were tiny. The first tiny book was The Deal Of A Lifetime by Fredrik Backman. I knew I'd love this one because I have a thing for books where death is a character (or a profession, in this case). It's about a man with regrets. He's spent his whole life working instead of having fun or caring for his family. Now he's dying from cancer. He makes a deal with death to do something meaningful with his final days.

Like all of Backman's books, this one is super sad. Actually, that's one of my complaints with Backman. He really wants to make sure you're sad while you're reading his stuff. Since I'm dead inside and don't have emotions, it seems heavy handed to me, but whatever. I like the plot enough that it didn't matter.

This story is full of warmth and humor. It'll make you question how you're living your life and what legacy you want to leave behind. It's a perfect book to read on Christmas Eve because the Christmas Carol vibes are strong.

Then I read another tiny Backman book. This one was And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer And Longer. It's about a grandfather who is losing his memory. As life becomes more difficult, he retreats deeper and deeper into his shrinking mind.

This novella is more abstract than the average Backman book because most of it takes place inside the main character's brain. He explores crumbling landscapes and has conversations with dead people. If you have someone with dementia or Alzheimer's in your life, it'll probably freak you out. I've seen family members die from those diseases, and it's my worst nightmare.

I liked this book, but I liked it less than The Deal Of A Lifetime. This one feels more repetitive. The repetition makes sense because the grandfather's world is shrinking. He doesn't have many memories left. I wish the book was either shorter and less repetitive or longer and expanded to show more of the grandfather's life before dementia.

Like all of Backman's books, this one will make you think. It's a reminder to slow down and appreciate what you have before you lose it.

I finished 2022 with a 5-star chunkster! My wrists are still sore from trying to hold The Toll by Neal Shusterman. It's massive. It's also the third book in the Arc Of A Scythe series, so I'm not sure how to talk about it without spoiling the first two books.

The best part of this series is how Neal Shusterman thinks of everything. The books take place in a world where people have conquered death. How would immortality change art, technology, politics, religion, and even daily life? A series like this could easily become preachy, but Shusterman doesn't do that. He acknowledges that philosophical questions can have multiple correct answers and allows his characters to make mistakes and change their minds.

This novel didn't have quite as many plot twists as the previous ones, but I guess that's logical because the series has to wrap up eventually. We can't keep throwing new problems into the mix. The ending still had enough twists to keep me happy.

Arc Of A Scythe is one of my all-time-favorite series. If you love science fiction, you should give it a try.

In The Rest Of My Life

Five goals for 2023:

1. Be less of a weenie. This was also my resolution in 2022. I want to keep trying new things, even if they're hard and scary and I'm bad at them.
2. Control my eating. I actually exercise a lot, but no one can tell because I have the same diet as Buddy the Elf.
3. #0By24. I want to read all the books on my to-be-read shelf. That's 78 books. I can do it.
4. Clean the closet before a junk avalanche kills me.
5. Get better at using Instagram and Facebook and (maybe) TikTok.

Happy New Year

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