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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
On The Blog Recently
- Best Books Of 2024
- Best January - June 2025 Book Releases
- 2024 Reading Statistics
- I Read 200+ "Best Books Of 2024" Lists
- Best January - June Books For Teens & Tweens
In My Reading Life
Do you ever read part of a book, get bored, abandon it on your nightstand, and start another book? Then you get bored with that book, abandon it on your nightstand, and start another book? Then you end up with a stack of half-read books?
Yeah. That happens to me. I spent last week finishing all the books I abandoned. I apologize for the somewhat negative reviews. These books are boring!
I read One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. It's the story of the Buendía family, and the beginning is absolutely brilliant. I mean, here's the first line:
"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."
Of course that hooked me! The writing is stunning all the way through. I love the plot's magical elements. The Buendía family is a bit unusual. They're the founders of an isolated village called Macondo, and strange things happen there. People rarely die. Sometimes it rains nonstop for years. At one point, there's a plague that erases everybody's memory. Some of the characters are psychic for some reason. It's all bizarrely fascinating.
As Macondo grew and became less isolated, I became less interested. The middle of the book is a slog. There are a lot of characters and a lot of tedious discussions about politics and wars. It just felt like we were going in circles. Nothing was happening! I got very bored.
When I started this book, I thought it would become an all-time favorite. I'm disappointed that I fell out of love with it.
Then I read The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. I read a modern-day English translation because I don't have the mental capacity for 1600s English right now. It felt like cheating. I know a college class would have forced me to read the original, but whatever. I'm not a student! Professors are not the boss of my reading!
Okay. I don't feel like I can review this book because I'm clearly not the target audience. It's an allegory written for Christians. I can see how Christians would get something out of it, but since I'm not one of them, it didn't do anything for me.
The allegory opens with a man reading a book and having a complete mental breakdown—which is relatable, to be honest. The man's name is Christian, and he feels guilty about his sinful life. He decides to abandon his wife and children and journey to the Celestial City. Along the way, he meets friends (?) and terrors. Mostly terrors.
I don't think this book is the best advertisement for religion. Christian is an anxious disaster. He can't trust anybody. He's a dick to pretty much everyone he meets. He beats himself up for every tiny mistake. I understand why he's anxious. The "evil" characters tend to fall into pits and die. I'd be anxious too, but the dude is completely miserable! He can't find joy in anything. I think that's the point of the story. The destination is worth the struggle. I wanted Christian to take a few deep breaths. His perfectionism is crippling him and making the journey harder than it needs to be. The man needs therapy.
The second half of the book is about Christian's wife, Christiana. (The author is really dedicated to the theme.) She decides that she and her four children will follow her husband to the Celestial City. I like her part slightly better than Christian's. She finds joy in her journey, but she also just follows men around, so . . . that's disappointing. She doesn't have much agency. She does whatever men tell her to do.
This book isn't for me, but that's okay because it wasn't written for me.
Final one! I read The Last Hours by Minette Walters. It's historical fiction set in a manor house in 1300s England while bubonic plague is decimating the countryside. The mistress of the manor, Lady Anne, has unusual ideas about preventing disease. She brings all the serfs into the manor, so they're protected by the moat and walls. Then they pretend that nobody is home. Lady Anne hopes travelers will walk by instead of bringing the plague to them.
Keeping 200 people crammed inside a manor house is bound to cause conflict. There's murder, plot twists, schemes, and a scarcity of resources. Eventually, a brave group of men leave the manor to find food.
There are a lot of plot threads in this book. It's very clearly setting up a series. I love some of the threads, especially the murder. There's a character, Eleanor, who is incredibly twisted. Every time I thought she couldn't get more horrible, she did! I enjoyed her storyline.
Unfortunately, some of the other storylines are tedious. I wanted to skim them to get back to the interesting parts. Most of the book didn't hold my attention well enough to make me curious about the sequel.
In The Rest Of My Life
Five things that made me happy last week:
- There's a trend on social media where people are making collages of "The vibes I bring to the function." I like looking at everyone else's vibes, so I made my own. It's at the top of this post. That's me. And my current vibes.
- I applied for a promotion at my job. I'm not optimistic about getting it because it comes with paid time off and health insurance. I have a feeling everybody applied for it.
- I'm still doing the 75 Hard Challenge. I'm on day 14. For 75 days, I'm giving up junk food, exercising 90 minutes a day, and drinking a gallon of water a day. The water is still the hardest part. One US gallon is 3.7 liters. Drinking that much won't kill me (I don't think?), but I don't see how it's benefitting me. I'm kind of bloated. I have to pee literally always. I'm starting to think that drinking water is a scam.
- Outdoor exercise has been nice. I saw some coyotes yesterday.
- For some reason, I've been watching videos about 2025 interior design trends. Now I really, really want to repaint my living room/office. I didn't choose the canned-pea wall color. The room came that way. What color goes with cheap black Ikea furniture?
Follow for more vibes
I think (and this is just my opinion) is that Pilgrim's Progress be a book for one flavor of Christians, but it's not a book for all Christians. It's for the Christians that like the Old Testament better than the New Testament...Whew. Okay. You can delete this if you like. I probably said too much.
ReplyDeleteI like the vibes you bring to the function that you made. I should think about that. It looks like it was fun to think about and to make.
ReplyDeleteThe 75 Hard Challenge is intriguing. I think, though, that each person should come up with her own list of hard things she wants to do for 75 days. I (kinda) am doing that: I am trying to write a poem a day, do one Duolingo lesson, and meditate for 5 minutes. I know it doesn't sound very hard, but it actually is.
My sister was just telling me about One Hundred Years of Solitude! She read it for a book club and didn't love it either. Also, I just want to say that I'm a Christian and I really dislike The Pilgrim's Progress. So, there's that xD
ReplyDeleteDrinking too much water isn’t a virtue or even a health improver. It’s a phoney solution from unprofessional poseurs. Sorry you seem to have been conned.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I hope you do well on the regime… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I like your vibes collage! I had a good time making mine as well.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a nice dark blue, that is like a dark sky at night.
Response to your wquestion on boredom; yes thats happened to me.its how i know i've hit a reading slump, when books that should appeal to me bore the crap out of me. i take a break from reading an revisit them later. I hope you find some books that excite you soon.
ReplyDeletehttps://getlostinlit.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-sunday-post.html
I really enjoyed how you wrote these book reviews - you gave the benefit of the doubt where you could. And I admire that you finished these books; I probably wouldn’t. Love your collage. Great humor and introvert feelings that I can relate to.
ReplyDeleteDo I ever have multiple DNFs in a row? YES. Way too often
ReplyDeleteI loved 100 Years of Solitude but I read it a long time ago and remember nothing about it.
I was always curious about Pilgrim's Progress because I think that's what Marmie is reading to the four little women, isn't it? Sounds like a DNF for me.
I'm on Tiktok 500 hours a day and have never heard of The vibes I bring to the function! I'll bet I will now though because Tiktok is a mind reader. I love your collage so much!!!!
I hope you get the promotion!
As for drinking water, all I can tell you is my sister believed it was crucial and drank water all day long. I hate water and never drink it unless it's in coffee or soda. She's dead. I'm alive.
I love that Vibe I bring to the party trend and I did one too! Also good luck with the challenge even if I personally wouldn't drink that much water LOL
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your honesty and that you put boring books aside. Love your "vibes" graphic. Glad to see the skunks made the cut. I give you credit for applying for the promotion and I hope you get it.
ReplyDeleteWell as much as I hate to do them you need to allow some DNF in your reading. I stopped drinking soda, and am drinking tea. That hasn't been as difficult as I thought it might be. Tea is more expensive than water. But if I could stick to plain black tea that I use for iced tea it would be cheaper than soda. I have a lot of fancy teas I'm now using though that were languishing in the cupboard. I don't think you need that much water unless you are sweating a lot or exercising a lot more. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
I am partial to shades or yellow or blue for public spaces though I had green in my bedroom in my past place). A new splash of color can do wonders for a room and one's attitude.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the job process! I am glad you put yourself out there and are giving it a go. That shows them that you are interested in stepping up even if this one doesn't pan out.
That sounds like way too much water. The usual advice is 8 glasses per day, which works out to about 64 fluid ounces, or about half a gallon. That would be much more reasonable.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm in a reading slump, I can't seem to stick with the books I start, which sounds a lot like what you're describing. Usually I can get out of a slump by rereading books I loved, or by reading a new-to-me book by an author I love. But everyone has their own way of getting out of a slump. I hope you find yours!
Eleanor in the LAst hours sounds fun. In kind of a twisted way! That's a bummer though about the books. I hate that when boks disappoint like that. And yes I think drinking that much water is totally a scam. Of course I'm not the healthiest person lol.
ReplyDelete