Thursday, September 6, 2018

August Wrap-Up





August Snapshots




1. Attack of the drones. August started with me vacuuming my bedroom. I looked up from the floor, and there was a drone hovering outside my window, watching me with its little camera eyes. Yeah. The neighbor kid got a drone. He enjoys flying it at the exact height of my bedroom window. Great. This isn’t weird at all.


Every time I see the drone, I'm temped to climb onto the roof and go King Kong on it.






2. I actually went outside in August. *Gasp. The horror!* I had a Denver Five Things Pass. That means I got to leave the house and do five things in Denver. Four of the five places I went were excellent:

  • I went to the zoo and saw grown zebras making baby zebras.
  • I went to the science museum and learned that there are a lot of rocks in the world (and the science museum seems to have all of them).
  • I saw a creepy statue lady the botanic garden.
  • At the aquarium, I saw many odd and possibly delicious fish.


Then I wandered around Denver, ate chocolate, and didn’t buy anything at the bookstore. *Pats self on back.*
































3. But what was the fifth thing? The final thing I did with the Five Things Pass was visit the airplane museum. I learned that I really don’t care about airplanes. The airplane museum seems to be the place where old dudes go to talk about wars and parents go to pay $7.50 for their kids to crash the flight simulator.


How quickly can the ejection seat on this plane get me away from the airplane museum?



I thought this was the first bird to ever be sucked into a jet engine. It's not. It's a mascot. Of disappointment.






4. I accidentally won at Twitter. Look at the Likes/Retweets on this. People don’t usually pay that much attention to me. Thanks, Twitter!














Wayward Googlers



Here are a few amusing Google searches that led people to Read All The Things! I’m sorry to the unfortunate souls who ended up here instead of finding what they were Googling for.

The Wayward Googlers had strange and dirty minds in August. The searches were like one of those guessing games. I’ll give you a sentence. You tell me if it’s:

A. A book title
B. An illegal activity


“love at all ages.” I hope this is an innocent book title and not something illegal. 
“Queenly and kings sex.” You might be referring to this book or this book? Maybe? 
“Klash Of Kings.” Love your Kreative spelling. You might be looking for this review. 
“Let’s pretend you never saw her.” Deal. Also, I hope this is a book title. I honestly don't know.












Books I Read





In August, I read 7 books. That’s a terrible reading month, but I spent a lot of time doing non-bookish things.

The Possessions by Sara Flannery Murphy
Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt
The Cresswell Plot by Eliza Wass
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Stranded by Bracken MacLeod












Best Books Of August





1. Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt
2. Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach
3. The Cresswell Plot by Eliza Wass












Most-Viewed August Reviews

















Most-Viewed August Non-Reviews

















All The Things!



Distance I’ve sloppily jogged so far this year = 168 miles (270 km).

Number of unread books on my TBR shelf = 57 books.

I’m currently reading = Psycho by Robert Bloch.













What did you do in August?










45 comments:

  1. Pervy little git! I'd be telling his parents that the next time his drone appears at my bedroom window the police are being called! (film the confrontation with them for evidence!) I generally like a visit to the zoo but they never provide enough seats and I have a dodgy back so I don't go now. August was decent reading for me but I'm hoping for better this month.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The weather is colder and the kid is back in school, so I think I’ll be seeing less of the drone now. :)

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  2. What did I do in August? Braved taking my two boys across the country by myself for a much needed vacation and family visit. And had occasional sister sightings. ;)

    Sorry about the airplanes. Yeah, that was pretty boring. I was hoping for more space and less air but I guess "air" did come first in the title. I got a kick out of the Doctor Who reference but that was the highlight. LOL!

    Congrats on the jogging and winning at Twitter. :)

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  3. I've never read Psycho, but I really like the movie, so I'm curious to see what you think of the actual book!

    Yay for getting out of the house and doing things around Denver. Most sound fun, but yeah, I don't think I'd like the airplane museum either.

    Whoo - go you for winning at Twitter. That's awesome!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    Replies
    1. The Psycho book was predictable (mostly because I’ve seen the movie too many times), but it was still really good.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  4. Good for you, getting out and doing stuff! XD I would love to go check out some of the museums in Tampa sometime! Hurray for winning Twitter! Okay, I forgot how to find the search results. Please share so I can look at mine! XD Have you reviewed Stranded yet? I definitely need to read that one when it's up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven’t posted a review of Stranded yet. It’ll be up in October when I review spooky books.

      To find search results on Blogger, go to Stats > Traffic Sources > scroll down to Search Keywords.

      To find them on Google Analytics, go to Acquisition > Overview > Organic Search.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  5. This was a really funny post.
    Also, I think you ought to have a chat with your neighbors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If the drone comes back too often, I might have to have a chat. I haven’t seen it in a while.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  6. 'I went to the zoo and saw grown zebras making baby zebras.' - I officially love you! XD <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it’s kind of sad that the highlight of my month was seeing zebras humping . . .

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  7. That Five Things pass sounds really cool, and reading less in a month is totally okay when you're out doing fun things!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Once again, I laughed a lot. So, THANKS! And wow! I can't believe your neighbor droned you. I hope you told his mother. You may have only read 7 books, but to name 3 your "best" attests to the quality of your reading.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The drone hasn’t been back in a while, so maybe he has less time for it now that school has started.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  9. Great month and glad you liked The Cresswell Plot. What, no pics of procreating zebras???? Oh and drone would meet baseball bat!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, the procreation happened fast, and there were a lot of people watching. I don’t think I could have gotten a good photo.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  10. "Let's pretend you never saw her" cracks me up. Not sure what they were hoping to find! Glad you enjoyed your Denver Five pass.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What’s weirder is that “Let’s pretend you never saw her” brought people to my blog 4 times. Either 4 people Googled it, or 1 person is very desperate.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  11. I love the humor in your visit to Denver! Skip plans, go to Golden and visit the Colorado Rail Museum :)

    www.thepulpitandthepen.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’ve been to the Rail Museum! I was pretty young, so I don’t remember it very well.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  12. Oh dear. Drones staring at you is well... Strange. And creepy. Beware of the Drones, AJ. 😂

    Also hahaha, I think being about to see all the terms is something I miss from blogger - I know people can search for terms and land on my blog, but I don't know WHAT terms anymore. No terms = no amusement. 😞

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The terms are one of my favorite things about having a blog. If you have a Google Analytics account for your site, you can sometimes see them on there.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  13. What a month! It sounds great in many ways, and not so great in the creepy drone way! I love all the photos from your adventures in August; looks & sounds like a lot of fun. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on Psycho - I absolutely love the film adaptation but have never read the book.

    Happy September!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yay for winning at Twitter!! Dude the drone thing is creepy. I need to check out The Cresswell Plot. Great pics from your month!

    ReplyDelete
  15. How do you find out what searches people use to find your blog?

    I had my best tweet this month as wel1, although it wasn't as well-liked as yours. It had 59,366 impressions and 130 likes. It was a post about NaNoWriMo cards, LOL. You never know what is going to be interesting to someone.

    That's creepy about the drone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was surprised at how well that tweet did. It’s really weird that some tweets take off and others get no attention. If you have Blogger or Google Analytics, those sites will tell you the search terms that people use to find your blog.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  16. Your story about the Drone sounds terrifying. I wonder if my brother has ever been to the airplane museum you mentioned (he's a USAFA grad) maybe Air Force people find it more interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If your brother is interested in the history of planes, then he’d probably like the airplane museum. There is a lot of old plane-related stuff in there.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  17. Sounds like you had fun at the Zoo and an aquarium. 🐒 🐙 Love visiting both. The drone dude is weird. Congrats on winning at twitter!

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  18. Loving the pictures, congrats on exiting a bookstore without a new book, and man I need to read Grunt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was very impressed that I left a bookstore without buying anything. I guess it helps that new books are expensive and I’m broke.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

      Delete
  19. Yucky to that kids drone, how intrusive. The non bookish things you did this month sound really a lot of fun and I had a laugh at some of the things you mention. Even though you didn't buy a book its that being surrounded by books that is so much full of joy!

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  20. That book about cannibalism is so intriguing.

    I love your Wayward Googlers section. That made me chuckle. I used to see some strange things crop up too when I was hosted here on Blogger.

    Ew. That kid with the drone is no bueno. That creeps me out. Even if he/she is a kid.

    Yay for finding that strength not to buy anything at the book shop. I've done that a few times this week and it's taken every piece of inner strength to just keep walking.

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  21. Oh my god, that kid with the drone... that's so... no. I would be so bothered haha, hopefully he won't bother you too long with it :/
    It sounds like you had such a fun August, these pictures are beautiful <3

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  22. Hahahaha I love the story about the kid with the drone. But also, kill the drone, because that's creepy. I love this Five Things Pass idea, and from the looks of it you had some wonderful days! Will you be getting a pass like that again, or was it a gift?

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  23. I've been thinking of trying out The Possessions - I've been eyeing it at the library. :)

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  24. About that drone--definitely King Kong it--that will be a life lesson the kid will NEVER forget. Denver zebras sounds as sex-driven as Detroit ones because they were happily making foals when we visited too. I was wondering where all the rocks went!!! Fun post for this month as usual.

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  25. The creswell plot keeps catching my eye. See what I read in August at Girl Who Reads

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  26. In August, I was lucky enough to visit family in Portland, Newport, and Seattle. I read Salt to the Sea and enjoyed it. I was surprised to see The Secret Garden. I read that as a child and again as a teacher. One of my childhood favorites.

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