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.
*This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
*This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
The Sunday Post #225
On The Blog Last Week
- On Tuesday we talked about why I (and Twitter) love historical fiction.
- On Thursday I recommended some books for Mental Health Awareness Month.
On The Blog This Week
- On Tuesday we talk about attention-grabbing opening paragraphs.
In My Reading Life
Last week, I
finished Strangers In
Their Own Land: Anger And Mourning On The American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild. If the author used the phrase “Strangers in their
own land” one more time, I was going to chuck my Kindle across the room.
Seriously. I get it! It was a clever phrase the first time, but it lost its
charm after the author used it 10,000 times. The book is a psychological study of the Tea
Party. That makes it sound boring. It’s not! It’s about coastal Louisiana and
the people who live there. If you’re interested in environmental issues,
then this is a must-read. I learned a lot about the impact that oil and chemical
companies are having on the health of people and wildlife. I did not learn much
about the American Right. Probably because I don’t live in a “Liberal bubble.” But,
I’d still highly recommend this book. It’s definitely thought-provoking and may
end up on my “best books of 2020” list.
Right
now, I’m reading Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. So far, I don’t love it as much as I thought I would. Maybe I
just haven’t gotten to the drama yet? The characters are intriguing though.
In The Rest Of My Life
Five
things that made me happy last week:
- Harry Potter movie marathon!
- New books!
- Thank you to the Twitter people who helped with my post about historical fiction.
- Thank you to everyone who read my post for Mental Health Awareness Month. That’s an important topic for me. I tried to recommend some books I haven’t blathered about in a while.
- I quarantine baked because I’m susceptible to peer pressure. I wanted to make yummy food like all my internet friends. I made tiny banana nut muffins. They actually tasted good! Very banana-y. I never have high hopes for the food I make, but these didn’t turn out disgusting. (In contrast to the veggie burgers I made a few months ago. I never want those in my mouth again.)
Let’s Be Far Away Friends
Take
care of yourselves and be kind to each other! See you around the blogosphere!
I honestly didn't love Little Fires. The characters were interesting but almost nothing happens in the first 100 pages of a fairly slim novel. I did finish and think it's worth reading but was surprised by the hype. Banana muffins are awesome. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteNatflix&Book
Glad your baking was a success. I cannot taste it, but it came out looking beautiful! I know my daughter read Little Fires for her book club, and I was surprised how much she liked it. Hope it gets better for you. There must be something to all the hype, no?
ReplyDeleteI love those tiny muffins! So cute.
ReplyDeleteI hate when books do that. I tried to read a book called Cozy, and the author used the word cozy so much I couldn't finish it. She used it even when I felt like it didn't function in the sentence correctly.
Have a great one!
Yes... I spend a LOT of time as an author combing my manuscripts looking for undue repetition. Slamming it down during the first draft is excusable - allowing it loose on unsuspecting readers in that state isn't.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the baking success. Unless we want to buy flour in 15 kg sacks, it isn't available and I haven't anywhere to store such a quantity so our home baking efforts came to an abrupt end several weeks ago. Have a good week, AJ.
Many of the people who surround me have the strangers-in-their-own-land (sorry!) mindset. Reading this book (I won't repeat the title) helped me a lot to be able to emphasize with them and to be able to have conversations with them. I'm glad you liked it, too. I haven't read Little Fires. I'll be interested in seeing what you think.
ReplyDeleteIn desperation, I bought cake flour about six weeks ago when I could not find any other sort of flour. Now I'm baking with it, and I can't get over how different my bread tastes with cake flour. I bet banana bread would be good with cake flour. It's a fine flour, and it would probably make the banana bread lighter. Your muffin looks great!
I hope you have a great week.
Bwahahaha I'll take your banana muffins over your veggie burgers any day of the week AJ!
ReplyDeleteBanana Nut muffins sound so delicious! The book on the Tea Party, not so much. LOL. I am not a fan of the far right.
ReplyDeleteVeggie burgers sound better than they are. I once had some in a restaurant (remember restaurants?), and they were good. But when they make them here in the dining room, they are disgusting. LOL
Enjoy your week, and stay safe. Here are my
WEEKLY UPDATES
Strangers in their Own Land does sound interesting, I was checking it out after I think you mentioned it last week? I read the snippet and definitely want to get it! Environmental issues are always interesting to me though. And yay for new reads!
ReplyDeleteThose muffins look wonderful- I love banana muffins! As a vegan, I love veggie burgers but they always fall apart on me! Strangers in their Own Land is on my list to read!
ReplyDeleteYummy! I baked more before the pandemic -muffins, scrolls etc for school,, now the kids are going back I’ll have to start again.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a great reading week
Congrats on your baking success. They look delicious! I enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere when I read it but I honestly don't even remember much about it now. I want to watch the Hulu series to refresh my apparently bad memory. Yay for HP movie marathons too. I was thinking about doing that tomorrow since I have no other Memorial Day plans because of the virus/lockdown situation.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your baking endeavor, and I'm glad they actually tasted good. :) I've never read Little Fires Everywhere. Honestly, I think I'd watch the show more than read the book. hah
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
Great job with the baking! That is something I am not good at. I wish I was. So many people are using this time to get creative in the kitchen and my husband and I are over here like, what shall we eat out of the freezer tonight?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are having some baking success! I am an excellent cook now after years of learning with some trial and error. You are so young, you need to make more mistakes to get it right. I made peach crisp last night. I use the same recipe with all different fruits, but mostly peaches and apples. I'm not a fan of video calls and it kills my phone battery too.
ReplyDeleteStay well and happy reading!
Anne - Books of My Heart Here is my Sunday Post
The muffins are cute! I made a warm honey lemonade from a recipe today and all I can think about is what can I add to make this an adult beverage, lol.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm the only one not baking. Those muffins do look good though. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteYea... no. I'm still not baking. But congrats on your successful venture. Your Mental Health Awareness post was great, and I REALLY need to do a Harry Potter marathon - for both the books and the movies.
ReplyDeleteHappy Reading!
Congrats on your baking success. I know from own experience how it feels when you cook or bake something only to find out that it does not taste as good as it looks *smile* So yay to the banana nut muffins! Stay safe and well and happy reading!
ReplyDeleteBaking FTW! It looks so cute! Are you going to watch Little Fires Everywehre?
ReplyDeleteI think I've made one batch of chocolate chip cookies and froze most of it as little dough balls to bake later during this pandemic. Of course, my brother and I are both trying to eat healthy since his heart attack and baked goods don't really fit in as healthy eating. I haven't tried making veggie burgers and don't think I will after your experience. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteI have done too much baking lately. I had to stop because all of my pants were getting tight. Of course, I have cupcakes I made sitting in my kitchen right now so I guess I didn't really stop. New books always make me happy! I have a copy of Little Fires Everywhere that I should probably pick up at some point. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI realllllyyy want that muffin right now!
ReplyDeleteYeah for the Mental Health post and it's popularity! Sounds like a really good week, and that muffin looks scrumptious! Thanks for stopping by! Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteGreat job baking! I taught myself to cook when I was in my 20s because I didn't know how and was tired of doing drive thru every time I wanted to eat. I highly recommend finally a fairly simple cookbook and sticking to it exactly until you have more of a feel of things. I think the main problems people have is trying to adapt recipes when they don't know what they're doing so it goes wrong. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI liked Little Fires Everywhere, but think it's really more literary fiction than the family drama it was hyped as. I chuckled at your video call rejection. It's gotten to be I'm on Zoom so much that I'm having to be more social than I was in real life!
ReplyDeleteHi AJ - wonderful post ... that book sounds interesting ... whether I'll ever get there - I'm not sure ... lots of others to read up on. Take care and I've avoided all things technical, other than the norm of what I do ... not a lot other than the blog. Take care ... those banana muffins look delicious - all the best - Hilary
ReplyDeleteI wasn't a big fan of Little Fires ... as each of the characters comes off a bit tarnished or flawed ... and they can be annoying, but Celeste Ng is a decent storyteller so I always continue on with her books. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteThe banana nut muffins look so yummy! And a Harry Poter marathon sounds fantastic too. :-)
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I considered doing a bit of baking-then I realised I had no baking trays, whisks or anything I need to make bread or bake cakes. Really handy huh! I'm slowly going through my Harry Potter re-read, a few chapters every night or two. I'm enjoying it but wish I could read it a bit faster but I'm too tired to read most nights!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to hear you are still safe! 👍✨ I hope you had a wonderful week. 🌞
ReplyDelete