Sunday, July 12, 2020

The Sunday Post #232



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 #232





On The Blog Last Week







On The Blog This Week


  • On Tuesday I blather about books that make me happy.
  • On Thursday we might talk about crime fiction. I don’t know. I haven’t written this post yet.





In My Reading Life


Last week, I read The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. This is a reread of a childhood favorite. It’s a science fiction story about parallel universes and a community of nomads who are trying to rescue their kidnapped children. I read this book many times as a teenager, but I’d forgotten how slow the beginning is. It takes forever for anything to happen! The middle and end make up for it, though. (Well, aside from the melodrama at the very end. OMG, people.) Once the action starts, it doesn’t stop. I still love this book. It’s bizarre, a little creepy, and will (eventually) keep you on the edge of your seat. Now I want to reread the other two books in the series.




Then I read In The Unlikely Event by Judy Blume. The premise is fascinating and based on events from the author’s real life. It’s about a town near an airport where planes keep crashing. The people in town are trying to live their lives, but there’s the threat that a plane will fall on them. Overall, I enjoyed the plot, but I think there are too many characters and storylines. I was sometimes tempted to skim to get back to the characters that interested me the most.




Right now, I’m reading Alabama Moon by Watt Key. No complaints so far.







In The Rest Of My Life


Five things that made me happy last week:

  1. Air conditioning. It was around 100 degrees (37c) every day last week. I hate it. I don’t know how anybody—including myself—survived without air conditioning. We didn’t have air conditioning when I was a kid, and I’m not sure how I survived to adulthood without turning into a raging witch and murdering everybody within reach. I’m not a hot weather creature!
  2. I started kickboxing again. I can’t go to a gym, so I’ve been doing YouTube workout videos. I have to be very careful about not accidentally punching my computer. There’s not enough space in this house for kickboxing. Other than that, it’s going well.
  3. I might actually make money from blogging in July. My traffic has been unusually good since April. (Watch, now I’ve jinxed myself. Internet strangers will suddenly stop reading my nonsense.)
  4. I updated a bunch of old blog posts that had broken links and messed up formatting.
  5. The neighbors are being somewhat sensible about their fireworks. They still set them off every night, but not for hours and hours and hours.





Let’s Be Friends














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







35 comments:

  1. I have not done any kind of sport except for going walking lately. You made me laugh with your kickboxing inside. Thank you for that picture. Stay safe and well.

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  2. I've still being doing my dancing for sport. Oh and I went Ziplining.

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  3. I want to get back to yoga. I made my own Favorite Yoga Poses and created a music list and everything, but I've only done it a half dozen times. I need to do it today and get back into the routine.

    Good for you in making money from your blog. I love the ads that pop up on your blog for Galison. Galison puzzles have been a life saver during the pandemic.

    Air conditioning. I remember the hot summer days as a child here in Texas with no air conditioning. We kids couldn't hardly move.

    Have a good and safe week.

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  4. I am totally with you on air conditioning. I'm so glad I live in a time where it exists! We unfortunately don't have central air in our house, but we can get a couple rooms at a time cool with the window units.

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  5. I SO need to read The Golden Compass. Everyone loves it! I'm not sure what keeps holding me back and making a plunge into the series...

    I love the great week you've had! I've been falling back in love with art (which is probably my version of your kick-boxing) and it's been super therapeutic and uplifting for me. I hope you have another great week! I love your blog and you absolutely deserve monetization!

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  6. I am also NOT a summer girl. I hate heat and prefer the fall or believe it or not, winter. I just find that time to be more relaxing. It's like no pressure to leave the house.

    Have a great week, AJ! Happy Reading!

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  7. Do you have links to the kickboxing videos that you are doing? I did some Fight Do some weeks ago but my fitness club reopened and stopped our access to these videos...

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  8. I live in Alabama (though currently in Memphis, TN) and thankfully have always had air conditioning as it is crazy hot about 75% of the year. I like hot weather but surviving without air conditioning just seems impossible. No idea how it was done! I love YouTube workouts! I've found so many great ones of all different kinds and like them even better then most gym classes I've taken. And they're free! Hope you have a great week.

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  9. I reread His Dark Materials recently as well. I was impressed with how well they held up! I also love In the Unlikely Event, but I listened to it on audio, so it cut down on the temptation to skip!

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  10. I love the photo expression on the girl's face. I think that is the way a lot of people look when I see them at the store, safely behind my mask so they can't see my expression. I am a fan of Philip Pullman and have started his sequel that follows the Golden Compass series. Love his writing. My Sunday Salon

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  11. It's been very hot here too. It's my first year of living in continual humidity and I do love our a/c :)

    Your books sound interesting. I hope you have a great week. Stay safe!

    My Sunday Post is here.

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  12. *sigh* And I AM a summer girl and am stranded in the wrong country - the only time I feel I fully come to life is when the temperature is up where everyone else is wilting and complaining of the heat. We ought to swap! I hope you have a good week, AJ and manage to find some relief from the weather...

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  13. I liked kickboxing when I was younger. Such a good workout. Good for you! Congrats on making some money. That's awesome.

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  14. I need to update old posts too. I imagine there are a mess of broken links in my past posts. Ugh. And glad to hear the neighbors are being at least somewhat less annoying? Yeesh how do people afford all these fireworks to shoot them off every night???

    And I'm the same with AC. What did we DO? And I'm in the north where it's cold half the year, but in summer... I'd melt down south.

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  15. Yup. Now that it's in the mid 90s all the time I'm glad to have the new AC unit.

    Have a wonderful week and stay well!

    Anne - Books of My Heart Here is my Sunday Post   

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  16. I enjoy reading the things that make you happy. So inspirational. I also had to smile at the expression on that girl's face.

    I have the same thoughts about "how did we manage without AC in childhood."

    I'm glad to have it now, though; it has been triple digits all week.

    Have a great week, and thanks for sharing.

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  17. Yep, same here on the AC issues. I'm in Florida and didn't have AC as a kid, don't know how I'm alive to tell about it! Hope you have a great week. Read on :)

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  18. That's awesome you might make some money this month from blogging!!
    I did cardio kickboxing once in the fall and it was a lot of fun. I don't think I could do it with just a computer though - pretty sure I'd break something. LOL
    And yeah, I would go crazy without AC. I get hot SO quick.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  19. Isn't the 4th of July over? Why are your neighbors still setting off fireworks?! It 100+ degree weather?! Wow, IQ was really not evenly distributed, right? I'm so done with 100+ weather too, it was 108 here even though they predicted 105. I know it's the beginning of Summer, but I'm so over it. And gosh, if I didn't have air conditioning (or wine) I would murder someone for sure!

    Yay for making money blogging! I hope you get tons of visitors! Lord knows blogging takes a lot of time and work. Enjoy your week A.J.!

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  20. I started a little update back blogging too. Interesting to see how a lot of embedded youtube videos no longer work. Too bad.

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  21. Isn't The Golden Compass a movie now? I've never read the book, but I think I've seen the movie (or at least parts of it). It's always fun to re-read childhood favorites! I've been enjoying re-reading mine to my monsters. :)

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬

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  22. I can’t imagine how I survived summers as a child without aircon either, though to be fair we had a pool and I rarely left it.

    Wishing you a great reading week

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  23. I thought I was staring in a mirror when I saw that pic at the top, it totally sums how I feel.

    That is hot, its been a high of may 17/18c here in Scotland, and I sometimes find that warm.

    I need to go back and look at my old posts, I have done new graphics for some of them which need updated.

    Have a good week.

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  24. Good for you for working out. We don't have central A/C and the room units are just not cutting it. Argh.

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  25. Air conditioning isn't really a big thing over here because of the milder climate but boy do we overheat when an unexpected heatwave comes along! UGH! Frankly anything over 60 degrees unsettles me!!!

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  26. I am so thankful for air conditioning too. My mom doesn't have it and we just had a heat wave. She and my brother's family had already combined their social bubble at least though so she was able to go and live with them.

    I love that you are kickboxing at home.

    Alabama Moon looks great!

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  27. It's been super hot here as well, and we don't have AC. On the other hand I'd rather take the heat than the cold. Good for you doing kickboxing at home, youtube has some really good videos on it. I can't wait for my ankle to heal so I can get back to working out regularly, I miss my runs. Hope you have a great week!

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  28. I agree about air conditioning. I don't know how we survived without it when I was a child. Our temperatures are "just" in the 80s but I live in northern Minnesota and am not used to even that much heat. I've been staying in and listening to audiobooks. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  29. We got our air conditioner fixed back in May, thankfully. Actually the heat doesn't bother me as much as it bothers my husband.
    I have not been doing any workouts, which is not good. At least we've been walking a few times a week.

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  30. I read most of Judy Bloom's MG and YA novels but not her adult books. We never had AC when I was growing up and I don't remember ever thinking it was too hot. I guess as kids our bodies may handle heat differently? But then again, I like the heat, so there's that. :-)

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  31. We have no A/C here but live in Canada so it rarely gets above 85F. We make do with fans. I hope your temps go down soon. Enjoy your week.

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  32. We didn't have central air as a kid, just a unit in our dining room on the main floor. So we dealt unless the temps went over 100 degrees, then our parents let us sleep on the dining room floor. Good times. I love the heat, but even I enjoy central air especially at night.

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  33. OMG your neighbors are still setting off fireworks? Ugh. I feel you on the heat. ItS so bad down here. And the wretched humidity makes it worse. I am melting. Love the GoT graphic. That girl was so badass.

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  34. Ugh, I'm not hot weather creature either. I'd love air conditioning but it's not a thing here. :(

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  35. I've somehow never read The Golden Compass - one of these days!

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