Sunday, November 15, 2020

The Sunday Post #249

 

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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 ReviewerReaderbuzz, and Book Date.

 



The Sunday Post #249

 

 

 

 

Public Service Announcement

 

I love the holidays and want to spread holiday cheer. (We could all use some cheer in 2020, right?) I’m giving away a $100 Book Depository shopping spree. The winner can choose whichever books they want! The giveaway is open internationally, as long as Book Depository ships to your country for free.

Click here to enter the giveaway. Please enter! Entering is good for my self-esteem.




 

 

On The Blog Recently

 

 

 

 

 

On The Blog This Week

 

  • On Tuesday I talk about the best baby and toddler books I’ve read in 2020.

 

 

 

 

In My Reading Life

 

My reading and blogging have been terrible lately because I got sick. Not with that disease. I’m fine. I’ve just been watching a lot of BookTube and being lazy.

I finished In The Shadow Of Blackbirds by Cat Winters and loved it. It’s young adult historical horror set during the 1918 flu pandemic. Even though it takes place during a plague, I didn’t find it stressful to read. I actually liked seeing characters wearing masks. It makes me feel less alone ‘cause NO ONE wears their masks around here. Ridiculous people. Anyway, I would have been obsessed with this novel as a teenager. It has a fast-paced plot and includes real historical photos of life during the pandemic. The story is about a teenage girl who starts seeing ghosts after a near-death experience. When her boyfriend is killed under mysterious circumstances, his ghost comes to her for help. Since I’m an adult reader, I found some of the plot twists predictable, but that didn’t stop me from frantically turning pages. I desperately wanted to know what happened next. It was a lot of fun to read.

 


Then Nonfiction November began! I read Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump. The author is Donald Trump’s niece and a clinical psychologist. I have mixed feelings about this one. It’s very short. It was interesting to track Donald Trump’s family history backward and discover how his family became rich and famous. Since the author is a psychologist, she gives her theories about why Donald sometimes acts like a 74-year-old toddler. I have mixed feelings about the book because the author is clearly angry at her family. She was abused by them, so she has every right to be angry, but I wondered if her anger impacted her objectivity. Also, the book is very narrowly focused on the Trump family. Since the subtitle mentions “the world,” I expected more discussion of how society creates families like the Trumps and why people are so obsessed with them. This definitely isn’t a bad memoir. I found the family history fascinating, but my reaction to finishing it was, “I need more. Where’s the rest?”

 


Right now, I’m reading two chunky nonfiction books. First is The Radium Girls: The Dark Story Of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore. It’s about a group of female factory employees who worked with radium in the early 1900s. The factory owners knew that radium was deadly, but they refused to admit it, even when the women were dying horribly from radium poisoning. My other book is equally depressing! It’s Evicted: Poverty And Profit In The American City by Matthew Desmond. This book is infuriating. Slum landlords and American politicians need to do better.





 

In The Rest Of My Life

 

Five things that made me happy recently:

 

  1. The US election is (mostly? Somewhat? Hopefully?) over! I’m looking forward to talking about something besides the election. I’m tired. America rocked at voting, though. That was a lot of votes to count. Nicely done, fellow citizens.
  2. It was my dad’s birthday. I got him a book, of course.
  3. I’ve now done yoga every day for 9 months. I even did it when I was dizzy and queasy.
  4. It’s Secret Santa time! I apologize to everybody who follows me on Twitter. That’s all I’ve been Tweeting about. I love stalking my Secret Santa partner’s social media and trying to find perfect gifts for her.
  5. Thank you to everyone who has entered my giveaway so far!

 

 

 

 

My Disease Is Not Contagious! (I Don’t Think? I'm Not A Doctor.)

 


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





38 comments:

  1. Does your dad share your love of reading or do you get him books hoping he will? My dad likes watching movies and documentaries, but only reads the paper (maybe a National Geographic). Good for you doing yoga everyday. You're a beast!

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  2. I’m looking forward to your toddler book recommendations, I need to choose books for my great niece & nephew for Xmas.
    And I’m crossing my fingers I’ll be a winner in your generous giveaway!

    Wishing you a great reading week

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  3. I've entered your give away!! Yea! Good for you for doing yoga for 9 months already. I do try to exercise twice a week as diligently as possible. But last Thursday I stayed in bed a bit to finish my book. That's also necessary every now and then!

    Hope you will have a good week.

    The Sunday Post #18

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  4. I was wondering about the book written by Trump's niece. She has been rather outspoken about her dislike of her uncle. I am so glad that the election is (kind of) over. I am sorry to hear that you were feeling sick. I hope you are feeling better and you might deserve some kind of award for doing yoga while ill. I have a copy of Evicted on my shelf and hope to get to it sometime soon. Have a great week!

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  5. Happy Birthday to your dad! Books are always the best gift. '
    I am avoiding Twitter today because something happened and now he is on a major rant of stupid.

    I hope you have a wonderful week, AJ! Happy Reading!

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  6. I picked up a copy of the YA nonfiction Unpresidented (sic) way back at the beginning of 45's presidency, but couldn't handle the outrage it caused me at the time. I might go back to it soon. It mihgt not explain his bizarre popularity either, but it's not driven by personal animosity, so it may be different?

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  7. I wish my dad would read a book. The only thing he is reading is a crossword. We are already in the Christmas season, wow! Happy reading and stay safe and well.

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  8. I hope you feel better soon. I have The Radium Girls too but have not read it yet. You created a great yoga habit, that's awesome! I have to add more exercise in my routine or this stress will kill me. Enjoy your reading week!

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  9. I'm glad to have election ads over. I have the Mary Trump book on reserve at the library on audio. I haven't gotten to it yet but I hope to read it. You know I don't know if I ever saw my dad read a book. He read all the time but it was newspapers, financial reports, scientific and investment information. Yay for yoga. I have to step up my routine. I won't weigh 270 but I have gained weight this year. Take care and stay well!

    Anne - Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post

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  10. I wish I could read the Mary Trump book, but I just can't stand to think about That Man any more.

    I give a big thumbs up to both Radium Girls and Evicted. Very bleak, though.

    Good job with yoga. I've resolved to do it at home twice a week. Surely I can do that.

    Thanks for your wonderful giveaway.

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  11. I have seen Trump's niece book everywhere and lots of comments were similar as yours AJ. And I love Secret Santa!

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  12. I have wondered about Mary Trump's book. I think she has a LOT of insight to offer, but I had heard the book comes off a bit bitter (which I understand) and lacking depth.

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  13. I hope you're feeling better. I have thought about reading Mary Trump's book, but I just can give that man any more real estate in my brain.

    http://fromarockyhillside.com

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  14. I've been avoiding the Mary Trump book for the same reason others have mentioned. I just don't want to think about him any longer. I'm really hoping after January he'll just fade into a bad nightmare we all endured.

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  15. The Radium Girls was such a good read!

    And I'm so glad the election is over and I can stop stalking the news all day, every day!

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  16. In the Shadow of Blackbirds sounds like a wonderful read. I hope you are feeling better and have a wonderful week ❤️

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  17. I've heard good things about Shadow of Blackbirds. It's strange to think they wore masks back then, too, but they did. I've read some accounts of it being the norm in San Francisco back then when the flu pandemic was raging.

    I can't imagine being related to Trump. Thanks goodness the election is over, but I guess for some they don't think so even though all the court appeals are being laughed out.

    You need to find some less depressing reading! I'll check out your giveaway! Have a great week, AJ!

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  18. Thank goodness the election is over! Kinda haha. Of course the next one will start in about 3 months lol it seems like they're never really over here! And congrats on the yoga- that's awesome!!

    The Mary Trump book sounds interesting.

    Have a great week AJ!

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  19. I hope you're feeling better! I'm so happy the election is over hopefully my hubby will find something new to talk about. Congrats on the yoga that's great, I need to get my butt in gear and do more active stuff. I love those YA books with the old pictures, they're so neat to look at. Have a great week!

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  20. Congrats on keeping the yoga up! That's quite an accomplishment!

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  21. Not wanting to devote any thoughts to the Loser in Chief, I never considered reading Mary Trump;s book, so I appreciate your thoughts about it. A book that specifically covered the social and political environment that created the Trump family would be interesting, though many historical studies have covered the topic in general.

    be well ... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  22. Hope you are feeling better. Your yoga record is very impressive ... I'm enjoying inside virtual workouts also try to do them everyday. Enjoy your week & books!

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  23. Sorry you've been sick, but I'm VERY impressed with your yoga streak. Stay well!

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  24. Ugh, that sucks you've been sick AJ! I know it's inevitable, but I'm not looking forward to it. I AM looking forward to our second lockdown though.

    Agreed about In the Shadow of Blackbirds. Somewhat predictable but still enjoyable (and sad).

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  25. I enjoyed Mary Trump's book...and have seen her interviewed several times on news videos, so she has nicely filled in the parts left out in the book.

    The Radium Girls looks tempting.

    Enjoy your week, and thanks for visiting my blog.

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  26. I hope you are feeling better now. With all the Covid concerns, any illness is more scary than usual. Your books sound interesting even though I seldom read nonfiction. I'll have to watch for the YA book since that's more my genre. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  27. Sorry to hear you’ve been sick. :( Hopefully you’re feeling better this week. I was curious about the books from Trump’s niece but probably not enough to actually read it. LOL

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  28. Being sick sucks, COVID or not, so I hope you are feeling better. And go you for doing yoga while sick! I'm very excited about Secret Santa too. Lots of my gifts for my Santee are coming in, and they are all so cute, I want them all! lol

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  29. I hope you are feeling better. I just finished listening to Mary Trump's book. It's good, but yes she is bitter and has reason to be. I take all of these memoirs coming out that they are a bit slanted because the person writing it is disgruntled about one thing or another. Still, it's interesting. Have a great week!

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  30. Ha! Love your meme about stress eating! (and sorry you live in an area where people aren't being careful - I am fortunate that everyone here wears masks).

    I have coincidentally read several novels this year about pandemics, too! Strange choice of reading materials, I guess, but oddly comforting.

    I'm also reading for Nonfiction November now - looks like you have some good choices going! I think I have Radium Girls on my audio backlog :) So many books and so little time!

    Sorry you have been sick - hope this week is better for you. And enjoy your books!

    Sue

    Book By Book

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  31. I hope you are feeling better, AJ. Whenever someone calls in sick at work, I'm required to ask if it's COVID related. And it's kind of funny (or not) how automatic it is for most of us in the office to respond quickly with "it's not COVID related" when we sneeze or cough.

    I am glad you enjoyed Shadow of Blackbirds. I've only read one Cat Winters book, which I really enjoyed. I need to check this one out too.

    I hope you have a great week. Take care and enjoy your reading!

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  32. Congrats on the accomplishment. Hope you are feeling better.

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  33. Happy birthday to your dad!

    I am impressed that you did yoga every day for the past six months. It's one of the things I told myself I'll do since the pandemic started but still haven't.

    Hope you feel better soon! We've been fighting a cold too but are much better now.

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  34. Feel better soon. Yoga everyday is awesome. Happy reading, In The Shadow Of Blackbirds sounds really good.

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  35. Happy Birthday to your dad! And oh my gosh you are kicking butt with yoga this year! I need your secrets for such amazing determination! Seriously! I use to be so dedicated to exercise and then this year happened and yeahhhhhhh lol.
    Jen @ Star-Crossed Book Blog

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  36. Sorry you've been sick. I'm impressed that you've still been doing yoga. I'm a wimp and I give up on exercising at the slightest provocation.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  37. Booktube is addictive, isn't it ? :/ Your recent reads have been really interesting, if depressing, thanks for sharing. I hope you get better quickly, yoga does help, I practise every morning and it does feel good, I miss it when I don't have enough time (because of cats and kids !).

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  38. Happy Birthday to your Dad. I hope you are feeling better. As you can see, its the ninth hour and I am still replying to last week's Sunday Posts! LOL

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