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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 #276

 

Public Service Announcement

 

Attention, bookworms! Two of my favorite things have collided! A bookstore is hosting a readathon! That’s right, Book Depository is running a readathon. They're doing a stunningly terrible job of advertising it, so I thought I advertise for them. The 'thon goes from August 23 to August 30. To celebrate, Book Depository is offering a 10% discount + free international shipping on books that fit the readathon prompts. Check out the readathon details and all the sweet deals.

 

 

 

 

On The Blog Recently

• I showed off all the new books I've gotten.
• I talked about books that live up to their awesome titles.
• I listed the August 2021 new releases I'm excited to read.

 

 

 

 

In My Reading Life

I read The Field Guide To The North American Teenager by Ben Philippe. I have mixed feelings about this one. Mostly, I loved it. It's like the movie Mean Girls (which is one of my favorite movies) but instead of mean girls, the book has mean boys. It stars a Black French-Canadian teenage hockey fan who moves to Texas. The main character, Norris, is sarcastic and snarky. I laughed a lot. I love him and the side characters. They're all complex and believable. I enjoyed the characters, but I was less thrilled with the plot. As soon as Norris starts writing a "Field Guide" that contains mean, judgmental comments about his classmates, I knew what would happen. I've seen Mean Girls a thousand times. I also think the end is a bit anti-climatic. It's realistic, but I guess I was expecting more resolution. (Like what happens in Mean Girls.) I don't know. I did like the themes the book explores. You should never make snap judgments about people. Strangers are more complicated than you imagine. Also, if you have mean thoughts about someone, NEVER PUT EVIDENCE OF YOUR THOUGHTS IN WRITING! You know what will happen. You've probably seen Mean Girls.

Then I finished Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy. I want to read everything Julie Murphy has written. The writing in this novel is stunning. The author really brings small-town Mississippi to life. This is a young adult contemporary book with a lot of brilliant characters and no plot. The characters are definitely the focus. I appreciate that Ramona is still figuring out her life. She thinks she knows what the future will bring, but maybe she has the power to change it. Ramona is also still figuring out her sexuality. She has only dated girls in the past, but then she reconnects with long-lost-friend Freddie, and . . . stuff gets confusing. Sometimes, it takes a while to figure out who you are and what you want from the future. Don't trap yourself. Go out and explore. This book is very long and very romance-focused, which means I got a little bored with it. Not enough happens for me, and what did happen seems tropey. For example, Ramona and Freddie get in arguments for stupid reasons because that's just what happens in YA contemporary fiction. I wish the drama had been fresher. (Actually, I have that same wish about most YA contemporary fiction.)

Finally, I finished The Lost City Of Z: A Tale Of Deadly Obsession In The Amazon by David Grann. I was searching for a biography of an explorer who wasn't an arctic explorer, and I found one! This is the story of British explorer Percy Fawcett. In 1925, Percy and his 21-year-old son trekked into the Amazon to find an ancient city called El Dorado. Father and son were never seen again. Mostly, this book taught me to stay out of the Amazon. There are too many bugs! Everything is gross and deadly. I'm too fluffy for that nonsense.

This is one of those books that's impossible to review because how do you review a person's life? I can't critique the plot or characters. The writing gets the job done. It's not anything special. Percy Fawcett was an intense dude with fascinating ideas about ancient Amazon civilizations. Like many old-time explorers, he was very selfish. He just left his wife and kids and went gallivanting around the wilderness for years at a time without the ability to contact them. I wouldn't let my husband get away with that. Percy's disappearance is a compelling mystery that kept me flying through the pages. I couldn't put this book down, even though I knew the mystery wouldn't be solved. I appreciate the end of the book where the author talks about how our understanding of the Amazon has changed. When Percy Fawcett was exploring, many people thought his ideas about lost Amazon cities were ridiculous. Nowadays, we're not so sure. Maybe Percy was on to something . . . . (I'd search for El Dorado myself, but, you know, there's all that gross and deadly stuff. Maybe it's best to let the city be lost.)

 

 

In The Rest Of My Life

 

Five things that made me happy recently:

 

1. I reached my Goodreads goal! I set it low, so don’t be too impressed. I also haven't updated Goodreads in forever, so nobody knows I reached my goal.
2. Baby Brooklyn thinks I know everything. It’s amusing. She points at random strangers and asks me their names. I don’t know their names, but I invent names for them because it might be advantageous for Brooklyn to think I’m omniscient.
3. I got new fans! I don't mean "people who love me." I mean, "ceiling fans." The ceiling fans in two rooms of my house were broken. It gets stupidly hot in my house. Now my rooms will be slightly cooler than the surface of the sun. Also, shout out to my dad for installing the things.
4. Who's watching the Olympics? I'm watching a marathon right now as I type this. I love seeing all the different sports. The track sports are my favorite because I can usually tell who won. I don't like sports with judges because I never know how to judge stuff.
5. It was employee appreciation day at work. The bosses kept bringing me cake. I ate so much cake.

 

 

 

 

Please Be My (Non-Ceiling) Fan

 

 

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