Sunday, February 26, 2023

The Sunday Post #327

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Usually, I just slap a meme up here, but today's artwork was done by Brooklyn. Here's a happy bee for you.



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 #327





On The Blog Recently











In My Reading Life



Last week, I read two aggressively average books.




The first was The Thing With Feathers by McCall Hoyle. It was like the author had a checklist of events that commonly happen in YA books, and she tried really hard to check everything off that list.

The story is about Emilie, a teen girl who has been homeschooled for most of her life because she has epilepsy and a dead father. Then, her mother and therapist decide she should try public school. She takes about 5 steps into the school before running into a mean girl and developing a crush on a star athlete. Of course Emilie is a genius, and her crush needs tutoring, so they're forced to hang out. She spends 200 pages dithering about how to tell her classmates about her epilepsy. Then she tells them, and they clap for her. The end.

I realize I'm not the target audience for teen books, but I've read this story so many times that it had no suspense for me. I kept waiting for it to deviate from the script, but it didn't.

I did like the complicated relationship between Emilie and her mother. Emilie is too scared to break out of her comfort zone. Her mother is the opposite. This causes problems in their relationship, but they attempt to work through them, and Emilie learns to see things from her mother's perspective. Life is boring if you never try anything new.

This book wasn't for me, but maybe I would have liked it when I was younger. I've just read too many YA books.






Then I read Cairo by M.K. Perker and G. Willow Wilson. This is an urban fantasy graphic novel set in Cairo (which you could probably guess from the title). There are a lot of characters, and they're all after one thing: A magical hookah that's home to a jinn. The book is basically a long game of keep-away. The character who has the hookah is trying to keep the others from taking it.

This is the graphic novel version of an action movie. There are plot twists, badass heroes, and one-dimensional villains. Lots of guns. Lots of running. Some magic. It's an entertaining story that probably won't stick with me because there's not much depth. The authors attempt to include discussions of Islam and politics, but there's no time for that when the characters are running for their lives.

I did like the art! It's black and white, but it's very detailed. I like the dark, crowded, grittiness of the Cairo streets. I could always tell the characters apart, which isn't always the case in graphic novels. Sometimes the characters look too similar to me.

I guess I'd recommend this book to people who like action movies. It's not my thing, but I can understand the appeal.









In The Rest Of My Life



Five things that made me happy last week:


  1. It was Brooklyn's birthday party. She had fun and got a ton of stuff. I don't know where to put it.
  2. So much cake. Brooklyn ended up with two birthday cakes because 4-year-olds are fickle beasts. We got a chocolate cake and a vanilla cake. I ate so much cake.
  3. Watching obstacle course TV shows. I watched Ultimate Beastmaster and Floor Is Lava. Sometimes I don't want to use my brain. I just want to watch people fall off stuff.
  4. I was messing with the fitness app on my phone and noticed that I've taken at least 10,000 steps a day for all of February.
  5. This chilly chickadee junco. It was too far away to get a good picture, but the bird was napping while it was -8 degrees and snowing.












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







30 comments:

  1. I enjoyed The Thing with Feathers, though I liked companion more. Is so much cake ever a problem? I am jealous. We have had no cake since Christmas. Look at you getting your steps in. I cannot accomplish that from my desk job. That's awesome!

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  2. Mmm, I want two cakes for my birthday, too!

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  3. I'm sorry your reading didn't work for you this week. Sometimes I worry that I've read too many books. I'm not willing to suffer through an average read.

    Oh, cake! Our g-son Wyatt's birthday is coming up mid-March---perhaps he needs two cakes, too.

    My chickadee here wants you to know she's glad she lives here where it's a lovely 71 degrees.

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  4. “aggressively average” is a great description, and not just for books. Happy birthday to Brooklyn!

    best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  5. great. i love that the characters are after the magical hookah. We have quite a few hookah cafes in Minneosta.

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  6. 10000 steps every day is great AJ! And four years deserves all the cake!

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  7. Over 10,000 steps every day is so great! My remote work has me sitting at home far too much. The rain has stopped here so I am headed out the door for a walk soon. Have a great week.

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  8. I'm waiting for the birds to come in spring. We have so few in the winter. Enjoy. And happy birthday to Brooklyn. She did a nice drawing.

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  9. "Agressively Average" is one of the most awesome descriptions I have read lately!

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  10. Two cakes sound perfect to me...now I want cake :) 10,000 steps a day is great. I struggle getting to that number every day. I hope you have a great week!

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  11. Happy Birthday to Brooklyn! I love her picture! I’m glad you’re keeping active . Have a great week ahead!

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  12. OMG! Agressively average! That's genius and the coolest phrase ever! I read one this week too - Nocturne by Wees..... - hope you have better luck this week.

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  13. Love that picture! I took pictures my niece and nephew made me and put them up at my desk at work. I haven't had birthday cake in a long time it seems! Most of the family who has had birthdays in the past few months didn't pick regular birthday cake for their dessert. I haven't gotten 10,000 steps in a day in a while, but I'm not giving up. The days I do get that I celebrate, but not with food, lol. Hope you have a good week!
    Lisa Loves Literature

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  14. Lots of cake, lots of presents sounds like a great birthday! Have a great week!

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  15. Aww cute artwork. :) Those shows sound fun. It IS fun to watch people fall off stuff, isn't it? And I don't know how the animals do it. I mean, I know they have fur, but... it's COLD. And they nevr get to go in.

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  16. Happy birthday to Brooklyn and yay for cake. Awesome job on the steps for February.

    Anne - Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post

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  17. Happy Birthday to Brooklyn!! Her picture is adorable.

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  18. Thanks for the happy bee, too cute.
    By the way, the bird looks more like a junco (my favorite winter bird) than a chickadee

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  19. Two cakes is always the answer! I'm so glad Brooklyn had such a fun birthday party and a happy birthday. I love her happy bee! Have a great week!

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  20. I’ve read a few YA books and sometimes…well…they just aren’t for us. I enjoyed reading your review and could almost imagine your facial expressions as I read it – and we haven’t even met in person. Great review! 😊
    Yes! My daughter loves celebrating my grandkids birthdays, but the stuff? Where will it live? Your number 3 made me chuckle. Congrats on your 10,000 step days! Poor birdie! I’ve gotten creative on placing my bird feeders this winter so that they can eat safely away from Kitty. Happy reading!

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  21. I had more average reads than normal in February. It's disappointing when a good you were expecting to like turns out to not be so great, isn't it? Hope your next read it better.

    As another obstacle show watcher, I'm with you. They can be fun when you are in the mood for something light.

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  22. Happy belated birthday to Brooklyn! You can never have too much cake :) And I need to start walking more too... Love that term 'aggressively average' <3
    My Sunday post is here

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  23. Happy 4th Bday to Brooklyn. Two cakes are better than 1! I'm the anti-YA ... they should have Old people YA .... call it OP novels LoL

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  24. Cake always sounds good! I hope this week's books are better than average. Come see my week <a href="https://inside-dog.blogspot.com/2023/02/its-monday-what-are-you-reading_0915683980.html>here</a>. Happy reading!

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  25. I can't believe Brooklyn is 4 already... that was one of my favorite ages when my girls were little. Love the happy bee! Sorry your reading was just so-so last week... hope this one is better.

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  26. I love the bee drawing and the fun of a 4-year-old birthday party. I saw some juncos last week while hiking on the prairie, but I didn't see them until I scared them, so no opportunity for a photo.

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  27. Happy birthday to Baby Brooklyn! Extra cake is always a good thing. Lol.

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  28. Awww what a cute bee picture Brooklyn drew! I want all the cake!

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  29. Happy belated greetings to Brooklyn! Thanks especially for these lists of MG and YA books.

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