tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60745259416035637732024-03-13T07:50:36.967-04:00The many thoughts of a readerReaders are plentiful, thinkers are rare.
Harriet MartineauThe Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.comBlogger1366125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-7155925322527445132024-03-08T08:30:00.001-05:002024-03-08T08:30:00.141-05:002023 Reading Stats<p> <span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As I sheepishly got around to writing this post I was glad to see that it also took me until March last year to get around to doing it. Same reasons apply, I’ve been working out more and working on classes to renew my teaching certificate and I have a very short window of time to do these activities without children soooo, March here we are. :)</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-2da38f8d-7fff-12ae-df02-d795084692d7"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How many books read in 2023? –</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> 85. Same as 2022, and finished right at the end, again.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How many fiction and non-fiction?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> 77 fiction and 8 non-fiction (3 more than last 2022)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 10pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Male/Female author ratio?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> 70 books had women authors and 15 were men. I had quite a few authors that I read multiple books by them.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 10pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Which author was new to you in 2023 that you now want to read the entire works of? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Etaf Rum. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Favorite book read in 2023?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lessons In Chemistry</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Bonnie Garmus, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Light We Carry</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Michelle Obama, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We Hope for Better Things</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Erin Bartels, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How the Word is Passed</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Clint Smith, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Woman is No Man</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Etaf Rum, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Beauty of Your Face</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Sahar Mustafah, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Tom Lake</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Ann Patchett, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Grady Lake</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by JL Hyde, and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Wind Knows my Name</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Isabel Allende.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Least favorite?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Christine Falls, Crying in H Mart</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Lake</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Any that you simply couldn’t finish?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Booth, Carrie Soto is Back, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook, Mirror Girls, The House of Eve</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Stealing</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. I do probably want to finish a couple of them but I just wasn’t feeling them, when I was trying to read them. </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How many pages did you read? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">28,385, which is more than last yea</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">r</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">H</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">ow many books from the library? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">69, I did actually read more of my own books, like I had planned, but not nearly enough! </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How many books read did I purchase?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> 7, from this list I think</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 10pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How many were gifts?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> 4</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How many borrowed from others?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> 2</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How many were given to me for reviews? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> 2</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How many books read on kindle?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> None</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Audiobook?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> none</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Any re-reads?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> No</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 10pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Which countries did you go to through the page in your year of reading?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Australia, United States, Israel, England, France, Cuba, Senegal, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Gaza, Palestine, Kuwait, West Bank, Lebanon, Scotland, Mexico, Austria, El Salvador, Bangkok, Vietnam, and Jordan.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What states did you go through the page in your year of reading? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">California, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Arizona, Texas, Massachusetts, Michigan, South Carolina, Virginia, Maine, New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Connecticut, and West Virginia.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Which book wouldn’t you have read without someone’s specific recommendation?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> When We Believed in Mermaids, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Surgeon</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Which author did you read the most of</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Marie Benedict 5</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What was your best reading month</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> December when I read 11</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What was your worst reading month? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">September when I read 6</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Revisiting 2023 Goals</span></p><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Read 85 books. - Check!</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Read and/or clear 28 books from my living room bookshelf. - I have recorded the removal of 24, but I know I got rid of at least 28 if I include books from other bookshelves beyond the living room bookshelf that I was focusing on.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Read more non-fiction. - Check! I read three more than the year before, and expanded beyond my usual of memoirs!</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Goals for 2024</span></p><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Read 85 books.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Get rid of at least 18 books.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-wrap: wrap; vertical-align: baseline;">Continue reading more non-fiction.</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9871999999999999; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">How many books did you read in 2023? Did you complete your 2023 reading goals? What are your goals for 2024?? What book do I NEED to read in 2024?</span></span>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-56217403786204106352023-12-05T21:10:00.001-05:002023-12-05T21:10:00.138-05:00Book Confession Holiday Edition<p> As my daughter asked me to read one story out of this book before bed I immediately was like, I must share my distaste of this book and others like it with the world. You're welcome.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCEctcYQ4Kr_OzfrgU7Mm7d8OPc_WhcLoJ8grZPRj9vZ_d-pAHDi7JdyeIFGvcxFtYGIILqBHJsHEqN3aBwZsLHU8o-0A-KpGYB7v2zqMjQla7j_XqvMJVzS6l3dL5JZUqqVXMS6JXoQ0ANpqnrjmmlVD8JwB6UpW-DyW5VPuhw2uVBPq6Yla5ksJj9zl/s4080/PXL_20231205_005404847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCEctcYQ4Kr_OzfrgU7Mm7d8OPc_WhcLoJ8grZPRj9vZ_d-pAHDi7JdyeIFGvcxFtYGIILqBHJsHEqN3aBwZsLHU8o-0A-KpGYB7v2zqMjQla7j_XqvMJVzS6l3dL5JZUqqVXMS6JXoQ0ANpqnrjmmlVD8JwB6UpW-DyW5VPuhw2uVBPq6Yla5ksJj9zl/s320/PXL_20231205_005404847.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><p>The book snob in me cannot do Disney character books. Or any show books. A compilation of horrible stories with movie characters? Ugh. I would never ever buy one of these. My husband's aunt buys one of some sort at least once a year I swear. </p><p>I suppose I also dislike any book for kids that have a bunch of stories in them. Probably, because the stories are awful. </p><p>Also I realized that the Frozen story in this book is SO FREAKING similar to another Frozen story in another compilation we have. Anna wants her sister's attention and Elsa is too damn busy planning a surprise for her sister until her sister takes matters into her own hands.</p><p>For the love, let's hope I can make it through this holly jolly season without throwing this book out the window.</p><p>And please, do not gift these to us. Or anyone, if you love them.</p><p><b>What say you? Yay or nay? Can I mail this sucker to you? (I kid, I kid, she'd never forgive me)</b></p>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-27498564995275489442023-12-04T21:10:00.001-05:002023-12-04T21:10:19.469-05:00What I Read in November<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirx4U_4Zu9aQNzEb7TmPsyXNCGPkUDWF_g3ZryHXKw07Z94VYFwD6KoXtzhEFdDv8K25W2jr18G7v0GPz5_5-igt70dHKO2GAdzBsX2ofOdyoGDHtibHrUtYeg3jS_Yk4gRP5veWcBYOUhN5WQhQqX7xxkRuSZcx68nwuTEutBE5VLVytQYdQnMRxQnCGb/s4096/IMG_20231201_112054_164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4096" data-original-width="4096" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirx4U_4Zu9aQNzEb7TmPsyXNCGPkUDWF_g3ZryHXKw07Z94VYFwD6KoXtzhEFdDv8K25W2jr18G7v0GPz5_5-igt70dHKO2GAdzBsX2ofOdyoGDHtibHrUtYeg3jS_Yk4gRP5veWcBYOUhN5WQhQqX7xxkRuSZcx68nwuTEutBE5VLVytQYdQnMRxQnCGb/s320/IMG_20231201_112054_164.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I absolutely loved </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Tom Lake</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> and I think it absolutely had to do with the setting and being able to picture the area. Tom Lake is essentially Interlochen, a place I adore. Then the family's orchard is on the shores of Lake Michigan near Traverse City, aka my favorite part of Michigan. But also I loved the story. And had no background on Our Town, which it's based on. I have heard two other people say eh on it, but I loved it. Ann Patchett is sometimes a slog fest for me but I loved this one!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The Bar Harbor Retirement</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> ... </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">This book had such a quirky bunch of former writers and others who worked in the writing industry at the end of their life. They all live together in Bar Harbor in a house/grounds where a famous author planned for them to go when they were old. I really enjoyed it. I mean an elderly woman who is smoking weed for her back and lots of secrets of lovers and some of the writers decide to start writing a book together. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOn2PjHVK8aedX5g9US2LgmDsRYMyK4MWuoXaPBsTXOGQWgfxtrVZV21TxAt54E25HyrLLFyaVVZCLgSvTrgZmbX7n5jTBvSsWCIKLnj2uUPmccB_4X3U8SEZ1n0TjW8BtkHseNOJYz7YNrg9k_vL-JMdPoELL0LTR7zQ-Z6lw1CixSk1KLD3wZXbFIvlM/s4080/PXL_20231108_203745842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOn2PjHVK8aedX5g9US2LgmDsRYMyK4MWuoXaPBsTXOGQWgfxtrVZV21TxAt54E25HyrLLFyaVVZCLgSvTrgZmbX7n5jTBvSsWCIKLnj2uUPmccB_4X3U8SEZ1n0TjW8BtkHseNOJYz7YNrg9k_vL-JMdPoELL0LTR7zQ-Z6lw1CixSk1KLD3wZXbFIvlM/s320/PXL_20231108_203745842.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Hester</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> surprised me. I thought for sure I would dislike it as it's a book that ties with </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The Scarlet Letter</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">, which is a book I cannot engage with. Isobel Gowdie arrives in Salem with her good for nothing husband and is promptly left behind with the judgy Salem folk and meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorn. My 12 year old is also now reading it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQXeRMNKy8hG9ErOP5CrRf4hBORJv5DOkoFPHAX_8Em69PxBfZvtVP1qCAZJVDw0ToKulDtNCCxI-ERl5ch0qCMuw51w2P6ceLzCjscQN-w6nBMd_bnCEugkFQ-zaEkCMX58R52wRmsKTL4XymLxAqUDAhjF0o0n6_njMrAgDgkoZe7u_S49PD7D3cvZ0/s4080/PXL_20231127_015506477.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQXeRMNKy8hG9ErOP5CrRf4hBORJv5DOkoFPHAX_8Em69PxBfZvtVP1qCAZJVDw0ToKulDtNCCxI-ERl5ch0qCMuw51w2P6ceLzCjscQN-w6nBMd_bnCEugkFQ-zaEkCMX58R52wRmsKTL4XymLxAqUDAhjF0o0n6_njMrAgDgkoZe7u_S49PD7D3cvZ0/s320/PXL_20231127_015506477.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Tin Camp Road</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> is written by an Upper Peninsula author and it's a book about a mother and daughter living day to day in poverty making the most of it and I will be reading so many other books by this author. As someone who has seen people living in this type of poverty and knowing the Upper Peninsula and all of that it was just a book where you are rooting for something to go right and keep going right for them.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Reader, I murdered him</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">, takes Adele from Jane Eyre and puts a queer romance female vigilante twist on the story. I liked it but those who adore Jane Eyre may feel differently based upon the goodreads reviews I looked at when I was done.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Reunion Beach</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> is a sweet collection of stories and essays for Dorothea Benton Frank, a lowcountry author who I adored for her beachy hilarious stories. There are short stories by Elin Hilderbrand, Patti Callahan, Adriana Trigiani, and others..</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: normal; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tAoHWJq7ADbJyBLa83NYv8ZvEmTLGXG73pKJR7RLKjR5uApxaepZvKHVrB5El-ypDkoo8INVhh4HHBfsEGg0Y5VOyi63YZRV5KlLOkhPrpbzdAOxgeMLmSFSW47FqQjqHQMPQ4mPq0kh9XG7EpWEYQ5a_vugf_drc4zb1p5mLIKKtdk9SEwYGsowQlI3/s4080/PXL_20231125_002234515.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tAoHWJq7ADbJyBLa83NYv8ZvEmTLGXG73pKJR7RLKjR5uApxaepZvKHVrB5El-ypDkoo8INVhh4HHBfsEGg0Y5VOyi63YZRV5KlLOkhPrpbzdAOxgeMLmSFSW47FqQjqHQMPQ4mPq0kh9XG7EpWEYQ5a_vugf_drc4zb1p5mLIKKtdk9SEwYGsowQlI3/s320/PXL_20231125_002234515.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><p dir="ltr" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><i>All the SInners Bleed</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> is another great crime fiction book by SA Cosby. His books are not for the faint of heart. There's language, usually graphic details, but you are instantly engaged with the story. This one is about a small town sheriff who is dealing with small town drama and a serial killer.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFJdGhzY2NrhquTZSDkkIZEu0gs1i1fCyiWZKSeDTmPlLzXX1ad2P18IqSieGPKsne5i3tZkPjWCCjzrQmdl-23OPKWtt2Mioy3vgp0LR50ePsoUL5wqvQlOw41D4MeHVWufAPZhGiwJMEYVvBeOJSqY81e9WP6JSArKpJDdSAN3dohYq0tjTuqYb2ko3/s4080/PXL_20231115_210239218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFJdGhzY2NrhquTZSDkkIZEu0gs1i1fCyiWZKSeDTmPlLzXX1ad2P18IqSieGPKsne5i3tZkPjWCCjzrQmdl-23OPKWtt2Mioy3vgp0LR50ePsoUL5wqvQlOw41D4MeHVWufAPZhGiwJMEYVvBeOJSqY81e9WP6JSArKpJDdSAN3dohYq0tjTuqYb2ko3/s320/PXL_20231115_210239218.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span><p></p><p><b>Have you read any of these? If you read Tom Lake what did you think?</b></p>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-19040237900749255242023-11-08T10:14:00.005-05:002023-11-08T10:14:53.578-05:00Book Confession<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Recently my preschooler came home from school and talked about one of her teachers reading, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Where the Wild Things Are</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and asked if I could get it from the library. I of course obliged and we picked it up and have since read it a few times.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b26bf88d-7fff-385f-f3fb-6e1bac23ce43"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I know I had to have read it as a child, but I’m not a hundred percent certain. I can remember it throughout my childhood, on a friend's bookcase, at school, seeing it at the school library, and here is where my confession comes from. I never read it because the cover made me think the illustrations were horrible and I would not like it. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I never read it when I was teaching. I never read it to my oldest. I only read it to my youngest because of her specific request.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Here’s the second part of the confession.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I was right. I did not like it. I was correct, I did not like the illustrations. The story was ‘meh,’ and I’d rather read 234434 other books. Is it the worst book I’ve had to read to a child? GOODNESS, NO. (IYKYK).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Will I read it again? Yes, because the preschooler has already requested that I get it AGAIN from the library and I’m not a monster who keeps books from my kid just because I don’t like it.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But, will I try to get my husband to do most of the reading? Most likely.</span></p><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Do you have a book you never read based on the cover? Did you ever read it? Did you change your mind?</b></span></div></span>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-880518768470164902023-11-04T10:51:00.001-04:002023-11-04T10:51:00.146-04:00What I Read in October<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ6a0nbtr3NR9Oji1ox0kIS0P-ZdwVxOHaHe2vtEjPp9bSf-rgCDbW70lT_C_kLdpRmByn9WLqyC7AiQB2F-e5crPPu_leMg1rSNU8ZEjfCWnFdg7L_VkC_WpBNsXn5hgNofy2R0A1YlqsRlqYO3rS3KoXYZQSvGPlRsLq5blmma0Ovn51uMBb38m_RVDW/s4096/InCollage_20231101_131826136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4096" data-original-width="4096" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ6a0nbtr3NR9Oji1ox0kIS0P-ZdwVxOHaHe2vtEjPp9bSf-rgCDbW70lT_C_kLdpRmByn9WLqyC7AiQB2F-e5crPPu_leMg1rSNU8ZEjfCWnFdg7L_VkC_WpBNsXn5hgNofy2R0A1YlqsRlqYO3rS3KoXYZQSvGPlRsLq5blmma0Ovn51uMBb38m_RVDW/s320/InCollage_20231101_131826136.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Must Reads</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> -</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-8d1ea7c3-7fff-82df-ae3f-faa67dfe46fe"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Grady Lake</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by J.L. Hyde - I found this author after a friend added her first book, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Underground</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, on her TBR list on goodreads and bought it for her birthday. I then started following her on instagram and I am now buying every one of her books on the day they come out. Grady Lake is set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and is a murder mystery that moves back and forth from the disappearance of the main character's sister 20 years prior and the current situation in Grady Lake with another girl that has gone missing. The ending has me so excited for book two in this series out in 2024!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-RHk0AQ0qM5uNCzRMRSanqFANDPXUDUvWwWMpUmRefTr6cOWvmesjCpZ9vfbh1iXHas3IebjQtnr3_I6ksV9dkiV2ju4LHpLaKm068avRsmNxp0LyDoasEUNg3dEHZR8gX45bL7fryWx_FU-5IpwIXI4dYvEwvPnDDwAjhVI2xmfyLp7QnI4F9H40Q11p/s4080/PXL_20231007_155706029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-RHk0AQ0qM5uNCzRMRSanqFANDPXUDUvWwWMpUmRefTr6cOWvmesjCpZ9vfbh1iXHas3IebjQtnr3_I6ksV9dkiV2ju4LHpLaKm068avRsmNxp0LyDoasEUNg3dEHZR8gX45bL7fryWx_FU-5IpwIXI4dYvEwvPnDDwAjhVI2xmfyLp7QnI4F9H40Q11p/s320/PXL_20231007_155706029.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Woman is No Man</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Etaf Rum - </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“ </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This debut novel by a Palestinian-American voice takes us inside the lives of a conservative Arab family living in America. In Brooklyn, eighteen-year-old Deya is starting to meet with suitors. Though she doesn’t want to get married, her grandparents give her no choice. History is repeating itself: Deya’s mother, Isra, also had no choice when she left Palestine as a teenager to marry Adam. Though Deya was raised to believe her parents died in a car accident, a secret note from a mysterious, yet familiar-looking woman makes Deya question everything she was told about her past. As the narrative alternates between the lives of Deya and Isra, she begins to understand the dark, complex secrets behind her community.”</span></p><div><span><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I really liked this book. It was so moving. I wanted to have a discussion right after I finished it!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0AgLD1yEuFq8JVxuiqwOS_AtDFjVmhH0-fSX2CAI-5ETseAnMRkbumcth510N167BYDGFwmExkRp0C0o7fU8qiROKsUesaNx_Tz3XcfzTBznEjxDayuIio1AM4Fci_JTZ5QyH_cXYwpBf0IeQC6Q1w2LHc-bg3LOM5PlWQwTO9B7qxEIC7rVrZ45Ra4u3/s4080/PXL_20231015_152541620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0AgLD1yEuFq8JVxuiqwOS_AtDFjVmhH0-fSX2CAI-5ETseAnMRkbumcth510N167BYDGFwmExkRp0C0o7fU8qiROKsUesaNx_Tz3XcfzTBznEjxDayuIio1AM4Fci_JTZ5QyH_cXYwpBf0IeQC6Q1w2LHc-bg3LOM5PlWQwTO9B7qxEIC7rVrZ45Ra4u3/s320/PXL_20231015_152541620.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Beauty of Your Face</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Sahar Mustafah - The book starts with a principal of a Muslim girls school going about her day when a shooter breaks into the school. This is not really a school shooting book as much as it is about her life leading up to that point and all of the different bigotry, trauma, and heart ache that leads to this horrific act of hate.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Honorable Mentions</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Fever in the Heartland</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Timothy Egan - This is a nonfiction book about how the Klan took off in the state of Indiana in the 1920s and the undoing of the man in charge. It was fascinating, disgusting, and a look into a part of history that I didn’t know about.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Celebrants</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Steve Rowley - I read this earlier in the month and honestly would have been higher up on my list but I just read so many good books! This book follows college friends through their adulthood. They decide after one of them dies right before graduation that they want to have their funerals before they die. They want to leave nothing left unsaid and agree to meet up whenever one of them demands their funeral. </span></p><div><span><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFbnluBS3aiCa2E5qU35W7jlREzdzIqBRkFVll21NenPqwrqIwWJpS6i-Y6tb3yRyqqpLvzWV5ULIdjc9CA3nolYXVzmKqZ7tIpmBkJ9P7jcyi4qnNnXptVryNommmO11BDryfAumCw5kmD0_W3fOceIgYtGeuVDV0CIC3JfhwILK_gFhKLksk_YvflbTf/s4080/PXL_20231013_194447756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFbnluBS3aiCa2E5qU35W7jlREzdzIqBRkFVll21NenPqwrqIwWJpS6i-Y6tb3yRyqqpLvzWV5ULIdjc9CA3nolYXVzmKqZ7tIpmBkJ9P7jcyi4qnNnXptVryNommmO11BDryfAumCw5kmD0_W3fOceIgYtGeuVDV0CIC3JfhwILK_gFhKLksk_YvflbTf/s320/PXL_20231013_194447756.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><span><br /></span></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hello, Transcriber</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Hannah Morrisey - This one started off a little slow, but I really liked it. It is set in Wisconsin and is about a woman who is in a crappy relationship in a dark town and is starting a job as a police transcriber in hopes of using this to spark ideas in her own personal writing. She and her neighbors get involved in drug deaths and vicious murders while she desperately tries to figure out who did it and pull herself away from her crappy husband.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Eh - Christine Falls and The Surgeon</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What did you read in October? What would you recommend to me?</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-36692656041132006752023-11-03T10:31:00.001-04:002023-11-03T10:31:23.274-04:00TGIF!<p>This week was busy! For people who do the bare minimum because we enjoy rest, we got a lot in! Library trick or treat, actual trick or treating, and a choir concert. We saw night time a few times outdoors which is kind of funny because in the fall/winter we pretty much hibernate after dinner. I light a candle and take a shower and then I'm under blankets!</p><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;">My </b><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>favorite</b></span></span><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"> pictures from the week:</b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYnPhrTF3GyrOvWfX7LLloY_aa_nh2ADyJNuqwaeXpGj1ItA2ME9wOJLHq9JNotTQaw-Mzr8Lxkz0fc2oNuYmu-udZAkuivWtoDCCcLRNA68VH1Nk6gD2ECN6dYjfrEgti7sdBiv3pHCdaofrkRBKpTbafwqLqk2Z3qk0T68FWbmJIsAp1sGhFnWxLFnP/s4080/PXL_20231102_143619815.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYnPhrTF3GyrOvWfX7LLloY_aa_nh2ADyJNuqwaeXpGj1ItA2ME9wOJLHq9JNotTQaw-Mzr8Lxkz0fc2oNuYmu-udZAkuivWtoDCCcLRNA68VH1Nk6gD2ECN6dYjfrEgti7sdBiv3pHCdaofrkRBKpTbafwqLqk2Z3qk0T68FWbmJIsAp1sGhFnWxLFnP/s320/PXL_20231102_143619815.MP.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcPXKb9AKWD1DjwVCwaVP3l0FWocxqLtk3pjfZZHlNnXZluPXDR46kQR2F8vxPNm0xcZOT4ZYAqQ3qbsitvJm-eDvrX8IJevp8Zc88MhBJ8fFTmtcmn2IUNuVUijmfSv-8Zkx-eDsAEiELz_femWl6m6QJC_mP-RjL3MyvYTiT4AAxtB88e-3QmAKajmS/s4080/PXL_20231101_195240943.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcPXKb9AKWD1DjwVCwaVP3l0FWocxqLtk3pjfZZHlNnXZluPXDR46kQR2F8vxPNm0xcZOT4ZYAqQ3qbsitvJm-eDvrX8IJevp8Zc88MhBJ8fFTmtcmn2IUNuVUijmfSv-8Zkx-eDsAEiELz_femWl6m6QJC_mP-RjL3MyvYTiT4AAxtB88e-3QmAKajmS/s320/PXL_20231101_195240943.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56PI3x3IYy1owPzNiHgzB2IjEf5j6FU5f2G8MI5t__dfBx6qaEg-BK8hrxC05xDRSjYUXrAYNri6lNVvC3SXlH3-PAN8R4wnUtvcf88hVdPdjxf1f1SAxuaGJXS6tGcftzfbSC3yXwi4LjJZQwm_LWOe38KwFQ52rPhDA9s_w5kGrBBmD_l9x1ZQ3TWFu/s841/PXL_20231031_222954345~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="841" data-original-width="633" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56PI3x3IYy1owPzNiHgzB2IjEf5j6FU5f2G8MI5t__dfBx6qaEg-BK8hrxC05xDRSjYUXrAYNri6lNVvC3SXlH3-PAN8R4wnUtvcf88hVdPdjxf1f1SAxuaGJXS6tGcftzfbSC3yXwi4LjJZQwm_LWOe38KwFQ52rPhDA9s_w5kGrBBmD_l9x1ZQ3TWFu/s320/PXL_20231031_222954345~2.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgk9qToOlgjCU7BMKU7eve5Fmd-ylMOB_OKdLUXJ13cdcw_5jrCCL-VGWblCnbZebPqBhIFPT4olmIHMYSxxukjMin8r5NoBBJ9UjBOc4cBHnm006EbrrPBQ6IMurrMjtsww1LsoDqqngm60FNQPq6CAhY7M0e8LkxLj1KY6cxULIAjwkSaMgq7RCcUa5w/s3398/PXL_20231031_212846231~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3398" data-original-width="2559" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgk9qToOlgjCU7BMKU7eve5Fmd-ylMOB_OKdLUXJ13cdcw_5jrCCL-VGWblCnbZebPqBhIFPT4olmIHMYSxxukjMin8r5NoBBJ9UjBOc4cBHnm006EbrrPBQ6IMurrMjtsww1LsoDqqngm60FNQPq6CAhY7M0e8LkxLj1KY6cxULIAjwkSaMgq7RCcUa5w/s320/PXL_20231031_212846231~2.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDB5vq1gO2Xknqw1N1osIBDx7q5OMVolG792rB8eAafThVV1M5jx7c_4Qb_AlpDFO1f-RjV7bIpIzkSqyv1-ifDs9gHOLncVct4Ubh3f1BKCI_VBoeOF1y3RzOz-lAf26O6izn5tBmLMa_wHmrd1xtiXIaqmi_lmKrirZgjwpS809QIl6mHubBTUSas7i/s4080/PXL_20231029_233227346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDB5vq1gO2Xknqw1N1osIBDx7q5OMVolG792rB8eAafThVV1M5jx7c_4Qb_AlpDFO1f-RjV7bIpIzkSqyv1-ifDs9gHOLncVct4Ubh3f1BKCI_VBoeOF1y3RzOz-lAf26O6izn5tBmLMa_wHmrd1xtiXIaqmi_lmKrirZgjwpS809QIl6mHubBTUSas7i/s320/PXL_20231029_233227346.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XCojc3d4-NOx-BuiIJxpaASt6q_FFopyeDQw3WabqPSXb-HIKUOXCjAZ717mcoMiy-absKJI7AodEPyv9QQODQstJuyKw_kdsQQzdB9wE0aJNvAFJ3LEYgfZhhAaQbuvf-A4TrzXNvyOoiwSqLaD-YHonK4408Jps6MzRcP9HwWh5HX6bP-9mwYKlU52/s4080/PXL_20231029_232224945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XCojc3d4-NOx-BuiIJxpaASt6q_FFopyeDQw3WabqPSXb-HIKUOXCjAZ717mcoMiy-absKJI7AodEPyv9QQODQstJuyKw_kdsQQzdB9wE0aJNvAFJ3LEYgfZhhAaQbuvf-A4TrzXNvyOoiwSqLaD-YHonK4408Jps6MzRcP9HwWh5HX6bP-9mwYKlU52/s320/PXL_20231029_232224945.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHn1hAqyfvA8YAv-ZNKYQnJ9v6b6Ny_OtAHGwb1g9UZFe0zjnZhyeh710eWwHIsHKpnxeEVEL3WM30PjPhh-G5BeJebCuEhXitYUmnGVtyx5cW93qOkkjbE3fB_q3gP8-l9yKjut7tKhn2gy5Hx5KPn0nHkqwRPjNNlC8OBCLn1UBr9dPWJ0za6OLIe1va/s4080/PXL_20231029_231929716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHn1hAqyfvA8YAv-ZNKYQnJ9v6b6Ny_OtAHGwb1g9UZFe0zjnZhyeh710eWwHIsHKpnxeEVEL3WM30PjPhh-G5BeJebCuEhXitYUmnGVtyx5cW93qOkkjbE3fB_q3gP8-l9yKjut7tKhn2gy5Hx5KPn0nHkqwRPjNNlC8OBCLn1UBr9dPWJ0za6OLIe1va/s320/PXL_20231029_231929716.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtiKiY8n_sXRwgqNdEwPUvBlv9pkmBpRjNZBk3Nd8ZUIL8F0tWSaOVmqnmF3Pgy_BpvAQy6KO5fxfAmuip6BOdvZwwgpsig7u7-qTwoTvuwHJM96M5JRjUd4PRvl_omZjONQ-cNVDFgB4IcX0dPIli0i22knizlor8saLFtpM0_jC_Fvpf29MrZmGMGZvf/s4080/PXL_20231029_224131217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtiKiY8n_sXRwgqNdEwPUvBlv9pkmBpRjNZBk3Nd8ZUIL8F0tWSaOVmqnmF3Pgy_BpvAQy6KO5fxfAmuip6BOdvZwwgpsig7u7-qTwoTvuwHJM96M5JRjUd4PRvl_omZjONQ-cNVDFgB4IcX0dPIli0i22knizlor8saLFtpM0_jC_Fvpf29MrZmGMGZvf/s320/PXL_20231029_224131217.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><strong style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">The high of my week was</strong><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> watching the kids have so much fun trick or treating and watching my oldest girl do her thing at her choir concert.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>The low of my week was</b> holding the people of Gaza and Israel in my heart. Thinking of all my Jewish friends and hoping we can move forward with love, peace, respect, and no more terror.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Meal plan for the week was </b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Monday -</b> brisket nachos, green beans, raspberries</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Tuesday - </b>spaghetti and meatballs, bread/butter, corn</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Wednesday</b> - <a href="https://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/tiffani-thiessen/homemade-roasted-tomato-soup-2756233" style="color: #b87209; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a>jambalaya, celery/dip, green beans, blackberries</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Thursday</b> - chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Friday</b> - crunchy taco helper, queso, chips, cucumber/dip</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>The best money I spent was</strong> pumpkin pie from costco</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>What I’m listening to </b> currently <i>The Piketon Massacre</i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>What I’m watching </strong><i>Vanderpump Rules</i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>What I’m reading: </b><i>Tom Lake</i> by Ann Patchett</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFS6e_CdYvfj7NUBmz81CGFvtaq9skxmmtw_vyjckAndSE1visxiOMOomZ5ueqrmFaax-HhjHvhLwm3juo8cMYt5Y_Fva6sEPFLfgXet4KnMVrp6cgfhHCx67o5jqOFNg-e92CQkzswE2uf5_rP8qWtIE6_gIqwP4iZAIn9HqqfZKMBARj6-HaUaDKP-bb/s4080/PXL_20231031_180603758.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFS6e_CdYvfj7NUBmz81CGFvtaq9skxmmtw_vyjckAndSE1visxiOMOomZ5ueqrmFaax-HhjHvhLwm3juo8cMYt5Y_Fva6sEPFLfgXet4KnMVrp6cgfhHCx67o5jqOFNg-e92CQkzswE2uf5_rP8qWtIE6_gIqwP4iZAIn9HqqfZKMBARj6-HaUaDKP-bb/s320/PXL_20231031_180603758.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>My plans for the weekend include </b>watching football, the oldest has a friend coming over and probably putting a cover on the camper for the winter</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>What are you watching/reading/listening to?</b></div>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-68164551436575601892023-10-20T11:25:00.002-04:002023-10-20T11:25:17.260-04:00TGIF!<p>Phew. I feel like this was our first week since school started that I finally got myself into a groove. Note, one child started school at the end of August and the other started mid-September ha. I have been so dang productive on the house cleaning/organizing front and crossing my stuff off my list every day. One thing I do need to improve is actually making my workout happen. Slowly but surely I am checking that box more each week, but I need to get into a strength training plan that's doable with my current schedule.</p><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;">My </b><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>favorite</b></span></span><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"> pictures from the week:</b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOWsyN4RBC_XerRnYr7U01ie3T39BPbjCFRAncj_eeOqQj4_SIrlaAoS4bW5SnLji9Fp3LR_GejiRTe8EvEckM9Zi6wgD4U8zpG2dODIWFCEo1V5gnhRpStqjqmNOwimkQsdExr94sRaA5JSpwzf8ZsxfebSWagaZvWajWthr_a8r5ksJRHqd2zjHfo-CY/s4080/PXL_20231019_151351296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOWsyN4RBC_XerRnYr7U01ie3T39BPbjCFRAncj_eeOqQj4_SIrlaAoS4bW5SnLji9Fp3LR_GejiRTe8EvEckM9Zi6wgD4U8zpG2dODIWFCEo1V5gnhRpStqjqmNOwimkQsdExr94sRaA5JSpwzf8ZsxfebSWagaZvWajWthr_a8r5ksJRHqd2zjHfo-CY/s320/PXL_20231019_151351296.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnfPbhCy6t57MA4oItXxt5Rj86e0xxf_lkfoE_u_tUlpv7lpBBTW8L_ErEOgxR0GPks3BLz1uqim5ubofGc5602CqN7g_xL4kVqUS7YXIVw-7WgrLw-2UmqpZ4-a2LVNq8VIkAOuCKaTURfuwFJExhuLAGn-3MTkcpeqjENX_XigYgCGbt0NfdMwa3uYX/s4080/PXL_20231018_133642951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnfPbhCy6t57MA4oItXxt5Rj86e0xxf_lkfoE_u_tUlpv7lpBBTW8L_ErEOgxR0GPks3BLz1uqim5ubofGc5602CqN7g_xL4kVqUS7YXIVw-7WgrLw-2UmqpZ4-a2LVNq8VIkAOuCKaTURfuwFJExhuLAGn-3MTkcpeqjENX_XigYgCGbt0NfdMwa3uYX/s320/PXL_20231018_133642951.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmRxeakyIt7iP4okedmVUJqZthK-P6z0rJbMO8mceypjn64EeI_gtfueK9UnRzac0gb_chnvFwP87yLzOIqApYmHAffy8PrvCw5lt56O3SdhVvPU-89-bahX5yGbEQ_keAAaaHzsI4zoXmCx5YTfvkkF4EQs9ZcCBDj286acAhyphenhyphenMHPhyphenhyphenh5aU7X9fJPcav/s4080/PXL_20231018_133504309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmRxeakyIt7iP4okedmVUJqZthK-P6z0rJbMO8mceypjn64EeI_gtfueK9UnRzac0gb_chnvFwP87yLzOIqApYmHAffy8PrvCw5lt56O3SdhVvPU-89-bahX5yGbEQ_keAAaaHzsI4zoXmCx5YTfvkkF4EQs9ZcCBDj286acAhyphenhyphenMHPhyphenhyphenh5aU7X9fJPcav/s320/PXL_20231018_133504309.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhSX0atfW5tDgsGMtQwmkYwI6IqG_bC4NJEc7jq8BSCKE4WB2nOyyqfrZ-NWB9j6S_P3L16vpd6XK-wFc7ZFb4mu_oPG8dvmKOlUpZsb3bk4wjmf2akFejPPjgc93BHan-pRICAwO1AbVUvTaHBuMHS4HhXb3QSSBQW1MYL7QtxKEf1l9faMqJxUw8W9k/s4080/PXL_20231018_133054428.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhSX0atfW5tDgsGMtQwmkYwI6IqG_bC4NJEc7jq8BSCKE4WB2nOyyqfrZ-NWB9j6S_P3L16vpd6XK-wFc7ZFb4mu_oPG8dvmKOlUpZsb3bk4wjmf2akFejPPjgc93BHan-pRICAwO1AbVUvTaHBuMHS4HhXb3QSSBQW1MYL7QtxKEf1l9faMqJxUw8W9k/s320/PXL_20231018_133054428.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjggAjQzX2Q1nZu0LzcPTvteF37M9aX7g8OTO5nK0TKl8lX62uc_6KYJe83qPL0H5gbGAL_oZNTRuQtTp5dIFdCcbPmLJ_UqXU4Z0mqMaPuRbUtHeVJ6T-bSIFfYAbXw6lM6QXm2Eqq-u8IaDfkId6rSu4JJTsIWuaaM2-jT02N6PCFsmb0x8E1XieMwGsu/s4080/PXL_20231018_132923934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjggAjQzX2Q1nZu0LzcPTvteF37M9aX7g8OTO5nK0TKl8lX62uc_6KYJe83qPL0H5gbGAL_oZNTRuQtTp5dIFdCcbPmLJ_UqXU4Z0mqMaPuRbUtHeVJ6T-bSIFfYAbXw6lM6QXm2Eqq-u8IaDfkId6rSu4JJTsIWuaaM2-jT02N6PCFsmb0x8E1XieMwGsu/s320/PXL_20231018_132923934.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dlUXWKSDW7BxjSrqLgCEFxat3g2sfBDIAjuAZhnPf4uzYfdcWchwlam327v5AvjSAnqtI8OrKFhg7DHaBVwCenUnEv-mxl0CZnGjbdLerIOkiBkb4GSlXS-8pfisx6G7FUWQ8maNbR_4WMR9kTHUfX7M5nSUKUUcuiiY1IxM8puuJPmWQ2iLkxpGWw01/s4080/PXL_20231018_132209185.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dlUXWKSDW7BxjSrqLgCEFxat3g2sfBDIAjuAZhnPf4uzYfdcWchwlam327v5AvjSAnqtI8OrKFhg7DHaBVwCenUnEv-mxl0CZnGjbdLerIOkiBkb4GSlXS-8pfisx6G7FUWQ8maNbR_4WMR9kTHUfX7M5nSUKUUcuiiY1IxM8puuJPmWQ2iLkxpGWw01/s320/PXL_20231018_132209185.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnI7YvFTV5FmADiaj4HLJBtbs3wD933maINgbxpVD7SyurrhKvLvTIfHG2_AHheny6VPegsdgbwbOtuUbKU2_UD9qAz9exb7tZiIsVbFaPXTaHlKB2fjkvstsa9xM_cKvzfd8P2TfeREjKwzmF8Lm6ajb6xfcMqcA9hlEBwxOKHV9ELkdfnvc1yCiW7Ogl/s4080/PXL_20231017_171816310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnI7YvFTV5FmADiaj4HLJBtbs3wD933maINgbxpVD7SyurrhKvLvTIfHG2_AHheny6VPegsdgbwbOtuUbKU2_UD9qAz9exb7tZiIsVbFaPXTaHlKB2fjkvstsa9xM_cKvzfd8P2TfeREjKwzmF8Lm6ajb6xfcMqcA9hlEBwxOKHV9ELkdfnvc1yCiW7Ogl/s320/PXL_20231017_171816310.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtlaPqXJLjeY8_GddJkaxGvedPAV9j0PlPplAKr_Yp9Io4JYeMdW3AFnf8amEdxvfOn4o50ulCEn8ng826WYMmG_gqghI2mvASP86Tj7AvwSQNhjCJsHCq37xwQoGHeBGCrYQ7wWBjGhh4eGVqANdDNTi-aReIHH2h3UqwLtmangZmUpbPzCyINaqOTmx/s4080/PXL_20231017_164545353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtlaPqXJLjeY8_GddJkaxGvedPAV9j0PlPplAKr_Yp9Io4JYeMdW3AFnf8amEdxvfOn4o50ulCEn8ng826WYMmG_gqghI2mvASP86Tj7AvwSQNhjCJsHCq37xwQoGHeBGCrYQ7wWBjGhh4eGVqANdDNTi-aReIHH2h3UqwLtmangZmUpbPzCyINaqOTmx/s320/PXL_20231017_164545353.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDejNhUO_7rmYMQSw6lbtaEhe_dqIsucxpYdX2_hpepwtdhMP5Buwh3QEKCIjXc7wWDMYHT7lXIkseJj3BN06_wJC7_O3Lq_eRxJw5N1vV-MXG4hwvafWL-oYAgzS1s7zJJ_SAjgYSR-QYOe1yR1Ey1EgBBfxAziTITqkugoOh-8yIsoAQwBUMPgUOj2_6/s4080/PXL_20231017_164455685.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDejNhUO_7rmYMQSw6lbtaEhe_dqIsucxpYdX2_hpepwtdhMP5Buwh3QEKCIjXc7wWDMYHT7lXIkseJj3BN06_wJC7_O3Lq_eRxJw5N1vV-MXG4hwvafWL-oYAgzS1s7zJJ_SAjgYSR-QYOe1yR1Ey1EgBBfxAziTITqkugoOh-8yIsoAQwBUMPgUOj2_6/s320/PXL_20231017_164455685.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADvCzkL8dUryIlaMROETwpYJGT_LbcJl-zsRT_lnmviJ6KoA8mg4jZf77zHCU0zdtIPAWsPItZHSmiFc0Cm9wgPSroqcLOXINaMmjeJB3AQOionUSZCJgvD5AaAJfrWC4aV_TKPsLz6YWAVDGgLftn6WaXpDiQjIGUAIsIbMFluCT6igXt8PF5XOyjK-r/s4080/PXL_20231017_164448191.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADvCzkL8dUryIlaMROETwpYJGT_LbcJl-zsRT_lnmviJ6KoA8mg4jZf77zHCU0zdtIPAWsPItZHSmiFc0Cm9wgPSroqcLOXINaMmjeJB3AQOionUSZCJgvD5AaAJfrWC4aV_TKPsLz6YWAVDGgLftn6WaXpDiQjIGUAIsIbMFluCT6igXt8PF5XOyjK-r/s320/PXL_20231017_164448191.MP.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLyAnV009EGZrO-kw0JumHE7c2fBOuw329Xdu1sCp72PD3sZe1hRmQF9vzK-lsFGAl8QYiNWb-BoKxKCg_KuzuWf-rtRYpP9U5-qU0eV4n_d-M-0GQ5WuVfbuXtvU2S2gBKXyAAcM1oBY-i5AmHdGYMTItEpIx0daBMWR2Ilan6BEDnuhEw5BKZ2ud1a6c/s4080/PXL_20231017_164336119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLyAnV009EGZrO-kw0JumHE7c2fBOuw329Xdu1sCp72PD3sZe1hRmQF9vzK-lsFGAl8QYiNWb-BoKxKCg_KuzuWf-rtRYpP9U5-qU0eV4n_d-M-0GQ5WuVfbuXtvU2S2gBKXyAAcM1oBY-i5AmHdGYMTItEpIx0daBMWR2Ilan6BEDnuhEw5BKZ2ud1a6c/s320/PXL_20231017_164336119.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYxBWDE3U9njDecNkMJKHnrw26Qr4F3Ey3DfiLWSSq87zBYF9UHrXYopUA_10fl4LWq42Zu3t4YWwEH0QrsSFsu2DwZFj6r1-3qljulOuJt9kKzH1WKdcLdjBZ1YlycYjyUs0xsU7DyRXUzadomySxV_l1Vlp9EK-osWerDOSCXLnmnBe6dVGvY_Q1yaZ/s4080/PXL_20231016_224508632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYxBWDE3U9njDecNkMJKHnrw26Qr4F3Ey3DfiLWSSq87zBYF9UHrXYopUA_10fl4LWq42Zu3t4YWwEH0QrsSFsu2DwZFj6r1-3qljulOuJt9kKzH1WKdcLdjBZ1YlycYjyUs0xsU7DyRXUzadomySxV_l1Vlp9EK-osWerDOSCXLnmnBe6dVGvY_Q1yaZ/s320/PXL_20231016_224508632.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwcWtCTIqt2s2Ay_VB-TXtBBWXIRrnhIQD9St2ntHvEbGcARVuXxuPkEepc_elsUTo-q2eVGbfBfKwO1Z3EFeVBDrc03JzXM5-67J8jnMuDfvkK12mXLbIX6JOxmz5MO5egn2yXD1rJLCJKJ0sOvvIVOG5THyIIImzT2XmTta2ZQDAK8X5fiy_vGmCXBN4/s4080/PXL_20231016_223502238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwcWtCTIqt2s2Ay_VB-TXtBBWXIRrnhIQD9St2ntHvEbGcARVuXxuPkEepc_elsUTo-q2eVGbfBfKwO1Z3EFeVBDrc03JzXM5-67J8jnMuDfvkK12mXLbIX6JOxmz5MO5egn2yXD1rJLCJKJ0sOvvIVOG5THyIIImzT2XmTta2ZQDAK8X5fiy_vGmCXBN4/s320/PXL_20231016_223502238.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>The high of my week was</strong> taking multiple walks in nature at various places to enjoy the fall color and manage the chaos of my mind/world.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>The low of my week was</b> the war in Gaza/Israel. I am so heartbroken for my Jewish friends and I am disgusted by the acts of terrorism committed on the innocent people of Israel. I am also heartbroken for every single Palestinian that is being killed by the Israeli government. Terror acts and killing innocent people is not okay. Holding people hostage is not okay. Targeting people because of their religious beliefs is not okay. My heart is so heavy for every person who is suffering. It is not okay.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Meal plan for the week was </b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Monday -</b> Chili, cheese quesadillas, and salad</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Tuesday - </b>grilled chicken, Caesar salad, grapes, cottage cheese and oranges</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Wednesday</b> - <a href="https://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/tiffani-thiessen/homemade-roasted-tomato-soup-2756233" style="color: #b87209; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a>beef and bean burritos, salad, chips and queso, grapes</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Thursday</b> - Cashew Chicken w/ rice, grapes, strawberries and cottage cheese</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Friday</b> - Steak, baked potatoes, salad and roasted broccoli</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>The best money I spent was </strong>new rainsuit for the four year old</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>What I’m listening to </b> currently <i>hell and gone </i>podcast </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>What I’m watching </strong>Only Murders in the Building, vanderpump rules</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>What I’m reading: </b><i>Hello Transcriber</i> by Hannah Morrisey</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNkw6jMoB6qSJ5DwQ-0t1mPmWwprvZucxv7YCS7_ftKCgs8fBJJX-Mmbv4TEeOE2xiFthD-rzgTBQaSaXiL8m4XAddujFOkZ1w9qkN7LqyiCdJ75yngLto3RcgL0YIYrzHxj8X9zVtjT92ZKB8H-WzbpW0OR9G72VG2AqdteiyVovU6X76iyLI-KTCKd3/s4080/PXL_20231018_192533105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNkw6jMoB6qSJ5DwQ-0t1mPmWwprvZucxv7YCS7_ftKCgs8fBJJX-Mmbv4TEeOE2xiFthD-rzgTBQaSaXiL8m4XAddujFOkZ1w9qkN7LqyiCdJ75yngLto3RcgL0YIYrzHxj8X9zVtjT92ZKB8H-WzbpW0OR9G72VG2AqdteiyVovU6X76iyLI-KTCKd3/s320/PXL_20231018_192533105.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>My plans for the weekend include </b>watching msu vs u of m football, might go to a story time at our new local bookstore</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>What are you watching/reading/listening to?</b></div>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-74768665342794949162023-10-18T10:48:00.003-04:002023-10-18T10:48:56.768-04:00A Woman is No Man<p> <span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I very rarely have that feeling when I finish a book and I am like THAT is going to be one of the best books I’ve read this year. I mean I read quite a bit and have gotten better at not finishing books that I don’t really like or just aren’t the right fit for the moment. (Side note, I think I am going to have like 9 or more books that I started and didn't finish by year's end). However, I finished </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Woman Is No Man</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by Etaf Rum last night and wow. I immediately wanted to discuss it with someone and so I did the next best thing and read all the questions people had about it on goodreads and thought more about it.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f31c4091-7fff-85be-038f-5b57c3ddfa6b"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I remember seeing the cover of this book before but I hadn’t really read the blurb until a friend read it this summer so I added it to my library holds and just got around to it. I am glad that even though I am a few years late to loving this book, I already was able to reserve her newest book, Evil Eye, from the library.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Woman is No Man is narrated back and forth by women of different generations in the same family. Isra, Fareeda, and Deya share how their culture is ingrained in everything they learn about themselves and what their role in the world is. They are all Palestinian and the book starts with Isra marrying Adam in an arranged marriage and facing a move to America with people she doesn’t know. She tries talking to her mother about the unfairness of it and her mother tells her that is her life.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Isra hopes for a better life in America but learns that not much has changed. Her belly is full, her housing and finances are better but are her choices any better here than at home?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Fareeda is her overbearing strict mother-in-law that has much the same outlook as Isra’s mother did. A woman is no man. Life is not fair. You are to raise children and keep the home. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Deya is Isra’s daughter and her part of the book happens when she is 18 and her grandmother is trying to marry her off in an arranged marriage in 2008. Deya who grew up in Brooklyn, does not want to get married at 18. She wants to go to college. She wants to fall in love on her own. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">All of this is sooo not doing this book justice and it is so much more. But Etaf Rum writes so beautifully and in my deep dive last night I learned that it is semi-autobiographical to her upbringing in Brooklyn.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I read something she said in an interview and it stuck with me. I am very much paraphrasing but she said she was raised by traumatized people and that their trauma seeped into her from how they parented and she had to go to therapy and work through that trauma to help her change and make the life she wanted to make. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">HIGHLY RECOMMEND. SO so good.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Have you read </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Woman is No Man</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">? What were your thoughts?</span></p><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Description: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-family: Montserrat, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This debut novel by a Palestinian-American voice takes us inside the lives of a conservative Arab family living in America. In Brooklyn, eighteen-year-old Deya is starting to meet with suitors. Though she doesn’t want to get married, her grandparents give her no choice. History is repeating itself: Deya’s mother, Isra, also had no choice when she left Palestine as a teenager to marry Adam. Though Deya was raised to believe her parents died in a car accident, a secret note from a mysterious, yet familiar-looking woman makes Deya question everything she was told about her past. As the narrative alternates between the lives of Deya and Isra, she begins to understand the dark, complex secrets behind her community.</span></span>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-83686663498780622032023-10-11T10:38:00.002-04:002023-10-11T10:38:48.362-04:00Currently<p> <span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I feel like I’m closing down the fun and preparing for hibernation. I have spent the few days hauling out all of our stuff from the camper, washing all the things, wiping the camper down, washing allllll the things, and I’ve started to pull out warmer clothes. My least favorite part of the year. The pretty fall has now passed and the chilly/rainy/windy/winter is coming fall is barreling in. While I do love sweatshirts and tea, I REALLY love warm days spent on the beach! Besides these household tasks this is what I am up to currently…</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-06e96b47-7fff-cc8f-89dc-4ee48a9bc59f"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Reading: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot To Take Over America, And The Woman Who Stopped Them </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">by Timothy Egan</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgwfp7eYq9Ysbe2AnEWc5jA0z4JlyjYevt8D-8htECCuM-EWYqTzDJLco3gTnB7I6DkHzcR9mprDODapniGfQlrRk0m6D0h507IiGo4Xf0kdczmy6NX3lhqu6zkNtMjVm9gCOboSS_uYk9RE6LT2FikDNcQTSGMsn2wTFqBPfCC7GZCJbuqifpga-3MMO1/s4080/PXL_20231004_191256412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgwfp7eYq9Ysbe2AnEWc5jA0z4JlyjYevt8D-8htECCuM-EWYqTzDJLco3gTnB7I6DkHzcR9mprDODapniGfQlrRk0m6D0h507IiGo4Xf0kdczmy6NX3lhqu6zkNtMjVm9gCOboSS_uYk9RE6LT2FikDNcQTSGMsn2wTFqBPfCC7GZCJbuqifpga-3MMO1/s320/PXL_20231004_191256412.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Loving:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> That my youngest is in preschool three days a week and I am getting some “alone time.” I am super productive and also super lazy. I have been able to have breakfast with a few friends/family, grab groceries, do some big cleaning/purging projects and work on some projects. I am also loving that my oldest is embracing her love of writing and joined a writing club that meets at this really cool location in town.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Feeling</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">: so sad for humanity. I am gutted by the events in Israel and Gaza.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Anticipating:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> the chaos of the holiday season. I need to figure out our plans. We have a couple of friends' 40th birthdays to celebrate and I am already excited about spending my 40th in Florida on the beach with my family in March!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Struggling: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">getting my butt back into working out. I was on a 3 month streak and a illness knocked me out and I never jumped back on the train. After I get the downstairs put together for the winter with all our camping stuff cleaned and stored it must become a priority again.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Grateful: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">my warm house, my safe and healthy babies, my awesome husband, my healthy parents, and the ability to stay at home.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Working: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">on organizing and cleaning, woohoo. :)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Listening:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> all kinds of podcasts. Right now as I type, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Appodlachia</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, a podcast hosted about Appalachia by Applachians!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Watching: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Only Murders in the Building</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Vanderpump Rules</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Wishing: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">for peace and safety FOR ALL.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What are you reading/listening/watching?</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-71115277850937796582023-10-09T14:28:00.001-04:002023-10-09T14:28:11.294-04:00Grady Lake<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This past weekend we went on our last camping trip of the year. It was our 8th. We have totally jumped into the camping life since we got our camper. I was ready to write the whole activity out of my life after camping with a just under one year old Adeline who woke up for the day at 5 am both times in our pop up because she could see all of us and wanted to party. My husband sold that pop up and got us a camper. Now we have gone on 8 trips each of the past three years. I do not camp to rough it. I camp to beach it up. There are so many great campgrounds in this state that are on the Great Lakes or near other amazing bodies of water. And you may be wondering, then what were you doing camping this past weekend? And this was totally for the children. We did a Halloween weekend at a state park. We are usually good for one ‘Fall’ camping trip of the year, before I begin hibernating through the winter.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a7f934cd-7fff-43b4-c5c8-2034bf1b0466"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">While we were camping, I grabbed my new copy of</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Grady Lake</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> by J.L. Hyde. I figured a mystery set in the picturesque Upper Peninsula was a perfect camping read as I was viewing the beauty of the leaves changing color.</span></p><div><span><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQY6ZPtjP24SEYqaL-6bl6xheNjM3Vu4lxtHuRkeCxenOUvzQRJfUi30r2a2uAGe37hvWbWG0wmRzOBhzkMVWN73vfPwFFbetXzmFFTfQToBjFDvKa5mSO5A4tjn633wT7CkZVpgBJhv37sY1zdABFP4AovE8QMLPsJxvFfg_TVGEJj1f3agwBW6VwGgRK/s4080/PXL_20231007_155723155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQY6ZPtjP24SEYqaL-6bl6xheNjM3Vu4lxtHuRkeCxenOUvzQRJfUi30r2a2uAGe37hvWbWG0wmRzOBhzkMVWN73vfPwFFbetXzmFFTfQToBjFDvKa5mSO5A4tjn633wT7CkZVpgBJhv37sY1zdABFP4AovE8QMLPsJxvFfg_TVGEJj1f3agwBW6VwGgRK/s320/PXL_20231007_155723155.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><span><br /></span></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Katie Benard returns home to her family’s resort and restaurant after she finds out her live-in fiance has been cheating on her. She’s spent the past decade as a PR professional but she packs her bags and returns to waiting tables and working the dock in her small hometown on the shores of Grady Lake. She didn’t expect to return to the spot where her older sister disappeared twenty years earlier, but she needed a change and missed the slow easy way of life in Grady.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Shortly after she returns an eighteen year old girl on vacation disappears in the night, just like her sister Mal did twenty years before. Just like before there are no leads. Then a member of the wealthiest family in town is found floating dead in the lake. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I really liked this book. It’s the first in the series and the ending ends on a VERY OMG I NEED TO READ THE NEXT ONE NOW vibe. So coming in early 2024 we shall find out what happens next!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I really love reading J.L. Hyde books and if you too enjoy small town murder mysteries you should check her out! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Here's how I rank her books in order of which ones I like best:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Summer of ‘99</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Delta County (currently on a kindle monthly deal for 3.49)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Grady Lake</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Magnolia Court</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Underground</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Midnight in Delta County</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What is a murder / mystery book you’d recommend?</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-32849882588099342862023-10-02T11:20:00.001-04:002023-10-02T11:20:38.764-04:00What I read in September<p> I feel so cliche saying, where has the time gone? But I'm not sure I even accepted we were fully in the year 2023 yet and we are almost done! And we are already on the 7th week of school, this is insane. With our still 80 degree plus weather I feel like we are still fully in summer but with leaves that are changing color. </p><p>For September, I read six books. Some were quite long and at times I had a hard time concentrating on reading in general and I think it's because I had a lot to do/plan and my mind kept jumping to that instead of focusing on reading. I checked my reading goal or the year and I really need to jump on the gun if I want to hit my goal of 85 books. I know I can do it, it will just depend on the books that are hitting my mood!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGuGbksQGxxXY-0dL5lZTMR3-oh9xJHsXMTEggk-3Ic10WdvvkQ652hl2zOhLiOX2rreUJoLDQ9jyI2zHmXjp7eADcqTiVpq4EiijnyXcBZsYj5O6CC1oAxQCwiUegrCcHQbUQcK5oifugZexGHdf2wk8QYn1Vwop9EB91wfTedevSJwbuIdzhH9VBCaDH/s4096/InCollage_20231002_105521661.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4096" data-original-width="4096" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGuGbksQGxxXY-0dL5lZTMR3-oh9xJHsXMTEggk-3Ic10WdvvkQ652hl2zOhLiOX2rreUJoLDQ9jyI2zHmXjp7eADcqTiVpq4EiijnyXcBZsYj5O6CC1oAxQCwiUegrCcHQbUQcK5oifugZexGHdf2wk8QYn1Vwop9EB91wfTedevSJwbuIdzhH9VBCaDH/s320/InCollage_20231002_105521661.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>I really enjoyed all the books I read last month. Four of the six were murder and/or mysteries. </p><p><i>Prom Mom</i> was so good. Lippman is one of my favorite go to authors. She has a wonderful series about Tess Monaghan who is a private investigator, but her standalones are also very good. They tend to be a bit darker and have characters that have a lot of layers. <i>Prom Mom</i> is about a woman who was 'famous' for giving birth to a baby in her hotel bathroom after her senior prom. She couldn't remember killing the baby or any of the details and had to spend time in a juvenile facility. The "Prom Dad" suffered some consequences and public ridicule but nothing like Amber (Prom Mom) did. Twenty years later she heads back to her hometown to see if she can indeed go home again. She re-engages a risky relationship with the Prom Dad and there's quite a few unreliable characters and the ending is not what you may see coming.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPpt60FcXD4fnX5i-WTEl4nDm-R6GYmN99t7OHhFujigTsOuQr4ntXXy29gFEfqzLKL5Y2UY7DokSlD9U3Rwp6bhwP505w-ocfIaW-th6U4L0fo4nFVWvtGw5axy4WLgRGwwDbo_VOh7e8yXIh76yWlhxkI5u3B3bsH0XiobIR5iMr7pml2EwYomx10aU/s4080/PXL_20230917_224253967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPpt60FcXD4fnX5i-WTEl4nDm-R6GYmN99t7OHhFujigTsOuQr4ntXXy29gFEfqzLKL5Y2UY7DokSlD9U3Rwp6bhwP505w-ocfIaW-th6U4L0fo4nFVWvtGw5axy4WLgRGwwDbo_VOh7e8yXIh76yWlhxkI5u3B3bsH0XiobIR5iMr7pml2EwYomx10aU/s320/PXL_20230917_224253967.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><i>I Have Some Questions</i> for you is another story about someone going back to their past and addressing a teenage trauma. Bodie goes back to her boarding school to teach a mini-mester to some bright high schoolers about podcasting and film. While there she casually and not so casually looks into the murder of her junior year roommate. I read some reviews of complaints about how it was a tad slow and a bit long, and this is true and some could have been left out but the tidbits and the flashbacks and the overall product of the book kept me turning the pages!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcr2nINTasU8BDyFlKHpZ_HKBzp6WScrNn_8qxkHn3OcYNBMaTG27nJwi7mzRDX9DrfeW8chOByQ-_otXiFGXXYhnERPjxRFiT_fYZwq_XJvBw572HWWXUSazcSjlmBZS22RM7o9wQnqZ0jaOxthB0Q3bn5kKPyA2Cy2V7eDZ4R0oDa9BzAwLS_NCiv9AB/s4080/PXL_20230922_195034164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcr2nINTasU8BDyFlKHpZ_HKBzp6WScrNn_8qxkHn3OcYNBMaTG27nJwi7mzRDX9DrfeW8chOByQ-_otXiFGXXYhnERPjxRFiT_fYZwq_XJvBw572HWWXUSazcSjlmBZS22RM7o9wQnqZ0jaOxthB0Q3bn5kKPyA2Cy2V7eDZ4R0oDa9BzAwLS_NCiv9AB/s320/PXL_20230922_195034164.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><i>Happiness Falls</i> was my pic from Book of the Month and it also had a slow burn feel to it. It also has some unreliable narrators and a whodunnit/what happened vibe after the main characters dad doesn't return from a nature walk in a secluded park with his son who has autism and Angelman syndrome. The angle of the brother's disabilities and the secrets the family kept finding out about the dad and the son were very intriguing. </p><p><i>How the Word is Passed </i>by Clint Smith is a non-fiction book about how slavery has imprinted itself into American history. Clint Smith traveled to eight places in the United States and Africa and sees how they reconcile their history that they teach and share with others and their relationship with slavery. I put it up there with a must read for all Americans. It's accessible and reads in many parts like a story.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vYXTG_BSi9-oLTZgaD7fxJP3D-99-61LDxJ_JpxQ6ssh8vtrBcn7ChHCgPy_DvTUXufWVGGPu_5dB6-tBCUMoJf0m3ydVlX0YnlMhNcYQcgnlQddIX6ind8ZZrECAf6dtHJMHZ1Hfwq918xeBhyphenhyphenbyCp3sgbTvSQrP7MSkoCYlcTacjaGw4pxvCg_J7FM/s4080/PXL_20230911_183157438.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vYXTG_BSi9-oLTZgaD7fxJP3D-99-61LDxJ_JpxQ6ssh8vtrBcn7ChHCgPy_DvTUXufWVGGPu_5dB6-tBCUMoJf0m3ydVlX0YnlMhNcYQcgnlQddIX6ind8ZZrECAf6dtHJMHZ1Hfwq918xeBhyphenhyphenbyCp3sgbTvSQrP7MSkoCYlcTacjaGw4pxvCg_J7FM/s320/PXL_20230911_183157438.MP.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><i>An Evil Heart</i> and <i>Half Moon</i> were probably my least liked but An Evil Heart is the 14th or 15th in a long running series I enjoy about a small town Ohio police chief who is formerly Amish and Half Moon was just kind of a sad story of a marriage and deciding if you should fight for it and it was a nice character dive into their lives but it was just kind of a sad book.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL2YLe9w1utOTLbGiDJBRHCyd6pMiXvrrnhhPeQmwoeeZohf2rUqSU1-WDP62R3UVOAvZkpi0DV_vfQHKROZPWkdZ1QiSG9zY6yJPRL3qVDiX45KleDOkQX15SAhp3X1c2y88LWyalVxGXiedQ-xpkRWGVlS3NcquUn3sUanmdw1O7-jpnsvnzMCmHzPgJ/s4080/PXL_20230928_004041528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL2YLe9w1utOTLbGiDJBRHCyd6pMiXvrrnhhPeQmwoeeZohf2rUqSU1-WDP62R3UVOAvZkpi0DV_vfQHKROZPWkdZ1QiSG9zY6yJPRL3qVDiX45KleDOkQX15SAhp3X1c2y88LWyalVxGXiedQ-xpkRWGVlS3NcquUn3sUanmdw1O7-jpnsvnzMCmHzPgJ/s320/PXL_20230928_004041528.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Love this cover!!</i></div><p><br /></p><p>I am really looking forward to reading <i>Grady Lake </i>by J.L. Hyde in October. It just came out and comes in my mailbox on Wednesday! She writes small town Midwest mysteries and is from the Upper Peninsula. I've really enjoyed all of her other books and one of my faves, Delta County, is on a Kindle Monthly Deal for only $3.49 every day of October on Amazon!</p><p><b>What did you read in September? What are you looking forward to read in October?</b></p>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-54001374153429734762023-09-19T15:04:00.002-04:002023-09-19T15:04:33.446-04:00Lyric McKerrigan, Secret Librarian<p> We love the library. We always are getting books picked up and dropped off. I recently started letting the three year old check out books too and she has been super excited.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZdF_aIIBV7wjHe40V6Y4eUuqD2L6R1yYLMYTexV3xzLHzjMNg4nfW9Bhlqx0blhiCIC47KBv3WtCKjuijL3UeMGAG3M9Bbw2L2HClklXDDDR2TD_bs21aoNbW54eB3C-wGelB4CvzClkyo-PAiIvadjN2AbdCxV_BlVy3JGai0HkX4DUvBF2LUspuCiF-/s4080/PXL_20230919_185630157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZdF_aIIBV7wjHe40V6Y4eUuqD2L6R1yYLMYTexV3xzLHzjMNg4nfW9Bhlqx0blhiCIC47KBv3WtCKjuijL3UeMGAG3M9Bbw2L2HClklXDDDR2TD_bs21aoNbW54eB3C-wGelB4CvzClkyo-PAiIvadjN2AbdCxV_BlVy3JGai0HkX4DUvBF2LUspuCiF-/s320/PXL_20230919_185630157.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><p>We recently got <i>Lyric McKerrigan</i>, <i>Secret Libraria</i>n by Jacob Sager Weinstein from the library and it has been my favorite to read in awhile! It's a cute book for book lovers. Lyric McKerrigan goes around and hands out the perfect book to people in challenging situations. She is a secret book agent who has a knack at being in the right place at the right time with the right book. </p><p>An evil genius is trying to take over the world and Lyric McKerrigan is going right behind him thwarting his plans. It's great for kids who love super heroes and those that love graphic novels as it's set up similar to a comic at times. We have read it oodles of times and we have to return it to the library soon, but it's also been one of Adeline's favorites and she copies the words with me.</p><p><b>What is the last library book you checked out that was surprise hit?</b></p>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-15426037861034763302023-04-21T14:33:00.000-04:002023-04-21T14:33:01.197-04:00TGIF!<p>We had one week of fake spring and went right back into winterish-fall. Just in time for softball season. Yay. We have had a busy month, road tripped for spring break, may dentist / orthodontist appts for some of us, practices, battle of the books, clubs, oh my! My husband turns 40 next week and we are having a party in two weeks for that and we are taking the girls to a Michigan softball game so we have more busy on the way! </p><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;">My </b><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>favorite</b></span></span><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"> picture from the week:</b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-kPeHadL_UWAneMJ2lsufbrcSOw9i7avzmrLEztqMXMsg4UBbZQjkLtcZNwl96YK-gf56tk_s6UszcyngzkvuPk3IpDrt0jeHLBmXRi83bJNztlss7PzUN3YYJvKdPxz0yaVNagnBMsbBJVnW7PpJYkSvTweWpqwangXboxPJOmWLCFv-_Z11VmN4vA/s4080/PXL_20230419_212808222~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-kPeHadL_UWAneMJ2lsufbrcSOw9i7avzmrLEztqMXMsg4UBbZQjkLtcZNwl96YK-gf56tk_s6UszcyngzkvuPk3IpDrt0jeHLBmXRi83bJNztlss7PzUN3YYJvKdPxz0yaVNagnBMsbBJVnW7PpJYkSvTweWpqwangXboxPJOmWLCFv-_Z11VmN4vA/s320/PXL_20230419_212808222~2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><i>My oldest had a drawing in the art show.</i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0AWoSeYaPAlnpxVBlfklRhBAO-x753dpi3xexYhz-acxL_ghKissa754kxZFRQJx86MeRvqtWh1XqW0Qa2ZljSuIgd7L3R6eaSH0F5K1s1XTUKhRCC4B6S_GVlsbOf3oCOXbb4q6g6ESsk2V0EWMuBwQYE4zsA15rA7biX0tefr1COLsAiKCZQ9YDA/s3072/PXL_20230418_164506613.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2124" data-original-width="3072" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0AWoSeYaPAlnpxVBlfklRhBAO-x753dpi3xexYhz-acxL_ghKissa754kxZFRQJx86MeRvqtWh1XqW0Qa2ZljSuIgd7L3R6eaSH0F5K1s1XTUKhRCC4B6S_GVlsbOf3oCOXbb4q6g6ESsk2V0EWMuBwQYE4zsA15rA7biX0tefr1COLsAiKCZQ9YDA/s320/PXL_20230418_164506613.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div> <i> This was our library haul this week</i><br /><b style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>The high of my week was</strong> watching my girl back on the softball field and seeing her art work at the art show.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>The low of my week was</b> Adeline has been weird and off this week. Very snuggly and not eating a lot. Had a low fever last night and this morning.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Meal plan for the week was </b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Monday -</b> Grilled chicken, baked potatoes, roasted carrots, blackberries</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Tuesday - </b>Taco Pie, queso/chips, blackberries</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Wednesday</b> - <a href="https://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/tiffani-thiessen/homemade-roasted-tomato-soup-2756233" style="color: #b87209; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a>Out at Applebees</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Thursday</b> - Chili and veggies and dip</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Friday</b> - Make your own pizza, veggies/chips with dip and fruit</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>The best money I spent was on </strong>some silly shirts for my husbands bday</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>What I’m listening to </b> podcasts or the highway on xm</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>What I’m watching </strong>All Creatures Great and Small, Will Trent, Summer House</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>What I’m reading: </b><i>In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner</i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMgmtumkYYPhOETdsc6_oqtnifRnEA6oDELGbAAe7mbiINsZ5F2xMGFaUECZk4n3dAIBOMsrEVm0CJK4vGZ4Er2_1gH7xFS0QxP5Ld6RaIzXPqKg_PpYFRbEYrmjYeiynTH2xGT1WfKvzYarYoUb0ABPb8KslfIybMz6t-3Agfkpjw0O_qiF6DxLQM5w/s4080/PXL_20230417_203441987.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMgmtumkYYPhOETdsc6_oqtnifRnEA6oDELGbAAe7mbiINsZ5F2xMGFaUECZk4n3dAIBOMsrEVm0CJK4vGZ4Er2_1gH7xFS0QxP5Ld6RaIzXPqKg_PpYFRbEYrmjYeiynTH2xGT1WfKvzYarYoUb0ABPb8KslfIybMz6t-3Agfkpjw0O_qiF6DxLQM5w/s320/PXL_20230417_203441987.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>My plans for the weekend include </b>moving the youngest to a twin size bed from her crib turned toddler bed, opening day softball activities, going to see the play These Shining Lives, and probably more house organizing. I have been on a roll the last few days. I had a big move in January of projects and then again this week. Planning on a garage sale in 3 weeks with a friend and I am ready!</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>What are you watching/reading/listening to?</b></div>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-36211445265544277162023-03-15T14:57:00.002-04:002023-03-15T14:57:36.737-04:00Currently<p>So close to spring!!!! Counting down the days!!</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Reading: </b><i>Final Girls </i>by Riley Sager</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="color: #222222;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif56wVvwB5A1xT_-81Rv0QCi-DKYXKfFrXvzAG3slgMb1S7ViljP2xueFlejkP-8SukIPzIYSdDiJ9DyqrRi78HxvtVImCQpfTocZjdxelGziAWIYNvdZYMAduTIl63qJgqZoFQl0F0n_zpXIQuHBYLuOJZxNtZAaucvWhho8_ZZiqK1Bs7ULPrc5bMA/s4080/PXL_20230312_234932768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif56wVvwB5A1xT_-81Rv0QCi-DKYXKfFrXvzAG3slgMb1S7ViljP2xueFlejkP-8SukIPzIYSdDiJ9DyqrRi78HxvtVImCQpfTocZjdxelGziAWIYNvdZYMAduTIl63qJgqZoFQl0F0n_zpXIQuHBYLuOJZxNtZAaucvWhho8_ZZiqK1Bs7ULPrc5bMA/w151-h200/PXL_20230312_234932768.jpg" width="151" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;">Loving:</b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"> the workouts I've been doing. I am going on 3 plus months of working out consistently for the first time ever. I've been doing a mixture of youtube videos and using my treadmill. It's been going really well and I'm feeling stronger!</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXJmo0cQcvpCuvGSMQLCSJr6K38hsqDQzcPL4PL4LAkyBvtXpdSGT_8Y5XlgtWx8-rLNPZ5RnOINxE30h8ZrMaKECcCdXXJ6xvSocZW-5v0S0fA9M6xWfSuZRNWHfhYsdVesMBRh9N0yRW3Hk8vvj40HKFA459xQ7pr2nGFR8fAK_TBN9KcMlaPPnmg/s4080/PXL_20230314_144839405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXJmo0cQcvpCuvGSMQLCSJr6K38hsqDQzcPL4PL4LAkyBvtXpdSGT_8Y5XlgtWx8-rLNPZ5RnOINxE30h8ZrMaKECcCdXXJ6xvSocZW-5v0S0fA9M6xWfSuZRNWHfhYsdVesMBRh9N0yRW3Hk8vvj40HKFA459xQ7pr2nGFR8fAK_TBN9KcMlaPPnmg/w151-h200/PXL_20230314_144839405.jpg" width="151" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;">Feeling</b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;">: excited. We are going on a road trip in a couple weeks and I'm really excited</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;">!</span></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Anticipating:</b> a morning cup of coffee looking at the Atlantic Ocean and an evening drink looking out at the Atlantic Ocean. :)<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Struggling: </b>patience with the play with me play wiith me 24/7.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span><div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.2px;"><b>Grateful: </b>that we get to go somewhere warm and that I get to turn 39 soon!<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.2px;">Working: </b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.2px;">on </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">organizing</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.2px;"> what we need to pack for our road tri</span><b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.2px;">p.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.2px;"><b>Listening:</b> lots of podcasts!</span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b>Watching: </b>Summer House</span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Wishing: </b>that my donation bags would walk themselves to the trunk and deliver themselves to the donation location.</span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">What are you reading/listening/watching?</span></b></div></div></div>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-79877459184985682082023-03-14T09:00:00.001-04:002023-03-14T09:00:00.237-04:00The Campbell Sisters<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7Zz4Nuro2wbkSMtclcb6mRw9xtcWLmrx9jNMYd6rxMSUB5ptwKokn6tFFGepdF6veem3yl6QqdKQLoUHZksf2_WOU0U6BrhvPg7wSCS2iMDC2xkf5dVn_T6ZNogh6oXO2Kyz4AFFfO880LUS5E1gnxL0G0WUxBOTWkp9Rk7fEyj3O78ZhRMxrWPf2Q/s640/Campbell%20Sisters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7Zz4Nuro2wbkSMtclcb6mRw9xtcWLmrx9jNMYd6rxMSUB5ptwKokn6tFFGepdF6veem3yl6QqdKQLoUHZksf2_WOU0U6BrhvPg7wSCS2iMDC2xkf5dVn_T6ZNogh6oXO2Kyz4AFFfO880LUS5E1gnxL0G0WUxBOTWkp9Rk7fEyj3O78ZhRMxrWPf2Q/w125-h200/Campbell%20Sisters.jpg" width="125" /></a></div><br />The Campbell Sisters by Eileen Joyce Donovan is a story about a family of strong willed sisters making their way in 1950s NYC. The oldest Helen, works at an orphanage and takes some ribbing for being the old spinster sister at the ripe age of 25. The middle daughter, Carolyn, is feisty. She does what she wants, when she wants, others be damned. The youngest, Peggy, is working her way through med school.<p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a4bb33ec-7fff-4e60-92dd-cdbff0fc84eb"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As was typical of the time, all three girls are sharing a bedroom in their parents crowded apartment. Their parents are immigrants from Ireland who have strong views on how the girls should be acting. At times the parents talk to them like they are in high school or younger and I had the thought that pretty soon they were going to ground 20 - something year old women!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The book covers a very short time period where Helen meets a boxer and falls in love, Carolyn gets into many a jam, and Peggy proves that she can be a trusted mature sister. A love story of the time. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HiXqZFPP7P-l-0YnP-F2sk5TwpI-oTAvLl6QV7QlKbBmHEkngw5ax1Ob3REZHHa_Iu0e7-OZIxyGLqAlZltY2HNwYXKMhqU7D5v-TuZjberphO6OtHJRIiUt_Ocsm5Tu9GRBD9o-_Mjzle-0durVCH2I16phepPD_Lhs8qwi8yXnWmisljeo2Cqjeg/s600/Campbell%20Sisters%20Tour%20Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HiXqZFPP7P-l-0YnP-F2sk5TwpI-oTAvLl6QV7QlKbBmHEkngw5ax1Ob3REZHHa_Iu0e7-OZIxyGLqAlZltY2HNwYXKMhqU7D5v-TuZjberphO6OtHJRIiUt_Ocsm5Tu9GRBD9o-_Mjzle-0durVCH2I16phepPD_Lhs8qwi8yXnWmisljeo2Cqjeg/s320/Campbell%20Sisters%20Tour%20Banner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><h2 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 0.8125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></h2><h2 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 0.8125em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Description: <span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>Helen Campbell is the eldest and most practical of three sisters, daughters of hard-working Irish emigrants living in New York City in the 1950s. She does what she can to keep the wild-child middle sister, Carolyn, in line and support the youngest, Peggy, as she pursues her dreams of becoming a doctor. Then Helen meets Charlie.</i></span></h2><p></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>While it’s love at first sight for those two, Carolyn’s antics threatens to derail all the sisters’ future happiness. However, through thick and thin, the three sisters strive to prevail, though not necessarily in the ways they thought they wanted.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKZtkyWXTkL3sywx7lb5uUoQCxHUdgGfBJgBWsd1HFXJqUU1CA4QHnGxAbWZ6eAQGimJ8lYXXFBTk3p2g5O1KlRsHymVm-1PL9Bch8HwYfMZs8BCZ8QvseYZgw-65XGQhFQ_4YGn5gJuA-15tFwrOyRQO2vTlqIYvfpFtr72BRE70UVkDfw_fkKaIWQ/s533/Eileen%20Joyce%20Donovan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKZtkyWXTkL3sywx7lb5uUoQCxHUdgGfBJgBWsd1HFXJqUU1CA4QHnGxAbWZ6eAQGimJ8lYXXFBTk3p2g5O1KlRsHymVm-1PL9Bch8HwYfMZs8BCZ8QvseYZgw-65XGQhFQ_4YGn5gJuA-15tFwrOyRQO2vTlqIYvfpFtr72BRE70UVkDfw_fkKaIWQ/w150-h200/Eileen%20Joyce%20Donovan.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><b>About the Author:</b> <span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Eileen Joyce Donovan has been writing her entire life, in one way or another, whether it was imaginative stories for friends, or advertising copy for clients. At the persistent urging of her husband, she finally agreed to seriously edit and revise one of her stories and take the plunge. Years later, her persistence paid off and both her debut historical fiction, </span><em style="border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Promises</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">, and her second novel, </span><em style="border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A Lady Newspaperman’s Dilemma, </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">won prestigious awards. Her short stories have appeared in several anthologies, and her essays have been included in various </span><em style="border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chicken Soup for the Soul </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">editions.</span><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She lives in Manhattan, New York and is a member of Authors Guild, Women’s National Book Association, Women Fiction Writers Association, and The Historical Novel Society.</p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>I was given a copy of this book for review from Premier Virtual Author Book Tours. All thoughts and opinions are my own.</i></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXJ8puqfiy9P-UiQm6zEfPTfw70rIB2GWtWyvFF5Pu6hULUxbdcbhbTFY5emjU4sYqAFAAtybVynkMsOYeQAASSmXPJ9KaY-2wxo7PPQiFtQuc8_qPbGhiFx1rxwgB6ohsmAWRrXxsQqJHy2x59U4W5msyamY2eTwFO5UXUu8o0ix7FdyokNV6siCUw/s768/virtual%20tour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="768" height="103" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXJ8puqfiy9P-UiQm6zEfPTfw70rIB2GWtWyvFF5Pu6hULUxbdcbhbTFY5emjU4sYqAFAAtybVynkMsOYeQAASSmXPJ9KaY-2wxo7PPQiFtQuc8_qPbGhiFx1rxwgB6ohsmAWRrXxsQqJHy2x59U4W5msyamY2eTwFO5UXUu8o0ix7FdyokNV6siCUw/s320/virtual%20tour.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i><p></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-76142714423324762222023-03-07T14:33:00.004-05:002023-03-07T14:33:29.878-05:00February Reads!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In one word the books I read in February along with how I feel about February is summed up with, "meh."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYcVxS4Ors0h5LO18mjC8VRUbt_pJWsf-vandBj8JJkppZJ5iyZw7dJD3UDJlTuKfYDjOMLCm9B4WImIe137K-WlBLYjXLjUz12KDwqdeARKivKYXUshDJUeXR-KRovP8LnqHRgyjxdRo62W8P37eZyLZZDCzsHTkonAS7TGd6eF32f8Fjo80dOuXbA/s4096/IMG_20230301_115303_789.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4096" data-original-width="4096" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYcVxS4Ors0h5LO18mjC8VRUbt_pJWsf-vandBj8JJkppZJ5iyZw7dJD3UDJlTuKfYDjOMLCm9B4WImIe137K-WlBLYjXLjUz12KDwqdeARKivKYXUshDJUeXR-KRovP8LnqHRgyjxdRo62W8P37eZyLZZDCzsHTkonAS7TGd6eF32f8Fjo80dOuXbA/s320/IMG_20230301_115303_789.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p>I love Jasmine Guillory's books but this one was my first dud -ish. Not a fan of the retelling of beauty and the beast. It pains me to say it but this is my least favorite by her.<p></p><p><i>The Sun Down Motel </i>was pretty good. It was hard to believe that people would keep working at a hotel where they obviously see ghosts and hear stuff but, hey beyond THAT, it was a good mystery trying to figure out what happened to a woman who disappeared many years earlier.</p><p><i>How to Excavate A Heart</i> was a cute YA love story. It would definitely hit if you are a bit nerdy and want to read about interning in a a Smithsonian museum. </p><p> <i>The Mitford Affair </i>was good for the content and learning about a family I hadn't known about before. But the writing was hard to keep sisters apart because they almost all read like they had the same voice.</p><p><i>Plantation Shudders</i> is a cute mystery set on a plantation in Louisiana. It is the start of a series and I may or may not pick up more in the future. </p><p><i>When we Believed in Mermaids</i> was okay, but I think I'd rather have watched it as a Hallmark movie as opposed to reading it as a book. The back cover made it seem a little more intense than what it was.</p><p><i>A Tourists Guide to Murder</i> is a continuation of a series I'm reading that is set in Western Michigan.</p><p><b>What did you read in February?</b></p>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-31981963611028151772023-03-03T15:42:00.001-05:002023-03-03T15:42:17.397-05:002022 Reading Stats<p> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">My 2022 reading recap is a bit delayed. Whoops. The good news is that I am doing really well on two of my new years goals of working out and finishing up my classes to renew my teaching certificate and that is why I haven’t gotten this posted yet!</span></p><p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How many books read in 2022? –</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 85. Which was 16 less than last year. But at the last minute I finished my goal of 85! </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-8b6f06f7-7fff-f8a2-6301-4058afe37890"><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How many fiction and non-fiction?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 80 fiction and 5 non-fiction with a couple memoirs involved. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 10pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Male/Female author ratio?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 50 women and 17 men. Read a few repeaters. My favorite author was J.L. Hyde, I read three of her books last year!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 10pt 0pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which author was new to you in 2022 that you now want to read the entire works of? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Gilbert King. I read </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beneath a Ruthless Sun</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and loved it. I want to read his others. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Favorite book read in 2022?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Always a hard decision. Looking back now three months into a new year the ones I still think about and recommend are: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Summer of ‘99</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by J.L. Hyde, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Winners</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Fredrik Backman, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Diamond Eye</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Kate Quinn, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beneath a Ruthless Sun </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Gilbert King, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Book Lovers </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Emily Henry, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Switchboard Soldiers</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Jennifer Chiaverini, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Marsh King’s Daughter</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Karen Dionne, and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It Happened One Summer</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Tessa Bailey.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Least favorite?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> A Lesson Plan for Murder, You Should Have Known, Recovery Agent or Our Missing Hearts.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any that you simply couldn’t finish?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Just Mercy (want to finish it but it needed to go back to the library and I havent gotten back to it), Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder ( really trying to read this but it had to go back and who knows). There might have been more but I cleared by goodreads shelf at the new year. Whoops.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How many pages did you read? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">27,012</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 10pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">H</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ow many books from the library? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">72. </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How many books read did I purchase?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Of the ones on this list I purchased 7.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 10pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How many were gifts?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 3 and 1 from the library community read</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How many borrowed from others?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 0</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How many were given to me for reviews? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How many books read on kindle?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> None</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Audiobook?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 , I listened to The Dry , which was a “re-read”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any re-reads?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Yes, 1</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 10pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which countries did you go to through the page in your year of reading?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> United States, Australia, Sweden, Mexico, England, Scotland, China, Ukraine, Russia, France, Germany, and Chile</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What states did you go through the page in your year of reading? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minnesota, Georgia, California, New Jersey, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, Florida, Washington, North Carolina, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Ohio, Indiana, Maine, Colorado, Vermont, Texas, Tennessee, and Virginia</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which book wouldn’t you have read without someone’s specific recommendation?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Razorblade Tears, The Mist, Middle School Matters, You Should Have Known</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 10pt; margin-right: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which author did you read the most of</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Aaron Stander 6</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What was your best reading month</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> December, July, and August, I read 10</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What was your worst reading month? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June, I read 4</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Top Five Reading Moments of 2022</span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meeting J.L. Hyde at a book signing</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Visiting Sleepy Dog Bookstore</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reading the Aaron Stander Series</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Visiting several used bookstores</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finishing the Beartown series</span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2022 Reading Goals - Revisited</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am upping my number again….</span></p><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: upper-roman; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 3pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read 85 books. - Success! I read exactly 85.</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Read 12 books on my shelves. - This was again a fail. While technically I read some from my shelves they were all because they were gifted to me at 2021 Christmas to read for book club. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Read a biography on a first lady. - Yeah, forgot again. I totally said I was going to put a reminder in my phone to remind myself to do this at the end of June and I did not. But in general I did read more non-fiction.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2023 Goals</span></p><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read 85 books.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read and/or clear 28 books from my living room bookshelf.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read more non-fiction.</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How many books did you read in 2022? Did you complete your 2022 reading goals? What are your goals for 2023?? What book do I NEED to read in 2023?</span></span>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-35566123306749420182023-01-13T14:21:00.000-05:002023-01-13T14:21:07.029-05:00TGIF!<p>I had big intentions of sharing different best of and holiday gift giving posts last month, and then our household spent an entire month trying to get all of us healthy at one time. So fun. We never got to see Santa because we were never healthy enough. So that stunk since Adeline has only gone once as a newborn and she actually really wanted to do that this year. Hoping for this year! And since January 1st we have managed to stay healthy! Yay.</p><p><strong style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;">The high of my week was</strong><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"> : Wednesday we were able to go playoutside at a park, make it to story time at Barnes and Noble and the play area at the mall! And I worked out exactly what I planned for and drank all the water I planned for.</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>The low of my week was</b> : finding out how expensive my dental work is going to be. Boo genetics. Boo healthcare that doesn't include teeth. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Meal plan for the week was </b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Monday -</b> chicken strips, baked potato, salad</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Tuesday - </b>S<a href="https://simplepurposefulliving.com/super-nacho-dip/">uper Nacho Taco Dip/Casserole</a>, salad, chips/queso, pico</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Wednesday</b> - <a href="https://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/tiffani-thiessen/homemade-roasted-tomato-soup-2756233" style="color: #b87209; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a>spaghetti, meatballs, garlic bread, salad, broccoli</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Thursday</b> - orange chicken, rice, salad</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Friday</b> - pizza and breadsticks</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>The best money I spent was on: a </strong>new package of underwear for myself! Cleaned out my underwear/bra / shapewear this week and decided to buy a new set after I threw out some.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>What I’m listening to </b> Here's Where it Gets Interesting, The Girl Next Door, Culpable</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>What I’m watching </strong>Southern Hospitality</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>What I’m reading: </b><i>Pieces of Her b</i>y Karin Slaughter</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>My plans for the weekend: </b>hopefully going on a hike, putting away the random pieces of Christmas I came across that we somehow missed when we put it away!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>What are you watching/reading/listening to?</b></div></div>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-5296717527826792632023-01-09T20:31:00.001-05:002023-01-09T20:31:15.993-05:00The Girl Who Counted Numbers<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirI96MTTvc3INxgkKldR8hLADWBxRzcTsZ71nebfcs6BgM-Pux3ILFWgZuVzyNBsnAo6pPHsbQUJX---Qp0pZpj3V0fEtVLXrV3fuw-R_GNtviX-3QVzrVyf22dDxKCzFWE4DRookVVZfYaTGHVidJqdcEiHa2u67ON2NcXLHvqto0uSFFyjIXyz5Iew/s4080/PXL_20230108_223316367.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirI96MTTvc3INxgkKldR8hLADWBxRzcTsZ71nebfcs6BgM-Pux3ILFWgZuVzyNBsnAo6pPHsbQUJX---Qp0pZpj3V0fEtVLXrV3fuw-R_GNtviX-3QVzrVyf22dDxKCzFWE4DRookVVZfYaTGHVidJqdcEiHa2u67ON2NcXLHvqto0uSFFyjIXyz5Iew/s320/PXL_20230108_223316367.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br />I really enjoy reading historical fiction and memoirs set around WWII. I don't particularly like reading about the Holocaust because it was a horrible horrible thing and I do not like reading a romanticized tale about it nor do I want to read the horrors of the camps. I've read them already and I just cannot. <p></p><p>I do enjoy reading about people who took charge of their situations or what they did to help during that time period. </p><p><i>The Girl Who Counted Numbers</i> is a different take than what I've read previously. It is set in Israel in 1961. Susan Reich is a smart 17 year old who graduated from high school early with hopes of convincing her father gruff father that she should travel instead of going straight to college. His compromise is Israel, where she will take Hebrew classes and look for her Uncle Yakov. Susan's father left their home in Poland in 1920 and never saw his older brother again. After the war he has written to many organizations and has heard not a thing about what happened to his beloved older brother.</p><p>Susan arrives in Israel looking for a lover, a good time, and maybe to find her uncle. She has an adolescent struggle over if she even wants to look for him or if she even can. She resents that she is sent her with the Adolf Eichmann trial going on, and so much pain in the air. </p><p>She attends her Hebrew classes and makes friends with Moroccan immigrants who are unhappy with the way they are being treated. She slowly learns bits and pieces about her uncle Yakov on her journey and does aa little growing up as the story progresses as well.</p><p>The book is based on the author's own trip to Israel but the story is fictional.</p><p><i>I was given a copy for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.</i></p><p><b>Have your read any books set in Israel? What is your favorite recent historical fiction read?</b></p>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-51610036624013573682022-12-06T14:38:00.002-05:002022-12-06T14:38:44.916-05:00What I Read in November<p> I am in a position I haven't been in a few years, racing to finish books by year end! I upped my yearly goal and it's really stretching me at this point in the year. I had a few stretches where I went a bit longer between books and some books that I should probably have abandoned sooner taking too long. Even though this year will probably be the biggest year of for me with DNFs. Let's see if I can crank out 11 books in December! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsNszsyQIRxAk0ecYU0m_yYkahvTOadJ8Q-a8eRVeRejXG_D7_Em4yg80AfOBCIaK93TpKhnZouJHDamPS7p2-d6KY1DZbyztiGyjoE-Lh3p1s4rezIlmEddG7ksSbL2A8xjaqieN291kelXZm_Uvld3BqHAs9pskMCm1IP-oRN6jmboteWYHJMG_sw/s2048/nov%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsNszsyQIRxAk0ecYU0m_yYkahvTOadJ8Q-a8eRVeRejXG_D7_Em4yg80AfOBCIaK93TpKhnZouJHDamPS7p2-d6KY1DZbyztiGyjoE-Lh3p1s4rezIlmEddG7ksSbL2A8xjaqieN291kelXZm_Uvld3BqHAs9pskMCm1IP-oRN6jmboteWYHJMG_sw/s320/nov%202022.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Drunk on Love</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> - I will read anything Jasmine Guillory writes. She is funny and writes modern day relationships. This book is about a winery owner who finds out her one night stand is her new employee. Ooops. Hilarious and a page turner that I finished in a day.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The IT Girl </i>- The very first book I read by this author I was like okay, I need to read all of her stuff. Then I was disappointed a couple times but THIS book was so good. Hannah’s college roommate was murdered 10 years ago and the convicted killer just died in prison. He adamantly swore he was innocent but Hannah SAW him leaving as she was entering the building. The book goes back and forth before and after. You meet her friends and the victim and join Hannah on a race to find out, did the killer do it? Or was it one of her friends? </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Midnight in Delta County</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> - This is a sequel to Delta County and The Summer of ‘99. HIGHLY recommend all three. The author is a CMU grad and a Yooper. This book is another page turner of who is behind the murders in Escanaba that are very eerily similar to the fictional book Quinn Harstead just wrote. People start thinking that Heather might be behind them because isn’t that character in Harstead’s book just a tad bit like her? Once a killer and all… Or is someone messing with both Quinn and Heather with a deadly motive?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Beautiful Country</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> - Memoir about leaving China and moving to New York as an undocumented person. Heartbreaking retelling of the author’s childhood. Highly recommend it. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The House Across the Lake</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> - Was a page turner with an unreliable narrator. Casey was widowed recently and after a few too many public oopsy, her mother 'banishes' her too their family lake house, where her husband died the year before. She finds binoculars and starts spying, as one does and finds that her neighbors may have things to hide and one may have a motive for murder. Then there is the other guest staying next store, is he dangerous? Casey keeps drinking and the wife across the lake disappears. What happens next keeps you turning the page. I had a few eyebrow raises at some supernatural elements towards the end of the book, but overall it does its job!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Our Missing Hearts</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> - I'm sad to say I was disappointed by this one. I had a hard time getting into the first half of the book, the second half when it switched narrators and had the action pick up made me push through! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic—including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old</i>."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>The House on Mango Street </i>- A collection of vignettes that tell a story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago. I'm glad I finally read it, but it wasn't written for me! Beautiful prose.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b>What did you read in November? Are you planning on reading any holiday themed books?</b></p>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-79261197804316983912022-12-01T17:46:00.004-05:002022-12-01T17:46:42.549-05:00A Look at November Goals<p> I re-started concentrated working out in November after starting off strong after the oldest went to school until the illnesses of the school year started and then I got off schedule. So I made myself a few goals and kept track.</p><p><b>Goal One: 4 miles a week or 20 total</b></p><p>Soo.. started off hot. Got 4.05 and 4.09 the first two weeks and then the weather took a poop and I had to strategically use the treadmill and I can't use it too many days in a row or it hurts my legs. So then I finished with 2.02 and 3.46 since I haven't walked since Thanksgiving morning.</p><p><b>Goal 2: Read 8 books.</b></p><p>I read 7. The only reason I have books as a goal right now is that for the first time in awhile I am off my goal set for the year, which is because I finally raised my yearly goal again after easily completing it. So I decided I have to make a push. I have a 11 left to hit my yearly goal so here goals nothing in December!</p><p><b>Goal 3: Complete online class.</b></p><p>Did it! I take online classes to maintain my licensing and I have to have so many credits per 5 years so I am cranking more out in the next few months so it's not crunch time when June 2024 comes calling.</p><p><b>Goal 4: 12 blog posts</b></p><p>I did 9. Which is far better than I had been doing. I think if I wasn't using nap time for blog posts and finishing that class I may have managed this.</p><p><b>Goal 5: 12 facebook posts for Free Libra</b>ry</p><p>I run a facebook page for our free library. I try to get "customers" by posting different books we have in there and other fun book related items. I posted 11 times.</p><p><b>Goal 6: 30 Art Every day Instagram Posts</b></p><p>My friend hosts the Art Every Day Month challenge and I've tried to participate the last few years. Usually by making art with the three year old. I made 11 posts this year. Though I did do a lot more water color pictures I just stopped taking pictures.</p><p>I have some new goals for December and by clicking publish here I am one step closer to completion!!</p><p><b>What did you accomplish in November?</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-33984219912801606762022-11-30T14:26:00.003-05:002022-11-30T14:26:43.960-05:00Holiday Book Gift Guide: Romance Edition<p> I'm always asked by friends and family for book recommendations. It's so hard because people have such vastly different tastes, but based upon my recently (last yearish) read books here is what I'd recommend for those looking to gift a book!</p><p>For those that love humor, romance, or Helen Hoang:</p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-l3xpPv7VBOB2pao0AXO-QMVqAPlvnkt6n2sjGqdGAWNz6nKiByxAofiDy6b8hVuD3E8O3KXizRBQRdX8ITvL2yFt6sz6TNQuy1uNbtnhGeu8-sUaVy4ub1B9rgei_q3t9KPS-jjP6yKQMZpSun1pHyfoPLqX9qb5RhLqyqzMCqEEpd9WkFiQO2Vhw/s4080/PXL_20221117_012345221.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-l3xpPv7VBOB2pao0AXO-QMVqAPlvnkt6n2sjGqdGAWNz6nKiByxAofiDy6b8hVuD3E8O3KXizRBQRdX8ITvL2yFt6sz6TNQuy1uNbtnhGeu8-sUaVy4ub1B9rgei_q3t9KPS-jjP6yKQMZpSun1pHyfoPLqX9qb5RhLqyqzMCqEEpd9WkFiQO2Vhw/w151-h200/PXL_20221117_012345221.jpg" width="151" /></a></i></div><i><br />Drunk on Love </i>by Jasmine Guillory or, if you know they haven't read anything by her start with T<i>he Wedding Date</i>!<p></p><p><i>Drunk on Love</i> can be read without reading any of the others, there is at teeny tiny cameo of characters from the other books, but if you havent read the others you won't even notice! Drunk on Love is also a good gift for a wine loving or book club friend. It's about a winery owner who accidently has a one night stand with her new employee. Hilarious, sweet, a little steamy.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNZLFB2yRvRAtgbOogtwxwnkmMqxq5RxstNdefU19mLlQMGORnsSLT9qaQuFQVsp6kw0dNGD474dz_PraS1O16JL68gxnYSL4wdYhn2wouaXySAodkn-nTFH79aDm45_D34pa-ntbpZOOq8LFZlkppkxipSdMH9K9L2vSwtLgx46DDdpGz4MgpTfYVA/s4032/20221009_143716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNZLFB2yRvRAtgbOogtwxwnkmMqxq5RxstNdefU19mLlQMGORnsSLT9qaQuFQVsp6kw0dNGD474dz_PraS1O16JL68gxnYSL4wdYhn2wouaXySAodkn-nTFH79aDm45_D34pa-ntbpZOOq8LFZlkppkxipSdMH9K9L2vSwtLgx46DDdpGz4MgpTfYVA/w113-h200/20221009_143716.jpg" width="113" /></a></i></div><i><br />Book Lovers</i> by Emily Henry is another funny smart romance! It takes a poke at small town romance tropes and book lovers. With a taste of a dysfunctional family backgrounds, cute men, smart women, humor, and romance, it's a great vacation or summer read for a romance lover!<p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><i>Heart and Seoul</i> by Jen Fredrick is another humor filled romance. It's about Hara, an adoptee who is searching for her birth parent/family information in Seoul after her adopted father's death. She lands in Seoul with barely any Korean knowledge and bumps into a very attractive man who becomes a confidante and helper as she navigates a culture and language she doesn't know but is surrounded by people who look like her and assume she does know it. Doesn't sound humor filled from this description but rest assured Hara is very awkward and makes many comical errors in her quest to find out about her homeland and family. It also has a sequel, <i>Seoulmates</i> that you should just pick up too!</p><p><i>It Happened One Summer</i> by Tessa Bailey is also the first in a series set in the pacific northwest. Piper is a rich spoiled wild child who gets shipped off to her biological father's hometown to learn how to survive on her own after one too many jams that her step dad had to bail her out from. Her sister comes with her and they learn some valuable life skills, meet a grandma, and town full of handsome fisherman. The sequel is<i> Hook, Line, and Sinker</i>!</p><p><br /></p><p>Others to check into:</p><p><i>The Charm Offensive </i>- Alison Cochrun</p><p><i>Love at First Spite</i> - Anna E. Collins</p><p><b>What books would you add to this list?</b></p><p><br /></p>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-77243207410752379562022-11-28T18:37:00.003-05:002022-11-28T18:37:45.318-05:00The It Girl<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3c0tji-yxp7d33v5TbJzYQlO1jcJ7AzgfxqzJz-qcC-qSm3-qekIUOCED2wkoSh5uvbUworRwXeSIazw-7CuWQjOyS89IeLQ85XQchj94pDOZi3ytJwB5cKlGrnlWP8Xw5ntuueds1UderwjyZED0e4VRVr9dGOY4MlqEas4u_MDly64Ap-72bZK9w/s4080/PXL_20221120_183835552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3c0tji-yxp7d33v5TbJzYQlO1jcJ7AzgfxqzJz-qcC-qSm3-qekIUOCED2wkoSh5uvbUworRwXeSIazw-7CuWQjOyS89IeLQ85XQchj94pDOZi3ytJwB5cKlGrnlWP8Xw5ntuueds1UderwjyZED0e4VRVr9dGOY4MlqEas4u_MDly64Ap-72bZK9w/w151-h200/PXL_20221120_183835552.jpg" width="151" /></a></div><br /> I love a good mystery and Ruth Ware knows how to write them! I could not put down her latest while trying to figure out who did it.<p></p><p>The book flashes from before and after. The before is before Hannah's best-friend and roommate was killed in their dorm room towards the end of their freshman year at Oxford. The after is what happened after Hannah reported seeing a creepy porter named John Neville, leaving her staircase shortly before walking up and finding her roommate on the floor. </p><p>She had me guessing, I was pretty sure twice but then I was wrong. She's the queen of dropping the clues so when you are at the end and it's revealed you know exactly what she was telling you at certain points but you did not know what to do with it at the moment! This isn't a slasher, nor is it gory, but I found the delightful England / Scotland setting lovely and the book kept me in my chair for four hours as I flew through! </p><p>I am slowly going through her books as I read<i> One by One</i> and immediately was hooked. This book ranks right up there with that one, I read two others that were just so so, but I feel she is a reliable read when you need a mystery!</p><p><b>What's the last book you flew through?</b></p>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-21435632887567579322022-11-15T14:37:00.000-05:002022-11-15T14:37:02.757-05:00Currently<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Welp, we got our first real snow of the year today. Here enters the worst 5 to 6 months of the year! Cheers! Dark, cold, wet, wind, fun fun fun!!!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvJICZeafurYlFo_aEXgqc1QWbhaaISqrKqaF0s-NhhWjlYWZzraSkIuZ8MhrHTXv-UV8GrAbTvBunCaLtoqepJbjEiPkBuSRWIYqP7GW0xGuz3EfmcbfxL0SE9vDBtvkFDstA_bP7WthXBznO53dDBBN-HxMjlzck8Zg_DlIOqhLtnBtyDYDGLuUuTQ/s3020/PXL_20221115_163957537.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2243" data-original-width="3020" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvJICZeafurYlFo_aEXgqc1QWbhaaISqrKqaF0s-NhhWjlYWZzraSkIuZ8MhrHTXv-UV8GrAbTvBunCaLtoqepJbjEiPkBuSRWIYqP7GW0xGuz3EfmcbfxL0SE9vDBtvkFDstA_bP7WthXBznO53dDBBN-HxMjlzck8Zg_DlIOqhLtnBtyDYDGLuUuTQ/s320/PXL_20221115_163957537.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Reading: </b><i>Our Missing Hearts</i> by Celeste Ng</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="color: #222222;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivdBgC6hMlue9y4_vGGXxy1AHcLJ-ae_9adSNcncF8tx1ZVnEb37abQMXGawsg4oql_YDQl7e8WgEgbT_yTKZQgoaoRucAfjMpSyzHhrzKOdDde-tEqXgO7i_O2V2r_cVH5HwtajAQ-r5OWzZCZJDXEX4V69t3sNIGFV8apx8KTrmhHwxUYXXA6-12QA/s4080/PXL_20221114_204105382.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivdBgC6hMlue9y4_vGGXxy1AHcLJ-ae_9adSNcncF8tx1ZVnEb37abQMXGawsg4oql_YDQl7e8WgEgbT_yTKZQgoaoRucAfjMpSyzHhrzKOdDde-tEqXgO7i_O2V2r_cVH5HwtajAQ-r5OWzZCZJDXEX4V69t3sNIGFV8apx8KTrmhHwxUYXXA6-12QA/s320/PXL_20221114_204105382.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b style="color: #222222;">Loving:</b><span style="color: #222222;"> My current grocery shopping plan. I've been able to keep our grocery bill about the same and I love it. I typically only shop at Aldi or Kroger and the occasional other store if there is a sale or I ran out of something and I had to run in. But I look at the ads when we get them on Monday and decide if any of the weekly digital coupons that Kroger are offering are things we need to stock up on / use. If there's enough to get a pick up order I'll do my shopping there and literally only by the things on sale or items I have coupons for. My fruits and vegetable purchases are whatever is on sale. If I do Aldi, I run in and just get what we need plus extras that we may need to stock up on. I try not to have to go to both stores but if I happen to by Aldi and did a Kroger run, I will if there is something we reallly need. But I meal plan on Friday's based upon what we are doing the next week and what we have in the freezer, that way when I shop the next week there should hardly be any items I'll need for our meal plan. It's been working out really well. We do get our beef from a local farmer and we buy our chicken at Costco. Most of the time I keep us around 70 bucks for the four of us. We freeze things if we need to and if I run into Kroger I love buying the marked down stuff. Just call me a bargain shopper. It's my fun game to play.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Feeling</b>: pretty good. I made a list of November goals that I've been plugging away at. Which updating this blog is one of them and I am on par to completing all but one of them, so that's pretty darn good. I need to keep this up because it motivates me to do things.</span></p><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><b>Anticipating:</b> booking our summer camping trips soon and plotting out our spring break trip and our great wolf lodge trip. So anything that escapes winter.<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #222222; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b style="color: #222222;">Struggling: </b><span style="color: #222222;">my </span><span style="color: #222222;">patience</span><span style="color: #222222;">. i have none.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Grateful: </b>that my mom has finished her cancer treatments and is getting stronger each day.<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Working: </b>on finishing up my class this month, organizing, walking more...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Listening:</b> Podcasts... Friendlier, The Mom Hour, Culpable, etc...</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b>Watching: </b>Miss Scarlet and the Duke</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Wishing: </b>that my basement could organize itself</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">What are you reading/listening/watching?</span></b></div></div></div>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6074525941603563773.post-16322031735533118082022-11-14T14:14:00.007-05:002022-11-14T14:14:56.393-05:00Beautiful Country<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-p0E_Lgu5Nbd2xNf1cw_zq_gSPnXxVauUdsguOXqMeBIyQQHs4N3A42_xTabd7Hmc52BPQGdx7mFUvjafGmr0O82d8VybOdgRpI6BxtSUEaRG3SlNU7VSbOY-dDpcdkTnJSo2G1yAB10si-WjcgYxNCmKk3OvPGRRgzG7EfFEcBnC3GA8ix8xgtGCw/s4080/PXL_20221114_160529744.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-p0E_Lgu5Nbd2xNf1cw_zq_gSPnXxVauUdsguOXqMeBIyQQHs4N3A42_xTabd7Hmc52BPQGdx7mFUvjafGmr0O82d8VybOdgRpI6BxtSUEaRG3SlNU7VSbOY-dDpcdkTnJSo2G1yAB10si-WjcgYxNCmKk3OvPGRRgzG7EfFEcBnC3GA8ix8xgtGCw/w151-h200/PXL_20221114_160529744.MP.jpg" width="151" /></a></div><br />I flew through Qian Julie Wang’s memoir. She was born in China and then when she was seven she came to America. She and her parents overstayed the visas they had to enter the country and began a traumatic existence avoiding being caught. <p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a09e09aa-7fff-0d31-47a9-7c6425814bcb"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In China, her dad’s family was shamed because his older brother dared speak out about the government. This brought poverty, shame, and trauma to her dad’s life that he never could escape. In China, her parents were professors, but in America they were, as a “friend” told Qian no-income. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In New York Qian worked alongside her mom in a sweatshop making pennies for her work and looking forward to the bowl of rice provided during her twelve hour shift!!! In Chinese the word for America, MeI Guo, translates to beautiful country. It’s very hard and rightfully so, for Qian to find the beauty in the America she lives in.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She was able to attend a public school and had to figure out how to navigate the second grade without speaking the language. They put her in a special needs classroom where she was largely ignored and taught herself to read in English.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her story was heartbreaking, vivid, and a story that needs to be read and discussed. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>What books on immigration have you read?</b></span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>The Many Thoughts of a Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12261949837343560602noreply@blogger.com0