Which means I’ll be reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I’ll take a look at the book later today and figure out if I want to do a read along.
Total # of books for the year: 29. Do you know that feeling of wanting to finish a book, but not wanting to finish it at the same time because it’s so, so good and the last book in a series and you just never want it to end? That was me this week with The Raven King. Since I also didn’t feel like reading anything else, I didn’t turn many pages, especially this weekend. Instead, I came up with a million other things I *needed* to do. Also, the Boyfriend was out of town all weekend so I was doing all the things I don’t do when he’s around for the sake of our relationship, including binge watching Gilmore Girls, catching up on Outlander, and listening to music he’s not into through my wonderfully loud stereo speakers instead of my headphones.
Total # of books for the year: 29. Do you know that feeling of wanting to finish a book, but not wanting to finish it at the same time because it’s so, so good and the last book in a series and you just never want it to end? That was me this week with The Raven King. Since I also didn’t feel like reading anything else, I didn’t turn many pages, especially this weekend. Instead, I came up with a million other things I *needed* to do. Also, the Boyfriend was out of town all weekend so I was doing all the things I don’t do when he’s around for the sake of our relationship, including binge watching Gilmore Girls, catching up on Outlander, and listening to music he’s not into through my wonderfully loud stereo speakers instead of my headphones.
It’s that time again! The Classics Club is doing another Spin. I was not at all successful with the last Classics Club Spin, but I’m hoping this time around will go better. Below is my Spin list. On Monday, a number between 1 and 20 will be chosen, and I’ll be reading the book from my list that corresponds with that number. I’ll have until August 1st to finish it. Depending on which book it is, I might do a read-along.
I didn’t even come close to meeting my goal for this week, even after I made the decision to redo week 9 (averaging 9K steps a day). I’m not going to bother blaming this on anything because that doesn’t matter and is beside the point.
I’m going to redo week 9 again this week and, hopefully, get off my rear end enough to do it. At least I went well over my stairs and active minutes goals again.
If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
Total # of books for the year: 28. I’m late with this post because it’s Memorial Day; one of the darkest days of the year for me. It’s not a “happy” day and I don’t “celebrate” it because the definitions of those words don’t match up with what this day means. Instead, I stay off the internet to avoid all the attempts at patriotism and photos and videos that rip my heart into pieces even more than this day already does. I don’t go to cookouts or pool parties or waste money on useless crap that is on sale during a day when most people don’t have to work. Instead, I remember the soldiers I knew personally who were killed while in Iraq or Afghanistan and the funerals I attended for those who came back but couldn’t get those places out of their heads. I also practice a lot of self-care. I’ll be back later this week.
Total # of books for the year: 28. I’m late with this post because it’s Memorial Day; one of the darkest days of the year for me. It’s not a “happy” day and I don’t “celebrate” it because the definitions of those words don’t match up with what this day means. Instead, I stay off the internet to avoid all the attempts at patriotism and photos and videos that rip my heart into pieces even more than this day already does. I don’t go to cookouts or pool parties or waste money on useless crap that is on sale during a day when most people don’t have to work. Instead, I remember the soldiers I knew personally who were killed while in Iraq or Afghanistan and the funerals I attended for those who came back but couldn’t get those places out of their heads. I also practice a lot of self-care. I’ll be back later this week.
This month’s #ShelfLove discussion is all about the real places in books that we would visit. While I would love to say I’d go on a road trip across the US, visiting all the literary spots that American literature has to offer, I realized after being honest with myself that the literary locations I want to travel to are, with one exception, in Europe. Without further ado, here is the literary vacation I would take if time and money weren’t an issue.
First stop: Scotland
Image: Moyan Brenn
If you are someone who knows me well enough to know what my favorite series is, then you would also know that the first place I would visit, and where I want to someday move to, is Scotland. Particularly the Highlands of Scotland, but, thanks to the Boyfriend’s Scottish roots, I would also traipse around the Lowlands. I would probably need a year to see every little spot and visit every library and bookstore.
Next stop: England
Image: rawenImage: summonedbyfells
I wouldn’t spend nearly as much time in England, but it would still take me awhile to see everything because I would visit for two reasons. The first being that I would have to visit every real place mentioned in the Harry Potter series. The second being that I could not go to England without seeing anything and everything related to J.R.R Tolkien. Also, I would want to stay in Podditon. Perhaps half a year would suffice.
Next stop: France
Image: marnix.catteeuw
I would spend even less time in France, but I added it to my list of literary vacation spots after I read The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. The idea of slowly making my way down the Seine in a barge full of books and stopping for a long visit in Cuisery while improving my spoken French seems like the perfect way to spend a lazy month or two.
Last stop: New Zealand
Image: Tom Hall
This is another obvious choice if you know me well enough to know my all-time favorite book. Thanks to that book and The Lord of the Rings books being made into movies, I can now visit the home of my people, Hobbiton, as well as other Middle Earth locations. I would probably only stay here for a week or so before heading back home to Texas.
If you won the lottery or had a seemingly endless trust fund and lots of time to kill, where would you go?
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The reason why I stopped reading this book is because of the two scenes of sexual violence that occurred not even halfway through this 53-page novella. The blurb on Goodreads is much better at pointing out the fact that this book may trigger some readers, but all the blurb on Netgalley says is, “This book is intended for mature audiences” and Sadie’s step-father’s “cruelty.” I didn’t know that was code for “graphic sexual violence.” Otherwise, I wouldn’t have requested it.
I finally lost another pound, but I’m not counting it as truly gone until it hasn’t returned for a week.
This week, my goal was to average 9k steps per day. That didn’t happen, even though I started out the week with enough extra steps to have a couple rest days. However, my mood, my feet, and the weather combined to keep me from walking enough to meet my goal. I may have to get a bit tougher with myself to make sure I get my steps.
On the plus side, I went well over my stairs and active minutes goals.
If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
