Life Right Now #5

As I look outside my window: It’s bright and sunny now after a very cloudy morning.

Right now I am: Sorting through all of the library books I just picked up. I got a ton of math books to supplement during our Spring Break.

Thinking and pondering: I have a towering pile of random stuff on my side tablet. I wonder where I should put all this crap?

On my bedside table: I was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman; Walkable City by Jeff Speck

On my tv this week: Continuing our movie month… One more movie tonight before we return to our regular television shows.

Listening to: Catching up on Dungeons and Daddies podcast.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Chicken n Noodles

• Tuesday - Black Bean Soup, Chicken Ranch Tacos

• Wednesday - Cajun Chicken and Sausage Alfredo Pasta

• Thursday - Leftovers

• Friday - Takeout

• Saturday - Mang Cua

• Sunday - Smothered Pork Chops

On my to do list: I need to make eye appointments…

Happening this week: Nothing much beyond a grocery and library visit.

What I am creating: I finished my 2020 Memory Planner and have started working on my 2020 December Daily album. Here’s hoping that I get some time this coming week.

My simple pleasures: Smoothies, fun mail

Looking around the house: Always in a state of disarray. This is what happens when you don’t meaningfully leave the house for a year.

From the camera: The elephants are always my favorite at the zoo.

February 2021 Wrap-up

February TBR Pile (15/24):

1. Book of the Month Club: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides ✓

2. Girly Book Club: Recursion by Blake Crouch (reread for me)

3. Girly Book Club: Disappearing Earth by Julia Philips

4. Friend Book Club: The Widow by Fiona Barton ✓

5. MMD RC: Still Life by Louise Penny

6. Nonfiction: Librarian Tales by William Ottens

7. Nonfiction: Underland by Robert Mcfarlane ✓

8. Romance: Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt ✓

9. Romance: Darling Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt ✓

10. Romance: Sweetest Scoundrel by Elizabeth Hoyt ✓

11. Romance: To Sir Phillip With Love by Julia Quinn

12. Romance: It’s In His His by Julia Quinn

13. Romance: When He was Wicked by Julia Quinn

14. Romance: On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn

15. Scifi: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

16. Scifi: Scythe by Neal Shusterman ✓

17. Fantasy: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

18. Fantasy: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow ✓

19. Added: Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade ✓

20. Added: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark ✓

21. Added: Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt ✓

22. Added: Know My Name by Chanel Miller ✓

23. Added: The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman ✓

24. Kid Read Aloud: Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman ✓

25. Kid Read Aloud: Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North by Dan Bar-el ✓

1,000,000 Page Goal:

Monthly Total: 5058 pages
Pages Remaining: 490,425 pages

Current Read - A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer; Walkable City by Jeff Speck

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Books Bought/Received (0)

UnRead Shelf Progress

• Starting Number: 281

• Books Read: 5

• Books Acquired: 0

• Books Unshelved: 0

• Finishing Number: 276

March TBR Pile:

1. Book of the Month Club: TBD

2. Girly Book Club: Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown

3. Friend Book Club: Dangerous Women by Hope Adams

4. MMD RC: Still Life by Louise Penny

5. MMD RC: I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman

6. Nonfiction: Walkable City by Jeff Speck

7. Nonfiction: From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty

8. Romance: Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt

9. Romance: Duke of Pleasure by Elizabeth Hoyt

10. Romance: Duke of Desire by Elizabeth Hoyt

11. Fantasy: A Vow of Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer

12. Fantasy: Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

13. Fantasy: Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

14. Thriller: Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger

15. Science Fiction: Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

Movies watched - See my separate Movie Month posts for all the details.

TV Shows watched 

• The Watch S1 - We just finished the first season this week. I’m loving it!

• Superstore S6

• Bridgerton S1 - So class to finishing this season.

• Below Deck Med S5 - I’m liking some of the people on this season, but Hannah has got to go.

Comments - I barely squeaked to my reading goal of 15 books this month. February has always been a blah kind of month for reading and this month is no different. We did really enjoy our February movie month and watched some great (and some terrible) movies.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman

Title: The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany

Author: Lori Nelson Spielman

Publisher: Berkley 2020

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 378

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf Project; UnRead Shelf Reading Challenge - Recent Acquisition

Since the day Filomena Fontana cast a curse upon her sister more than two hundred years ago, not one second-born Fontana daughter has found lasting love. Some, like second-born Emilia, the happily-single baker at her grandfather’s Brooklyn deli, claim it’s an odd coincidence. Others, like her sexy, desperate-for-love cousin Lucy, insist it’s a true hex. But both are bewildered when their great-aunt calls with an astounding proposition: If they accompany her to her homeland of Italy, Aunt Poppy vows she’ll meet the love of her life on the steps of the Ravello Cathedral on her eightieth birthday, and break the Fontana Second-Daughter Curse once and for all.

Against the backdrop of wandering Venetian canals, rolling Tuscan fields, and enchanting Amalfi Coast villages, romance blooms, destinies are found, and family secrets are unearthed—secrets that could threaten the family far more than a centuries-old curse.

I had such high hopes for this book and it just fell flat for me. Most of the book is set in modern times and full of what seemed to be a travelogue for Italy. That’s fine, but it didn’t really grab my attention. I really fell for the chapters detailing the romance between Poppy and Rico. I wanted a book just of them. Emilia and Lucy were complete wet blankets in comparison. I just couldn’t seem to get myself to root for either of them. So, I wasn’t super excited about the book and then we get to the revelations and secrets about Poppy and Rosa. And I wanted to throw the book across the room. I was so incredibly mad at Rosa and her entire attitude and actions throughout the story. And we don’t really get any real apology from her. For that matter, I was very disappointed that Emilia’s sister never truly apologies for her behavior toward Emilia. For a book that was touted as being full of family and forgiveness, I felt it was sorely lacking in the forgiveness part. Boring.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Sweetest Scoundrel by Elizabeth Hoyt

Title: Sweetest Scoundrel (Maiden Lane #9)

Author: Elizabeth Hoyt

Publisher: Grand Central 2015

Genre: Romance

Pages: 368

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - NPR Romance; Unread Shelf

SHE'S TAKING CHARGE
Prim, proper, and thrifty, Eve Dinwoody is all business when it comes to protecting her brother's investment. But when she agrees to control the purse strings of London's premier pleasure garden, Harte's Folly, she finds herself butting heads with an infuriating scoundrel who can't be controlled.

HE'S RUNNING THE SHOW
Bawdy and bold, Asa Makepeace doesn't have time for a penny-pinching prude like Eve. As the garden's larger-than-life owner, he's already dealing with self-centered sopranos and temperamental tenors. He's not about to let an aristocratic woman boss him around . . . no matter how enticing she is.

BUT LOVE CONQUERS ALL
In spite of her lack of theatrical experience-and her fiery clashes with Asa-Eve is determined to turn Harte's Folly into a smashing success. But the harder she tries to manage the stubborn rake, the harder it is to ignore his seductive charm and raw magnetism. There's no denying the smoldering fire between them-and trying to put it out would be the greatest folly of all . . .

Another very enjoyable volume in the Maiden Lane series. We finally, finally get to see more of Asa Makepeace. What we saw was enjoyable but not to the level of my favorite male leads from the series. Beyond Asa, I was pretty lukewarm on Eve. She just didn’t have enough to her to make me really love her. I would have like to have seen more discussions between her and Asa, but alas, we get a lot of weird sexual encounters. I wasn’t really here for their steamy scenes. They didn’t feel all that steamy to me. I enjoyed the book, but this isn’t going into my Top 3 for the series. I was intrigued with the parts involving Bridget Crumb and the Duke of Montgomery’s house. I cannot wait to read their story next!

Maiden Lane

• #1 Wicked Intentions

• #2 Notorious Pleasures

• #3 Scandalous Desires

• #4 Thief of Shadows

• #5 Lord of Darkness

• #6 Duke of Midnight

• #7 Darling Beast

• #8 Dearest Rogue

• #9 Sweetest Scoundrel

• #10 Duke of Sin

• #10.5 Once Upon a Moonlit Night

• #10.7 Once Upon a Christmas Eve

• #11 Duke of Pleasure

• #12 Duke of Desire

• #12.5 Once Upon a Maiden Lane

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Movie month has taken some interesting turns. I’ve really been loving our weird selections. The other night we watched The Guest House starring Pauly Shore and it was delightful.

• All soft foods for me for this month before I finally get my dental work done in April.

• Historical romances are my sweet spot right now.

• Not having a dryer is really not great. I hate having to hung the clothes everywhere.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

Title: Know My Name

Author: Chanel Miller

Publisher: Penguin Books 2020

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 384

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

She was known to the world as Emily Doe when she stunned millions with a letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting her on Stanford's campus. Her victim impact statement was posted on BuzzFeed, where it instantly went viral--viewed by eleven million people within four days, it was translated globally and read on the floor of Congress; it inspired changes in California law and the recall of the judge in the case. Thousands wrote to say that she had given them the courage to share their own experiences of assault for the first time.

Now she reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words. It was the perfect case, in many ways--there were eyewitnesses, Turner ran away, physical evidence was immediately secured. But her struggles with isolation and shame during the aftermath and the trial reveal the oppression victims face in even the best-case scenarios. Her story illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life.

This was such a difficult book to read, but it was so incredibly good. The chapters are a very detailed account of Miller’s experience. I ended up finishing the book but had to take a break after each chapter. I wasn’t quite that surprised by anything that happened her to her, but it still make me absolutely full of rage.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dearest Rogue by Elizabeth Hoyt

Title: Dearest Rogue (Maiden Lane #8)

Author: Elizabeth Hoyt

Publisher: Grand Central 2015

Genre: Romance

Pages: 353

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - NPR Romance

HE CAN GUARD HER
Lady Phoebe Batten is pretty, vivacious, and yearning for a social life befitting the sister of a powerful duke. But because she is almost completely blind, her overprotective brother insists that she have an armed bodyguard by her side at all times-the very irritating Captain Trevillion.

FROM EVERY DANGER
Captain James Trevillion is proud, brooding, and cursed with a leg injury from his service in the King's dragoons. Yet he can still shoot and ride like the devil, so watching over the distracting Lady Phoebe should be no problem at all-until she's targeted by kidnappers.

BUT PASSION ITSELF
Caught in a deadly web of deceit, James must risk life and limb to save his charge from the lowest of cads-one who would force Lady Phoebe into a loveless marriage. But while they're confined to close quarters for her safekeeping, Phoebe begins to see the tender man beneath the soldier's hard exterior . . . and the possibility of a life-and love-she never imagined possible.

Captain Trevillion has been an intriguing figure for the entire series. I’m so glad he got his own book and romance. And I have liked Phoebe since she was introduced. I am less enamored with the two of them together. I would have liked a bit more talking and exploration of past events and wanted futures. At times, their relationship felt a bit too paternal on his part. They come together in the end. Plus, I really loved seeing James’s family and meeting Agnes in particular. The best part were the chapter featuring the Duke of Montgomery. I’m very intrigued by him. He reminds me of Lord Caire from the first book. Maybe his story will get a 5 star rating from me. For this book, I still really love the entire series and felt that this book was a very enjoyable volume (but Captain Trevillion can’t beat Lord Caire or the Duke or Wakefield or Winter Makepeace).

Maiden Lane

• #1 Wicked Intentions

• #2 Notorious Pleasures

• #3 Scandalous Desires

• #4 Thief of Shadows

• #5 Lord of Darkness

• #6 Duke of Midnight

• #7 Darling Beast

• #8 Dearest Rogue

• #9 Sweetest Scoundrel

• #10 Duke of Sin

• #10.5 Once Upon a Moonlit Night

• #10.7 Once Upon a Christmas Eve

• #11 Duke of Pleasure

• #12 Duke of Desire

• #12.5 Once Upon a Maiden Lane

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W24: So Much Reading!

What We Studied

This was our last week covering Rome (and boy am I ready to move on). We also continued with jazz, finished one read aloud and started another, and completed another unit in math. It was much too cold to do anything or even go outside (average temperature was -20). Here’s hoping this is a bit warmer.

Literature and Poetry

We finished Fortunately, the Milk on Tuesday and started Sideways Stories from Wayside School on Wednesday. Beyond that, we continued with Arthur reading books to me and a few literature studies.

• Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

• Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

• Polar Bear, Arctic Hare by Eileen Spinelli (poems)

• Dumpy’s Valentine by Julie Andrews Edwards (Arthur read)

• Thomas & Friends: Valentine’s Day in Vicarstown (Arthur read)

• Thomas & Friends: A Valentine for Percy (Arthur read)

• Mouse Loves Love by Lauren Thompson (Arthur read)

• Valentine Surprise by Corinne Demas (Arthur read)

• Too Many Valentines by Margaret McNamara (Arthur read)

• Porcupining by Lisa Wheeler (literature study)

• The Littlest Valentine by Brandi Dougherty (literature study)

• Brave Irene by William Steig (literature study)

• Robot in Love by T.L. McBeth (literature study)

Math

We finished off Unit 2 (review of addition and subtraction) and Unit 3 (measurement) along with another unit on Khan Academy. Next week we should be moving back into more challenging units. We also covered the basic idea of algebra.

• Mystery Math by David A. Adler

Social Studies

We are dong with Rome! This week we covered the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, various art and mythology from Rome, and a general wrap-up of the main people and events we covered.

• Eyewitness Ancient Rome

• Barbarians by Steven Kroll

• The Ancient Romans by Shuter

• Ancient Rome by Mack

• Roman Myths by Eric Braun

Science

Nothing formal this week

Art

Nothing formal this week

Music

Continuing jazz! We got through 1930s-1950s this week. Arthur still likes swing and ragtime over all the other forms we listened to. I’m partial to the blues. He really did not like bebop.

• Jazz by Walter Dean Myers (poems)

• Jazz ABZ by Wynton Marsalis

• Sophisticated Ladies by Leslie Gourse

• Looking for Bird in the Big City by Robert Burleigh

• Dizzy by Jonah Winter

• Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown

• Jazz on a Saturday Night by Leo and Diane Dillon

• The Little Piano Girl by Ann Ingalls and Maryann Macdonald

Unit Theme

Another week, another two holidays to celebrate. We finished up our Valentine’s Day Study in the beginning of the week. And then we covered Presidents’ Day toward the end of the week.

Valentine’s Day

• Celebrate Valentine’s Day by Carolyn Otto

• If You’ll be My Valentine by Cynthia Rylant

• Love by Matt de la Pena

• There’s This Thing by Connah Brecon

• Moo-Moo, I Love You! by Tom Lichtenheld

• Here’s Comes Valentine Cat by Deborah Underwood

• A Short History of Valentine’s Day by Sally Lee

• Love Ruby Valentine by Laurie Friedman

• Duck and Hippo: The Secret Valentine by Jonathan London

• Pete the Cat: Valentine’s Day is Cool by Kimberly and James Dean

• A Giant Crush by Jennifer Choldenko

• Ruby Valentine Saves the Day by Laurie Friedman

• Groggle’s Monster Valentine by Diana Murray

• Mr. Goat’s Valentine by Eve Bunting

• Hedgehog: A Sharp Lesson in Love by Ben Sutton

• The Valentine Express by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

• Love by Stacy McAnulty

• Tucker’s Valentine by Leslie McGuirk

• Love, Splat by Rob Scotton

• Chick n Pug: The Love Pug by Jennifer Sattler

• A Valentine for Frankenstein by Leslie Kimmelman

Presidents’ Day

• Presidents’ Day by Anne Rockwell

• Presidents’ Day by Rachel Grack

• Abraham Lincoln by Peter Benoit

• George Washington by Peter Benoit

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Snow Day by Lester L. Laminack

• Penguin Flies Home by Lita Judge

• Snow Sounds by David A. Johnson

• William’s Winter Nap by Linda Ashman

• If You Come to Earth by Sophie Blackall

• This Pretty Planet by Tom Chapin

Highs

• We started reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School. This was one of my early elementary favorites and I’m really hoping Arthur loves it just as much.

• We read so many books this week! I love reading and I’m so glad that the boys are into it also. Arthur’s reading has improved dramatically since Christmas and I’m super excited!

Epic “snack” dinner that Arthur helped me prepare

Lows

• We didn’t get to spend any time outside because of the frigid temperatures. It’s really hard as we still don’t feel comfortable going to the open gyms and indoor play spaces this winter. Here’s hoping next week gets a bit warmer and we can go outside at least.

Next Week

If the temperatures hold, I’m thinking about a trip to the zoo Wednesday or Thursday. And we’ll make sure to get to the library like usual. As for our subjects, we going to try and finish our jazz unit, complete Unit 4 in math (multiplication), read a chunk of Sideways Stories, and start our Plants and Solar System unit for science. I can’t wait for the Planets and Solar System unit, it’s always one of my favorites. We will be focusing more on space exploration and will definitely highlight the landing of Perseverance last week!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - A Day to Remember "Mindreader"

For the first two months of the year, I decided to do Emo Winter! I’m been really loving The Emo Project channel on Sirius XM Radio. I picked all my selections directly from the channel.

And because The Emo Project kept playing this song, I knew that A Day to Remember had a new album coming out. Yeah! I immediately picked it up on Apple Music and have been listening to the available songs of repeat ever since.

Life Right Now #4

As I look outside my window: Ummm… it started snowing again. Another winter storm warning for today.

Right now I am: Prepping to make brunch

Watching: J and I have added a few more movies to our movie month total. And I have been working my way through Bridgerton S1 finally. Only three more episodes to go!

Listening to: A lot of metal. I’ve had A Day to Remember, Ice Nine Kills, Asking Alexandria, and Black Veil Brides on repeat this week.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Beef Tips with Noodles

• Tuesday - Homemade Pizza (Fig and Prosciutto for adults; Pepperoni for kids)

• Wednesday - Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Soup

• Thursday - Waffles and Breakfast Potatoes

• Friday - Maafe

• Saturday - Leftovers

• Sunday - Chicken Pad Thai Nachos

On my to do list: I really want to work on some of my projects today before the hustle of the homeschooling work starts tomorrow. I’ve also got a hankering to do a puzzle this week as well as finish two books.

Happening this week: We’ll go to the library like we do every week. I’m also thinking about a trip to the zoo on Tuesday or Wednesday. We couldn’t go the last two weeks as the actual temperatures were below zero. This week it should be in the 30s, which we can totally handle for a morning at the zoo.

What I am creating: Lesson plans, per usual. And I’m hoping to work on my November 2020 Memory Planner today.

My simple pleasures: I’m all about the historical romances this month. I don’t want to read any other genre of books, but I should.

Looking around the house: I spent 3 hours yesterday cleaning and reorganizing the kitchen. I feel so much better. Things are in their places. Now to get the other people in this house to not leave things lying around the kitchen…

From the camera: There’s more now, but this was taken this morning around 9am. Things had been melting a bit previous to this morning’s snowfall.

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark

Title: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (Fatma el-Sha'arawi #2)

Author: P. Djeli Clark

Publisher: Tor.com 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 116

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Cairo, 1912: The case started as a simple one for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities — handling a possessed tram car.

Soon, however, Agent Hamed Nasr and his new partner Agent Onsi Youssef are exposed to a new side of Cairo stirring with suffragettes, secret societies, and sentient automatons in a race against time to protect the city from an encroaching danger that crosses the line between the magical and the mundane.

I picked this up as a free ebook from Tor.com. I also remember seeing it on one of the various book blogs I follow and had added it to my TBR at some point. This is a delightful little adventure story featuring some Ministry Agents, a mysterious entity haunting a tram, and a variety of interesting side characters. We’re dropped right into the action, but I quickly caught onto the story and the world. It’s a great mix of supernatural and true history of Cairo. I sped through this short story, but loved every page of it. Such fun! And I piqued my interest in reading more from Clark.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Darling Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt

Title: Darling Beast (Maiden Lane #7)

Author: Elizabeth Hoyt

Publisher: Grand Central 2014

Genre: Romance

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - NPR Romance; Unread Shelf

A MAN CONDEMNED . . .
Falsely accused of murder and mute from a near-fatal beating, Apollo Greaves, Viscount Kilbourne has escaped from Bedlam. With the Crown's soldiers at his heels, he finds refuge in the ruins of a pleasure garden, toiling as a simple gardener. But when a vivacious young woman moves in, he's quickly driven to distraction . . .

A DESPERATE WOMAN . . .
London's premier actress, Lily Stump, is down on her luck when she's forced to move into a scorched theatre with her maid and small son. But she and her tiny family aren't the only inhabitants-a silent, hulking beast of a man also calls the charred ruins home. Yet when she catches him reading her plays, Lily realizes there's more to this man than meets the eye.

OUT OF ASH, DESIRE FLARES
Though scorching passion draws them together, Apollo knows that Lily is keeping secrets. When his past catches up with him, he's forced to make a choice: his love for Lily . . . or the explosive truth that will set him free.

Another successful historical romance in the series. This isn’t my favorite in the series, but I still really really enjoyed this one. Apollo and Lily are great characters and I loved watching them fall for each other despite all the obstacles in their way. I still love that this series adds in a bit of external conflict. That bit of extra really adds to the layer. These books are much less whiny than other historical romances I’ve read. The steamy scenes in this one are definitely very steamy. Just how I like them. I sped read this one in less than two days, but I’m really excited to read the Captain and Phoebe’s book next.

Maiden Lane

• #1 Wicked Intentions

• #2 Notorious Pleasures

• #3 Scandalous Desires

• #4 Thief of Shadows

• #5 Lord of Darkness

• #6 Duke of Midnight

• #7 Darling Beast

• #8 Dearest Rogue

• #9 Sweetest Scoundrel

• #10 Duke of Sin

• #10.5 Once Upon a Moonlit Night

• #10.7 Once Upon a Christmas Eve

• #11 Duke of Pleasure

• #12 Duke of Desire

• #12.5 Once Upon a Maiden Lane

Next up on the TBR pile:

Below Zero Videos

I know it’s past Valentine’s Day, but I found this video fascinating.

Not usually a big fan of true crime, but I’ll totally watch this one.

Fuck yes. I need some teen girl rebellion in my life!

Section with OJ Simpson had me laugh/crying.

This might actually turn out to be really good…

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Title: The Silent Patient

Author: Alex Michaelides

Publisher: Celadon Books 2019

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 336

Rating: 1/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project; Unread Shelf Project Reading Challenge - February

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations―a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

Boring, boring, boring… and then I started to see all the plot holes and got really angry at the book. Even with the first chapter I was a bit bored with the story. I could see that we were getting an unreliable narrator and a mystery that probably wasn’t much of a mystery. All my fears for this book were confirmed about half way through. I got to the end of the book and wanted to just throw this book at the wall. I hated all the characters. I hated the plot. I hated how all the female characters were treated. I hated the giant black holes of plot inconsistencies. I can’t believe that this was one of the Book of the Month books of the year for 2019. Waste of my time.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Title: Spoiler Alert

Author: Olivia Dade

Publisher: Avon 2020

Genre: Romance

Pages: 403

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. The world may know him as Aeneas, star of the biggest show on television, but fanfiction readers call him something else: Book!AeneasWouldNever. Marcus gets out his frustrations with the show through anonymous stories about the internet’s favorite couple, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone discovered his online persona, he’d be finished in Hollywood.

April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she’s long hidden her fanfic and cosplay hobbies from her “real life”—but not anymore. When she dares to post her latest costume creation on Twitter, her plus-size take goes viral. And when Marcus asks her out to spite her internet critics, truth officially becomes stranger than fanfiction.

On their date, Marcus quickly realizes he wants more from April than a one-time publicity stunt. But when he discovers she’s Unapologetic Lavinia Stan, his closest fandom friend, he has one more huge secret to keep from her.

With love and Marcus’s career on the line, can the two of them stop hiding once and for all, or will a match made in fandom end up prematurely cancelled?

I had seen this one on a few lists, but hadn’t jumped at the book because of not great books I had picked up that managed to try to be body inclusive, but still managed to be fatphobic. Fortunately, a few good friends kept recommending this one and I finally picked it up. Definitely a keeper of a romantic comedy. April and Marcus are great characters and this is one realistic and adult romance. I’m so glad that we don’t fall into the whiny angst of some romances. We get two mature adults that are attempting to navigate real life. There was just enough conflict to keep the book moving and enough sexual tension and then steamy scenes to balance it all out. I really loved this one. I wanted to hug this one after closing the last page.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W23: Two Holidays in One Week!

What We Studied

We crammed in two holidays this week: Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day. Even though February is the shortest month, it’s full of holidays and events! We’re trying to hit most of them. Beyond that, we stayed into most of the week as the high temperatures were below zero. The boys lasted about 10 minutes outside one day attempting to play in the snow.

Literature and Poetry

We finished Just Beyond the Very Very Far North and started Fortunately, the Milk for our read aloud. I was sad to leave Duane the Polar Bear and his friends. I really enjoyed those two books.

• Just Beyond the Very Very Far North by Dan Bar-el

• Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

• The Missing Mitten Mystery by Steven Kellogg

• It’s Snowing! It’s Snowing! Winter Poems by Jack Prelutsky

• Thomas & Friends: James Goes Buzz Buzz (Arthur read)

• Outside Your Window by Nicola Davies (poems)

• My Friend Rabbit and the Snow Geese by Eric Rohmann (Arthur read)

Math

We continued with Singapore Math 2A Unit 2. The material is not a challenge (mostly 3 digit addition and subtraction), but it’s been good practice for Arthur before we move on to Unit 3 next week.

Social Studies

We moved on to the Roman Empire. We did a day on the Celts, a day on Julius Caesar and the fall of the Republic, a day on Pompeii, a day on the Colosseum and Roman mosaics, and a general day about the rest of the Empire. We ended up watching three documentaries throughout the week: Nat Geo’s Secrets of the Dead (Pompeii), NOVA’s Roman Catacomb Mystery, and NOVA’s Colosseum. We will be wrapping up Rome next week.

• What Do We Know About the Celts by Hazel Mary Martell

• Hands-on History! The Celts by Fiona Macdonald

• Ancients in Their Own Words: Roman by Michale Kerrigan

• The Ancient Romans by Cohn

• The Ancient Romans by Shuter

• Ancient Rome by Mack

• Eyewitness Ancient Rome

• The Genius of the Romans by Izzi Howell

• Pompeii: Lost and Found by Mary Pope Osborne

• Pompeii: One Roman City, One House… More Than 2000 Years of Change by Richard Platt

• Roman Amphitheaters by Don Nardo

Science

Nothing formal

Art

Nothing formal

Music

Continuing our jazz unit for the month. Turns out Arthur really enjoys swing jazz but not blues jazz. Every week we are covering between 4 and 10 jazz artists. I have a giant stack of picture books featuring various artists and lots of music pieces notated.

• Jazz by Walter Dean Myers (poems)

• Jazz ABZ by Wynton Marsalis

• Sophisticated Ladies by Leslie Gourse

• Stompin’ at the Savoy by Bebe Moore Campbell

• Bring On that Beat by Rachel Isadora

• Piano Starts Here by Robert Andrew Parker

• Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney

• Ella Fitzgerald by Ma Isabel Sanchez Vergara

• Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat by Roxane Orgill

• Ella Queen of Jazz by Helen Hancocks

• The Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt

• Swing Sisters by Karen Deans

• Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson by Lesa Cline-Ransome

Unit Theme

We covered Chinese New Year for the first half of the week. I found a great stack of picture books from the library and we learned a lot!

• Behold… the Dragons by Gail Gibbons

• Celebrate Chinese New Year by Carolyn Otto

• How to Catch a Dragon by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton

• Chelsea’s Chinese New Year by Lisa Bullard

• The Nian Monster by Andrea Wang

• Chinese New Year Colors by Rich Lo

• Ruby’s Chinese New Year by Vickie Lee

• Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim

• Nian, the Chinese New Year Dragon by Virginia Loh-Hagan

• The Little Pigs and the Sweet Rice Cakes by Li Jian

• Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin

• Peppa’s Chinese New Year

On Friday, we make Valentine’s and talked about the holiday. We’ll be continuing Valentine’s Day into next week.

• Valensteins by Ethan Long

Misc. - Random picture books read

• What’s That Noise? by Naomi Howarth

• Lego Star Wars: A New Hope

• Snow by Uri Shulevitz

• I Wish It Would Snow! by Sarah Dillard

• Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin

• Pizza Day by Melissa Iwai

• Winter White by Christianne C. Jones

• Henry and the Yeti by Russell Ayto

• Terrible Storm by Carol Otis Hurst

• Be Brave, Little Penguin by Giles Andreae

• Oh That Snow! by JeongHo Kim

• My Penguin Osbert in Love by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

• All Right Already! A Snowy Story by Jory John & Benji Davies

Highs

• We celebrated National Pizza Day on Tuesday with takeout pizza! We don’t do pizza very often so the boys were very excited.

Lows

• It was too cold to get outside. Meaning I had two kids full of energy and no where to get it out. Pre-pandemic, we would have gone to the gym or the indoor playground. But obviously not right now.

Next Week

We’ll finish our read aloud and start another one (one of my childhood favorites!) and continue with our poems. For social studies, we’ll wrap up Rome to head back to U.S. History of the last week in February. I think we’ll finish Unit 3 in math and get to the 1960s in Jazz. Our theme will be split between Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, and Presidents’ Day.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Finch "Letters to You"

For the first two months of the year, I decided to do Emo Winter! I’m been really loving The Emo Project channel on Sirius XM Radio. I picked all my selections directly from the channel.

Digging this song from a band that I vaguely remember listening to, but never actually owned their albums.

February New Movie Month 2021

It’s become a tradition that we spend most of February watching new-to-us movie month. We kicked off this month with a short list of 100 movies that we wanted to watch. Here’s what we’ve watched so far:

A Tuba to Cuba - Fascinating documentary about New Orleans jazz and Cuba, history and connections. Perfect fit for our jazz study this February.

Akira - J convince me to watch it. I’m not a huge Anime fan, but I do know that this is essential viewing. Definitely a good movie.

The Commuter - Totally forgettable Liam Neeson movie full of plot holes.

Bang Bang Baby - What a strangely wonderful movie. The ending really threw me, but totally makes sense in retrospect.

Rush - Yet another car racing movie that I didn’t know I needed to watch, but really really enjoyed.

The Boy Band Con - Another fascinating documentary that got a lot darker than I thought it would.

Freaks of Nature - A super fun B horror movie. I really enjoyed this one for the entertainment value. Especially loved Patton Oswalt’s cameo.

Terminal - An Alice in Wonderland inspired thriller. We had fun deciding who each character was supposed to be. I think Simon Pegg’s character was supposed to be Lewis Carroll himself.

Fantasy Island - Pretty forgettable horror movie full of plot holes.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Not the biggest fan of Quentin Tarantino, but this one was really good. I loved the ending.

Willy’s Wonderland - That was so fucking weird. But I do appreciate Nic Cage’s nonsense.

Next Up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #3

As I look outside my window: The snow is so sparkly! But I just now that the temperatures are below zero. But I want to go to the library later. Guess I better wear all the layers.

Right now I am: Maybe breakfast. Contemplating doing a Valentine’s day craft with the boys. Or maybe a puzzle.

On my bedside table: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and Darling Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt

On my tv this week: We kept at our movie month and managed to watch 6 this past week.

Listening to: Just podcasts this week. Thinking I might need to put on some soothing background music for our afternoon school sessions.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Ham and Potato Soup

• Tuesday - Belgian Waffles and Breakfast Potatoes

• Wednesday - BBQ Cheddar Meatloaf

• Thursday - Charcuterie Board

• Friday - Blackened Salmon

• Saturday - Roasted Lemon Chicken Thighs with Potatoes

• Sunday - Homemade Pizza Night

On my to do list: I really need to go to the DMV this week. My biggest to-do!

Happening this week: It’s grocery week, but I think I’m going to push it to Wednesday as the temperature highs for Monday and Tuesday are going to be around -15 degrees. I imagine that we will go to the library Thursday or Friday. Otherwise, it’s a normal week.

What I am creating: I finish my October Memory Planner pages yesterday so I hope to find some time to start November’s pages today.

My simple pleasures: Fuzzy blankets, Quentin snuggles, a new friend to text, hot tea

Looking around the house: The boys have destroyed the playroom. They really need to clean that today. I need to put away all the clean laundry and wash the sheets. Fun times over here.

From the camera: Arthur’s current art gallery about his bunk bed.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Title: Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1)

Author: Neal Shusterman

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2016

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Pages: 330

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

I finally picked this up and it was really really hard to put down at the end of the night to sleep. I was immediately right into the story and the world that Shusterman creates. I wanted to understand how a world got to the point that we join the story. I loved that eventually we got to learn more about the Thunderhead. Hope that continues throughout the other two books. As to the scythes themselves, Citra and Rowan are great lead characters. But really makes it are the side characters. Scythes Faraday, Curie, and yes, even Goddard are fascinating figures to follow. I’m glad the book doesn’t fall into the whiny teen romance trap, but focuses on the questions of the scythes and death. Definitely have to pick up the second book in the series soon.

Arc of a Scythe:

• #1 Scythe

• #2 Thunderhead

• #3 The Toll

Next up on the TBR pile: