July 2020 Wrap-up

July TBR Pile (22/43)

1. Book of the Month Club: The End of October by Lawrence Wright

2. BOTM: Home Before Dark by Riley Sager ✓

3. BOTM: One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

4. Girly Book Club: Get a Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert ✓

5. Friend Book Club: The Witches are Coming by Lindy West ✓

6. Unread Shelf Random (Jan): Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

7. UnRead Shelf Selection (Feb): Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

8. UnRead Shelf Random (June): Craft a Life You Love by Amy Tangerine

9. Unread Shelf Random (July): Every Hidden Thing by Kenneth Oppel

10. Goodreads To Read Random (Jan): Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

11. Goodreads To Read Random (July): Dread Nation by Justina Ireland ✓

12. TBR Jar Random (July): Pines by Blake Crouch ✓

13. May Theme Wrap-up: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

14. May Theme Wrap-up: The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

15. May Theme Wrap-up: The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

16. May Theme Wrap-up: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

17. June Theme Wrap-up: Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn

18. June Theme Wrap-up: Conjure Women by Afia Atakora ✓

19. June Theme Wrap-up: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

20. June Theme Wrap-up: Across the Universe by Beth Revis ✓

21. Theme 1: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

22. Theme 1: Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson ✓

23. Theme 1: Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

24. Theme 2: The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

25. Theme 2: Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch ✓

26. Theme 2: The Guest List by Lucy Foley ✓

27. YA: Wicked as You Wish by Rin Chupeco

28. Nonfiction: The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

29. Nonfiction: A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg ✓

30. Horror: Sanctum by Madeleine Roux

31. Horror: The Asylum Novellas by Madeleine Roux

32. Horror: Catacomb by Madeleine Roux

33. Horror: The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs ✓

34. Science Fiction: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells ✓

35. Science Fiction: Network Effect by Martha Wells ✓

36. Added: Once & Future Vol. 1 ✓

37. Added: Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo ✓

38. Added: On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service by Rhys Bowen ✓

39. Added: Pandemic 1918 by Catharine Arnold ✓

40. Added: Tweet Cute by Emma Lord ✓

41. Added: Galatea by Madeline Miller ✓

42. Added: Shrill by Lindy West ✓

43. Added: A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow ✓

1,000,000 Page Goal:

Monthly Total: 6736 pages
Pages Remaining: 527,031 pages

Current Read - Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt; Wicked as You Wish by Rin Chupeco

Books I Gave Up On (0) 

Books bought/received (1) - My BOTM selection for July was Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I’m excited to dive into that one for August.

August TBR Pile:

1. Book of the Month Club: One Day in December by Josie Silver

2. BOTM: The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

3. BOTM: One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

4. Girly Book Club: My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

5. Friend Book Club: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

6. Unread Shelf Random (Jan): Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

7. UnRead Shelf Selection (Feb): Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

8. UnRead Shelf Random (June): Craft a Life You Love by Amy Tangerine

9. Unread Shelf Random (July): Every Hidden Thing by Kenneth Oppel

10. Goodreads To Read Random (Jan): Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

11. Goodreads To Read Random (August): The Ship of Dreams by Gareth Russell

12. TBR Jar Random (August): Delirium by Lauren Oliver

13. May Theme Wrap-up: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

14. May Theme Wrap-up: The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

15. May Theme Wrap-up: The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

16. May Theme Wrap-up: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

17. May Theme Wrap-up: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

18. June Theme Wrap-up: Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn

19. June Theme Wrap-up: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

20. July Theme Wrap-up: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

21. July Theme Wrap-up: The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

22. Theme 1: Partials by Dan Wells

23. Theme 1: The End of October by Lawrence Wright

24. Theme 1: The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov

25. Theme 2: Sanctum by Madeleine Roux

26. Theme 2: Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams

27. Theme 2: TBD

28. YA: Wicked as You Wish by Rin Chupeco

29. Nonfiction: The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

30. Horror: The Asylum Novellas by Madeleine Roux

31. Horror: Catacomb by Madeleine Roux

32. MMD: Beach Read by Emily Henry

33. MMD:: Redhead By the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler

34. MMD: Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen

35. Library: The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

36. Library: City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

37. Library: The Fifth Avenue Story Society by Rachel Hauck

38. Library: Seven Endless Forests by April Genevieve Tucholke

39. Romance: Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt

40. Romance: Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt

Movies watched

• Stuffed - Strange doc about taxidermists. Loved it!

• Overboard (2018) - Not as bad as I thought it was going to be, but not good.

• Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - J made me watch. Way funnier than I anticipated.

• Eurovision - Tonally all over the place, but had some great funny moments.

• Palm Springs - Total delight! Loved Andy Sandberg.

• Yesterday - Don’t think about it too hard and then it’s great.

• The Personal History of David Copperfield - Such a delightful movie. Loved it.

• Psych 2: Lassie Come Home - We needed some light-hearted fun!

• The Bit Player - Fascinating documentary about Claude Shannon

• The Current War - A bit muddled, but decent.

TV Shows watched 

• Battlestar Galactica S2

• Below Deck: Med S3

• Cosmos S2

• Avenue 5 S1 - This was a delight! I can’t wait for S2.

• The 100 S7

Comments - Holy cow! Another huge reading moth! I knocked off a ton of books from my TBR pile and didn’t add to many. Looking forward to August. I imagine my reading will go down a bit with Arthur starting homeschooling and lots of big changes to our very lax schedule right now.

Next up on the TBR pile:

What Day is It Videos?

I’m beyond excited about this one coming back!

Oh goodness… This is going to be a wild ride

Might be interesting

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

Title: Midnight Riot (Rivers of London #1)

Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Publisher: Del Rey 2011

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 322

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Monthly Theme

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

Been on my TBR list for years, I finally picked it up and was pleasantly surprised by this police crime / fantasy novel. I really enjoyed diving into Peter Grant’s life and revelations to the world beyond. I loved the mythology of the city and the various inhabitants. I want to learn more of what’s going on under the surface. I want to learn more about Nightingale and Molly (although I have my suspicions as to what they are). I really enjoyed the murder mystery in this volume and can’t wait to see what happens in the second book. Great urban fantasy!

Rivers of London

• #1 Midnight Riot

• #2 Moon Over Soho

• #3 Whispers Under Ground

• #4 Broken Homes

• #5 Foxglove Summer

• #6 The Hanging Tree

• #7 Lies Sleeping

• #8 False Value

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Witches are Coming by Lindy West

Title: The Witches are Coming

Author: Lindy West

Publisher: Hachette Books 2019

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 272

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual - Feminism; Ebook

From the moment powerful men started falling to the #MeToo movement, the lamentations began: this is feminism gone too far, this is injustice, this is a witch hunt. In The Witches Are Coming, firebrand author of the New York Times bestselling memoir and now critically acclaimed Hulu TV series Shrill, Lindy West, turns that refrain on its head. You think this is a witch hunt? Fine. You've got one.
In a laugh-out-loud, incisive cultural critique, West extolls the world-changing magic of truth, urging readers to reckon with dark lies in the heart of the American mythos, and unpacking the complicated, and sometimes tragic, politics of not being a white man in the twenty-first century. She tracks the misogyny and propaganda hidden (or not so hidden) in the media she and her peers devoured growing up, a buffet of distortions, delusions, prejudice, and outright bullsh*t that has allowed white male mediocrity to maintain a death grip on American culture and politics-and that delivered us to this precarious, disorienting moment in history.
West writes, "We were just a hair's breadth from electing America's first female president to succeed America's first black president. We weren't done, but we were doing it. And then, true to form-like the Balrog's whip catching Gandalf by his little gray bootie, like the husband in a Lifetime movie hissing, 'If I can't have you, no one can'-white American voters shoved an incompetent, racist con man into the White House."
We cannot understand how we got here-how the land of the free became Trump's America-without examining the chasm between who we are and who we think we are, without fact-checking the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and each other. The truth can transform us; there is witchcraft in it. Lindy West turns on the light.

Overall a very solid collection of essays. There were many that had me laughing hysterically and there were a few that had me in tears. But most of the essays had me so incredibly mad. And I’m a person who knew most of this us. I still came away with a feeling of wanting to smash the patriarchy (and a few particular men). This collection is definitely prescient in the time of #MeToo and the ongoing revelations of people’s wrongdoings. Unfortunately, we are now in the midst of COVID and Black Lives Matter and these essays fell a bit flat at times. Of course, West could not foresee the future and how our lives would change in 2020, but I still felt that something was missing from this collection. Overall I did really enjoy readying it. I’m just not the biggest fan of essay collections.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Title: Dread Nation (Dread Nation #1)

Author: Justine Ireland

Publisher: Balzer + Bray 2018

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 418

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: GR Random; Monthly Theme

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever.

In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead.

But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It's a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston's School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose.

But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. 

And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

Oh my goodness! This was a thrilling ride! I immediately starting rooting for Jane, but know bad things were going to happen to her (that’s how zombie books go). I loved starting at Miss Preston’s school before venturing out into the world outside. I loved the world Ireland creates. I’m a sucker for good alternative history. This world is a horrible yet fascinating one. I was fully invested in the characters and the story. Like Jane, I needed to see what was really going on in Baltimore and in Summerland. Even Katherine grew on me and I daresay, I actually like her now! I can’t wait to read the second book and find out who made it out of Summerland (fingers crossed for Gideon) and who our characters have still yet to meet.

Dread Nation

• #1 Dread Nation

• #2 Deathless Divide

Next up on the TBR pile:

We're Homeschooling! What We've Been Doing Since March

After a very long discussion about the current state of the world and the immediate future, J and I decided to pull Arthur from public school and homeschool this year. We did not make this decision lightly, but feel like it is the best one for our family right now. We’re hoping that next year things will improve and we can send him back to public school for 2nd grade.

Once we decided, the hard questions came. What do we teach? How do we teach? What do we buy? What is this going to look like? What about Quentin? These and many more questions arose…

To start off, we’ve been doing some informal weekly unit studies since school shut down in March. The school closing was very abrupt and remote learning did not offer much for Arthur to continue learning. Through no fault of his teacher, we were just given a few basic math and language arts worksheets plus a few class zoom calls. Lots of frustration! In April, I started thinking about unit studies to give our weeks a bit of structure and routine. We were foreseeing lots of closings and most days in the house. And thank goodness I started planning early! For 11 weeks now, we’ve started most weekdays with a few language arts and math pages and moved on to videos, books, activities, and projects related to a broad topic. We’ve covered:

• Art History - including our own versions of Starry Night, prehistoric cave paintings, and Water Lilies

• Ancient Greece

• Farms

• Space and Planets

• Aesop’s Fables and Fairy Tales

• U.S. Geography

• Fourth of July (American Symbols, Revolutionary War, etc)

• Rainforests

• Moving West

• Ponds, Lakes, and Rivers

• Bugs and Bees

These simple unit studies have kept Arthur (and even Quentin) engaged in learning something even when we’ve been stuck in the house. Most of our materials came from googling free resources online. The library opened back up for curbside pickup of holds only in June, so we’ve been utilizing that every week for read alouds and nonfiction books on the topics. I bought a few things here or there, but mostly have kept our expenses near $0. This plan has been working well for us, but August is going to be a different beast to tackle.

Research and decisions coming soon in Part 2…

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - The Lumineers "Salt and the Sea"

Such a haunting song…

An amazing live version!

Life Right Now #25

As I look outside my window: It’s overcast today, but make no mistake, it’s still going to be ridiculous hot!

Right now I am: Trying to steal 5 quiet minutes before I have to make food (story of my life).

On my bedside table: The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov; some Regency romance series?

On my tv this week: Moving through S2 of Battlestar Galactica, S3 of Below Deck Med, and S7 of The 100.

Listening to: Nothing but podcasts…

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Leftovers

• Tuesday - Fish Chowder Soup (Australia)

• Wednesday - Firecracker Chicken

• Thursday - Baked Potato Soup

• Friday - Shrimp Burrito Bowl

• Saturday - Crab and Asparagus Soup (Vietnam)

• Sunday - Leftovers

On my to do list: I need to wrap up Alex’s school registration plus I need to call Arthur’s assigned school to tell them that we are going to homeschool. Beyond that, it’s the usually house chores and such.

Happening this week: We actually have a few things on the calendar for this coming week. On Tuesday, I’m going to a friend’s house for a pool party and I have Girly Book Club. On Wednesday, I’m picking up holds at the library and I have my other book club that night. On Thursday or Friday, I’m hoping to get to Target for the last of the school supplies and probably a few food items to hold us over until grocery day.

This will also be our last week for “summer school.” We’re closing out our unit studies with Insects and Bees. Arthur’s excited.

What I am creating: Lesson plans for homeschool and blog post mainly. I want to get back to paper crafting, but my motivation and inspiration has disappeared.

My simple pleasures: A cup of coffee, a good zombie book, cloudy days (even if it’s still hot as hell out there)

Looking around the house: J almost has the basement shop prepped for painting the cinder block walls before starting framing it out. Making a bit of progress. Nothing else has happened upstairs, but I’m really contemplating a ceiling fan for our bedroom. Air flow is terrible in there.

From the camera: Being scientists…

Pines by Blake Crouch

Title: Pines (The Wayward Pines #1)

Author: Blake Crouch

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer 2012

Genre: Scifi?

Pages: 315

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library; Random TBR Pick

Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of his arrival, Ethan is involved in a violent accident. He comes to in a hospital, with no ID, no cell phone, and no briefcase. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels…off. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into the disappearance of his colleagues turns up more questions than answers. Why can’t he get any phone calls through to his wife and son in the outside world? Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what is the purpose of the electrified fences surrounding the town? Are they meant to keep the residents in? Or something else out? Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan further from the world he thought he knew, from the man he thought he was, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive.

Been meaning to read this series for awhile now. Finally picked it up and man, was that a ride. I read this one in just two days. Crouch really knows how to set the pace of a book and never let up. I just had to keep reading to find out what happens next. Overall, Ethan is not a great hero, but more of an everyman thrust into a weird situation. This book is not super deep or complicated, but I did love the ride. The ending is a crazy reveal and I was taken aback a bit. I will be putting the next in the series on my TBR.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Shrill by Lindy West

Title: Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman

Author: Lindy West

Publisher: Hachette Books 2016

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 272

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Coming of age in a culture that demands women be as small, quiet, and compliant as possible--like a porcelain dove that will also have sex with you--writer and humorist Lindy West quickly discovered that she was anything but.

From a painfully shy childhood in which she tried, unsuccessfully, to hide her big body and even bigger opinions; to her public war with stand-up comedians over rape jokes; to her struggle to convince herself, and then the world, that fat people have value; to her accidental activism and never-ending battle royale with Internet trolls, Lindy narrates her life with a blend of humor and pathos that manages to make a trip to the abortion clinic funny and wring tears out of a story about diarrhea.

With inimitable good humor, vulnerability, and boundless charm, Lindy boldly shares how to survive in a world where not all stories are created equal and not all bodies are treated with equal respect, and how to weather hatred, loneliness, harassment, and loss, and walk away laughing. Shrill provocatively dissects what it means to become self-aware the hard way, to go from wanting to be silent and invisible to earning a living defending the silenced in all caps.

One of my book clubs picked West’s newer book, The Witches are Coming, as our July selection. But on eof the members said that we should read her first book before if we could. SO I grabbed it from the library and started reading. Overall, I really enjoyed this collection of essays focused on identity and sexism. I really enjoyed West’s voice throughout the stories. Often I was laughing and then crying, all in the same 5 pages. There are some really powerful messages in this collection. My issue with most essay collections, is that the message started to become repetitive when reading them all in a row. I think i prefer collections where there are multiple authors writing about a topic. Still a good read.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

Title: A Song Below Water

Author: Bethany C. Morrow

Publisher: Tor Teen 2020

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 288

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook; Monthly Theme

In a society determined to keep her under lock and key, Tavia must hide her siren powers.

Meanwhile, Effie is fighting her own family struggles, pitted against literal demons from her past. Together, these best friends must navigate through the perils of high school’s junior year.

But everything changes in the aftermath of a siren murder trial that rocks the nation, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice at the worst possible moment.

Soon, nothing in Portland, Oregon, seems safe. To save themselves from drowning, it’s only Tavia and Effie’s unbreakable sisterhood that proves to be the strongest magic of all.

I wanted to love this book so much! I was intrigued about the siren aspect of the summary. I was craving another really good exploration of current social issues. And just look at that cover! How could I resist? Unfortunately the reality is not great. Bottom line: Morrow tries to do too much in a short amount of pages leading to a muddled mess of topics and storytelling. Explained more: there are multiple aspects that I did not like.

• The pacing is incredibly slow for the first half of the book. And then the second half of the book turns it up to 11, leaving me with whiplash while reading.

• The writing style is somewhere between straight first person and stream of consciousness and it’s confusing and annoying. Both main characters often trailed off in the middle of explaining to focus on something else leaving me with confusion.

• Speaking of explaining, there is none when it comes to the mythical creatures. We are never treated to a true look at how they exist within our society. They seem to just be thrown in randomly. Why include them if there’s no real exploration? Just make this a contemporary YA novel, no fantasy.

• The focus of social justice was lost completely in the rest of the mess.

If you want to read a good fantasy novel that explores race and identity, pick up The Deep by Rivers Solomon. Amazing book! And it has actual mermaids! Or grab Solomon’s other book, An Unkindness of Ghosts, for a science fiction version.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Galatea by Madeline Miller

Title: Galatea

Author: Madeline Miller

Publisher: Ecco 2013

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 20

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

In Ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece – the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen – the gift of life. Now his wife, Galatea is expected to be obedience and humility personified, but it is not long before she learns to use her beauty as a form of manipulation. In a desperate bid by her obsessive husband to keep her under control, she is locked away under the constant supervision of doctors and nurses. But with a daughter to rescue, she is determined to break free, whatever the cost...

Very quick little retelling of the Pygmalion myth. I wasn’t quite sure what this was but I loved Miller’s two full length novels, so I had to read this little short. I loved the shift in perspective to the statue. I loved the nods to the original Greek myths. Quick fun read.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Finally getting close to acquiring my materials for homeschooling…

• I need to pop into Target next week for the last of our school supplies.

• So much food in our fridge and it’s a colossal mess. Really need to clean things up a bit.

• Working on my August TBR pile. So many choices!

• Just scheduled a pool day with a friend for next week. Seriously, it’s just so hot outside lately…

Next up on the TBR pile:

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

Title: Tweet Cute

Author: Emma Lord

Publisher: Wednesday Books 2020

Genre: YA Romance

Pages: 368

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook; MMD 2020

Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.

Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.

All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built.

As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.

A very cute contemporary young adult romance. I wasn’t completely blown away, but I ended up smiling throughout most of the book. Pepper and Jack are great characters and I do like how we see the story from each perspective. I loved some of the side characters, mostly Pooja and Paul, but Paige was cool too. of course, the parents in this novel are made out to be completely clueless in regards to their kids. Common trope in YA novels and one that gets really old to read when you’re not 16 years old. I would have liked to see more at the end of the book, but like usual, the ending is very rushed. Overall, it was an enjoyable couple days read.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

Title: A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table

Author: Molly Wizenberg

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2010

Genre: Nonfiction - Cooking; Memoir

Pages: 352

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library; MMD Previous

In A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table, Molly Wizenberg recounts a life with the kitchen at its center. From her mother's pound cake, a staple of summer picnics during her childhood in Oklahoma, to the eggs she cooked for her father during the weeks before his death, food and memories are intimately entwined. You won't be able to decide whether to curl up and sink into the story or to head straight to the market to fill your basket with ingredients for Cider-Glazed Salmon and Pistachio Cake with Honeyed Apricots.

Once again, I’m reminded that I don’t really like memoirs. I always go into them thinking that I will enjoy hearing about someone’s life, only to come away with a “meh” feeling about most of them. I thought this one might be different with the focus on food and recipes. I still didn’t really care about her life. I was intrigued by some of the recipes, but many of them feel very mundane. I would rather just pick up a cookbook and attempt the recipes. Not a bad book, just definitely not for me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Title: Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1)

Author: Beth Revis

Publisher: Razorbill 2011

Genre: YA Scifi

Pages: 416

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf; Monthly Theme

Amy is a cryogenically frozen passenger aboard the spaceship Godspeed. She has left her boyfriend, friends--and planet--behind to join her parents as a member of Project Ark Ship. Amy and her parents believe they will wake on a new planet, Centauri-Earth, three hundred years in the future. But fifty years before Godspeed's scheduled landing, cryo chamber 42 is mysteriously unplugged, and Amy is violently woken from her frozen slumber.

Someone tried to murder her.

Now, Amy is caught inside an enclosed world where nothing makes sense. Godspeed's 2,312 passengers have forfeited all control to Eldest, a tyrannical and frightening leader. And Elder, Eldest's rebellious teenage heir, is both fascinated with Amy and eager to discover whether he has what it takes to lead.

Amy desperately wants to trust Elder. But should she put her faith in a boy who has never seen life outside the ship's cold metal walls? All Amy knows is that she and Elder must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets before whoever woke her tries to kill again.

CW: Sexual Assault

I just read a muddle of a science fiction, romance, murder mystery and it was not good at all. I was intrigued by the premise and I usually love a generation ship story. But this one was a mess and I was not impressed at all. Breaking it down with bullet points:

• Too many genres in one book! Seriously, just pick a few…

• Sloppy writing. At times, I had to reread paragraphs because the writing was confusing. I had a lot of trouble “seeing” the action and setting easily.

• Boring characters. We know virtually nothing about Amy other than she misses her “daddy” and Earth boyfriend and likes to run. Okay… and? Elder is a wet blanket most of the time, a milquetoast person. I got really nothing from him. The most interesting characters were other inhabitants of the Ward, but we spend little time with them.

• So many predictable twists. I called the murderer a mile away. Revealing who unplugged Amy was silly and made me really hate that character even more. Of course the ship is delayed. They are always delayed (or off course). So so predictable.

• That attempted rape came out of nowhere, was way too graphic, and also sensual. Just no!

I could probably keep ranting, but I’d rather go read something good. Needless to say, I will not be continuing this series.

Across the Universe

• #1 Across the Universe

• #2 A Million Suns

• #3 Shades of Earth

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Cold War Kids "Who's Gonna Love Me Now"

Weird video, great song

Life Right Now #24

As I look outside my window: It’s a bit overcast, but still going to clear up and be over 90 degrees today. Thankfully tomorrow the high is 80 degrees. I need to open these windows again and get some fresh air!

Right now I am: Sorting through all the random school resources I downloaded this week. I just found a great music listening journal template that I’m totally going to use.

Thinking and pondering: Do I have enough energy today to clean the toilets? Who am I kidding? I will find every excuse to not clean the toilets, but then, the toilets don’t get cleaned because no one else in this house is going to do it.

On my bedside table: Across the Universe by Beth Revis; Shrill by Lindy West

On my tv this week: We’re slowly starting S2 of Battlestar Galactica. I made some progress on Below Deck and The 100.

Listening to: Just podcasts. I’ve really enjoyed quiet this week.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Kale and White Bean Soup

• Tuesday - Monterrey Chicken Skillet

• Wednesday - Baked Potato Soup

• Thursday - Spicy Shrimp Burrito Bowls

• Friday - Leftovers

• Saturday - Sweet Potato Nachos

• Sunday - Pineapple BBQ Chicken

On my to do list: I want to work through some more of the homeschool resources I found. I’m slowly getting everything prepped for August. I also know we need to continue organizing the garage. It’s looking so much better, but still a lot of stuff in there that shouldn’t be in there. And I suspect some trash (mostly just old boxes, not like rotting food trash).

Happening this week: I made another library pickup appointment for Wednesday. And this week is grocery week, although my list is in shambles right now. Guess I know what I’m doing tonight.

What I am creating: Lesson plans mainly. But I do want to print my June memory planner photos and work on a “me” project this week.

My simple pleasures: Quiet, a cool breeze, a chat with a friend.

Looking around the house: I need to vacuum and do a general pickup. Plus, those darn toilets won’t clean themselves.

From the camera: Most of this week’s library book haul.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Title: The Guest List

Author: Lucy Foley

Publisher: William Morrow 2020

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 320

Rating: /5 stars

Reading Challenges: Monthly Theme

The bride – The plus one – The best man – The wedding planner  – The bridesmaid – The body

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.

But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.

And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?

I borrowed this one from a friend in a BOTM exchange. I sped through this one in only two days, flipping the pages to see who was killed and who was the killer. This is a standard thriller where a murder happens but there are multiple suspects with various motives. I liked the shifting points of view to get the stories of the various guests. Foley slowly unravels motives for at least half of the characters in the story. We learn past mistakes and current secrets. By the second half of the book, I was speculating on the whos. I called who was murdered, but did not quite grasp the murderer until the reveal. And it’s a good one! Definitely an enjoyable murder mystery.

Next up on the TBR pile:

On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service by Rhys Bowen

Title: On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service (Royal Spyness #11)

Author: Rhys Bowen

Publisher: Berkley

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 298

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library

When royal sleuth Georgie Rannoch receives a letter from her dearest friend Belinda, who's in an Italian villa awaiting the birth of her illegitimate baby, she yearns to run to her side. If only she could find a way to get there! But then opportunity presents itself in a most unexpected way—her cousin the queen asks her to attend a house party in the Italian Lake Country. The Prince of Wales and the dreadful Mrs. Simpson have been invited, and Her Majesty is anxious to thwart a possible secret wedding.

What luck! A chance to see Belinda, even if it is under the guise of stopping unwanted nuptials. Only that's as far as Georgie's fortune takes her. She soon discovers that she attended finishing school with the hostess of the party—and the hatred they had for each other then has barely dimmed. Plus, she needs to hide Belinda's delicate condition from the other guests. And her dashing beau, Darcy's (naturally) working undercover on a dangerous mission. Then her actress mother shows up, with a not-so-little task to perform. With all this subterfuge, it seems something is bound to go horribly wrong—and Georgie will no doubt be left to pick up the pieces when it does.

Another fun mystery. This time we get actual Nazis and a new location in Italy. It’s always nice to leave England every couple of books. I really enjoyed re-meeting Paolo and Max while negotiating a tricky murder and diplomatic situation. I wish we had had more Darcy and a little less Wallis and Claire. Here’s hoping the next book has more focus on Georgie and Darcy.

Her Royal Spyness:

• #0.5 Masked Ball at Broxley Manor

• #1 Her Royal Spyness

• #2 A Royal Pain

• #3 Royal Flush

• #4 Royal Blood

• #5 Naughty in Nice

• #6 The Twelve Clues of Christmas

• #7 Heirs and Graces

• #8 Queen of Hearts

• #9 Malice at the Palace

• #10 Crowned and Dangerous

• #11 On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service

• #12 Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding

• #13 Love and Death Among the Cheetahs

• #14 The Last Mrs. Summers

Next up on the TBR pile: