July/August 2023 Wrap Up

Hello all.

I had to do another combination post since I couldn't get my ducks in a row at the end of July. I am not even sure I kept good record of all the books I read? Can I blame pregnancy brain? I haven't really had many problems in that realm, but I should be able to milk this for something.

Pregnancy is weird, but so far so good. I'm 20 weeks in now.

We lost the last of our ratties. It is sad, but it is OK. I am going to take a little break before getting more rats (after we've moved and adjusted to life with baby, I think). I love rats so I miss having them. But we did get another kitten. She was a stray I'd been seeing around our building and started feeding. She eventually decided she liked me and I brought her in. Marshmallow has been getting along with her so here she is. We haven't named her yet, but that's OK. You can check out my Instagram for photos.

Work has basically been awful for the last couple of months. But that is all I am going to say about that. It's just been rough guys. Something needs to change, I am not sure how long I can keep going with the way things are. And that frustrates me because there is so much I love about my work, but the management is such a trial I think I am developing PTSD.

And then at the end of August, Kevin and I finally got COVID. After nearly four years of avoiding it, we both got it. It was a huge bummer. On the plus side, we were both fully vaccinated which helped us recover more quickly. I am still getting over mine though. It messed with my blood pressure and I haven't quite regained my equilibrium.

Anyway, here are the books I finished this month. Hopefully I remembered them all!

Titles: Mister Impossible and Greywaren

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Narrator: Will Patton

 

Synopsis/Thoughts: I just read these a few months ago, so I am not really going to talk about them again. I read them again and I still enjoyed them.

 

Rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

 

 

 

Title: Little Women

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Synopsis/Thoughts: I have probably reviewed this one before, too. I'm sure it has been several years, but it is a classic and I think most people know what the story is about. I just wanted a comfort read and I just really wanted to read this again. And it was a very nice read.

 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

 

 

 

Title: Divine Rivals

Author: Rebecca Ross

Narrators: Alex Wingfield and Rebecca Norfolk

Synopsis: Iris is an aspiring columnist at a local newspaper competing against equally driven Roman. With war waging and moving closer to home and her brother at the front with no news, life is a bit chaotic. When things shake out differently for Iris than she originally planned, she takes a job covering the war near the front and finds more than she bargained for. Especially when Roman joins her on the same assignment.

 

Thoughts: I did a combined reading/listening of this book. It is a fairly recent Owlcrate book, which I am trying to read more of. I enjoyed her last book, Dreams Lie Beneath, so I wanted to pick this one up. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I liked the characters and the overall story line. I am looking forward to the next book since this had a tiny cliffhanger and I need to know what happens next.

 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars 

 

Titles: The Foxhole Court, The Raven King, and The King's Men (All for the Game series)

Author: Nora Sakavic

Narrator: Alexander Cendese

Synopsis: Neil Josten is on the run from his father and the mob he is associated with (and any rivals for that matter). In a series of odd events, he ends up playing Exy, a game he loves, and getting signed by a college Exy team. Palmetto State's Exy foxes have a reputation for being the broken people collected by Coach Wymack. Neil decides to stay and play for one year, becoming entrenched in other strange dealings and relationships. But through it all, he finds a family and people he can actually trust and count on to have his back and to accept him no matter what dark secrets he hides. And maybe they can even win the season!

Thoughts: I have very... mixed thoughts about these books. I had been hearing about them because of the title of the second book being the same title as the last in the Raven Cycle. Anyway, I decided to give it a try. I actually was very interested in the (fictional) game of Exy, even though I am super not a sports person. And I LOVED the found family aspect of the books. I liked Neil's character, even if I didn't always agree with him. Kevin was an asshole, but I think he meant well and I appreciated his development. And Andrew. I love and hate Andrew at the same time. There were a lot of things that happened in these books (some perpetuated by Andrew) that made me feel very conflicted. I distinctly hated the way Andrew's crowd tested Neil (for someone so insane about consent, non-consensual drugging seemed SOO messed up). But Andrew's protective streak makes me love him. But he's also an asshole. Despite all of that, I actually thought the development of Neil and Andrew's relationship was nice and sort of sweet. Anyway, there were things I didn't love and there are definitely triggers for people, but the found family aspect (especially with the older team members and Coach Wymack) made me really love them. And they must have held my interest because I have continued to think about them and about the story.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5 stars for books one and two, 4 stars out of 5 stars for book three

 

 

Title: I Was Told it Would Get Easier

Author: Abbi Waxman

Narrators: Lisa Flanagan and Bailey Carr

Synopsis: Single, high-powered lawyer Jessica and her daughter, Emily, set out on a tour of colleges. Jessica is hoping that Emily will go to college, enjoy herself, and find her place. Emily has NO idea what any of that would look like. And spending so much time with her generally absent mother isn't her idea of a great time either.

 

Thoughts: I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I really liked Jessica and the mother-daughter story and how their relationship grew throughout the book. Overall it was a nice, uplifting read for fans of contemporary stories.

 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars 

 

Title: Thirteenth Child

Author: Patricia C. Wrede

Narrator: Amanda Ronconi

Synopsis/Thoughts: Another book I have read too many times and reviewed multiple times. These books are comfort reads and that's what I was looking for. I still love them so much.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

 

Favorite book read in July/August:  I'm not sure, there were so many good ones and it feels like cheating when so many of my comfort reads are in the mix

Least favorite book read in July/August: The Foxhole Court, since it got the lowest rating

I have now read 53 books towards my goal of 75. I only got one Owlcrate book read, but I am working on another one.

May/June 2023 Wrap Up

And the delays continue. Life has been super hectic. I went to the wedding of a good friend at the beginning of May. Then Kevin and I had our Morocco trip starting in May into June. And once I got back, work has been utterly consuming most of my life (and not in good ways). I had lots of messes to clean up and nonsense to deal with. It's been, frankly, ugly. We had to put one of our rats, Eros, down right before we left for Morocco, which was sad but definitely the right choice. Then we lost Dion shortly after we got back and Apollo had a weird cancer that he needed pretty big surgery for. Then another friend's elopement that I was able to attend. Lots of good things and some bad things, too. But with all of that, I also have not had any energy to work on my blog. I have still been reading though. And there have been other things going on, which I do plan to share, just not quite yet.

I feel like I have some sort of excuses for being late every month (or every two months as the case may be). I want to keep my blog going and I have some other posts started (not finished). Life has just been crazy. Maybe that is just how life is now? Is this what it means to be a grown up??

I will try to give some quick reviews of the books I read in May and June here. Due to the tardiness of my post, I will keep them very breif.

Title: Dreams Lie Beneath

Author: Rebecca Ross

Narrator: Chloe Dolandis

 

Synopsis/Thoughts: This was an Owlcrate book and I listened to the audiobook some of the time and read the physical book the rest of the time. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, maybe more than I expected. Every new moon, nightmares stalk the streets in the kingdom of Azenor. The magical wardens are tasked with collecting information on nightmares and defeating them each new moon. Clementine is posed to take over her father's warden-ship when a couple of brothers take his position. To get revenge, Clem disguises herself and becomes the assistant to one of the brothers, Phelan. But the dreams they are fighting are more complicated than they realize and they may need to join forces to uncover the truth.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

 

Title: The Raven Cycle series

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Narrator: Will Patton

 

Synopsis/Thoughts: OK, I know I just read these back in March. But I just wasn't ready to leave this world. And I may have some Ronan obsession problems. I even have a character playlist. I don't know if I want to talk about it. But I just love these books.

 

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 stars

 

 

Title: The Sun and the Star

Authors: Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro

Narrator: A.J. Beckles

Synopsis/Thoughts: I really like Nico and Will and I was glad to see the story of Bob re-visited and completed. I was exciting for this book, but there were some things that I didn't love. There was some dragging and repetitiveness. Maybe a side effect of dual authors? I don't know. I did enjoy it overall and if you are a fan of Rick Riordan's books, this is worth the read. I'm sure I will re-read it in the future and maybe my thoughts will change.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

 

Title: Jay's Gay Agenda

Author: Jason June

Synopsis/Thoughts: This was a quick enjoyable read. Jay is the only gay teen (maybe gay person) in his tiny hometown. So when his parents announce they are moving to Seattle, he is ecstatic to experience life as a gay teen with other LBGTQ+ people around. He does a lot of growing up. It is sweet and funny and sometimes sad. But it is a good, happy story in the end.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

Title: Call Down the Hawk

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Narrator: Will Patton

 

Synopsis/Thoughts: Another one I just read a few months ago... I just needed to re-read the Dreamer Trilogy, too. I still really enjoyed this book. I like seeing more of the Lynch brothers (and of Ronan, obviously). It holds up.

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 stars

 

Least favorite book read in May/June: All of them were good, but the Sun and the Star has the lowest rating.

Favorite book read in May/June: the Raven Cycle books

As of the end of June, I have read 44 books toward my goal of 75.

I promise that I will try to be better in July. Thanks for sticking with me anyway!

April 2023 Wrap Up

April was an interesting month.

Work has continued to be what it is, which is not real great right now. It's frustrating to basically have your dream job and have other people ruining that for you. Kevin has also been dealing with some very tough things at work, so basically work has put a lot of stress on us and altered our lives some. Hopefully some of it will be resolved soon.

But there have been good things in April. I still speak with many of my friends regularly. We are preparing for an elopement for a good friend of mine, which is exciting and fun. Kevin and I are still planning to go on a big trip at the end of May. And the end of this month was marked by a long weekend trip with a couple of my girlfriends to New Orleans.

I didn't get as many books read this month as I would have liked. Partially due to me continuing to listen to Boyfriend Material on a loop (it is comforting, I don't know what to say) and partially due to me re-reading/re-listening to the Raven Cycle books. It felt like cheating to count them again. But I did read a couple of books so here are some quick reviews.

Title: All the Crooked Saints

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Narrator: Thom Rivera

 

Synopsis/Thoughts: I think I have reviewed this book before, but this book is about miracles. The Soria family performs miracles on pilgrims that visit them. But the miracle works by bringing out the darkness within the pilgrim which the pilgrim must conquer without interference from the Soria family members. I loved this book when I first read it many years ago, but did not remember it well. It was nice to revisit. I think it is an interesting idea and I very much enjoyed it.

 

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

 

 

Title: Outbreaks and Epidemics

Author: Meera Senthilingham

Narrator: Deirdra Whelan

Synopsis/Thoughts: This was an overview of various viral infections and epidemics. Most of it was not new information to me, but I enjoyed reading and reviewing some virus information.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

Title: Sweet and Bitter Magic

Author: Adrienne Tooley

 

Synopsis: A witch cursed to never feel love and exiled from her home

teams up with a secret magical Source to end a plague started by a dark witch. Tamsin is a very powerful witch who cannot feel love or joy and was cast out of her home by the Coven after committing a magical crime. Meanwhile, Wren is hiding the fact that she is a magical Source who should have been training with the Coven as soon as she realized what she was. And a dark witch is destroying the land. When Wren's father falls ill, she approaches Tamsin and they agree to try to end the plague together.

Thoughts: It took me a little bit to get into this book, but I actually enjoyed it. It was a nice read and I liked the characters and the story.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Favorite book read this month: All the Crooked Saints

Least favorite book read this month: None. Sweet and Bitter Magic got the lowest rating, but it was a good book.

 

I have now read 36 books towards my goal of 75 books. 

Sorry for the late post. My trip at the end of April into May and then another trip right after May started put me behind. I can't promise for next month, either, since we will be in Morocco into June. But I can combine May and June into one if I need to.

In the meantime, I am working on some other posts and thank you for reading!