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Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Let Me Down, Pick Me Up

So I finished a couple of books in the last couple of weeks.  The first was "One Less Problem Without You" by Beth Harbison.  When I first finished it I thought I'd liked it enough.  It was OK. But the more time that passes, the more I'm annoyed with it.  It felt rushed, underdeveloped and inadequate.  I was pretty disappointed with it.

Next I read "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" by Gabrielle Zevin.  I added that to my list because J is reading it for summer reading for school and I thought we could talk about it.  It was actually a good book.  Well written, good storyline, good heart.  However, I didn't really connect with it on any real level.  It's like certain music or other forms of art that I can recognize logically are well done or noteworthy, but I'm personally unable to love it whole-heartedly.  So it was more of a success than the other at least!

I then started to read "By the Numbers" by Jen Lancaster.  Usually her books are very entertaining, but this one is just NOT working for me.  I barely got into it before I was bored and decided I would read something else, at least for the time being.  So I started "The Mourning Hours" by Paula Treick DeBoard and I'm still very early into it, but it's already more interesting.  Hoping for a better read! Everything feels like a bit of a letdown since I read "The Woman in Cabin 10" since that was so captivating to me.  Such a great read!

In other news, I only have 9 work days left until vacation, including today.  I'm under the two week wire and I'm so excited!  I definitely need this trip.  Work is seriously burning me out and I've been watching everyone go on their week long vacations all summer and I'm ready for my turn!  We've got our petsitter all lined up, I've got my new swimsuits at the ready and all that's left to do is count down the days.

I've been much better about working out for the last few weeks.  I'm managing to get to the gym or do a home workout 5 days a week, which is the goal.  Yesterday at work I was exhausted from lousy sunday night sleep, I had a headache and the day itself was just very frustrating.  I went to the gym out of obligation, but wow, it turned my entire mood around.  I did 45 minutes on the elliptical, 15 on the treadmill walking on an incline and about 15 minutes of strength training.  It was just what I needed.

We finished watching "Stranger Things" last week.  Oh, how I loved that show!  I loved the general atmosphere of it, I loved so many of the actors, the music, everything.  I am still thinking about the finale!  Very happy that it got renewed for another season.  Next up I want to find time to watch the newest season of "Catastrophe" on Amazon.  That show is hilarious and real and awesome.

In the meantime, I guess I'll go get some breakfast.  Kix cereal for the win!  :-)

6 comments:

  1. I'm trying to start "The Girls" From Emma Cline, but after reading the Woman in Cabin 10, I'm like eh. And it's on my Kindle, which is fine, but it was a nice change to hold an actual book. Maybe that part of it is not helping..? I bought TWIC10 at Costco and saw another book there I was debating called The Trap by Melanie Raabe and Imogen Taylor. The tagline looked interesting enough, but I'm not sure about dual writers. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch is all over my Facebook ads, so that also looks appealing.

    Maybe you and J can have a little book club! It's really cool to read how you guys have connected over time!

    I'm excited for your vacation for you! I have to save my vacation time for the end of the year, since I'm new and don't have much stored up like I have had in the past.

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    1. I've heard raves about "The Girls", but the Kindle sample didn't convince me. I completely agree about the pleasure of having a real live book. I'm looking forward to that on vacation! It's hard for commuting because they turn the lights off on my commuter bus and I don't want to be that person with the light on LOL.

      I'll have to look into The Trap! Always on the look out for more books to add to the list.

      I wish J read more. She used to read all the time apparently, but is now very much a stereotypical kid who just wants to snapchat and play on twitter (or Pokemon Go!). Maybe she'll circle back around!

      Ugh, waiting to accrue vacation at a new job is so hard! I'm definitely super excited for this vacation. Time is crawling by so slowly....

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  2. OMG. We just finished Stanger Things. I did not think I would like it, and I LOVED it. SO good.

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    1. So glad you enjoyed it! It's a strange show, but it's so weirdly compelling!

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  3. I just finished By the Numbers. I didn't care for it that much. I powered thru and I will say the second half was more engaging than the first half. I found her daughters spoiled and I was annoyed that she was so weak with them. It won't change your life if you finish the book and it certainly was not Lancaster'so best effort.

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    1. Yeah, we'll see if I get back to it. :/ I'm just not excited about it!

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