Friday, July 7, 2017

Day 414 - Book Blogger Hop - New friends, new friends!



In one sentence, describe your passion for reading.




My passion for reading is my lifeline, my wholeness, my go-to, my saving grace, my sanity, and my escape.


JoinJoin the 
Join the Book Blogger Hop over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer!
The Hops are a GREAT way to meet new friends in the blogging world :):)

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Day 412 - Can't Wait Wednesday - The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson





I've picked up Joshilyn Jackson's books many times...but have always put them back down for one reason or another...I keep seeing this one though...early readers are saying it's the one to read...


The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson



Here's the synopsis and first remarks from Amazon: 
(I've highlighted in red the parts that yell at me loud and clear that I must read this book!)


With empathy, grace, humor, and piercing insight, the author of gods in Alabama pens a powerful, emotionally resonant novel of the South that confronts the truth about privilege, family, and the distinctions between perception and reality---the stories we tell ourselves about our origins and who we really are.
Superheroes have always been Leia Birch Briggs’ weakness. One tequila-soaked night at a comics convention, the usually level-headed graphic novelist is swept off her barstool by a handsome and anonymous Batman.
It turns out the caped crusader has left her with more than just a nice, fuzzy memory. She’s having a baby boy—an unexpected but not unhappy development in the thirty-eight year-old’s life. But before Leia can break the news of her impending single-motherhood (including the fact that her baby is biracial) to her conventional, Southern family, her step-sister Rachel’s marriage implodes. Worse, she learns her beloved ninety-year-old grandmother, Birchie, is losing her mind, and she’s been hiding her dementia with the help of Wattie, her best friend since girlhood.
Leia returns to Alabama to put her grandmother’s affairs in order, clean out the big Victorian that has been in the Birch family for generations, and tell her family that she’s pregnant. Yet just when Leia thinks she’s got it all under control, she learns that illness is not the only thing Birchie’s been hiding. Tucked in the attic is a dangerous secret with roots that reach all the way back to the Civil War. Its exposure threatens the family’s freedom and future, and it will change everything about how Leia sees herself and her sister, her son and his missing father, and the world she thinks she knows.



The Almost Sisters will be published on July 11...I'm not so excited about it that I will pay full price for it, but if I'm every going to give Joshilyn Jackson a try, I think this is most definitely the book!


What have you heard about The Almost Sisters?
Have you read any other Joshilyn Jackson?




"Can't Wait Wednesday" is hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings :)



Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Day 411 - Top Ten Tuesday - from the Archives




The ladies at The Broke and the Bookish are on a hiatus until August.
Having babies and such :)  
Congrats, ladies :):)

The Top Ten Blogging Meme is one of my favorites and has been since I discovered it.  I've missed a few over the years so I decided while the ladies are on their maternity break, I'll go back through the archives and choose some topics from the past.

On Sept. 27, 2011, the writing topic was "The Top Ten Books I Want to Re-Read."
According to my archives, I missed this one...so...here we go.

First, I'm not a re-reader.
I just don't

But.
As I've been cleaning off my shelves in the den and out of a secretary that I sold, I have run across a few that would be worth re-reading for the quality, the vocabulary, the emotions, etc.


1.  A Christmas Carol - I reviewed it in 2010 here.
I like to read this one every Christmas when I'm off work...sitting in the den by myself with the Christmas lights sparkling.
Is it weird that I'd like to read this one alone, and aloud?
Dickens y'all.




2.  Short Leash by Janice Gary
I reviewed it in 2014 here
Dogs. Rescuing and being rescued right back.
Oh yeah.






3.  Walking in Circles before Lying Down by Merrill Markoe

I reviewed it in 2015 here

Oh Chuck, you made me smile...and laugh...in the midst of my mom's chemo treatments.  Thank you, Chuck :)  I listened to this one...it would be cool to actually read it as well.




4.  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

I reviewed this one in 2010 here

My copy of this book is so dang ragged.  I was just blown away by some of the info here...literally, Kingsolver changed my family's life in many ways by her year long journey.





5.  Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I reviewed this one in 2010 here

Magical...a grown woman finding herself, travel, coming out ok on the other end.
I still haven't seen the movie.



6.  The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

I reviewed this one here

This book is a cherished one for me.  I could just hold it.  That's why I need the 10th Anniversary special edition.
Still haven't seen this movie either...don't really want to.



7.  Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

I reviewed this one in 2011 here

I have a couple of others by Charles Frazier on my TBR shelves that I just can't bring myself to let go of.
What if they're as good as this one.
I did see this movie with my students...and loved it.
I'd love to read this one aloud...the descriptions are just about the richest I've seen.



8.  Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

I reviewed this one in 2013 here

Fiction that touches you and changes you...there's so much here...a narrative wound up in climate change...change in general...butterflies.



9.  Following Atticus by Tom Ryan

I reviewed this one in 2012 here

The heart of a dog.  A dog who once again saves a human.  I'm pretty predictable y'all.
Atticus is gone now, but I still follow Tom on his journeys.  I feel like he's a friend.



10.  Love at First Bark by Julie Klam

I reviewed this one in 2012 here

Rescue. Rescued right back.
I see a trend here.



Wow...that was more emotional than I thought it would be.
Now that I've gone back through all those books and the reviews, I've decided I need beautiful hardcovers of all these books.
This Top Ten Tuesday may be the most expensive one yet!
:)




Sunday, July 2, 2017

Day 409 - Slow Southern Sunday - The Week in Review

This painting is of my little church in our little southern town.  The lady who painted it is a retired art teacher who also lives in my neighborhood.  That's a southern town for ya :) 



On the Blog Last Week

Menu Monday

Top Ten Tuesday


What I was doing when I wasn't here...

Snorkeling, Swimming w Dolphins, Eating (see Menu Monday), Riding in the Car, Visiting Ernest Hemingway's home and cats, Sweating in Key West, Walking, Did I Mention Eating?



Reading Progress - Books in the Sidebar

Hillbilly Elegy - finished it today - a great and thoughtful read...I'm really behind on reviews but have a couple almost ready for posting :)

Self-Esteem - pretty sure I'm supposed to have two more chapters read before my next appt. but I haven't picked it up at all since the last one. I've been enjoying my other books too much :):)

Handmaid's Tale - I read the first 3 chapters on my phone and decided I wanted to listen to it...especially after I realized I already had it downloaded and Claire Danes is the narrator.  I'm off this next week so I'm hoping I'll be able to listen some while walking.

Thereby Hangs a Tail - I finished Dog on It and loved it just as much as I thought I would.  I'm digging into this 2nd installment tonight.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry - haven't started this one yet.  I took my Kindle with me on vacation but honestly did not have time to read anything.

UPDATE: I felt guilty for not even giving AJ Fikry a try yet, so I committed to one chapter at 10 p.m. --and finished the book by 2 a.m.
It's that good.
Such a good booklover's book.  I'll review it soon :)


Social Media Favorites

Twitter


The Mississippi Secretary of State reported that if he is asked to turn over private information with voter rolls, he will tell them to "Go jump in the Gulf of Mexico"



FB

Mosquitos are out in full force this time of year in Mississippi.
Seriously.
They'll pick you up and carry you off :/


IG

I didn't repost much on IG this week bc I was so busy posting our Key West photos.  Y'all, definitely a bucket list activity!  If you ever get the chance to swim with dolphins, DO IT!!!



Workouts 

Absolutely none...I've stretched a time or two but not enough to call it yoga.  July is "put up or shut up" month for marathon prep, so I've got lots of decisions to make.  I'm finally on some meds for a kidney infection I had no idea I had.  The kidney infection may have something to do with my back pain. We shall see.


Podcasts
None.  The husband was driving and in charge of the radio (we call that driver privilege).  Even with my earphones, I could still hear the radio since I ride shotgun.

I did keep up with my girls Beth and Sarah from Pantsuit Politics on Twitter though!