I didn't do anything particularly interesting this week, so I'm sharing this hilarious/horrifying picture of Lily mid-yawn from the other day. Check out those vampire fangs!
Highlight of the week: It was a pretty quiet week around here. I worked some more on getting everything set up in our new house and we really don't have all that much left to do. We bought a lovely potted palm tree from a Facebook yard sale page (a new-to-me way of shopping). I picked up my Hallmark ornament order and excitedly unwrapped the Harry Potter-themed ones (the only reason I bothered to do a pre-order). I got a coconut boba tea and a raspberry mocha, and I desperately wanted one of those new coconut mocha macchiatos from Starbucks, but they were "temporarily out" (sob). We bought some wood to make a raised planter bed in our backyard. I watered and watered and watered our sod. I snuggled with the cat. I ate about 2/3 of the berry pie I made last Sunday all by myself. We had a visit from a Hawaiian centipede (evil things). I survived my blood test. That's about it.
Reading: I finished the "NOS4A2" by Joe Hill (review) and cruised through an advance-read book from NetGalley called "Everything I Don't Remember" by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, a Swedish author. It was a decent -- if strange -- read, but the vague ending kinda spoiled it for me. Now I'm absolutely annihilating Joe Hill's latest, an apocalyptic thriller, "The Fireman." It's really quite long at almost 750 pages, but I cannot put it down. It's different from his other books, but I think I may be enjoying it even more. I hardly ever manage to read two (or more) books by the same author in any close time frame anymore, and I didn't plan to read two Joe Hill book in the same week, but I'm glad it worked out that way. He's such a talented, immersive writer!
I read "Written in Red" by Anne Bishop (review) a couple weeks ago and I am positively itching to get back to the series in a way I haven't been since "The Hunger Games." I have two more books checked out from the library and one ARC that must be read soon, and then I'll be checking out book 2 in The Others series!
Knitting: I made a little progress on my Cap Sleeve Lattice Top. With unpacking winding down and Jarrod about to start some odd hours at work, I'll probably be doing quite a bit of knitting this week.
Watching: We watched two movies this week, "13 Hours" about the Benghazi attack (much better than I expected), and "The Big Short," about the housing bubble and the economic crash of 2008, which I enjoyed even more the second time around. We also watched a couple more episodes of this season's "Game of Thrones." Only one more to go... I don't want it to be over!
Listening to: "Sucker for Pain" from the "Suicide Squad" soundtrack. Strangely addicting! My favorite line is about eating peanut butter and jellyfish on toast.
Eating: We substituted a fresh Maui Gold pineapple in this recipe from Pinterest for spicy pineapple chicken kebabs, and I'd say it was a winner!
Buying: I hardly ever buy books (I'm a library gal!) but I ordered two books from BookDepository earlier this week. I saw a book called "Meadowland" by John Lewis-Stempel, a non-fiction book about a year in the life of an English meadow, on a blog and decided I had to have the original British version (which just so happened to have a cover in my favorite color). I also ordered "84 Charing Cross Road," an epistolary book I've been meaning to read for ages. I love letters, and I'm 1 trillion percent sure I'm going to love this book! It was on sale and I really liked this cover version, so into my cart it went!
Craving: A good ol' thunderstorm. It very, very rarely ever storms here in Hawaii and I'm jealous reading about the thunderstorms everyone else is having!
Looking forward to: This afternoon, as a reward for getting some more stuff done with organizing and sorting and unpacking, I'm going to close the blinds, curl up on the couch with a cup of coffee and watch the Nicholas Sparks movie "The Choice." I don't read many Nicholas Sparks books anymore, but I still love the movies (except the ones with gratuitously sad endings; please tell me "The Choice" isn't a weepy!).
I'm linking up with Kathryn at Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?
I love the cat photo—those are some sharp teeth! I really need to read a Joe Hill book. A lot of people seem to like them.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
Yes, I can definitely vouch for their sharpness firsthand! ;)
DeleteDo give Joe Hill a try! I've read "Horns," "NOS4A2," and "The Fireman" (or, I'm about 40 pages away from finishing "The Fireman") and they've all been good. "The Fireman" is my favorite, but it's not really traditional Joe Hill, so I'd recommend starting with "NOS4A2," which was better than "Horns." People seem to love his other book, "Heart-Shaped Box," too, as well as his comic series, and eventually I'll get around to both of those! (P.S. Did you know Joe Hill is Stephen King's son?)
What an awesome cat photo. The neighborhood cat (one which we feed a lot of the time) is mad at me still for accidentally shutting it's tail in the screen door a few weeks ago while trying to rush my dog to the vet. Boy they hold grudges. I haven't read NOS4A2 or The Fireman, but have them both. I loved Heart-Shaped Box and Horns. I have recently ordered a few books from Book Depository as well. I gate thunderstorms and wasn't aware Hawaii didn't get many - learn something new every day.
ReplyDeleteCats can be so moody and grumpy, and Lily always gives us the cold shoulder when we come back from a vacation -- one of the things that makes me more of a dog person than a cat person!
Delete"The Fireman" is really good! I have no idea how I managed to read an entire 750 page book in 4 days... I just inhaled it! It's a lot different from Joe Hill's other books though, in that there's no fantasy or... magical realism, if that's the right word? It's more of a straightforward apocalyptic plague novel, though he definitely keeps it unique and interesting.
I know, I was surprised when I realized it seldom storms in Hawaii too! Tropical climates kinda make you think of thunderstorms. Last time we lived here, we didn't have a single thunderstorm the first two years, but it stormed a handful of times our last year and that thunder was epic!
I love Anne Bishop's The Others series. I have been meaning to give Joe Hill a try but am trying to lower TBR mountain some first. Come see my reading week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteI hope you like Joe Hill when you get around to him! I really enjoyed "The Fireman," but but it's a bit of a departure from his earlier books, so if you want traditional Joe Hill, I'd start with "NOS4A2." "Horns" was pretty good too, and I know lots of people love "Heart-Shaped Box," which I'll get to eventually! (P.S. The movie version of "Horns" was awful -- don't waste your time!)
DeleteGREAT picture of your kitty!!!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I'm sure she'd be thrilled to know such an unflattering picture of her is now online for the world to see! ;)
DeleteI feel like I'm the only one not reading The Fireman right now!
ReplyDeleteI'll finish it today; I went to bed last night with about 40 pages left. I can't believe how fast I blew through it, but I just could not put it down! Have you read any of Joe Hill's previous books? This one is a bit different in that there's not really any fantasy (I guess that's the right way to put it?) mixed in. It reminded me a bit of "Station Eleven."
DeleteI know - isn't the Anne Bishop series addictive. I totally love it. The 750 page Joe Hill book sounds really good too.
ReplyDeleteYes! I can't wait to get back to Lakeside Courtyard! And I'm super lucky timing-wise, so I don't have to wait a year between books. :)
DeleteI LOVE that cat picture! I wish I had the right timing to get a pic of my cat mid-yawn!
ReplyDeleteIt was total lucky timing! I had whipped out my phone to take a picture of her just sitting there looking sleepy and cute and managed to snap it just in time mid-yawn! Since I took it with my phone, I'm surprised it came out so well.
DeleteI tried to watch The Big Short but I just couldn't get into it, I think all the economics jargon just made my head spin!
ReplyDeleteOh, I felt that way too! I think that's part of the point of the movie -- that they make things like mortgages overly complex so us regular people can't understand the lingo our own!
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