My week: We finally got to the beach this week -- twice, in fact! Jarrod had Friday off, so we checked out a beach we hadn't been to before fairly near our house (above) and on Saturday we braved the crowds in Waikiki so Jarrod could go surfing.
Reading: I have been a reading machine lately; Goodreads tells me I'm six books ahead of schedule to meet my 2016 goal of 70 books (which probably means I have way too much free time on my hands at the moment). I finished up the fun fantasy novel "The Invisible Library" by Genevieve Cogman (review), plowed through "Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi (review) -- which turned out to be my favorite read of the year so far! -- and then read the thriller "I Let You Go" by Clare Mackintosh, which was decent (review to come).
Now I'm reading "The Things We Keep" by Sally Hepworth, which I'm loving so far. It's set in a residential care facility and our protagonists are an early-onset Alzheimer's patient and woman beginning work as a cook at the facility after a scandal caused her entire world to come crashing down. The chief subject matter -- getting Alzheimer's at 38 -- is sad, but the book has plenty of lighthearted moments to counteract the hard stuff. I especially love Clementine, the chef's adorable 7-year-old daughter.
Knitting: Not a thing. I've been putting off re-starting the cardigan that I (very rashly) ripped out last week. I'm planning to cast on again in the next few days.
Watching: I watched two more episodes of the "War & Peace" BBC miniseries and I'm still enjoying it. The costumes and the settings are just so rich and vivid! I only have two episodes left to go and I'll be sad when it's over. Jarrod and I finally got around to watching the movie "Concussion" this week and I was pleasantly surprised; I didn't realize it was mainly a bio-pic about the Nigerian-born doctor/scientist/forensic pathologist who first discovered the link between football concussions and the early deaths -- and shocking personality changes -- of several NFL players and the fight he had to get his research heard. It was surprisingly good!
Listening to: I'm so ashamed to admit it... but I actually like a Britney Spears song. I never thought she'd manage a comeback, but this song is on trend and it's so catchy!
Eating: We ate lunch at one of our favorite Hawaii restaurants, La Tour Cafe, yesterday and I bought one of their absolutely amazing chocolate almond croissants, which I'll split and have for breakfast today and tomorrow. Soooo good. They put every other chocolate croissant I've had to shame.
Blogging: I decided at the last minute to participate in the Bout of Books read-a-thon this week, but I just didn't get what the fuss was about. Maybe it's because I don't use Twitter, but I didn't find the read-a-thon to be particularly interactive; I didn't meet any new bloggers and I didn't read any more than I would've read anyway. This is exactly what I was worried would happen, and it's why I've never participated before. Why is this event so freakin' popular? What am I missing?
Looking forward to: Jarrod has a four-day weekend for Labor Day and I foresee more beach time in our future!
I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?
Hmm...did I hear you say your favorite read of the year so far? I must check that book out!
ReplyDeletehttp://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2016/08/my-twentieth-first-day-of-school-as.html
I too loved The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth. Have you read The Secrets of Midwives, her first novel?
ReplyDeleteI have I Let You Go on my bookshelf as a friend gave it to me to read. I would be interested in your thoughts.
Have a lovely week and happy reading!
Amanda @ https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com/
I liked The Invisible Library a lot and am looking forward to the next one.
ReplyDeleteI've never done Bout of Books but I see it everywhere... most of the readathons I've done have been a bit smaller and they've been pretty fun, depends on the readathon. Have a great week!
All of these look super good. I can't wait to read Homegoing. Happy Reading!
ReplyDeleteBoth Homegoing and The Invisible Library are on my too read pile. I think Let You Go might be on there too. :-)
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a nice time at the beach! We never did make it to the beach this summer, but at least we didn't have to fight the crowds. Maybe once it's cooler, we'll head to the coast.
I am sorry Bout of Books wasn't better for you. I signed up for COYER again this summer and didn't really participate all that much, so feel as if I missed out on a lot. I didn't make any of the Twitter parties.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your week!