Monday, August 21, 2017

Monday Musings

alohi flamingo bw

My week: It was a pretty quiet week here. We had more adventures with leaving Alohi out of her crate when we're gone and the house is completely puppy-proofed now (sadly, a few books, magazines and Wii game cases lost their lives in the process!). Sunday we got Alohi set up at doggie daycare, where we plan to take her once or twice a week. We had to leave her for a couple hours so they could observe her with the other dogs and we had fun watching her on the internet webcam the doggie daycare has while we enjoyed a guilt-free lunch out! (P.S. Alohi turned 8 months old last week!)

Reading: I finished "All the Ugly and Wonderful Things" (and really enjoyed it), then tried again to read the fifth Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes book, "O Jerusalem." I generally like the series, but this book was just a horrific struggle for me (too much unnecessary never-ending narrative and barely any mystery) and eventually I decided reading shouldn't feel like a job and I just skipped to the end to find out whodunit.

Then I read "Silent in the Sanctuary," the second book in Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey historical mystery series. I read the first book in July and loved it so much I immediately requested the next installment; I really liked this one too. After that I blew through Janet Evanovich's "Dangerous Minds," the new book in the Knight & Moon series, in a day, and on Sunday night I read the first little bit of "Throne of Jade," book two in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series (dragons + the Napoleonic War).

I also just started "One Summer: America 1927" by Bill Bryson. I really do enjoy non-fiction but it's hard to remember to read it when I have so many novels on deck, so I set myself a goal to read 25 pages of "One Summer" a day.




Checking out: Way too many library books! I already had several at home (both from my work and the public library) but when I went to pick up a hold last week I couldn't resist taking a glance at the new books shelf... and left with two more! Oops. I really and truly do have an addiction to library books -- and requesting holds! #bookwormproblems

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Watching: The series finale of "Turn" and the season finale of "Deadliest Catch." We also finally started watching the most recent season of "Homeland." Movie-wise we watched "Table 19," a cute romantic dramedy starring Anna Kendrick, and "The Fate of the Furious," which kept my interest but ridiculously violent -- and of course unrealistic. And I did miss Paul Walker's character.

I also watched an adorable movie called "The Sapphires," which turned out to be totally different than I expected but really good. It's set in the '60s and it's about four Australian Aborigenese girls who form a group -- the Sapphires -- and travel to Vietnam to sing for the troops (Chris O'Dowd plays their manager). It was mostly a feel-good movie, but it also touched on race relations in Australia at that time as well as the horrors of war. I definitely recommend this lesser-known gem!

Blogging:
Monday Musings
10 Books To Read If You're a Newbie to Sci-Fi & Fantasy
2017 Mid-Year Freakout Book Tag

Looking forward to: Jarrod is off work this week and I have off today through Wednesday! We're hoping to go snorkeling and take the puppy on her first hike.

*I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

16 comments:

  1. If I'd bought all those books, I'd feel bad. But requesting them at the library? Excellent, I think.

    https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2017/08/back-to-school-open-for-business-wow.html

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    1. I know, isn't the library wonderful! I will say, though, that I now have three holds to pick up and I think seven books at home! Too many!

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  2. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things sounds so interesting! I hope you enjoy your books.

    My It's Monday! What Are You Reading? post.

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    1. It was really good -- one of those intense reads I won't forget anytime soon!

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  3. I bet Alohi will enjoy doggy daycare. Boxers sure can do some damage when they want to can't they? Reading Alohi's adventures is bringing back all the memories of mine. Sounds like you've been getting a lot of reading done. I always check out too many books as well. We watched the new Fast and Furious the other night too and I think it's time that franchise hung it up. I also watched Colossal - it was really good and now I'm recommending it to everyone.

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    1. Oh, Alohi... she's back in her crate after breaking a lamp, chewing through a computer cord and shredding the corner of an area rug. :(

      I'm totally with you on the Fast and Furious movies... they're getting more and more ridiculous! I haven't heard of "Colossal" -- I'll have to look it up! Have you heard of the new-ish movie "Gifted"? It was just recommended to me by two people at work today.

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  4. The movie sounds good, I will see if I can get it through the library.

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    1. Definitely do! It was charming and interesting and a real hidden gem and I loved the Australian accents. ;)

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  5. I haven't been to the public library in years. I already have more than 1000 on my Kindle and TBR mountain to read. I need to get a new card now that I have moved back home. Deanna Raybourn is one of the authors on the stack that I keep meaning to read. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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    1. Kathy, 1000 books?! I shouldn't enable you, but you know you can get e-books for free from the library via Overdrive, right? ;)

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  6. I enjoyed All the Ugly and Wonderful Things. Too bad that Alohi devoured so many wonderful books, etc.

    Have a great week, and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES

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    1. Ah well, books are just things. Though of course she had to choose books that I really want to read, not ones that I should've donated years ago!

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  7. I've done the exact same thing with nonfiction or really giant classics. It works so well to actually make progress with a bigger or tougher book while still getting to read some other books.

    Hope you have a great week!

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    1. Yes! I've never done that before, and I don't usually read multiple books at once, but it's been working out fantastically for me!

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  8. So much going on! Your pup is incredibly photogenic-- she should be the star of one of those doggie-photo calendars.

    I too am addicted to library books because they're free and no strings attached to review them or enjoy them, so I have no restraint!

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    1. That's so sweet of you to say! She's lucky she's cute since she's also a hellion half the time. ;)

      Library books are the best! If you don't like it, if you never get around to reading it -- oh well, it was free!

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