Book Beginnings for Friday / #Friday56 / Five Things for Friday

Welcome to a very Friday Friday!

Today I'm joining in with RoseCityReader.com for Book Beginnings on Friday and FredasVoice.com for the Friday56. At the end of this post I'll share my Five Things for Friday.

The book I just started reading last night is my last holiday read. I found Dear Santa by Nancy Naigle in my pile of personal to-be-read books. My mom says we gifted it to her for a previous Christmas, and after she read it she passed it back to me. It sounds like a Hallmark movie in print form - yay!

Book Beginnings:

Dear Santa,

It's me, Chrissy, again. I'm still being good. I'm going to have a Christmas tree in my room. You can put my presents there so I don't have to wait until Daddy wakes up Christmas morning. He sleeps way too late. Be careful on the stairs.

                                                                    Chrissy

Each chapter starts out with a cute little letter from young Chrissy to Santa. Chrissy is the niece of the main character, Angela.

from Page 56:

A lump formed in his throat, and his mouth went dry as he noticed a woman standing near the edge of the sidewalk wearing a black sweater. She looked like...almost had the same coloring as...the womannn at the coffee shop. Her dark hair fell in waves past her shoulders.

 

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Five Things for Friday

1. Well. This week's big news is that the school superintendent has brought a new proposal to the school board. Essentially, when we return to classes in mid-January, everyone will have half-days (eliminating the need for mask removal and impossible-to-implement social distancing at lunch). Middle school and high school will only attend half of the students at a time (alternating days for everyone), and elementary kids will do their specials via zoom (so they don't have to walk around the building when they're there). During non-attending days and afternoons, they'll have remote/online stuff. 
2. Which brings us around to the fact that kitchen jobs will probably be cut back again. While all buildings will be handing out lunch and breakfast for the next day to kids as they leave, that will never require 10 hours (in the elementary buildings, at least) to accomplish. This will also eliminate the staff associate position - these people previously supervised the lunch room, any classrooms where kids were eating lunch, and recess. There were seven staff associates per elementary building. Our district has six elementary schools. You can do the math. And that's just the elementaries. 
3. But in brighter news - my holiday shopping is pretty much done. I'm still waiting on one box from Scholastic books, and a gift sent to me for a Secret Santa swap we're doing online on Sunday. I think it means I'm officially old since I'm excited to hang out in the party online, but don't 'need' a gift. I hope the person I sent to likes what I sent them! My package is just having Amazon issues. I get it. NBD - no big deal ;)
4. My kids are so happy to have the next two weeks off!! Hubs also took vacation time for the entire holiday break. While I'm happy not having to report to hand out meals (I did a few shifts previously, but I'm just not scheduled on the two days or so they're handing out over break), I may be updating my resume and poking around at other options in case my job is one of the ones eliminated. Wish me luck!
5. Don't tell anyone, but the snow does look kind of pretty as long as I don't need to go anywhere. And I will be braving the cold this afternoon to fill my bird-feeders. I love seeing happy birdies!

Five Things for Friday / Book Beginnings for Friday / #Friday56

Let's kick off this lovely (just kidding, looking super dreary and thunderstorms planned) Friday with five random things. If you're here for some bookish involvement, scroll on down.

1. Today was the last day for our elementary school's remote learning. Starting Monday, most (approximately 80%) of the elementary students will switch to in-person learning, and a few (including my third grade son) will 'switch' to virtual learning. They will remain either in-person or virtual through the end of the school year. While I think virtual is pretty similar to the remote learning they've been doing since Labor Day, he will have a new teacher for the rest of the year, since his first teacher will be teaching in-person kids. I'm a bit stressed, but also happy to have the rest of the school year resolved, more or less.
2. I am so excited that I was able to purchase a Bookmas box from Peanut Butter Taco Etsy shop!! I somehow ended up on her book planner page on Facebook, and found out about it. She puts together a package with 12 gifts - for the 12 days of Christmas - that are book and/or planner related. They sold out in seven minutes!! I'm super excited to get my package in early December with 12 fantastic gifts for me!
3. 
   Last night I had a blast at a Yelp Murder Mystery Party (on zoom) that was themed around a 1980s Prom. I dug out one of my dresses from either my junior or senior year of high school. Yay for stretch! LOL  Then I asked my 13-year-old daughter to fix me up with some 80s make-up  - heavy on the blue eye-shadow, please. She did a fabulous job, and the party was a lot of fun. Edited to add: I just found out I won one of the costume contest prizes! Once I finish up this post, I need to go choose which of my local coffee shops, breweries, or wineries I want a credit for!
   
4. When I kept my computer at the kitchen table, I set up some shelves next to me and set up my old boom box with an assortment of CDs for my listening pleasure. Now that I'm redoing my actual office upstairs, hubby found an abandoned 90s stereo in our basement and set it up in the kitchen so I could bring my boom box up to my office.  I've been thrilled to be listening to my old CDs again. I'd like to take a moment to thank Columbia House and BMG for my extensive collection of old CDs. If you're old like me, you'll understand this reference.
5. Tomorrow I've got a long to-do list around the house. I need to pack up my planters and hummingbird feeders til spring, replace the toilet seat in the kids' bathroom, get and apply those frosted window-cling things to the master bathroom, and work on purging or reorganizing a lot of my office clutter. I'm tired just considering it all, but I keep reminding myself how great it will feel to have it all done. Ugh.

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Would you like to hear about what I'm reading (well, one of the books I'm reading now anyway)? Welcome to Friday, when I like to post with Book Beginnings on Friday and #Friday56. Today I've chosen to post about 60 Stories about 30 Seconds: How I Got Away With Becoming a Pretty Big Commercial Director Without Losing My Soul (Or Maybe Just Part of It) by Bruce Van Dusen. Thank you to the publisher for my copy of this book for review. 

For Book Beginnings on Friday with Rose City Reader, I share the beginning of the book. 

Crazy Eddie was the first person to hire me to direct a commercial. Crazy Eddie himself. He didn't actually say, "You're hired," because his jaw was broken, and he was attached to some life-support machines. His ad manager translated his grunts. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

For #Friday56 with Freda's Voice, I share a bit from page 56 (since this is a physical book for me - if you're reading using your kindle, please feel free to share from around 56%).

That's my opinion. And it's as harsh as it is because I have come into directing from nowhere. And at the bottom. Most commercial directors start out as agency art directors or copywriters. So they're used to all the bullshit. They must have been the cream of the crop because they had enough oomph to get the fuck out of the agency side and start shooting. But, if you come in as I have, via film school, and a little production work but no agency experience, workign with these people is crazy-making.

So that's what we're into for this weekend. Still wrapping up Matrimony, Inc from last week, and starting 60 Stories. Also need to break up this non-fiction run, so I think I've got You Can Go Home Now by Michael Elias keyed up and ready to read on my kindle. 

Tonight is our regularly scheduled pizza and a movie, so I'm stepping away from the computer to pick up Hungry Howie's and watch Halloweentown!

Thanks for checking in - I love to read your comments, and I'll check in on all the other participating blogs over the weekend and early next week. Hope you have a happy, healthy weekend and week :)

Five Things for Friday / #Friday56 / Book Beginnings for Friday

Hello, peeps! Weeks feel like they're getting busier and busier lately. I'm starting off this post with my Book Beginning with Rose City Reader and #Friday56 with Freda's Voice. Scroll down if you'd like to see my Five Things for Friday :)

This week's book I'm looking at is Matrimony, Inc: From Personal Ads to Swiping Right, a Story of America Looking for Love by Francesca Beauman. Thank you to the publisher for my copy of this book for review. Receiving the book for free of course doesn't influence my review.

Book Beginnings:

On February 23, 1759, the front page of Friday's Boston Evening Post greeted readers with an account of the latest skirmishes in the Severn Years' War. The owner of a brown leather purse lost last Friday offered a reward for its return and there was an announcement that a brig named the Hannah had just docked, bringing with is supplies of cutlery, shoes, and raisins, all now for sale on Third Street.

from page 56 (okay, page 55. page 56 is entirely blank):

The year 1860 was a leap year, and Kate Darsie was in the mood for love: "As it has become fashionable in the Eastern as well as the Western cities for young ladies as well as gentlemen to make known their wants through the columns of a public journal, and as this is the year when ladies can make free to do so," Kate explained, she had decided to place a marriage ad in one of Philadelphia's biggest newspapers.

 So far it's an interesting and amusing read. I'm looking forward to finishing it this weekend.

Five Things for Friday / Book Beginnings for Friday / Friday56

Switching things up for this Friday - I'll start off with my five things, then talk about Book Beginnings and Friday56 from The Girl Beneath the Sea by Andrew Mayne.

1. Happy Birthday to my son Jack! He turned 9 yesterday, and we're having family over tonight to celebrate. I've still got a to-do list a mile long (okay, not a mile: frost cupcakes, put out bird feeders, light candles, and make appetizer dip), so I need to FOCUS and get all this wrapped up.
2. While our schools are opening for the elementary kids to choose face-to-face learning starting on October 26, I still haven't heard about work. I'm okay with this, but really would just sort of like to know if I have a job or if I've been replaced. Also, if I have any co-workers, since the other two kitchen ladies in my building are gone, and their positions are not listed as open. Whatever.
3. My office remodel is moving along. My new desk is set up, and I moved a few other things around. Still to do - pack up and store lots of scrapbooking/stamping supplies I really don't use anymore, find a desk mat sort of thing to put on the sewing machine cabinet so that can be used as a desk of sorts by a kid needing help, and assemble my big ol' 12-cube unit to store and display stuff.
4. This week has really been busy. We had a doctor's appointment for me (just my annual), a dentist appointment for hubs, multiple library pick-ups, a Yelp online kitchen event, swim lesson (usual weekly for Jack), and now the birthday stuff. 
5. Last random plea for help. LOL My face won't stop twitching. My eye did it a couple years ago, and it stopped around the time I went on high blood-pressure meds and got glasses. Now I don't know why it's doing it. I wear glasses, and take my meds. I've added in taking magnesium and a daily vitamin at my doctors' recommendations, but the twitching is worse than it was a couple years ago. Now it's really half of my face, not just my eye. It's frustrating and embarrassing. Has anyone found an easy solution? I'm really tolerant of this stuff, but it would be nice to not have to take a break from reading because I can't see well enough sometimes, or my speech starts slurring when I'm trying to yell at my kids. I am grateful that I'm mostly healthy, but this seems like something I shouldn't have to put up with for the rest of my life. 

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Five Things for Friday / #Friday56 / Book Beginnings on Friday

 Hello and welcome to another Friday! It's a good Friday so far here - I got my new desk and got it put together yesterday. We moved the giant corner desk out of my office (and to hubby's new basement office), so I'm reorganizing my space. I also got my hair did this morning. I'm keeping it in a short pixie now, so getting it cut more frequently, and today I had the front dyed navy blue! Sorry I couldn't get a picture I was pleased with...I'm sure I'll have one eventually. For now you'll have to use your imagination.

I'll get to my five things after my bookish updates. Today I'm joining in with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for #Friday56. 

The book I'm using this week is Tommy Wallach's Strange Fire. 

The beginning:

from the Prologue: 

Florian Parks was sitting in the Gantry watchtower, whittling a wooden doll for his little sister, when he first spotted the travelers over the pointed tips of the palisade. He was so surprised that he cut the figurine's nose clean off.

#Friday56:

from page 56:

Clive stepped out from behind a tree just a dozen yards or so upstream. And for once, Clover was grateful that his brother was tall and strong, intimidating even at eighteen. Dominic took a step backward, out of the flow of the stream, muddying it up as he went. 

While at least one of the reviews mentioned that the book had a lot of religious overtones, they're the kind I don't mind so far. I'm almost halfway through and enjoying this book. There are sections about different societies that sound post-apocalyptic. I'm sure I'll find how they overlap soon.

Five Things for Friday / Book Beginnings on Friday / #Friday56

Switching my order around this week. Ima kick off with my five things (about our district's remote learning), and then discuss my Book Beginnings and #Friday56 after that. Enjoy! 

1.  I've seen plenty of posts and such discussing remote learning schedules, so I'm sharing ours today.

My son is in third grade. This is the really nice schedule his teacher posted for us last night, so we're all on the same page today. All scheduled times are the START of a lesson on zoom. They never run all the way til the next meeting. And only the specials (in this case, PE) are separate zoom meetings. Once his morning meeting starts, we don't have any more logging in - she puts the kids in the 'waiting room' when she's done, until the next subject starts. After teaching the lesson, the kids go to SeeSaw (another site) to complete their assignment. Oh, I believe they'll add on Science OR Social Studies after their social/emotional time in the next week or so.

2.  My daughter is in eighth grade this year, and (luckily for me!) very independent. She's been taking care of her own school stuff. She has three subjects on Monday and Thursday, and the other three subjects on Tuesday and Friday. Wednesday is office hours for staff, but no 'regular' classes meet (this applies to my son too). While my daughter's overall start time and end time fall within my son's schedule (so it looks like her day is shorter), her lectures are usually at least an hour long. The schedule also writes in time for 'asynchronous learning.' She told me that that's her independent work.

3.  Given all that, I am SO GRATEFUL that my kids are learning, thriving and even enjoying school so far this year. My third-grader watches the clock like a hawk to make sure he's back at his desk with his headphones on in time for his next class. The kids agreed with each other that when they're in a zoom meeting, they close their door so there's less distractions and noise (their rooms are next to each other). 

4.  And on the other side, I would be willing to give a kidney ..okay, maybe just my spleen.. to have faster, more reliable internet. I think we've been lucky so far this week that hubby has had to go to offices to work. I don't know how well our household service will handle everyone online on separate devices at once. I'm sure we'll have to find out before too long.

5.  You know I try to end on a happy note! This week we made tie-dye shirts with Mimi on Monday, and then later in the week I received my new Plum Paper Planner, and my VOTE necklace. 

Ugh - tried very hard to get that picture up a bit, and then add a caption, but the new Blogger tool is less than user-friendly :( That's my selfie with no makeup, my new shirt, and my new necklace.  

Having stuff to look forward is so important when the scenery seldom changes, amiright? Hope your week has had more good than bad.

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Five Things for Friday / #Friday56 / Book Beginnings on Fridays

 

Welcome to Friday! I just woke up today, and the storms were awesome through the night. Bonus - I don't need to use my dribbly hose to water my flowers this morning! 

I'm flipping things around today just to keep it interesting :) If you're here for my Five Things for Friday, scroll on down. 

Today I'm joining Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings on Fridays, and Freda's Voice for #Friday56. The book I'm reading right now is When I Was You by Amber Garza. I should have the review up on my blog for this one early next week. 

From the beginning:

"It was a Monday morning in early October when I first heard about you. I was getting out of the shower when the phone rang. After throwing on a robe and cinching it, I ran into my bedroom, snatching my cell off the nightstand."

And from 56% (thanks to Netgalley for my kindle copy of this book):

"Jealousy struck me, hot and fast like a slap to the face. I was also hit with something else -- reality.

You'd been avoiding me all week because I'd been like Rafael. I'd pushed you too hard. I'd tried to box you in. To control you."

I'm personally just at 5% so far. Rafael is the narrator's husband. The woman she's narrating to (so far) is a younger mother with the same name as the narrator. Sounds like it gets a little crazy, so we'll see what happens!

Five Things for Friday / Book Beginnings on Friday / #Friday56

Lookout - my rage is getting too big to want to contain. 

If you don't want to deal with my fury, skip to #5 (where I try to shed some of my bitter), or go ahead and scroll down to the book memes, eh?

I started reading Invisible Women last month, but gave up before I finished. 75% of the unpaid labor in the world is done by women. 3/4. But so much of it is not acknowledged because it's 'just' childcare, 'just' housework, 'just' eldercare, 'just' running errands...

But it isn't 'just' feminism that is gathering my rage. It's politics too. Aw, heck. Let's just pour it into five things, shall we?

1. Wear. A. Mask. I'm in Michigan, so that's the recommendation. I think our governor is great, and has done a lot to help stop the spread of COVID-19. I don't care if you agree with me on that or not, you just need to wear your mask anyway. If everyone had worn a mask back when it was first recommended, we'd be done by now. We'd be heading back to school because the virus would have been snuffed out to a manageable degree. Wear. A. Mask. And if your own health makes a mask impossible, you're probably safer at home anyway. Need me to drop something off for you? Let me know. But stay home, or wear your mask.
2. Those with opinions on the schools being virtual vs remote vs in-person: Deal with it. Or don't. I was going to head this one off by trying to get the attention of parents first, but a lot of the people bellyaching don't even have school-age kids. So you're just complaining because 'the schools are wasting your tax dollars.' Shut. Up. First of all, teachers have been training literally all summer long so IF we ended up online again, they'd be more prepared. Yeah, everyone saying teachers have 'three months off..' NOT THIS YEAR! By the way, if you're worried about your children falling behind - I get it! But if you're worried, your kids will be fine. True story. Random aside: They do pick up on your moods - tell them that it is going to be okay. Because it is.
3. Vote. Because I'm looking forward to having a president without pending rape charges. Please help make that happen. And as long as I'm spouting off, don't waste your vote on a third party candidate for president. Really, we need to make lying wrong again, and splitting the opposing votes because you don't like either primary option doesn't help anyone. It hurts.
4. Here's a nice fringe idea that doesn't apply yet, but definitely comes to mind with the schooling thing. If your kids are sick, keep them home. Not kidding. Being in the school, volunteering or working, I regularly heard from kids who were sick - like, had thrown-up that morning, or looking awful because they had an obvious fever. This is why I'm so grateful we don't have in-person schooling yet. Because some parents will send their kids to school no matter what. Is it because their job is more important than everyone else's health? Is it just because they are so adamant to not stay home with the child they brought into the world? Who knows. But it's got to stop. Sick kids and adults need to stay home. 
5. So. I feel like a big-ole whiner right now. Let me leave you with some great news (well, for me, anyway). I won our local library's summer reading program GRAND PRIZE!! My grand prize was $100 Amazon gift card! I got another pair of PJ pants (dark blue with dinosaurs), a book of RBG quotes, an RBG Funko-Pop, a 2021 Witches' Calendar, a swim suit for my lil dude, and a couple bottles of my favorite kind of nail polish (a bright yellow, and another top coat). Then I had 34-cents left, so I put it toward our 99-cent rental of the RBG documentary. So, yay me! Finding out just one week before my official lay-off letter is giving me some delivery bright spots when there won't be any more fun-shopping in the immediate future ;)

Five Things for Friday / #Friday56 / Book Beginnings on Friday

 This week's goal was really just to make it through the elections. While it's only been three days, so I suppose I could still officially end up sick from exposures there, the actual experience is over and I'm sleeping and eating regularly again :) I'm a precinct co-chair, so I was very worried about argumentative voters and potential issues with other election inspectors. I did have one worker cancel the day before, but traffic wasn't too heavy at the polls, so we made it through with just four workers for the four positions (and some hustling around during meal breaks). Now when will my body start freaking out about working the November election? Only time will tell.

Let's start off with the weeks Five Things for Friday, shall we?

1. Sunday I dropped both kids off at my parents' house for their 2020 'Camping' trip. They usually go to a campground a few hours away with them, but having seen campgrounds in early July, I wasn't comfortable with having them that far away from me in that environment. They did sleep in a tent on the deck, and got to do lots of fun activities. My daughter made a small quilt (!), they both painted pictures, they tie-dyed shirts for themselves, and they made a wonderful chocolate dessert to share. It was a fun break from the norm for them, and we'll have lots of pictures they'll put in the scrapbooks they made. 
2. Sending them away gave me one less thing to worry about during the election on Tuesday (since they weren't home alone), but leading up to it, I missed the distraction they would have offered. I have never felt so anxious about it all before. I hardly ate anything on Monday, and my stomach still hurt all day. I never ran a temp or had any other symptoms, so I knew it was just my nerves. Once I got to work on Tuesday, I was distracted and felt fine.
3. More and more school districts around me are back-pedaling and going to just online learning for at least the month of September. I have little doubt that our district will follow soon. Right now parents could choose between in-person schooling or virtual schooling. Decisions were due today. I let my kids pick, and they both said they'd feel safer with virtual, and promised to do as they're told to keep their work up-to-date.
4. Hubs is off to a boat race this weekend in Springfield, Ohio. He's the crew chief for a friend's boat team. There are no spectators allowed. I wish them both luck! If they place well, they come home much happier ;)
5. Next week has nothing but a work 'support staff' (i.e. not just teachers) zoom meeting, and a few more book reviews. Just a few weeks left until I have to go back to work one way or another...

Five Things for Friday / Book Beginnings / #Friday56

What a week! I feel like my stress has gotten worse for having seen more of the state, but I also enjoyed my experiences while we were out for a bit. I think it's inevitable that Michigan should be locked down more again. The COVID-19 infection numbers are climbing, and they'll continue to do so based on the behaviors I saw. I wish people cared more about others, and acted like it.

1. Last weekend we started out Friday by leaving to visit my husband's father and his wife. They have a cabin next to their house, so we were able to mostly social distance (we did choose to enjoy a few meals out on the porch together and visit a bit). While the visit was nice, seeing the people at the nearby campground watching the sunset made up my mind to continue staying home as much as possible. We were the ONLY people wearing masks in the crowd. And social distancing? What's that? There were more than 20 people seated on the stairs going down to the beach for a group picture. My husband said of course they were all brothers - fraternity brothers! I can't help feeling like Michigan is doomed.

   

   Francisco Morazan shipwreck

2. Saturday we were able to spend quite socially distant - on the boat! Hubs loves to borrow his dad's boat and get out on the water again (we had our own boat years ago, but it just wasn't practical when the kids were babies). The water was super calm and we rode past North Mantiou Island, South Manitou Island, The Francisco Morazan shipwreck (my favorite!!), and the Sleeping Bear Dunes. We rafted off for a bit so the kids could swim before heading back.
3. Monday I finally went to the credit union to open new accounts (mine were compromised by a computer virus in mid-June). I loved their safety protocols. Everyone in the building wore a mask, and there was also a plexiglass partition between the member service woman opening the account and me.
4. Tuesday the kids and I went for our dental cleanings. When we arrived, we called before going in. Then each individual appointment started with taking off our masks and using an anti-viral rinse. During the cleaning, the hygienists wore two masks and a plastic shield over their face. Since there are two hygienists in the office, our family was also the only clients there during our visit.
5. The rest of the week has been my daughter starting all her new summer jobs. She's 12-years-old, and I posted a couple of years ago on our neighborhood page that she was interested in jobs like walking dogs, acting as a mothers' helper, and watering plants. She has regular clients each summer now. This week she is watering plants for two houses, and watching the three-year-old across the street while the girl's mother works from home three days/week. Loving seeing her be so responsible, and her excitement over having spending money.

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The more my stress goes up, the more a book should help, but sometimes instead it's even harder to focus. I'm reading a bit from three books currently - Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel (with a review due later today), Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld (a book I'm borrowing from the library), and Fire and Vengeance by Robert B. McCaw.


Today I'm using Fire and Vengeance for my Book Beginnings and #Friday56 because it's a print book and easier.

The opening paragraph: 

Disaster rode the gale force winds of Hurricane Ida across the Big Island of Hawai'i from the southwest. Ferocious gusts felled century-old trees. Sonic booms of thunder chased lightning bolts sparking through ominous black clouds. Torrential rains pounded the mountains, filling gulches, and gathering into flash floods. On Hualālai Mountain, one of the five volcanoes that make up Hawai'i Island, ten inches of rain fell in a single hour. Water cascaded into cracks and caverns, pouring deep into the earth. The pressure of the floodwaters opened long-sealed fissures in the faults on the west side of Hualālai. Water entered the volcano's magma reservoir and flashed into steam. Steam under astronomical pressure.

And now from page 56:

The two women peppered Koa with questions while they waited for the flight. What had happened to Ikaika? Had he been attacked in jail? How badly was he hurt? Why did prison officials move him to O'ahu? Koa told them what little he knew -- that Ikaika blacked out in the local jail while waiting to testify in a criminal trial. He hadn't regained consciousness, and local medics had ordered him airlifted to Queen's Medical Center, the best hospital in the islands. His vital signs remained strong, but he hadn't awakened from some sort of coma.

Friday Book Memes - Book Beginnings, #Friday56, and Book Blogger Hop

First up is Rose City Reader sharing Book Beginnings on Fridays. I'll give you a little about the book in a minute, but here's the opening chapter:

September 1972Thirty-five years ago, Havens would have opened his eyes and thought of the day ahead as lacking. The surprise of old age is how comfortable a person can be with an empty day, how companionable it can be. If anything, Havens wants the day to empty itself even more, allow for memories to pay a visit, and should he decide to spend his time doing nothing more than sitting in his recliner and missing her, what's to stop him?

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Now, for which book this is from - it's a book that was just published a couple weeks ago: The Last Blue by Isla Morley. I was super-excited to start this one when I read the summary last night. In part: "...What they see will haunt Clay into his old age -- Jubilee Buford, a woman whose skin is a shocking and unmistakable shade of blue." I recognized the...concept? as being a big deal in a book I'd seen mentioned by a few book bloggers - The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Sure enough, both books seem to be about the same population - the blue people! I'm still waiting on The Book Woman from the library, but I'm now even more excited to start reading The Last Blue (which I received from the publisher in exchange for my unbiased review).

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Next up, I'd like to share with you a bit of page 56 from The Last Blue, for #Friday56, hosted by Freda's Voice.

Levi hands Jubilee a small wooden box. Something shuffles inside.
Through the slats, she sees two wide eyes and a beak about the size of a pinky fingernail -- a baby owl. "Hi, little guy!"
"I guess flying lessons didn't go too well." Levi is always going on about what a waste of time it is interfering with nature instead of letting it take its course, but half of her patients come from him. This is one is meant as a peace offering.

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And for today's Book Blogger Hop hosted by Ramblings for a Coffee Addicted Writer, we're asked: "If you own an eBook, would you also purchase a print copy as well?"

Hmm....While I was stubborn about switching to my kindle for reading, now most of my books are Netgalley reviews or library loans (which are all online while the library is closed). I can read in bed or with less-optimal light on my kindle. But it's hard for me to page back through on a kindle to get an excerpt for a review, or just to find something I thought happened to review while I'm reading..

Since reading on my kindle is usually easier (the actual reading, not reviewing or finding excerpts and such), I'm more likely to buy a book I really like as an eBook if I originally read it as a paperback or hard-cover. Make sense?

That being said, I may buy a print copy of a book I really liked on my kindle in order to share it with friends.

So I'm a solid maybe, either way. Hahaha...

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Friday Book Memes

I feel like my random Friday would be pretty lame. In the last week, I went to get groceries once (last Saturday), had to report to a work meeting on Monday, and then went to the meat processing plant today (to pick up a 1/4 of a cow - yay!). Ten random things of my week of mostly reading would be really lame. LOL Instead, let's stick with the books :)

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Today I'm joining in on the Book Blogger Hop from Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.

If you could add one interactive feature to reading books, what would it be?

Well, my first thought is a way to look up the meanings of words, except I bet my kindle could do that and I just don't know how. LOL If that already exists, I guess next it would be awesome to have access to pictures of things, and not just definitions. For example, I recently finished reading The Grace Kelly Dress, and it would have been cool to have a photograph of the real Princess Grace in her wedding dress. Or when I'm reading books based in other countries (like The Henna Artist in Jaipur), pictures of some of the home or clothing design features that I wasn't familiar with.

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Next up is the Book Beginnings Meme from Rose City Reader. Right now I'm reading Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. Before the map of Yale, there are two passages. The first one is in something that isn't English (maybe Spanish?), and doesn't seem to translate to the second passage. So for this meme, I'm sharing the second passage, which I suppose is technically before the beginning of the book, but I like it anyway.

There is a girl, a girl who does not fear death
Because she has her father and her mother and her twelve hunter brothers,
A home of three floors and a barnyard farmhouse,
In the middle of the farm, an apple tree that gives love apples in the winter and summer.
In the farm there are seven grottos,
Each and every grotto secured....
Death was light and slipped in through the lock.
--Death and the Girl, Sephardic ballad

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Last but not least (maybe I should mix up the order next time?) is the Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice.

Here's my chosen excerpt from page 56 of Ninth House:

She glanced back at the Grays gathered around Payne Whitney. Was it her imagination or was there something in the bent of their shoulders, the way they huddled together by the gymnasium doors? Alex knew better than to look too closely, but in that fleeting moment she could have sworn they looked frightened. What did the dead have to fear?
She could hear Darlington's voice in her head: When was the first time you saw them? Low and halting, as if he wasn't sure whether the question was taboo. But the real question, the right question, was: When was the first time you knew to be afraid?Alex was glad he'd never had the sense to ask.

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That's it for my Friday - I'm 26% through Ninth House so far and excited to get back to reading! Here in Michigan, we're still practicing social distancing, so it's the perfect time to read! Wishing for the very best for you and yours :)

Friday, Friday, Friday!

Welcome to Friday! With just a few weeks left til school (and my work) start back up again, I'm feeling even more focused to read, read, read!

I found a few book-ish memes to play along with this week. If that's how you found me, welcome! I've just started jumping on a few memes again lately, remembering how fun they all were way back when this blog was new (15+ years, whoa!).

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This is my first time on the Book Blogger Hop from Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. This week's question (suggested by Elizabeth at Silver's Review) is:

What authors do you always read and recommend?

 I really needed a few minutes to think on this question. See, most of my reading is books I've been given to review. So when I finally get around to choosing, I usually have other people's recommendations or books that I've heard about lately and want to read.
One author I've read some really varied books from and enjoyed is Kristin Hannah. With a lot of books with different characters and subjects, I really feel she has a lot to offer for a variety of readers. Even while recommending her, there are some books of hers that I have yet to read.
I'm excited to read others' responses to this question, since my list of books/authors recommended to me is always growing :)

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A couple weeks ago I really enjoyed the Book Beginnings meme from Rose City Reader, so I'm back!

The book I'm reading this week is a translated winner of the Icelandic Literary Prize called A Fist or a Heart by Kristin Eiriksdottir. It starts out:

My hands get no cleaner than an old bathtub. My fingernails are all clipped as short as possible, but the chemicals have managed to claw their way through the dead skin, into the bone. As if there's no enamel.

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And last but not least for this week is the Friday 56 from Freda's Voice.


Here is my excerpt from page 56 of A Fist or a Heart:

SON:He'll never leave, will he? And if he does leave, he'll just come right back again?GRANDFATHER:You may have to kill him.

Wow. Sort of a deceptive excerpt - actually an excerpt of an excerpt. Part of the book is about a playwright, and this is just part of a play that character has written.

Friday - Book Beginnings and Friday56 - July 26, 2019

So apparently when I'm procrastinating on Fridays, and don't feel like reading the book I should be reading, I blog about it instead.


I'm currently reading At the Narrow Waist of the World by Marlena Maduro Baraf for a review. It is scheduled to publish and be available August 6, 2019. It's a memoir of a Spanish Jewish woman being raised in tropical, Catholic Panama in the 1950s and 1960s.

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Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader.  Here's how At the Narrow Waist of the World starts:

"In the 1950s the country of Panama was small -- about 750,00 people. We lived in the capital city and knew everyone who was white and the people surrounding our lives who were darker, un cafe-con-leche mix tipico de Panama."

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The Friday56 is hosted by Freda's Voice and shares a snippet from page 56. I haven't read quite that far in At the Narrow Waist of the World yet, so this is a preview for me too! Here's a bit from page 56:

"There are not many rules. Ham but not pork. We eat shellfish now. My country is the land of the shrimp. Far from other Jewish groups, we are on our own."

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