This beatiful Cleveland fall weather has allowed us to indulge in fun things like making a fire just so Gage and his friend could make proper s’mores. Next up, corn mazes!
I’ve taken lots of morning walks after dropping Gage off after school this week, so lots of audio book time. I finished the latest in the Amos Decker series, Long Shadows, and posted about the series as my first entry into my Top 100 lists. I also listened to Hello Stranger by Katherine Center (post up tomorrow) and am currently listening to a Jack Reacher book. I LOVE long walks in September and October, so audio books will be my thing for a bit.
I went to the school’s first PAC meeting. I can’t tell you how nice it’s been to take a supporting role in Gage’s education and my parent participation at the school. A few years ago I would have been all over taking charge some of the projects, but this time I sat back and offered support. I’m learning to chill a bit, but I’m still a work in progress 🙂
Jason and I are finializing our 25th anniversary quick getaway next month and I planned Gage’s birthday excursion to Kalahari with a friend. And I’m working on the library book sale for next month. We had a board meeting this week and I still have library stuff to get done. October is my favorite month, but always so busy.
Books Read
Finished 5, 194 for the year
Posts
I posted about David Baldacci’s Amos Decker series here.
Book review of The Enchanted Hacienda by JC Cervantes here. I loved it!
We’ve been watching Harlan Coben’s Shelter series on Amazon. Jason and I are really enjoying it.
Plans for the weekend
A trip to the library to freshen our ongoing sale. Waiting to see if Jason will win the pickleball tournament he’s playing in today. A few trips to Little Free Libraries to distribute books.
Amos was a standout college football player at THE Ohio State University (Go Bucks!) and his big time opportunity came with the Cleveland Browns (Go Browns!). On the first play of his NFL career he was brutally injured, not only ending his career, but changing his life forever. From that day forward he couldn’t forget anything, total recall of every moment of his life that he could flip through like a photo album anytime he wanted. This was the case when he went home one night after his shift as a police detective and found his wife, daughter and brother-in-law murdered in his home. The case wasn’t solved and Amos lost his way and ended up living in a dive hotel. That’s where we first meet Amos, at the hotel buffet.
Amos is one of those quirky, damaged characters that is also agenius that I always seem to like. Maybe it’s because at his core he’s just a good person who wants todo what’s right. Because of his remarkable mental abilities (called hyperthymesia) he is able to see things that other people miss. I’ve liked the secondary characters, especially Alex, Melvin, and now Freddie and the love they’ve shown to the sometimes hard-to-take Decker. The mysteries themselves are out there, but not so ridiculous that you can’t appreciate them.
In the latest book, Long Shadows, he gets a new FBI partner, listens to his first partner commit suicide, and also some concerning news about his health. I don’t know what the future will hold for Amos, but I’m excited about how many interesting changes there were in this 7th installment.
Read if you like – Smart but grouchy detectives, tragic backstories, well plotted mysteries, character growth.
I’m a sucker for all things magical realism. This was the perfect book at the perfect time. I love when that happens! It was magical, romantic, and fun.
The Estrada women are tied to their Mexican flower farm. Each one of them, for generations, has been born with special powers and the ability to help others through spells, like erasing memories or bonding to another person. Harlow didn’t have any such gift and always felt like the odd one out. When she goes home to regroup after a breakup she finds the magic she’s been looking for her whole life.
There are lots of women in this family and something tells me we might see more of these women in the future. I can’t wait!
This was one of three books in my quarterly TBR box from Book Riot and the second I’ve read so far. I always like care they use when choosing my books and, of course, I love the element of surprise that the box brings when I see it on my doorstep.
Fall temperatures finally arrived. After some 90 degree days early this week, it’s finally in the 70s, just where I like it. Jason is 99% recovered from Covid after two weeks, Gage is in school, and I’m trying to map out what I want for myself this year. Blogwise I’ve got some big goals. I’ve had my favorite 100 books and 100 movies posted here for years. I’m a list maker so I’m doing a rehaul. I’ve made lots of lists that you can see. But before a book goes on the new list, I’ll be giving it a reread or watching it again and posting about it. It’s a big project that will satify my goal to slow down and will, most likely, be ongoing for a year or two.
After a few friend recommendations we finally watched Jury Duty. We laughed at James Marsden, but it really just wasn’t for us. Ronald came across as very likable, but what did he do to deserve such a big, very public prank?
Puzzle
This was my 1000 piece puzzle from Completing the Puzzle and I loved it. It’s Tokyo from Coudberries.
Plans for the Weekend
Shopping for school clothes and seeing the parents for Grandparents Day!
Flying Colors follows the mystical adventures of John Freeman, who’s young, ambitious, and on the verge of achieving everything he wants when he finds himself the student of a mysterious flight instructor whose initial lessons have little to do with flying planes. Over a remarkable summer, as John struggles to unravel the secrets behind the instructor and a mystical airfield stuck in time, he becomes torn between his professional ambitions and the lure of a simpler life. But to earn his wings and soar, John must face the ultimate test of discovering his true self and what matters most.
John meets a mysterious man in an airport who opens his eyes to a different way to live, to new possibilities never dreamt of before. When John arrives back home to a job that is ready to serve up the life he’s always wanted on a silver platter, the memory of the man in the airport has him questioning what it is he really wants.
Mysterious and mystical and a great first novel.
“No one can teach another person. If something’s worth learning we teach ourselves. We become our own teachers by doing, by experimenting. We teach ourselves by making mistakes and experimenting until we get it right. Everyone wants answers, but the answers can’t come from other people because the answers you get are to the wrong questions, answers meant for someone else’s life, not yours.”
Many thanks to the author for sending this uplifting book my way!
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood. 4.25 stars, STEM RomCom, 354 pages, 2022
Like an avenging, purple-haired Jedi bringing balance to the mansplained universe, Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project–a literal dream come true after years scraping by on the crumbs of academia–Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.
Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. And sure, he caught her in his powerfully corded arms like a romance novel hero when she accidentally damseled in distress on her first day in the lab. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school–archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.
Now, her equipment is missing, the staff is ignoring her, and Bee finds her floundering career in somewhat of a pickle. Perhaps it’s her occipital cortex playing tricks on her, but Bee could swear she can see Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas…devouring her with those eyes. And the possibilities have all her neurons firing. But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there’s only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?
After reading The Love Hypothesis last month, it took me no time at all to realize that I would be reading more from her. It was fun, smart, and romantic. What’s not to love?
Love on the Brain is very similar to TLH. It’s set in academia, has offbeat heroines and stoic heroes (unless there’s sex and then all bets are off), and an obvious attraction seen by the reader even though the heroine misses it. But, in all of the ways that TLH went over the top and sometimes missed the mark, this one didn’t. It’s a more mature story, complete with cats and near death experiences.
Bee and Levi are working on a project for NASA and they have a history. Bee runs a site for women in science to vent their frustrations. What happens when Bee’s worst day involves both parts of her life.
I’ll be moving on to my next Hazelwood romcom soon and I can’t wait!
“Fun fact about me: I am a fairly mellow person, but I happen to have a very violent fantasy life. Maybe it’s an overactive amygdala. Maybe it’s too much estrogen. Maybe it’s the lack of parental role models in my formative years. I honestly don’t know what the cause is, but the fact remains: I sometimes daydream about murdering people. By “sometimes,” I mean often. And by “people,” I mean Levi Ward. I have my first vivid reverie on my third day at NASA, when I imagine offing him with poison.” from Love on the Brain
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I only read 20 books this month, and a weird range of reads too.
I read 9 picture books, 7 fiction, 2 non-fiction. My favorite being
Wombats are Pretty Weird: A (Not So) Serious Guide by Abi Cushman. There are characters (Gage loved the snake) that will appeal to the littles in your life and just enough information to make those littles smarter! The back pages had photos and facts about the different types of wombats and the page on their cube shaped poop is fun for all.
I managed 5 romances, 2 modern, 2 historical, and 1 teen. My favorite being
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood. Ladies in STEM unite! So much fun! If you have a thing for smart men, are inspired by intelligent women, and love some spice then this is the romance for you! It wasn’t without issues, but reading it felt like I was sitting down to eat a big bowl of M&Ms for dinner. I can’t wait to read more by this author.
I also read 6 non-fiction, 2 photography books, 1 health, 1 inspirational journal, 1 graphic biography, and 1 cartoon collection. Two favorites from this group were
Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton. I’m sure most of you have seen Humans of New York online. Brandon Stanton started taking photos of people in various cities along with a caption or story and his blog gained traction. By the time his camera found the humanity and exuberant essence of NYC, people were paying attention. And still are. This book was originally published in 2013. I loved every bit of it. The people, the quick story, the quote, the photos.
Interspersed amongst the rest is the story of Steve Martin and Harry Bliss, told in comic style, and how they came to put together this book. My favorite is when they were checking each other for ticks. It’s a great 20-30 minute read, sure to make you chuckle.
I’d never heard of Stephanie St. Claire, a Black woman from the Caribbean who ran the Harlem numbers in the 1920s and 30s. This was not a woman’s game and she did it at the same time and in the same city Lucky Luciano was running the mob.
There are flashbacks to her Martinique childhood where you can see what made her the powerhouse she became. This shows the racism of the day and also the way that powerful men thought they could control her through violence and sex.
I loved the two pages about the Harlem Renaissance and the two pages on the famous players in the story. And can we talk about the arresting cover? Gorgeous. A 155 page graphic biography.
Firefighter Cassie had closed herself off emotionally until one weak moment changed her life. From Austin to Boston, hero to ‘the girl’, and never been kissed to cherished forever, Cassie’s story hit all the sweet spots. A fun and thoughtful read. I loved Cassie’s confidence in herself and getting a feel for life at the fire station.
The Lady Risks All by Stephanie Laurens. Stephanie Laurens was a new author for me and I really liked the unconventional characters, unique circumstances,and very real dangerous mystery of this one. At over 450+ pages i really got to know the characters and why in the 1820s a Duke could not just become owner of gambling houses without sacrifices being made.
My Indigo World: A True Story of the Color Blue by Rosa Chang. For the older elementary or even early middle schooler. Chang shares her memory of all things blue and there is so much great information. It’s all over the place, jumping from her first trip to the blue ocean to growing indigo to Korean history, but in the best possible way.
A few months ago I read Anatomy: A Love Story and liked the young adult book. This is the sequel. In the first book Hazel found a way to make me her surgeon dreams come true in 1800s Edinburgh, but saw her love hanged by a mob.
In Immortality, after being imprisoned for helping a woman who had aborted her pregnancy, she is ordered to London to treat Princess Charlotte, the heir to the throne. She’s invited to the elusive Companions to the Death club, where she learns more about the tincture offering everlasting life. This tincture, which she had given to her love Jack, proves to be the real deal.
So, I liked it well enough for the crazy that it was. It’s brings the story that began in Anatomy to a nice end. Although, I’m speaking as an older woman here, I question her big life decision. And some endings are mind boggling, like that of Marie-Anne.
Patchwork by Matt de la Pena and Corinna Luyken. When you were a kid what did you think your life woud look like when you gre up? Sometimes you can see the seeds of who you will be, but sometimes your life will take a different direction.
Wilde Child by Eloisa James. I’ve read and enjoyed Eloisa James and her historical romances before, but this ended up being just okay for me. It’s the 8th in a series that I haven’t read and, to be blunt, I just got tired of hearing about Thaddeus’s cock (a word frequently used). A lady who wanted to be an actress, a big no no back then, and a future Duke who loved her adventurous spirit was a good story. Even the shared parental difficulties were engaging. Once the spicy scenes started they didn’t stop. So, if lots of spicy is your scene then this might be for you.
Faces of Cleveland by Laura Wimbels. This book, unlike HONY, is a collection of portraits of Clevelanders with just their name and occupation. At the beginning she has several locals tell how they know the author and what it is that makes Cleveland special. This is not a comprehensive collection in any way, but it’s always nice to celebrate the good things and people of this fine city. Although I’m a suburbanite, I can be downtown in 20 minutes and love this place I’ve called home for 23 years.
What to do after a long hiatus, the longest I’ve taken since January 2008 when I wrote my first post here? I’m at a bit of a crossroads. After 3+ years of homeschooling, Gage had his first day back in the classroom this week. I had two full days to decompress and think about what I wanted this year (and beyond) to look like. Then Jason tested positive for covid on Friday morning and we’re in limbo again, waiting to see if Gage and I can skate by without it this time. Jason hasn’t been sick in over 7 years and the man is as healthy as it gets and I think he’s pretty surprised at how sick he is with covid. I guess if we don’t show symptoms I send Gage back to school tomorrow?
I’ve blogged about a lot of things over the years, like being a 39 year old first time mom, movies, homeschooling, and trips we’ve taken, but at its heart this has always been a place to document my love of books and share that passion with other like minded readers. I like having this little piece of the net to do with as I please. I’ve turned to Instagram the last few years too, but that satisfies a different, more immediate itch.
Do I want to continue to blog? My current feeling is yes. I just paid for my site for another year, so I’ve at least commited to that! Do I still want to blog about books? Yes, I think so. Do I want to do something different? Maybe. I’ve got some newfound time to think about the possibilites. Stick with me and we’ll see what happens!
Living on the Maine coast with her husband and two small children, Grace’s life is turned upside down when wildfires advance toward their town. Grace is left on her own to save her children.
It’s a slow burn at first, but by the middle I hated to put it down. This book has an unexpected hitch and I was concerned and rooting for Grace the whole way. It was tense for a bit! Shreve got the to the heart of what it was to be a woman in the 1940s. Highly recommend.
I really liked this twisty tale. Told from three perspectives until the epilogue where we get a fourth, this is the story of a kidnapping for ransom that goes awry. We hear the story from during the abduction and after all mixed together from the voices of the detective, the kidnapper, and the victim’s mother.
An oldish thriller, but one perfect for your summer vacation if you haven’t already read it.
An atmospheric thriller that you’ll move through fast even as the absurdity hits you.
Abigail was getting married and her uber rich husband to be sends her and her bridal party off to a winery in California. Abigail, has a few drinks too many and makes one very bad decision. That very bad decision shows up at the private island resort where she and her husband are honeymooning 3 weeks later. As you might imagine, it doesn’t turn out well.
If you like sinister thrillers then I’d give this one a go. If you are marrying soon, please read this as a cautionary tale 😉
Have you had to deal with the death of a pet (or even a loved one) with a child? It’s tough enough for adults and a child has little way of making sense of it.
Addy’s cat was killed by a car and she asks Stillwater to help bring him back to life. Stillwater says he can help, but first Addy needs to borrow a cup of sugar from a neighbor, but not from any home who has lost a loved one. Sounds easy enough but as Addy learns, loss is a part of everyone’s life.
Addy’s Cup of Sugar: Based on a Buddhist Story of Healing ❤️🩹 is a wonderful book for children. It’s based on the Buddhist legend, The Mustard Seed, but it is a book for any faith (or none at all).
This oversized 85 page picture book is gorgeous. Go ahead and slide through some of the pages. Gage loves choose your own adventure books and when I saw this I knew it would be fun lunchtime browsing material. After he chose at least a half a dozen endings he rated it a 10 out of 10.
Obviously, there are a few favorite fairytale characters you can run into and some of them are scary 🐺. The illustrations are great and the reading level is maybe 3rd grade?
For the younger elementary kid. I’m obsessed with this and open it to a random page every time I walk by it. The art is GORGEOUS. I may have to buy this one just to have on our shelves.
A very creative story that will engage the older elementary kid. Ideas weren’t being shared and the inventions, songs, and performances were overwhelming the Cave of Untold Stories.
I thought this was very well done, taking us from her childhood to when she became first Black woman to serve as a US Supreme Court Justice. It only took “232 years and 115 prior appointments.”
Stacy's Books 