Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings.
Valar Morghulis
Well, this has been a busy week!
One of the biggest highlights of my week is that I signed up for The Conqueror Challenge! It’s a virtual running challenge (or any activity, really) with lots of fun virtual rewards, and a real medal you get in the mail when you complete the challenge, and they had challenges that corresponded to quests and adventures in The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and other real and fictional places!
I hadn’t been doing as well with my running as I would’ve liked in the last few weeks, and as the weather gets colder, I’m afraid that I might lose motivation to go outside and run, so when I came across this challenge I thought that maybe it might help keep me motivated.
I was hesitant at first, but apparently one of my friends has finished two challenges with them and spoke highly of the experience, so that made me excited too and I ended up signing up for the Game of Thrones challenge!
So far it has worked very well, because I’ve walked and ran a total of 23.31km last week, 8.14km of them from just this morning! It makes me excited to get out more and get as many kms in as I can. It pushes me especially when I see how much more I have to go to reach the next checkpoints, but I’m also trying to pace myself because I don’t want to finish the challenge too quickly!
I’m just so delighted about this because it combines my new-found love of running with my existing love for Game of Thrones (and other stories)!
I’m also no longer apprehensive about when real winter comes (Winter is coming!) and probably not feeling like running at all. I have less motivation to run at home on a treadmill, but I think I’d be able to convince myself to get in some kms for the sake of moving forward in my GoT adventures!
Zoo
We also went to the zoo last week. It’s been a couple of months since we last went and I’ve missed the animals. It’s also a great place to walk and get in my kms! You bet I counted them for my challenge!
The penguins were the star of the show this time around. One of them kept swimming up to us and checking us out. I wanted to pet it so badly, it was that close, but of course we weren’t supposed to so I didn’t.
Inside Out 2
One more thing I have to talk about; my husband and I finally watched Inside Out 2 last week, and that portrayal of Anxiety made me cry because of how accurate it feels like for me.
I have had many sleepless nights and anxiety attacks and although my husband has always been loving and patient with me even at my worst times, I don’t think he’s ever understood what it felt like, and I love that the show was able to show him in a way that I was never able to articulate.
It’s been so much better for me recently; Anxiety has taken a back seat and Joy is leading the way a lot more, but it was just so cathartic to watch this show and feel so seen and realize I’m not alone. I love the first movie, and I love this one too!
All the happy things:
- So very happy about my virtual running challenge!
- And about my renewed motivation for running/walking in order to get the kms!
- And about the fact that I got in 23km this week!
- I even got my fastest pace at 8min/km! I’m usually at about 10min/km. Of course, I was exhausted after, and I don’t think I want to kill myself like that again for a while, but I was still very happy about it.
- The zoo visit made me very happy too, especially since we haven’t gone in a while, and we’re not sure when we’ll be going again.
- It’s a new month so we got KFC last week! We only get KFC once a month as a treat, and it’s such a happy treat!
- I baked a new batch of cookies!
- I’m starting a new crochet project with some gorgeous yarn and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
The Books
Books I read last week:
- The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer – It didn’t live up to expectations but it wasn’t bad. It’s categorized as adult fiction but it feels like it might be better suited for middle grade.
- The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers – This is a reread and a buddy read. It’s been a while since I read it the first time so I didn’t remember much of the details except that I loved it and I thought it was such a great example of interpersonal connections and acceptance of other cultures and beliefs. Reading it a second time made me love it more!
- The Girl from the Other Side Volume 9 by Nagabe – It ended on a cliffhanger that’s making me very anxious to find out what happens next! Most of the other volumes end on cliffhangers too, but this one makes me wonder how it’s going to move forward.
- I Fell In Love With Hope by Lancali – DNF. I’d been trying to read this book for weeks and I just couldn’t get into it. I finally realized that it’s just too purple prose-y for me. Too much style and not much substance. The writing is beautiful and it might’ve been good if done in poetry maybe, but as a story it’s a struggle to read.
Book(s) I’m reading:
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler – I am 70% in and I am loving it! It’s my first Octavia Butler book and I’ve heard so much praise for this book but I’ve never known what it’s about. Now I am totally invested!
Last Week on The Blog
I didn’t do very much on the blog last week. I’ve got some book reviews to catch up on!
This Week
I gotta get on the book reviews because I don’t want them to pile up on me. I’m also going to try to get a start on Never Whistle at Night, and/or The Glass Chateau.
How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!
Keep up the running! Wish I had when I could!
Thank you!
I can’t remember the last time I visited a zoo, it sounds like fun…and theres few things happier than home baked cookies…it makes the house smell so good.
The zoo is one of my happy places!
The Conquerer Challenge looks really fun! I’m tempted to sign up to help incentivise my cycling — though having library holds ready to pick up does that too. 😛
I’m loving it so far! I’m counting my kms separately from casual walks and other activities because I don’t want to finish too quickly, so you could always count your trips to the library separately. Unless you want to count them!
That’s an awesome week. I’m glad you are enjoying the new challenge. I hope we can get to the zoo again this fall.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
I hope you do too!
Awesome about how well you’re doing with your running challenge! I loved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. Eager to start her next one.
Me too! I’ve read the second one so it will be a reread, but I haven’t read the next ones and I’m excited to get to them all.
The Conqueror Challenge sounds like fun. I hope you love your shiny new medal when you get it. And the zoo is perfect for walking! My sister and I recently did a 5K (we are walkers) at the Kansas City Zoo and it was so much fun.
I haven’t watched Inside Out 2 yet. My husband keeps asking me and even though Inside Out is one of my favorites, I keep pushing it off. I guess I really need to watch!
My week has been good. Nothing too exciting but I did have some family time.
Yes, I’m excited to get the medal when I finish the challenge! I hope you enjoy Inside Out 2 when you watch it!
Sounds like a fun challenge. Good luck!
Jill
https://www.allthebooksihaventread.com/
Thank you!
Good luck with the The Conquerer Challenge! It sounds fun! I love the animal photos. I would want to cuddle with the penguins, but I know they would hate it. LOL My family and I really liked Inside Out 2 as well. My daughter and I both could relate all too well with anxiety. I also could relate with Nostalgia, and my daughter won’t let me forget every time I bring up a “remember when” story. Haha! I can’t remember the last time I went to KFC. That would make a nice treat–you’re having it once a month. 🙂
I am glad to hear you are enjoying Parable of the Sower. I really liked it as well. I loved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and am glad to hear it lives up to a reread well! I hope you have a great week and enjoy your reading!