Sunday Post | This Could Really Be A Good Life

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. 

A Good, Good Life

Hey friends, I’ve missed you all since the week before! I’m still catching up from all I’ve missed; I’ve got a ton of laundry to do, work I haven’t done, and a couple weeks’ worth of blog visiting and commenting! Please bear with me while I get myself caught up!

As for my friend’s visit, it was awesome! We had lots of fun and did a lot of stuff (and I had to take a couple of days to rest from all the activity I was not used to!) – I took her to the zoo of course, and to the annual big book sale in Calgary, signed her up for our public library tour – she’s a friend from my online book club so she was thrilled with all the book-related activities, I promise!

She was also very happy to meet my cats, the pictures above were all taken by her. They had fun hanging out with her although they were wary at first. We also did some tarot readings, had long chats and some really big laughs, enjoyed a few meals together. It was a great time and I was sad when it was time for her to leave. There were tears! 😭

All the happy things:

1. It was so nice to hang out with my friend! This is actually the first time we met in person after years of hanging out online, and it was just a joy!
2. I grabbed lots of great books from the book sale!
3. I have always loved the zoo and the library, but I have a new appreciation for them, and other local fixtures, after seeing them through a visitor’s eyes.
4. There have been more walks around the neighborhood with the husband on nice days.
5. And another dance party while cleaning the kitchen together!
6. I made more cookies!

My book haul! There were several more, but these are the ones I’m excited about and I hope to read them sooner rather than later.

The Books

Books I read last (two) week(s):

1. Funny Story by Emily Henry – I think this might have become my favorite of Emily Henry’s books. I loved the banter, and it made me laugh out loud several times. It was just so fun to read.
2. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver – I loved this book but for very different reasons. It’s heavy and difficult to read emotionally, but it was very good, and I feel like this is one I’d come back to and find new things to take away.
3. Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid – Another favorite from TJR. One of my top TJR books is Malibu Rising, and we first meet Carrie Soto there in a cameo. We get to know her better in this book and I’m definitely a fan.
4. The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth – My book club buddies were talking about this book and I couldn’t resist buying into their hype. I’m glad I did because it was really good. I finished it very quickly.
5. The Woman In Me by Britney Spears – I grew up with Britney and really enjoyed her music. It’s horrifying to find out all the ways she’s been used and exploited because of her success. I have so much respect for her strength. I know I couldn’t have handled half the things she went through.
6. What Happened To Nina? by Dervla McTiernan – This had been on my radar for a while and I finally finished it. It’s such an interesting look at the things we’d do for our loved ones. How far would you go? I think the social horror aspect of it is what scares me most.
7. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo – Many of you recommended this book after I finished reading Clap When You Land, and I’m glad you did because it was so good. I loved Xiomara’s voice and listening to it on audio, narrated by the author, made it all the more powerful.
8. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells – Just finished today! I’ve been waiting a long time for the audiobook and it’s worth the wait, but I feel so impatient to read them all, so now I have a dilemma – read them all quickly on ebook? Or wait for the audiobooks to be available, one by slow one? 😩

Books I’m reading:

1. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley – On a physical copy. This is a reread. Robin McKinley is one of my favorite childhood authors but for some reason I only rated this one two stars at the time. My book buddies have told me unequivocally that I’m wrong and it’s great, so I’m trying it again. To be fair, it’s been so long I don’t remember anything about it at all, so I might agree with them and shake my head at my younger self’s bad take.
2. Hello Stranger by Katherine Center – On ebook. I’ve been meaning to read it for months! It was on my TBR before The Bodyguard, but I finished that some time ago so I thought I should finally get to this.
3. Why Does He Do That? by Lundy Bancroft – On audiobook. I’ve seen a lot of recommendations for this book on some subreddits and it came up recently while I was browsing Libby’s catalog, so I thought I’d read it. It’s been pretty eye-opening so far but I’m only 20% in.

Last Week on The Blog

• Top Ten Tuesday | Authors I’d Love a New Book From
• Book Review | Funny Story by Emily Henry
• Book Review | Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
• Book Review | Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Book Review | The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
• Book Review | The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
• Book Review | What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan
• Book Review | The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

This Week

Finish all the books I’ve already started, but I think I also have to catch up on some book reviews, and updating my books read on Goodreads and The Storygraph. I feel like I’ve also lost sight of some of my reading challenges, so I’m going to try to get back on track and focus on the books I wanted to read.

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!