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.
So Many Buddy Reads
Last week I mentioned that I joined this book community that does a lot of buddy reads. Well, the inevitable happened; I got caught up in the excitement of shiny, new things, and I signed up for so many buddy reads, and now I’m contemplating my life and all my questionable life choices. 😅
Don’t get me wrong, I love buddy reads and buddy reading and book discussions and all that come with reading, but now I just have the added pressure of doing so many within a certain time frame. Which might not even be a bad thing, except I signed up for so. many. chonkers. And I don’t know why I do this to myself!
The chonkers:
- 11/22/63 by Stephen King (which I managed to finish last week, whew! One down!)
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- The Stand by Stephen King
And these are just the chonkers. I also signed up for several other regular-sized buddy reads!
To be fair, there’s a pretty good timeline for each of the buddy reads and I’m quite sure I can get them done in time. Most of them are books I’ve been wanting to read anyway, and there’s more motivation to read them when they are buddy reads, so I am pretty excited about them but I’m just also nervous!
I’m also going to curb my enthusiasm for all the buddy reads! I’ve slowed down a little now, and I’m sure once the excitement has worn off and I’ve finished some of these buddy reads, we’ll be back to our regularly-scheduled reading. 🤞
All the happy things:
- There is a Little Free Library near my neighborhood and I scored some really great books! I’m a Dragonlance fan and I’m so stoked I found Preludes Vol. 1 to 5! Vol. 2 is mismatched but I’m still really happy about finding the books at all!
- We’ve been making homemade avocado milkshake and it’s so yummy! I even added some cocoa to it a couple of times and it’s good either way.
- I’m up-to-date with my book reviews! I’m very happy and just a little surprised that I managed that again this time.
- I made some chili oil and have been putting it in everything! I didn’t choose the spicy life, the spicy life chose me!
- A bunny has been visiting my garden and it’s been so lovely to see it lounging around.
The Books
Books I read last week:
- Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery – I was surprised with the trajectory of the book series because it’s been a while since I read them. I expected more of Anne and Gilbert but this book focused on Anne being a teacher and her relationships with her young charges. I’m not complaining! I loved it! I’m just also looking forward to more Anne and Gilbert!
- If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio – I ended up really disappointed with this one. Perhaps someone who’s more familiar with Shakespeare will enjoy it more, but I personally think that books should be able to stand on their own regardless of their sources of inspiration.
- 11/22/63 by Stephen King – This a reread, and I remember loving it when I read it the first time, but this time around, it was even better because it was a buddy read and I enjoyed reading other readers’ thoughts about the book!
- The Girl from the Other Side Volumes 1-3 by Nagabe – This is a new-to-me manga. The link takes you directly to the website where you can read it for free. I’ve only read up to Vol. 3, which is up to Chapter 15. I’m loving it and really looking forward to reading more!
- Crime and Poetry by Amanda Flower – I came across this book when looking for bookish books for my reading challenge. This one is a series with a magical bookshop and I’m really enjoying it so far!
Books I’m reading:
- Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris – I meant to read this last week, but didn’t get around to it. I have to read it this week because it’s for my in-person bookclub and we’re meeting this weekend!
- Prose and Cons by Amanda Flower – The second book in the magical bookshop series!
Last Week on The Blog
- Top Ten Tuesday | Books Featuring Mothers
- Book Review | Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
- Book Review | Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
- Book Review | If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
- Book Review | 11/22/63 by Stephen King
- Book Review | Crime and Poetry (Magical Bookshop #1) by Amanda Flower
This Week
Other than the books I’ve already started, I also plan to continue reading The Girl from the Other Side up to Volume 6 this week. There’s also a buddy read for Solaris by Stanislaw Lem starting this Monday, and it’s relatively short so I can probably finish that too.
How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!
I love that Amanda Flower series! It is just so cute and fun.
And whew those are some chonkers! 11/22/63 was so good. I was in awe of that book when I read it; it felt so different from King’s other books. I cried at the love story. 🙁
Yes I agree, I’m really enjoying the Amanda Flower series! 11/22/63 is really good. I feel like a lot of his newer books are less focused on horror and are just really good stories!
Nice you are finding so many good reads and the buddy reads. I can be picky about buddy reads, so I limit myself. I do my Read-along with a month for each book and then we all come together to discuss at the end of the month. I enjoyed Crime and Punishment but it’s been awhile since I read it.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
I end up reading a lot of books I wouldn’t normally read if there weren’t buddy reads, but most of the time it’s a good thing! I do need to control my FOMO a little, but in general I just enjoy buddy reads a lot because I love seeing what other people think of the books and discussing with them too!
I wish there was a little library in my neighborhood, although it looks like someone has put one up about a mile or so away. I can’t do the buddy reads very often because I have such a review schedule planned. Oh well. Hope you have a good week!
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2024/08/25/weekly-wrap-up-184-august-25th-2024/
Thank you! The Little Free Libraries are wonderful and I always wished I could set up my own too, but I’m renting so probably not for now! I hope you find more around your neighborhood.
Wow, you’re reading some giant books! I also didn’t like If We Were Villains. I’ve never been a Shakespeare fan.
I love stories derived from Shakespeare’s works but I don’t think I’ve read many of the OG stuff. The giant books are feeling very intimidating right now!
Those are some really big books! I’ve never done a buddy read. The manga looks good.
Oh the manga is so good! I’m pleasantly surprised! I don’t read a lot of manga, but I do enjoy them once in a while.
I’m always so bad at keeping up with buddy reads! One or two can be a nice motivator, but I quickly get overwhelmed… Right now I’m essentially buddy reading a series with my wife, and it’s nice in a lot of ways, but I also kinda want to switch books for a bit but feel pressured not to. Gah.
If We Were Villains seems to get such mixed reviews. I really don’t know if I want to give it a shot…
Wow, good for you for reading those chonkers! It’s cool to have a buddy read group to motivate you 🙂
love making avocado shakes with banana, peanut butter, and chocolate protein powder!
I also am always looking forward to more Anne and Gilbert! I haven’t read the whole series in a while so I don’t remember what happens in each individual book except for the first one, but I can totally understand wanting more of them together! 😂