I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.
Hello from my little part of California! It has been a pleasant week, weather wise. Fog and a little rain, but mostly sunshine. I still find myself wanting to wrap up in a blanket in the morning and evenings. I am not sure if it's to stay warm or just for comfort. Maybe some of both.
It was an especially difficult week at work, a reminder of how short life is and how precious our families are. Luckily Mouse never complains about getting extra hugs when I have weeks like this. We started a new schedule and in office rotation this past week. It seemed to go well, without too many complications so far. We are down a supervisor right now because someone retired the end of the year. I am not sure when we will get a replacement.
It is hard not to feel helpless amidst the torrent of news coming out about the current U.S. administration. Making calls to my government representatives is a minor thing, but at least I feel like I am doing something. How are you all coping?
A question for those of you who track your reading and keep stats: what sort of stats do you track or what tags do you use for your books on Goodreads, StoryGraph or other reading apps? I keep a spreadsheet with various statistics just for the fun of it, and while I tag books in LibraryThing, I do not really tag them on Goodreads or StoryGraph, but I am considering starting.
What have you been up to this weekend and past week?
I currently have my bookmark in three books. I am still reading The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett and am enjoying it quite a bit. I just started The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, and I can already tell it is going to be good. My current audio read is Bayou Moon (The Edge #2) by Ilona Andrews. February may be a short month, but it seems to be a month for reading big books!
This week I finished reading Murder in a Dressing Room, the first in the Misty Divine cozy mystery series, by Holly Stars and The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende, translated by Frances Riddle. Although I started off reading Allende's novel in print, I ended up listening to most of it in the audio version. It was heartbreaking and at times difficult to read, the parallels between the events in the book and what is happening in the U.S. today all too real. I hope to post my review later this week. Tomorrow I will be meeting with the book club where we will be discussing Allende's book.
In the meantime, be sure and check out this past week's Bookish Mewsings:
And other posts you may have missed:
What are you reading right now?
Thank you to everyone who voted in this month's TBR List Poll! All three of the options this month are calling my name, but I will only have time to read the winner--at least right now. I definitely do want to read the other two as well.
Twenty-nine (29) people voted, and while it wasn't all that close, each of the books got quite a few votes. The Case of the Missing Maid (Harriet Morrow Investigates #1) by Rob Osler received seven (7) books, Haunting and Homicide (A Ghost Tour Mystery #1) by Ava Burke got eight (8) votes, and A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay won with fourteen (14) votes! The winning book does sound like it will be a lot of fun to read, and I cannot wait to start it!
Thank you again to everyone for voting in this month's TBR List poll!
What are you reading next?
Mouse is excited to be sharing one of her favorite anime series with us, and so we have been watching an episode or two of Haikyu!! in the evenings. We are on season two now. It's a cute anime about a high school boy's volleyball team, based on a manga series. I have started watching the crime show, High Potential when the mood strikes, although am not too far in yet.
What have you been watching lately?
Following in the footsteps of Deb of Readerbuzz, who shares three good things in her Sunday Salon posts, I thought I would try to do the same. With all the worries and stressors in life, I want to highlight some of the good, even the seemingly small stuff.
1. A surprise gift from my daughter. We all enjoy the Spy x Family manga series, and Mouse gave me a sleeping Yor, and set her Loid next to keep me company while I work.
2.My husband's Tortilla Chip Enchiladas. Yum!
3. My Gracie. She's my little shadow. I haven't had the heart to throw my old desk chair out because she's made it her own, sitting right beside me in her own chair when I am working from home. Another of her favorite spots (besides on my lap or chest) right now is lying on blankets and bear pillow on the floor next to me. She's never far away.
I hope you have a great week! Let me know what you have been reading!
I can't wait to hear all about The Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage. It is on my want list I have seen it every where
ReplyDeleteAwww, Gracie is a sweetie. Let's see. I just binge watched The Man Inside, the new season of both Virgin River and The Lincoln Lawyer, finished up the first season of Matlock and the movie the Six Triple Eight. I normally don't watch a lot of TV, but I sure did this past week. I didn't vote in your last one as I hadn't read any of the books. I hope you enjoy the winner, Wendy. I am trying to read books for Black History Month as well as backlist Amish Fiction stories as they usually contain romance for February. Even though I am Canadian, I am worried about where things are going as they will definitely affect us. I try not to talk politics while I am here as it inevitably ends up in an argument and I am a guest in the US right now. I hope you have a better week at work, Wendy, and keep giving Mouse those hugs!
ReplyDeleteAww Gracie is adorable!!!
ReplyDeleteI am trying to cope by throwing myself more into creative hobbies and trying not to spend too much time on social media. And, I have been reminding myself to never read the comments on articles!
Blankets are a comfort thing for me. If we are watching tv I have what I call movie blanket and it's light enough that don' t get hot.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading enough news to stay informed but not go into despair and that is certainly not easy! But I am also reading more so that's a plus.
Gracie is gorgeous! I wouldn't get rid of that chair either if she likes it. Once I cleaned out a huge section of the floor of a closet so our dog could get inot his "man cave" when he was frightened or needed alone time.
I hope The Reformatory continues to be good. It's definitely a tough time in the US. At times I feel like we're in a dream (or rather nightmare), it just doesn't seem real. Gracie is adorable and I'm glad she has a comfy chair that she loves. Animals definitely help with all the stress!
ReplyDeleteI wrap up in blankets year round. They bring great comfort. I keep a spreadsheet for stats but d not tag any challenges anywhere. I’ll do a mid-year and end of year blog post and that’s it. We never miss High Potential. We find it enjoyable. Gracie is precious. I have a blanket that I don’t like on my couch 24/7 because my cat Jeffrey is very attached to it.
ReplyDeleteYou're reading the good books. Some people are having trouble with the body horror in Bayou Moon. I guess I was more focused on the people and I like technology so it didn't bother me as much. Wendy, the things happening in govt have been horrible. I'm glad to hear you are calling your representatives. I need to start doing more of that. I just feel so tired when I think about it.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
I love that your cat snuggles by you! My dogs do like to snuggle near me when I'm at my desk, so I got a chaise for my office, one that was in the clearance room at a local furniture store because it was supposed to be part of a full sectional. So it was cheaper, and occasionally I'll sit on it and read! My students like Spy x Family, so I love that there are little figurines! I don't keep a lot of tags on Goodreads other than for the books I haven't read yet to help me decide which I want to read - like page number, or for review books to remember how I got them - from publisher or on Netgalley/Edelweiss - egalley or physical ARC. StoryGraph keeps a lot of different stats, part from when you review you can check different things in their review forms. Hope you have a good week!
ReplyDeletehttps://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2025/02/09/weekly-wrap-up-210-february-9th-2025/
I use a spreadsheet to track my reading. I mostly pay attention to star rating, genre, publication date, target audience, publisher, where I got the book, and some diversity stuff. I use the spreadsheets to make these posts: https://ajsterkel.blogspot.com/2025/01/2024-reading-statistics.html
ReplyDeleteMy daughter got me watching High Potential - I really enjoy it. Sounds like there is only one left in the season.
ReplyDeleteI also use a spreadsheet to keep track of my books and if they match with a challenge. I only starting using tags on GR more recently (for challenges). I start with the year, and then the name of the challenge. Like 2025-audiobook-challenge.
I put all kinds of tags on Goodreads, the genre, I mark my favorites, new authors, and so many other things. But, it's helpful for Top Ten Tuesday posts when I can go to my tag of new authors for the year and choose from the list!
ReplyDeleteI've found tagging books on goodreads hasn't been that useful. I started doing it when I used Goodreads to help me pick my next book to read but I haven't done that in years.
ReplyDeleteGracie! What a cutie. So happy she's always around when you need her. Happy reading!
It is hard not to feel helpless against the current administration. How bleak it all is - what they're doing. Most of the time I'm mad as hell about it & his voters .... I'm not sure how to cope but I started a puzzle to calm me down, which it has a bit. I think The Reformatory novel looks good -- but maybe it's a bit too dark/scary for right now. Enjoy your week!
ReplyDeleteLove the sleeping Yor and Loid.
ReplyDeleteGracie is so pretty! I have 2 cats and a dog and they all like snuggling with me.
I haven't watch the news other than bits of the elections since my son went into the Marines years ago.
I'm really ramping up the focus on good things and deep breathing and other tricks for dealing with stress these days. I just learned they are shutting down contact between those who monitor hurricanes and foreign agencies who do the same. Do these people not remember the 1900 Storm in which Galveston hurricane offices did not pay attention to warnings from Cuba?! Good grief. Madness.
ReplyDeleteLove your Gracie!
I know it can seem disheartening, but KEEP CALLING! I am in a Blue Dot Facebook group (for Omaha's Blue Dot in a deeply red state). I also follow the Alt National Park Service on Facebook and BlueSky (such a great option over Twitter, which I am trying to extract myself from asap). They're giving updates daily, sometimes hourly, as to what is really going on and what musk is up to. It's exhausting but also helpful, since news outlets have been slow to report on anything.
ReplyDeleteI am looking toward indivisible for action items and I'll keep writing my little romance books as long as I can. I'm glad things are well in your part of the world. Can't wait to hear about the Serial Killer book!
ReplyDelete