Sunday, April 28, 2019

The Sunday Post [16]

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly at the Caffeinated Reviewer! It's an opportunity to share news, post a recap for the previous week, showcase books, and highlight what's planned for the week ahead.

News:

I took an unintentional break from blogging! We had family visiting, and then a spontaneous camping trip, so I just haven't been around. It's been nice to get away and focus on my children more. My son attempted to swim in a lake, even though it's April and the water hasn't warmed up. I'm sure he'll have a cold in the near future. 

I've been having trouble with my audiobook choices this month. Nothing seems to work out! It hasn't been the audio, but the books I've been choosing. Our new library doesn't have a very large selection, and I think I'm trying to force myself to listen to books that I'm not in the mood for. 

This is what summer in Texas looks like, haha. It's been a few years since we've lived in the county, and this one was hanging out in one of my shoes. Always check your shoes before putting them on! Even if you don't have scorpions, spiders can be a problem as well.

The kids and I have spent the week working on our summer garden. We have flowers planted (cannot wait for the iris to bloom) and a few vegetables. My son was adamant about planting watermelon, even though it's a plant I've never tried before. I hope it works out! We also planted squash, tomato, and banana pepper. If you would like to see my garden updates, and pictures of flowers, check out my Instagram page!

Don't forget to enter my Saving Meghan giveaway! It's open internationally, and there will be two winners. One winner will receive an ARC of the book, and another will receive the Audiobook on CD! There are only 5 days left to enter!

Previous week on the blog:

Sunday: Nothing!
Monday: Nothing!
Tuesday: Descendant of the Crane by Joan He ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆
Wednesday: Nothing!
Friday: Nothing!
Saturday: Nothing!

What I'm currently reading:

Among the Red Stars by Gwen C. Katz
Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha, #1) by Tomi Adeyemi

Initially, I was listening to the audiobook for How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen, but I was enjoying it so much I ordered a physical copy! I needed something to highlight and take notes in, because there is a lot of valuable and applicable information in this one. I think it's really helped my communication with my son, and I've only gotten through a few chapters. I try to take is slow, so I can apply new concepts and techniques, and then I take notes as I go. It's been great! I highly recommend this one if you have young children.

Among the Red Stars has been very interesting so far! It offers a different perspective on a war we're all familiar with. I love reading about women overcoming obstacles and achieving their goals. The main character wants to fight for her country, but they tell her she's better suited to creating a new generation of children. However, her neighbor and friend is drafted even though it's not what he wants.

I just downloaded the audiobook for Children of Blood and Bone, and I'm really excited to start it! I've only heard wonderful things about this one. I'm about to mow the lawn (ugh, help me), so it'll give me something to listen to while I work.

What I plan on reading next:

Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey
This Is Not a Love Scene by S.C. Megale
Every Last Breath (Final Hour, #1) by Juno Rushdan

What I'm watching:

I'm completely caught up on Fairy Tail, and now I'm working my way through One Piece. I've already cried a few times (everything that happens during the Marineford arc), and have finally made it to Fish-Man Island. Hordy Jones is a beast! 

I want to watch the new Avengers movie, but children. Haha! I'll have to wait until I can either rent or buy it. I recently bought Muppet Treasure Island for the kids, and they loved it! I remember it being one of my favorites growing up. What was your favorite childhood movie?

Challenge updates:

Audiobook Challenge: 19 / 30+
Beat the Backlist Challenge: 24 / 100
Discussion Challenge: 2 / 11-20
Goodreads Challenge: 124 / 500

43 comments:

  1. I'm glad you had some nice time with your family! Sometimes you just need a mini blogging break. Ooh that's awesome you have Waiting for Tom Hanks. I want to read that one!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right? Sometimes we need time to reset ourselves. I've noticed that during my blogging breaks I binge-watch a lot of shows, too. Eventually, I get tired of doing that and start reading all the time again! :) I'm really excited about Waiting for Tom Hanks!

      Delete
  2. A camping trip sounds like loads of fun, and it's nice to have a blog break now and again. I find it fires me up with renewed enthusiasm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm the same way! I always come back from a break ready to dive back into reading and blogging. Camping was a blast, and we really enjoyed ourselves. <3

      Delete
  3. I'm also about to start This Is Not A Love Scene. What. lovely blog! I will start following you. Have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I hope your weekend is equally awesome. :) I'm starting to feel anxious about This Is Not a Love Scene, because a few of my friends disliked it. They said the main character puts up with a lot of really gross crap from her boyfriend/the guy in the book, and it makes the book hard to read. I guess we'll see how it goes! Are you on the blog tour?

      Delete
  4. OMG Lindsi, it's when you guys post pictures like that scorpion that I'm glad I live in the UK. Lol! ;-) I hope you'll post pictures of your garden when all those plants you've just put in flower.

    Hope you have a fabulous week. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You don't have scorpions in the UK? What do you have that's scary and hides in shoes?? ;) I will definitely post pictures of the garden once it gets going. There are already a few flower pictures on my Instagram, but not too many yet. I hope your week is wonderful!

      Delete
  5. Ugh I was sick the night my group of friends went to see End Game... I'm hoping to snag tickets soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That stinks! I've been trying to avoid spoilers, so Twitter is out, haha. You'll have to let me know what you think!

      Delete
  6. After you read This is Not a Love Scene, I want you to DM me your thoughts on the ending. I have feelings about it, and another choice the author made, though, the book was quite an honest look into the life of someone with MD. My grandfather had watermelon in his garden in Brooklyn back when I was a kid. If it can grow there, I think it could grow anywhere. =)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A friend of mine emailed me when she saw I was about to start reading this, and she said I would likely have issues with how the main character was treated. Her boyfriend/guy friend is incredibly disrespectful and uses her... stuff like that. She didn't want to spoil the book for me, since I still plan on reading it (blog tour), but now I'm a little hesitant. I'll be sure to DM you my thoughts! I'm glad you think it was an honest portrayal of someone with MD. It makes me think of A Curse So Dark and Lonely, and how well Kemmerer wrote her main character with cerebral palsy.

      Noted! I really hope they work here, because my son will be super disappointed his watermelon don't grow. Fingers crossed! :)

      Delete
  7. Woohoo I think I finally figured out how to force Blogger to remember me!
    I actually read How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen! My kids, who are now teenagers, actually do listen to me now. Shocking, I know. They don’t always do what I suggest, but they listen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! I was wondering what happened to your image! I think it happened to a few people, though. Suddenly their names and pictures were different or gone completely. Maybe there was a reset or update?

      I am loving How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen! I'll have to post pictures of everything I've marked in the book. ;) I'm glad your teenagers listen to you! A parent can only hope... haha!

      Delete
  8. I am with you on choosing audiobooks! I always struggle but this week my audiobook has been fantastic! It was Skyward by Brandon Sanderson. Total rec!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice! I'll add it to the list. Hopefully my library has it! I started Children of Blood and Bone this morning. It's been interesting so far! I love the narrator and have listened to books read by her before. Bahni Turpin? She is the narrator for The Hate U Give, There's Someone Inside Your House, The Sun is Also a Star, and she has a part in They Both Die at the End.

      Delete
  9. I've had the same problem with the audiobooks I've been borrowing. Bahni Turpin (narrator for Children Of Blood and Bone) is one of my personal favorite narrators and I honestly download anything she narrates because she is such an amazing narrator. I also live in Texas and we're on Rattlesnake warning, we had about 6-10 rattlesnakes in my grandma's garden last year so I had to warn the kids about being outside. I always shake my shoes because I've had scorpions and centipedes in my shoes before and I'm like traumatized lol.

    Tina @ As Told By Tina

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bahni Turpin is an amazing narrator! I love her (see the comment before yours, haha). Hello, fellow Texan! We don't have a large rattlesnake problem here, but scorpions and centipedes are always around. I'm similarly traumatized, and often found things in my shoes as a child. I'm trying to make sure my kids know to also check their shoes and avoid large/tall grass in the summer. You never know what you'll find! We do have a lot of chicken snakes around here. They're harmless, but HUGE.

      Delete
  10. OMG, you have to check your shoes for scorpions??? No!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! Scorpions and other crawling things! It gets really bad during the summer months, because shoes are a nice shady place to hide.

      Delete
  11. oh my gosh I can not think of my favorite childhood movie. I do not think I even have one. I use to love watching Wonder Woman TV show with my mom. I always wanted to be her when I was little.

    Love that you and the family took a spontaneous camping trip. As much as I hate bugs, insects etc. that scorpion looks cool. I am sure I would not say that if I found it any near me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you remember the old Gargoyles cartoon? Thundercats? Oh, and Power Rangers! Classics. ;)

      Haha! We stayed in an RV, so we avoided most of the bugs and insects. Although there were plenty on our hikes! Also, the scorpion was found at my house, not camping, so I have to stay. <3

      Delete
    2. Power Ranger the classic was my son when he was younger. Haha I was hooked with him. Our favorite was Green Ranger and White Ranger. It has been so long but I think the Green Ranger turned into White Ranger. I totally could be wrong.

      Delete
    3. I don't remember! I was excited when they made a new movie, but I didn't love it as much as I wanted to.

      Delete
    4. My daughter in laws brother did not like the new movie as much as he wanted to either.

      Delete
  12. It sounds like you had a good week offline Lindsi! And I think that was my first time seeing a scorpion, I can't imagine finding that in a shoe!

    Do you use hoopla for your audiobooks? They have a pretty good selection.

    I hope you remain unspoiled for Endgame!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Also, this is Amber Elise @ Du Livre btw.

      Delete
    2. This was the first time I've found a scorpion in my shoe, but there have been spiders and once a small snake. I have had a wonderful week offline! I just finished a book, and I'm halfway through two others, so I feel back and ready to post! I've never used Hoopla. Is it something you subscribe to? I've always requested audiobooks from the library.

      Delete
  13. That scorpion is still highly icky, icky, poo, poo! ๐Ÿ˜ฑ๐Ÿ˜ฑ๐Ÿ˜ฑ

    Does you library subscribe to Hoopla? I get a ton of audios from them. ๐Ÿ‘✨

    Have a wonderful week. ๐ŸŒž

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think they do, but I'll as them the next time we go! It's a small town with a small library, so I'm not going to hold my breath. They only get one copy of audiobooks, so sometimes the wait time is months instead of weeks. :(

      Delete
    2. Our library is part of a multi-county collective that subscribes to Hoopla, so you never know. The easiest way to find out is to go the the Hoopla site and, I think, put your zip code in. My sister stumbled upon it by accident and was surprised our library had it because it's not listed on any of the library's info sites. There's also Audiobook Boom, it's like Netgalley for audiobooks. You should sign up. Oh, and SYNC free summer listening program. I'll bring you the link!

      Delete
    3. https://www.audiobooksync.com/2019-sync-titles/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2019-syncsyncanncmnt&utm_content=ctatxt

      Delete
    4. Thanks so much! I just checked Hoopla and it's not something my library subscribes to, BUT I called them and they said they would look into it. It might save them money if they pay for a single subscription instead of buying them individually. Also, I'm sure Hoopla has more than one copy of a book, so my hold time wouldn't be 6 months, haha. I'll look into Audiobook Boom, too. Do you like using it?

      Delete
  14. I like the look of your upcoming reads! Spiders in odd places are always something we have to watch for here, especially since so many are deadly!

    Have a great reading week

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We're renting an old farm house, and the spiders are terrifying. I was up late one night on the computer and saw something scurrying across the floor. I jumped up and grabbed a shoe, having no idea what it was, and had to move the cat tower to see -- giant flarking spider. It was as big as my palm! Needless to say, I smooshed it.

      Delete
  15. Taking a break from blogging is always nice to do once in a while. ;) That scorpion, yikes! So glad we don't have to deal with them here so much, spiders are bad enough!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spiders freak me out. I know they're not all deadly, and most serve a purpose, but ugh. I'm sure you've heard that the average person swallows eight spiders in their sleep during their lifetime? The thought terrifies me.

      Delete
  16. That thing was in your SHOE? Yikes. Texas and I would not get along lol. It's bad enough here with the occasional spider! In happier news though, gardens are awesome! I love tomatoes fresh from the garden. :)

    Let's see... fave childhood movie? Hmm... I'm gonna go with Black stallion. That movie was awesome. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! My shoe! I always shake my shoes out and smack them on the ground before putting them on. It's safer that way. ;) Occasional spider? Lucky you! It's weird if we don't see at least one every day.

      Last year was the first year we did a garden, and it was great! Not all the work, but the reward. Like you, I love to eat tomatoes fresh from the garden. We had squash last year, too, and many meals had fried squash as a side -- YUM! I'm excited to try banana peppers and watermelon this year. We'll see how they work out. :)

      Delete
  17. Ick! We have scorpions here in Arizona, but I've never actually seen one at any of my houses and we've lived here for almost 20 years. If I did find one, I'd probably burn my house down! *Shudders*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hah! My neighbor finds them in her house ALL the time! It freaks me out. I hope this was my first and last experience. :(

      Delete
  18. I loved the audio for Children of Blood & Bone; I have the sequel scheduled for June when it releases. I also enjoyed Every Last Breath. Happy reading and have a lovely week!

    Anne - Books of My Heart Here is my Sunday Post   

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm really enjoying the audio for Children of Blood and Bone! Bahni Turpin is amazing. Yay! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed Every Last Breath. I haven't heard too much about it. I was planning on reading it right after Waiting For Tom Hanks. <3

      Delete

Click the "Notify me" box if you want to be notified when someone responds!

“Stuff and nonsense. Nonsense and stuff and much of a muchness and nonsense all over again. We are all mad here, don't you know?”
― Marissa Meyer, Heartless