1. Walked in the botanical garden with one of my best friends and saw these little guys when we sat down
2. Scored quite the haul when I was in the neighborhood of my favorite bakery: peach muffin, lavender lemon and raisin scones
3. I love my cutting board!
4. Got tix to Musicals by Candlelight for October London trip
5. Met daughter‘s boyfriend‘s parents for the first time and they were great.

@DebinHawaii #5JoysFriday

I used to really like Emily Giffin‘s books. But her last book and now this one I find myself asking why am I wasting time with these people. Not sure which of us changed, but I‘m done. I did read 100 pages, about a third, but I still wasn‘t interested in the girl who finds her soon-to-be husband cheating and her two best friends from college.

#hailthebail

1. I draw strength from the family and friends who have loved me throughout my life, through the good times and the bad times.
2. Saint in All the Colors of the Dark. She will go to any lengths to help those who she loves.

#Two4Tuesday. @TheSpineView

Isn‘t this such a great cover? Margo isn‘t of legal age to drink, yet she‘s having a baby, trying to figure out her life and dealing with her not-too-interested mother and her ex-wrestler father who may or may not be a drug addict. It‘s a lot and I liked her voice as she tries to navigate her life from a very young perspective.

Definitely prefer quiet, but my husband also always has the tv on. For his birthday I bought him a pair of Apple IPods and now he uses them when I‘m reading. This works great!!

#SundayFunday. @BookmarkTavern

The narrator is a 13 year old girl in England during World War II. Today she would probably be referred to as “on the spectrum” as she has a compulsion to tell the truth and her teachers think there‘s something off about her. She tells about small episodes in her life, in great detail and with a lot of dialogue. Only a couple hundred pages, but it never really spoke to me. I‘ll be interested in other reader‘s thoughts.

#EuropaCollective

I ought to tell you at the beginning that I am not quite normal, having had a violent experience at the age of nine.

#FirstLineFridays. @ShyBookOwl

Getting a jump on September book for #EuropaCollective

1,2,3 view from Sandbar Restaurant in Twin Lakes, WI plus buccaneer standing in front and mermaid on the ceiling. I love this place but it‘s only open seasonally.
4. Got tix to Giant, one-man play starring John Lithgow, for London trip in October.
5. New air plant pot from Seattle trip with several new air plants.

#LSFBC
@RamsFan1963

Really enjoyed this post-apocalypse story about one man who survives and starts civilization over again. As he ages, we read beautiful passages about other species and structures aging. He has such high hopes for the future when he‘s a young man, and we find out what happens to those hopes as the years go by. I found this book to be very thought provoking.

Pete and Maddie are the narrators, parents to a premature baby. When their son turns two, they are visited by a man claiming to be the boy‘s natural father, saying that their sons were switched at birth. I really couldn‘t get into these characters and the ending was kind of meh.

1. Stay at home dad
2. Owned a restaurant for years. Now help semi-retired accountant husband.

#whatsyourjobmonday @Cupcake12

Not great literature here, but a compelling story that I read in one day. Kayla meets the love of her life 3 weeks after her husband drowns. On the downside way too much smut and too much supernatural stuff with the lights flickering etc. On the plus side a very interesting ending that made the book worth reading. And I mean it when I say the ending was one total surprise.

@TheSpineView

Six deep sea divers are trapped in a chamber at the bottom of the ocean when one of them dies. Natural causes or foul play? Couldn‘t put this one down as it drove toward a stunning ending that I 100% did not see coming.

The sea does not care for your lost loves or your heartache.

#FirstLineFridays. @ShyBookOwl

1. Amazing trip to visit my son in Seattle. Incredible farmers markets in Issaquah and Ballard. Great puzzle selection at Magic Mouse Toys and Elliott Bay Book Company. I felt real joy all weekend.
2. Best quesadillas ever.
3. Fancy cocktails.
4. Lemon ricotta pancakes and cheesecake French toast in the background.
5. Bird reading book that says “Knowledge makes all things possible “.

#5JoysFriday. @DebinHawaii

This is an amazing book. Patch and Saint are childhood friends in a small town, and their lives are changed by a single moment of violence. We see their lives as they are transformed by that one moment. And the secrets…so many secrets come to light by the end of the book. Richly drawn characters and you will care about every one of them. Highly recommend this powerful story of love and redemption.

1. Purslane in full bloom
2. Puzzle called Eames House of Cards Fantasy. I didn‘t realize until I finished this puzzle that I had these Eames cards as a child. They were like playing cards but each one had a cool picture on each side and they slotted together so you could build something.
3. Got tix to Fawlty Towers for October London trip.
4. Quote I loved from “Liars”.
5. Off to Seattle today to visit son!

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

There‘s an app for everything and our narrator is on Rent-A-Stranger with a five-star rating. His days are filled with gigs but he‘s only truly happy when he‘s hired once a week by a single mother with a little girl. He‘s very attached to this child but how long can he keep up being “dad” to her? And who is he really?

This book is not for everyone but I thought it did a great job of summing up an abusive marriage. The entire book is told in the narrator‘s thoughts, one thought at a time. Her husband does so many jerky things which she balances out with the nice things. And of course she hangs on to those nice things, allowing herself to ignore or explain away the bad things. Well worth reading as it really rings true.

Under 200 short pages, the story of a poor minister who is hired to relocate a man living alone on a Scottish island, grabs you and doesn‘t let go. It‘s the mid 1800s and the landowner only wants sheep on this island, not people. And these two men have to somehow connect while speaking different languages. Definitely a book worth reading.

Just got this amazing remote control for my Kindle! It clips onto the Kindle and I can keep my hands free or under the covers. Can‘t use with a cover, but I can live with that. Also have to pair it every time it‘s been over 1/2 hour since you‘ve used it. Easy to do, 2 clicks.

The narrator goes back and forth between her life now and thirty years ago when she was a student at an elite private high school. The swim coach then was one bad dude, getting up to all sorts of bad dude things with the students. And now there‘s another swim coach up to the same shenanigans. It took 2/3 of the book to get to what happened “that fateful night”. Just happy to get to the end!

Could not put this book down! Beautifully written through the eyes of the mother of a missing child at her camp, the detective who‘s on the case, the child‘s camp counselor and her bunkmate. So many layers to this story and such great character development. Best book I‘ve read this year and highly recommended. One of those books where you really feel like you‘ve read something.

1. I would love to sit around with a bunch of people discussing books!
2. My son says The Wager is terrific..been waiting for my library copy for months.

#two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

I had to read this one quickly as every time I put the darn thing down I couldn‘t keep all the characters straight when I picked it up again! Three story lines, mobsters, missing girl, boyfriend looking for her, new cop…you get the idea. One big twist and one I saw coming. Forgettable.

This is a clever cat-and-mouse about a kidnapper and a therapist. Very smartly written with three narrators: the therapist, the kidnapped woman, and a character from the therapist‘s past. Couldn‘t put it down.

1. Awesome staycation swap from @Chrissyreadit
2. Sent logic puzzles book to each kid.
3. Turned the page on Edward Gorey calendar-always makes me smile!
4. New box of bridge mix-getting closer to my $20 off at Sees Candies
5. Air plants with butterfly mister

@DebinHawaii #5JoysFriday

I had the best time today opening my staycation swap! I had such a big smile on my face for so long, just in awe of what Chrissy put together for my staycation in southern France. It‘s all so thoughtful and much appreciated.

@Chrissyreadit @DinoMom #staycationintime24

Light reading about a group of assassins following the AA steps as they try to stop killing. Our narrator has a reputation for being the toughest bad-ass around, so this group therapy stuff is a heavy lift for him. The story kept moving with a few surprises and a good ending.

“Adrenaline is the ultimate painkiller.”

#FirstLineFridays. @ShyBookOwl

Really liked this short story collection of the evolution of robots. Copyright date of 1950! Whoa! So interesting how robots start off as companions and end up running the world. There‘s a reason these books are classics..they still have a lot to say.
Fun read all the way around.

#ClassicLSFBC

1. Finished 3000 piece jigsaw puzzle without ever looking at the picture! Thinking of you WanderingLynn.
2. Received crate of mangoes from sister-in-law in Florida and they are magnificent! Thinking of you DebinHawaii.
3. Spoke to childhood friend whose husband had kidney transplant and all is going well.
4. Met daughter for lunch in old neighborhood where the kids grew up. The quesadillas in phyllo dough were amazing.

#5JoysFriday. @DebinHawaii

54 year old Rocky arrives at the annual week long vacation at the Cape Cod beach house. Her children are grown her parents are elderly and her relationship with her husband is up and down. But they‘re all there that week, and she loves them all fiercely. In fact this book seems like a love letter to all of them, interspersed with loads of anxiety. I laughed out loud once, but mostly found it repetitious.

This page cracked me up!

Here we have an unnamed teacher narrating one week of her life, alternating between school and home life. At school she thinks she sees an inappropriate action between a student and the principal. She discusses this with various other professionals at the school, but doesn‘t really get anywhere. Then we have the interactions at home between her and her husband and her and her children. Can‘t say this book went anywhere, but only 150 pages!

1. Hubby‘s tomato plant is coming along.
2. A couple of good quotes from 3000 piece puzzle
3. Finished 4th season of Fargo and started 5th.
4. Eye dr says my eyes are better than 3 years ago!
5. Beautiful weather to read on the deck.

@DebinHawaii #5JoysFriday

People in the future are color coded, determining their future. Took me forever to read the first 30 pages. Had the sequel ready to go too.

#hailthebail

Really liked this one! Picture Covid, but with lots of people being kept alive in small spaces while robot bodies take their places and live their lives. A couple of FBI agents are on the case of a couple of suicides directly connected to the neural connections of the bodies. Sounds confusing? It isn‘t really when you get into the story. Very entertaining read.

#litsyscifibookclub.

This story of a missing 4 year old girl draws you in immediately. The story is narrated by only two people in alternating chapters: her older brother who was with her the day she disappeared, and the girl herself, brought up as someone else. You can‘t help but be immersed in the lives of these two people, along with their respective families. Such a good story!

Three siblings come together for their mother‘s funeral and all the secrets make their way to the forefront. Lots of missing people, a VHS tape and sibling rivalry makes for an interesting story but nothing groundbreaking. A soft pick.

Nothing brings people together better than death.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

A sweet book about autistic high-schooler Marlowe and what happens when her in-crowd boyfriend of two years dumps her. She has two terrific supportive gal pals as she tries to make sense of what happened. Along the way she predictably meets a new guy and by the end has a much better understanding of herself.

Staycation swap has arrived!

#staycationintime24 @Chrissyreadit @DinoMom

This book was not doing anything for me. An inter-galactic con woman, a jilted sister, the mark being the jilter, and the guy‘s sister who is also a love interest. Sounded promising, but wasn‘t to be.

When Vera Wang discovers a body in her teahouse she sets out to find the murderer, and she meets four people with a connection to the dead guy. I just could not picture these characters, they all seemed one-dimensional to me. Only read to the end to see who did it.

Hot pink Superbells are in full bloom!
Saw the musical Beehive, all 60s and 70s music. Tina Turner, Janis Joplin, Lesley Gore and other fantastic female singers.
Had a clear mammogram..25 years out from breast cancer.
Walked in Botanic Garden with best friend
Started 3000 piece jigsaw puzzle with bookshop theme.

@DebinHawaii #5JoysFriday

Daphne and Miles meet cute and that‘s about it for 384 pages which is about 100 pages too long. Almost bailed multiple times as not much happens in this best seller. Predictable, not very funny, and too long.

I loved this book, a slice of life in a small town in Maine. Such richly drawn characters, some with secrets, some just living their small town lives. Beautifully written. The kind of book that when you‘re finished, you feel like you‘ve really read something.

#europacollective

1 and 2 Celebrated 21 years of bliss with hubby at favorite restaurant in Lake Geneva, WI
3 Saw Corpse Flower at Botanic Garden. Stinks!! But rarely blooms, every 10 years or so.
4 Also saw Butterflies & Blooms exhibit where they check you out before you leave to make sure there are no “hitchhikers”
5 Finished Endless Day puzzle. This girl needs a good book!

#5JoysFriday. @DebinHawaii

What can I say about Adina, an alien from the moment of birth, who moves through time as a human, continually sending messages to her home planet and receiving replies. I found her thoughts on humans and their everyday lives to be the most interesting parts of the book. She knows she‘s an alien and she knows her job is to explain humans and their emotions to her home planet, but she never quite feels anything. Thought provoking.