My Monday Musings…

*whispers* I’m still reading and blogging ahead…

It has been well over a year since I’ve felt this motivated to blog or relaxed about reading and I feel like if I get toooo excited it will stop lol

Here’s a quick recap of last weeks reading and what’s coming up.

READ:

Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon ~ Goodreads Super sweet (& hot) romance between a male nanny and whip smart, heart surgeon, single mom. I was a little dubious about Simone sleeping with the nanny (after all her previous nanny had just walked off the job and Rafe was a last minute find – should you risk that?) but these two were so mature and always put the kids first so I bought into it. Super low angst – almost all the dram comes from Simone’s ex but Simone and Rafe are solid. The end was an HEA but kind of abrupt. However, Weatherspoon added a totally satisfying – look ahead- epilogue.



Dread Nation by Justine Ireland ~ Goodreads A really inventive and complex look at institutional racism through an alternate history – at the brink of the Civil War – the dead rise and change the course of history. While slaves are considered *free* and given educational and job opportunities, this is little more than window dressing. The former slaves are instead sent to finishing schools to learn proper etiquette and to oh…kill zombies for the wealthy white people. Jane (bi racial) is smart, pragmatic protagonist. The zombie scenes are pulse pounding but infrequent. I listened to this on audio and the narration by Bahni Turpin was great but I was never really hooked. The story jumps from crisis to crisis and touches on a lot of things without much follow through. The supporting cast is super interesting (especially frenemy Katherine), with their own (non cliché) motivations, but under utilized and flit in and out of the story. I did like this one – and I think it depends more on what your looking for – more action? Then maybe skip it. But if you want more of an alt-history, but realistic look at oppression, a little lighter on the zombie angle then definitely pick it up!

Undercover Bromance by Lyssa kaye Adams ~ Goodreads - This one was an arc so I'll have my review coming up soon but I enjoyed it a lot!

READING:

Graveyard Shift (Not Dead Yet #3) by Jenn Burke ~ Goodreads This is the third book in Burke’s Not Dead Yet trilogy. I always enjoy her books and am finally getting to this one. This started out as a second chance romance between a ghost and a PI but has escalated into quite the messy set up of ghosts/Gods/vampires/shifters and I’m excited to see how it all ends.

The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper ~ Goodreads The publisher sent me this one one (unsolicited) and I’m going to give it a go.  Social media journalist, Cal, is forced to relocate when his NASA pilot father is selected for a mission to Mars. He falls for Leon, another son of an astronaut and I guess there’s an investigation into the NASA program and drama…I’ve read mixed reviews for this and opinions about Cal – so we’ll see.

And maybe Girls with Razor Hearts ~ Goodreads after that.

And just a quick TV rec!

Troop Zero on Amazon Prime was just the sweetest movie I’ve seen in a long time. Not gonna lie – there’s some bullying and that was hard to watch sometimes - but its's so funny and has an old fashioned sweetness and is so inclusive. Both Kevin and I loved it.


 


What are you reading this week?

The Sunday Post

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

It's a chance to share news - a post to recap the past week on your blog,

showcase books and things we have received, and share news about what is

coming up on your blog in the week ahead. 

You can find the info here:

Sunday Post Meme

I have not joined in with The Sunday Post in years! I think I’m finally back in enough of a blogging groove to make it worth it again though and I love catching up with my blogger friends or discovering new blogs.

Just a heads up – I usually take the weekend off from the computer so I will return your comments and visit back – but probably not until Monday!

LIFE

I’ve had so much going on with Fonzi – he had another relapse with his recovery from pancreatitis – that I never got to send out these super cute cards to my girlfriends for Valentine’s Day so I’ll share them now. The company is called Laughing Elephant and they sell a wide variety of vintage cards, decals, stickers and more. I found mine at a local store but they also sell online.

I’m actually not a big celebrator of most holidays (other than the BEST holiday – Halloween) but I love sending Valentine’s Day cards to friends for some reason.

We did have some heavy rains in the PNW that led to a lot of mudslides and road closures but we also had a few spectacular days of sun. We live near the Columbia River and went for a walk in the park and saw at least a dozen Bald Eagles and several pods of seals playing and swimming past the excited people along the beach.

My move from FL to the PNW has been rough but it's hard to not appreciate that this is the view from my house these days.

ON THE BLOG

I can't believe I’m posting more than once a week now! I even have a week or two of blog posts drafted! WHO AM I?

Monday: My Monday Musings – January Wrap-up, TBR Progress, Currently Reading
Tuesday: Tell Me Something Tuesday – My romantic reads recommendations
Thursday: Review: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
Friday: 52 Lists Friday – List the things that get you out of your head

COMING UP NEXT WEEK

Another Monday Musings with mini reviews for Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon & Dread Nation by Justine Ireland, Tell Me Something Tuesday – recent or debut authors that left an impression, Whatever Wednesday – music rec’s, Thursday – I review Alex + Ada & 52 Lists Friday – the best choices I’ve made in my life so far…

Be sure to leave a link so I can visit your Sunday Post!

52 Lists Friday...

I’m trying to do more personal (non bookish) posts so I’m trying the 52 Lists for Happiness prompts on Fridays as a regular feature.

I’ll posts the prompt for next Friday at the end in case you want to join in.

* I missed last weeks list because of Fonzi being sick so I'm just skipping that list and jumping ahead tot he next one.





LIST THE THINGS THAT GET YOU OUT OF YOUR HEAD

You would probably think reading would be at the top of this list but I can't really read when I'm stressed. I get too distracted and skip over so many passages that I have to keep going back. So what does get me out of my head?

Nature: walking through the park, driving by fields, anything with animals or flowers - especially gardening restores balance to my life and helps me re-prioritize and put things in perspective.

My pets: except when they're the ones causing the stress in the first place. lol Even if the responsibility is sometimes annoying - having to take care of something else gets me out of bed and moving on days where I'd rather just hide.

Cartoons: I basically watch Adult Swim and other cartoons every night. Especially Bob's Burgers. I need to turn off my brain and just laugh at silly stuff.

Blogging: while reading doesn't usually help, blogging does. It gives me several small tasks to accomplish - like visit blogs, answer comments, draft posts and I like checking in with you all. The social media side is a double edged sword - all the gif's and memes can turn my whole day around but too much negativity & bad news on there just puts me back in a bad space.

Exercising: I hate working out but I try to make myself do it even if it's just a 10 minute low impact cardio or stretch. I never get those endorphin highs either but I hate it so much that it makes me forget the other things that are upsetting me lol

What are the things that get you out of your head when you're stressed or feeling down?

List for next Friday: List the best choices you have made in your life so far

And Happy Valentine's Day! I don't really celebrate so here's a slightly cynical take lol