For What It's Worth


Monday, September 30, 2019

My Monday Musings…



I’m was officially falling into fall and enjoying the experience of a real fall for the first time in a few decades. Then we got a sudden taste of winter with plummeting temps (30's last night & snow in the mountains) & AHHHHH I'm not ready!!! Floridian here! I need to be eased into this stuff. lol

We're house hunting and put a bid in for a house over the weekend. It's super competitive out here so we probably won't get it but *fingers crossed*.

Reading is still slow going for some reason but I did manage to squeeze a few books in and one I LOVED so that’s always good.

Here’s a quick recap of my reading this past week!

Read:

Match Me If You Can by Tiana Smith ~ Goodreads

Mia tries to defy her best friend’s professional matchmaking skills and pick her own love match with disastrous results. Cute & fluffy (not an insult) read about making snap judgments about people, crushes, and friendships.

Source: Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review






Dry by Neal, Jarrod Shusterman ~ Goodreads

The scoop – after a long term drought, California now finds itself experiencing the Tap-Out. No one has running water anymore. FEMA is caught up with a hurricane on the other coast and the crisis garners a slow government response. Things happen quickly as people realize what’s happening and start to turn on each other – turning Alyssa’s quiet home association into a war zone - particularly with her neighbor - Doomsday prepper types that everyone made fun of but now they want them to share their resources.

This book was a blast to read! Taught pacing, interesting characters and a *this could happen to us soon* vibe made this one a page turner. I was so caught up in things I was actually surprised by a few things. Me the queen of predicting the plot spoilers from the back cover synopsis. lol

Dry is not heavy on character development but each person has enough background explained to understand their past and present motivations. It’s not so much that you care about individual characters (although you do!), as much as society, in general. There is a group that bands together, with additional pov’s added but never becoming overwhelming, and it doesn’t feel like the traditional YA teens save the world story. This is just about survival – pure and simple – in a world of increasing desperation and paranoia.

After living through a few hurricane seasons in FL, I can totally see this happening. Everything starts all hurricane party!, let's help each other to - screaming at the gas pump when fuel starts running low in the span of  a few hours.

Do they make dumb decisions sometimes? Yes. But I felt like they learned from it or it at least made sense as the struggled with their own humanity and how far they would go to stay alive.

There was a bit about (what felt like the potential love interest) being creepy and stalkery at first and I was like  - how the hell did this get published in 2018?? But it’s addressed and handled SO well!

I’m not sure what took me so long to read this one but I’m so glad I got around to it.. Plus, it’s a stand alone! (*Also, no romance, and heads-up the dog lives – this caused me a lot of panic while I was reading lol)

Source: Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Currently Reading:


Get a Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert  ~ Goodreads

This is Hibbert’s first traditionally pub’d book and it looks adorable!
Source: Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Waiting on:

My library holds – notice how they’ll all come in at the same time lol


What's up with all of you this first week of October?

29 comments:

  1. Wait, I thought you already had a house, were you renting??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, we're renting a townhome right now.

      It's really hard house hunting out here. You have to be careful where you're house is because of flooding or landslides and then there are so few homes there are bidding wars.

      Delete
  2. Good luck on the house! I wish you all the best!I so want to read Chloe Brown!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I did the °F to °C math and...yikes. That's COLD!

    Crossing all my limbs' ends for you house bid!

    You're making me reconsider reading Dry...I'm not sure why I ultimately decided not to - I seem to remember it had to do with the two things you mentioned: character development and stalkery guy. But you put them in perspective, so...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The stalkery guy is a non issue IMO. In the sense that it doesn't end being swoony and he gets called out. I'm glad I didn't dnf because of it.

      It's not without flaws but it was a fun fast paced read if you just go with it.

      Delete
  4. Ooh good luck w/ house hunting! Hope you guys find the perfect place. Same here with fall except instead of cold we got a blast of hot 80's today- it wasn't really THAT hot but felt like it after two weeks of coolness and rain. Wacky weather. :)

    I bet the seasonal variations will take some getting used to for you after Florida!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think we're done with 80's here but we are supposed to bounce to the 70's for 2 days this weekend before plunging again.

      I have very thin Floridian blood right now lol

      Delete
  5. I took three "what should I read this summer" quizzes last spring, and all three said Dry, ha ha. I'll have to give it a whirl. 👍✨

    I am curious to see what you will think of Hollow Kingdom. I am excited to read it. 📚

    I think 36° is the lowest we've gotten so far. The winds were crazy one night because it had been 80° during the day. 😯

    Fingers, toes, and eyes crossed that you get the house! 🏡✨

    Have a wonderful new week! 🌞

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hollow Kingdom just came in but now i need time to read it.

      Didn't get the house so onward and upward lol

      Delete
  6. Neal Shusterman is that author who'd throw shades of romance and make it work out so well (but maybe not much on the Arc of the Scythe series). I also love how Dry really felt like it's could happen any time now. There was an extreme water shortage a few cities from mine and it was crazy and all I could think of was this novel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It wasn't really a romance and I liked the way he played that out. I still need to read the Scythe series. I hear it's pretty good.

      I've seen how people get during hurricanes so I can totally see it playing out the way Dry did.

      Delete
  7. We're heading towards summer which has me yelling DO NOT WANT. I hope the weather eases off a little Karen, it's probably a bit of a shock to the system. Dry sounds like a book I'd really enjoy. I tried Neal Shusterman's Scythe series and wasn't too keen but I think I'd really enjoy this one. Thanks for the great recommendation!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh that's right - you're opposite seasonal wise. The summer here was so spectacular though. Never too hot or too cold.

      Have you read Challenger Deep by him? That was amazing.

      Delete
  8. I hope you get good news on the house front. Fingers crossed for you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It didn't work out but I'll try to assume there was a reason and that something better is out there.

      Delete
  9. Ah, house hunting... I love it and then it gets old in about one or two weekends. LOL Good luck on putting in the bid! Can't wait to see what you think of Get a Life, Chloe Brown!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. House hunting and car shopping are two things on my least favorites list lol

      Chloe B is cute so far!

      Delete
  10. Good luck with the bid! Fingers are crossed for you!

    It's getting really cold here too... I had to pull out another blanket last night as I was shivering in bed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's SO hard for me to get out of bed when it's cold! lol

      Delete
  11. I don't know why I haven't read Dry yet. Need to get to that one soon---your review makes me want to read it even more. And I love the duck skeleton in your pic!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good luck on your search! Fall is well underway up here in Canada so I'm back to layers upon layers of clothing. But it's all good. I love Fall.

    I really love your Dry picture! So cool. <3

    ReplyDelete
  13. I would cry if it snowed here in October. So, way to hang in there. Good luck with the house hunting. I know something amazing will come your way. Of course all your library holds come in at the same time. That is how the universe laughs at us bookworms.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ooh I hope it doesn't snow too much around you!!! You need more actual Fall to enjoy. :)

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

    ReplyDelete
  15. Fingers crossed that the house comes through for you! I actually have Dry but haven't read it before... I will be curious to see what you think of it.

    ReplyDelete