Reading Recap, Friday 6/26

[ufcasey]

What have you been reading this week?

QOTW:
What is one thing you can't/don't feel comfortable doing now due to Covid, that you look forward to doing once it's safe to do so?

[charlatti]

I just finished The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune, which was lovely and hopeful and inspiring. Probably going to start Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner.

QOTW: Big family gatherings. We are supposed to go to a family wedding in August. I’m really not sure that’s a great idea, and I really like weddings.

[Vespasia]

Finished:
SLAY by Brittney Morris I thought this was wonderful. It's a YA novel about a high school girl who creates a video game exclusively for Black people to escape the rampant racism in multiplayer games. 

Currently reading:
The Glamourist (Vine Witch #2) by Luanne Smith I'm about 1/4 of the way in and it's fine. An easy read. 


QOTW: International travel! It's killing me that I can't really even research anything since it's all so uncertain. We also had to move our big family trip to Italy from this year to next, which means I have to put off really planning anything else until 2022. 

[dontlook]

More Than Words by Jill Santopolo: 4 stars much better than the first book by her.

Currently having a hard time finding a book.

QOTW: birthday parties for my kids. I miss planning the parties and watching them have fun!

[mrspez07]

Finished the 7 1/2 Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle.
We also finished listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

QOTW: traveling by airplane. We drove to see FIL in CA via road trip as he hasn’t seen the boys since last year and has ALS. We had to cancel our spring break trip here. The drive is long, and with Covid, it’s hard to stop and enjoy things along the way too, and once here, it’s been a very different trip than we would otherwise do (lots of hanging out at the house, no wineries, restaurants and playgrounds.) going home we were debating 2 nights to break it up more, but are feeling ick about the additional exposure. It’s 19-20 hours just of driving.

[travella]

I finished:
The Sundown Hotel by Simone St James,4*
Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman,3*

I'm currently reading:
The Woods by Harlan Coben
Get to Work Hercules by Kate McMullan with my son

QOTW: International travel or any other real big expensive vacation.

[litskispeciality]

I'm still chipping away at "Open Book" by Jessica Simpson.

QOTW: DH and I haven't been out to dinner all year...literally, so a night in a restaurant. We were supposed to go on a nice long vacation this year too for our 10 year wedding anniversary, I want to go somewhere and relax!

[tacokick]

I read:

Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht (excellent)

The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao (not great)

The Lady's Handbook For Her Mysterious Illness by Sarah Ramey (very bad)

The First Mistake by Sandie Jones (silly but readable)

QOTW: I think it’s probably safe for me but I don’t feel comfortable exposing workers to extra people so we haven’t had any take out (except a sandwich from the Italian market when we shopped there for groceries and some steamed crabs from the fish market, same) and I miss sushi. And doughnuts. I’ve made my own doughnuts before but we are only two people and we can’t eat a batch of doughnuts ourselves! The bakery we go to is staffed by the elderly and I can’t put my doughnut ladies in danger!

I miss concerts too. And the beach.

[meowmaps]

I read The Mountains Sing (very good) and Unbecoming: A Memoir of Disobedience (mostly good but tough read).

I'm excited to delve into something lighter this weekend.

QOTW: Travel of any kind - longer road trips and/or international trips.

[minzy]

I read:
Calypso by David Sedaris;
Somebody’s Gotta Do It - Why Cursing at the News Won’t Save the Nation, but Your Name on a Local Ballot Can by Adrienne Martini; and
Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires (thanks tacokick for the rec, and for mentioning there’s another Vera Kelly, I just placed a hold and it also fits an unfilled slot for my summer challenge)

QOTW: We would have had a party in a few weeks for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, so I’m currently missing that.

[tacokick]

Jun 26, 2020 15:29:25 GMT -5 minzy said:

I read:
Calypso by David Sedaris;
Somebody’s Gotta Do It - Why Cursing at the News Won’t Save the Nation, but Your Name on a Local Ballot Can by Adrienne Martini; and
Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires (thanks tacokick for the rec, and for mentioning there’s another Vera Kelly, I just placed a hold and it also fits an unfilled slot for my summer challenge)

QOTW: We would have had a party in a few weeks for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, so I’m currently missing that.

Yay! I was surprised she made Vera Kelly into a series but I’m glad she did.

[krystee]

I read I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness. While the book was good, it made me look up her podcasts, which I liked even more.

I also finished 28 Summers and enjoyed it—especially the beginning of each chapter that listed all the big things going on in the world each year. It was a walk down memory lane!

QOTW: I would really like to go back to Orangetheory at some point. But mostly, I miss taking my kids places, like the library and local amusement park. I am also hoping H and I can travel for our 15th anniversary trip next summer.

[rainbowchip]

I'm currently reading Childrean of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi and The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. The New Jim Crow is "free" on audiobook at my library right now!

QOTW: Browsing at stores (like Target), eating at a restaurant, play dates for my kids, sports for my kids, and I really really want to plan another Disney Trip.