Another exciting Saturday evening
#5joysFriday Thanks @DebinHawaii for the tag! One of my favorite times of the week
1) spending last weekend with Mom and Dad
2) book haul for Mother‘s Day
3) growing tomatoes
4) son‘s receiving highest Eagle Scout scholarship from his troop
5) finding an awesome restaurant for #Spain #foodandlit
My daughter and I tried Toro, a Spanish (as opposed to Mexican) food restaurant for #foodandlit. It was extraordinary! We had montaditos (queso de cabra frito) which knocked our socks off. Then we shared baguette sandwiches (jamón serrano with manchego cheese and cochinita pibil) and salads, and for dessert, torrijas. Toro was a brilliant find and a new restaurant for our list of places to go like last month‘s Venezuelan restaurant. #Spain
pickI wanted to love this book but it reminded me so much of The Hunger Games, I ended up feeling like it lacked originality and missed many opportunities. I liked the story: girls and one boy compete in a magical competition to become the king of Spain‘s magician, at a time when the Inquisition was still quite a threat to witches. The Familiar, as in the title, is the main character‘s “coach” through the games. I was sad the Inquisition played ⬇️
Final book haul for Mother‘s Day including the tagged book for an upcoming #authoramonth @Soubhiville
Mother‘s Day haul for #camplitsy2024
#5joys Friday Thanks @DebinHawaii for the tag again. I think this post is so important each week especially when it‘s been a tough week
1) my first garden harvest
2) I got a chance to cage my plants so they‘ll grow upwards rather than sprawling across the yard
3) I‘m staying with my parents again this weekend
4) my family is awesome
5) Litsy, I ❤️ Litsy
My next audiobook is for #Palau, my second book for that country. #readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
I‘m on a business trip so dining alone at Olive Garden. A chance by myself to read!
pickAn older woman (40) 🙄 (the “silver fox“) escapes the city life when her boyfriend cheats on her, moving into the #NewZealand‘s Alps. Turns out she‘s a handy carpenter turning a bus into a home until she can build her dream home. Neighbor problems-love affair/getting over ex boyfriend/disputes over easement/and the prospective loss of her view from her new home ensue. And some heat from that love affair. Well written, but not really my thing. ⬇️
My next ebook. #Spain #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
Also #letterQ #litsyatoz
#wondrouswednesday Thanks @TheSpineView for the tag!
1) ❤️ (love of family, pet, friends) 🏡 (home) ⚖️ (a good job)
2) 👨🎓 (son‘s graduation from high school in 2 weeks) 👩🎓(daughter‘s graduation from college in a year) 🌅 (retirement on the horizon)
so-soA young woman is abducted by her father and they almost never stop traveling as she‘s followed by a private investigator hired by her mother. Her boyfriend goes to Montreal to find her. Strange details (why did her mom cover a window and pick up broken glass before the police arrived?) appear throughout that come together in the end. My problem is there‘s an awful lot of philosophizing that doesn‘t change anything about the story. This could / ⬇️
As a Texas Longhorn I‘m not sure I can tolerate a book where a character is going to A&M. The Longhorns have what they believe to be a healthy rivalry against Texas A&M, but I‘ve learned recently from parents whose kids go there, A&M actually has a Freshman orientation about how much they have to hate the Longhorns. It‘s really weird and a lot of wasted energy to encourage hate. 😕
#foodandlit #Spain @Catsandbooks
#5joysFriday
1) daughter moved back home from college
2) son‘s rocket ship has been assembled and awaiting finishing touches to take off in White Sands, NM next month
3) son got awards in senior awards ceremony today for grades and for guitar 🎸
4) cuddles from my kitty 🐈⬛ during reading time
5) starting a new #foodandlit country: Spain! 🇪🇸
#wondrouswednesday
1) sadly, allergies, but also here in Texas, bluebonnets ❤️❤️❤️
2) tagged
3) my son‘s high school graduation
#two4Tuesday Thanks @TheSpineView for the tag!
1) A collection of short stories called A Tortoise for the Queen of Tonga
2) Tagged, because every book I‘ve read by this author is so good
I decided to go for a quick light book for a change right now. And I need a #letterY book for #litsyatoz
I‘ve really slowed down reading for the month of April with only 8 books finished. Six were for #foodandlit #Venezuela, 1 for #authoramonth (I wasn‘t inclined to read more by this author), and 1 for #readingOceania #Tonga (and completing that challenge for the year). I‘ve tagged my favorite book this month, oddly a book of short stories that I normally don‘t care for, but these were exceptional.
pickI‘ve come to love nonfiction works from authors who‘ve trekked the world thanks to the #readingthecontinents challenges. So I couldn‘t miss this book written about the author‘s journey through #Venezuela from 1798-1804. He was a naturalist so he includes many in-depth descriptions of plants and animals, landscapes and people. He was obviously extremely knowledgeable and tough to deal with the harsh terrains of all sorts. He was sensitive to the ⬇️
Ugh! He described the mosquitos being so thick he couldn‘t see the horizon to take location measurements. Their faces and hands would swell from the biting and poking insects. Just miserable.
#Venezuela #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
pick#Venezuela is a very bad place to be for Americans, if this book is to be believed. Based on my other readings about the country, sadly I do believe it. Once a thriving country, rich because of its oil and a thriving economy, it is now a solid dictatorship rife with corruption and crime. So, Caracas is the perfect place for an AWOL‘d soldier escaping the Taliban to be found. But what is his real motive and what is America‘s for Venezuela? CID ⬇️
My first book for May‘s country #Spain #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
My first book for May‘s #authoramonth @Soubhiville
pickSuperb short stories, the first being the title of this book. The giant tortoise named Tu'i Malila was captured by Captain Cook stuck in the ship‘s hold without food and water for a year, to be fresh meat if the crew needed. When he got to #Tonga he gifted her to the queen. The tortoise lives like royalty but never forgets the pain of that year. 😭 Each story is unique and I felt the author did an amazing amount of research. One is hilarious: ⬇️
Such a sweet and relatable mini story
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6UBEl7oIvM/?igsh=MW1rZWl1cmw5M2ZrbA==
In praise of chocolate
#Venezuela #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
In the early 1800s this author/naturalist was trying to tell the world to beware!
#Venezuela #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
Written in the early 1800s, I appreciate that the author was sensitive to the slaves‘ plight in #Venezuela.
#foodandlit @Catsandbooks
#5joysofFriday
1) Husband came home safe and sound from hiking/camping 40 miles of the Appalachian Trail
2) I‘m spending today and this weekend crafting with friends
3) I‘m reliving my trip to Italy from last year by scrapbooking—pictured here is Piazza Navona
4) Planning for our trip this summer to England/Ireland is underway
5) It‘s Fiesta here in San Antonio, a huge city-wide 1+ week party—I don‘t partake anymore but it‘s a happy time
#tlt #threelistThursday
1) Norwegian band Aha‘s Take On Me
2) Toto‘s Africa
3) U2‘s With or Without You
I was married in 1988 and the first two songs were prescient: I‘d marry a guy from Norway who spent half his life growing up in Zambia, Africa. When we met, U2‘s song was at the top of the charts and we both loved it so it‘s always been “our song.” Especially when he had to go back home to Norway after we met. So much ❤️ for these 🎶
#wondrouswednesday Thanks @Eggs for the tag!
Obviously my immediate family for 1 & 2, but also:
1) My Grandpa Parker who made me feel special
2) My paralegal Elise who is ready to retire but is going to keep working very part time to help me transition to finding someone to replace her. She can‘t be replaced. 😢
3) Found family: the Sigma Force team in James Rollins‘ books or the Department Q team in Jussi Adler Olsen‘s books
I adored this book of short stories (review to come). But this book marks my completion of the #readingOceania challenge!! I do plan to keep reading for the challenge because I found so many good books I want to read. @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
Free ebook right now. Last time it was free was 2 years ago
About the author and the book
#Venezuela #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
#two4Tuesday
1) All 3 I think: I live in a little city completely within the city limits of San Antonio and very near downtown SA. So I‘m a city girl. We have a house at the lake, a little less than an hour north of here, the suburbs, and I enjoy time at my parents‘ farm where they moved when they retired, and where I spent a good part of my childhood with my grandparents when they were still alive
2) Love the tagged book!
I‘m just going to say this may be one of the best short stories I‘ve ever read—Darwin in Heaven
#Tonga #readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
