DAY 5 #7days7covers #covercrush

DAY 4 #7days7covers #covercrush

#BFCR3 #week6 | Another great round is in the books! I had a busy, but good week. Been working on a few home renovations which have cut into workout time, but it‘s still been hard work. It feels good to get things done.

📖 3 (22/20)
🚴🏻‍♀️ 30 miles
💪🏻 1x
🥵 stairclimber 1x + home stuff
👣 82,803/85k

Thank you, Lynn, for organizing! And #TeamLetsDoThis, you‘re a fab group & I‘m happy to have shared the last few weeks with you!

DAY 3 #7days7covers #covercrush

My son read a few poems to his little friend before their soccer games today. He‘s had a tiny crush on her for a couple of years. 🥰 They‘re 7 so obvs, they‘re just buddies, but this is so adorable.

#raisingreaders

DAY 2 #7days7covers #covercrush

Thanks for the tag @youneverarrived !

DAY 1 #7days7covers #covercrush

This seems to have been going around for a bit, so please join in if you want to play! 💚

⭐️⭐️⭐️ I‘m usually leery about sequels several years after a massive success. Always feels like a blatant capitalization. I‘ll hand it to Atwood, though. She wisely didn‘t try to one-up the original. This is stylistically different; three narrators and more action. It combines the backstory of The Handmaid‘s Tale and the Hulu series (so I hear, as I don‘t watch the show). I liked this, but didn‘t love it.

Just started this and learning so much already. Her books are fascinating!

#currentlyreading

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The gauge for which speculative fiction should be measured. I grabbed this on Audible (for a #reread), narrated by Claire Danes, months ago and decided to listen before starting The Testaments. Atwood is just so damned good. This story is so searing and complex. I really need to *finally* read some of her other work, but first ... part two.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ An incredibly tough, but necessary read. As a school shooting survivor - a loose term because, although present, I was not in immediate danger - this book was oddly therapeutic. My school is in here. My brave classmates wrote essays.

PS. The title and cover are tasteless and insensitive. Do better for the survivors! According to a friend who was a contributor, the editors wanted a different cover, but the publisher gave them no choice.

#BFCR3 #week5 | It was a solid week. I didn‘t lift weights as much as planned, but I got in an extra 4-mile run and some much-needed yard work.

📖 2 (19/20)
🚴🏻‍♀️ 31.1 miles
💪🏻 1x
🥵 run 2x, stairclimber 1x, 2.5 hours yard work
👣 86,592/85k

Can‘t believe we‘re going into our last week already #TeamLetsDoThis !

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Traversing the nation with the Merry Pranksters as they “transcended the bullshit” felt like a hellacious hallucination, but I love reading about 60s counterculture. I can‘t say I was a huge fan of this particular story, mostly due to that pompous ass Ken Kesey, but Wolfe‘s writing is mesmerizing. The audio is fabulous.

?????

After a busy day, it‘s finally time to sit on my butt, relax, and make some reading progress. Happy to see that our liquor store has my newest favorite beer back in: Rhinengeist Little Bubs (session rosé ale).

#booksandbrews #cheers

The moment I‘ve been both waiting for and dreading: my school. I was a sophomore when this happened. This difficult book has consumed me for the last 3 days. There are 4 essays from my former classmates. I know them all. One was my neighbor and is a lifelong friend. Our parents still live across the cul de sac from each other. One is the shooter‘s sister. I have mixed feelings, but want to hear her story. She drove him to school that day.

1. 13 Reasons Why 🙅🏼‍♀️
2. Scrubs
3. ☕️☕️☕️ and a chocolate protein shake
4. central
5. Red Electric Kool-Aid 🤘🏻

Fun questions @howjessreads !
#friyayintro

One of cult leader Tony Alamo‘s business ventures was studded denim jackets - made by his followers - sold to celebrities out of a shop in Nashville in the 80s. Even in the last few years, celebs such as Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj have worn them. 🙄

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.refinery29.com/amp/en-us/2018/06/202525/tony-al...

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sociopath Tony Alamo had a knack for spotting vulnerabilities. After his evangelist preacher wife Susan died, he continued their church with his own disturbing agenda. He and his followers lived communally; the latter cutoff from the outside world. Alamo held complete control by instilling fear and ensuring low self esteem. Members endured beatings and fastings. He practiced polygamy and pedophelia, taking several child brides. 👇🏻

Reading a few poems before bed. 💚💚

#raisingreaders

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ An apocalyptic tale of poetic trees, amorous squirrels, zombies, and zoo animals narrated by a foul-mouthed, funny-ass domesticated crow. Something is happening to the Mofos (humans) so S.T. and his canine pal set out to see wtf is going on. Together with other domesticated creatures, they navigate their new existence. It‘s a sharp, but oddly tender story laced with golden pop culture references. So entertaining! Great debut.

August was a good month! Three of these were rereads: Medium Raw, One Flew Over the Cuckoo‘s Nest, and my only 5-star for the month, The Call of the Wild.

#augustreads #augustwrapup

Started #BFCR3 #week5 with a 5-mile run and “Shit Turd” in my ear. 🤣 This is the first time in several years I‘ve been able to run this far without walking in between. Feeling pretty damned good about that!

#TeamLetsDoThis

#BFCR3 #week4 | The highlight of my week was the 2-mile hike we took our boys (5 and 7 yrs) on yesterday! It was hilly and beautiful and there were small waterfalls. So fun. 💚

📖 3 (16/20)
🚴🏻‍♀️ 31.1/30
💪🏻 2/3
🥵 4/2 (1 run, 1 row, 1 stairclimber, 1 hike)
👣 89,290/85k

Hope my #TeamLetsDoThis ladies are having a great weekend. 🙌🏻

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Brain candy for Bourdain fans: violent, funny, smutty. And there‘s food, of course. He was a brilliant essayist and I love his nonfiction, so I wasn‘t sure what to expect here. These short stories starring the tough but likable Bobby Gold weren‘t mind-blowing, but they certainly were entertaining.

🎶 “It‘s Britney, bitch.” 🎶 Not Brittany. I feel like we all know how to spell her name at this point. 😆🤷🏼‍♀️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ An unnamed Ethiopian-American teen finds solace in her friendship with older, charismatic parking lot attendant, Ayale. He fills the gaps in her unstable home life, but he‘s not completely forthcoming with his business practices. He preys on her vulnerability. There‘s a pant load of ambiguity here, but it works. This is more than an immigrant story, it‘s about a cult. That‘s my theory anyway.

Bahni Turpin is brilliant as always.

Grabbing a few chapters while my boys have soccer practice. This book is pretty boring, but the story is crazy enough for me to stick with it.

No better sight than my babies reading before school. 💚💚 #raisingreaders #kindergarten #secondgrade #proudmom

⭐️⭐️⭐️ More like Chanel Dumpster Fire. This is a pretty standard narcissistic artist mom memoir. Nothing wrong with that; every story deserves to be told. Lawless‘s mother Georgann was a real piece work. Alcoholic, neglectful, promiscuous, often cruel and violent, and sometimes suicidal. Totally batshit bananas and in no shape to raise children. It was quite a volatile environment for Wendy and younger sister Robin.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ I like “The Last Interview” books for the most part. I‘m curious to know more about the interview selection process. Often, the books are too slim and I want more, but I‘m sure there‘s some bureaucratic reason for that. With Bourdain, I liked the earlier interviews best. The official “last interview” was not that exciting. Still worth a read if you‘re a fan.

#BFCR3 #week3 | My 5 year old missed school one day for an ear infection so I blame that for missing my step goal ... but, overall, it was a great week, though! I got in back-to-back spin classes on Friday (in addition to a class on Wednesday) so my cycling miles were really high.

📖 6 (13/20)
🚴🏻‍♀️ 48/30 miles
💪🏻 2/3
🥵 2/2 (run 1x, stairclimber 1x)
👣 79,983/85k

Keep up the fantastic work #TeamLetsDoThis ‼️

I‘m the only one awake. 🙌🏻 I haven‘t read at all today and it‘s 8:30pm. That‘s unusual. 😆 But, no complaints. It‘s been a great day with my family filled with soccer games, a school project, and delicious grilled buffalo wings. #booksandbrews

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I‘ve been wanting to revisit Bourdain‘s nf, but previously hadn‘t felt up to it. THE LAST INTERVIEW was published Tues, so I started that, & decided to reread Medium Raw. It sounds dramatic & cheesy, but I think I‘m finally mourning. He touched his fans deeply. In this collection he backtracks a little on Kitchen Confidential; growth & CYA. 😂 Plus many more culinary delights. Hearing his voice was tough, but this is a nice collection.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Huxley boldly created a dystopian society ruled by biological mass production and homogenization through a version of Fordism (assembly line). Babies are born in human hatcheries and inserted immediately into a caste system. The idea is that complete social control equals happiness. This was groundbreaking in 1932, and I appreciate that it‘s one of the original dystopian novels, but it didn‘t blow my mind. Clever names, but flat characters.

Added Huck and Anne to my little #penguinclassicsdeluxeedition collection. So pretty! 😍 #bookmail #frenchflaps #decklededges

⭐️⭐️ I disliked this in the same way I disliked Maggie O‘Farrell‘s I AM, I AM, I AM. Those were not all brushes with death and these are not all horror stories. Literary gimmicks annoy the hell out of me, especially in memoir. Massive Liz Phair fans will probably like this, but even though the writing is decent, the stories are tedious.

PUB DATE: 10.8.19
#netgalley #ARC

⭐️⭐️⭐️ I didn‘t love nor hate this. I haven‘t read many Raven stories, but other reviewers complain that there is nothing new here. She battles Trigon yet again, blah, blah, blah. Fair enough. I don‘t think I need to continue the series. Maybe I‘ll try one of the earlier renderings instead.

60s California - one of my favorite times and places to read about. A hotbed for burgeoning #cults. Fascinating.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Zipped though this series and I‘m totally hungover. I‘ll miss Strike and Robin; their brains and tension. Rowling‘s mysteries keep you guessing, and though you might be partially right, you don‘t really know shit. I love that. Then, Strike finds a way to spell it all out for you. I like that, too. I‘m not a series person, but I‘m happy I gave these a chance. Book 4 might be the best yet. So intricate (yet could‘ve been edited down a bit).

Congratulations to one of my original Litsy friends! 🤗🤗🤗

Love your reviews and recommendations, Meg! Thanks for this thoughtful #25ETSY #giveaway - my favorites summer read(s) have been the Cormoran Strike series. I‘m not a series person so this is a big surprise to me. 😄 Always good to branch out.

#BFCR3 #week2 | My kindergartener and 2nd grader are now in school and fall soccer has started, so we‘ve been adjusting to *very* tired evenings. I have a bit more free time during the day so I‘m a more relaxed and productive person. I‘m sure my whole family appreciates this. 😆

📖 3 (7/20)
🚴🏻‍♀️ 30.5/30 miles
💪🏻 3/3
🥵 4/2 (run 1x, row 1x, stairclimber 2x)
👣 92,477/85k

Awesome work this week, #TeamLetsDoThis ❣️❣️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #reread | During the Klondike Gold Rush, Buck, a St. Bernard mix, was stolen from his California home and sold as a sled dog in Alaska. He‘s then sold several times over enduring many hardships and earning his role of alpha. In this fable-like tale of survival, Buck goes steadily from domesticated to feral. London allegorically permits Buck to exhibit human-like thinking. Dogs and humans could easily be interchanged. It‘s brilliant.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I don‘t know much about superhero comics, but my sons‘ love for Teen Titans Go! and a bit of research led me to this as a good starting point for Teen Titans. And I‘m digging the darker tones. The original crew (Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash) created in the 60s is present, but to spice it up, Wolfman added Raven, Changeling, Starfire, and Cyborg. This motley group of young superheroes are summoned to fight, exist, and live together.

Exercised this morning, attended my local Moms Demand Action rally, then a soccer festival with my little family (though not for long, it‘s ungodly hot out). Now, I‘m booked! 🤓📚🍺 #booked #cheers

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Second time around and this still didn‘t knock my socks off, but in appreciation for Kesey‘s brazenness, I bumped it up a star. Growing up with a psyche nurse mom, I thought this would be especially riveting, but it‘s more about a power struggle between two unlikeable characters than anything else. I love Chief Bromden and his first-person narration, but McMurphy and Ratched are both insufferable pains in the ass.

The Vonnegut card gets its own post so you all can see the stickers, too. So cool, Laura! Thank you for your thoughtfulness. 🤗🤗🤗 #bookmarkswap

💚💚💚

Oh my goodness! Look at all of these fantastic bookmarks. Thanks so much @cwarnier @cobwebmoth and @wanderinglynn ! I love them ALL.

Ryan, thank you for organizing this fun swap! #bookmarkswap

💌 Received these today - thanks a bunch @cobwebmoth and @wanderinglynn ❣️❣️

#bookmarkswap

I didn‘t know “skip-the-line” copies were a thing!🤸🏼‍♂️💃🏼🙌🏻 Now, to get this audiobook read in 7 days ...

The #library is one of the largest rooms in Titans‘ Tower. 📚📚📚 Love it!