October 2022 – Page 2

Sunday News #39

Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, and showcase books and other things.

Feeling

I didn’t really feel like blogging this past week. I was tired, worn out, and in pain (see below for details). I’m still not feeling like blogging very much AND I’m using my DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) skills to act opposite of my depression urge of not doing anything. If I do this, my depression will lessen and I’ll want to blog again soon rather than force myself to.

Blogging

On the blog since my last post:

Reading

I decided to put WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens aside since I’m not really in the mood to read it at the moment. I started reading THE UNDERTAKING OF HART AND MERCY by Megan Bannen instead. I haven’t read a lot, but what I have read is very interesting.

I also realized that listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks was really helping me with my emotion regulation after each exposure session for PTSD therapy. Since I finished the series a few weeks ago, I decided to start listening to the TWILIGHT audiobook. It’s helping and doing what I need it to do.

Listening

I haven’t really listened to a lot of music over the last two weeks. However when I did, I mostly listened to my Instrumental Favorites playlist. I’m sharing two songs from that playlist because they’re related.

One of my favorite songs is Pachelbel’s “Canon in D,” which is the first song for those unfamiliar with it. The second song’s one I came across on Apple Music when I was searching for a good rendition of the original. It’s called “An Improvisation on Canon in D” by Robin Spielberg.

Watching

Last week I found ECHOES on Netflix and pretty much binged the entire 7 episodes in one night. It stars Michelle Monaghan as two identical sisters, Matt Bomer as one of the husbands, and Daniel Sunjata as the other husband. It was very addicting, suspenseful, and I wish it wasn’t a limited series because I’d love another season!

Corey and I’ve also been making progress on our bingeing of COMMUNITY. We have less than one season left. This show is gold, at least the first four seasons are. The last two seasons have some good moments too, but they are different. If you haven’t watched COMMUNITY yet, I definitely recommend it. You can find it on Hulu or Netflix.

We also watched the last three Harry Potter movies since I finished listening to the audiobooks a couple of weeks ago. I really have such a love/hate relationship with the movies. I love the actors and watching my favorite series come to life AND I really hate how some of the story’s adapted. #firstworldproblems

I learned in DBT that life is full of dialectics, or two opposing truths. In this case, the two opposing truths are: 1) I don’t agree with JKR’s stance regarding trans people, and 2) I still love Harry Potter.

Loving

I love my current manicure and pedicure. I decided to do both sets the same color with different decorations.

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A post shared by Jenni Elyse (@jenni_elyse)

Wanting

I want the pinched nerve in my right shoulder blade to stop hurting. The pain is so intense and it’s radiating up my neck and down to my fingers. My arm feels dead and painful at the same time.

I took some Ibuprofen, my Fibromyalgia pain meds, and a muscle relaxer before bed. I’ve been alternating between a heating pad and ice. I also had Corey rub some Icy Hot (i.e., Bengay) on me and rub out the knot in my muscle, which hurt like hell! Hopefully, the pain will go away soon.

Needing Laughing

I’m laughing about something that happened on Monday night. A little bit after I got in bed, I noticed a good-sized black bulbous spider rearing next to my head. For those of you who don’t know, I have extreme arachnophobia so I flipped out! I scrambled out of bed as fast as I could, landed on my ankle wrong, and fell down in the process.

Corey heard me scream, fall, and start to cry in both fear and pain. I told him what happened and he pretty much turned the room upside down looking for the spider. He couldn’t find it. We concluded I must’ve dreamt it.

I’m still having a hard time accepting that it was a dream. It seemed SO real. My ankle’s nearly all better. It wasn’t funny at the time, but I can laugh at it now.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

October 16, 2022/48 Comments/by Jenni Elyse

Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop #2

Oops! I totally read the schedule wrong! … I’ve decided to keep the question and answer I originally thought was on the schedule for this week.

Today’s Question(s) is …

Do you have a genre you haven’t read before but would like to?

My Answer(s) is …

I’m a very eclectic reader. I adore fantasy, contemporary romance, historical fiction, mystery/thriller, dystopian, science fiction, and memoir. I read more fantasy than any other genre and 69% of my books usually have some sort of romance in them. For me, the more kissing the better! I haven’t read much horror or LGBTQ+ fiction and I definitely want to read more of both.

The one genre I’ve never embraced is Christmas. The only Christmas story I’ve read, if you don’t count picture books, is A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens back in 2010. I think I haven’t read any other Christmas stories because I don’t really decorate or go all out for the holidays. Corey and I spend Christmas Eve with some friends, build LEGO on Christmas Day, and sometimes have dinner with his family.

I used to adore Christmas stories when I was younger. Way before there was a Hallmark channel, my mom and I’d always watch the current year’s Hallmark Christmas movie together. I always looked forward to the Hallmark Christmas commercials. I can still remember my favorite one.

If I did read Christmas stories, I’d focus on Christmas romances. My IRL book club is planning to read IN A HOLIDAZE by Christina Lauren for our December book and I’m actually quite excited about it. I’ve also read a few reviews lately of Christmas romances I might be interested in reading. Maybe, it will become a favorite yearly tradition. Only time with tell, I guess.

What about you? Is there a genre you’d like to check out sometime?

October 7, 2022/22 Comments/by Jenni Elyse

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday #36

Books with Beautiful Typography

I’m doing last week’s prompt this week. I was sad when I didn’t have the time to look for my favorite typographically pleasing covers. Since I only have three bookshops on my bucket list (which I’ll still share), I’ve decided to pivot yet again.

First things first, every bookshop I want to visit is in the US because I’ve never really looked into bookshops around the world. In fact, I haven’t really looked into bookshops, period. I just know these three because of authors or friends. The three bookshops I’d love to visit someday are:

Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon: I’ve had several friends visit this amazing independent bookstore and I’d like to check it out someday too.
Changing Hands in Phoenix, Arizona: This is Stephenie Meyer’s home independent bookstore. They sometimes have signed books on hand. I’d love to visit and just maybe run into Meyer. LOL.
Nowhere Bookshop in San Antonio, Texas: This bookstore is owned and run by the fabulous Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess). I adore her so much and I’d love to meet her and support her literacy efforts.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way, here are my top ten books with beautiful typography:

I decided to go with books only on my TBR rather than ones I’ve already read. Each of these covers draw me right in. For some it’s the typography alone and others it’s how the typography and artwork mesh together.

I also still want to share two books I’ve already read. THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN is one of my all time favorite covers. Even though I hate that the publisher changed the covers for THE DIVINERS and its sequels, I do love the typography on this cover a lot:

I could add so many more lovely covers to this post, but I’ll stop here.

I also wanted to say I’m sorry I didn’t return comments from last week. It was a hard week, both emotionally and physically. I figure I’m allowed one week of no blog hopping and commenting. Thanks to all who did comment last week! I’ll definitely be blog hopping today and tomorrow.

What about you? Which books or bookshops made your list this week? Do we have any in common?

October 4, 2022/54 Comments/by Jenni Elyse

Sunday News

Sunday News #38

Feeling

I’ve been feeling blah this week. I haven’t felt well physically or mentally. I definitely haven’t felt like blogging or reading. Corey thinks the trauma I’m working through in my PTSD therapy is not only taking its toll on my mental health, but my physical health as well. It has been proven that our bodies often react physically to extreme stress and mine is acting in kind. I’ve been experiencing gastrointestinal discomfort, nausea, lack of appetite, cravings for sugar and carbs, dizziness, extreme fatigue, a facial rash, headaches, sore throat, sinus congestion, and body aches. It sounds like I have a cold, the flu, COVID, or something else, but I don’t. The symptoms come and go.

Blogging

Even though I didn’t feel like blogging much this week, I did still post a few things. This week on the blog:

I’m sorry I haven’t responded to the comments on my posts yet. And, I’m even more sorry I haven’t commented on very many blogs this week. I probably won’t try to catch up on every post I missed as that would take days, but I am planning on spending some time today responding to the comments on my blog and commenting on other Sunday Posts. Thank you, all, for continuing to comment on my blog even though I’ve been absent.

Reading

I finished listening to the HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS audiobook. I loved every minute of it. It really helped this week when I was feeling distraught mentally and physically.

I haven’t read or even tried to read anything else. I really do hope I’ll feel like reading something this week. I may put WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING down, even though I’m enjoying the story. Maybe, I’ll keep reading one chapter a day and then turn my focus on something more light-hearted like LOVE ON THE BRAIN by Ali Hazelwood.

I learned in DBT that life is full of dialectics, or two opposing truths. In this case, the two opposing truths are: 1) I don’t agree with JKR’s stance regarding trans people, and 2) I still love Harry Potter.

Listening

Since I haven’t been in the mood to read this week, I watched a few movies. I’m embarrassed about sharing this, especially since I grew up in a very sexually conservative religion and watching movies with nudity or that center around sex is frowned upon. If my family or some of my IRL friends read this, they’d probably be very disappointed in or shocked at my choices.

I’m also embarrassed because of the negativity associated with the Fifty Shades franchise because of its connection with and misrepresentation of BDSM. (At least that’s what I’ve read.) Still, I watched the trilogy this week because I was curious. I’m a huge fan of the Twilight Saga and I wanted to see what EL James took from Stephenie Meyer’s series to get FIFTY SHADES OF GREY. I don’t feel the need to read the books, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the movies.

The only reason I’m sharing this is one of the songs from the second movie, FIFTY SHADES DARKER, really captured my attention. It’s a cover of “The Scientist,” which is one of my favorite songs. I like Coldplay’s version better, but I really enjoyed this rendition too. This version is sung by Corinne Bailey Rae.

Watching

As I already said, I watched the Fifty Shades trilogy. I thought Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson were very believable in their roles. I also thought they had great chemistry. And, as I said above, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the stories.

I also broke down and watched the movie adaptation of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING. I was going to wait until I finished reading the book, but I decided to watch the movie to help motivate me. I really enjoyed the movie and I’m more excited to read the book now if I can just get over this mental slump I’m in.

Loving

Even though I missed participating in the community this week, I loved taking a bit of a break. It was very restorative and I hope it has renewed my interest in reading, blogging, and commenting.

Wanting Wishing

I wish I could go back to being oblivious in regards to my religion. I was happy in my ignorance. Now that I’ve opened my eyes, I feel constant shame and guilt for turning my back on how I grew up and what I used to believe. I’m trying to find a middle ground. It has been really difficult, though, because everything seems so black and white in religion.

Needing

I need to quit putting so much pressure on myself. I’m good the way I am. It’s okay if I’m in the middle of a faith crisis. It’s okay if I do things my friends and family wouldn’t do. It’s okay to become someone different than I expected. It’s okay not to have all the answers. I still have worth.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

October 2, 2022/45 Comments/by Jenni Elyse

Monthly

September 2022 Monthly Wrap-up

I wanted to read a lot more this month than I did. I had a hard time picking up books to read. For those not in the know, I started PTSD therapy in August and I struggled with staying afloat in September.

I did discover that listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks is a great way to help me regulate myself emotionally. I just adore every single character in the series, the wizarding world in general, and the arc of Harry’s journey from and 10-year-old boy with no family to a fully qualified wizard who takes on the responsibility to save the world.

I spent most of the month working on a new design for my blog. I’m still not quite finished, and I’m happy with my progress and how everything is looking. I’m very excited to have it all finished.

If I counted the rereads, then my favorite book this month was HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS. If I don’t count the rereads since I already knew I felt the way I did, I’d say that SOME OF IT WAS REAL was quite awesome and qualify on its own as my favorite read this month.

I learned in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) that life is full of dialectics, or two opposing truths. In this case, the two opposing truths are: 1) I don’t agree with JKR’s stance regarding trans people, and 2) I still love Harry Potter.