Sunday News #57

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’m feeling less meh this week. I went to lunch with Corey during the week and we went to the movies a couple of times. I also hung out with my friend on Monday and attended book club on Friday.

Blogging

Here’s what I posted on the blog this week:

Reading

I finished reading THIS SPELLS LOVE by Kate Robb and I also read DATING DR. DIL by Nisha Sharma. My reviews will be posting soon.

I listened to about 30 minutes of THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO audiobook while I was driving this week. At this rate, I won’t finish it until the end of next year, lol.

Listening

Since I’ve been watching PRETTY LITTLE LIARS and I’ve listened to the opening song a lot lately, I thought I’d share it with you this week. It’s very short, but I still like the song.

Watching

Corey and I saw the new Dune movie in the theater twice this week. The first time was on Thursday and the second time was with some friends on Saturday. I loved the first Dune movie. I thought it was a really good adaptation. I think the new one is a fantastic movie by itself AND it pissed me off, lol. For those of you who don’t know, DUNE is my all-time favorite book. It has been since I was 17 so the movies had a lot to live up to. I really disliked how much they changed Chani’s character and I disliked what they did to the ending. I’m pretty sure Denis Villeneuve did it the way he did because he wants to make a third movie that follows part or all of DUNE MESSIAH. I’m okay if he makes another one. I just wish he would’ve finished the first book first before going into the next story.

Loving

I love Starbucks’ venti decaf iced lattes with vanilla syrup. I discovered these about six months ago. Before then, I didn’t drink coffee. Now, I’m obsessed. Whenever I need a pick-me-up emotionally, I can count on my coffee order to lift my spirits.

Wanting

I want to grow my hair out. I’ve had it in a pixie cut for most of my adult life. I’ve decided I want to grow it out to my shoulders at least. Right now, however, my hair is in that unmanageable phase when you grow it out. I’m trying to resist the urge to chop it off so I don’t look like a shagged dog anymore.

Needing

I need to remind you that the FAIRY TALE read-along has started. Check out Suey’s post on TheStoryGraph.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

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Sunday News #56

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’m finally over my sinus infections. However, I’m feeling kind of meh. It’s probably because I’ve been isolating while I’ve been sick.

Blogging

Here’s what I posted on the blog for the past two weeks:

Reading

I read THE INVOCATIONS by Krystal Sutherland this week. I really enjoyed the dark, mysterious atmosphere. I’m nearly finished with THIS SPELLS LOVE by Kate Robb.

I finished listening to the CATCHING FIRE audiobook and also listened to the MOCKINGJAY audiobook. They got me through my dizziness and nausea.

I’m slowly making my way through THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO audiobook. I can only listen to an hour at a time because the narrator’s driving me insane. He’s British, which is great, but he’s reading the book with a very thick, nearly perfect French accent. Don’t get me wrong. I love French. I took it for five years in school. I’m just the type of person that if you’re going to read a translated work in English, then read it in English. If I wanted to read it in French, then I’d be reading the French edition.

Listening

I actually listened to one of my favorite movie soundtracks this week, ST. ELMO’S FIRE. I haven’t listened to it for a long time, but I started watching THE FLOOR, hosted by Rob Lowe, and seeing him made me want to listen to it. Here’s my favorite song from the soundtrack. It’s the instrumental version.

Watching

As I said above, I started watching THE FLOOR on Hulu. It’s a gameshow hosted by Rob Lowe. It has sucked me right in.

I also started watching PRETTY LITTLE LIARS on Max. I’m already in season 2. The show’s really addicting and I’m curious who A is and what’s going on. I’m also curious if the books are as good as or better than the tv show?

Corey and I are still watching THE TUDORS, but since I started PLL, we haven’t made much progress.

Loving

I love my kitties, Izzy and Luci. They kept me company as I recovered from my sinus infections, by cuddling up with me while I watched TV or sat in my recliner or bed listening to my audiobooks.

Wanting

I want to start working on my mood afghan again. I started it on my last birthday (April 19, 2023) and will go to April 18 of this year. I was really gung-ho about working on it in the beginning, but as SAD settled on me around November, I stopped working on it. I’ve been keeping track of my moods each day so I can still finish it. I’ve figured out that if I crochet 3 hexagons a day, then I should be caught up very soon and finish it on time.

Needing

I need to get out and be with my friends. As I said above, I can tell isolating has been taking its toll on me emotionally.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

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Sunday News #55

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’m still feeling a little bit dizzy and now nauseated because of the compounded antibiotic I’m on for my mega sinus infection. I can tell it’s working because I’m not as congested as I have been, so that’s something to be grateful for.

Blogging

Here’s what I posted on the blog this week:

Reading

I haven’t made any progress on THIS SPELLS LOVE by Kate Robb this week. I can’t read when I’m nauseated and dizzy.

I did finish listening to THE HUNGER GAMES audiobook and I’ve started the CATCHING FIRE audiobook. It’s been nice to relax and listen to both of these while I’ve been sick.

I haven’t made any progress on THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas. Before I started feeling super dizzy and nauseated, I tried to read it but it started to put me to sleep. (Please don’t hate me.) I decided to check out the audiobook and I like it a lot better so I’ve switched over to it. It’s also the unabridged audio to boot. I probably won’t finish by the end of February since it’s 52 hours long. I’ll keep at it, though.

Listening

I haven’t really listened to any music this week. But I did watch the new WEST SIDE STORY on Disney+ this week. Here’s one of my favorite songs from both movies. Which one do you like better? Personally, I like the new one better. Sacrilege, I know.

Watching

Corey and I are still watching THE TUDORS. We’ve only watched a couple of episodes in season 2 so we haven’t made much progress this week.

We watched THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES again because I wanted to see it after reading the book. And, since I finished listening to THE HUNGER GAMES audio, we also watched the movie. I love watching the movies right after rereading the books.

We also checked out the new Mark Wahlberg movie on Apple TV+. It’s called THE FAMILY PLAN. It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it a lot. In one scene Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan rap along to “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice and it was pretty cool to see Wahlberg rap again. I was sad they didn’t play any of his music back from the day, lol.

Loving

I think there’s never a time I love my husband more than when I’m sick. Corey’s always so good about taking care of me. He makes me food, gets me drinks, goes to the store to pick up my prescriptions, etc. He’s a good guy.

Wanting

I want to see ARGYLE in the theater. Hopefully, Corey and I don’t miss it because I’m sick.

Needing

I need to be more careful when I warm up the water for my sinus rinses. Friday night I accidentally heated the water too much and didn’t realize it until I shot it up my nostril. It was one of the most painful things I’ve ever experienced in my life. I felt like the left side of my face was on fire and the nerves in my top teeth were screaming at me. Fortunately, I didn’t burn myself too badly as the pain went away about 10 minutes later.

P.S. I may not respond to comments today. It may not be until a little later in the week since I’m not feeling well. Thanks for your understanding.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

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Sunday News #54

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’m feeling a little bit dizzy, headachy, and congested again. It seems that my sinus infection hasn’t gone away. My doctor took a nose swab of each nostril. You know the swab I mean, the ones that go all the way up your nose and feels like it’s scratching your brain for an interminable amount of time?! Yeah, that’s the one. Blech.

The overall results of the swab came back on Friday and it seems that I not only have a bacterial infection, I have 4 fairly resistant bacterial infections. Once he receives the details and finds out what kinds of bacteria I’m playing host to, he’ll prescribe me a compounded antibiotic that goes in a sinus rinse. Hopefully, we can send these buggers on their way sooner rather than later.

Blogging

Here’s what I posted on the blog this week:

My review for THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES will post tomorrow.

Reading

I started reading THIS SPELLS LOVE by Kate Robb yesterday. I would’ve started reading it sooner, but I’ve been distracted by other things (see Loving section below).

I’ve also been listening to THE HUNGER GAMES audiobook. I think the narrator’s different from the “books on CD” version I listening to many moons ago. I like the new narrator a lot.

I also decided to join a buddy read with two of my friends. One of them wanted to read THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO this month for Black History Month. We’re all reading abridged editions. I feel like my edition could’ve been abridged a little bit more.

Listening

I listened to the score for THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS this week. It’s one of my favorites. I’m sharing this particular song, “The Kiss,” because the music in one of the episodes of THE TUDORS reminded us of this song.

Watching

As mentioned above, Corey and I are currently watching THE TUDORS. I’ve wanted to see it for a while. I’m fascinated by that era in history. We just finished season 1. Henry’s trying to get a divorce from Catherine of Aragon so he can marry Anne Boleyn. I think season 2 is going to cover their marriage and her beheading. There are only 4 seasons so I don’t think they can devote one wife per season. Maybe some of the others will be quicker.

Loving

I’m loving TheStorygraph. I decided to join because my friend Suey will be hosting the FAIRY TALE read-along there in March. I wish I had joined sooner because I have always despised Goodreads, as it’s so clunky and ugly. (I was a fan of Shelfari, but Amazon killed it in 2018.) I don’t love everything about TheStoryGraph, but I do love its simplicity, some of the community features, and it’s a lot more pleasing to the eye than Goodreads. Unfortunately, it’s taken me a lot of time to clean up the data I imported from Goodreads. I’m done with that so now I can get back to reading.

If you’re on TheStoryGraph and want to follow me or be my friend, here’s my profile. Also, don’t worry. I’m not quitting Goodreads. I just may spend more time over on TheStoryGraph.

Wanting

I want Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction of an early spring to be right. I need more sun and warmth. Plus, if spring comes early, maybe summer will hold off until it’s supposed to and we’ll get a long spring. That would be the best!

Needing

I need to get out more. I’ve been hibernating in my house a lot over the past few weeks. It’s probably because I haven’t felt very good. The dreary weather also makes it harder for me to get up and out.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

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Sunday News #53

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’m feeling a little bit tired. I stayed up Friday night and last night reading two very good books. I often don’t stay up reading because I love my sleep too much. When a book can get me to forget about my sleep, then it’s definitely going to get a 4- or 5-star rating.

Blogging

Here’s what I posted on the blog this week:

Reading

I finished reading BOOK LOVERS by Emily Henry and listening to THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES audiobook last night and I loved them both. I’ll post both reviews soon.

I’m going to start reading THIS SPELLS LOVE by Kate Robb today and I’m going to continue reading The Hunger Games series via audio.

Listening

I’ve been listening to a few songs Corey adores. If he’s not listening to his main playlist that consists of 60s and 70s rock, then he goes back and forth between listening to the three songs below. I think the first one is weird, but funny and I like the second and third. Let me know what you think of them.

Watching

We went to BEEKEEPER in the theater on Friday. It’s the new Jason Statham movie. You always know what you’re in for when you watch a Jason Statham movie and it definitely delivered. I liked it, but the story felt underdeveloped and rushed. I think his Transporter and Mechanic series are better.

We also watched the three Kingsman movies and the two Hitman’s Bodyguard movies at home. I love the Kingsman movies and I’m excited for the new one to come out later this year or early next year. I love the first Hitman’s Bodyguard movie the best. Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson are hilarious together. The second one isn’t as good, but it’s still fun.

Loving

I love the bookmarks I made for a few of my friends. We met in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) and have been friends since. This week was two of their birthdays so I crocheted bookmarks for each of them.

Wanting

I want to go swimming. I miss Bear Lake. I know I can swim in the indoor pool at our local recreation center, but it’s not the same. Bear Lake is not only a gorgeous blue green, but it’s fresh water with no salt or chlorine and it’s cold. It’s nice to take a dip on a warm summer’s day.

Needing Craving

I’m craving my spicy oatmeal cookies because one of Corey’s colognes always reminds me of nutmeg and other spices. They’re cake-like cookies, fluffy and soft, and they taste like spice cake but better.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

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