Sunday News #58
Feeling
The last few months have been a bit rough. I’ve been dealing with some health issues again. At the end of March, I had a really bad bout of the stomach flu.
In April and May, I started having bladder pain. I tested positive for a bladder infection and got put on antibiotics for the third time in the last four to five months. Unfortunately, my bladder pain didn’t stop and after some tests, my doctor diagnosed me with interstitial cystitis. This means my body’s changing the pH of my urine, making it more acidic than it should be and inflaming the lining. I now have to avoid eating and drinking more acidic things–no more coffee, citrus, tomatoes, chocolate, etc.–at least until the lining in my bladder has become less inflamed.
By June, I was feeling better. I decided not to start blogging until now, though, because I just need to chill and not worry about my health or blogging.
Blogging
Here’s what I posted during the first week of March before I stopped blogging:
Reading
Because of my health, my reading suffered a lot in March, April, and the first part of May. When I started feeling like I wanted to read again, I didn’t feel like starting anything new so I decided to listen to some comfort read audiobooks. I made my way through the entire Harry Potter series during the last half of May and most of June. I also started rereading SUNRUNNER’S FIRE, the third book in the Dragon Prince trilogy, this past week.
I know this will make a lot of people sad… For now, I’ve decided not to keep reading THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. I still have around 35.5 hours left of the audiobook and it seems like a lot of time to invest in a story I’m not loving as much as I’d like to. I may, however, pick it up again in the future.
Listening
I’ve been introducing my BFF to the Mission: Impossible movie franchise over the last couple of weeks so I’ve been listening to a lot of versions of theme. This one’s my favorite, from the fourth movie MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL.
Watching
As I said above, I’ve been watching the Mission: Impossible movies with my BFF. I’ve also been watching the Harry Potter movies with Corey since I just reread the series.
Corey and I finished watching DARK MATTER on AppleTV+ this week. It’s based on the book by Blake Crouch. I really enjoyed the book so I was looking forward to watching the show. I wasn’t disappointed. It was phenomenal. I’m curious if they’re going to do a second season even though season 1 covered the whole book? Here’s the trailer.
Loving
I love getting the opportunity to meet authors and have my books signed. On Tuesday, my friend and I went to an author event for the duo Christina Lauren. It was a lot of fun. Here’s my Instagram post if you’re interested:
Wanting
I want to watch the new MY LADY JANE show on Amazon even though I hate the Prime streaming app. It’s so cumbersome and hard to find what you want or can watch. Anyway, I adored the book the show is based on so I might have to endure my frustration. LOL. Here’s the trailer if you’re curious.
Needing Wanting, Part 2
My IRL book club voted on our next 12 months’ worth of books in April. Every year for the past eight years, I’ve made a bookmark showcasing the books we vote in. I wanted to share it with y’all.
How was your week? Anything exciting happen?
I am so sorry to hear that you had such a rough couple of months. I am glad to hear that you got a diagnosis though and are now feeling better. It is so hard to read when other things are going on like that. Have a good week!
Thanks, Erin! 😀 I really appreciate that.
Now that’s why you disappeared on us…I hope your health keeps improving, though it must be hard to give up on so many tasty food items…
“I still have around 35.5 hours left of the audiobook and it seems like a lot of time to invest in a story I’m not loving as much as I’d like to”
Yikes! 35 hours still?
An author event! How exciting.
Yeah, I usually disappear due to something related with health, whether it’s physical or mental.
Right?! And, I’ve already listened to 17 hours. It’s just too long, lol.
It was very exciting. I used to go to many author events before the pandemic so I’m excited that I’ve been able to go to a few in the last year.
I am sad to hear that you have been having such painful issues with your health over the last few months. With the modifications in your diet, I hope you are soon feeling much, much better.
I always love to see authors. Lucky you—it’s great that you live close to that great bookshop. I visited there once—it’s fantastic.
BTW, my book club is formally called the Third Tuesday Bookclub!
Thanks, Deb! 😀 I really appreciate that.
The King’s English Bookshop really is charming and such a wonderful indie bookstore. I’m glad you had the chance to visit it.
That’s awesome! 😀 We celebrated our 20th anniversary in May, although I’ve only been going for 13 years. Even though we’ve moved our meeting days to Wednesdays, we still call it the Third Thursday Book Club, lol.
Glad you’re starting to feel better. I hate when I’m so sick that I don’t feel like reading. Worst thing in the world for us readers! But Harry Potter movies are comfort watches for me. So I get that. I love Christina Lauren! Need to get the latest. So I haven’t read My Lady Jane, but is had been on my TBR since it came out. I started watching the tv series, which I love, I can watch the app on my tv. But I’m curious, since the book was a YA book, how true to the books is it? It’s pretty steamy in my opinion! Would love to hear what you think when you start it!
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2024/06/30/weekly-wrap-up-176-june-30th-2024/
Thank you, Lisa! 😀 The Harry Potter movies are comfort watches for me too, even though I have a love/hate relationship with them, lol.
The MY LADY JANE book had a lot of sexual tension. I felt like it was very steamy in a kind of chaste way because it’s not sexually explicit or graphic.
So glad that your health is better and that you’re back to share reading news. Our BC has discussed several of those titles: Hello, Beautiful (I loved it) and The Violin Conspiracy (I didn’t love it, but many in BC did) Romance, like comfort films/books like Harry Potter, are so vital to our emotional and mental well-being. We need happy endings.
Thanks, Margaret! 😀 I really appreciate that. I’ve missed talking to everyone and I’m excited to see how y’all are doing.
I’m looking forward to HELLO, BEAUTIFUL and I’m optimistic about THE VIOLIN CONSPIRACY. I hope I like most of the books we read. I didn’t finish GOOD OMENS. The second half was so slow and I just lost interest in it.
So sorry to hear you have had more health issues! I can’t commit to an audiobook over 12 hours, it is rare if I do, it just seems too long, so kudos to you for tackling such a huge one! I don’t blame you for moving on for now, especially since you are not enjoying it. Have a great week!
Thanks, Cindy! 😀 I appreciate that. I totally get not wanting to commit to audiobooks more than 12 hours long. I don’t might the length so much if I really enjoy the book. For example, the last three Harry Potter audiobooks are all around 20 hours long and I’m totally find with that. It’s the books I’m not really enjoying that makes a book feel too long.
If you don’t like a book there’s every reason to give it up — no apologies needed, not even for the Count of Monte Cristo. I hope your health keeps improving.
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thanks, Mae! 😀 I appreciate that. I always worry about disappointing those who love a book that I DNF. I’m glad we all usually realize, though, that we don’t all have to love the same things.
I’m so sorry to hear you haven’t been feeling well. I’m glad to see you are feeling better and back to blogging. Don’t overdo it – take care of yourself. Have a great week!
Thanks, Yvonne! 😀 I really appreciate it!
It’s great to see you back here!
My Lady Jane looks fun. I watched the 1986 film a couple of years ago with a very young Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Jane: https://www.joyweesemoll.com/2022/08/26/lady-jane-filmreview-brifri/
Thank you, Joy! 😀 I’m excited to be back. I’ve never seen the Helena Bonham Carter version of Lady Jane. I’ll definitely have to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.
I hear you about the health issues. My daughter has had migraines 23 of the past 30 days. We are working on her various issues and have made some medication changes. How exciting you got to meet Christina Lauren.
Thank you, Anne! 😀 I’m so sorry to hear you’re daughter’s dealing with migraines. They’re so hard to live with. I’ve been dealing with them as well. I really hope the new medication and working on her other stuff really help your daughter.
Glad you’re back to blogging, but I’m also glad you took time for yourself. You made a wise decision to stop reading a book that isn’t resonating with you. Wishing you the best for the month of July! 🙂
Thanks, Meezan! 😀 I really appreciate it! I’m glad to be back!
I’m so sorry you haven’t been well – I do hope you are on the mend. How wonderful to meet Christina Lauren! I loved Tangled in You! Have a great week!
Thanks, Jodie! 😀 I do feel a lot better than I have been. I’m really excited to read TANGLED UP IN YOU soon!
Sorry to hear you are dealing with some health issues. I hope you get back to 100% soon! I enjoyed the book Dark Matter, but I was hesitant to watch the series, but seeing as you enjoyed it so much I think I’ll give it a go! Have a wonderful week!
Thanks, Rachel! 😀 I really appreciate that. I hope you enjoy the series as much as I did.
I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis. My daughter has the same condition and she takes medication for it which really helps. I’ve also met Christina Lauren! They are super sweet😁 Hope you have a good week!
Thanks, Tammy! 😀 I didn’t realize I could take medication for it. My doctor just told me to avoid specific foods. He probably wanted to see if it helped or not. I guess if it doesn’t, I can ask him about the medication.
I understand wanting to take a break after your health issues. I am sorry for all you’ve been dealing with. I hope you had a restful June! While I am kind of sad you are having to set The Count of Monte Cristo aside, I completely understand. It is long. I don’t really know how the audio is. My husband has been working his way through the print version (which is how I read it too) since 2022. I’m honestly surprised he’s still reading it. LOL If it’s not for you, it really isn’t worth your time. Or, like him, take your time. I definitely liked it more than he is finding it. I made a comment about how it picks up once the Count gets to Paris and my husband made a snarky comment which I won’t share for risk of spoiling it. He’s harder on books than I am. I remember when he read Jane Eyre for the first time as I reread it alongside him. I was so worried he would hate it. Fortunately, he didn’t hate it and assured me he liked it. He’s more of a Jane Austen person though. That was quite a tangent, wasn’t it? Haha!
That is awesome that you got to met duo authors Christina Lauren! It sounds like a fun event. That is such a great idea–making bookmarks of your upcoming book club picks! Thank you for sharing. I’ve always wanted to read Good Omens. Eleanor & Park is the only one on the list I’ve read. I really liked it at the time.
I hope you have a great week!
Thank you so much! 😀 I really appreciate it.
I’m glad your husband enjoyed JANE EYRE. I haven’t read it. That one doesn’t really interest me much, but I do have other classics I want to read that I haven’t yet. I just have to be in the mood. I think that’s what happened with CoMC. The mood to read it left me. If the mood ever hits me again, I’ll give it another try.