What I Got:
NetGalley:
Nothing, zero, nada, not a single book! I've got a few requests kicking around but didn't make any new requests and nothing got approved this week.
Other:
First up is We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. I've been on the waiting list for this one for ages and was thrilled when it was finally my turn. I've seen glowing and flaming reviews on this one so I'm excited to see what the fuss is all about.
Second, is River Road by Jayne Ann Krentz. It's been years and years since I've read any Krentz but I was intrigued by this one when I saw some reviews and excerpts. I couldn't pass it up when I saw it on the recommended shelf while I was killing time during story hour.
Outside the Blog:
I've had the cold that would not die for a week now and it's starting to drive me crazy. Mostly my throat hurts to talk so I've resorted to charades to communicate. This is not a good time to have a sarcastic family! The Tornado has the same cold and is proving once again to be the worst sick person I've come across. He refuses to admit that he's sick so he goes at his usual pace but ramped up in a desperate attempt to prove he's fine and then falls apart when he runs out of energy. Sick days at home with a cranky 4 year old are not restful!
On Tuesday I thought we were better and my husband and I went to Atlanta with Paul and the Tornado to go to the Lego Discoveryland and eat at the Varsity. The Lego place is lots of fun but more geared from preschool ages to mid elementary. We did have fun as the picture shows and the Varsity onion rings and fried pies were delicious as always!
In gardening news my mint has died. I don't get it. Mint is pretty hardy and I've used the same pot year after year with great results but for some reason this year it's looked sad and finally died. All the rain we've had has resulted in split tomatoes which make me sad but they're still edible. I have a bunch of cucumbers that are ready to be picked (or aren't depending on if they're Armenian.)
School is starting in a couple of weeks here! Eleanor will be going back for her 2nd year at college, Emma is starting 12th and Paul will be in 11th. I'm just thrilled that my driving them to school days are over! We've decided to enroll the Tornado in 5 days a week preK because it's curriculum based and I'm afraid he'd be bored in the few day a week 4 year old class which is essentially the same as the 3 year old class. I have mixed feelings about him being gone 5 days a week but it's only half days so I'm sure once we're in the middle of it it will be nice.
I got an Amazon gift card as a thank you gift and I'm excited but there's so many books I want that I don't even know where to start! Do you experience gift card lock up or is it just me?
This Week on the Blog:
An interesting contemporary romance from Julia London
My Top Ten characters I'd like to be stuck on a deserted island with. Actually 7 I wouldn't mind be stuck with and 3 I'd rather not.
A light and fun paranormal romance
A paranormal cozy of my TBR shelf
What I got this month from Birchbox
My 3 Friday linkups
What I hope to accomplish during this weekend's COYER Christmas in July Read-a-thon
A somewhat disappointing historical romance
My Top Ten characters I'd like to be stuck on a deserted island with. Actually 7 I wouldn't mind be stuck with and 3 I'd rather not.
A light and fun paranormal romance
A paranormal cozy of my TBR shelf
What I got this month from Birchbox
My 3 Friday linkups
What I hope to accomplish during this weekend's COYER Christmas in July Read-a-thon
A somewhat disappointing historical romance
Coming Up:
Monday: A feature on The Bone Room and it's author James Vitarius
Tuesday: A Top Ten Tuesday on which authors I own the most books by (#1 is going to be shocking!)
Friday: the usual Friday linkups for whatever book I'm reading
Saturday: The first Cook It Up Cookbook Challenge post hosted by the awesome Trish from Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity
3 Book reviews
COYER Read-a-thon Wrap-up Post
Ipsy Glambag July Review
Have a great week and happy reading!
I think you should just sit and read We Were Liars all day today... maybe it will help you get over that cold!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds lovely! I'm sure that would fix it. The only problem is how to make that happen!
DeleteEven plants have life expectancies, Case in point = birch trees. Just get a new mint and let it go cray cray. I used to have a chocolate mint that made amazing mint juleps!
ReplyDeleteOh I love chocolate mint! All of my herbs to die mint is the one I use less so could be worse. If it was my Thai basil I might need that mint julep!
DeleteI almost bought We Were Liars the other day based on reviews I've seen, and it has me curious. And I've heard river Road is good so I think you got two good ones there. :) I'll be interested to see what you think of We were Liars.
ReplyDeleteHope you feel better soon! I hate having a cold in the summer.
It's driving me crazy! I'm hoping it goes away soon.
DeleteSo far I'm loving River Road. I haven't started We Were Liars but I'm looking forward to it. The reviews have been all over the map.
I really MUST read We Were Liars soon...it is just sitting there on Sparky, calling my name. Should I skip over the others in the queue? LOL
ReplyDeleteRiver Road is another one I'm drooling over...enjoy your books, and thanks for visiting my blog.
River Road is great so far. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for We Were Liars!
DeleteMaybe there was a mint suicide pact going on because mine died yesterday. It was good for months and then BAM dead. :(
ReplyDeleteKristin @ Book Sniffers Anonymous
I'm glad I'm not the only one who is having a problem! Normally you can't kill mint but this one was determined not to live. I'm going to stick with the suicide pact idea.
DeleteSorry about your mint! I have the opposite of a green thumb so I'm not great at keeping plants alive. . . except weeds, which seem to have no problem taking over the entire lawn and garden. So I sympathize. I hope you can replace it soon.
ReplyDeleteTake care of yourself and I hope you get over that cold soon -- and the Tornado, too. Poor little guy; it's no fun being sick, especially when you're young and very active. The 5-day pre-K sounds like a good choice for him. I know it's a wrench to have him gone so much, though. The house will seem quiet during those hours. Though I suppose that could be a blessing at times - a few hours to catch up on things. I loved having my daughter home, but when she was little, I needed the break once in a while.
I'm looking forward to the time to get things done and he loved the structure of 3 days a week last year and this program sounds pretty amazing. But still 5 days! Not ready yet!
DeleteWeeds do fantastic. If only could plants I wanted to grow to grow as well as some of the weeds that show up in my yard!
Colds can be so annoying. I hope you are feeling better!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
Thanks! This one is driving me nuts!
DeleteLego land..woot. Oh I feel you on the cold, I have had congestion and a cough for a week and half ..no fun. Bummer about the mint. Take care of yourself and relax and read!
ReplyDeleteOh so sorry to hear that especially with as much stuff as you have going on! Legoland was fun though I didn't think we were ever going to get him out of there! Of all the herbs to die mint is a good one I guess. If it'd been my basil or oregano it'd have been a bad day!
DeleteWe Were Liars is such a good book, cant wait to hear what you think of it. Also your little boy is adorable. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog & New follower
Thanks! I'm looking forward to We Were Liars. I'm halfway through with River Road and then I'm starting it. Can't wait!
Deleteyou are welcome. We Were Liars is a fantastic book :)
DeleteBoo for sickness. Sigh ... my son is starting 12th grade too. Hope you enjoy WWL, I need to read it.
ReplyDeleteThe whole 12th grade thing is hard to wrap my mind around!
DeleteLego land can be such a blast, looks like the Tornado had a good time :) Hope y'all get to feeling better - being sick is no fun and even worse with a sick 4yr old.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm at the never ending cough portion which is annoying but better than it was. We had such a good time. I have a feeling we will be there pretty regularly.
DeleteI can’t wait to get my hands on We Were Liars. I’ve seen lots of comments about going into the book with as little info about it as possible, so I’ve been trying to stay away from reviews! Hope you love it.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I had heard too so I know some people loved and some hated it but other than that I don't know much about it! I'm hoping that I love it!
DeleteWe never went to LegoLand but we are a family which loves Legos. Now that my kids are grown, my grandson loves them, though of course they make them so specialized and commercialized linked to movies and trends. I love the old-fashioned blocky kind the best.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy We Were Liars, I haven't read it yet. Have a good week.
We had a great time and we're very into legos as well. I agree about liking the old generic kind better. Now everything's so specialized that it's hard to make whatever you want. I'm looking forward to We Were Liars.
DeleteI hope you're feeling better, my sister is like Tornado as well, even when she's sick she won't accept it and then she's tired but still won't accept it's from the cold. It can be a tiresome. Sounds like you had fun at the lego place :). And I am sorry your mint died :(, I would love to try and grow some vegetables and mint once if we have the space, at the moment we only have a balcony, so not too much space there. We did buy a grape plant this year though, let's hope it survives.
ReplyDeleteOh I hope your grape plant does well. That sounds fun! You could do herbs in pots on a balcony. Herbs work well in pots and sometimes it's even best because they can take over your yard if you're not careful!
DeleteCurl up in bed with We Were Liars and rest! Though, that would be easier if the Tornado weren't whirling around. I hope you both feel better soon!
ReplyDeleteIt would definitely be easier! I think I'm on the mend but I'm not sure I'll ever not be coughing.
DeleteTornado is a cutie!! =)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteArgh... I am over colds, I tell ya! It's like everyone is getting sick in my household right now! I love getting Amazon giftcards! Lucky they don't expire!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
Thanx for visiting My Weekly Wrap-Up!
Naomi @ Nomi’s Paranormal Palace
Oh me too. I figure at some point we will all be healthy but I don't see when that will actually happen!
DeleteWe Were Liars was a pretty mind blowing book. Not my favourite but I still didn't see the ending coming. And the writing is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better. Summer colds are the worst!
Happy reading!
Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life
I can't wait to get started on it! It's next - just as soon as I finish River Road.
DeleteI hope you're feeling better, there's nothing like hiding in bed till it's over. But I don't think Tornado will go for that :D
ReplyDeleteMy Sunday
Oh how I wish I could. I'm definitely a go to bed and die quietly kind of sick person but that's much harder these days!
DeleteOh, We Were Liars! I hope you enjoy it, it's a pretty intriguing read! And I hope you feel better soon! Have an awesome week (:
ReplyDeleteCyn @ Bookmunchies
It's next up! I'm dying of curiosity. I've heard so much about it but nothing about the story itself!
DeleteI've heard a lot about We Were Liars. Hope you'll enjoy it! Have a great week ahead!
ReplyDeleteMichelle
Me too! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. The reviews seem to be all over the map with it but they all agree on it being a quick read.
DeleteMint is usually hard to get rid of. I pulled all the plants out of my herb garden as I wasn't using it and replaced it with succulents and gerbera's but that mint still keeps popping up, no matter what I do to get rid of it. Oh well, I might have to find a use for it again.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a good week.
Exactly! Normally you can't kill mint if you try but mine just up and died. I'm more startled than anything else. Luckily I don't use mint all that often so it's not a big deal. If it had been my basil or oregano that would've been a different story!
DeleteYuck on the colds and bummer about the mint. My daughter will be in 12th this year and the boys will be in 10th and 9th. Once again they are finally all in the same school. That excites me. lol Now, if I can just get my daughter to practice driving so she can get her license then I wouldn't need to drive anyone to school. :D
ReplyDeleteI think the Tornado will enjoy PreK. I only had 1 go to PreK and he enjoyed it. Though my youngest enjoyed the daycare where I was going to college, so who knows? I started college when my daughter turned 5 and went to Kindergarten, so she never was in daycare or PreK.
I hope that cold leaves you soon. Have a wonderful week!
I'm so excited about not having to drive anyone to school! The whole driving thing is lovely for the most part. It's nice though it has cut down on time we spend together.
DeleteThe Tornado did an MDO program last year and loved it. I'm hoping this goes well though 5 days does seem like such a lot!
I bet Tornado will really thrive in preK! And think about how much you can get done in a half day. :) And good to know about Lego Discovery. We have one fairly close by but I wondered if Elle might be a bit too young. I think we'll wait another year or two before we take her so she can really enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI've heard SO much about We Were Liars. I won't read it until all the hype dies down but I hope you enjoy it!
He was in an MDO last school year first for 2 days and then 3 days a week and it was definitely nice to clean without feeling like I'm walking backwards!
DeleteThe Tornado is 4 1/2 and a pretty confident kid and he did fine but he was one of the youngest. I think between 5 and 7 is probably the best age. Just be prepared to sell a kidney when you get to the store portion!
My son would love Lego Discoverland, probably even now that he older too. Looks like fun. Enjoy your week.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. :)
Jenea @ Books Live Forever's Sunday Post
It really is a lot of fun! We had a good time and there are things to do for older kids. Plus the store is unreal. It took some serious restraint to not spend a fortune in there!
DeleteI am so sorry to hear you are under the weather. I hope the cold leaves you soon. We all had something similar earlier this month--my husband got it the worst. He ended up needing antibiotics. My daughter is the same way when she's sick as your tornado. She wants to play hard as if she isn't sick, but when she crashes--we all suffer for it.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's best friend will be starting Pre-K in a couple weeks, and I know my daughter will miss having her friend around her all day during the week. I am not too familiar with Pre-K, but I suppose I should become so in case we decide to go that route. Mouse will be starting preschool in another couple weeks. Her current daycare provider also teaches the kids preschool, so she won't have to transition to another environment just yet. Thank goodness.
River Road is on my wish list to read and I am curious about We Were Liars.
So far River Road is really good and when I finish that it's onto We Were Liars which I'm looking forward too.
DeleteMy daughter was in daycare when she was little so they did a preschool when she got to that age and did great. With the Tornado it's a little different since I'm home with him and there seem to be so many more choices. PreK for him is more to give him something to do as he gets restless when he's not active. I like the curriculum program they're using but to be honest I more just want him to have fun and like going to school. The rest will follow when it's time.
We Were Liars was definitely out of my comfort zone but I don't regret reading it. Looking forward to reading about your thoughts on this one. Have a great week ahead and thanks for stopping by my Sunday Post :)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading it but a little nervous. Everyone seems to have a very strong opinion about it one way or the other!
DeleteOoh, I managed to get We Were Liars for about $2 on Kobo the other day! Have heard such great things about it :) It seems very interesintg!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that you're sick! :(
I'm off to catch up on your posts as I haven't swung by for quite a while! Feel better soon! xx
Great deal! It's up next so I'm excited to give a try. Now you have to read it and review it too! I'm getting better though I've hit the point where I'm convinced I'm going to be coughing for the rest of my life!
DeleteJust FYI..my book club is going to be reading We Were Liars soon if you want to join up: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/3551-young-adult-book-club?type=group . I've been on vacation and haven't even gone outside yet to look at my garden. When we got home it was dark and raining so I think I will avoid it till the morning.
ReplyDeleteMine has gone insane with the heat and rain and then me neglecting it a bit due to being sick. I'm not sure I want to even start the maintenance that needs to be done! Thanks for the link! I will definitely have to check it out. I have a feeling this is a book I'm going to want to talk (well type) about!
DeleteYou poor thing! I've picked up a virus in the last few days which has knocked me about but my cats are way easier to deal with than a child. I hope you (and he) get better soon.
ReplyDelete