Not Fall Yet...

That title is my hint to Mother Earth that it's time to get Fall into full throttle pronto. School starts when summer is barely half over. My mind immediately goes into Fall mode but it's not even close to Fall yet! But even though the temperature does not feel like it by the time September rolls around I am definitely drinking pumpkin spice lattes, baking breads, and reading all the horror, mystery, and thrillers I can get my hands on! And I may or may not start decorating my house with all things Halloween after Labor Day...

G did start school at the beginning of last week. So two full weeks back into it! He is loving and hating it all at the same time. The dreaded PE is in session and he's been running the mile and doing lots of pushups and situps! It's good for him. And the getting up really early again is also not his favorite. But he's loving his classes and talking with his friends so yeah just about right with the loving and hating. 

He also had his first school dance of the year on Friday. He was unsure if he wanted to go because a couple of his friends weren't going. But he said he would still go and when we picked him up he was laughing with other friends and said he had a great time. Yay!

Another beautiful hike last week my hiking buddies...

My mother got Covid last week along with everyone else in the house but she's the one most vulnerable even after all the shots and boosters. They had to take her into the hospital to make sure she recovered on her own. Thank goodness she was only in there for a few days and the treatments went really well. We were able to visit all masked up. I am so grateful she is doing well and that everyone else in the household is also recovering. It's been a few days but everyone is still testing positive even without symptoms. It's amazing how long people can still test positive. Grateful for these small favors.

Posts this week:

2 book reviews on Sundial by Catriona Ward and A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab.

Currently Reading 

I've been reading these almost all year but I am determined to finish them off eventually. I go through weeks where I'll read consistently and then weeks where I don't. Like I said one day...

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker

Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington by Jamie Kirchick

I'm always trying to read a parenting book or self-help book or two...

What Do You Say? How to Talk with Kids to Build Motivation, Stress Tolerance, and a Happy Home by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson

The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure by Yascha Mounk

A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab

I also just picked up The Middle Ages: A Graphic History by Eleanor Janega. It's hilarious and very informative and the cartoons are funny. I love history books make me laugh and keep me informed! 

And because spooky season is around the corner...The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur. I keep forgetting to put this in my posts. I've been reading/listening to this one since the start of the summer with my friend who lives out-of-state for our philosophy book club (of two). Schur created The Good Place and he shares all the moral philosophy he researched to create the TV show. The audiobook has basically the whole cast, too, reading various quotes, etc. It's fantastic. One of the best philosophy books I've read in a long time!

Read

Sundial by Catriona Ward

A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab

Movies Watched:

There's always been something wrong with Esther

Orphan: First Kill (2022) Paramount+

My Thoughts:

If you enjoyed the first movie Orphan this will be a fun little prequel. Not great but fun.

No one just disappears.

Horror in the High Desert (2021) on Amazon Prime

My Thoughts:

This is one of those fake documentary-type horrors/found-footage. It was made during the Covid lockdowns so it's super simple and a bit cheesy but I liked it. Kind of weird and creepy. Just what I was looking for at the time.

The dead shall inherit the earth.

Land of the Dead (2005) watched on Shudder

My Thoughts:

This is the last in George Romero's zombie series. And it had Simon Baker from The Mentalist in it so I figured I would give it a try this weekend. Not bad. Stupid plot and the dialogue was even dumber but it was entertaining and the actors were pretty great. 

TV Watched:

I'm still watching Star Trek: TNG. Now season five! This season is really good. I forgot how many good ones they have. Like this is the first season with consistently good episodes. Well, some of the middle episodes are pretty ho-hum.

I finished off The Sandman on Netflix, which I really really enjoyed. Can't wait for the next season. And Only Murders in the Building on Hulu. I love this show. Can't wait til next season already. Seeing Martin Short and Steve Martin together again is just fantastic and it has been my little happy place this summer.

Joining up with Deb from Readerbuzz and her Sunday Salon.

Book Reviews: Sundial, A Darker Shade of Magic

Sundial by Catriona Ward

I loved her previous book The Last House on Needless Street! Such a twist and had no clue what was coming for so long. It's truly hard to create a book like that again...I liked Sundial. But I did not love it. It took a really long time to get into it and while there were plenty of surprises towards the end, it wasn't enough for me. It was really hard to sympathize with any of the characters and I felt like the characters were serving the plot instead of having some real motivation. But yeah, it's still a horrific and tragic story but not one I'd recommend whole-heartedly like I did her other book.

Rob has a past. Her husband is abusive and now her youngest daughter is sick and maybe her oldest daughter is to blame? She must take her oldest daughter Callie back to her childhood home of Sundial. She must face what's truly real and what happened to her before Sundial so she can save her family.

Catriona Ward is creative. The way she can plot out these stories is just remarkable. While this one was not my favorite I will still be looking forward eagerly to her next book!

A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab

I had a great time with this one! It reads fast and I loved the world building and the characters. Sometimes you get one or the other and I really felt like she did a great job building both up without being a really long high-fantasy series.

There are four Londons. Yes a multiverse. And only antari can pass through the worlds. Black London has been lost to magic for long time now. White London sucks magic dry, Red London is blooming and booming with magic, and Grey London...well, that's our world. Magic has been long-gone and we make do with our guns and industry rather than magic.

Cue in Kell who is the antari of the Red London world. He takes messages between each London. White London is plotting. And Kell is saddled with a forbidden bit of Black London. He is unexpectedly saved and then subsequently robbed by a woman named Lila in Grey London. They eventually team up eventually, cuz of course they do! This forbidden stone from Black London must be destroyed and kept out of those hands that would use it to conquer and destroy the other Londons.

The plot gets a bit muddy but overall it's funny and the worlds of the different Londons are intriguing. She uses the greats to draw from but makes the magical and fantastical worlds her own.

This is the first of three.

Cat Thursday: Back to School!

 

Welcome to the weekly meme (hosted by Michelle at True Book Addict) that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite lolcat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! 

Tis that time of year again! Back to school! And the internet kitties will help us all celebrate...

School Is Back in Session!

 G is about to start 8th grade! I can't believe it. Summer went by so fast. We made it camping and a small weekend trip to Idaho to see friends and enjoy The Chicks concert. And I have been hiking a lot and seeing some beautiful mountains in preparations for my big hike next month.

We have been having a lot of rain and thunder storms out our way. Summer storms are normal but this has been more than I remember in a long long time.

G had is back-to-school night this last week and he got excited to get back to it...well, at least a teensy more excited. I'll take it! I remember always being a little bit anxious but also entwined was the excitement of a new year and possibilities ahead. I wish that for him and hope nothing but great things for his last year of middle school.

We enjoyed a lovely camping trip to Mirror Lake up the Uintah Mountains. And I finished up one of my favorite puzzles. She's a beauty. The various paintings in the series are all gorgeous and would like to collect them all.
So big changes with school setting in this week...I'm just hoping we can all get back into and still enjoy summer as fall is soon upon us!

Currently Reading 

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker

Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington by Jamie Kirchick

What Do You Say? How to Talk with Kids to Build Motivation, Stress Tolerance, and a Happy Home by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson

The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure by Yascha Mounk

A Darker Shade of Magic (Darker Shades #1) by V.E. Schwab

Read

Leviathan Falls (The Expanse #9) by James S.A. Correy. (reviewed earlier).

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

Publisher's Summary:

In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.

But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.

When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz’s fears—but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark its doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano?

Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her.

Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness.

Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.

My Thoughts:

I really loved this one! It had some fun throwbacks to Rebecca and the Goth feeling of dark and foreboding and forbidden passion. Just what I needed.

We follow both Beatriz and Padre Andres as they each have different paths that lead them to our point in the book. Lots of flashbacks and things unhidden as the story progresses. And some of those scenes are truly terrifying.

I'm definitely coming back for more.

Aru Shah and the Song of Death (Pandava#2) by Roshani Chokshi

Publisher's Summary:

Aru is only just getting the hang of this whole Pandava thing when the Otherworld goes into full panic mode. The god of love's bow and arrow have gone missing, and the thief isn't playing Cupid. Instead, they're turning people into heartless fighting-machine zombies. If that weren't bad enough, somehow Aru gets framed as the thief. If she doesn't find the arrow by the next full moon, she'll be kicked out of the Otherworld. For good. But, for better or worse, she won't be going it alone. Along with her soul-sister, Mini, Aru will team up with Brynne, an ultra-strong girl who knows more than she lets on, and Aiden, the boy who lives across the street and is also hiding plenty of secrets. Together they'll battle demons, travel through a glittering and dangerous serpent realm, and discover that their enemy isn't at all who they expected.

My Thoughts:

It was great to revisit this series. G and I are really loving this. We are now on book 3 and no more re-reads left! Three books to go to finish this series off!

I like the issues these books bring up. Loyalty, family, friends, trusting yourself, and letting new people in. Also, you know, puberty and feelings for friends and such. All great themes throughout. Also, she brings up sexism in these stories and how sometimes people want and need to be remembered differently. And it's also just really funny. G will laugh multiple times while I'm reading and I'll even have a slight chuckle or two.

Memory's Legion by James S.A. Correy 

My Thoughts:

This contains all of the short stories written over the years for The Expanse. Also the last short story that takes place after the last book is in it.

Some were better than others. I liked the ones that brought more insight into our main characters. But overall, they were all interesting and had relevance for the world we've been following for so long! Highly recommended if you love the series.

Movies Watched:

I watched a lot of movies these summer nights with the family, friends, and by myself. I'll just throw out some highlights!

Feel the need...the need for speed

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) in the theater

My Thoughts:

Everyone is losing their shit over this one. I mean yeah, it was fun. Those scenes with the jets were fricking cool. And I can see why this is the movie America needed right now. I get it. I really do.

But yeah, that plot? 😂 And Tommy boy just leaves a bad taste in my mouth...

Romance is a lot like baseball. It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game.

Bull Durham (1988) on Amazon Prime

My Thoughts:

This is apparently the best baseball movie ever. I'm not a huge baseball fan but I do like a good sports movie regardless of whether or not I actually play, watch, or follow the sport in real life. This was a really interesting movie. Susan Sarandon is hot! She wins this movie forever and ever. So glad I took the time to watch.

Work together or die alone

The 355 (2022) watched on Amazon Prime

My Thoughts:

This is not a well-loved movie. But I got out of it what I expected. Stupid plot but I loved the fights and the way the actresses worked together. It's not perfect but I didn't need it to be. 

Hit the high seas

The Sea Beast (2022). Netflix

My Thoughts:

It was cute even though predictable. It's got pirates and silly songs and G enjoyed it. So I won't complain too much.

The one is not the only

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). Saw in theater.

My Thoughts:

Another fun edition to the Thor movies. Taika Waititi is fantastic as always. I'm not sure it's as good as Ragnarok but I'm OK with that. The marvel formula can get a bit old but I always love returning to familiar characters and places. The cameos are pretty hilarious too.

TV Watched:

I'm still watching Star Trek: TNG. Now season five! This season is really good. I forgot how many good ones they have. Like this is the first season with consistently good episodes.

Started The Sandman on Netflix. Really good so far. Loving the whole fantastical element and contemplating how weird studios are when WB can't sell off this series to its own HBO Max network and sells it to Netflix! Same with Ted Lasso...that was made by NBC and sold off to Apple! Weird.

Also binged my way through The Staircase on HBO. That case fascinates me in so many ways. 

Joining up with Deb from Readerbuzz and her Sunday Salon.