Show Us Your Books: Sweater Weather with a side of reading

The title was going to be reading weather but hello all weather is reading weather.

Ahoy fellow booknerds. Thanks for looking up from your pages to join us today. I have some housekeeping items:

1. Once again in December Jana and I will host TWO SUYBs - the regular link up on December 12 and the special Favorite Reads of the Year for 2017 (click on that to see my post from last year) on Tuesday, December 26. Yes, we know it's the day after Christmas. Merry Christmas to all of us! This is the gift we will give to the readers of the internet and holders of the Christmas gift cards burning a hole in their pockets already, one day in. I'm going to prepare my post ahead of time. fa la la la la la la READ BOOKS
2. For your grabbing pleasure, may I direct you to a new Show Us Your Books button on my sidebar that Jana worked on with Tanya? That photo of me and Jana is from college and yes, that is Boone's Farm.
3. Last month was our three year anniversary - congrats to Steph G at Insert Classy Here for winning the $25 Amazon gift card + $25 donation to Children's Literacy Initiative.
4. Happy happy birthday one of my BFF sister resistors, Melissa.
5. The fat man walks alone.

Linkup Guidelines:

This link up is the second Tuesday of every month. The next is  Tuesday, December 12, 2017 with the special Favorite Reads of 2016 Show Us Your Books on Tuesday, December 26.
Please: 

1. Visit and comment with both of your hosts, Jana & me
2. Display the button and/or link back to us on your blog post
2. Visit other blogs who've linked up and talk books as booknerds are wont to do

Here's what I've read since the last linkup.

Engrossing Reads

I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll - I was totally glued to this book. Lots of loose ends. Creepy throughout. And you know I do love a creep. You might not know that I'm obsessed with things that should be, in my mind, contracted. I would have liked I'm Watching You better.  Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Lie to Me by J.T. Ellison - I was very impatient to know WTF was going on in this novel. Sometimes suspense books aren't super suspenseful. That was not the case here. I couldn't put this one down. One of those no one is likable but it doesn't even matter books.  free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Deep Freeze (Virgil Flowers #10) by John Sandford - That fuckin' Flowers has done it again. If you read the series, you get why I called him that. The Virgil series is very reliable for me. OCNJ library hardback

Daisy in Chains by Sharon Bolton - Well, I was completely taken off-guard by how this shit went down, which is a very, very good thing when you're reading a book like this. I liked how Bolton gave you a little something easy to figure out relatively early on and saved the sucker punch for the end. Good stuff. OCNJ library hardback

Passed the Time Just Fine

Dead Certain by Adam Mitzner - I can't even remember where I got this book, how I heard of it, if it was on my kindle or a library book. It was fine. A little too tight. A little weird and not in a way that I Liked.

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine - This book is straddling all the lines between my very scientific categories. The second half of the book is definitely engrossing - I stayed up until midnight on a Sunday night to finish it. The first half passed the time just fine/was not worth it. It seemed like a really long build up and the repetition was starting to annoy me. I wish you could just read the last half of the book, but that's not how this works. OCNJ library hardback

Y is for Yesterday (Kinsey Milhone #25) by Sue Grafton - The 25th book in the alphabet series. The series definitely needs a relief pitcher, but I will of course read the 26th and will miss the prospect of more Kinsey. I love that cranky lady who is so set in her ways. OCNJ library hardback

Triptych (Will Trent #1) by Karin Slaughter - A new to me series, recommended by one of you...Erin? Anyway, Will is quite a different character for the detective/murder genre and I'll keep with this. OCNJ library hardback

Fractured (Will Trent #2) by Karin Slaughter - See? OCNJ library hardback

Not Worth It

The Seven Rules of Elvira Carr by Frances Maynard - This reminded me of a weak version of either Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine or The Rosie Project - both books I enjoyed immensely. To be fair to this book, I was comparing it to how enjoyable I found those two. This felt like it took forever to read and was really surface when it could have been much deeper. Kindle e-book

Did Not Finish

Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan - I read the first Beach Street and liked it fine. I couldn't face the prospect of the similar formula of this one a few pages in. It might be better in the summer, so I will keep it in mind. OCNJ library hardback

Red Clocks by Leni Zumas - I couldn't finish this one. I'm disappointed because I liked the premise. I thought it was very hard to get into. Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

And you? What have you been reading? 

An InLinkz Link-up

TWTW - the one with the first cold temps

Friday

I worked from the shore, so I started with the sunrise which now requires boots, walked to get a Cuban sandwich from the place around the corner for lunch, was at the library by 5:10, and otherwise sequestered myself inside with ceramic heaters trying to acclimate to the first cold day. MFD and los perros arrived at 6. I painted my nails (OPI Humidi-Tea and OPI ) and we watched The Royal Tenenbaums and went to sleep early.

Saturday 

A lazy morning finishing a book, a trip to the beach with the dogs, a bike ride around town and stop at the craft show on the Music Pier, starting a new book, and beef bolognese at Luigi's. My photos from there always suck but the food is always good.

Our friend Christeen was renting upstairs in the house with her friends for the weekend, so we got to catch up with her a little bit and meet a few of them too. It’s always great to see people face to face you typically only see on Facebook. They left the house very nice and wrote on the message board which I always love. 

I got my Christmas cards designed and ordered and ordered my stamps too, which was my main goal this weekend. 

Sunday

What a fucking gift of a sunrise. My fingers nearly froze off and I didn't even care. 

MFD left for mummery. I cleaned our apartment, read, made my work and personal lists for the week, made a master Thanksgiving list, updated my chewy autoship for dog food, and realized I can get through much of the week food-wise without cooking thanks to freezer meals. All the fist pumps as I was not feeling the food prep on Sunday. I took the dogs to the beach before we headed home at 3. Mae and Gus barked at the world and Bruce tried to eat both of them. Regular day.

Do these dogs travel in style or what? 

We were going to go out for sushi to celebrate four years of sobriety for MFD but ended up ordering Lee’s Hoagies and spazzing out hangrily when it took forever to arrive. Okay maybe only one of us spazzed out hangrily. I was in bed with a book by 8 but up finishing that book until midnight then I couldn't go to sleep until 1 and pass all the coffee this way please.  

As inferred above this week's weekly food prep is actually weekly use what you have this week: breakfast is hard boiled eggs and power breakfast muffins or breakfast burritos from the freezer; lunch is pork fried rice from the freezers with an apple on the side, and dinner is ham and potato soup or lasagna roll ups from the freezer. 

For the past two weeks I've been thinking the next week is Thanksgiving. Anyone else? Guess what...it's still not Thanksgiving next week.

Tomorrow is Show Us Your Books day! See you back here for that.

Five ways to support veterans

Every day is the day to support our veterans, not just November 11. Here are some ways to do that, please share your ways in the comments!

1. Donate your things - If you are purging your house, contact Vietnam Veterans of America to schedule a pickup. They are a great organization offering critical support service for returning veterans and dedicated to improving the general welfare and hospital care of all veterans, especially homeless and disabled vets.

2. Donate your money - Hope for the Warriors, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, The Gary Sinise Foundation. Donate Your frequent flier miles via the Fisher House Hero Miles Program.

3. Lend them your voice - call your government representatives at every level and ask what exactly they're doing for veterans. Hold their feet to the fire. Pressure them to take care of the people who put everything on the line for this country. Make sure they follow through on what they tell you - words don't mean shit from these people. Actions, specifically how they vote on veteran affairs, do. This is bi-partisan, so call them all.

4. Help them share their experiences - The Library of Congress is collecting stories of veterans of every war for the Veterans History Project. If you know a veteran who has a story they'd like to share, check it out.

5. Be a human - If you a vet who is homeless or know one at the risk of becoming homeless, call 877-424-3838 to reach The Department of Veteran Affairs' Stand Down program 24/7. If you are a vet struggling emotionally or mentally or are potentially suicidal, call the Veterans Crisis line at 800-273-8255 and press 1 or text to 838255 24/7. You can also chat online. Contact is confidential. If you know someone struggling, please keep the number in your phone and be ready to give it when you see it might be needed.

MFD is a representative for the Homes for Heroes program, so when he represents someone in a home buying or selling transaction who has served our country in the military (active/reserve/veterans or law enforcement, firefighters, healthcare professionals, EMS, teachers), he donates part of his commission so they are presented with a Hero Reward after closing, which amounts to money back in their pocket. If you know a veteran buying a home, tell them to hook up with a Homes for Heroes affiliate. We also give $100 off to any veteran who rents our shore house for the week and I make 95% of my physical donations to Vietnam Vets. These are things we figured out that we can do based on what we have to offer right now. Think in terms of your life and ask yourself what fit is right for you. It's all about looking at the world around you, finding out what is important to you, and doing what you can, with what you have, where you are.

What you can, what you have, and where you are will change many times in life. Adjust accordingly, but never think there's nothing you can do for someone else, particularly someone who has put their life on the line for this country. When the what you have doesn't include money to donate, you'll probably find that you still do have time and effort that you can spare. Some years you might have the money but no time. At the end of the day, we all have something to give, even if it's a smile and a thank you in passing on the street.

Let me know if you have any resources to add!

I can't sign off without saying Happy birthday to the United States Marine Corps. Thank you for being so badass and selfless.

And happy Friday to the rest of you.

Thursday Thoughts - with a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather

1. I have issues with the time change in the spring, but I have been killing it in the mornings this week because Bruce gets up at 5:00, which he thinks is 6:00. Full dark by 5:15 pm is hard to bear though. Why do we still do this?

2. Gather 'round, children, and let me tell you a story of a first world problem: last week I got an email saying Amazon Fresh is no longer delivering to my area after 11/30. I've tried other grocery delivery services, and I will go back to one of them and also try Fresh Direct, but what I loved most about Amazon Fresh was the ability to schedule a delivery I did not have to attend. So I could wake up to groceries on my doorstep at 7 am or come home to them waiting for me at 7 pm. Damn you, grocery delivery world. If you told me in 1998 that I'd be bitching and picky about grocery delivery in 2017, I would've laughed at you.

3. What are you reading? Show Us Your Books is Tuesday! I started three books this week and discarded them all because I only want to read the books I'm getting from the library Friday (The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine and Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan) and the ones coming from Book of the Month Club (Bonfire by Krysten Ritter and Turtles All the Way Down by John Green). Impatience kills. I did settle on The Seven Rules of Elvira Carr on my kindle for now.

4. I crafted shit last night. Who am I? I consider myself both not interested in crafts and not creative. But the craft was painting a freaking CERAMIC CHRISTMAS TREE of the kind that I am obsessed with. I think this is like number nine or 10 in my collection? I will count this year. It was a good, fun, funny Wednesday night with girlfriends. Thanks for letting me crash your event Lauren, Jill, Dot, & fam! And thanks to Dot for securing the tickets.

5. Sad news for Philly fans this week. We claimed you as our own Roy Halladay.

6. Eat 10 dicks, guy who referred to himself as Virginia's "chief homophobe." I needed this Election Day. The resistance is real. Lots of wins were historic: Andrea Jenkins is the first openly transgender black woman elected to City Council in a major U.S. city - you go, Minneapolis; also in MN St. Paul elected its first black mayor; NJ elected its first female black lieutenant gov; Charlotte, NC elected its first female black mayor; Framingham, MA elected its first mayor since becoming a city, and that mayor is a black female; Manchester, NH elected its first woman mayor in the city's 266 year history; Erie, PA has the distinction of electing the first openly transgender person in the state to its school board; Hoboken, NJ elected the first Sikh mayor; Elizabeth Guzman and Hala Ayala defeated incumbents to become the first two latinas elected to the VA House of Delegates; a refugee who arrived from Liberia 23 years ago is Helena, MT's first black mayor; Seattle elected its first lesbian mayor - and the first woman mayor in 92 years; Kathy Tran, a Vietnamese refugee, became the first Asian-American woman in VA's House; Lancaster, PA, has its first latina member of city council; Philly elected an extremely progressive anti-mass incarceration DA in Larry Krasner...on and on. I am thrilled to see more women, more black and brown people, and more LGBTQIA people in offices. I want diverse people of all backgrounds at our tables. Rooms full of older white men do not fulfill that desire. Look at the photos below of the before and after of the VA house seats flipping. The difference is incredible. Women are stepping up to lead and I applaud them. Especially the black women who have been stepping up for years in communities with no acknowledgment. A staggering 91% of black women voted for Northam to take the VA Gov seat. Thank you, ladies, for not voting against your own interests. You lead, I will follow. Trust black women.

7. I have a hair appointment tonight, and seriously not a moment too soon. The grays are nuts. Probably because of things like MFD not going through his paper hoarding boxes or things like the most recent slide into authoritarianism list or things like...

8. Another mass shooting, barely any coverage since the shooter was white. White people! Stop blaming black and brown people for ruining this country. We're doing it. We are content with doing nothing? We don't even want to TRY a study on gun violence? Did people recognize that thoughts and prayers are not a fucking solution to the cycle of every two months/mass shooting so they just stopped mentioning it at all?

9. Reminder:

10. E-card of the week: I keep looking at messages and responding in my head but never actually responding. What the hell. 

I feel like I just ran a race. No slowing down until after midnight tonight for me. 

Unpopular? Opinions

Opinions...like assholes, we all have them. Isn't that a weird saying?

Anyhoo some are deemed to be publicly popular/universally accepted. You never know until you put it out there, right? Here are some of my opinions that might be unpopular. You let me know. Also, does anyone else feel like I've done this blog post before? 

Eating coconut is like eating shredded paper.

Christmas Day is my second least favorite day of the year.

The Christmas season begins after Thanksgiving.

Listening to a book is not the same as reading a book in any way.

College is not for everyone.

Kids who don't understand what the words mean should not be reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Teachers are underpaid.

A lot of Beatles songs suck. I don't dislike them but I don't get worshiping at their altar either.

Most country music sounds like people singing hurdy gurdy over and over again.

I have zero interest in podcasts, Harry Potter, or Game of Thrones. I've listened to them/attempted to read/watch them and, no.

Fruit does not belong on hot food unless it's a dessert.

I don't get the hubbub about Beyonce.

No one should have to pay for medication they need to survive.

Churches should not be tax exempt unless they are doing some serious fucking work for the poor, needy, and under-served in the community

Long rounded nails creep me out. So do ragged, unkempt/uneven nails.

If you support government laws on abortion you think you have the right to tell others what to do with their bodies. If you don't support those laws, you think every person has the right to bodily autonomy. Period. It is that simple. Pro-life and pro-choice are dog whistle words. Do you think you can control someone else's body? Would you give up control of yours to the state or to Joe down the street to tell you what you can and can't do with it? Would you support having children born against someone's will placed in your home for life? Where you actually fall on the subject of abortion lies in your answers to those three questions.

I'd rather clean the bathroom toilet than go out dancing.

I simultaneously hate the term adulting and think it is perfect.

Tell me some of yours. 

Happy happy happy birthday to my aunt Maria!