Show Us Your Books November 2021

Entering year eight, and as always right after the anniversary linkup this one comes up super fast. This weekend I was trying to recall what I've read in the past month and was coming up blank. Which doesn't mean it wasn't anything good...just that I have limited brain space to hold titles. It is not unusual for me to have to go back and look up a book I read, whether it is two weeks or three years ago. I recall a time when I could quote full passages of books. I have retained some of those passages but I don't have that ability to do that with stuff I read now.

Housekeeping items: The December SUYB will be the second Tuesday as always, which is Tuesday, December 14. The Favorite Reads of 2021 linkup will be Thursday, December 30, and will remain open for longer than typical linkups do in case you are not in the mood to do Jack shit the last week of the year. 

Here's what I've been reading since the last linkup. 

Engrossing Reads

Everything We Didn't Say by Nicole Baart - Gaaahhh this slayed me a million different ways. I love her stuff and could not put this down. You can literally feel the longing and missing and regret in this. Free advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review 

Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo - I had no expectations going into this, didn't even really know what it was about. The writing felt so careful and it drew me in - lovely story about the in betweens of life and parentage and race and public/private identity. Totally forgot to snap a photo of the cover but I liked that too. You can see the spine in the bottom photo below. OCNJ library 

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney - So I think I had this from the library before and didn't get to it. I'm glad I got to it this time although if you are a fraidy like me do not read this while you are alone at night especially if you live in a mostly deserted town which is how the shore is on weeknights especially. OCNJ library 

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles - This fucking monster was 25 off from 600 pages and of course my dumb ass gets it in hard back from the library. I started it on 10/19 and stayed up late to finish it on 10/21, which tells you it was damn good. I think it's difficult for a 576 page book to fly by so much appreciation to the author. Although I do love Amor Towles novels, so I should not be surprised. What a delight Sally was interspersed with everyone else. OCNJ library 

Carefree Black Girls by Zeba Blay - Am I becoming an essay/short story lover? I might be. I could have read this in a few hours but spaced it out to sit with each piece. A great work that made me think about things I've had the privilege to not live. Add this to your feminist collection. Free advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review 

All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris - I was looking forward to this all year and it didn't disappoint. Which is good, since I pre-ordered it but then also got an advanced copy from Netgalley AND won a Goodreads giveaway paperback. The pre-order was for the anniversary SUYB giveaway (coming to you Rebecca!), I read the Goodreads giveaway and am adding to my shore library to share. Paperback, own

Forever Wild (The Simple Wild #2.5) by K.A. Tucker - Since I am usually reading murdery creepy shit, I am always surprised at how much I love these. This little novella was no exception. The next one comes out at the end of January and is focused on Marie so I hope I still like it. Amazon kindle own

Passed the Time Just Fine

The Secrets We Bury (The Undertaker's Daughter #1) by Debra Webb - Man alive I sat in this book for like five days and it's not even long. I was just busy or tired or both. Poor timing and I don't want to blame the book, I should have breezed through it. I will give the second a go. Amazon kindle e-book free

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead - This reminded me of a song lyric - waiting for the thing that just never comes. That being said, Whitehead's writing is excellent as always and I loved living alongside Ray Carney for the duration of the read. OCNJ library 

Not Worth It

n/a

Did Not Finish

 I read a few pages of each of these and decided not for me at this time, but would not necessarily categorize as Not Worth It or like hated so much I could not do it: The Days of Afrekete by Asali Solomon and Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger

Linkup Guidelines:

This link up is the second Tuesday of every month. The next linkup is Tuesday, December 14 2021. The special Favorite Reads of 2021 Linkup is Thursday, December 30, 2021

1. Visit and comment with both of your hosts, Jana & me, and check in with as many in our reading circle as you can - give some love to the later linker uppers! 
2. Link back to us in your blog post - if you want the button you can get it from that link

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TWTW - the first one in November

Friday I wfh in the morning and took an 11 train into the city. I had an amazing acupuncture appointment after work then went right to Independence Beer Garden for an outdoor work event, walking through parts of the city I typically don't troll around much. It felt almost normal. I got home late and fell right to sleep.

Saturday I was not feeling bad but not feeling spry either. I showered, returned some things which took me past my favorite foliage tree in my neighborhood mid-turn, packed up the car, got gas, and drove to the shore. I unboxed all my packages, set up the new water cooler, and piddled about. Dad and Carol were down in the house and they made a delicious Mississippi roast for dinner. I took Bruce and Ben to the beach to let them run it off. We watched some TV and I was asleep by 10:30.

Sunday I hard boiled some eggs in the air fryer, Dad got bagel sandwiches from Dead End Bakehouse, and I ordered groceries and a few other things which omitted my Sunday errands. Dad and Carol left around 11. I started a new book and took a long walk to do some treasure hunting. I also caught a fire sunset and ate leftovers for dinner. MFD arrived with Gus and Billy cat around 8:15 and we watched the first two episodes of Yellowstone. Welcome back, Duttons.

Show Us Your Books is tomorrow, see you here for that!

Thursday Thoughts - I'd love to try and settle down, but everybody's leavin' town

1. I need you to know about these and I’m going to need you to try them. They are at DiBruno or you can go to the site to see how you can get them. They have made the cut for my Thanksgiving appetizer spread.

2. Athleisure shoes are my love language. Bonus when everything on them is the same color.

3. Loving the fall scenes. The leaves aren't even through changing yet. 

4. Two days in the office this week, and I'm doing a half day in there tomorrow. It's exhausting. It's not permanent or a new schedule, it just happens to be how I set this week up like a straight dumbass. I’ve taken the train in and not shared a seat with anyone until the ride home yesterday. An ass was in every seat and some were standing over me. I was not mentally prepared for the sardine aspect of commuting. I’m thankful for mask mandates on trains.

5. I have days to burn so I took Tuesday off and had a proper no computer drifting adult day. I rolled out of bed and took Mae to the vet, got groceries at Aldi, voted, had a nice salad for lunch, cleaned out the coat closet, changed sheets and pulled my quilt out, did laundry, got my hair done which I needed desperately, made salmon/potatoes/broccoli for dinner, and read. It was a great week day off. 

6. Cuteness. Also if you leave your dog outside barking incessantly without letting them in or addressing it in some way you are a fucking asshole. This is what I yelled out of my kitchen window last night at two of my back neighbors who do exactly that. Won’t you be my neighbor? Seriously though, I have four dogs who bark and I’m annoyed, imagine how everyone else feels. 

7. Show Us Your Books is already on Tuesday! I've been reading one book since Sunday. That's the way it is sometimes. About to get hygge with a long winter of reading with animals as backdrop instead of beach…this is a previous photo but you get the idea. 

8. White supremacy is doing the most to keep its stranglehold. None of these exhibit that, but if you really look at the heart of things, that's the struggle. The more people try to tell you it's not, the more you know it is. Also what in the hell are you all doing out there in America electing the book burning people from Footloose to school boards across the country? Let teachers fucking teach. You do what you do. Also before you go off on social media around politics, maybe know some more about it - the things I saw people posting leading up to and on Election Day made me LOL for real. If you think a governor can fix global supply chain issues, that the president is responsible for gas prices, that critical race theory is even taught in K-12 public schools, or that individual school boards can mandate certain things, you are a fool. Obviously I disagree with people who vote differently than me on a lot of things, but I can at least listen to them if they know what someone has the power to influence or control and what they do not. We should probably all go back to school and learn history as it actually was and also civics so we know how government works and who is responsible for what. 

9. Reminder via Sid the Visual Kid

10. Ecards

That’ll do it.

What appears beyond the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts titles is what I'm listening to when I'm starting this - this week is Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues by Danny O'Keefe

Just the basics, ma'am

It is absolutely wild to me when I think about the amount of makeup I used to own in comparison to the amount of makeup I have ever consistently actually USED and WORN. I've never been a face makeup (foundation/powder/concealer or highlighter/bronzer/blush) person, which has not ever stopped me from buying and keeping it. I was rarely an eyeliner or eyeshadow person, which did not stop me from coveting and collecting an array of it. 

The wild world upending ride of 2020 saw me finally let go of makeup I was holding onto just in case. It is more cost efficient to get my makeup done for any event I really want a lot of it on for versus buying shit that looks pretty in its packaging but will expire before I use it twice. Regardless of how pretty a palette is I am not the person who is going to get solid use out of a palette. I want to be a makeup person because I like makeup, but I'm not, and I've moved on to admiring it from afar but not bringing it home with me.

I also cannot act like I'm 13 and know no better - makeup does expire and it needs to be culled way more often than most of us are culling it. 

So this is it except for other lip products I use, specifically Buxom Lip Balm in Dolly Fever. I am also partial to Urban Decay Vice Lipstick, Tarte Color Splash Lipstick, and Tarte SEA H20 Balm Tint . 

NYX Shine Loud Lip Color - I have three of these. I mostly combine two at a time. It will last until the next day perfectly overnight most of the time. You have to remove it with micellar water. I wear it matte and don't use the shine. I have Magic Maker, Ambition Statement, and Born to Hustle. Trophy Life too but I don't really like that one so it's about to get binned. 

Ilia Mascara - Solid daily work horse

Marc Jacobs Accomplice Concealer - I use it for under my eyes and it works great. I don't know how to advise you on how it works on other parts of your face since I don't do that. 

Thanks to my friend Chelsea for recommending the NYX Shine Loud and the Ilia Mascara in IG stories - follow her there. 

It feels good not to own makeup just in case. While I am now a makeup product minimalist, I will not be taking questions or comments about the amount of nail polish I own at this time. Thank you for respecting my privacy. 

TWTW - the halloweekend

Friday was a shit weather day with winds, rain, and flooding. But it was also a tie dye leggings day and we love those. I extended my lunch to hit the ReStore where the stools I wanted had already been snapped up, but I did score a fall wreath at the HomeGoods next door as well as Christmas pug towels which I always seem to miss. I also picked up pumpkins from the garden center on the way back into town. Ben was super clingy because of the winds outside. After work I got two electric fireplaces down from under a bed on the top floor, depositing on two flights down in the living room and one three flights down in our apartment. There's a whole shift that happens at the shore as we approach the winter. I cleaned two bathrooms, moved some excess living room furniture up into a bedroom, and started rearranging shit in our apartment. Salad for dinner while watching Witches of Eastwick. I watched a bunch of Bewitched episodes too and stayed up late to finish a book.

Saturday I slept in until 8:15 and it was glorious. I packed up stuff to head to Philly for the week, refilled my vitamins like a woman of a certain age, changed sheets, vacuumed and mopped my apartment, vacuumed the main floor upstairs, cleaned the powder room, cleared out both fridges, took the trash out, and packed up the car. We took a long walk on the beach then drove back to Philly. I did a few loads of laundry, unpacked stuff, went through mail and packages, started a new book, and the three musketeers (MFD, my Dad, and Carol) watched the freaking Shining. I shared popcorn with my animal kingdom (even Billy cat) and went to bed.

Sunday Dad got bagels from Red House, I cut down the hydrangea and weeded, then went through my closet and purged a bag of stuff. Carol and dad made mini burgers for lunch and I deconstructed mine, my niece and nephew stopped by in costume, Carol made mozz sticks, then it was trick or treat time. MFD came down in an unplanned costume and did his live pumpkin carving as is tradition and futzed with outdoor decor until nearly 7. I was back inside by 7:45 and in bed by 9:30.

Happy All Saints' Day! 

I’m in the office today, and off tomorrow. The first thing I’ll do is vote, of course. What’s your voting plan?