Show Us Your Books: July 2019

Hey oh from vacation. I'll try and get on and read everything today but if I don't I'll catch you sometime this week. 

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

Engrossing Reads

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert - I have not read any of Gilbert's fiction before this book. I read Eat, Pray, Love, and found it self indulgent and annoying - not my kind of book, at all. I slid right into this big mama. The writing was superb, I enjoyed the telling, and it was absolutely a feminist novel despite all the displays of the patriarchy. Read it. OCNJ library hard cover

Before She Falls (Detective Anna Gwynne #3) by Dylan Young - I love when I order from Amazon and delay shipping so I can get kindle books like this free when my credits pile up. I continue to enjoy Anna and her crew. Amazon kindle e-book

Stars of Alabama by Sean Dietrich - I had no idea what this was about. I know nothing of Sean Dietrich - or Sean of the South as I've gathered he's called - except for the fact that he wrote a lovely rambling story here with characters worthy of investing in. A great read peppered with humor and beauty as well as real life suckiness. Thanks to Netgalley for the free read in exchange for an honest review. Book comes out today. 

Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino - I read this in my backyard in a few hours on a Saturday afternoon. I fell deep into it and it was an easy, quick read. Paperback that's been sitting on my bookshelf for well over a year

The Reckless Oath We Made by Bryn Greenwood - Much like All the Ugly and Wonderful things, this book is complicated. What I like about Greenwood's characters is that they are messy and flawed humans but you somehow root for them anyway, even when they fuck up. I hung around for two hours after I was supposed to leave for the shore to finish this. Then I thought about it the whole 1.5 hour car ride. Then I didn't start another book until the morning because I was still thinking about this. Books that make me think are the very tops in my book. There is an element to this book that will annoy a lot of people and I hope that doesn’t tank the whole book for them. Free e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Passed the Time Just Fine

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center - I struggled hard with the first 50% of this book. I don't need to like characters to like books, but I do have a hard time when I think there's a life circumstance they're blaming holding their whole life back on that is so fucking ridiculous in the grand scheme of things...especially if there is an actual life circumstance they've experienced that is much deeper that the author skirts for most of the novel. It's hard to say what I really think without giving away plot points. I liked the second half much better when Cassie's head was un-lodged from her ass and as always enjoyed Katherine Center's writing. If you've read this and want to discuss more, comment below and I'll email you! Free e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Dear Amy by Helen Callaghan - This book was engrossing in that I didn't want to put it down, but definitely shook my head at some suspensions of disbelief that were required. Philly library paperback   

Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich - Did you ever read a book and the entire time you think you've read it, but you're not sure, so you keep going, oh yes you definitely read it, wait maybe you didn't, keep going, etc etc? That was me with this book. Final verdict and according to Goodreads and this blog to back me up, I don't think I read it. But we all know these books are so formulaic that it feels like you've read even the ones you haven't. This is as bad as it's ever been though. Just okay! Philly library large print paperback - didn't know it was large print and it gave me a massive headache

Tough Customer by Sandra Brown - Standard Sandra Brown with a lot of romancey things. Philly library hard cover

The Arrangement by Robyn Harding - What a ride - I could not put this down. Very readable and totally screwed up. Thanks to Netgalley for the free read in exchange for an honest review. Book releases July 30. 

Haunted (Michael Bennett #10) by James Patterson & James O. Born - I've read other Michael Bennett books. Not in order, which doesn't bother me and surprises me that it doesn't bother me, and not with a huge amount of interest. They do entertain me because it's like murder and mayhem interspersed with schoolboy love and faith and Irish people. Hard cover, own/bought at library book sale, will pass along

Love You More (Tessa Leoni #1, DD Warren #Something by Lisa Gardner - Look at me being very blase about reading not one but two series out of order. The first DD I read was down the line. I scored another DD at the library sale for 50 cents that I want to read on vacation, so I wanted to read this one before it first. I thought I was reading from the beginning this time, but since they're DD Warren books with other characters introduced and continued and numbered, I wasn't paying enough attention and only started at the first of the Tessa books. Oh well. Philly library paperback

Touch & Go (Tessa Leoni #2) by Lisa Gardner - This book was great. I don't know if there are more Tessa Leonis, but I will be seeking them out if there are. Paperback, own, bought at library sale

Fallen (Will Trent #5) by Karin Slaughter - The best of the series thus far even though it took me nearly four days to read. I was driving for nine hours one of those days and my nearly four year old niece kept commandeering it and reading it like she was actually reading it which was awesome, so those things took up some time. Philly library paperback

Not Worth It

 Lies by T.M. Logan - I wasn't sure if I should put this above or here. So here it is. If you are a quick reader and motor through books, it'll pass the time just fine. I read it in a few hours and had no ill will towards it. If you spend over a week reading a book and really want them to be worth it, this ain't it. Philly library hard cover

Did Not Finish

Dead Girl Running (Cape Charade #1) by Christina Dodd - Terribly uninteresting. Philly library paperback

What have you been reading? 

Linkup Guidelines:

This link up is the second Tuesday of every month. The next linkup is August 13,  2019 

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 one with the Fourth and the start of vacation

Thursday, July 4 MFD was gone early for Fourth of July mummery parades. I lingered over coffee with a book, packed my stuff for vacation, made and froze breakfast burritos, slow roasted ribs and served with corn and baked beans, cleaned out the fridge, picked up around the house, and when MFD got home we lay around with the dogs and watched five episodes of Stranger Things. 

Friday My company rocks so we had an extra free holiday on Friday. I did some more packing, changed the sheets and washed them and towels, ran over to my Dad's to pick something up and stopped to get mulch on the way back. I weeded and mulched and planted a new plant and nearly died of humidity and heat. Debbie arrived around 1. She finished working and I painted my nails. We got pedicures before coming home to order Lee's and the three of us watched most of the rest of Stranger Things (I tapped out on the second to last episode to go to bed). 

Saturday The car was packed and we were on the road by 5:30 am. We stopped five times and it took 8.5 hours to get to Emerald Isle. Most exciting part of the drive was a high speed car chase we saw as we were entering North Carolina. Least exciting part of the drive was MFD's incessant crepe myrtle talk. Everyone else was there when we got there. We unloaded and hit the pool, checked out the beach, had pizza for dinner, called the realtor for 20934802 problems at the house, and later my brother and I did the first round of grocery shopping at the new Publix. I fell into bed deliriously tired around 11. 

Sunday We were up for the sunrise and had coffee on the beach with Dad, Carol, and Cathy. Dad, Debbie, MFD, and I made a quick grocery run and picked up our bikes. We read books, hit the beach, watched the US Women win the World Cup, read more, had hotdogs and hamburgers, and a tiny bit of a magic hour. 

Vacation week. 

Thursday Thoughts: I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy, A Yankee Doodle, do or die

Wishing you a Happy Fourth. Enjoy and be safe.

Doing non-celebratory things today because I'm not in a celebratory mood. Patriotism is complicated. You can love something and still see and acknowledge that it has serious flaws. I want life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to be equal for all and for the flag to stand for ALL of us, to right the wrongs of colonization and the fact that this was all built on the backs of slave labor. Blind flag waving doesn’t make any problem go away, ask any fascist dictatorship that’s been and gone or is still operating to the peril of its people. There are fucking military tanks in the nation's capital more closely resembling military propaganda parades of dictatorships than an American parade and your president has a partisan perversion of the Fourth planned and I'm not fucking here for it. Add to that the fact that the National Park Service has to divert $2.5 million from its budget for today's D.C. shitdoggle + the report from the Department of Homeland Security on abhorrent conditions in concentration camps + a host of other things and I'm just not doing it today. Dissent is patriotic and if you don’t think so, you probably only like to acknowledge the parts of history that serve your narrow worldview because this country? It was fucking born of dissent. And if you are a “leave if you don’t like it here” person, I assume you would have said that to the revolutionaries and prefer God Save the Queen to any of our songs. Yes? If no, stop saying that. It’s ignorant of this country’s own history.

Picking up, packing up, and getting my shit together. It's nice to have a day off before vacation to get my shit together, and a holiday to boot. MFD does the mummery most of the day and I like to be home because of the fireworks/dogs combo.

Having a free extra day off tomorrow thanks to my awesome company. I plan to use it to run final errands and get a pedicure...I was going to do it myself but I need to call in the professionals on these feet since I am barefoot or in the sand almost 24/7 at the shore. They are not well and it is a S.O.S. situation. Plus Debbie and I are going to go together so that'll be fun.

Trying this new face wash from Farmacy. Every time I cheap out on face wash my skin goes berserk and I'm over it. The Body Shop made the cleanser I was using with success largely inaccessible so I started looking for something else and went cheap with a few and it's a mess over here and has been since the end of March. With the multiple reapplications of sunscreen on weekends, I really need a cleanser that deep cleans but doesn't dry me out. This is paraben/synthetic fragrance/phthalate/mineraloil/formaldehyde donor/cruelty free. I will report back.

Seeing remnants of street art this week.

Walking to the library at lunch

Marking my calendar for our Show Us Your Books linkup on Tuesday, and hoping you do too. Spoiler alert: add this one to your list.

Appreciating Michelle & crew taking care of turnover at the shore house for me on Saturday. It is stressful for me to go away in the summer because I have control issues.

Thanking Mindy for staying with los perros so that alleviates my other stressful going away thing.

Reminding whoever needs a reminder that how others see you is not the definition of who you are.

Laughing at

What's new with you?

See you around next week for Show Us Your Books on Tuesday definitely, but probably TWTW Monday & Thursday Thoughts Thursday also. We'll see.



Linking up with Kristen

June 2019 Recommendations

Buy this/look how cute and cheap this is is everywhere and I'm over it. Do we have nothing else to talk about aside from what we buy, should buy, are thinking about buying, want others to consider buying? 

Look, I like to know what people like and even more I like to know what actually WORKS for people on their skin and in their homes, in their kitchens and with their pets...but when it's the majority of what you see, it’s like enough already.  

As I work on consuming less and not buying shit I am not in need of, I'm more conscious than ever to be talking about, blogging about, sharing, and recommending content on every platform that does not focus on buying and consuming. While I’ve always only shared what is really worth it to me in these monthly recommendations posts, I’ve doubled down on that. I'm happy to tell anyone what I use for anything so feel free to ask at any time, but I don't want to be a pusher of material goods. It feels gross and it bores me so I’m sure it bores you at times too. We connect over who we are and when we are focused on what we own and buy, the connection gets lost. 

I know, we're into July, and here I am shuffling into July with June recommendations and on a soapbox to boot. We're into freaking July. 

Pacifica Micellar Waters. I was using SkinLab Micellar Cleansing Water that I was scoring at Marshalls (yes we are talking about cleansing water, not drugs) but back in April I couldn't find it there and it was sold out on Amazon. I picked up the Pacifica coconut micellar in Ocean City and loved it so when I ran out at home I picked up the rose from Target. Both smell fine (neither are my favorite scents) and do the job. Removes makeup so you can get rid of the wasteful wipes and use this with a washable cotton round instead.

Library holds. When I talk to people about placing holds on books at the library, I realize a lot of people don't do this. This is how I get access to popular books free and relatively quickly. If I know when a book is coming out, I'll start searching for it on my library's catalog website about a month or so before, sometimes more. As soon as it appears, I place a hold on it. If you are unfamiliar with how it works in your library system, ask your librarian!

Alternatives to VRBO. For those who book vacations using VRBO, they are pushing more and more fees on travelers and they never tell you what they're for. A lot of people who own vacation rentals are branching out to their own websites, smaller search engines (Shoresummerrentals.com in my area), and there are also a lot of facebook groups where vacationers can interact with owners (like OCNJ Vacation Rental By Homeowner, search for Wherever You're Going Vacation Rentals on FB or the world wide web for that matter). If you see a house on VRBO or ABB and it has a name (like mine is Home Sweet Shore Home), try googling that name and the town and state it's in and see if you can't contract direct with the owner (do not google mine as I am dragging my ass on that website for the second year in a row). No matter how you book, sure you have a written lease/contract with clear payment terms and contact information for both parties signed by both parties (before you sign anything, you can check the homeowner out given the contact info on the contract), but to avoid fees, try searches that don't lead you to VRBO/Homeaway/ABB. They have the market share, but they are squeezing dimes out of both renters and owners and have adopted a lot of policies that protect neither if anything goes south on either end. If you have questions about this, please comment or email me at lifeaccordingtosteph@gmail.com and I'll help you to the best of my ability or direct you to a good resource.

What are you recommending this month?

TWTW - the final one in June

Friday We kicked the day off at Dog Beach before 7 am. The green flies were biting but Ben actually played with other dogs without barking. It was amazing. Bruce bugged the entire workday until I let him out on the porch to sniff around and stare at people. 

After work I lay down and read a little until Bruce took over, then walked down and spent about an hour on the beach. It was gorgeous and the water was 77 degrees. The trash pick up on the way out, not gorgeous. I do love that we are in a town where people place lost items on the side hoping someone comes back for them, like the little shoe. 

I popped in at home quickly to get Bruce and Ben and we walked down to the bay for the sunset. On the way back I noticed a hole in the street. I was like fuck do I have to call the cops again? I have called them what feels like every Friday (abandoned boat on my block, person blocking my driveway for more than three hours, abandoned car on my block). But whatever I called and I'm glad I did, it was apparently a thing. I talked to my neighbor for a while and upstairs renters, one of our returning families. 

Saturday We woke up at 6 to jackhammering, so that street hole situation escalated quickly. They had it dug up, filled in, patched, and blacktopped before 10 am. I made daily shower spray and foaming hand soap, cleaned out under the sink/lined with contact paper, and then we did turnover. It was super humid and I was a sweaty fucking mess by the time we were done and we don't even do the whole cleaning. 

After walking the dogs two by two while MFD spot power washed, we hit the beach. It was blazing hot but the cloud cover relieved us. I was furious over a guy flying a drone though. See it by that guy's head in that photo? Yeah, that drone did not belong to his family. RUDE to do that to people. 

We beat the rain back to the house, I finished a book, we ate and headed up for a boardwalk stroll. MFD was beside himself because according to bird activity there were tons of fish near the shore. We got gelato and were home by 9. He went fishing for a few hours and I started a new book and fell out around midnight. 

Sunday 

Up at 6:20 to walk the dogs, which was quite eventful. A guy approached us with a dog and the dog was too aggressive for Ben's liking, so Ben slipped out of his harness and Good Lord. Everyone was fine but before coffee, really? I talked to Laura who was having a luggage crisis before her cruise. We cleaned our apartment , moving furniture and all (which the dogs do not like even a little), then took a bike ride on the boards, had breakfast at Ove's, and MFD headed home while I went to the library to pick up a hold (City of Girls). We hit the beach for about an hour and a half where I zoned out reading a James Patterson. Home to more cleaning, a quick trip to Rite Aid to re-stock some stuff, a nice conversation with our renters, then I was packed up and headed home with the dogs. MFD had two showings, one in NJ and one in PA, and didn't make it home until after 9.

Once I got home I did four loads of laundry, talked to the neighbor out back who is a little like Wilson in that I've never seen him but he tore down his 6 foot fence to replace it this week, changed the couch covers, painted my nails (Sally Insta-Dri White on Time, Wet n' Wild Megalast I Red a Good Book, and Zoya Sia), and read. 

Weekly food prep: Given my schedule for the week, it's not really happening. I'll probably be eating eggs, fruit, veggies, cheese, and maybe some chicken thrown in for good measure. 

I have a three day week this week, then I'm off work until 7/15. Yippee ki yay, MFers.