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Hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Wow! First, hats off to all mothers/caretakers of preschoolers. I spent 6 days in Montana and 4 of those I cared for my grandkids, ages 2 and 5. Almost every single minute was wonderful, but they are BUSY! I tried to take them on a fun activity or two every day, so we went to the Children’s Museum, playgrounds and spray parks, the Funzone (twice), the Planetarium/Natural History Museum, McDonalds, and we even went and had ice cream for lunch one day. Probably the most fun of all was the day their mom was off and we all went to the county fair. Needless to say, reading (at least books meant for me) took a definite backseat!
Last Week’s Reads
Not counting a whole lot of board books about trains, construction vehicles, and bears, I finished two books last week. The first, From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein was excellent. Dorey-Stein is a talented writer and I loved getting a behind the scenes look at people working in the Obama administration. I have to be honest though: this book made me sad, too. Though her stenographer position was not one related to the administration in office, she was devoted to Obama and shone a light on better times. Initially, I wasn’t going to include Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White here, but I brought a copy to my granddaughter and we read the entire book together last week. She’d seen the movie, but still loved the book and those hours spent reading a chapter book together were so special. At the end of the book there was only one of us crying and it wasn’t the 5-year old. She thought I was silly!
Currently Reading
Yes, I’m STILL listening to The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager. I didn’t listen to it at all last week, but finally got back to it on the plane ride home. I have about four hours left and WILL finish it this week. Since finishing From the Corner of the Oval early in the week, I’ve really struggled. I tried two August releases: The Third Hotel by Laura van den Berg and Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood and didn’t care for either. I was so distracted last week that to be fair I’m going to go back and give each another 10% before calling them DNF’s. I also plowed through a bunch of samples with nothing really working for me until When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger. I’m only at about 15%, but think it’s just the sort of light read I need right now.
Likely to Read Next
Please! Please! Please! Let these two books make for great August releases. A River of Stars by debut author Vanessa Hua tells the story of a young pregnant Chinese woman shipped off to America to give birth to the son of her wealthy boss. A Southern story, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is part coming-of-age and part mystery, which sounds just perfect for an August release.
I hope you have a great week in books!
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I obviously know well how you were feeling last week 🙂 Story of my life these days.
I’m starting to think I should read Lulu. Adding it to the list for when I need something light.
And I’m starting Crawdads next…will let you know how it goes.
Honestly, I know I had young kids of my own once upon a time, but I have no idea how I survived! My hat is off to you.
I just came across From the Corner of the Oval recently and thought it sounded so interesting! Glad to hear you enjoyed it! It definitely sounds like you had a fun and action-packed time with your grandkids!
thanks, Angela. I’ll be reviewing From the Corner on Friday.
I really want to get to Lululemons … but with all my crazy travel WHEN? I have a long airplane ride later in the month. I hope to get a bunch of ebook and audiobook reading done. We’ll see.
I mean in August … not later in July.
Travel is the perfect reason not to be getting reading done.
Sounds like you had a great time but it must also be nice to get back home. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
It’s great to be home for a few weeks, Kathy.
Hi Susie! It sounds like you had a wonderful, busy visit with your grandkids! I’m impressed you still got 2 books read:) I’m just coming out of about a 5 week reading slump so I’m looking forward to hearing what you think about the Weisberger, I have a copy but I’ve pushed it aside, if you love it that could change!
I’m really liking Lululemon. It’s just the sort of light refresher I needed right now. I have some much more serious reads coming up next. Have a great week, Renee!
Sounds like you had a busy, family oriented week. My weekly update
Children are exhausting. I don’t know how people can survive interacting with kids for more than a few hours. I’m glad you got to do some fun stuff and read some books. Have a great week!
You said it perfectly…Children ARE exhausting. I feel like I’m just recovering. Thanks for stopping by, Aj.