Sunday, March 26, 2017

Sunday Post (84) / It's Monday, What Are You Reading



The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. It's Monday, What Are You Reading is a fun weekly meme now hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, where we share what we've read and reviewed over the past week and what we plan to read next.

It's been an electric week. Or rather a week with lots of electrical outages. :) At work on Wednesday just as story time was about to start, the power went out--but we still had partial power in part of the library like the meeting rooms where story time is held. Upstairs I lost power at my desk but the computers at the Help Desk were still working. The lights were off in the stacks so patrons couldn't find books. Worst of all, kids heading down to story time got stuck in the elevator. Thankfully one adult was there and she took charge of the other family's kid as well as her own. My director was able to get everyone out of the elevator in short order but it made for a traumatic story time. We were partially without power for a few hours so the library closed and then the electricians came and we had to shut down power completely for an hour while they worked. I'd hoped we'd get to leave but we hung out and took our breaks and then the power came back on for the last two hours of the day. Then this weekend at my parents' house we've lost power twice. Fortunately they have a small generator so we had running water and a couple of outlets we could use. We lost power Friday night and then again Saturday afternoon, luckily after we had lunch. My sister and her husband came over to celebrate my dad's birthday. We had just had cake when the power went out. Now it is back on and hopefully won't go out again. I'm starting to think I must be the cause. Power outages wherever I go!



At the library (aside from power outages) I've been busy working on the Peeps diorama contest. I made an example diorama to help advertise the program and decided to hold a Peeps diorama workshop to encourage people to participate. I'm hoping we'll get some kids to make dioramas anyway. Some of my coworkers have said they'll participate so we should have a few. My finished diorama, Jurassic Peeps, is inspired by Jurassic Park (I found the idea online from another diorama someone did). I am also working on a Narnia inspired diorama. I found a lamp post and wanted to recreate the scene where Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus. Unfortunately my attempts at portraying Mr. Tumnus were not successful. I was trying to give the Peep fur and I cut up a light brown pom pom and glued it to the bottom half of the Peep. Then I glued part of it to his head. The result looked less like Mr. Tumnus and more like I was portraying Donald Trump in a fluffy brown tutu. I still want to make the diorama but I have to rethink how I'm going to depict Mr. Tumnus. Maybe I'll try brown yarn instead.

I didn't get to read as much as I'd hoped this week. I have some library books I want to get to as well as review books to catch up on. Maybe I'll have more time this week. I am super excited for the spring weather we are supposed to get. Hopefully it won't all be rain. It will be nice to get a break from sweaters and my winter coat. 



Last week on my blog:



Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens (review)




Books read:




Duels & Deception by Cindy Anstey

I struggled with this book at times. The characters made me feel so impatient and irritated. They just prattled on and on and I wanted to yell "Get to the point!". Thankfully the plot got better as the book went on and I was able to finish it but I was gritting my teeth for awhile.



Books listened to:




A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen

This was a sweet and inspiring story. I love Bob and I'm so glad that he and James Bowen found each other.



Currently reading:



It Happens All the Time by Amy Hatvany

I am reading an ARC of this book. The plot deals with a character who is raped by her best friend and both characters' points of view are presented. In an author's note at the beginning of the book, she explains why she wrote the book that way and about her own experience as a survivor of rape. That helped me as I read the book but it is still hard to read the chapters from Tyler's POV.



Currently listening to:



The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan (reread)

It's funny how listening to a book can sometimes be a different experience from reading the print version. I was a little disappointed when I first read this book last year. I decided to listen to the audio because it was available through Overdrive and I wasn't sure if I wanted to read the sequel so I thought rereading The Hidden Oracle would help me figure that out. So far I am really enjoying the audio book to my surprise. Perhaps I will listen to the audio version of The Dark Prophecy instead of reading the Kindle version.



On my TBR list:




Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

I think this will be the perfect book to read next. I''m sure I'll be in the mood for something more lighthearted than my current read.



A Twist in Time by Julie McElwain

I really liked the first book in this time travel suspense series and I'm hopeful the sequel will be just as good. I was tempted to reread A Murder in Time first but I don't usually reread suspense novels. We'll see if I remember the characters.



The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff







New books received:




Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer (for review)

The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie Flagg (library book)


The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (library book)

13 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about the outages! Those are the worst. And I imagine the kids in the elevator were a little nervous! Hopefully the power has stayed on at your parents' house. And happy birthday to your dad as well. :)

    I love that Jurassic Peeps! That might be the coolest thing I've seen all week! Although I feel bad for the poor one that got caught by the T- rex!

    Alex, Approximately looks good.

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  2. You really did have a lot of electric problems this week! I keep waiting for the elevator at my office to get stuck as it used to all the time and hasn't it in a while.

    Happy birthday to your dad!

    I hope you get a good turn out for the diorama contest. It sounds like a lot of fun. I like your sample one. :-)

    I love the cover for Duels Deception. It's too bad it wasn't better. I hope you do get a chance to read The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane and like it. It's definitely a contender for favorite of the year for me.

    I hope you have a wonderful week, Christina.

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  3. Ugh. Power outages are no fun. I love your Peeps display though. My son would be all about that - he loves dinosaurs! Such a fun idea! I read the first few pages of Duels and was completely bored. I actually set it aside. I am glad to hear it gets better. Perhaps I will pick it up again. I look forward to your review of Alex, Approximately. I also see you got Letters to the Lost - I loved that book! I hope you had a nice weekend.

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  4. I loved The Whole Towns Talking!! Fannie Flagg is one of my fave authors, I have read all of her books. Sorry about the outages bit your Peeps diorama looks great! Enjoy your week:)

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  5. That's a lot of electrical outages! Thank goodness there was an adult in the elevator with the kids when it stopped.

    I think It Happens All the Time would be a difficult book to read. Certainly an interesting way to write the book. And it's good that the author told why she wrote it that way.

    I hope you have a better read week!

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  6. I JUST finished A Murder in Time and I loved it. I hope you enjoy the sequel.

    Omg, the Peeps Diorama is such a cute idea. Did you come up with that? I love your Jurassic Park one!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com

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  7. I have a Murder in Time on audio, so I am excited you liked it. Wow on the power. So glad kiddos were ok, but bummed you didn't get a day off from it!

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  8. Funny about the power outages. We have a substation near us that seems to have a faulty switch — so we've had a few power outages in the last month. Hopefully all our power problems will be sorted!

    A Street Cat Named Bob is on my wishlist.

    It's Monday, What Are You Reading

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  9. I just put the Hatvany book on my wish list to day. Tough topic but really we need to read books like it to open our hearts and minds to those who experience something so awful. The power outages are freaky. Weather related?

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  10. Ooh, I hate power outages! A few years ago, I lived in a neighborhood that had serious issues with the power equipment, and there were 13 power outages that summer. I was happy to move! I expect power outages during storms, etc., but the summer? I guess the air conditioning usage was the tipping point.

    Sounds like your library has a lot of fun events for kids, though.

    I loved It Happens All the Time and The Orphan's Tale. Have a great week...and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES

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  11. I felt that Duels & Deception was trying to fit too many things into the plot and lost the romance plot in doing so. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  12. I'm guessing the power outages had to do with the weather rather than you. ;) Glad there was an adult with the kiddos in the elevator. It would have scared them silly if there wasn't. I haven't read as much as I would have liked during my Spring Break. Life got in the way, but I do hope you have a better reading week this week.

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  13. I'm halfway through Never let you Go.... I love her books.

    Additionally, I've heard about the Peep contest at libraries. I love what you did with yours! Rawr!

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