Between Naps February 4 Edition


Between naps is a little recap of what we were up to last week and what's coming up soon(ish).

Last Week on the Blog:

The Reviews:
♥  The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
♥  Strange Weather by Joe Hill 
♥  Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza

The Other Stuff:
♥  TTT: Top Ten Books I Can't Believe I Read 
♥  They Call It Puppy Love Challenge Book Pick 
♥  Got My Eye On Returns with tempting books for all

I managed a review or two and even did a TTT all while keeping up with comments. 

What We've Been Up To 

I wrapped up week two of 80 Day Obsession with NO days off (I think this is a first for me with any of these programs) and was actually able to do a round of push-ups without falling to my knees with weakness. Getting up at 5:45 still sucks though.  

I visited a local indie bookstore and was so disappointed. The used books were only one small section and the horror was non-existent. They had one rack of new books which were all hardcovers and not discounted. I'd love to support indies but there wasn't a thing there I was interested in buying and the women working didn't even say hello or goodbye. Just chatted away about cookies to each other the entire time I was there. I'm not eating cookies at the moment so perhaps I'm bitter. This is why I do most of my shopping online. I think I'll stick to The Book Cellar which has an entire room devoted to horror when I want to go out and touch real books.

I "cartoonized" a happy picture of my usually grumpy Bailey to add some "Bark" to the blog. Other than that I'm leaving everything else here the same.


Link Ups

I'm keeping it simple from here on out and am only linking this post up to Caffeinated Reviewer's Sunday Post



Books Bought

I succumbed to the lure of the freebies:

  Elysium Dreams (Dreams & Reality Series Book 2) by [James, Hadena]      Silent Strength: M/m Age Play Romance by [Innes, M.A.]    Be Careful What You Wish For: A Short Story by [Hutchinson, A.C.]    Hotel Z: A Short Story by [Hutchinson, A.C.]    In the Forest of Light and Dark: A Witchcraft Thriller (Mount Harrison Trilogy Book 1) by [Kasniak, Mark]    Wormwood by [Nevins, D.H.]

I bought this one on my doctor's recommendation. It's known to lower cholesterol when exercise alone won't budge the bad numbers and it also allows red wine and dark chocolate (truly the only reason I agreed to give it a shot!). All the critics say the recipes take forever to prepare so I'm scared.

The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook: 500 Vibrant, Kitchen-Tested Recipes for Living and Eating Well Every Day by [Kitchen, The Editors at America's Test]

So far I've only tried the Orzo Feta Shrimp. It only took me about 40 minutes or so to get it all together and it was soooo good. I did prep the fresh veg and the olives on Sunday to make things go faster on a work night. I'd recommend doing that always. I also found frozen shrimp at Trader Joe's that was already shelled with tails removed. I HATE doing that. It says 4 servings and that the "Mediterranean" plate is much smaller but it made at least 6 servings and I was feeding two grown men who were hungry. Served this with some oven roasted broccoli and peppers. They ate it up with no bitching so 5 stars for this recipe! 

Now Reading

I'm still working on Splatterpunk Fighting Back. I am not kidding you. I am the slowest reader on the planet. I'm reading The Miniaturist for my IRL book meeting this month but I cheated and borrowed the audio from Overdrive. I know I never would've finished it in time otherwise. So far it's pretty good. 

    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36561841-splatterpunk-fighting-back    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19099664-the-miniaturist

What's Distracting Me?

We saw two movies and I recommend them both. Happy Death Day was a bunch of silly fun. Not too scary, not too silly with a lead character who does a bit of growing up as she relives the same dreadful day over and over again. I, Tonya was fabulous. It was funny and heartbreaking and worth seeking out if it comes to a theater near you.

   

What's Next?


I'll be starting this one for Barb's Challenge as soon as I finish up Splatterpunks. Other than that, I haven't a clue.

What have you all been up to?!

Comments

  1. Awesome job finishing 80 Day Obsession. That cookbook sounds awesome minus taking a long time to prepare. But I am all for red wine and Dark chocolate. I want to watch I, Tonya but will wait for it to be On Demand. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Grace. I read through more of the cookbook yesterday and some of those recipes look like they'll take days! I think I'll have to skip those.

      Delete
  2. Great job on 80 day. In a few weeks I may be complaining to you and blaming you for being the last push into doing it. Haha. I hope you are enjoying the stories in Splatterpunk. I think my personal taste in short stories (plot) is on the opposite spectrum from the type of stories in Splatterpunk.

    I thought Happy Death Day was fun, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha, I'm always happy to share my suffering with others ;)

      Delete
  3. 80 days! That's incredible. I'm starting to get curious about Splatterpunk. And I'm working on a book for Barb's Challenge right now. It's abut a very bad doggie. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  4. You know there are some amazing indie bookstores out there, but there are also some that re not so amazing. That's a shame about that one. Especially when they don't even acknowledge you're there. If I had a bookstore I would WANT anyone walking in to feel welcome!

    The Complete Mediterranean looks good, although if the recipes take forever that would tax my limited cooking patience lol. Ha ha I need healthier though. :)

    Happy Death Day looks fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lucky for me I have several pretty decent UBS near me so I'm going to stick with those!

      Delete
  5. Replies
    1. It was pretty awesome. She reminds me of so many people I grew up with (even me a little!)

      Delete
  6. This is my problem with book shopping. I can only get Indie online so I rely on Amazon for my zombies, preppers, apocalypse and horror fix! I love that altered dog picture...it gives a really nice effect to the fur.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do most of my book shopping online too. I want to support the littler guys but some of them make it too difficult for me to part with my $.

      Delete
  7. That book store with a room devoted to horror sounds awesome. Congrats on the exercise! That's the problem with eating healthy - too expensive and it takes so long. I love the picture of Bailey. I did that effect for pics of Cass and T and then enlarged them and made 8 X 10 photos. I framed them in rustic wooden frames and they now hang in my bedroom. They are some of my favorites!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it's my favorite UBS for just that reason! I'd love to open up a horror bookstore but I'd probably be the only local buying the books.

      That's a great idea to print them out as wall art. I may do that too!

      Delete
  8. I don't have good indie bookstores either :-(

    I'm curious as to why the recipes take so long to prepare lol I've cooked a few Mediterranean dishes and they were easy.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I probably bought the wrong Mediterranean book. Some of the look easy but some of them make take me days, lol. You have to make crusts and breads and sauces and pastes and I am overwhelmed! We've made grape leaves and they took half a day but so much yum.

      Delete
  9. I used to have a few used bookstores that I loved to go to and they were always so friendly. I miss those stores. I haven't been to one like that for a long time. Isn't funny how getting through a meal without complaints is a big win. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, if I worked/owned a UBS I would make it a point to be super friendly to buyers so they'd come back. Ah well, this store has been established for awhile so perhaps they don't care about return visits.

      Delete
  10. I'm so inconsistent when it comes to get up early! so good for you! I would love to as well but It's hard to support indies but I find that sometimes not a lot of interest is put into marketing them! I have some of those freebies too. I can't wait to get to Wormwood. My fav topic Angels and Demons!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It has so hard getting up earlier than I need to but I think my internal clock has finally adjusted. Now I can't sleep past 6 and have been falling asleep at 9pm even on the weekends :(

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Between Naps (9)

It by Stephen King | A Retro Review

Review: Dark Stars: New Tales of Darkest Horror edited by John F.D. Taff