Started: 5/13/18
Finished: 5/17/18
First in the Enchantment Emporium series. Intro to the family who takes care of the world, largely with a lot of infighting, power grabs, and squicky incest. That last bit was a surprise and a pretty big departure from other Tanya Huff novels. The story was good – one of the family is trying to carve her own path (and find her grandmother, who is missing) – but this series isn’t my favorite by this author.
Started: 5/6/18
Finished: 5/13/18
I feel like I’ve read this book before. The story is too familiar. It’s The Stand, it’s World War Z with vampires. It’s about a government experiment that unleashes the apocalypse and then, decades later, how what society is left is dealing with it (and eventually, hopefully, defeating it). This is the first in a trilogy (something I didn’t know when I started it). I will admit here that I read the summaries on Wikipedia and Goodreads to see what happens in the other two books rather than read them myself.
My blogging muscle appears to have atrophied. I don’t know if I just don’t have anything to say, or if I’m avoiding it because I’m a little single-minded lately and I don’t want to be repetitive, or if I just haven’t felt like it and when I think about it, I decide I’d rather be reading.
It’s a little of all three and a lot of the last one, which is kind of funny because I’ve also fallen into a book funk. AND my book list broke because it got too big and I’m going to have to change the format of it, and I need a test version of my site so I can poke around and try things, and I haven’t gotten around to doing that, and maybe that’s also a little bit of why I’ve stayed away?
Anyway, the book funk. The last book I read that I LOVED was 13 books ago. Of the 12 since then, including the one I’m reading now, I liked six okay, really liked only one (The Trespasser by Tana French), thought two were meh but finished them anyway, and I gave up on three.
The books I gave up on:
Thankfully, the book I picked up after giving up on those last two IN A ROW was one of the Hugo nominees, and while it had a slow start, I ended up liking it just fine. Now I’m reading one that I’m enjoying, but I don’t love – I don’t have that need to drop everything else so I can have more time to read.
I am confident that I can climb out of my book funk, though. There’s a Tanya Huff trilogy I haven’t read yet staring at me from the shelf, and the Hugo Voter Packet should arrive soonish, which is SUPER exciting and which I’ll tell you all about when it gets here.
Started: 5/2/18
Finished: 5/6/18
Set in the same universe as the Imperial Radch series, it’s completely different. The plot hinges on whether or not someone is who they say they are (or rather, who they say they aren’t) and whether a certain artifact is real. Also, there’s some fun with proxies. It doesn’t sound riveting, but it kept my attention. I really need to read the other two books in the Ancillary series.
Started: 4/29/18
Gave up: 5/1/18
It’s a thriller, but I didn’t like the protagonist, and the whole thing felt weirdly paced and plotted. I don’t think I made it a third of the way in before I gave up.
Started: 4/29/18
Gave up: 4/29/18
Supposed to be in the vein of Where’d You Go, Bernadette, which I LOVED, and Today Will Be Different, which I strongly disliked (both by Maria Semple). This one fell into the strongly dislike category. The main character and the overall situation should be relatable, but I just can’t with her character, her decisions, her choices. So I quit halfway through.
Started: 4/27/18
Finished: 4/29/18
Random girl is chosen to compete in a worldwide video game tournament AND find out what shady dealings are going on behind the scenes. A little meh. I’ve heard good things about the Legend trilogy by the same author, so maybe this one just didn’t grab me.
Started: 4/20/18
Finished: 4/26/18
Newest Tana French Dublin Murder Squad novel! ‘Nuff said. I love the prickly detectives on the Murder Squad.
It rained all day today BUT:
Okay, I already knew spring was coming (or maybe is here) because my allergies reminded me. They’re not bad yet (and hopefully will remain not bad), but last night I drove John out of bed with my snoring. Whoops. And I woke up congested. BUT:
Full circle!
Started: 4/20/18
Gave up: 4/20/18
It’s urban fantasy, or maybe paranormal romance, or maybe both. I like that genre (duh), but I just didn’t care about this one. Couldn’t get into it. There’s one series like this that I heard was really good starting with the second book, but I can’t remember if it was this one, and Twitter wasn’t able to help me when I asked. So I gave it up. There are lots of other books in the sea.
Started: 4/15/18
Finished: 4/20/18
This one was odd. I liked it, but the technology in this universe is, I think, deliberately inscrutable. It could be really interesting – it relies on calendars, dates, and the population’s belief in those calendars – but the way it’s described is not clear at all. The characters are interesting, and the plot is interesting, but there’s a space battle and how it’s being waged might as well be in Greek.
I was really looking forward to this one, too.
Today was a sucky day. The plans I had for my workday went out the window right from the beginning, which means I’m way behind, and I just put in an extra hour that sucked and I’m still behind but I’m 100% done for today. I’m cranky and it’s going to rain tomorrow and if I’m supposed to be some glowing pregnant goddess right now, well…I’m very definitely NOT.
Add being in a book funk to my list of woes. My book is odd. I like it, but the technology in this universe is, I think, deliberately inscrutable. It could be really interesting – it relies on calendars, dates, and the population’s belief in those calendars – but the way it’s described is not clear at all. The characters are interesting, and the plot is interesting, but there’s a space battle and how it’s being waged might as well be in Greek.
I was really looking forward to this one, too.
We switched practices recently, and even after just one visit with a doctor (met with a nurse last week to get some initial stuff out of the way), I am SO MUCH HAPPIER. The nurse and the doctor both introduced themselves immediately, something not a SINGLE person in the previous practice did. It’s such a small thing (and that is certainly not the whole reason we left the other practice), but it’s so nice. I’ve seen that at other doctors’ offices, too – why do so many medical professionals skip the introduction? Am I supposed to just assume you’re the doctor or the nurse I made an appointment with? The nurse at the first practice never got my name right, either, so I was never entirely sure I was in the right place.
This practice is in a new building, and it’s nice, and it’s pretty, and everyone we’ve met has been nice and helpful and cheerful and WHAT A RELIEF!
Emily, Sean, and Graham visited this past weekend, and we spent most of two days driving past potential houses and exploring potential neighborhoods (and also eating our weight in seafood and ice cream and pie, which CERTAINLY showed when the doctor made me get on the scale today). They swore up and down that they were happy house-hunting with us, but I’m willing to bet there was some regret about spending so much of the weekend in the car when they hit the road for the long trip home Sunday afternoon. Let’s drive ALL the hours!
Graham is adorable and funny and I’m SO not ready for a toddler. It’s a good thing that happens gradually. I spent part of my morning trying to imagine the baby that’s going to fit into the super-cute onesies Emily and Sean bought us in Newport – our first baby things! It’s the first time I’ve tried to picture this baby as a real baby, and I’m failing miserably. I’m basically coming up with stock baby photos that don’t look anything like us. I realize I could probably look at my baby pictures and John’s and get close, but that’s no fun.
Started: 4/13/18
Finished: 4/15/18
Another Holmes and Watson take, but this time the Holmes character is an unstable Vietnamese woman and Watson is a sentient spaceship. It’s a novella, just long enough to solve one mystery, but while I liked the characters, I found the mystery (so basically, the story) a little…not hard to understand exactly, because I followed the plot, but hard to explain, maybe? Like, I read it, but I don’t think I could describe what happened.
Am I showing? No. I mean, it kind of depends on the time of day, but I think that’s food. First thing in the morning is what I’m counting on to tell me the truth, and first thing in the morning, I’m still basically flat. The second I start eating (or even drinking just water), I start to look a little pregnant, and by the time I go to bed at night, I feel….not so svelte. That pattern has been going on for about a month, so I’m pretty sure that doesn’t count. It’s just food.
However. My clothes are a little tight and anything that doesn’t stretch is now hiding at the bottom of the drawer, so I figured it was time to order a few basic pieces of maternity wear AND THEY ARRIVED YAY!
How did no one tell me how comfortable maternity jeans are? I got the ones that have the stretchy front panel (as opposed to side only), and I don’t know why anyone would ever wear normal zip front pants EVER.
Once it gets warmer, I’ll need shorts like this, and I haven’t ordered any t-shirts or anything because spring is never going to get here and all my sweaters and hoodies have plenty of room in them, room I don’t really need yet.
I am a little tired of this in-between state, though. When I go to the gym (I can’t wear my skinny workout clothes, but I can still wear my mid-size workout clothes), I just look overweight, not pregnant. And, you know, I don’t CARE what anyone at the gym thinks of me. Everyone goes to the gym to get in shape or stay in shape – no judgment. But still, I care what I look like, and I definitely don’t look pregnant yet.
I WANT TO LOOK PREGNANT. I think? Yes?
In the meantime, for real, these jeans are GREAT. I’ve been hanging out in pajama pants for a couple of months now because all real pants are uncomfortable. It’s nice to be comfortable in clothes I can actually wear outside.
Started: 4/10/18
Finished: 4/12/18
Urban fantasy (or paranormal romance? both) with a new take on vampires/werewolves/other supernatural beings. Not bad.
I have run out of patience for my coworkers in the past, so I’m hesitant to call this a pregnancy symptom, but I’m pretty much calling EVERYthing a pregnancy symptom nowadays, so maybe…?
Anyway, just about everyone at work sucks today. Nearly every person I spoke to asked stupid questions or had us rehash decisions that had been made weeks ago or couldn’t follow basic instructions or figure out logical next steps on their own. I spent much of the day really really really annoyed.
Then work ended and I mostly got over it. But then I did another thing that I’m pretty sure I can blame entirely on pregnancy brain. I made dinner tonight, and John came downstairs, went into the kitchen. The ravioli was draining in the sink, the salad was in a bowl…”Did you make sauce?”
Uhhhh…you mean the sauce that’s still in the jar in the cabinet? Because by “make”, we mean “heat up”. Let’s not kid ourselves about how I cook. “How about we do the olive oil and parmesan thing instead?” So not a disaster by any definition, but certainly a slip of the brain.
This whole I-need-to-eat-every-two-hours-or-else-I-get-faint-and-cranky thing is getting OLD. And it doesn’t seem to matter how much or how little I eat for dinner or how early or late I eat dinner, I always go to bed feeling bloated and gross. During the day, I feel okay except that I haven’t mastered snacking (so, not bloated and gross, but hungry/faint/generally ugh). Hold on – announcement:
I AM NOT LOOKING FOR SNACKING ADVICE.
Thank you. I have the internet, I have my What to Expect book, I have info from the doctor. I’m just bad at it right now. But I’m trying. Today, I went to the store at lunchtime and stocked up. I have fruit (strawberries, raspberries, bananas, although the bananas aren’t even close to ripe yet), yogurt, granola, two kinds of granola bars, and applesauce. I already had plenty of bread and crackers and peanut butter, and I’m not in the mood for carrots or celery or whatever, so I didn’t get those today. I think what I’m missing are nuts, like almonds or something. Ooooh, wait. I have creme brulee almonds. Does the creme brulee flavoring undo the nutritional value of the almonds? I’m going with no.
Let’s review today:
Breakfast: Toast with peanut butter (usually I slice banana on top, but I was out)
Late morning snack: hard-boiled egg
Just prior to and after my lunchtime workout (and while grocery shopping): granola bar
Lunch: Yogurt (fruit-on-the-bottom) and granola
Snack: Applesauce
Right now: Hungry and cranky and mildly headache-y because my applesauce was gone over two hours ago and I was stuck on a client meeting and applesauce isn’t a very filling snack to begin with and I NEED TO EAT RIGHT NOW.
Started: 4/8/18
Finished: 4/10/18
The first in a new series by John Scalzi. Normally I love his stuff, but this one took a while for me to get into. The story is good (as usual), but the characters felt like a bit of a departure, one in particular. Usually his characters are all likable, and this one was decidedly not. That’s not a bad thing, actually, but it was unexpected and took me a bit to come around on.
Last weekend, we drove to East Greenwich, all of 15 minutes south of Providence, and found maybe our perfect town.
*The near water part isn’t perfect. Main Street is a few blocks up from the water, and it doesn’t look there are any public spaces on the water. There’s a marina, but no park over there or paths or anything.
[Pause for googling]
I stand corrected. There is a park a little south of downtown, and I forgot about the state park that’s just on the other side of the bay. So whether the park on the water is walkable from downtown remains to be seen, but at least it’s there.
When I think about things I miss about Eugene, the parks and the paths along the river are high up there. I really loved the convenience of walking out the door and being in a park, right on the river, within a couple of blocks. And the 20 miles of paths…but then I remember the gloomy winter, the ultra-dry summer, that John had sinus problems almost the enter 18 months, and the forest fires. So I’ll keep missing some things about Eugene, but moving was the right decision.
We need some backup towns because when it comes time to look seriously for our next place to live, we might not find what we want in East Greenwich, but we took this weekend off.