Greetings you guys! How are you? You must miss us terribly… So sorry for our absence here on the regular Sunday catch-up channels, we know it’s been almost a month. I guess I might even have to introduce myself to a few of you! I’m Elza, a fluffy white kitten yes, scratch that. I turned 3 last weekend, so I guess I really can’t count as a kitten anymore. But I am still fluffy and adorably and trying to keep my mommy sane. Yes, in our welcome note there is a mutt as well, you are very welcome to just ignore her.
Talking about keeping sane, what’s up with this year? The first 10.5 months flew by in the blink of an eye, and now the last 2 months seem to last a decade. Or are we the only ways that feel that way? Days are long and filled to the brim with things that need to happen. Needless to say, blogging is taking the backseat here. And we hate it.
Luckily my Mommy’s holidays are just around the corner, 3 weeks to go. They are going to leave me and the damn mutt here with Hercules and Stinkie and go on a three week holiday. Well deserved I have to say, but still – can’t the mutt go somewhere else? What if our longtime babysitter likes her more than me. Apparently she is adorably cute and fun to be around. I can’t see it at all.
But let me stop, I can go on and on for days. Let’s rather talk books! The one constant we still have.
Adding to the Litter
New books, aah yes. That also never stops. No matter how crazy her days are, she still manages to pop in at the book shop. She was very happy to pick up a copy of Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness & Piercing the Darkness printed together. I obviously haven’t read it yet, but she says it’s brilliant and she hopes we can get to it soon. The Murder Mystery was on a daily deal and the title alone sounds like something she will read for sure. The Stray Cats of Homs she got on a book sale and her principal took it of her hands as she walked into school (yes, she does tend to go to book shop before her lessons starts) and he says it’s a brilliant read. Hopefully we’ll get to it over the holidays!
Mommy also helped the Grade 6 students at school to pick their selection of new books to the library. They loved this exercise! Mommy send them to the local book shop with a class list and told them to choose whatever they wanted (within the budget of course). Let them read what they want. That will keep them reading for years to come.
I’m not going to share all my recent, 4 weeks worth of posts, with you guys now. We do have a very user-friendly right sidebar, please use it as you see fit! And if don’t find it user-friendly enough, log a complain in the comment section. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
What I will share, is our recent reads! Reading really never fails.
- November 9 by Colleen Hoover – Unpopular opinion here, but nope – this did not work for us. The plot was good, nice twist. But this was a 2/5 for us.
- The Brilliance of Stars by J’Nell Ciesielski – The link is to our review. Yes, we loved it! Historical espionage romantic adventure. 4/5
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck – Our Classics Spin #31. There were no mice in this story. Men yes. Some who might behave like mice. It was good, one of those classics we will have to reread. Mommy still thinks about it constantly. 3.5/5
- Remarkably Bright Creatures – Definitely one of our favorites for the year. Such a remarkable book! 5/5
- Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood – We aren’t big on romance, but handing it to us in the form of a fun, quirky novella – works perfectly. 3/5
On the couch
Reading never fails and it also always provides the perfect escape. We are currently busy with 4 books, all in different formats, and we love them all!
- Book Club read – Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult – Not an easy read, but really good. As always. Or mostly.
- Audio Read – The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James – Oeee, my Mommy loves this one.
- The Pigeonhole – Lessons by Ian McEwan – It’s on the cellphone and we don’t spent enough time reading this book. Brilliantly written.
- Kindle Read – The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club – Town mystery, interesting and diverse characters, easy read.
I’m trying to think what we’ve been watchin lately…. Mommy started with Season Five of The Crown, Daddy says he’s not going to watch it. They started watching Yellowstone together. Need to get into the series a bit before an opinion can be made. The new Enola Holmes was quite entertaining. The ending did fall a bit flat, or is that just our opinion. Last night they watched Don’t worry Darling. I see there are quite a bit of controversy surrounding this movie, especially all the behind the scenes drama. Daddy didn’t care for it much, Mommy thought it was really good.
And now I can’t think of anything more to share with you guys today. But I guess the most important is to say that we are still here and yes, we miss you too! Remember to add your link to our lovely hosts and to thank them for their hard work. Our hosts: Debbie @ Readerbuzz with The Sunday Salon, Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer with The Sunday Post and Marlene @ Reading Reality with Stacking the Shelves.
I really enjoyed Frank Peretti’s series and hope you do as well! Being as a stray cat adopted us, my heart is drawn to The Stray Cats.
Oh how your students must love you! You are indeed creating life-long readers!
How is Elza 3? I will still call her a kitten because she’s too adorable and fluffy. I’m glad you enjoyed Of Mice and Men. It’s definitely one that needs to be thought about. I really enjoyed The Book of Cold Cases. It was my first book by Simone St. James but won’t be the last. Have a wonderful week.
I’m glad that you were able to post after such a long time away! We’ve all missed you here on Sundays.
Remarkably Bright Creatures keeps popping up. Should I or shouldn’t I? I think I should try it as soon as Nonfiction November is over.
Love that picture of the kids with their books!
Three weeks away! That sounds like fun for you even if it isn’t for poor Elza. I’m sure the babysitter will give her plenty of love. Have a great week!
Happy 3rd birthday, Elza!
I read This Present Darkness years ago and remember that I liked it.
I had to read Of Mice and Men in tenth grade, I believe. And maybe we also had to watch the movie with Gary Sinise? I know I watched the movie but don’t remember if that was at school or at home. Anyway. Not my favorite. That’s some heavy reading to inflict on 15-year-olds. I had to read The Grapes of Wrath for school too but I can’t remember if that was in ninth or tenth grade. That’s just too young to appreciate those kinds of classics. I’ve re-read The Grapes of Wrath as an adult and a couple of Steinbeck’s other books and now I have the life experience to appreciate them. But I won’t be re-reading Of Mice and Men. That left an emotional scar!
Speaking of school reading…. How fun that your school kids got to choose new books! That’s an excellent idea!
Remarkably Bright Creatures made it on my TBR this year but I haven’t read it yet. I thought of it when one of my science-y podcasts suddenly decided to play an episode from a kid’s science podcast they also sponsor. I was driving and couldn’t mess with my phone so I listened to it. It was aimed at young kids but it was so cute! It was about a real-life octopus who escaped from an aquarium.
My husband watched one episode of Yellowstone while we were staying in Montana. He doesn’t think I’ll like it and I suspect he’s correct. He decided that he wouldn’t watch more until we left Montana. I guess it was kind of violent and he didn’t want it to affect his perceptions of the state while we were there. I need to remind him to finish watching it.
We haven’t watched the new Enola Holmes yet but we intend to!
Enjoy your week!
Hi Jen!
So nice to hear from you again! Mice and Men was a rather easy read for me, but I agree, I don’t know why we had to read such heavy stuff at school. It’s amazing so many of us still love books. And not wonder so many hates reading…
I love Frank Peretti overall! I’ve read most of his books and always enjoy it.
Have you seen the documentary My Octopus Teacher? That was lovely. I loved Remarkably Creatures, it is easily one of my favorites for the year.
The kids at school love their library and I still love doing it!
I don’t know if Yellowstone is going to be for me…. I will try one more episode and take it from there!
I’m glad to hear you are well! Have a wonderful week ahead!
A vacation? How exciting! I hope you have a great time.
Your books look so good. Great picture of the students with books.
Hope you have a great week!
Hi Yvonne! I am very much looking forward to our holiday. Still a few weeks to go, but at least I can count the sleeps. LOL!!
Welcome back! A 3 week holiday sounds exciting.
I love that the kids get to choose their own books. My 4 year old hasn’t got the hang of choosing a sensible book from his school library yet, but fingers crossed he will in time!
I want to read that Ali Hazelwood book – I have got Love on the Brain coming for Christmas though (I know because I ordered it!).
I feel like The Crown is something that I would enjoy, but I don’t have time to watch TV on my own – maybe again one day!
Have a great week ahead!
Hi there Emily!
Yes, watching adult shows while having little kids… There are certain benefits to not having children. But having them, are still a blessing!
I try to sort the books according to ages and not as much genres in the library. The picture books are the tricky ones though! Believe it or not. But books Like Clifford and Peppa Pig and Bob the Builder are always, always very popular.
As long as he enjoys being surrounded by books, it’s all that matters now!
I love that photo of the kids with their book choices. I really hope I’ll be able to volunteer at my little girls school library one day. Probably when my little boy is old enough to go to school, and I’ll have some more free time.
Your reads look amazing. Have fun reading 😉
Hi Maureen!
I love my job at the library! After 5 years, I am however slightly tired of “volunteering”. It turned into a full-time job with no pay or benefits. So next year, I am only going to school for specific hours and they are paying me a tiny salary. But that’s not what it’s about – it’s about the joy of reading and how it affects our kids.
I hope you will be able to do that one day!
Have a great week and I hope you have some excellent books to read.
Ooh vacation! Hope you have a great one (and that Elza doesn’t feel too left out with all the attention Mr Mutt gets lol). And what’s Stinkie been up to? We might need an update from him soon. 🙂
Love the picture of the kids with their books. That one kid is rocking a boxed set lol.
I’ve been thinking of trying Don’t Worry Darling! Now I’m MORE curious. Gonna watch this weekend perhaps. And Yellowstone I’ve been mulling too…
Stinkie is good! He doesn’t like the mutt at all, even less than Elza. So he “stays” with the neighbors quite often lately. He still comes for food and attention, but times it very carefully. That is the good thing about living in a small town – lots of open spaces for the pets to roam.
The kids still love their library. A few chances are due for the new year, but I will tell you guys more about it later.
Have a good week Greg!
Oh I didn’t know he was an outdoor kitty too! Ah yes he enjoys his rambling times then I suppose… 🙂
They all love the outdoors! I must check Elza carefully, because she can get sunburned quite easily due to her white fur and pink ears and nose…
Remarkably Bright Creatures is on my Christmas wishlist.
I love that you involved the kids in library purchases, looks like they made some great picks.
Wishing you a great reading week
Hi there Shelleyrae!
I am going to hold thumps that you will get Remarkably Bright Creatures for Christmas. It’s such a brilliant read and perfect for a Christmas stocking.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will have a good week ahead!
Enjoy your long vacation! Sounds amazing.
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thanks Mae!
It’s still a few weeks to go here, but at least it’s something to look forward to!