Reading Update (2024 #43-45)
[43] Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
Fiction / Fantasy / Romance, #2 in The Empyrean series, graphic audio
Synopsis: It’s impossible to synopsize this book without giving away what happens in the first one. Basically, it’s Violet’s second year in the war college, the new commandant is out to get her, her (spoiler?) boyfriend graduated last year and they hardly see each other, Violet is trying to figure out what happened at the end of the first book and keeping that all to herself and suffering, blah blah.
Review: And it’s really hard to review this because I listened to part 1 of the graphic audio in May then had to wait until mid July for part 2. The two parts read like two separate books, but it made me feel a bit disjointed as I had forgotten a bit of part 1 by the time I got to part 2. I had a hard time following some of this book. There was so much going on, and some storylines that felt unnecessary (like the “other woman” plot with Xaden’s ex, Kat). All that being said, I LOVE the graphic audio for this series. It adds SO much to it and really gets me invested. Next time I just need to wait and listen to it sequentially.
Recommend: Yes
[44] Great and Precious Things by Rebecca Yarros
Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, saw on Kindle Unlimited, Kindle
Synopsis: After being gone for 10 years, Camden is returning to his hometown of Alba, Colorado to help care for his father. The town is tiny and gossipy, and Camden has a horrible reputation for being a troublemaker, and it doesn’t help that his little brother followed him off to war then Camden brought him home in a casket. And that the one woman he loves, Willow, still lives in Alba, but was dating his younger brother when he died.
Review: This is a slow burn second chance romance and neither of those are really for me. Parts of the story were interesting – all of Camden’s family history/drama and his relationship with Willow, but I didn’t care about certain parts at all – like the historic parts of this mining town, the historical committee and its politics, blah blah. And there was not enough there for Camden and Willow’s relationship – showing me why they both loved each other, and then after they got together. I need to stay away from second chance romances!
Recommend? No
[45] The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier
Fiction / Thrillers / Technological, saw on The Popcast‘s 21 Best Books of the 21st Century List, Audio
Synopsis: A plane from Paris to New York City encounters crazy turbulence and unforeseen circumstances that affect all its passengers. I’m not gonna say more! Don’t want to spoil it! Seriously, the descriptions of this book give away a major plot twist you don’t find out about until the end of the part 1. I’m glad I don’t remember the description that I read of this that made me want to listen to it, because it came to me as a surprise when it was revealed at the end of the first part. Seriously, why do book descriptions do that? Give the twist away? GRR. Anyway.
Review: I could not remember what this book was about or why I downloaded it. In fact, it was not the audiobook I wanted to listen to – I didn’t find the cover appealing – but then I realized the other one I had never downloaded (and I was driving and couldn’t download it), so this one it was. The book starts off describing a hitman, and I’m thinking “why did I download this book?” that is NOT my genre! Then each chapter goes over different characters and you realize they were all on the same flight with the horrible turbulence. Each character is wonderfully developed, but I was still wondering, when are we going to talk about this turbulence? What is the point of all this? The book barely mentions the flight at all, just the lives and personalities of the people on it. Then the twists drops and it gets pretty interesting. Then peters out a bit at the end, but still, such an interesting premise. I wish they would have said more about they why of it all, but eh, not everything is explainable.
Recommend? Yes
Reality Slap
I’ve received two cards that look like this now – with a big 4-0 on them! What the heck?!
Ha ha ha, I kid, I kid. I’m well aware I’m turning 40 next week. I mean, I treated myself to a whole freaking European vacation for it earlier this year! I just kind of wasn’t thinking about it, until I started getting cards.
I’m very much an “age is just a number” person at this point in my life, so entering this new decade doesn’t bother me. I do want to continue to prioritize my physical and mental health, to set myself up for as much future success as possible. Hmm, did that sentence make sense? I want to take care of my body now so I have the most chance of not feeling like shit as I age. There ya go.
When my mom turned 50 she told us she stopped being nice (really, meaning as nice, because I would argue my mom is too nice), and told us a story about picking up an item at the same time as someone else on the clearance rack and not letting them have it (when maybe she would have before?). Ha.
Anyway, I was thinking about that, because really, I think she was saying she was being less accommodating and putting herself first a bit more, and I’m already in that era of my life, and have been for a while now, and am looking forward to leaning into that more and more, and becoming even more comfortable with it. For example, this week I told someone NO and didn’t even think twice about it or feel bad. GO ME!!!!!!!
TW: Death talk
I’ve maybe talked about this before here but am forgetting and too lazy to look it up. *shrugs*
In the past few years I’ve had this wonderful thing (sarcasm) start happening where I get anxiety in the middle of the night about what my life is going to be like 30 or 40 years from now and if I will be worrying about death then. Not in a “have I done something with my life” way, but in a “am I still down to clown but can’t anymore?” way. So, welcome to my brain – current me worries about what future me will worry about. Like, worrying inception or some shit.
They’re just stupid intrusive thoughts, but I was having a hard time getting out of the anxiety spiral until I realized that hey, maybe at the age, I will just be done. And ready to go. I won’t go into why I came to that realization, because it involves many other people, but that is where I’m at now, and I don’t stress about it anymore. For now.
A few more stories
A few more things I forgot to share from the weekend!
We had music playing while we were cleaning and my snis prompted Ella to tell me her favorite song. Turns out it’s AC/DC’s “T.N.T.” Our niece has great taste! We played it and hearing her sing along and say “dynamite” was one of the cutest things ever. Definitely a highlight!
Switching gears away from cute, I was telling my mom and snis how some of the ladies at the gym were complimenting me on my butt, saying “you always had a big butt, but it looks bigger – have you been working on it?” and then I explained that in my gym that’s one of the highest compliments – everyone is trying to grow their booty!
Not sure if they are called butt scrunch or booty lifting or just lifting or whatever… but our gym owner sells these shorts, leggings, and bras, so I bought a few sets! Here’s where you can get them. OMG. This reminds me of last year at the beach when my mom was talking about everyone’s swimsuits being up their butts. HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAAHAHHHAAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAH.
Later my mom brought it back up to me and said it was interesting a big butt is popular now because when she was growing up Twiggy and Cher were popular and that was not her body type at all. Then she told me about a time she was in Vegas (with my dad? Or her dad? hmm) and she was walking down the street and someone yelled out the window at her “nice ass!” Ha. Get it, Mom!
Mom & Dad in ’76
I forgot to mention this yesterday in my “when did we become the age” comment, but when I brought that up to my snis, I also mentioned how crazy it is to think my peers at work (meaning people my age) are in line for leadership roles. Some of them are already acting in that capacity. I mean, I’ve been there 15 years but it still feels like “isn’t there an adultier adult to take this to?” I’m still surprised when it’s me.
Ugh, that being said, I am burned out on the majority of my job being escalations and people complaining to me. It’s hard on my anxiety when everything is “urgent” and an “emergency.” Wah wah, right?
I talked to my supervisor about it today and she had some coping advice (framing, practicing gratitude), recommendations (be off work when I’m off, etc.) and reminded me “it’s just real estate.” Indeed. (And I had asked her for the advice, to be clear!)
Lastly, I cannot believe I ever thought cleaning weekend at the river would be a good time to fly in. I mean, I can – the big appeal is it’s a one hour flight vs a four hour drive. That was our original plan, but we scratched it when Steven realized how challenging it was to get the final oral exam and checkride scheduled.
Turns out, I didn’t really even have room for another passenger in my car! I had a mattress in there, a cooler full of food, pillows and beach towels to leave there, tons of cleaning supplies, a box of rocks, bathroom supplies to leave there for us for when we do fly, all my weekend stuff, etc. Ya girl does not naturally pack light, but can for special occasions!
Nineteen year blogiversary!
My blog turned 19 today. Happy birthday, blog!
Speaking of age, my car turned over 100K miles on Friday. Keep on keepin’ on, car!!! Please!
Also speaking of age, I spent the weekend in Iowa getting my family’s river house ready for our friends to come visit. I said to my snis, “when did we become the age where we’re doing the cleaning and meals instead of playing in the water?” I remember distinctly as a kid when my grandma stopped coming with us on the boat to the beach, and stayed behind to clean and cook. That always seemed HORRIBLE to me. And still does, actually, but shit needs to get done!
it wasn’t all work and no play. I got out for two runs with Dad, got a chai at the new coffee shop in town with my snis, painted a little with William, and sat down for meals (ha).
Oh! And the runway was dry and we saw a few planes take off!
Making time to daydream
I’ve been so darn focused on the present and living in the moment that I’m failing to take time to daydream about the future.
I mean, it sounds like a good thing to be so focused and present, but what it means for me is that I’m not getting as excited as I should about things in my personal life, and I’m struggling to plan for the future at work.
I’ve been operating in survival mode for a couple months. I fit in workouts where I can, work work work (including weekends for my part-time job), do chores and errands, then feel entirely too brain-dead to do anything after work, and try to fall asleep by 9:00 so I can wake up at 5:00 and do it all again the next day. And my days leading up to anything fun are typically like that. So I have well-meaning friends asking me if I’m excited about xyz thing and I have to decide if I want to be honest and say “not yet, but I know I will be on the day of/when I get there” or if I just want to say “yes!”
And I know this is modus operandi for most of us. I know I am not alone!
But I want to get back to feeling excited about things. We’ve all heard that half of the fun of a big event coming up is the anticipation, and I want to feel that again. And I want to make mental space to plan and figure out things a little more than right before because that is definitely not my M.O. and feels odd. But again, survival mode.
I was thinking about all of this on my lunch run today, because instead of multitasking and listening to a podcast or book I decided to listen to music and just let my mind wander, and take time to get excited about all the fun things we have coming up (a river trip for my birthday! the fly-in at Abel Island! Val visiting in September!) and it felt really good! (It did NOTHING to propel me on my run. I was so excited it was in the 70s that I took an extra hour off to run a little longer and my legs were like, nah, girl, you not running fast today).
So. Yeah. Gonna do that more. Hopefully.
A year ago today (well, it was a Thursday but actually the 20th leap year blah blah) was the day Steven surprised my family by flying out to Guttenberg, Iowa. We hadn’t told them he was working on getting his license and it was so fun to share it that way!
Thinking about that is definitely getting me excited for the fly-in in August. Cross your fingers for good weather and a dry runway.
Random! I painted this rock for Steven of the plane he flies the most – Echo Sierra, a Cessna 172 Skyhawk.
New favorite day
Yesterday morning when I got to the gym someone leaving from the class before me said “I hope you’re ready to run!”
“Always!” I responded.
They went on to count out how many laps we did (in the parking lot) at class “4, 10, 10, 16, 20… 60 laps!”
“Great! I can’t wait!” I said as I went inside, laughing.
I know they were looking for some camaraderie, and for me to groan about it, but whenever I get these warnings about running in class, I’m just excited that the hard thing is something I know I can do.
Had it been burpees or a million pushups? I’d be groaning. And I’m sure other people would be thriving! Working out at WWM has shown me, more than any other athletic endeavor I’ve participated in, just how varied people’s strengths are.
I mean, super duh, right? People have different strong suits. But as someone who wants to be good at everything (in class), having this frequent visual reminder is so helpful with me accepting where I’m at, and what my body is naturally inclined toward.
What the heck am I saying? That my perception of what I should be good at has really changed since I started going to WWM. For some background, there are (generally) three types of classes I go to – upper body, lower body, and HIIT. In the beginning, I would say lower body was my favorite and dread upper body day. I had been telling myself all this time that my lower body should be stronger because I’m a runner, and my upper body would be weaker, therefore making those days harder. And I got into my head about it.
But it turns out, I’m way stronger at upper than lower body. My body seems naturally inclined to build my back, shoulders, and upper arms. I actually kind of suck at lower body stuff, and struggle, and should be doing it more.
Suffice to say, it turns out upper body is actually my favorite workout day. I never thought I’d be saying that!
And we did run 60 laps in class. I had over 4K steps after class.
Did you go somewhere?
Ha, this is NOT what I came here to blog about, but this is what you’re getting because it just popped into my head.
I saw someone I don’t often see in the office this morning and had a big smile on my face when I greeted them and they said to me “You’re glowing! Did you go somewhere?”
And goshdarnit, I answered how I always do “Just outside!” Then I remembered the last time I told Steven that’s how I answered people when I get that comment he told me that was a jerk* response, like responding to “what are you reading?” with “a book.” Ha. I saw his point!
So I added, “I’ve just been running outside!”
But really… I didn’t go anywhere cool, just outside (my house)!
*He may have not said jerk, I can’t remember exactly how he put it. We were joking around though.
Speaking of how tan I am, every year I get horrible running tan lines – my back, my shorts, my watch. My sister-in-law gets horrible tan lines too and it’s something we bond over every summer:
This year I’m actually trying to schedule a spray tan to see if it will even them out somewhat for our annual river trip. I really don’t like how these tan lines are highlighted when I’m in a bathing suit.
But it turns out there are a TON of rules about getting ready for a spray tan then taking care of it and I’m not sure if those fit into my hectic weekend before we go on our trip. So we’ll see. It might be another summer of highly visible tan lines. Maybe I should just learn how to photoshop them away. Ha.
Silly kid thoughts
When Stephany was here we had a conversation about things we believed as a child that make no sense, and I have to share mine with you because it’s so ridiculous – I thought the only way people died was by being murdered. I heard the phrase “die in your sleep” and thought it meant someone murdered you in bed. I was terrified by this!
Gah. How bizarre is that?
Maybe not too bizarre – Steven shared he was afraid of someone breaking into his house and murdering him. Eek!
I was 4 in this photo – hopefully I wasn’t thinking about murder yet
Do you remember thinking anything ridiculous like that?
Stephany shared that she thought “don’t drink and drive” meant don’t drink anything AT ALL. Ha!
Speaking of alcohol, my little kid brain thought having any alcohol in your house made you an alcoholic. I remember being at a friend’s house and her dad came home and grabbed a beer from the fridge and I was like OMG!!!!! Ha. I’m guessing I felt this way because my parents didn’t have any alcohol anywhere that I was aware of in our home (I’ve never seen my dad drink alcohol, and my mom only a few times).
And finally, this is just pathetic, and not a thing that I thought, but something I did to try to fit in that I’m just randomly sharing here. I remember going to friends’ houses as a kid and they’d play music and I’d have NO idea what it was. We’re talking mainstream bands like New Kids on the Block and TLC. When they’d ask me my favorite singer I’d make one up! And when they were all singing along I’d pretend to know the words too.
Ha ha ha ha ha. I was such a little loner (who was listening to classic rock at home).
Hmm, I feel like there was one more embarrassing story I wanted to share, but I can’t remember so I’ll leave it at that!
Reading Update (2024 #40-42)
[40] Finding Mr. Purrfect by Codi Gary
Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy, saw in Blue House Books and ACTUALLY PURCHASED, paperback
Synopsis: Charity and Will can’t stand each other (for reasons I don’t exactly understand since I didn’t read book 1?), and after one night together, decide they definitely aren’t right for each other. But when Charity tells her family she is dating Will to get them off her back, he goes along with the fake dating act, to make his own mother happy as well.
Why I Bought this Book: So, I bought this book in the bookstore because it had a cat on it and Charity’s character co-owns a cat café. I tried to get Goodreads to load at the bookstore to read reviews but had no service, and figured, hey, I’ll support a small business. Then when I checked it later it had a 3.54 average rating and one of the reviews said no smut. Wah! And I saw it was part 2 in a series. I stuck with it though.
Review: There was just no depth here. I wonder if Charity and Will were built up more in the first book? I kind of doubt it, since the first book focused on their two best friends. I just didn’t buy them as a couple, and the conflicts they had with their families and work life weren’t very interesting. I was happy to leave this book in Val’s Little Free Library.
Recommend: Absolutely not
[41] Faking with Benefits by Lily Gold
Reverse Harem Romance, Courtney and Anita told me about it in the same week LOL, Kindle
Synopsis: Layla is in her late 20s and has never had a boyfriend. The last guy she went on a date with climbed out of a bathroom window just to get away from her! Her three male best friends, who rent the apartment across from her and host a relationship advice podcast, offer to help her out by “fake” dating her, and featuring it as a segment on their podcast to boost their ratings and advertise for her lingerie company (of course she designs lingerie).
Review: Did you catch the part where this is a reverse harem? This book is just a loose story to get you from sex scene to sex scene, and the sex scenes have multiple partners. It was fun to read something different, but the story in between was actually pretty annoying and I was like “really?!” at the ending.
Recommend? If you’re looking to feel randy, yes, if you’re looking for a good story, no
[42] The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros
Fiction, saw available on Kindle Unlimited, Kindle
Synopsis: Ella has lost her entire family – her parents and grandparents are gone, and her brother is in the Special Forces overseas. It’s just her and her 5 year-old twins, and the staff of the rustic bed and breakfast she runs in Telluride, CO. When her brother Ryan asks her if she will be pen pals with his best friend Chaos, another soldier in the Special Forces, she doesn’t expect anything, but they develop an instant connection. Then (slight spoiler) months later, Ryan dies, and left a “last letter” for Chaos asking him to go to Telluride and take care of Ella and her kids, one who has cancer. Chaos goes, but doesn’t tell her Ella he’s the one from the letters (she never knew his name), and lets Ella assume Chaos died. Blah blah blah they fall in love, etc., you know how this goes. Or maybe you don’t. This book was a ride.
Review: I was really into this book. It was almost unputdownable. I loved Ella and Chaos (aka Beckett) even though Chaos wouldn’t freaking tell her who he was. This book is absolutely heartbreaking though, FYI. The ending will throw you, and it feels like it came out of nowhere, and I don’t think how the characters reacted was as raw as it would have been in real life (not that I wanted to read a more realistic version). I would also argue this book does NOT have a HEA, even though the epilogue tries to tie it all up.
TW/MAJOR SPOILERS: Childhood cancer, loss of child, lots of death
Recommend: Yeah, if you want the emotional rollercoaster
Random Thoughts Thursday 458
- Penny seems to be doing well. She’s been hanging around the house for 3.5 weeks now. She always shows up for meals, and seems steadier and less itchy. The gray cat (later called Grey Worm & Greg) has been showing up a lot too.
- In office days are so odd for me. I feel super energized by the interactions with my coworkers, but completely drained by the long commute (2 hours door-to-door one way). Hey, I chose to live 50 miles away from my office, and to take the train instead of drive. That’s on me.
- Speaking of driving, Steven and I could not believe the amount of people we saw driving with their phones in their hands on the way to and from Milwaukee when we flew to Colorado two weeks ago. We’ve been seeing that so much around where we live too. You notice it because you wonder why someone is driving like such absolute shit. Then you see the phone in their hands. Sigh.
- I had a whole section here about why I don’t want to share my struggles with friends/family but I took it out. It boils down to: I’m an Enneagram 2, and I prefer in person to texting and that’s a rare occurrence.
- I’ve gone to the dentist several times since I started taking blood thinners and told them I am on them every time but it didn’t seem to click until this week, and they kind of freaked a bit and want my doctor to sign a form. Which they sent to the wrong doctor. And told them I needed a bunch of stuff that I don’t (which would require going off blood thinners for, but regular cleanings don’t). It’s just a mess. Wah wah wah. Adulting.
- Lorena got some new powder polish (not dip, still no chip) that is so vibrant! I love it and imagine I will be using it all summer long.
- I got approval to use chatGPT at my full time job. Interestingly, we are told to use our personal email accounts for it.
- We had our first green beans and peas to harvest in our garden when we got back on July 2. They were delish!
- Last weekend we planted another row of green beans, and put in our tomato plants.
Hi! I’m Kim, a 40-something-year-old living in northeastern Illinois with my husband Steven, and our cats, Khaleesi, Apollo, Starbuck, and Eddard aka Ned. My current main hobbies are running, painting rocks, flying, reading, and eating. I follow a vegan lifestyle and work in an account management role. I write about a variety of topics and consider this a “life” blog – a place I can share anything that’s on my mind. Please visit the “About” page to get a better idea of who I am! 🙂
