What Happened to Summer?

 

Hello out there - yes, it's been (4) months since I last posted and I totally missed summer.  It wasn't much of a summer  - rain, rain, rain and lots of hot weather and humidity when it didn't rain.  I did seem to keep busy with yoga, some cardio an a bit of strength training and (2) book groups.  I've also been catching up with friends which included seeing a best friend from junior high and high school that I hadn't seen in 50 years! She was here from Austin Texas; she moved there for her husband to attend grad school and they never came back once he got a job with the state. We had a wonderful time catching up. Where did those years go?  The granddaughters are back in school of course (2) in 4th grade and (1) in 6th. 

I'm sorry I haven't read many of your blog posts in the last (4) months. I hope to spend much of Sunday catching up.

NEW OBSESSION:   I spent the summer collecting plants - lots of indoor houseplants with Hoya plants being my latest obsession.  There are some 500 varieties so this may be a bad addiction here LOL . I have about (30) now. Most I buy as 2" to 4" starter plants and, I was lucky enough to have one arrive in bloom even.  They will keep me entertained this winter as I learn more about each variety. 

My reading has definitely taken a hit with this new hobby. In fact I didn't read a single book in August but, I few months I did well. You can find my 2023 update on the sidebar or below.

 

My Hoya Multiflora

(Link to a full grown one)

Here are what some of the blooms look like but, it could take years for some to blossom. 

                                                                           

                                                                                    Photo Credit

 

1.  Night Shift; Robin Cook - audio - 4/5 stars (January)
2. Women Talking; Miriam Toews - audio - 3.5/5 stars
3. It Ends with Us; Colleen Hoover - 4audio - 4/5 stars
4. The Levee: a novella; William Kent Krueger - audio - 3.5/5 stars
5. Looking for Me; Beth Hoffman (reread for book group) - 5/5 stars
6. Ms. Demeanor; Elinor Lipman - audio - 4/5 stars
7. Rough Sleepers: Jim O'Connell's Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People; Tracey Kidder - NF/audio - 4.5.5 stars - February
8. The Stolen Lady; Laurea Morelli - 3.5/5 stars (audio) book group read February
9. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo; Taylor Jenkins Reid - 3/5 stars - (book group) March
10. The Couple at Number 9; Claire Douglas - 3.5/5 stars (audio)
11. Hello, Beautiful; Ann Napolitano - 4.5/5 stars (April)
12. The Forest of Vanishing Stars; Kristin Harmel - 4.5/5 stars (book group)
13. The Half Moon; Mary Beth Keane - 3.5/5 stars (audio) (May)
14. Mad Honey; Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan  - 5/5 stars (print/audio)
15. The Kind Worth Saving; Peter Swanson - 3.5/5 stars (audio)
16. Soulmate; Sally Hepworth - 4.5/5 stars - (audio)
17. The House in the Pines; Ana Reyes  - 3.5/5 stars (audio)
18. A House with Good Bones; T. Kingfisher - 3.5/5 stars (audio)
19. Gone Tonight; Sarah Pekkanen - 5/5 stars - audio (June) 
20. What Comes Next & How to Like It (NF); Abigail Thomas - 4/5 stars (audio)
21. Finding Me (memoir); Viola Davis - 5/5 stars (audio)
22. How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water; Angie Cruz (audio) 4.5/5 stars
23. Small Mercies; Dennis Lehane - (audio) 4.5/5 stars
24. The Bird Hotel; Joyce Maynard - (audio) 4.5/5 stars
25. Sunflower Sisters; Martha Hall Kelly (book group- June) - 3.5/5 stars
26. Central Park West; James Comey - (audio) - 4/5 stars
27. The Five Star Weekend; Elin Hilderbrand - (audio) 4.5/5 stars (July)
28. The Guest; Emma Cline - (audio) 3/5 stars
29. What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing (NF); Stephanie Foo - 3.5/5 stars
30. The People's Hospital: Hope & Peril in America (NF); Ricardo Nulia - 4/5 stars
31. The Collective Regrets of Clover; Nikki Brammer (audio) - 4.5/5 stars
32. How to Sell a Haunted House; Grady Hendrix - (audio) 2/5 stars
33. The Drowning Woman; Robyn Harding - (audio) 4/5 stars (September)
34. Lucy By the Sea; Elizabeth Strout (reread - book group Sept)
35. Tom Lake; Ann Patchett (audio) 4.5/5 stars (October)
36. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell; Robert Dugong 4.5/5 stars - (Oct Bookgroup)
37. Happiness Falls; Angie Kim (audio - 3.5/5 stars - Oct
38. Holly; Stephen King (current read - Nov)
39. Ordinary Grace; William Kent Kruger - (current bookgroup read - Nov)

• Fiction - 30
• Non Fiction -  7
• Children's Books - 
• Print Books (includes ARCS) (my shelves) - 
• Print Books (library) - 2
• eBooks/eGalleys (my shelves) -
• eBooks (library) -
• Audiobooks (my shelves) - 6
• Audiobooks (library) - 29
• Combo (read/listens) - 1
• Female Authors - 30
• Male Authors - 8
• January Books Read - 6
• February Books Read - 2
• March - 2
• April - 2
• May - 5
• June - 8
• July - 6
• August - 0
• Sept - 2
• Oct - 3
• Nov - 

DNF - 

1. We Should Not Be Friends; Will Schwalbe - abandoned at 27% wasn't holding my interest (May)
2. The Book of Goose; Yiyun Li - audio abandoned at about 30% - couldn't connect with story (May)