Hosted by Joy @ Joy’s Book Blog
Goals
1. Eat more meatless meals: yes
2. Drink enough water: yes
3. Strength train 5 times a week: yes
4. Tai-chi/chi gong twice a week: nope 🙁
Food
I’m eating some meat but don’t miss it when I don’t. Trying to eat more veggies and fruit.
Steps Last Week
Tuesday: 8,715
Wednesday: 9,842
Thursday: 8,880
Friday: didn’t track
Saturday: 9,501
Sunday: 8,642
Monday: didn’t track
Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros sharing the first paragraph or two of a book that I’m reading or plan to read soon
Feel free to join in by posting your own FCFPTI and linking below
Santa Puppy by Lynn Cahoon
Chapter 1
Home. It’s somewhere we can lay our heads at night. Where we can store our belongings and cook our food. Home is where we live with the people we love, raise our children, and cuddle with our pets. Some people live in houses. Some people live in homes. And a few, more than I’d like to admit, live in shelters and on the street, whether they be man or beasts. I couldn’t do much regarding the human issue of homelessness today, but I’d had a brainstorm about the beast part.
The Christmas Forest by Rebecca Boxall
Narrated by Fiona Hardingham, Henrietta Meire, & Nico Evers-Swindell
In this festive novella by the author of Christmas at the Vicarage, will Enid follow her heart or her head?
Since the tragic loss of her parents, Enid has lived alone in a coastal cottage in Jersey. But this year someone new has come into her life: Fred, who truly gets her, and who knows how to make her happy. The only problem is that Enid has Asperger’s and doesn’t like to leave her comfort zone – and Fred lives in Australia.
Like Enid, Fred has survived heartbreak and is searching for a way to start again. Could a stranger on the other side of the world really bring new meaning to his life, or is he just setting himself up for another fall?
When Fred invites Enid to Australia for Christmas, her vivacious sister Bess begs her to take a risk for the first time ever. But Enid’s whole life is structured around familiarity. As the festive season approaches, she has a decision to make: play it safe, or embark on a momentous journey into the unknown?
Thoughts
I enjoyed this book, it was a great story that kept my attention from the start. But, I really wouldn’t call this book a “festive novella” as the description states. Yes, it takes place around Christmas time but the only mention of Christmas is a few times when a Christmas play is mentioned (which is where the title comes from because the play is called The Christmas Forest, when Enid asks Fred to stay for Christmas, and buying or giving of a few Christmas presents.
Still, like I said, the story is good and I’m glad I read it. I just wish that it would have been more “Christmassy.
Counts toward the following challenge:
Audiobook
2018 Christmas Spirit Challenge
Elevation by Stephen King
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (October 30, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1982102314
ISBN-13: 978-1982102319
Although Scott Carey doesn’t look any different, he’s been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn’t want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis.
In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King’s most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade—but escalating—battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott’s lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face–including his own—he tries to help. Unlikely alliances, the annual foot race, and the mystery of Scott’s affliction bring out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others.
Thoughts
I’ve loved Stephen King’s books since Carrie but haven’t read one in a while. When I saw this book and read that it was different than his usual horror books, I decided to get a copy from my local library.
I really enjoyed this book and thought it was perfect for readers who don’t read King because they don’t like the horror aspect of his books. This is a perfect book for them, it has King’s gift for telling a great story without the scariness.
The book is only 160 pages and I could have easily read it in one sitting, but I had a lot to do the day I started it so it took me two for a total of about 3 hours.
I loved this book. The story was very different and kept me interested from the first paragraph. I really hope King decides to write more books like this. I would read every one.
Hosted @ Christmas Spirit
I’ve only read a few books about Christmas, and usually only watch a few Christmas movies (usually the old ones I grew up watching), but for some reason this year I’m craving both Christmas books and movies. I’m late getting started with this challenge but I’ll be adding the movies I’ve watched since November 19th and on. As for books, I’m currently listening to my first one this year.
I plan on doing:
Christmas Tree: read 5 or 6 books
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Fa La La La Films: watch however many you want
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Didn’t do so good this week with steps or food 🙁
July Goals
1. Eat more meatless meals: a few days
2. Drink enough water: not every day
3. Strength train 5 times a week: yes
4. Tai-chi/chi gong twice a week: none this week
Food
Don’t know why but I’ve been eating when I get home from work about 11-1 but then I don’t feel like eating supper so I just grab something and munch on it, usually popcorn or something
Steps Last Week
Tuesday: 8,083
Wednesday: didn’t track
Thursday: 9,442
Friday: 8,158
Saturday: didn’t track
Sunday: didn’t track
Monday: 7,503
Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros sharing the first paragraph or two of a book that I’m reading or plan to read soon
Feel free to join in by posting your own FCFPTI and linking below
The Christmas Forest by Rebecca Boxall
Prologue
Friday 17 November 2917
Enid
Even as she approached the postbox, it’s bright-red hue matching her sister’s winter coat, she wasn’t sure which one she would send. The letters looked identical: the same high-quality ivory envelopes; the same precise calligrapny – neat, inky loops; the name of the recipient and his exotic address; the stamps and the royal-blue ‘Airmail’ stickers. There was nothing to distinguish them at all but Enid knew absolutely that the one clapsed in her gloved left hand was a polite refusal and the other, in her right, said ‘yes’.
Outside…
74° with an expected high of 82°, sky is a very light blue with soft wispy clouds
Thankful…
That my friends husband won’t loose his site after his retina detached from his eye
Reading…
Elevation by Stephen King
Listening To…
A Christmas Flower by Bryan Mooney
Watching…
Christmas movies, which I rarely do, but this year I’m craving them
Fitness…
It’s cooler now so it’s time to get the bikes out and start riding the trails
In The Kitchen…
Tomorrow I’m making a big pot of spaghetti
Today’s To-Do List…
Going to Longhorn Steakhouse with family
One of my favorite things:
ZEISS Lens Cleaning Wipes, the keep my glasses and phone screen so clean
Looking forward to…
Going out to eat with family and maybe a movie
A Favorite Bible Verse…
Psalm 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
From the camera…
![Raymie Nightingale by [DiCamillo, Kate]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51z041ZcUAL.jpg)
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
Narrated by Jenna Lamia
Audible Audiobook
Listening Length: 4 hours and 25 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Listening Library (Audio)
Audible.com Release Date: April 12, 2016
Raymie Clarke has come to realize that everything, absolutely everything, depends on her. And she has a plan. If Raymie can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father, who left town two days ago with a dental hygienist, will see Raymie’s picture in the paper and (maybe) come home. To win, not only does Raymie have to do good deeds and learn how to twirl a baton; she also has to contend with the wispy, frequently fainting Louisiana Elefante, who has a show-business background, and the fiery, stubborn Beverly Tapinski, who’s determined to sabotage the contest. But as the competition approaches, loneliness, loss, and unanswerable questions draw the three girls into an unlikely friendship – and challenge each of them to come to the rescue in unexpected ways.
Thoughts
This book is geared toward middle school readers but I enjoyed it a lot. It reminded me of being a child and the friends I had.
Raymie is a fun character who is loyal to her friends and whatever they want to do, or need her to do. Even if she’s afraid. The three girls go on a few adventures, get into some trouble, rescue a a few critters, and learn that no matter what hard blows life gives you, things will be eventually be ok.
This was a fun book that was very cute, often funny, and always entertaining. It’s a short one at only 4 1/2 hours, but a lot happens in that time.
I loved the narration and was glad I decided to listen instead of read. There were quite a few instances where hearing a voice made it so much better.
Would recommend this to anyone who loves to read, or listen 🙂
Counts toward the following challenge:
Audiobook
Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros sharing the first paragraph or two of a book that I’m reading or plan to read soon
Feel free to join in by posting your own FCFPTI and linking below
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
One
There were three of them, three girls.
They were standing side by side.
They were standing at attention.
And then the girl in the pink dress, the one who was stand right next to Raymie, let out a sob and said, “The more I think about it, the more terrified I am. I am too terrified to go on!”
The Storyteller’s Secret by Sejal Badani
Narrated by Siiri Scott
Audible Audiobook
Listening Length: 13 hours and 21 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Audible.com Release Date: September 1, 2018
Nothing prepares Jaya, a New York journalist, for the heartbreak of her third miscarriage and the slow unraveling of her marriage in its wake. Desperate to assuage her deep anguish, she decides to go to India to uncover answers to her family’s past.
Intoxicated by the sights, smells, and sounds she experiences, Jaya becomes an eager student of the culture. But it is Ravi—her grandmother’s former servant and trusted confidant—who reveals the resilience, struggles, secret love, and tragic fall of Jaya’s pioneering grandmother during the British occupation. Through her courageous grandmother’s arrestingly romantic and heart-wrenching story, Jaya discovers the legacy bequeathed to her and a strength that, until now, she never knew was possible.
Thoughts
I’m so glad I decided to read (listen) to this book! It was a Prime First Reads and none of them really grabbed me, but this book sounded different and I thought I’d enjoy it more than the others, so I choose it.
The story is about love, loss, family secrets, heartbreak, healing, and life changing friendships. It’s also about so much more.
The descriptions of India were so vivid that I could see myself there, and to me that makes a huge difference in a book, especially when it’s about a far away place that I’ve never been.
The writing was terrific, the story flowed smoothly, the narration was wonderful, the characters were interesting . I didn’t want to stop reading. This was a great story that grabbed my attention from the first paragraph and I thought it got better and better as it went on. There were a few times that the story made me gasp, either from shock or sadness.
I was satisfied with the way the book ended, but would also have liked it to keep going.
I definitely recommend this book. I loved it so much that I’ve already gotten a copy of her first book, Trail Of Broken Wings.
Counts toward the following challenges:
Audiobook
Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros sharing the first paragraph or two of a book that I’m reading or plan to read soon
Feel free to join in by posting your own FCFPTI and linking below
Elevation by Stephen King
Chapter 1
Losing Weight
Scott Carey knocked on the door of the Ellis condo unit, and Bob Ellis (everyone in Highland Acres still called him Doctor Bob, although he was five yeard retired) let him in. “Well, Scott, here you are. Ten on the dot. Now what can I do for you?”
So sorry about this week’s post. It was scheduled to post last night but it didn’t so it was a few hours late going up. And then when I checked it today Mister Linky was missing. Thanks for adding your links in your comments before I got it fixed!
Food
This morning I decided to make 15 bean soup chili (with ham instead of ground beef) in the slow cooker. We’ll be eating that tonight and probably tomorrow night. Might even eat some for lunch tomorrow
Later this week I’m making homemade potato soup
Then it’s Thanksgiving so you know what we’ll be eating
Steps Last Week
Tuesday: 8,637
Wednesday: 8,282
Thursday: didn’t track
Friday: 9,294
Saturday: 8,576
Sunday: 8,067
Monday: didn’t track
Tai-Chi/Chi Gong, Strength Training, Etc.
Every day except two
In Pieces by Sally Field
Narrated y Sally Field
Listening Length: 10 hours and 41 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Audible.com Release Date: September 18, 2018
In this intimate, haunting literary memoir, an American icon tells her story for the first time and in her own gorgeous words about a challenging and lonely childhood, the craft that helped her find her voice, and a powerful emotional legacy that shaped her journey as a daughter and a mother.
One of the most celebrated, beloved, and enduring actors of our time, Sally Field has an infectious charm that has captivated the nation for more than five decades, beginning with her first television role at the age of seventeen. From Gidget’s sweet-faced girl next door to the dazzling complexity of Sybil to the Academy Award-worthy ferocity and depth of Norma Rae and Mary Todd Lincoln, Field has stunned audiences time and time again with her artistic range and emotional acuity. Yet there is one character who always remained hidden: the shy and anxious little girl within.
With raw honesty and the fresh, pitch-perfect prose of a natural-born writer, and with all the humility and authenticity her fans have come to expect, Field brings readers behind the scenes for not only the highs and lows of her star-studded early career in Hollywood but deep into the truth of her lifelong relationships-including, most importantly, her complicated love for her own mother.
Powerful and unforgettable, In Pieces is an inspiring and important account of life as a woman in the second half of the twentieth century.
Thoughts
I finished this book about 2 weeks ago and have been trying to decide whether to write a review or not because of what I thought of the book.
I’ve been a fan of Sally Field practically my whole life. I loved Gidget and The Flying Nun and then watched her in most everything else she ever starred in.
When she was on talk shows etc. she always seemed so happy and that’s what popped into my head every time I thought about her.
So… I was really looking forward to this book. I knew that the book was going to be sad at times but thought it would also make me smile or laugh. It didn’t. I stopped listening to it a few times because it was so depressing, and then I’d start it again hoping I’d get a teeny tiny bit of sunshine, but that didn’t happen.
As for the narration, for most of the book she sounded whiny. It wasn’t the voice I’ve heard all these years.
I’ll never think Sally Field is a happy person again, which is so very sad.
Counts toward the following challenges:
Outside…
77° now but a high of 80° expected around 2pm, clear skies and tonight’s low of 57°
Thankful…
that I have tomorrow and Tuesday off work
Reading…
Elevation by Stephen King
Listening To…
As soon as I finish The Storyteller’s Secret by Sejal Badani I plan on starting Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
Watching…
Yesterday I watched the movie Wonder based on the book by by R.J. Palacio, great movie!
Mind Body Soul…
A new website I really like – Mind Body Green
In The Kitchen…
Taco Salad
Today’s To-Do List…
I worked this morning so now I plan to just relax with a tv show or two and/or a book
One of my favorite things:
International Delights Caramel Macchiato, it’s full of yumminess!
Looking forward to…
Spending Thanksgiving with my daughter and her family, my son in law’s parents, and son Anthony. Son Jeremy and his family are going to Pennsylvania (happy for them, sad for me)
Question…
Are you looking forward to a specific food on Thanksgiving?
My answer: Nope, I love it all!
A Favorite Bible Verse…
I saw this on FB. Sorry I can’t remember who posted it.
From the camera…
One of my favorite walking trails
