San Diego Zoo I’ve wanted to go to San Diego since I was about 16 and was absolutely delighted when Joe told me I could join him for a conference there last November. It was actually a Christmas gift; four days in San Diego and a few more in Los Angeles, and a weekend at Disneyland. It was my first time in Southern California and I have to say, I get the appeal. Of San Diego at least, LA is…
Maine Boston I love, love, love New England. This was my second time visiting (we went for a friend’s wedding) and we split our time between New Hampshire, Maine, and Boston. Highlights include an L.L. Bean outlet, Portland Head Lighthouse, visiting Andover Bookstore (at the time of visiting it was the oldest bookstore in the U.S.), and tours at King’s Chapel and Old North Church in Boston. It was also the first trip where I shot in manual mode so…
For the last stop of our road trip, we stayed the night in Jackson, WY. We grabbed breakfast at Persephone, a French bakery, before driving to Grand Teton National Park. We walked about 30 minutes of the Jenny Lake Overlook Trail, hiked the first part of Lakeshore Trail at Colter Bay, and did a lot of driving. We happened along Snake River overlook where Ansel Adams took a photo. I did my best to get the same shot though obviously…
Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire 4/5 StarsDiscount Armageddon is the first book in McGuire’s Urban Fantasy InCryptid series. Verity Price comes from a long line of cryptozoologists; she is continuing the family tradition in New York City while also pursuing a career as a professional ballroom dancer and waiting tables at a strip club. There’s a lot going on with Verity and sometimes it feels like the author just thought up a bunch of random qualities someone could have and…
Bonjour, happy April and happy Wednesday! I haven’t published a Wednesday Whimsy in over three months and things sure are looking different these days. Many people are only two-three weeks into home quarantine for the COVID-19 outbreak but I’ve been staying at home for well over a month now. I’ve gone to the store once or twice a week but other than that I’ve been embracing the stay-at-home lifestyle (which is hardly different from normal for me). Some days are…
The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo 5/5 StarsI have been on a serious roll this year with great Reese’s Book Club picks. I listened to the audiobook of The Light We Lost and it was both moving and devastating. I feel like this story could be yours, your sibling’s, or a friend-of-a-friend’s. The situation is so relatable and, most importantly, I feel that Lucy’s choices are too. In many books we like to read stories of the lives of…
A Murderous Relation is the fifth book in the Veronica Speedwell series. From the first book this has been one of my favorite series of all time but this installment proves that it is not immune to the mid-single-digit slump. For me, most series around book 5 or 6 take on a repetitive feel. I get not wanting to change what drew readers to the books in the first place, but no one wants to read the same book seven…
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 5/5This book was certainly a strong start to the year. It made the running list of my favorite books and I’m toying with the idea of rereading it already, less than two weeks after finishing it.I wouldn’t say that this is a completely believable book but it is moving and engrossing. Kya Clark is as poor as you can imagine. She lives in a shack in a marsh on the North Carolina coast…
The Cactus by Sarah Haywood 4/5 StarsI was attracted to The Cactus because of the cover blurb claiming that “fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine will love” this book. I did really like this book and it does have very similar parallels to Eleanor Oliphant but Susan Green is not quite on the Eleanor Oliphant level. Susan is 45, single, and finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. Everything about her life is very practical and efficient, which I completely appreciate and…
Bonjour and happy Wednesday. It’s been really quiet around here lately because in November I had a cold for about a week and a half, went out of town, then picked up a second cold while traveling. The first one was so bad that all I could handle was sitting on the couch watching Outlander and Call the Midwife (have you seen the latter? SO GOOD!). I haven’t done much reading in the past month and a half but am…