Friday, March 06, 2020

Weekly Mews: Illness,Injuries, Good Books, & My March TBR List Poll (Please Vote!)

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz where participants discuss what they are reading and other bookish topics. I am linking up to Nicole of Feed Your Addiction's Monthly Wrap-Up Post, where any book bloggers who write monthly wrap-up posts can link up and visit other bloggers to see what they have been reading.   I am linking to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Team Tynga's Reviews and Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently. 


Happy March everyone! I really do not want to talk about the American Primary Elections or COVID-19, both topics which seem to be all a lot of people want to talk about out there. It is not that they are not important. Only that I need to tune them (and other worldly concerns) out for a little while for my sanity's sake.  Instead, join me in my happy place--at least for a little while, will you?

New to the Shelves:


Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

I am so excited about Downstairs Girl! I told myself I wouldn't buy a copy, but my will power failed me that day. Murder at Half Moon Gate and Plotting for Murder are books that have been on my wish list a while now--given that I have later books already on my TBR pile. I am back-filling my collection, you could say. And Inherit the Stars is another wish list book that's price was too good to pass up this time around. All four I used gift cards for (I have been hoarding quite a stash, actually), and so no money out of my pocket. Always a plus.

Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think? What books have you added to your shelves recently? 


What I Am Reading: I am nearing the end of The Five-Year Plan by Carla Burgess, a sweet British romance novel. I had actually meant to start In Five Years by Rebecca Serle, but accidentally grabbed the wrong title. It worked out well though. I am enjoying my time with Aiden and Orla. Perhaps I will follow up with In Five Years . . .

What I Am Watching: I have been watching The latest season of The Masked Singer with my family, and am watching the first season of The Runaways. It got off to a slow start, but so far I am enjoying it. I have made it to season 6 of The Vampire Diaries. Much of season 5 I had not seen before, although I had seen the previous seasons. I have mixed feelings about the show at this point, but I am enjoying it still, if not as much as the earlier seasons.

I really want to see the documentary series The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez, which I know will have me in tears for all six episodes. It will be a difficult series to watch, and will hit closer to home than I will probably like, but I have heard it is a must see, especially for those of us on the front lines working with abused and neglected children.

Off the Blog: We have been sick. My husband and I both had colds and sinus trouble this past month. The entire family is still struggling with our allergies. Mouse was on antibiotics for a short while there due to an infection. My husband's knee is giving him trouble, and I hurt my hand/wrist. The pain comes and goes, depending on how much I baby it--unfortunately, it is my dominate hand and so it doesn't get as much rest as it probably needs. I can't put much weight on it, holding anything for long is next to impossible,  and sometimes the pain is quite intense.

Rehearsals are going well for Mouse. She gave a Hip Hop class a try this past month,  but ultimately we decided it was just too much to add on to our already packed schedule right now. The Girl Scout Cookie sale is going well. She will not make her goal--not even close--but honestly, I didn't expect her to given past years' sales. That isn't me being pessimistic. Just reality. The Cookie Season will be wrapping up mid-March as well as her school coding club coming to an end. Mouse has enjoyed learning how to code, and I think would be interested in doing more of it at some point in the future.

Mouse has a birthday coming up very soon. My baby is going to be nine! I look at her, and I just cannot believe how old she is now. It doesn't seem possible so much time has passed by already. She is really excited about her special day.


Here is what I finished reading in February:
  • Stars Beyond (Stars Uncharted, #2) by S.K. Dunstall
  • Mimi Lee Gets a Clue (A Sassy Cat Mystery, #1) by Jennifer J. Chow
  • Doomed to Dance (Ivy + Bean, #6) by Annie Barrows & Sophie Blackall
  • Dear Martin by Nic Stone
  • What's the Big Idea? (Ivy + Bean, #7)
  • Big News! (Emma is on the Air, #1) by Ida Siegal
  • Amelia Bedelia Means Business (#1) by Herman Parish & Lynn Avril
  • The Snatchabook by Helen Docherty & Thomas Docherty
  • The Lion Inside by Rachel Bright & Jim Field
  • The Deep by Alma Katsu
I enjoyed my February reading. I excitedly dived into Stars Beyond, the second in the Stars Uncharted series, and was not disappointed. I discovered a new cozy series featuring a precocious cat that I look forward to reading more of in the future (Mimi Lee Gets a Clue). Then there was Alma Katsu's The Deep, which had so many elements I love in a novel. But my favorite of all was my February TBR Poll winner, Dear Martin. I think my favorite of the books I read with Mouse was Big News! by Ida Siegal. I hope we are able to continue with the series.

I neglected my blog for much of the month, only posting here and there. I did not get around to visiting many of your blogs, for which I am sorry. Part of it was due to my busy schedule, and a bigger part due to my hand/wrist injury. I wish I could say March will be much better, but it will be an even busier month--and I really need to work at resting my wrist (wish me luck with that one).

Tell me what you have been up to! What are you reading, listening to and watching? How was your February? Do you have anything planned for this month?


Thank you for helping me decide what book from my TBR collection I should read next:

My TBR List is a meme hosted by the awesome Michelle at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and take a poll as to which you think I should read. I will read the winner that month, and my review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 




Are you someone who likes to see the movie/television show before reading the book or do you prefer to read the book first? Or does it not matter? I am definitely a read the book before seeing the screen version kind of person. Most of the time (there are always exceptions).  There are quite a few movies and television shows I have not yet watched because I want to read the book first. Which means I have missed out on a lot of great movies---and shows.

My three options this month are all books that have been turned into television series. Please help me choose which one I should start with! Have you read any of these?

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the alluring mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When the Richardsons' friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town and puts Mia and Mrs. Richardson on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Mrs. Richardson becomes determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs to her own family – and Mia's.

Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of long-held secrets and the ferocious pull of motherhood-and the danger of believing that planning and following the rules can avert disaster, or heartbreak. [Goodreads Summary]

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
A thrilling and original coming-of-age novel for adults about a young man practicing magic in the real world.
Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he’s still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery.
He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. Something is missing, though. Magic doesn’t bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he dreamed it would. After graduation he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real. But the land of Quentin’s fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he could have imagined. His childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart.
At once psychologically piercing and magnificently absorbing, The Magicians boldly moves into uncharted literary territory, imagining magic as practiced by real people, with their capricious desires and volatile emotions. Lev Grossman creates an utterly original world in which good and evil aren’t black and white, love and sex aren’t simple or innocent, and power comes at a terrible price. [Goodreads Summary]

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
A murder . . . a tragic accident . . . or just parents behaving badly? What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.
But who did what?

Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:
Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive. [Goodreads Summary]


Thank you for voting! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy Reading!


© 2020, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

54 comments:

  1. Hope you are all feeling better soon, and that your hand/wrist gets better.

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    1. Marg - Thank you. My hand/wrist is all healed, but now I seem to have pulled something in my neck/shoulder. I can't seem to win! I hope you are well.

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  2. I was scrolling the choices - Little Fires was good; Magicians looks good, I should read that; omg, Big Little Lies! Big Little Lies! You must read Big Little Lies! I listened to the audio and was obsessed with it, couldn’t put it down.
    Hope you wrist is better soon. I hurt my nondominate wrist before Christmas, I fell while ice skating and not realizing I am actually over 50, lol.

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    1. Elizabeth - Thank you for voting! I am slowly making my way through Big Little Lies. I am not sure it's the best read for me right now, honestly. Any other time I probably would have loved it, but with everything going on, I keep thinking how all these women would be the types who would hoard TP.

      My wrist is feeling much better, thank you! I hope you are well.

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  3. I know what you mean about COVID-19. My son has an autoimmune disorder and is on medication to suppress his immune system so it's a concern of mine. I'm trying to block it out and it seems it's all everyone wants to talk about. It's just too much.

    I hope you're all back to normal soon!

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    1. Kathy - You can't really get away from talk of the virus. I can definitely see why you'd be concerned for your son. It's all so scary. I hope you and your family are well.

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  4. I'm glad you liked Dear Martin so much (I voted for it). Now I need to read it.

    You've had injuries and sickness around your house. Hopefully we are pushing through the cold and flu season.

    I can see why you bought Downstairs Girl. It looks like a great read.

    Have a lovely week.

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    1. Deb - I hope you like Dear Martin as much as I did. I hope you and yours are well!

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  5. Enjoy your books Wendy, Plotting for Murder looks especially good! I voted for Big Little Lies, I have it on my TBR as well, I loved the show. I prefer to read the book first, that's why I just finished reading The Outsider, so I can watch the show next.
    Happy reading this week!

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    1. Naida - Thank you! And thank you for voting. I hope you are well!

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  6. I'll gladly join you in your happy place. :) But I won't be joining you in watching The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez because I want to stay in my own happy place. :) I also don't want to join you with your colds ;), but I can relate to your husband's knee issues, had arthroscopic knee surgery in October of last year and still recovering. And I'm sorry for your hand/wrist injury, and I'll understand if you don't respond to this comment. Again :).

    I haven't read any of the books, but I'd recommend Big Little Lies because I've heard lots of good things about it.

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    1. Bryan - It'll be awhile until I can watch the Netflix documentary at this point. Probably for the best given everything else. I hope you and your wife are safe and well.

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  7. Sorry the family has been sick and injured:( y=You had a great reading month in February and yes, "Is there any happy news these days?"

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    1. Diane - Finding the happy news in the little things these days. Not much to find of that when looking beyond that right now, unfortunately. I hope you are well.

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  8. I really enjoyed The Downstairs Girl and hope you do, too. I also love its cover! Sorry to hear you have all been under the weather/injured; I hope you all feel better soon.

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    1. Helen - I am looking forward to reading The Downstairs Girl! I am glad to hear you enjoyed it. Thank you for the well wishes. I hope you are well!

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  9. Sorry about your hand/wrist injury. That's no fun. At least you've had some good books to read. You know Murder at Half Moon Gate is one of my favs. And the cover alone on The Downstairs Girl makes me want to read that one. Hope you have a good weekend! :)

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    1. Lark - Thank you. It's feeling much better now. I've somehow pulled the muscle in my neck/shoulder and it's making certain movements and sleeping difficult. It's always something these days. I hope you are well.

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  10. i read big little lies and loved the characters so much, so that is my choice. sorry to hear about your hand. i know what an injury can do to blogging, so take care
    sherry @ fundinmental

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  11. you gotta read big little lies! it is one of my favorite thrillers. plus, the show is really good!

    emilythebooknerd.com

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  12. I'm totally the same way... I'm so busy all the time, and I do like staying current... but the news exhausts me. I hope you all feel better soon!!

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    1. Erica - Thank you! I hope you are staying safe and are well.

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  13. So true- real life is so vexing right now! I think taking a break from all that is healthy. And hope your wrist heals soon- that sounds so painful!

    Happy b-day to your daughter coming up- yes they grow fast! Mine shot up and I miss them being little. :)

    Ooh I had to vote Big Little Lies. Love that book :)

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  14. Oh no! I hope you and your family (and your wrist) feel better soon!

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    1. Eustacia - I'm late responding to comments, but this seems so long ago . . . Thank you for your well wishes! I hope you are well.

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  15. We were all sick on and off for about a month! It just kept rotating between us. I hope you guys feel better soon! I'm trying to enjoy my kids being little (six, and twins that are three), but sometimes they make me CRAZY. I know I'll miss it when they're older. :)

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬

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    1. Lindsi - How have you all been? I hope you are all doing well through all of this.

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  16. How can she be 9??? Weren't you just recently writing about her entering Kindergarten? Goodness, how fast the years have flown (I've conveniently forgotten being away for the past 3 years). Enjoy her day and I hope you have fun planning for it.

    Hope you all recover from whatever is ailing you. That wrist injury sounds the worst (sorry) because of the time it could take to heal and because it's your dominant hand. Do you have something on to make the wrist movements less drastic even while you use your dominant hand?

    I've read both Big Little Lies and The Magicians. I didn't enjoy Magicians at all so gave the rest of the series and the TV show a pass. But Big Little Lies was a wonderful read! I'll vote strongly for that one.

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    1. Athira - It doesn't seem possible she is 9 already. I feel like she was just born a year or two ago. Thank you for the well wishes. I do have wrist braces to help when I have flare ups. I can't wear them when I work, but I can wear them at night, and that often helps.

      Thank you for voting! I hope all is well for you and your family.

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  17. I’m not familiar with any of your new books, though I’m going to look up The Downstairs Girl.
    I really enjoyed reading Big Little Lies but I didn’t care for the TV adaption.
    I liked the first two seasons of The Magicians, but less so the next and havent yet watched more.
    A brace may help with your wrist/hand issues,.

    Wishing you a great reading week

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    1. Shelleyrae - I hope you will like Downstairs Girl if you give it a try. I liked the first episode of The Magicians. I never watched more because I kept telling myself I would read the books first. Still waiting for that to happen. LOL I hope all is well with you and your family.

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  18. I loved The Vampire Diaries. it was such a good show. I've been watching The Masked Singer too and love seeing who is behind the mask. I've gotten a few of them right.

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    1. Mary - I am on the 7th season now of The Vampire Diaries. I am enjoying the show. I only read the first book in the series, and hated it. It's probably one of a few times I've liked the TV/movie more than the book. We are still enjoying The Masked Singer. I am glad to hear my family isn't the only one who watches it! I hope all is well.

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  19. I also loved Stars Uncharted. I picked up a coupe Andrea Penrose books in the series audible sale but haven't listened to them yet.

    Have a lovely week and happy reading!

    Anne - Books of My Heart Here is my Sunday Post   

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    1. Anne - I hope we both enjoy the Penrose books. I hope all is well for you and your family!

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  20. I'm with you on the need to tune some of the static out and for the same reasons. I'm so sorry to hear about your hand/wrist. I tweaked my right wrist in a car accident years ago (yanking the steering wheel) and I was shocked with how challenging it was to let rest so it would heal. You must read Big Little Lies and if you can I recommend the audio. It was fabulous! Happy birthday to Mouse! I don't think she can be 9. That doesn't sound right - she's supposed to be little! Have a great week!

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    1. Katherine - You never realize how much you use certain parts of your body until you injure them. Thank you for voting and the birthday wishes for Mouse. I hope you and your family are well.

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  21. Your new books all look so good! As for your poll--I need to read Little Fires still myself. Magicians has some kind of weird sexist stuff, and Bit Little Lies is just plain fun. So there's my vote.

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    1. Wendy - Thank you! I hop you and your family are well.

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  22. Nice new books and good for you for buying them with gift cards! I tend to spend my gift cards as soon as I get them. I am sorry that you and your family have been sick and injured lately. I hope everyone is feeling better soon. I hope you have a fabulous March!

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  23. What looks like some great reads new to your shelves. Whilst Downstairs Girl has the cover that attracted me most, Murder at Half Moon Gate is the book that I can most see myself reading. Meanwhile, 3 great options for the March poll, without a doubt it is The Magicians that gets my vote.

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  24. The Trials Of Gabriel Fernandez broke my heart. Be prepared. I'm avoiding the news right now. It's all about the virus and people around here are starting to panic. I hope you all feel better soon:)

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    1. Laura - I have heard the documentary is heartbreaking. I do want to watch it, but finding time when the kiddo isn't around is the challenge right now. I don't want her to see it. Thank you for the well wishes. I hope all is well with you. Stay safe.

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  25. I hope your wrist recovers soon, Wendy! The Downstairs Girl sounds interesting; and it has a nice cover too! I'll vote for Little Fires Everywhere. I absolutely loved that book and I think it will make a good choice for a book discussion.

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    1. Melody - Thank you! My wrist is feeling much better now. Thank you too for voting! I hope all is well with you and your family.

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  26. I understand the need to disconnect from it all. Feel better sweet friend.
    www.rsrue.blogspot.com

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    1. R's Rue - Thank you! I hope you are doing well. Stay safe!

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  27. I'm right there with you on wanting to turn to blogs and away from the reality that we are all facing. Hope your wrist is doing better and that you guys are doing well.

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