The Sunday Post 8; It's Monday! What are you reading? 8

 

The Sunday Post - a chance for bloggers to have a chat and a catch-up - is hosted by Kimba, here: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Kathryn, here: https://thebookdate.wordpress.com/

Let's see. My week was much the same work-wise. Which, in this economy, I will take honestly.

Went to quiz as usual on Wednesday night, where we came second. 

Saturday I was supposed to take Lily to the vet. She's due for blood tests to test her thyroid function.

I've written about Lily's health issues here: http://lifetheuniverseandcats.blogspot.com/2023/03/about-lily.html

So of course she was nowhere to be found. I can't call her, either, as she's deaf. 

I rescheduled the appointment, and then completely forgot about it until the vet rang me.

She was - again - nowhere to be found. (She's fine. She just has a radar.)

So please cross all fingers that she's around after 5pm on Tuesday so I can scoop her up and get these blood tests done!

Went to my friend's as usual on Saturday night and made (slow) progress on my Saturday stitching projects. I'm going to do a post on that soon-ish but I need to take some up to date pictures of my current works in progress.

Spawn is 16(!) tomorrow, so he had a sleepover here on Friday night with a couple of his wee friends. (It amuses me to call them that because they're all taller than me.) Luckily teenage boys are fairly low-maintenance. All I had to do was provide pizza, and then I hid in my own room to watch TV.

We went to McDonald's (spawn's choice) for lunch today, and had a browse in the mall.

I got some stitching done on my Sunday projects today, while listening to episodes of the podcast You Must Remember This, which is about the golden age of Hollywood.

And now here I am - lol.

I've finished Killers of a Certain Age, and will do a review later this week.

Now I'm reading The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva, and I'm about to start The Two Towers for my LOTR re-read.

How about you? How's your week? What are you reading?

The Sunday Post 7; It's Monday, What are you reading? 7

 

The Sunday Post - a chance for bloggers to have a chat and a catch-up - is hosted by Kimba, here: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Kathryn, here: https://thebookdate.wordpress.com/

Let's see.... I didn't do a lot last week. We won at quiz, which was nice. I always have the intention of a weeknight to do some stitching, but it does depend on how tired I'm feeling. I'm working on more than one project at the moment (and always) but the main one is a small llama picture I'm doing for a friend's birthday. Her birthday is next month, so I might miss the deadline but I'm going to try.

When I get some pictures organised, I'll do a projects post.

I took spawn for a haircut yesterday, as he was starting to look like Johhny Bravo. It's a lot tidier now.

Then he pointed out that his sneakers have a mouth, so we also went shoe-shopping. 

I went to my friend's as usual last night to watch reality TV and stitch.

Today has been a day of ferrying spawn about and binge-watching some old CSI:NY episodes.

I'm still reading FOTR, and I also started Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn about a team of 60-something lady assassins who soon realise their retirement celebrations are not what they were expecting. So far it's very entertaining.

I also started The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva which is proving to be entertaining so far.

How about you? How's your week? What are you reading?

Review - A Billion Years by Mike Rinder

 

Mike Rinder's parents became scientologists when he was 10. So, at that age, Mike also became one, and signed a billion-year contract. 

At 17, Mike travelled from his home in Australia to the United States to join the Sea Org, part of the wider scientology organisation.

What followed after that was years of abuse - that's really the only word I can find. 

Mike tells his story with clear hindsight, and he obviously has regrets about the things he did while still in scientology, first for founder L Ron Hubbard, and later for David Miscavige - the current leader.

A Billion Years is a fascinating insight into scientology, and how it functions - or not - in the real world. It's equal parts horrific and hopeful, as Mike finally decides that he has had enough and walks away from scientology for good.

However, scientology isn't quite as willing to let him have a clean break, and years of Fair Gaming (basically harassment and stalking) begins. 

Mike also co-hosted the podcast Fair Game with Leah Rimini - who also very publically split from scientology.

A Billion Years is well worth reading, and also, if it is still around, the documentary film from a few years ago - Going Clear.

Our House

 We, on Friday, became the proud owners of a mortgage. We have actually lived in this house for 20 years, and it has changed hands a few times, so we've had ... three? four? landlords. 

In 2019 or so, our landlord said he wanted to subdivide as we had such a big backyard. It was put on pause because of the pandemic, but in the past couple of years he built a house where our backyard was and sold it. The neighbours are quiet but I do sort of miss having grass. I don't think J does, as he's the one who has to mow it.

Around the same time, the landlord came to us and asked if we wanted to buy the house. I went to the bank and they couldn't lend us enough at the time, so advise us to consolidate our debt, and try again in  a few years. So we had another run at it in 2021 but J had just started a new job, and one of the terms was both of us had to be in a job for at least a year.

Fast-forward to last year. The landlord came to us again and asked if we wanted to buy the house. He was going to do it up (carpets, wallpaper, new kitchen etc) and sell it anyway, so he gave us first refusal.

He went ahead and did all of the renovations and we went back to the bank. This time, it was good news.

The landlord said if we bought it, he'd sell it to us for the valuation price, and given the NZ housing market right now, I know how lucky we are. 

So we set a settling date of the 21st of April, and then let the bank and the lawyers do the heavy lifting.

Leaving us with a mortgage, a house of our own, and something that we can leave to spawn later on. 

The best part is we don't have to move. I hate moving.

Review - The Witness for the Dead

 

The Witness for the Dead is set in the same universe as Katherine Addison's novel, The Goblin Emperor. Which you should read, if you haven't, though The Witness for the Dead isn't a direct sequel.

Thara Celehar is a Witness for the Dead - he can, sometimes, speak to the dead.

Exiled from the court after making too many enemies, Celehar lives in the city of Alamo. He lives a quiet life, though he can't quite escape politics.

He's called in as a Witness when a woman's body is pulled from the river. She has clearly been murdered, and it's up to Celehar to find out what has happened to her.

I LOVED The Goblin Emperor, and honestly The Witness for the Dead is right up there as well. Katherine Addison definitely knows  how to tell a story, and her characters are very compelling. It's a short book, but I would have liked a glossary of names, as I did get a bit confused, especially with the titles used by various people. 

That's a fairly minor criticism though. Celehar is a great character, as is the city, and the mystery is satisfying as it unfolds as well. 

Definitely recommended if you're a fantasy reader and you're looking for something a bit different.

The Sunday Post 5; It's Monday! What are you reading? 5

 

The Sunday Post - a chance for bloggers to have a chat and a catch-up - is hosted by Kimba, here: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Kathryn, here: https://thebookdate.wordpress.com/

I missed last week. I can't quite remember why - possibly because there were more teenagers in my house than actually live here and it slipped my mind. 

On the Friday night (Good Friday) spawn had a friend over for a sleepover. That was fine.

On Saturday morning, taking Friend of Spawn home, I learned that his grandparents who were staying with his parents (albeit in a caravan so they could isolate) had COVID. And on the way back to his place, he found out his mother had tested positive. I swear this kid lives in COVID central.

When we all got it last year, he's the one who brought it in to our house after coming over on a teacher's only day. He tested positive the day after, and spawn tested positive at the end of that week.

Anyway. Fast forward to Easter Saturday, and sure enough, spawn starts coughing. Then he complains of aches and pains and has a (thankfully not bad) fever. So I tested him on Easter Monday, and WHAT DO YOU KNOW. It was positive. Tested myself, and also positive. 

The guidelines for COVID here at the moment are you stay home for 7 days if you test positive, and any other household contacts need to test every day, and can still go about their normal lives as long as they test negative and wear masks.

So I worked from home that week. Oddly, I didn't have any symptoms at all, and after the first couple of days neither did Spawn. And J never tested positive at all. Something to be thankful for.

What else. Settling day for the house was on Friday (I'll do a full post on that one) so we are now the proud owners of a mortgage. 

I've watched  a few movies - Murder Mystery 2 (meh), Marie Antoinette (okay) and The Boston Strangler (pretty good). 

I finished The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison, and Silver on the Tree - the final book in the Dark is Rising Sequence. Enjoyed both of them.

Now I'm re-reading The Fellowship of the Ring and I also started A Billion Years by Mike Rinder - a former high-up in scientology. 

I have work tomorrow, and then Tuesday and Wednesday off. Tuesday as it's ANZAC day, and Wednesday just because. 

How about you? How's your week? What are you reading?

Review: Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes

 

Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes is the sequel to Ms Keyes' earlier novel, Rachel's Holiday.

Rachel's Holiday is one of the Walsh sister series of novels, and deals with Rachel's drug addiction and rehabilitation.

Again, Rachel is set around 2019 I think? Pre-pandemic, anyway.

She's split from Luke and has a new man. She's also the head addiction counsellor at the Cloisters, where she spent her own recovery.

Things are - as far as Rachel is concerned - good.

Then Luke Costello comes home to Ireland for his mother's funeral and all hell breaks loose.

And. See. Here's the thing. I love Marian Keyes. And I LOVED Rachel's Holiday.

But Again, Rachel ... just didn't really work all that well for me? It's written well, and some of it is good, but some of it I really struggled with. 

All of the Walsh sisters are in and out of the book at various times as Mammy Walsh's 80th  birthday party - a surprise party that Mammy Walsh is, of course, planning herself, is happening, and it just feels like too many Walsh sisters in one place. Also, these grown women - all in their 40s and early 50s - are acting like teenagers. 

I'm all for maintaining a youthful spirit and not aging gracefully, but the way these women act is just plain annoying. 

To be fair to Rachel - she does have a deep-seated grief from her marriage to Luke (they lose a much-loved baby at almost full-term) and there are a LOT of issues she plain has not dealt with. But. She's also in a lot of ways the same Rachel as the previous book - deeply in denial and therefore causing damage to those around her. 

I don't know. I did what I always do - look up the Goodreads reviews to see if people agreed with me, and there were a lot of 5-star reviews. So maybe it IS me?

Or maybe it's time to move on from the Walsh sisters. 

(One of them tries swinging, with her husband. Tell me that's not the book equivalent of jumping the shark.)