This is a great meme to take part in every week and I thank Kimba for hosting it!
I like this meme because it gives me an opportunity to take a look back at last week and forward to next week in both my personal life and my blog and book life! I also like to see what other people are doing and what books everyone is reading.
Happy Independence Day to everyone in the U.S.A.
Several Weeks–home and blog
Missing in Action from blog
I haven’t gotten a Sunday Post posted in about three weeks. The action around here has been wild. In June I had family visits, lots of 90+ degree days and work to get the house ready (in other words, finish unpacking boxes and put things away) before my husband arrived at the end of June.
I fly east for a few hours so I can drive back west to Iowa
[For those who don’t follow every small action in my life(!) we bought a house in Iowa in preparation for my husband’s early retirement. I moved to Iowa in April, but my husband had to work until the end of June when he could take early retirement. We moved most of our stuff in April, but still had some things to move at the end of June. I decided to fly to Maryland to help with the drive to Iowa. One of our daughters and one of my sisters-in-law also came to help drive our second car and the U-Haul.]
We all had lots of fun and lots of laughs during our drive from Maryland to Iowa, but it was also very tiring. We’ve been in Iowa for a few days now, but I feel like I’m still catching up on sleep.
Des Moines sights and eating
We have explored Des Moines since my husband has arrived. The Iowa state capitol is a beautiful building and we took a drive around it. There are summer concerts on the lawn so we hope to attend some of those.
Since we had some appointments downtown with government agencies we took the opportunity to check out some restaurants and cafes. One of the thing I love about Des Moines is all the unique restaurants throughout the city and suburbs.
Family celebration
We are having a small family gathering to celebrate my husband’s retirement, his birthday (which was at the end of June) and our country’s birthday. It will be so much fun to have some of our family here–including our three kids–this weekend to celebrate. We plan to barbecue, play games and maybe go to a minor league baseball game. Lots of food and lots of laughs.
The blog
When I decided to take my trip East to Maryland I had mostly run out of extra posts for my blog so very little got posted. I’ve hardly been on the internet for a couple of weeks, but I plan to do more after the first week in July.
Not too much happening on my blog and I haven’t visited many other blogs. I haven’t even picked up my computer for several days in a row (gasp)! And I haven’t had very much time to read either.
Blog posts (since my last Sunday Post)
- Sunday Post: June 12
- Most anticipated books for second half of 2016
- Waiting on Wednesday: June 15
- Favorite 2016 releases so far this year
- Waiting on Wednesday: June 22
- Waiting on Wednesday: June 29
My books
What I’m reading
- Borrowing Death by Cathy Pegau
- The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
What I read the last few weeks
- The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
- Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner
New–Books, E-books, NetGalley, Audiobooks–purchased or free or from library
Crazy Mountain Kiss by Keith McCafferty
The Zig-Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths
Battle Cruiser by B.V. Larson
Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center
The Rock Hole by Reavis Z. Wortham
Strictly Analog by Richard Levesque
Interesting on the internet
Free Sync Audio books
Sync is back again for the summer (May 5 – Aug 17). Sync is a program which provides two free young adult audiobook downloads each week. Each set of books are only available for one week.
The Sync books available this week (June 30 – July 7):
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan; Read by MacLeod Andrews
- Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith; Read by Phillip Church
The Sync books available next week (July 7 – July 14):
- Symphony for City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson; Read by M.T. Anderson
- The Young World by Chris Weitz; Read by Spencer Locke, Jose Julian
To listen to these books you must download Overdrive Media Console. It is available free to download at the Sync site.
Note: Some of the books have international restrictions, but some are available even if you live outside the U.S.
Next Week–home & blog
My husband and I still have a lot to do at our house: unpack boxes, figure out where to put things, hang photos plus figure out what we should get rid of! And we’re still trying to sell our house in Maryland. We have an offer, but I don’t know that we will come to an agreement.
I know I will continue to be busy! However, I’m hoping for more time to read and blog and blog hop!
Blog posts
- Top Ten Tuesday
- Waiting on Wednesday
- Review
- Sunday Post
What did you do last week? What books did you collect? What are you planning?
