Five Things Friday July 10, 2020

Happy Friday! Welcome to another edition of my weekly re-caps.

Here’s what I’ve been up to this week.

Something that made me happy this week

Whenever I catch one of my pets doing something particularly cute or silly or naughty, I send a photo to my sister-in-law. She’s told me these photos brighten her day, and I know she misses my pets because she can’t visit us much these days. It makes me happy to share a little joy with her.

Something I read this week

I’m currently reading an advanced copy of Wiving: A Memoir of Loving Then Leaving The Patriarchy by Cailtin Myer. I’m halfway through and I’ve got sticky tabs and margin notes all over the place! Not only is it a bold, personal, gut-wrenching memoir, it’s inspiring me in regard to my own writing. She talks a lot about the fallibility of memory, and addresses multiple instances where she cannot remember something though it surely happened. That is an issue I struggle with in my own stories, so this book is giving me new ways to look at and address my own memories.

Wiving will be available for sale on July 28th. Keep an eye out for it, as well as hearing more about it from me!

Something I did offline this week

Along my front walk I have what is called a Fairy Garden, expect it’s inhabited by Smurfs. This week I spent some time weeding to tidy it up and rearranging with a couple new pieces I’d gotten. This “garden” brings me a lot of joy, and gets compliments all the time from visitors and delivery folks. I even have a video from my Ring doorbell of a UPS delivery woman who exclaimed out loud when she saw the Smurfs and dropped down on her knees to look more closely! That made me really happy!

Some things I’m grateful for this week

Getting advanced copies of book from publishers
Eating stuff from our garden
Taking lessons on Masterclass.com
Writing contest opportunities popping up online
Having a solid writing partner

Some things I’m looking forward to

Finishing the puzzle I’m currently working on – it’s so challenging!
Having a lump on my hand looked at next week
Getting the new face masks my mother-in-law is making me with cat fabric

Now tell me a thing or two that made you happy this week!

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Ramona's bookshelf: read

Dark Matter

by Blake Crouch

What if you were able to go back in life and take the path not taken? It's a fascinating concept. It took a little while to get into, and I got bogged down by the heavy science in the middle but otherwise this is a pretty good book. It's...

The Silent Wife

by A. S. A. Harrison

This is a thriller that unravels gradually. The twists aren't sharp but they are there. Every single character is unlikable, their behavior deplorable, but I couldn't help rooting for them at times. I went back and forth between the audi...

A Separation

by Katie Kitamura

Three and a half stars. This book wasn't what I expected from reading the dust jacket, it's not an intense thriller. There is a mystery gradually unfolding, which we learn about from the first person narration of a wife who reluctantly a...

Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction

Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction

by Elizabeth Vargas

Three and a half stars. I was not familiar with Elizabeth Vargas prior to reading this, but I admire her greatly now. This is a brutally honesty memoir, written with grace and good intentions. The writing is a bit superficial at times, I...

Into the Water

by Paula Hawkins

I pushed myself through this book because I thought it *had* to get better. The last 25 pages were the best part because I got resolution of open issues, but otherwise reading this was a waste of time. The story was sloooow and felt supe...