I saw a comic recently where one person said something like, “Wow, March really flew by!” and another responded, “It’s May.” And that’s about how I feel about April this year. Where did it go? I finished a couple quick reads, and watched a few things, but overall I did not accomplish much entertainment wise in April.
Books
Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks by Annie Spence. I heard of this book through the What Should I Read Next podcast, and I decided to request it from the library. It was a really quick and easy read, which seems to be a theme for me.
The book is basically 2 parts: first, letters to various books, and second, all sorts of random tidbits and bookish stories from a librarian’s perspective. The letters were entertaining, especially the ones to the weird books she found in the discard bin. Like a recipe book devoted entirely to popcorn. And I loved the behind-the-scenes things from the library, because who hasn’t secretly wanted to have that job at some point? (At least if you love books).
Who Thought This Was A Good Idea: And Other Questions You Should Have Answers To When You Work In The White House by Alyssa Mastromonaco. I kept hearing about this book on podcasts and reading list posts, so I requested it from the library as well. It was being pushed as the “if you like The West Wing, you’ll like this book,” and I liked that show, so why not? Except then I went into the book with expectations, and those expectations let me down.
Here’s what I expected: a memoir about the times in the White House focused on one person, but also a smallish ensemble of characters and specifics about their time there, with a current events/relationships and gossip mixture.
Here’s what I got: a memoir about this one person who happened to work at the White House, but really that was just a part of things, and also she doesn’t have as much of a filter as I was expecting, because I felt like some of her stories were a little too TMI in the bodily functions arena.
I think if I had just read this book as a memoir, I probably would have liked it better. But because I went into it thinking it was different than it was, I was disappointed.
Other Entertainment
Allie Casazza’s free Makeover Your Motherhood video series. This is a 3-part video series about simplifying your motherhood. I especially liked video 2, about simplifying your to do list, because even though I say no to a lot of things, I still have a lot of stuff going on. It’s important for me to have pretty regular reminders about not getting too busy. Okay, and video 3, about being intentional with your time. It’s a good series.
Ultimate Bundles stuff. Early in April, the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle for 2018 was on sale. I love these bundles, so I not only bought my own copy, I did a bunch of stuff to promote the Bundle as an affiliate. One aspect I really enjoyed was the 3-part webinar series on different aspects of self care. Each one left me with a few tidbits of how to fit that into my daily (or at least weekly) life.
Homemaking Challenge in our Facebook group. I talked more about our new online community here, but we’ve been going through a Homemaking Challenge dealing with cleaning and decluttering. It’s been fun to interact over there, and I’ve definitely made some progress on a few areas of my house! (If you haven’t joined yet, hop in! You can make some progress on your home, and the challenge prompts will stay there so you can come back to them later.)
I also went through Crystal Paine’s Mastering Facebook Live Strategies class, which means that I’m working on adding more live video into my life! (The course isn’t currently available for purchase, but you can check out Crystal’s other blogging courses here if that’s your thing.) If you’re not following me on Facebook, you’ll want to, so that you can be a part of that as well. Live videos are always more fun when people are actually there to chat with, although you can for sure check out the replays as well.
And finally, I have to mention a few fun things I’ve been watching on tv. Jesse and I have been enjoying the new ABC sitcom Alex, Inc. based on real-life podcaster Alex Schuman. I didn’t know much about him going in, but I’ve been a fan of Zach Braff since Scrubs and this show is cute and funny. (Unfortunately, it’s already been cancelled after this season.)
Also, The 100 on The CW is back for another season. There’s so much good world-building and character development on this show. It can get pretty gory sometimes, but I really like how it explores all the shades of gray that are the reality in decision-making. Things are rarely black and white, and I think the show writers do an awesome job of building those layers and nuances into the characters. Plus, it hits my favorite “what would people do if they lived in a world with no technology” dystopian subgenre, even though they still have limited bits of tech.
What quick and easy reads should I try to finish in May?
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I receive a bit of a commission at no additional charge to you.
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