The Week in Review: 03.17.2017

Between the Covers

Finished last week:

Oh how I loved THE IMPOSSIBLE FORTRESS by Jason Rekulak!  It’s the story of three 14 year old friends – Billy, Alf, and Clark – who will do anything, and I do mean anything, to get a copy of the Playboy Magazine with Vanna White on the cover.  Set in 1987 and told from Billy’s point of view, this story is full of pop culture references and humor.  There’s also a little mystery, a little romance,  and just enough tension to keep the story moving at a fast clip.  I couldn’t get enough of Billy and his friends and kind of hated for the book to be over, even though I thought the ending was great.  I loved this book and highly recommend it –  I have a feeling it will be one of my favorites of the year.  (Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster.)

I listened to I SEE YOU by Clare Mackintosh. After women are featured in classified ads, they’re victims of violent crimes.  Zoe notices her photo in an ad and, when she realizes what’s happened to the other women, she becomes frightened and wonders about everyone person she encounters.  Can she figure out what’s going on before it’s too late?  The audio version of this book is narrated by British actress Rachel Atkins.  I probably should have quit listening as soon as I heard her accent.  I’m sure she did a fine job but I struggle with British narrators –  I’m not sure why, but I find my mind wandering when I listen to them.  I think I would have enjoyed this more in print.  (Review copy provided by Penguin Random House.)

If you’re planning a trip to our nation’s capital with a young child, you’ll want to grab a copy of MY WASHINGTON, DC by Kathy Jakobsen before you go.  This book gives an overview of some of our history and features many of the sites to see in the city.  It also contains some fun facts – for instance, the Washington National Monument Society asked each state to contribute a stone and every state complied.  There are wonderful illustrations throughout the book and readers can hunt for stars, eagles and Speedy the cat.  The back of the book contains more fun facts and lists a few websites to explore.  I thought MY WASHINGTON, DC was terrific! (Review copy provided by Little, Brown.)

Currently reading:

• JAKE THE FAKE KEEPS IT REAL by Craig Robinson and Adam Mansbach
• MIDNIGHT IN BROAD DAYLIGHT by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto
• THE HANDMAID’S TALE by Margaret Atwood

On the Screen

Not much of anything.  I was hoping to watch some basketball but didn’t see enough to make it worth mentioning.

Off the blog

• We thought we were going to sneak by with very little winter this year but Mother Nature had something else in mind.  It turned cold this week – probably the coldest it’s been all winter – and we even saw a few flakes of the white stuff early Sunday morning.
• I took and passed the exam to become a Cicerone® Certified Beer Server.
• My friends and I played trivia this week and came in second.
• We walked three miles every morning (even when it was 20º F) and I averaged close to 14, 250 Fitbit steps a day.