Thoughts on Thursday- Spring Break Reads

I was at the beach last week for SPRING BREAK (whoop, whoop!).  It was pretty cold, but the last couple days I got to put on a bathing suit.  The children, of course, were unbothered by the cold.

Not gonna lie, we were pretty cute in matching suits.

I didn't get any sun, but I did get some excellent reading in- two thrillers and a great magazine.

 The Dry-   I'd heard about this book ad nauseum, but never picked it up.  Grave mistake!  It's fantastic- I was glued to my seat.  This is a more "literary" mystery- loved the Australian setting.  The book follows a policeman from Melbourne as he investigates the death of his childhood best friend in his rural hometown.  One reviewer describes the book as having a secret on every page.  So true!  I loved it, and can't wait to devour the author's latest.

 The Plea- a classic legal thriller, it follows the story of a con-man turned defense attorney as he attempts to exonerate a billionaire tech founder while under enormous pressure to make him plead guilty.  It's twisty, fast and a fantastic beach read.

Country Gardens-   I don't recall subscribing to this, but I'm so glad I did!  Flower arranging, planting, recipes and beautiful garden inspiration!  If you enjoy gardening or just daydreaming about gardens, subscribe now!  I am so impressed!

Okay, off to work and unpack and clean my house!

Pop In Post- Quick Book Recommendation

I'm just covered up in work this week, but I wanted to tell y'all about a wonderful book that I just devoured the last couple of days-

Everything Happens For a Reason: and Other Lies I've Loved by Kate Bowler.  It's a memoir of her experience living with terminal cancer, and reconciliation of that diagnosis with her faith.  That sounds depressing, but I promise it's not!

Here's the blurb-

A divinity professor and young mother with a Stage IV cancer diagnosis explores the pain and joy of living without certainty.

Thirty-five-year-old Kate Bowler was a professor at the school of divinity at Duke, and had finally had a baby with her childhood sweetheart after years of trying, when she began to feel jabbing pains in her stomach. She lost thirty pounds, chugged antacid, and visited doctors for three months before she was finally diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer.

As she navigates the aftermath of her diagnosis, Kate pulls the reader deeply into her life, which is populated with a colorful, often hilarious collection of friends, pastors, parents, and doctors, and shares her laser-sharp reflections on faith, friendship, love, and death. She wonders why suffering makes her feel like a loser and explores the burden of positivity. Trying to relish the time she still has with her son and husband, she realizes she must change her habit of skipping to the end and planning the next move. A historian of the "American prosperity gospel"--the creed of the mega-churches that promises believers a cure for tragedy, if they just want it badly enough--Bowler finds that, in the wake of her diagnosis, she craves these same "outrageous certainties." She wants to know why it's so hard to surrender control over that which you have no control. She contends with the terrifying fact that, even for her husband and child, she is not the lynchpin of existence, and that even without her, life will go on.

On the page, Kate Bowler is warm, witty, and ruthless, and, like Paul Kalanithi, one of the talented, courageous few who can articulate the grief she feels as she contemplates her own mortality.

Go read it!!

Thoughts on Thursday- SHOP TIL YOU DROP!!!!!!!

Y'all.  As I get back into blogging, I must admit I am bored to pieces by a lot of my blogs that are in my feed.

I've talked about this before, but I would love to read a post that doesn't include any directives on what to buy, buy, buy.  Where do people put all these dresses and shoes? Where do they wear all of it?  I don't understand.  Or, possibly if I wore something other than yoga pants and a fleece 4 days a week, I would! Ha!

Maybe I just get grumpy during a ShopBop or Nordstrom sale.  Maybe it's because I like to shop, so I don't need someone to tell me what to buy.  Maybe it's because I like to read about people's lives outside the dressing room.

I think the problem is that I feel like I am being sold a falsehood.  Affiliate linking and undisclosed sponsorship/partnerships have become so pervasive that I feel like so much social media is just an advertisement. "MUST HAVE!"  "MY FAVORITE!" products rotate monthly or even weekly, and suspiciously appear on a variety of bloggers' want lists simultaneously.

Now, to my social media friends who have posted about this sale or that sale.  Don't be angry at me.  I love you!  I just want to read more you and less RewardStyle.  I love hearing about someone's (non-sponsored) latest workout, or amazing dinner, or supper club, or new curtains in their living room.

 Just not a million pictures of them in a dressing room with cute dresses that I should go grab right now!  Because I'm not going to drop everything, scurry out of my office or the school pick up to drive over to LOFT.  Let's be real- they have a 40-60% off sale every other day.  I will live if I don't add another super cute drop waist poly blend dress to my wardrobe this minute.

Tell me a funny story about your three year old.  Tell me about the fun party you went to this weekend.  Then once a week or so, tell me about your latest purchase.  An actual purchase, not just something you tried on then never wear again.  Something you just tried that you can't affiliate link.

Bring back reality!

Well, maybe I shouldn't go down the anti-reality rabbit hole of "curated" images and false presentations of perfect motherhood and children, amazing bodies and effortless, well everything. . . y'all will hear me ranting for days!

Anyway, I guess I just miss the blogging days of yore.  This grandma better go put in her teeth and chill in my rocker some.