Quick Lit: August 2015

Hello there! It's been a couple months since my last Quick Lit entry. Unfortunately I haven't had much time to read lately, so my list is still pretty short. But it's something, right? I'm working on a few more books right now - the fourth in the Murder Squad series has been languishing on my Kindle for weeks! But I'm working on it :) 

Faithful Place is the next book by Tana French in the Murder Squad series. I really enjoyed this one. It is told through the eyes of Frank Mackey, who appeared in the previous French book. Frank believed the love of his life stood him up the night they agreed to runaway together, but when her suitcase shows up in his old neighborhood he finds himself investigating what really happened that night. One of my favorites in the Murder Squad series! ($8.99 for Kindle)

I picked Life Drawing up at the library on a whim. It was in the New Arrival pile, and it looked intriguing. I'm so glad I did, because I really enjoyed it! It starts out with the narrator telling you that her husband is dead, but by the end of the book I'd completely forgotten that part and was shocked by the ending. I'd recommend this one for sure! ($9.18 for Kindle)

Dead Wake was another book I pulled from the New Arrival pile. It is non-fiction, which I don't do too often. But I've always been intrigued by the sinking of the Lusitania, and how it affected America's entry into WWI. The chapters alternate between the actual events occurring on the Lusitania and what was simultaneously happening in Britain, America, and on the German submarine that would ultimately sink the Lusitania. If you have any interest in WWI or the Lusitania, this one is for you. ($3.99 for Kindle)

I Was Here is by Gayle Forman who wrote If I Stay, which I have not read but I saw the movie previews everywhere last year. This book was definitely YA. It was a quick read and just had that YA feel, but it was good. It tells the story of a teenage girl who is dealing with the suicide of her best friend. A little dark (it is about suicide, after all) but a good read. ($9.99 for Kindle)

I listened to Wicked Girls on Audible. It was recommended in the same breath as Girl on the Train and Gone Girl, but I wasn't really into it. There were moments when I would turn it off because it was infuriating. I think it may be a book that would be much better read than heard. It flashes between events that happened in the 1980's and present day, telling the story of two women who were convicted of murdering a child back then and what they are doing now. It took me months to make it through this book. If you want to give it a chance, definitely read it instead of trying Audible. ($12.09 for Kindle)
 

And that's it for this month! I'll have a couple for September, and I hope to be back on a monthly basis now. I know some people really look forward to these, which makes me super happy! 

Have a great Saturday, my friends. I'll see you next week. 

​Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...

Farewell AT&T: A TV Edition of Week's Links

Today I did a hard thing: I returned our DVRs to AT&T. Yes, we have officially gotten rid of cable. (Or more specifically, AT&T U-Verse Television). I've bemoaned the service we've had for awhile, but we were under a contract with them. The day the contract was up I called to cancel and purchased some old school rabbit ears.

And that's one of the problems with U-Verse. They lock you in for yearly increments with really great bundle prices, but once that year is up the price for the exact same service doubles. Of course, if that was our only issue with them I would've accepted when they offered to extend our discount for a year. 

No, as I explained to the very nice man on the phone, even with a discount it feels silly to be paying so much for something that drives me crazy so often. While the actual service, the channels and all that, worked fine most of the time, the customer service (or lack thereof) was the real issue. 

But I've talked about all that before. (If you really want to know, you can find that post here.) Today I want to share some TV related links!

In case you missed it, there was a Gilmore Girls reunion! I read several articles about it, but this Mashable post was the best. Mostly because the bonus highlight made me cry. (They left a chair on the stage at the reunion in honor of Edward Herrman.)

And then there's this post about which Friends character you are based on your Myers-Briggs type. I was not happy with my result - apparently I'm a Ross! 

I could link to a lot of articles about the season finale of Outlander. I have so many thoughts on it, but I've particularly liked hearing what the folks over at Story Wonk had to say about it. I've been binge listening to the Scot and the Sassenach podcast, and their insight has been great. 

As a matter of fact, even if our AT&T contract had ended earlier in the month, I still would've waited to cancel until after that finale. There's just something about that story that sticks with me! 

But it's over now, and we are without cable or a DVR. Is it going to suck a little bit? Yes, I'm sure it will. But I lived for several years without cable and survived, and James has as well. Plus we have Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime so it isn't like we don't have options to watch television. 

Do you have cable? If you don't, what do you do instead?

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...

Quick Lit: May 2015

The linkup for this monthly feature actually opened on Wednesday, but I always have this planned for the 15th of the month so I wasn't bumping it up! Plus this month's isn't terribly impressive, so I didn't see the need to rush it.

Now let's dig into the sad little list of mine!

The Likeness was unputdownable for me! I struggled hard to get started in the first Dublin Murder Squad book, but now I'm hooked on the series. This book is told from Cassie Maddox's point of view as she goes undercover to investigate a murder. I loved the descriptions of the house and all the eclectic characters within. I had to wait to check out the third book from the library, but I just started it yesterday. It's definitely coming with me to Vegas today! ($8.99 for Kindle)

The Moment of Everything was in the New Release section of our library, and I picked it up on a whim. It takes place in San Francisco, in the tech start-up world, but we spend most of the story in the Dragonfly, a used bookstore. There's romance and family drama, heartbreak and death. It was a decent read. Nothing special, but worth picking up with your library card. ($9.99 for Kindle)

It took me ages to finish Wild. I read it over my lunch breaks on my Kindle. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. It was just fine. I couldn't relate to Cheryl, but I did enjoy reading about her time on the PCT. I honestly could've done without the flashbacks to her doing drugs and the on-again off-again marriage. It is a memoir though, so it wouldn't have been much without those! I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm hoping I'll enjoy it more than the book.

I finished up listening to all the Harry Potter audiobooks and immediately got back on the waiting list to start from the beginning again. I don't feel like I need to recap the final two books. The world knows what happens, but damn, JK Rowling can write a good story. I want to crawl into the Harry Potter world and live there.

Speaking of Harry Potter, you may want to check out the podcast Dear Mr. Potter. It's a part of the Story Wonk podcast series, and it's an in depth look at Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Right now they are just covering the first book in the series, but it is still so good! I'm nerding out.

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...