Review: No Exit

No Exit
By Taylor Adams
William Morrow, 9780062875655, January 2019, 352pp.

The Short of It:

A fast-paced, tightly-woven tale of survival.

The Rest of It:

On her way to see her dying mother, Darby finds herself stranded in a blizzard, unable to continue. Without snow tires and one broken windshield wiper and no hope of the snow letting up, she stops at a rest stop to ride it out. Inside the rest stop are four strangers. Outside in the parking lot is a van with a young girl caged inside. What should Darby do? What would you do?

This was a terrific read. From the very beginning you find yourself running along with Darby. It’s relentless! It’s twisty in all the right places and some of it, quite honestly, was pretty clever. There are some surprises but the real winner is Darby. Such a likable, tenacious character. You will be rooting for her at every turn.

Adams did a really good job handling all the loose ends too. I was pretty impressed. Plus, it’s just one of those books that make you love reading all over gain. The act of pushing all your commitments aside just so you can enjoy another page or two. You know that feeling?

If you haven’t read No Exit yet, and you like to be held captive by your reading (who doesn’t?), then find a copy and jump in. I read it in a mere three hours on a work day!

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Sunday Matters: Preparation

Sunday Matters

This past week was pretty good. Still stressing over end-of-the-year stuff but the overall vibe of the week was better especially as Friday approached.

Right Now:

Guys, I am completely psyching myself out. This time next week, I will be on a bus full of high schoolers going to summer camp. I’ve done it before, but you may recall that I had a back injury the last time. An injury that happened as I was putting my heavy suitcase on the bus! A slipped disc, metal bunk beds and no drugs in sight made for a very long week. Amazing things happened that week, but me surviving was one of them.

Hume Lake

I do not want a repeat of that experience but as you know, my health has been dicey these past few months and I am worried about my ability to keep up. It’s so physical and I am not competitive at all. Amazing Race type activities do not agree with my body.

Please think good thoughts for me. Pray for me, if you do that. I would appreciate it. I am a little overwhelmed by all that needs to be done before I leave too.

This Week:

I will be preparing for the trip but my daughter is also starting her online summer classes while school is still in session.  I have to take this week to  make sure she can access what she needs before I am gone for a week with no signal and no Wi-Fi.

I am not a good packer, which is why my suitcase weighed so much the last time. But we have to bring stuff to decorate the cabin, costumes and the like. I mean, I need a lot of stuff for a trip like this and I have yet to purchase any of it.

Reading:

I finished No Exit by Taylor Adams. The review will be up later this week but man, was it a page-turner!

Now, I am reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee for a discussion group later this month. It’s been out for quite some time, but it’s really very good. Pulled me in right away.

Watching:

After watching All in the Family / The Jeffersons Live last week, we’ve been binge watching The Jeffersons non-stop. I had forgotten how great that show was.

New Things I’ve Tried:

I don’t have brands to share yet because I am in a try-me phase, but I’ve started to use facial oils with retinol. It’s weird to put OIL on my face since I’ve always battled oily skin but it seems like a lot of these retinol treatments are in oil and for some reason, my skin is loving them.  At this age, my skin feels dead. Not a good feeling so I am hoping the retinol jump-starts cell growth.

Grateful for:

I am grateful for another opportunity to do camp but also pretty terrified. Plus, my daughter won’t be with me this time (with all the stuff she has going this summer) and it feels weird.

Did you ever go to summer camp as a teen?