Book Chatter

Sunday Matters

Hello friends! Here in Southern California, summer can go on for a long, long, time. BUT, all of a sudden it feels like fall to me. The other day we had a freak downpour that came out of nowhere, a few gloomy mornings and it’s been getting dark early. Time to light those candles!

Yesterday we got our flu shots and then had a lovely dinner with friends. The last time we had dinner was right before the initial shutdown. I was still working and I remember how unsure we were about the future of the virus. It felt really good to spend time with them after so long.

Update: the girl is negative for COVID.

Right Now:

In a little bit I will head to church for student ministry. I am having a blast in this new role I have. I get to spend a lot of time with ALL of the students and many of the leaders. It’s fun to see where these students go with their faith.

When I get home at 1:30pm, I plan to hang out on the couch with Hamnet.

This Week:

I am hosting my book club this week to discuss Hamnet. It came up on me fast. I think we will meet on my patio.

I had a mammogram the other day and it came back suspect. This often happens with me so on Thursday I have to go to a hospital in the valley for additional testing. While there, I will meet up with a co-worker for lunch. I think it will be okay but positive thoughts and prayers are welcome.

Reading:

I finished and reviewed We Were Never Here. My library hold for My Heart is a Chainsaw hasn’t come in yet for RIP. Plus, my book club meeting came up fast so I will focus on finishing Hamnet and then hopefully by then my library hold will come in.

Watching:

American Horror Story: Double Feature is really good and Only Murders in the Building with Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez has been really fun on Hulu. It reminds me of old school Clue.

Grateful for:

My daughter’s negative COVID test. She missed the entire week of school. Still feels sick but hey, it’s not COVID.
My son finally got his car back from Kia! The dealership in Wichita called him to tell him it was there so he went to pick it up. I mailed his car registration sticker to him just the day before so now he has the car to put it on.
Time. I’ve been collecting things to donate and I’ve had the time to finally sort through it all. A lot of it came from my daughter’s discards. The pup thinks we did away with her LOL.

Have a wonderful Sunday and check in if you can!

We Were Never Here
By Andrea Bartz
Ballantine Books, 9781984820464, August 2021, 320pp.

The Short of It:

Once I got into the story I couldn’t put it down.

The Rest of It:

Emily and Kristen are best friends. Kristen pushes Emily to do things that she would not normally do. Emily has fun with her and considers her more of a sister than anything else. Kristen, always up for adventure, convinces Emily to travel to another country. But while there, something goes terribly wrong and they are forever bound by their secrets.

After a year, Kristen decides it’s time for another vacation, this time to Chile. Emily hasn’t quite recovered from her last trip and this time, she has a boyfriend but Kristen, persistent as ever, convinces Emily to make the trip. Although Emily is loyal to Kristen, this trip doesn’t sit right with her and she begins to feel as if Kristen is pulling all the strings.

Well, as you can probably guess, something happens on this trip too! Emily cannot believe that she has gotten herself into this mess, again! And once again, Kristen is calling the shots and acting like nothing is wrong. How can that be normal? How can she not be bothered by what happened and what they’ve done? After a little digging, Emily discovers that Kristen is no stranger to tragedy and that she needs to find a way out of this relationship.

It took me a little while to get into this story. The characters are not all that likable, especially Kristen. And yes, if I am being honest the story seemed a little far-fetched but once I got into it, I was into it and flipping those pages to find out how it would end. Without giving anything away, I DO have some questions about the ending.

If you need a book to distract you from the every day routine, this is a fun one to pick up. Just give it a little bit of time to get going.

Recommend.

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

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