Book Chatter

Sunday Matters

Sunday snuck up on me. As you saw from an earlier post, graduation is almost complete. One down, another to go.

This past Thursday my son surprised us with another visit. He is good as not telling you what his plans are. He likes to just come through the door. The only thing is that the pup can tell he is coming even from a block away which is pretty impressive since she has never seen or heard his new car. He walked in, we hit the market and got stuff to grill plant-based burgers. He had stopped for fresh strawberries so we made strawberry shortcake too.

Right Now:

He came, he went. He will be headed back to San Luis Obispo today to finish up school and to gather up some more of his things. Not sure if this will be the last trip or not. His car is smaller now. We may have to drive up at some point to grab the rest.

Nothing else planned for the day besides a long walk which will have to be timed for optimal weather (it’s getting pretty hot) and my son’s departure.

This Week:

My daughter starts her camp training this week. Grad ceremony for #2 at the end of this week. Some work items I need to work on in preparation for the fall semester. Yes, I am starting early because I will be moving my daughter to Missouri during the most critical time for my campus. Hoping to get as much set as possible before I go. I don’t have anyone to back me up.

Reading:

10 Books of Summer 2021 and #VentureForth is in full swing. I am glad to have a list of books I want to get to because I was just approved for some really good ones and now I need to figure out a way to get them all read. Recently approved for: Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson, The Guide by Peter Heller, Taste by Stanley Tucci, and The Family Plot by Megan Collins. See what I mean? It’s a good problem to have.

This weekend I am picking up again with Summer Darlings.

Watching:

My son introduced us to Barry on HBO Max. It has Bill Hader and Henry Winkler. It’s quite funny and clever.

Grateful for:

We finally have a move-in date for my daughter. I have secured a hotel room for the week in Missouri. Need to check out the rental car situation. If I can get a rental, because there is a nationwide shortage, then I will book a flight. If not, then we will drive. I’ve padded move-in by a few days on each side to allow for travel and shopping.
Plants. I am eternally grateful for all of my new plant friends that I picked up during the shutdown. They have given me great joy and are thriving! I’ve split them into multiple pots now because they are doing so well. I had a horrible track record with plants before this so this is really something. This photo is an example of how my home is covered in plants now.

plants

Enjoy your weekend!

People We Meet On Vacation
By Emily Henry
Berkley, 9781984806758, May 11, 2021, 384pp.

The Short of It:

Not quite the resolution I wanted or needed but was entertaining and enjoyable nonetheless.

The Rest of It:

This pretty much sums it up:

Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love. ~ Indiebound

Poppy and Alex meet in college. They share a ride home. Two complete opposites. It reminded me a lot of the movie When Harry Met Sally. They don’t really have much in common but they vacation together once a year, even if they are with other people which is interesting. Can men be friends with women? They believe so.

The story alternates between past summers and the current one. The one where Poppy finally realizes that she is in love with Alex and has been for years. The thing is, she doesn’t think Alex is in love with her, but after a recent break-up she tempts fate and sends him a text to see if he’d be interested in a summer trip. She is a travel writer and what her employer can pay for a trip is a lot more than what she can afford on her own so why not take advantage of it?

There is a lot of back and forth with this story. A lot of he said, she said but also past and present time jumping. It took me awhile to get into it, maybe 60 pages? But I really enjoyed Alex so I stayed with the book. Poppy was all over the place but sweet and well-meaning. Together, they seemed wrong for each other but then again, opposites attract.

Towards the end, there was a lot of me thinking, let’s wrap it up which probably isn’t a good sign. This is one of those reads that I enjoyed but didn’t love or adore. As for the title, I pondered it. People We Meet on Vacation. In my opinion, the story has little to do with the people they meet. It has everything to do with them meeting up with each other every year and having to re-learn their likes and dislikes. Years can change people. Bad relationships can change people too. But good friends? They can last a lifetime.

I’ve not read Henry’s other books so I can’t compare this story with her others, but there was a enough in this book to like for me to try another book by her.

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

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