December's First Reads

Eight books again

1. Suspense - Unspeakable Things
2. Contemporary Fiction - Beginner's Guide to Free Fall
3. Psychological Thriller - I Choose You
4.  Crime Fiction - Lost Hills
5. Historical Fiction - Toward the Midnight Sun
6. Family Drama - This is Not How It Ends
7. Nonfiction - We Will Rise
8. Children's picture book - Naughty Ninja Takes a Bath

The suspense sounds dark and icky.  Contemporary fiction is another family drama, sounds blah.  Psych thriller is all abduction and murder.  Crime fiction also sounds abduction and murder.  Historical fiction is the Klondike gold rush, so not another WWII book. "Family drama" seems to mean a will-they/won't-they romance. The non-fiction is basically the basketball version of "We Are Marshall" but heavy on the sports information.

Looks like the historical fiction is it for this month.

November's First Reads

Eight choices again this month.

• Thriller - Nine Elms by Bryndza
• Suspense - Home Truths by Seskis
• Contemporary fiction - Holly Banks Full of Angst
• Historical fiction - Once Night Falls
• Suspense - In the Dark by White
• True crime - If You Tell by Olsen
• Picture book - This Book is Gray by Ward
• Non-fiction - That Wild Country by Kenyon

I'm not a fan of thrillers, suspense, or true crime, so that knocks my options down a lot.  Once Night Falls is about Nazi-occupied Italy, and I'm kind of over WWII historical fiction.  Holly Banks Full of Angst sounds too fluffy.  That Wild Country actually looks interesting anyway, so I guess that's the one. 

First Reads - October

Amazon's First Reads choices this month:

1. Domestic suspense - Under Lying by Janelle Harris
2. Family drama (reviews not god) - The Puzzle of You by Leah Mercer
3. Legal Thriller - An Equal Justice by Chad Zunker
4. Romantic comedy - Your Perfect Year by Charlotte Lucas (translate)
5. Historical fiction - A Transcontinental Affair by Jody Daynard
6. Contemporary fiction - Room To Breathe by Liz Talley
7. Mystery - Broken Glass by Alexander Hartung
8. Sci Fi - The Last Dance by Martin L. Shoemaker

The drama has lousy reviews.  Not in the mood for suspense or thrillers. The mystery is the first in a new series.  The contemporary fiction sounds more like a rom-com, with a divorced woman dating her daughter's ex-boyfriend.

So, sci-fi, or historical fiction? Sci-fi is 450 pages, so too long for reading on the phone, for me.  

Tracfone, you drive me crazy

Tracfone is fine, as long as you don't expect any help, and make sure not to let your phone go inactive.  If you try to reactivate a phone that's been sitting in the cabinet for a few months, though, may the gods have mercy on you. 

The Boy has an overnight field trip this week, and was desperate for a cell phone to keep in touch.  So, we went to reactivate the phone we got him for last year's field trip.  Easy peasy, right?

NOT

At 2:00 on Sunday, I tried to add the airtime to the phone.  Yes, I should have started a few days earlier.  Anyway.  Error message - invalid SIM card.  Called the number in the error message.  After going in a few circles because the phone number wasn't in their system (more on that later), I was routed to an actual person (who I will bet is not actually named Francis, but whatever).  All I have to do is go to a retailer (Walmart, Walgreens, etc) and get a Bring Your Own Phone SIM kit, for a mere 99 cents.

Off I go at 3:30 to Walgreens.  Find one BYOP kit, with a $1 sticker on it.  Which rings up at $9.99.  Um, excuse me, the price sticker says $1.  Manager is not inclined to sell it for the sticker price, so off I go to Walmart #1.  Kits there are $9.88, but sold out.  %^&$%^& !!!  Off across town to Walmart #2.  Kits are $9.99, in stock, but locked on the peg.  And no one around to unlock it.  Husband texts me and finds 99 cent kits on Walmart.com, but store pickup isn't an option, and we don't have time for shipping.   I check Target.com (using Walmart's wi-fi) and they have 99 cent kits with in-store pickup.  Order one, go home to wait for confirmation. 

Oops.  Target email says they're out of stock.  *&^(*&^*&%   Find the SIM card from the LAST time we went through this, but it's a full-size SIM, not a micro SIM.  Ugh.  Stop at Walmart on the way to the in-law's, and buy the stupid $10 kit.  Come home, go through the online process, and again no luck.  Back to phone support.  FINALLY get things possibly lined out, but the phone still isn't showing the airtime.  Phone support says AT&T is having delays, should be okay by morning.  Call back if not. 

LUCKILY, by midnight the phone time showed up, and The Boy went off on his field trip with 120 minutes of air time (120 talk or 60 texts). 

So Tracfone shenanigans ate up a full 3 hours of my day.  I had other stuff I wanted to do, but NOPE. 

Amazon First Reads - September

September is another month when Prime members get two First Reads books instead of 1. This month's choices:

1. Thriller - Patricia Cornwell
2. Contemporary Fiction - Every Thing You Are
3. Historical Fiction The Dressmaker's Gift
4. Psychological Thriller
5. True Crime- The Man Who Played with Fire
6. Suspense
7. Fantasy - The Vine Witch
8. Childrens

So, I don't do thrillers/suspense/true crime, which means I'm down to 3 choices anyway. Although, that true-crime from Steig Larssen sounds interesting.  Maybe the library will get it later.  So, historical fiction looks like a yes, which leaves the second choice the contemporary fiction, or fantasy. 

I suggested a couple of these for the library to consider purchasing, and they're actually going to get the contemporary fiction and fantasy, so I guess I can get the true-crime as my e-book.  

Estate sales and thrift stores

Today's finds:

Estate sale - Breyers (yay!), a London knock-off Beanie Baby, and a 100% cotton sheet.  Part of the Breyers are for a friend.

Thrift store - postcards from France, corks, an ABBA cd for The Boy, and a Babylon 5 soundtrack CD.

August First Reads

Choices for August:

• Psychological Thriller - Here to Stay by Mark Edwards
• Contemporary Fiction - The Secrets of Lost Stones by Melissa Payne
• Historical Fiction - The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory
• Thriller - Black Nowhere by Reece Hirsch
• War Fiction - The First Stone by Carsten Jensen
• Non-fiction - Those Who Wander: America's Street Kids by Vivian Ho
• Literary Fiction - The Man With No Borders by Richard Morais
• Picture Book - A Tiger Like Me by Michael Engler

So, thrillers aren't my thing, and picture books are better on paper.  That takes three out of the running.  War fiction is something I'll read, but don't want to own, so two more are out (the historical fiction is also WWII related fiction).  The contemporary fiction selection doesn't sound interesting to me, either.  So now I'm down to the non-fic and lit-fic choices.  And the non-fic sounds kind of depressing, so I guess it's the lit fic this month.  

Amazon First Reads for July

We get a bonus in July, so 2 free books instead of 1.  This month's choices:

• A Fire Sparkling, Julianne Maclean (WWII fiction)
• What You Did (Psychological suspense)
• Forgotten Bones, by Vivian Barz (mystery)
• Relative Fortunes (Historical Fiction)
• The Boy Between Worlds (Biography)
• Pirates Don't Go To Kindergarten (picture book)
• They Could Have Named Her Anything (Literary fiction)
• Prognosis: A Memoir of My Brain (Memoir)

Picture books are out, they don't look well on the screen (to me).  Psychological suspense isn't my thing.  WWII fiction, Historical fiction (those overlap, IMO), mystery (especally cozies) and biography/memoir are all things I read a lot.  The mystery looks a little dark, and the memoir doesn't grab me, so that cuts it down to 4, and two of those look like ones I might read, but not want to own.  So, off to the library website to see if they have any of these pre-ordered. A Fire Sparkling is one of the iffy ones, and the library has it pre-ordered.  Relative Fortunes is a definite - I like Jazz Age, and the cover is neat.  Reviews on They Could Have Named Her Anything are all over the place, while Boy Between Worlds has consistently high reviews.  So, there it is. 

This month, I'm getting Relative Fortunes, and A Boy Between Worlds as e-books. 

Amazon First Reads for June

So, this month's choices:

1. False Step (domestic suspense)
2. Along the Broken Bay (historical fiction)
3. Trance (psych thriller)
4. Stars in his Eyes (Biog fiction)
5. the Blue Period (literary fiction)
6. The Lie (memoir)
7. Spiky (kids)
8. Still I Miss You (world lit)

So, mark off the psychological thriller, domestic suspense, and picture book.  After reading the reviews already on Amazon and Goodreads, I seem to be down to Broken Bay and The Blue Period.   Not a big Picasso fan, so Along the Broken Bay it is. 

Book jackpot

I worked on my project of putting clear Mylar covers on the more-fragile dust jackets I've got, over the weekend.  That included my set of the Wrinkle in Time trilogy, which I finally found in hardback, with matching jackets.  And as I was covering things, I noticed this:

Knock me over with a feather! That looks like a legit signature, based on the E and the g. 

That gives me, at rough count, one signed L'Engle, 1 Beverly Cleary, 2 Anne McCaffrey books (thanks to winning a trivia contest and having a friend with a sister who took her to conferences), three Marguerite Henry books, plus Tamora Pierce and multiple Doranna Durgin books.  That would be the kid-book Holy Trinity and a fantasy Trinity.

Amazon Prime First Reads - March - and Goodreads

For March, it was a toss-up between Zoo Nebraska and I'm Fine and Neither are You.  I ended up going with the second after reading reviews of Zoo Nebraska about the length.  I may save it for a print book from the library.  I did suggest Beyond the Shadow of Night to the library.

1. A Lily in the Light - kidnapping, missing kid, ballet.  Sounds depressing
2. I'm Fine and Neither are You - contemporary fiction 
3. Wholly Unraveled - memoir about child abuse and religion. Ugh
4. Beyond the Shadow of Night - WWII fiction
5. The Rescue - thriller, not my thing
6. Zoo Nebraska - could be interesting

In other news, I've discovered a bonus to Goodreads giveaways.  For some reason, the Kindle giveaways (or at least the two I've won so far) come with ebook credit at Amazon.  I don't know why, but I've got a few dollars to spend on ebooks now, so I'm okay with that.

Amazon Prime - First Reads for February

Trying to decide which book to go for this month on the First Reads list (a Prime benefit that I missed out on for years, stupidly).  The library, at the moment, doesn't have any of these on the pre-order list.  I may have to fix that.

1.  Where the Forest Meets the Stars, by Glendy Vanderah - Contemporary Fiction.
2. The Perfect Child, by Lucinda Berry - Domestic Suspense.  Looks interesting, but more along the lines of a train wreck you can't look away from.
3. The Broken Circle, by Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller - Memoir.  Probably going to go with this one.
4. The Fever King, by Victoria Lee - Young Adult.  Also looks interesting, but I'm still over the whole post-apocalyptic thing.  Too depressing, the way things are these days.
5. What the Wind Knows, by Amy Harmon - historical Fiction.  Ireland in 1916.  Might have to suggest this one to the library too.
5.  It's Not Hansel and Gretel - picture book. 

More lack of will power

More proof that I sometimes lack willpower:

Michaels had a series of painting kits, almost a paint-by-number thing, with a printed outline canvas, paints, and palette.  $10 before Christmas.  I found one at the local store, 70% off, and for some reason came home and looked on the website.  Found a bunch more, but resisted.  Then, today, 80% off.  So I bought a dozen. 

Why????  Who knows.  No more new projects, though.  I need to start, and finish, some of the projects I've already bought.

Off the frugality wagon

So, while trying to be more frugal, I managed to spend

$20 at Michaels on stuff to finish projects (but I'm NOT starting anything new)
$30 at Hallmark on clearance ornaments
$47 on bird feed - but that'll last a few months
$7 at Amazon - but at least there was a discount on the book for whatever reason, so it was cheaper than used.  But it's still a book I already own but can't freaking find.

Better luck tomorrow.