Sundays with Sam is a combination of Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews.
My Week in Review
Happy Sunday and Welcome March! I was super optimistic last week because of the great weather, but alas, a cold front has moved in to spoil my mood. The afternoon should be ok (40s) but the mornings will be in the low 20s for a few days. BOO! Fake spring was great though.
It was a typical week for the most part. I did have Wednesday off for my eye exam. I was annoyed. This year, I signed up for the eye insurance since my health insurance stopped covering eye exams when I went for my dry eye exam. I go to the eye doctor, and they informed me I had to have separate appointments if I would like the service covered. I was not pleased. I did my exam since I still had enough medication but I needed new glasses. I have been wearing glasses that were over 10 years old. I got progressives at one point, but I didn't do well with them and never wore them.
Well, let me tell you, it cost an arm and leg for my glasses - $710. I have a frame benefit that is supposed to be up to $180, and then they told me the second pair would be half price. I actually found decent frames for $170, but then the receipt said I only got $123 in my insurance benefit. The receipt made no sense. I am going to have them explain it to me when I go to pick up my glasses because it references three different frame names, and I only got two pairs of glasses. The pricing is mysterious too. There are four numbers, but what are they for? I saw the two frame prices ($479, $170), but they don't break it out for the lenses. I was confused.
I went to Lens Crafter at the mall across the street for my glasses. I don't go there often since Lord & Taylor closed, and I was shocked at how many stores were empty. It was depressing. This was the mall I shopped at since my teens. I know my township sold it last year, but they have been hush-hush about what will happen to it. It doesn't look good to me though.
On the Blog
- Monday: Isn't It Romantic? - Scot and Bothered, Starting Over in Starshine Cove
- Tuesday: TTT - Historically Speaking
- Wednesday: CWW - Love and Other Paradoxes, Two Can Play
- Thursday: Library Loans - Feels Like Falling, Sweet Bean Paste
- Friday: Six Degrees of Separation
- Saturday: Sloth Goes Places - Washington
Let's Discuss
- Jen talks Veronica Mars books and books like Veronica Mars
- The Orangutan Librarian discusses toxic love affairs in Literature.
Stacking the Shelves
I got a ton of invites. Not many were suited to my reading tastes, but it's always nice to be invited. I heard so many great things about Frank & Red that I happily one-clicked when I saw it for $0.99. The other two books were free. I try not to download too many book, but both seemed fun, and I need more fun.
Purchased/Free
- Don't You Wanna Stay by Kait Nolan
- Change on the Fly by Maren Moore
- Frank & Red by Matt Coyne
Netgalley/Edelweiss
- Game Point by Meg Jones
Invites
- The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr
- Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam
- When Javi Dumped Mari by Mia Sosa
- Takes One to Know One by Lissette Decos
- Under the Fading Sky by Cynthia Kadohata
- Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler
- Our Last Wild Days by Anna Bailey
Read Last Week
I had to blow up my TBR this week because my library loan situation is out of control. Why, WHY do holds always come through at once? I am working hard to get these books read, but I thinking I may have to go on airplane mode. Fingers crossed it doesn't come down to that.
This year has been great for me so far. I had another amazing week with THREE 5-star books. I wasn't surprised that I loved the newest short story from Alice Hoffman. I am so invested in these sisters, but the other two were nice surprises.
Work in Progress was such a fantastic road trip book. I believe it is being marketed as a rom-com, and it is super funny, but it was the female main character's personal journey that meant so much more to me. I was really swept up in the all female literary bus tour, and how these "mature" women were there to support Alice while she figured out her future.
I also loved Three Days in June. I had read another book by Tyler which I enjoyed, but there was something special about this story. I think it was because it took a turn I was not expecting, and the ending was so feel-good. I didn't see it coming, and let me tell you, the happy tears flowed.
Find all my reviews on Goodreads
Books
- Work in Progress by Kate McKenzie - ★★★★★
- Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin - ★★★★ 1/2
- Three Days in June by Anne Tyler - ★★★★★
- The Folklore of Forever by Sarah Hogle -★★★★
- The Bookstore Keepers by Alice Hoffman - ★★★★★
Audiobooks
- Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood - ★★★★
Currently Reading
I was all in on Out of the Woods after reading the author's note. This is going to be a fantastic marriage-in-crisis romance. I am about 25% of the way though, and I am LOVING it!
I needed a book for my key word challenge, and when I saw a Georgia Nicholson book fit the bill, I thought, why not! She really is a wacky and wonderful character. It's a shame Rennison passed away so young. I would have loved to have seen Georgia grow up.
- Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young
- Love is a Many Trousered Thing by Louise Rennison
To Be Read
- What Happened to the McCrays by Tracey Lange
- A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler
- Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine
- It Happened One Christmas Eve by Kirsty Greenwood
Let us know in the comments!
YAY for fake spring! Hopefully that means that real spring is soon to be on its way! Wow, I think the longest I’ve gone with wearing the same prescription glasses is about 2-3 years and those were in the early days when I was only -1/-1.5. My eyes have gotten progressively worse over the years as I’m now -4.5. It’s terrible! 😫 But oof, $710 is steep! I hope they last you for many years, Sam.
ReplyDeleteI recently got Frank & Red too! It’s one of my Popsugar prompt options so I’m hoping to read it sooner rather than later. I hope it’s as feel-good as everyone says it is. You got so many great invites! That Mia Sosa romance looks like it’ll be so much fun. Also, THREE 5-star reads in a week?! I’m so jealous. I’ve been feeling slumpy and it hasn’t been great, haha. I hope you enjoy Out of the Woods and all your other upcoming reads. Have a great week ahead!
I had LASIK in my 20s, so my distance was only a little off. I wore those glasses only really when it was dark and I needed to see far away (driving at night, the theatre). My close vision is not great but I can turn the font up most of the time. So, I made due. Out of the Woods was great. It made me cry multiple times which is a sign of greatness for me.
Delete"the mornings will be in the low 20s for a few days"
ReplyDelete😱 🥶
The glasses thing sounds shady...Also, I only wear (cheap) reading glasses (drugstore glasses, you could say), since I don't need any other type of correction, thus I'm not an expert when it comes to prices, but that sounds like a hell of a sum.
SEVEN invites?!? It's actually a good thing that not all of them are up your alley...
I now wear my reading glasses all day at work, so I want nice ones.
DeleteThat's about what I paid for 2 pairs of glasses + eye exam. I don't have any health insurance. I would be pissed if I had insurance and still paid that much.
ReplyDeleteThis was without the exam, just the glasses. It was a lot at once. I never got the eye insurance before because the coverage wasn't great but then they stopped letting my ophthalmologist do a free eye exam on me. That was like upwards of $100 and if I did the refraction (which I do), even more. I just want to know why I didn't get the full frame benefit. It's not like the coverage is that great, but I want to get what I can.
DeleteI'd be ticked about the eye exam shenanigans! I heard you can take your prescription to Costco and have frames done up for a lot cheaper. I need to go to my eye doctor. I kept putting it off last year. I have a request in at my library for Three Days in June. Looking forward to it. I had an invite for the new Sarah Hogle, too, but I've seen some really low ratings. Not sure I want to wade in.
ReplyDeleteI did take my script from the doctor to Lens Crafter. I wanted to go somewhere I could use my insurance benefit. Three Days in June was really good. This is an author who has been writing books since the 60s and won a Pulitzer for a reason. The Hogle book was madcap and I liked it. Everyone wants her to keep writing her first book which this is not. I thought it was a lot of fun and she fleshed out the magic more in this one too.
DeleteProgressive glasses cost an arm and a leg here too Sam! For my last glasses I was over 1000 USD!
ReplyDeleteI didn't get progressives. I couldn't see right with them. I got a distance and readers. I thought I would save some with the insurance. I was wrong.
DeleteI hate trying to decipher the eye doctor bills. It makes no sense. I have been getting my glasses at Warby Parker instead of the eye doctor and just paying for them. then I use my benefits for contacts. Either way-the coverage is never great and I don't understand it.
ReplyDeleteI think we have a Warby Parker at the other mall, but I wanted to go somewhere on my insurance. Not sure it panned out for me.
DeleteYikes, glasses are so expensive. My health care insurance doesn't cover any dental or eye exams. So any of that is out of pocket for me. I hate it. I bought a few pairs of reading glasses because I needed them and haven't been to an eye doctor with the prices they charge.
ReplyDeleteEye exam isn't terrible ($70 - $100), but my cost to add eye coverage was low and I supposedly would save on glasses too.
DeleteThey had fake spring at home as well, but snow today and rain for the next three days. I'm loving the high 70s, low 80s here. It sounds to me like someone should definitely explain that bill to you. I know glasses are not cheap, so I'm glad I haven't needed them since my cataract surgery. I loved Frank and Red and hope you do as well, Sam. I got lots of invites this week that I passed on, so I know the feeling. I hope you have a wonderful week.
ReplyDeleteMy mom had her cataract done and needed to get readers. She was so mad. Yes, I am looking forward to reading Frank & Red. I have only seen great reviews.
Delete