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! I hope everyone had a great week. I am in a better than normal mood because I am on vacation.
My daughter has been performing every day, but we spent a bit of time together. On Friday, she brought me for deep dish (finally!). We went to Giordanos, and she had our waiter do the cheese pull. It's very different from the pizza I grew up on (being from NY), but I liked it. This is a great one for all the cheese lovers out there.
Saturday, we went to brunch with my daughter's boyfriend. This was my first time meeting him, and he was very nice. We went to a place nearby called Savanna which had a great mix of brunch items with some Ecuadorian dishes too. I was daring and got the Llapingachos. Very yummy.
Tomorrow, I will go to my daughter's performance. She only has a matinee, so we will spend the rest of the day together. On Monday, we are heading downtown and having lunch at Yardbird. We will probably do a bit of browsing while we are downtown too. The weather is supposed to be nice, and I am looking forward to getting out a bit.
On the Blog
- Monday: #AmReading - The Sweetheart List, Save What's Left
- Tuesday: Isn't It Romantic? - One Month of You, Georgie All Along
- Wednesday: #AmReading YA - You Wouldn't Dare, The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway
- Thursday: Nutshell Reviews - Family Tree, Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club
- Friday: Isn't It Romantic? - Off the Map, Fourteen Days of Valentines
- Saturday: Nutshell Reviews - Adelaide, Ten Years
Stacking the Shelves
I have been wanting to read something from Chamberlain, and the books was on sale, so I bought a book. I received quite a few invites. The first two are YA, and I already had approvals for two of the others which I am very excited about.
Purchased/Free
- Friends from Home by Lauryn Chamberlain
Invites
- The Reunion by Kit Frick
- Rule 25: Don't Fall for the Target by Charleigh Frederick
- The Christmas Wager by Holly Cassidy
- The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
- Love, Holly by Emily Stone
Read Last Week
My reading week started off with my favorites of the week. Harms really writes lovely, fun, and touching stories. I loved the premise and where the story went in Good Girls. Sarina Bowen's book was another bright spot too. I am trash for second chance romances, and this was a good one. I liked the MMC's attempt to reconnect with his family and legacy too.
I always think I am going to get so much reading done when I get days off, but it was not in the cards. I was sitting next to an older woman on the plane who talked to me for most of the flight. As if the school kids screaming next door from 8 - 5 was not distracting enough, there was a party in the school field. They blasted music from 5 - 8, and I just could not concentrate enough to read. I was glad it all ended before I went to sleep, so silver lining.
I also struggled with books later in the week. I had a few DNFs. I hate when I pick up a book with one expectation, and the author goes in a direction I don't really like. --sigh--
Find all my reviews on Goodreads
Books
- The Good Girls of Shipwreck Lane by Kelly Harms - ★★★★ 1/2
- A Little Too Late by Sarina Bowen - ★★★★ 1/2
- Coen by Sawyer Bennett - ★★★★
- The Dane of My Existence by Jessica Martin - ★★★★
- Scenes from the Hallway by Penny Reid - ★★★★
Audiobooks
- Under the Boardwalk by Carly Phillips - ★★★ 1/2
Currently Reading
CLo never disappoints! I am loving The True Love Experiment. I knew Fizzy would be a great main character, and I love Connor as her love interest. All the nods to romance books is wonderful too.
The Summer That Made Us is quite a family drama. I have shed some tears, but I am hopeful that this summer could be very healing for them.
- The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
- The Summer That Made Us by Robyn Carr
To Be Read
I got lucky when they posted the new library books this week and could not resist downloading some that were on my TBR. Very library heavy this week, and I play to finish The Madigan Mountain series. It will be my first by Yarros too.
- The Half of It by Juliette Fey
- Practice Make Perfect by Sarah Adams
- Kismet by Becky Chalsen
- A Little Too Close by Rebecca Yarros
Let us know in the comments!
Oooh meeting the boyfriend is serious business Sam! I recall when my daughter introduced him! Also enjoy your vacation!
ReplyDeleteI was happy to meet him. With the distance, we sort of had to seize the moment. I am glad she wanted me to meet him.
DeleteYay! Vacation! I don't have any vacations planned but I'm looking forward to a day off soon.
ReplyDeleteI also love my days off, especially if I don't have any other plans.
DeleteGiordanos sounds wonderful. One of the best parts of traveling is trying new places. Plus pizza!
ReplyDeleteDeep dish is interesting. I love cheese, so it worked for me. Now, I have to try a Chicago dog and a beef sandwich.
DeleteI like deep dish just once in a while. Thin crust is probably my favorite, but if I'm in the mood a dee dish sounds great :)
DeleteBeing from up north (and NYC), traditional is what we normally get, but it was a nice change
DeleteI know what you mean about vacation reading. You think you'll get a bunch done, but it rarely happens. Real life takes center stage and that's great! We ate at Giordanos when we visited Chicago, too. So good! Nice to hear you're having a good time visiting with your daughter and meeting the boyfriend. Hope you have a less chatty plane mate on the way home so maybe you can enjoy your reading.
ReplyDeleteI'm listening to and loving The True Love Experiment too! Oh, my goodness, The Summer That Made Us had me crying, but oh so good! Hope you love it, too. Robyn Carr writes some really moving standalones.
The Summer That Made Us is a sob-fest for sure. I am hoping for the best with Meg, but I feel like I won't get it. Yes! Glad you are loving True Love. Finished it yesterday. Loved it!
DeleteThat's great you're on vacation and were able to spend time with your daughter. I am so excited for the upcoming three day weekend. :)
ReplyDeleteLauren @ www.shootingstarsmag.net
I am always excited for a three day weekend. Hope it's a great one for you
DeleteI had such a smile on my face reading about your time with Kiersten (I hope I'm spelling that correctly!). I've only had deep dish once and what I remember is how long we had to wait for it. It took a long time to cook! I really enjoyed A Little Too Late and A Little Too Close. Coen was not my favorite in the Titans series (I struggled with him a bit) but it was still good.
ReplyDeleteYes! It's 45 mins for deep dish. Some people will order ahead, but we just got salads and waited. I did like Coen. I didn't feel the "secret" was major enough to put him in that mental state, but at least Bennett tried to explain it, and I was sympathetic to his losing the only family who ever showed him love - his hockey family
DeleteYay for vacation and seeing your daughter! I hope you enjoy The Seven Year Slip.
ReplyDeleteI am not getting Seven Year Slip from the publisher (I have too many June books), but I was able to put a hold in at the library, and I should get it on release day.
DeleteI'm glad you're having fun with your daughter (& boyfriend!) You said your daughter was performing. I guess I should know this already but what does she do?
ReplyDeleteWe have a place down here that just opened that has Detroit style pizza and it's basically deep dish and has the best cheese pull lol I'm jealous of all your delicious food!
Karen @For What It's Worth
My daughter dances. She competed as a kid, but now it's for fun. She performed and had a piece in the showcase. It was wonderful! We have a place by us that does, among others, what they called Detroit style, but it wasn't like deep dish. The closest I got to Detroit was the airport for a connection, I cannot attest to what the pizza should be like
DeleteOoh, meeting the boyfriend! I'm glad he's nice. Enjoy your vacation!
ReplyDeleteYes, very exciting!
DeleteI hope your vacation has been a good one. That's exciting that you got to meet the boyfriend!
ReplyDeleteThe boyfriend was very nice and seems very fond of my daughter. It was a very nice visit
DeleteI hope you're having a lovely vacation! I'll be reading The Reunion, The Christmas Wager, and Love, Holly, too. And I'm also currently reading The True Love Experiment, but I'm not very far into it yet. Cute so far!
ReplyDeleteI am going to pass on The Reunion. It's not really my thing, but I hope you love them all. I adored The True Love Experiment. It was wonderful!
DeleteI'm glad you're having a nice trip! Meeting the boyfriend... I think that's more nerve wracking on the child/partner than on the parent. I'm glad you liked him. It'll be a nice relief for them too, I'm sure!
ReplyDeletePractise makes Perfect is one I want to read! And after reading about cheesy pizza goodness I'm even more hungry than I was before I started reading! (I really should have fixed lunch before sitting down to catch up...)
Practice Makes Perfect was cute. The little sister trying to assert herself and the bodyguard trying to heal from his past. PLUS I am a big fan of the zany Walker clan.
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