The Relentless Weekly (Bi-Weekly?) Wrap-Up 09/21/14

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 14 Comments

On the Blog:

I reviewed 100 Days of Real Food by Lisa Leake

I’ve decided to join in R.I.P. by participating in the readalong of The Haunting of Hill House

I put together a gif review of Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer.

Read:

The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar

Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer

The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell

Currently Reading:

So We Read On by Maureen Corrigan

Upcoming:

The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain

Around the Blogosphere:

Bloggiesta is happening NOW! I didn’t officially sign up but I’ve been working on a few of the mini-challenges. I also participated in a Twitter chat. Those are always good, clean fun. Did you join in?

Diversiverse is another thing that is happening. Yet another event that I didn’t have the time (nor good sense?) to sign up for. My gal pal Katie did, and has a fab review of The Joy Luck Club up on Words for Worms right now. Check it out!

In My Neck of the Woods:

I’ll get the bad news out of the way quickly: I’ve had to drop all of the online college classes I was taking. A few personal reasons crashed up against a couple of financial reasons and boom. I don’t know if I’ll give it another go next semester or if I’ve come to the end of that particular road. Time will tell.

The shore in front of our hotel

In good news: Last weekend was the most glorious of all weekends. I spent some time with the hubby. ALONE. We couldn’t even remember the last time we’d spent a night alone. Perhaps it was sometime in 1943? (Ha ha, just kidding. I know we’re old, but we’re not that old.)

The fascinating Split Rock Lighthouse

We drove up the North Shore of Lake Superior. I cannot even tell you how beautiful the area is. We stayed at a lovely lodge on the lake (honeymoon suite!), we took a tour at the Split Rock Lighthouse, we chatted with a very inebriated smoked fish monger/bartender. The combination of nerdy history and romance was perfect for this girl.

It was just what we needed to recharge our batteries. Now we’re back to real life. Real life feels better after a quick jaunt up the North Shore.

What’s happening in your life? What are you reading? Making? Doing? Exploring? Let me know!

Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer – A Review in Gifs

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 15 Comments
Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer
Publisher: Putnam/Penguin
Publication Date: September 9, 2014
Source: Putnam/Penguin
Description:
“A beautifully drawn study of what is at risk when you lose control of your own life.  Unique, gripping, and viscerally moving — this impressive debut novel heralds the arrival of an extremely talented writer.” —Jodi Picoult,New York Times bestselling author of The Storyteller and Lone Wolf

Destined to be a book club favorite, a heart-wrenching debut about two people who must decide how much they’re willing to sacrifice for love.

Mara Nichols, a successful lawyer, and devoted wife and adoptive mother, has recently been diagnosed with a terminal disease. Scott Coffman, a middle school teacher, has been fostering an eight-year-old boy while the boy’s mother serves a jail sentence. Scott and Mara both have five days left until they must say good-bye to the ones they love the most. Through their stories, Julie Lawson Timmer explores the individual limits of human endurance, the power of relationships, and that sometimes loving someone means holding on, and sometimes it means letting go.  

My Thoughts:

There are no words. Let me show you how this book made me FEEL.

Yep. Something like that.