Life is the Pursuit: summer

Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Summer Reads

I began blogging about summer reads a few years ago and have just enough time between chapters and kid camps to share some new suggestions. Grab a good book, spread a beach towel and enjoy the summer! Feel free to share your recommendations too.

The Pursuit by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

Evanovich fans should try this new series with FBI specialist Kate O’Hare and international con man Nicolas Fox. O’Hare caught Fox after a long search, then the FBI recruited him to help take down some of the world’s most dangerous criminals. Now, O’Hare has to work with the thief she stalked and captured. Fox and O’Hare share witty banter, and explore their romantic feelings, as they race to stop ex-Serbian military officer, Dragan Kovic, before he endangers thousands of American lives. I just finished The Pursuit and would say it’s a great summer read.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-pursuit-janet-evanovich/1123601703?ean=9781101965931

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

I picked this up in a local bookstore and just started reading. So far, I like main character Flavia de Luce, an 11-year-old sleuth with a brain and some pluck. I’m interested to follow her on her investigation of a murder in the English countryside circa 1950.

https://www.amazon.com/Sweetness-Bottom-Pie-Flavia-Mystery/dp/0385343493

Stone Cold by C.J. Box

After finishing my first C.J. Box thriller, I immediately went out and bought another. I enjoyed Box’s description of wide-open spaces and the dangers inherent in the remote Wyoming wilderness. In this book, Game Warden, Joe Pickett, has been assigned the task of looking into a suspicious ranch owner in the remote Black Hills of Wyoming. Danger lurks beneath the surface and it’s sure to be a wild ride to the end.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stone-cold-c-j-box/1115700115?ean=9780425272824

Friday, July 10, 2015

Summer TV Updates

TV is on a year-round cycle, but you already knew that, so here are show updates. This Yahoo! TV entry lists the shows that have been renewed or canceled since June. I admit to not recognizing half of these, some are, meh. Recent past favorites kept getting the axe, but it gave me more time to work on my book and read. See the Summer Reads posts.

Glad USA renewed Suits, it's everything you could want in a modern legal drama, and more. Just hope they write some more fast-paced-witty scenes with Mike and Harvey in and out of the courtroom.

Cheers!

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Time for New Summer Reads!

Summer is officially here! Time to relax, rejuvenate and read! Here are a few books you may want whether you’re headed to the beach, or the backyard.

Invasion of Privacy by Christopher Reich

Let’s face it, technology is everywhere. The wife of gunned down FBI agent Joe Grant receives a strange voicemail from her husband that later disappears. When Mary digs into her husband’s death ‘she finds herself on the trail of a secret that could transform the world, and the target of a dangerous psychopath.’ (Paraphrased from Barnes & Noble)

The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

This is for my peeps from the Birthplace of Aviation! If you like this kind of story, you may also want to check out American Genius on the National Geographic Channel. They put together a documentary on the heated race for flight between the Wright Brothers and Glenn Curtiss (as well as some other very interesting rivalries).

“In 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright achieved flight. In his new book, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough explores the lives of these two men from Dayton, Ohio—preacher’s sons who did not attend college, and who were bicycle makers and salesmen prior to their invention of the first powered airplane. He sheds light on the skeptical reaction they received from a general public that did not understand their accomplishments, and takes a look at the contributions of their overlooked sister, Katharine. The truths he uncovers are startling and inspirational.” (Barnes & Noble)

Wicked Charms by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton

“Evanovich introduced her New York Times best-selling Lizzy and Diesel series with 2010's Wicked Appetite, featuring dazzling Salem, MA, baker Elizabeth Tucker (her cupcakes drive men mad) and the seductive Diesel, first seen in Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books. Here she brings on multi-award-winning writer/producer/novelist Sutton to help. Each tale involves the search for an ancient relic mysteriously linked to one of the seven deadly sins—in this case, greed.” (Library Journal)

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Summer Reads Preview

A few weeks from now begins the unofficial start of summer, so I thought we'd start previewing some Summer Reads.

This year I plan to work my way through a couple of short story collections, including Death Wears a Beauty Mask and Other Stories by Mary Higgins Clark. I'm not sure what to expect, or if any of these tales (including her first published story "Stowaway") will keep me up at night, but I'm adding this to my reading list.

Time to start loading my reader, and searching for a few good paperbacks!

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Don't blink…you might miss summer

I’m confused. Is summer over already?

I read an article last week about ways to spend the second half of summer vacation, and now I’m seeing status updates and posts about kiddos who are already back at their desks.

The saying ‘if you blink, you’ll miss it’ must be true. It was mid-June, I blinked. Then it was July, I blinked again. Now, it’s August and I’m afraid to close my eyes.

We haven’t completed too many resolutions from our summer checklist (see below), but we have done a lot of the important ones, like playing and unwinding as a family. We even played and splashed in the rain, it was awesome!

While I would have liked to check off many more items, the list doesn’t gauge the success of our summer, we do. And it’s been a good one.

We’ve played in the water, visited with family, biked, walked, picnicked and went to museums. We even watched local wildlife feast on our garden goodies (current count: four tomato plants, numerous hosta plants, and dozens of berries).

So, as I sit in my fluffy socks and wait for the heat to kick on (we live north of all things warm, and our house got pretty chilly last night, so don’t judge me), I’m stuck thinking summer is ready to snatch our Sunny Gs and umbrella drinks before closing up her cabana for the year. Brr.

Before she does, I plan to make the most of whatever the days and the weather bring. After all, long summer days are best enjoyed relaxing and recharging with family and friends. Checking off resolutions is just a bonus.

How do you plan to spend the final days/weeks of the summer season?

2014 Random Summer Resolutions

1. Play

2. Unwind

3. Be silly—good, clean knock, knock jokes can get the ball rolling

4. Hit the beach

5. Go on a picnic

6. Ride bikes

7. Visit the zoo

8. Go on family walks

9. Paddleboat/canoeing

10. Have a special date night dinner and concert

11. Have a special family dinner out to celebrate summer

12. Play in the rain and splash in the puddles

13. Hug more

14. Kiss more

15. Unplug more

16. Let the kids stay up later a few nights

17. Sleep in late a few days

18. Have breakfast in our jammies a few times

19. Swim

20. Golf

21. Read 10 books—about a book a week until school starts. This is a big task since I’m also publishing a book soon

22. Finish and publish the book mentioned in item above

23. Play tag with the kids

24. Sit outside one sunny day without mowing, weeding or yard work

25. Run through the sprinklers

26. Make homemade ice cream with the kids

27. Grow fruits and veggies—we’ll have to get new tomatoes, the deer ate the ones we planted

28. Take a real family vacation

29. Pick colors and paint a couple rooms in serious need of ‘refreshing’

30. Can something—jam, tomatoes, just to try it

31. Take a class—maybe a class on how to can things

32. Make a grown-up appetizer for dinner one night, even if my husband and I are the only ones who eat it

33. Make a list of people to call, and call them

34. Send handwritten letters to 5 people I know

35. Go to a movie

36. Camping

37. Bonfire

38. Try a new food

39. Try a new drink

40. Make snow cones

41. Learn to flip pizza dough

42. Make something

43. Have more game nights

44. Go on a nature hike

45. See fireworks

46. Take a drive in the country

47. Go to a ballgame

48. Listen to more music

49. Frisbee

50. Tennis

51. Go to an arcade

52. Drive at a track day event

53. Plan a dream kitchen

54. Teach the kids something fun

55. Learn something fun

56. Roast marshmallows

57. Barbecue

58. Have a party

59. Light some sparklers (being careful not to burn holes in the tablecloth, like last time)

60. Watch the fireflies when the sparklers go out

61. Enjoy a starry night

62. Find a constellation

63. Relax and unwind

64. Try a new slow cooker recipe. Found this post on how to make almost any recipe work in a slow cooker

65. Water balloon toss

66. Sing

67. Dance

68. Train ride

69. Write a story for my kids

70. Play hopscotch

71. Sleepover

72. All night movie fest

73. Binge watch a new TV show

74. Sleep outside

75. Practice my Finn McMissile voice (right now it sounds a lot like Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, seriously)

76. Play euchre

77. Create a family friendly outdoor obstacle course

78. Early morning run/jog/walk

79. Spin around until we get dizzy

80. Head north

81. Head south

82. Head nowhere in particular

83. Have a relaxing day at home

84. Spa visit

85. Be brave enough to find out what’s been growing in our compost bin the past five years

86. Learn a card trick, maybe share it with the kids

87. Clear out closets and donate stuff we don’t use

88. Visit family and friends

89. Show more love

90. Practice patience

91. Be goofy

92. Watch a movie from our childhood with our kids

93. Sketch a tree house or a garden

94. Cider mill late summer

95. Take photos, print and send some to the grandparents

96. Watch a sunrise

97. Watch a sunset

98. Snuggle

99. Smile

100. Relax

Friday, June 20, 2014

100 Assorted Summer Resolutions

School’s out for the summer! We love this time of year, especially since it comes after a seriously long, cold, snowfall-record-breaking winter.

It’s a great time to relax, and soak up the sun in our shorts and flip-flops, but I know myself. If I don’t write at least a few goals down, the entire summer will pass by and all I’ll have to show for it will be a farmer’s tan and regrets for all the things we didn’t do. So, why let the opportunity for nature hikes and museum strolls slip away when I can make a list and refer to it whenever the phrase ‘I’m bored’ is uttered?

I’ve seen some stuff circulating online about summer lists, so I consulted my 2013 resolutions, as well as my 2014 work-life balance notes to compile my own list of activities. Just as ice cream comes in a variety of flavors, this list contains an assortment of resolutions.

And it’s not just about the kids, either—parents get bored too! I’ve included ideas for family fun, lazy summer days, and date nights too. Go ahead and take a peek, you might find something to do when your family gets bored this summer. Repeats are okay because it's summer. If you like, share your ideas in the comments section. There are a couple months of activities for us to fill, after all. Fun ideas are appreciated.