Weekly Wrap-Up #37

Posted October 17, 2021 by Lisa Mandina in Weekly Wrap Up / 27 Comments

Weekly Wrap-Up #37

Once again I’ll be linking this up with the Sunday Post (hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer).

So, it looks like I’m going to be alone in my library for at least another week. I got a crazy email last Sunday night saying I couldn’t come in on Monday because I had to quarantine. Even though I’d filled out the form I was sent on that Friday and included a picture of my vaccination card. Monday morning my principal let me know it was okay if I came in that it had been a mistake. Well even though my library assistant did get back a negative test result, because she was sick she had to stay out. And then her son and husband got sick, and then one of her relatives passed away. So because her sickness is symptoms of Covid, without actually being it, she is going to be quarantined. I have thoughts, but I won’t share those. Just suffice it to say that one of the things I asked about when I interviewed was if I would have an assistant. And now it is like I don’t. I didn’t have an assistant at my last library job, I had a co-librarian, which was even better mostly. But enough griping about my job I guess.

I also ended up with another author that I didn’t end up getting an ARC for a book that I know I’d signed up for and even had put in my planner. Turns out that the last one of their ARCs I ended up as a DNF. I had told them that, and they said it was okay. And I said I’d save my review for after the tour. Well I guess they still wanted me to send them the links to my review, and I didn’t, so I was now not allowed to review anymore. I reached out again, and they even had the author finally respond and say that I could go ahead and try this one and they’d see if I did the review submission like I was supposed to. Which I have for every one of their books that I read and reviewed. However, I decided that as busy as my review schedule is, I would just step back for now from their team. I mean really their books had become a little bit formulaic at times for me lately, so I might just need to take a break and go back and pick up their books at a later time. And again, it’s not like I don’t have a whole 5 shelf bookcase full of books I still need to read.

Wednesday night I got together with a friend who has self-published 20 books! She is one of the reasons I have been inspired to write more, and the reason I even finished/won one year of NaNoWriMo. She’s also the reason I started writing the novella that I ended up self-publishing back in 2020. I hadn’t seen her since before all the pandemic craziness. It was supposed to be a writing date, but we had so much to catch up on that it really just was a catching up date. But we hope to get together and do NaNoWriMo. Although I’m still not quite sure what I’m writing. Not being able to go sit in a library and write is making me crazy. Even sitting here trying to type up one blog post and my dogs won’t let me just sit and do that.

We are finally getting fall weather! I had to turn on the furnace last night. Which is new, I replaced it at the same time as my air conditioner back in May. But this is the first to really get to use it. I do need to mow the grass one more time I think. So maybe it will be a little warmer tomorrow and I can do that.

Books finished:

A couple SmartyPants Romance, an audiobook, and a fun Scottish rom-com.

New Books:

Physical Books:

I ordered a book to help with my writing/planning for NaNoWriMo. Of course I’ve had no time to read it yet this week. Need to read a little at a time. The other two are from the Book of the Month club. The Ex Hex was my monthly pick, and then I got to pick a free book for my birthday which is this coming Friday, so I picked one I’ve been eagerly hoping to get my hands on because it has a dachshund, Arsenic and Adobo.

E-galleys for Review:

So yes, I still really, really, REALLY want a physical ARC of the first book there, but I didn’t miss my chance when I saw it would be available on Edelweiss. I rarely get e-galleys from Edelweiss even though I go through the site regularly to see what is out, because it isn’t always as easy to get them downloaded to my Nook as it is through Netgalley’s sending it to my Kindle app. The second book is another novella in the series I’m reading and reviewing for a blog tour.

Audiobooks:

Now this was the third audiobook in a series tour I was doing. But this one wasn’t released until after the tour. I did get a copy though, and should be starting this week!

Free E-books:

A couple of these are still free if you want them I think! Now Ghosted isn’t normally my type of read, but it sounded interesting, and I’ve wanted to read something by the author, so I grabbed it when I found it free.

What I’m Watching:

It was a crazy week, lots of reading to try to keep up, and of course a writing/catching up date with a friend. So not much watched. I did give in on Friday night and start the show everyone has been talking about. So far it’s interesting enough to keep watching.

Giveaways to check out:

How was your week? Did you get any good books? Are you binging any tv series you’d recommend?

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27 responses to “Weekly Wrap-Up #37

    • Lisa Mandina

      Yeah, I felt it would be different if I hadn’t reached out to them about not finishing it. And it would have been nice to know when I signed up for four more books that I wasn’t going to get to read them. I put them on my calendar. But I’m going to take a break because I had actually been feeling like the books were getting kind of formulaic for me. And it’s not like I don’t have anything else to read! Yeah, I’m so happy for the cooler weather!

  1. I’m sorry you had such issues at work and then the issues with the publishers as well. Ai jai jai… Luckily you have books to ease into.

    I try to request very little books as I don’t feel like all the drama. When work calms down a bit, I will try a bit harder to get review books! But for now, I am happy with the one or two who do asks us for reviews. I need to get my Netgalley in a better state too!

    I saw your comment on my blog – do you use CANVA for your graphics? That coffee with the steam is on CANVA and it’s one of the free graphics. The girl who helped me with my graphics gave me a quick course in CANVA and now I am having so much fun with it! You should check my Weekend Book Friends one on Friday – I loved that one. Also a gif.

    Have a good week and happy reading!

    Mareli @ Elza Reads recently posted: The Sunday Post #52
    • Lisa Mandina

      Yes, my Netgalley rating is at 78%, I need to work harder to get that up! I need to go check out and play around with Canva more. And I’ll be sure to check out your Friday graphic too. I am an aspiring author, and I reached out to another author to ask who does her covers and she actually does them on Canva, so that is what I need to just play around on! Thanks for stopping by!

  2. I’ve left a lot of author arc teams over the last two years because I’ve found the books too similar or just no longer interesting. I seem to be moving away from romance and more towards UF, Fantasy and Sci-Fi. We’ve just started watching Squid too, it’s a strange mix of captivating but also a little cliched – it reminds me of a macabre version of the game show Takeshi’s Castle. Happy reading!

    • Lisa Mandina

      Yeah, i think I’m going to kind of move away from a few. I’m still into the romance, but going to be pickier about what I spend my time on when I have so many sitting on my shelves that I paid for. Yeah, Squid Games is okay, not sure if I’m to keep watching it. Thanks for visiting!

    • Lisa Mandina

      Yep, it’s crazy! But that is the world we live in. Yeah, I’ve got to get prepared for NaNo. And yes, I need to get some non-review books in so I can meet one of my challenge goals! Thanks for stopping by!

    • Lisa Mandina

      I’m hoping my mowing is done for the year! And yes, cooler weather is so awesome! Thanks for stopping by!

    • Lisa Mandina

      Yeah, it’s hard to deal with, because I get the need to be careful, but it’s hard not to wonder too. But it is the state of the world today. Thanks for stopping by!

    • Lisa Mandina

      I think in a way it reminds me of how I loved the first and second Hunger Games movies, but the third without the actual “games” didn’t keep my attention. I’m ready for the second game in the series now. lol

    • Lisa Mandina

      Just had another author/PR company issue and I know I signed up with them, so I’m not happy again! Oh well. I found out that the book is on Netgalley and even though I try not to request things on there, I went ahead and did it. We shall see if I get it!

  3. Ugh what a mess with the quarantine/assistant situation. Hopefully everyone will get healthy and she will be able to get back to work soon. Have a great week!

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