Tag: New England

Books

Book 397: The Beans of Egypt, Maine – Carolyn Chute

Geoff W

My friend Carlie (Hi Carlie!), recommended this book way back when I started this blog not long after she recommended The Hunger Games and I picked up a copy back in December 2012. I don’t know why it took so long for me to get around to it, but it did. I should’ve known better based on how much I enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, another of her discoveries.

This book really should be mentioned in the same breath of books like The Color Purple and Bastard Out of Carolina. Maybe it is and I’m not aware of it, but if it isn’t I’m not sure why. It was published in 1985 right in between the Color and Carolina and it’s just as harrowing, real and disturbing as either of those. (It’s also compared to Faulkner, but I can’t speak to that as I’ve never read him.)

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ARC, Updates

April Recap 2015

Geoff W

2015 04-18 Rockport, MAIt has been one of those months where I didn’t read a lot but I did SO much from visiting Rockport, MA (photo to the right), releasing my fifth episode of Come Read With Me and staying super busy at work.

I could talk about all the amazing art and the numerous galleries we visited in Rockport, but what was the most exciting thing for me was we went into two little bookstores (Toad Hall and Bullseye Book, I only found a blog talking about a move three years ago here.). At Bullseye, I finally asked someone where they got the bags they use to store paperback books (bagsunlimited.com) and I ordered some for my Wuthering Heights collection and autographed books! (Pictures to follow in another post I’m sure.) What’s also cool about Bags Unlimited, is they have a lot of preservation items so I’m excited about that for my postcard and posters too!

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Books

Book 335: A Gronking To Remember- Lacey Noonan

Geoff W

There are no words for how bad this book is. Goodreads should allow a 0 star rating. Leaving it unrated is not enough, I want to acknowledge that I read it and gave it 0 out of 5 stars. I am glad a friend purchased this for all of us to enjoy, but as I say at the end of the post the ONLY way I would recommend it is if you can get it for free and to read it as an example of what not to do in any sort of writing situation.

From the premise to the writing there is little, if anything, redeeming about the book.* I knew going into it that it would have no literary merit, but I hoped it would be written well and if not at least contain decent erotica. It was not and it did not. And this has nothing to do with the lack of gay subject matter, because that already exists.

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30x30, Personal Project

30 x 30: #2 – Take a day hike

Geoff W

2014 06-28 Start of the HikeIf you want to find out how in or out of shape you are, go for a hike. Seriously, I knew I’d been lazy recently, but holy hell! I was hoping to cross four things off my list this week but only got to three, but YAY! Nine out of thirty (30%) done.

I’m still not sure that the sign was right, because our trackers definitely said longer than 2.5 miles, but I’m glad I did it! My friend Peter hiked a bunch of mountains last year and asked me a bunch of times and I always said no. When I was making my list I knew I needed to add it to the list and I did, but sheesh it was freaking exhausting. It was about a two-hour drive up and we hiked Mt. Tecumseh, 4003 ft/1,220m in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and it took a little under four hours (up and down).

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Workout Wednesday

Workout Wednesday – April 2014

Geoff W

2014 04-08 Fool's Dual T-Shirt and BibSo remember in May and June of last year when I started Workout Wednesday’s? Remember my passionate statements, in both posts, “I hate running”? Don’t believe me, go to the homepage and search “I hate running,” keep the quotation marks because it’s in there exactly and both of those posts will come up. What’s funny is this entire post is pretty much just about running!

While I wouldn’t put it at the top of my favorite things list, I’ve definitely gotten to the point where I find enjoyment in it. I really must, in April I even read a book about running (What I Talk About When I Talk About Running) and I somehow convinced myself to put both a 10k and a half-marathon on my 30 before 30 list. I’m also overly excited about being able to run outside again and take long walks where Caroline and I plan out our lives now the days are longer and the weather much more cooperative, so clearly there’s been some change of heart…

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