We Live and Breathe Books: Sundays with Sam

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 feel really old every time I say this, but August flew by. I cannot believe this is the last week! I am happy that the weather has been rather pleasant with cool mornings and not-too-bad afternoons. I am not a summer fan, so I am glad to say goodbye.

I had Tuesday off to drive my daughter to the airport, but I also took care of some things. I had to get a photo inspection of my car since I switched car insurance companies. I went to the closest place on the list, and the guy was saying he works on tips. Uh, no, the insurance company pays you. I don't know about you, but I feel tip culture is out of control. When I was teaching, I met with kids before and after school and during my prep periods - I got no tips. There are many instances in my job right now where I go above and beyond. Guess what? No tips. Everybody wants a tip for doing their job these days. Call me whatever, but I am not giving tips out for everything.

I have related my saga about the shoes that never came. Well, they didn't come again. So, I called Zappos, and they could not locate the package. Do you know the rep told me that if I wanted replacement shipment they would need to go to a different address. This is where I live! Where should I send them??? I just took the refund, and then I ordered them from Birkenstocks. Well, I tried the leather, the suede, the bigger and smaller size, and kids, the dream is dead. I will not have those shoes. I was sad and am trying to muster enough strength to order more shoes. I am going to be barefoot, I swear!

I saw this tweet from New Jersey Transit the other day about new schedules being in effect starting today. They list train numbers (who knows that!), and with some digging, I realized my morning train will have a time change. Most of the changes were a few minutes but mine is a half hour. I had it down to the exact time I needed to leave to arrive with ample time to find a nice parking space and get to the platform, and now, I have to figure that all out again. I don't know what the traffic is like later or the parking. I will be experimenting this week, it seems.

On the Blog

Monday: Reviews - The Second Chance Bus Stop, The Battle of the Bookshops
Tuesday: TTT- Chonky Books
Wednesday: CWW- People Watching, Perfect Fit
Thursday: Reviews - The Good Boy, Holding the Reins
Friday: Discussion - Library Loans
Saturday: Sloth Goes Places - Texas

Let's Discuss

Jen shares some cozy fall romances
Davida talks about changing bookish opinions
Lynn and Julie chat about ARCs

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Stacking the Shelves

Netgalley/Edelweiss

Toe to Toe by Falon Ballard
And Then There Was You by Sophie Cousens
Pick Me by Victoria Schade

Invites

Bad Asians by Lillian Li
A Sociopath's Guide to a Successful Marriage by MK Oliver

Purchased/Free

Hot Mess by Amy Andrews

Read Last Week

My favorite book of the week was my audiobook, The Past. It was another, maybe the last, story in the Bluegrass Empire series. I loved that Bennett gave us the parents' love story and was happy to learn where it all started with Tommy and Fiona.

I was a little disappointed again this week. All the books were solid, but there were some I expected to knock me out given my prior experience with the authors. There was just that extra something missing, or maybe it was me. I don't know, but I expected more.