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 hope all is well. I continue to be very boring, but at least I read a lot this week.
We had some drama at work. I am almost disappointed that I was working from home when the email dropped. We have a hybrid work environment. For my group, we are three days in office minimum. The email informed us that we could not longer work two consecutive days from home (including Friday and Monday). For me, this is not a thing because I like to work from one Wednesdays and Fridays, but the bulk of my co-workers do Monday/Tuesday or Thursday/Friday. They were not happy. They are also cracking down on people who don't work their full shift in office. There were basically people driving up to the office, scanning in and leaving. Others would stay four hours and leave, making sure to use their badge three times in the office. Again, I take the train, so I do my full shift in office. I was happy to get a hybrid schedule and have always adhered to the policies because I don't want to lose it. Many of the financial companies mandated their people back to office full time. I feel like people always try to game the system and ruin it for others.
On the Blog
Stacking the Shelves
I was very excited to see new Heather Webber up on Netgalley. I really enjoy her books and was thrilled to get a quick approval. Two books on my TBR was deeply discounted, so I bought them. There were some fun looking freebies out there too. I most likely will download the Ellen O'Clover. I like her books.
Netgalley/Edelweiss
- The Magic of Chamomile Cottage by Heather Webber
Purchased/Free
- Love Beginner by Jenny Proctor
- Tethered by Florrie Hardy
- Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino
- No Kisses for the Neighbor Next Door by Francesca Spencer
- Love From Northanger Parks, Katie by Sara Marks
- Crystal Creek by Kelly Collins
- The Little Scottish Bookshop by Debbie Johnson
Invites
- The Silent Appeal by Janice Hallett
- If Not You by Ellen O'Clover
Read Last Week
I had one DNF, but other than that, I read a LOT of great books this week. I also read more than normal which attests to how wonderful all the books were. I read two books that celebrated fall. I was lusting for that wether as the dog days of summer rear their ugly heads. Both Bonfire & Bliss Bookstore and Something About September were wonderful friends-to-lovers romances. The reviews are mixed, but I really enjoyed Love You More. I wasn't sure how I would feel when I picked The Giver of Stars to fulfill my reading prompt, but it was wonderful! How could I not love a story about mounted librarians bringing books and reading to rural residents. There was a lot of interesting historical bits, and I was fully invested in these women's lives.
Find all my reviews on Goodreads
Books
- Bonfire & Bliss Bookstore by Britanee Nicole - ★★★★ 1/2
- The Book Tour by Emily Ohanjanians - ★★★★
- The Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson - ★★★★
- Something About September by Julia McKay - ★★★★ 1/2
- Love You More by Emily Griffin - ★★★★ 1/2
Audiobooks
- The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes - ★★★★ 1/2
- Under the Maui Sky by Kellie Coates Gilbert - ★★★★
Currently Reading
- The Roommate Rule by Georgia Stone
- Fish Out of Water by Katie Ruggle
To Be Read
- When Lemons Give You Life by Anna Johnston
- The Phone Swap by Lia Louis
- Experiments in Offline Dating by Kat MacKenzie
Let us know in the comments!
Totally on board with what you said about people trying to cheat the system and ruining a good thing for everyone. I can understand wanting to work from home for two consecutive days though...
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to say it, but that sloth pics were generated with AI...
https://www.reddit.com/r/isthisAI/comments/1vhdkz4/my_partner_sent_me_this_post_about_a_sloth_saving/
BOO! I hate AI. It's so odd the things they fake too.
DeleteI continue to be boring too and I didn't even read a lot this week. 🤣 That office drama sounds hectic though! I can't even imagine going into work and then leaving immediately. Like, the effort to do that without actually staying to work is way too much. And also, my guilt would be eating me up? It sucks when it ruins the flexibility for others who don't do that though.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a fantastic reading week! I hope you continue to read more great books in the week ahead :)
The odd thing is that our IDs are microchipped and we have to use a VPN to work remotely. They know where we are when we're working. It's just a matter of them checking all that, and it seems they are getting more serious about it. I would also feel guilty. Even when I am waiting for work to materialize, I stay right in front of my computer when I am home.
DeleteI hate people who try to game the system. They are always the first to throw a fit when the system changes and they never even see its their fault. If they want a full time WFH job, go find one! I used to work with this one teacher that left early every day because he didn't have a class at the end of the day. The rest of us had to stay until 20 minutes after dismissal but he just went out the back, got in his car and left 45 minutes early every day. I was so irritated!!
ReplyDeleteYou are right. The ones who break the rules always are the most upset when there is backlash. I also agree with your thoughts on a full-time WFH. I was telling one of my counterparts about my commute, but I said that I knew where the job was when I accepted it. My company was moving away from hybrid schedules before Covid, so they kind of tried to work with the employees when most companies in our industry went back to full time in office. When I was teaching, they were having an issue with teachers not staying until the contracted time, so they mandated that we swipe out at the end of the day on the next contract, and they monitored it.
DeleteIt's true that many try to game the system. We had the same here and are forced to go 40% in the office whereas in the beginning it was 50 days per year...
ReplyDeletePeople always ruin a good thing by taking advantage. --sigh--
Deleteif people can game the system and get away with it, a lot of people will.
ReplyDeleteI supposed it's human nature, but I have too much of a guilt complex for that. LOL
DeleteUgh, I hate when people try to cheat the system! I can't believe driving all the way to work just to turn around and go home after you've punched in. I live so far from the office that it would be just a waste.
ReplyDeleteThere are people who live close to work (NOT ME), and they are the worst about being in office. If I lived closer, I wouldn't complain as much, but it costs me $33 a day and 3 hours of time to go into the office. I would love to go less, but our jobs were all 100% in office before 2020.
DeleteIt is annoying when others push the limits and then ruin a good perk for others! I'm happy to see you loved Something About September since I have a copy, too!
ReplyDeleteI will be eager to see what you think about September. It was that cozy type of romance that always hits the spot for me.
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