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Renee - Itsbooktalk & More's avatar

This week I binged every current episode of the new season of Love is Blind! I stayed up until 1:30am on Sunday night😅 then I watched all of the new episodes Wednesday- oh my did the tide turn and things are getting messy! I've watched all seasons of the US version of this show and I have to say I've seen some couples with amazing love stories go on to get married so I think it can work- more so than The Bachelor/Bachelorette. This current season is much better than the last one. I'm feeling very invested in certain people and I love the fact that this show shows hard conversations surrounding finances, religion, politics, etc. After one episode this week I'm also feeling very smug that I raised young men who know how to boil water🤣.

I'm also watching The Golden Bachelorette and I cannot tell you how much I love this show. I've cried every single episode but also I've laughed and finished ever episode with a smile. Seeing older people putting themselves out there for a second chance at love is heartwarming, but with this show I'm also thoroughly enjoying seeing the friendships between the men. They literally love each other, support and wncourage each other and have said the friendships they've made there have changed their lives. If you watch no other episodes of this, at least give this week's episode 4 a watch, The Chippendale dancers were on (yes please:) and then the guys on the group date had to put on their own show in front of a live audience (all proceeds went to cancer charity) and it was so good and so funny. Kudos to these men for really putting themselves out there, it was inspiring and just fun to watch

Ok reading wise- I finished reading THE MIGHT RED by Louise Erdrich and while I'm really glad I read it, it was just ok in the end for me. I love a love triangle which was one of the storylines that drew me into this story. I also love a book where there's a local bookstore and the town's people stop in and there's plenty of book talk to go around. I really enjoyed the mystical/spiritual aspect to many parts of her writing, especially regarding nature and our impact on the environment. I learned a lot about the history of pesticides and what's been done to farming and our food supply- for all these reasons I was compelled and interested throughout the story and for the first 40% I was sitting at a solid 4 star rating. However, the second half of the story started to feel like Erdrich wasn't quite sure which storylines to focus on. It felt more scattered and a bit repetitive to the point that the plot began to feel slow and circular to me. Granted, I tend to like plot a lot, so I realize this feeling may just be my personal preference. I do enjoy a small town story and you get that here, along with a look at a culture different from my own which I also really appreciated. As for the love triangle, it fizzled for me, I think because it was so dragged out and lacked tension. This is a hard one to review because I liked a lot about it, but in the end I'm sitting at probably a 3.25 star rating. As for the audio - Marin Ireland narrates and she's hit or miss for me and the way she chose to narrated a couple characters started to bug me by the halfway point and I switched more to reading on my kindle

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Kelly Shoemaker's avatar

I really look forward to these weekly posts - they bring me book joy. This week has been another stressful weather week. I’m currently in a RV as my husband and I travel full time. We had to leave western NC 2 + weeks ago and have been in VA. We will be going back next week. We have a house under construction and found out we are free of damage. Can’t wait to get and see for ourselves. And then Milton. All my family is in SW FL and I’ve about had no focus for almost a week. Everyone is fine. Please no more this year!

So this last week I listened to KINGDOM OF THE BLIND by Louise Penny. I save her books for times like this. The familiar characters help. And I read THE SECRET, BOOK AND SCONE SOCIETY because there’s nothing like a cozy mystery. I should be ready to get back to my “October fall” read THE BROKEN GIRLS.

I have a couple of book reading friends that will occasionally read a book together, but I wish I had more of that. And I thoroughly enjoy a couple of podcasts, but I’m not much of a watcher. I do enjoy Murders in the Building though. My husband just asked me if I’m writing a novel. I guess I had a lot to say this week! Thanks Renee. I appreciate the work you do and have enjoyed following you after your podcast work.

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