Hi dear friends,
Today is Sunday and it’s time to catch up with you! What happened in real life and what happened on the blog? I am linking up to The Sunday Post from Kimberly @caffeinatedreviewer
In my private life first!
It’s been a really weird and exhausting week at work.
On Monday I gave a training in Dutch about my field specialty.
I was a little bit nervous as I speak Dutch but I am more fluent in English. All went very well and they were so happy that I traveled to the other side of the country (granted we live in a tiny country) to meet them. I think even if I make mistakes they appreciate that I make an effort and am ready to speak their language!
We asked them to evaluate the training and the speakers and I got good grades! Pfew!
It still made for a very long workday with five hours of traveling.
Then we learned a sad and shocking news as someone I had worked with was fired.
It was so sudden! We did not have the opportunity to say goodbie. We are all in shock and don’t understand why this happened ….
Needless to say the mood was rather gloomy for the end of the week!
I was so tired that I came back home nearly every day exhausted and with little energy to blog hop! As I have meetings the whole days, sometimes six meetings a day, I can’t even look at my FB or WP or IG notifications!
I am considering taking my phone on bathroom breaks as I know many do only ….I have to pee at lightning speed too because ….meetings! LOL
Now there is light in this week!
As my title suggest I discovered that I LOVE doing CHORES all of a sudden thanks to audiobooks!
You probably recall that barely two months ago I had never listened to any audiobook. Then I got the three months trial and listened to Becoming by Michelle Obama. I loved it!
I chose Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T Sullivan and was amazed!
Yesterday I worked in my garden for two hours (feeling it today!) while listening to Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. Doing chores is now my perfect excuse to be alone and listen to a story!!!! 😀
I just have to listen to the samples before as I am very picky as far as voices are concerned. And I can’t listen to romance in audiobooks so far.
Other great news.
Last time I told you how I got an ARC of Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer after having contacted the publisher (it was not available for my country on Netgalley).
Well I did the same with the next KA Tucker’s book : Say you Still Love Me due to be released in August (again, not available for me on Netgalley) and ….the publisher accepted!!!
Yesterday when I opened my mailbox I nearly fell from my chair because ….Sourcebooks Fire granted my wish on Netgalley and sent me Kingsbane by Claire Legrand! Furyborn’s sequel and one of my most awaited books for 2019!!!!!
Oh I nearly forgot!
I ordred specially made candles some months ago. They were inspired by some of my favorite book characters: Lada (And I Darken), Juliette Ferrar (Shatter Me), Mark (Lady Midnight and Fern (Making faces). They arrived yesterday and they are perfect!!!
So you see, some bitter and a lot of sweet too this week 😀
On the blog (click on the graphic to read the post)
I have read and reviewed four books and read a fifth (review coming tomorrow).
One was disappointing and I don’t know why I did not really love it! Fall Back Skyward was a gift from its author Autumn Grey (3 stars).
You’d Be Mine by Erin Hahn was an ARC and a cute YA story about two young singers. 4 stars
.
In Another Life by CC Hunter was a 4,5 stars read! A mystery/thriller. I loved it!
.
Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan may “only” have 4 stars but I swear that the ending was worth more than 5 stars and I am very determined to read the sequel now!
In our top 5 Tuesday Shanah asked us to speak about our favorite fictional friendships. I went a little bit overboard 😀
On Wednesday I thought it would be a good idea to share with you my favorite reads of 2019 so far. They are not always 5 stars but they are the books that still linger in my memory weeks, months after.
Finally I posted another discussion post about “Authors: the good, the bad, the ugly”. Are you influenced by author’s behaviors? It gave for a very interesting discussion and some reactions gave me ideas for next week’s discussion post!
In the blogosphere this week
A quizz by Epic Reads again asking how you would do in a queenstrial!
And some very interesting posts from fellow bloggers this week
Alexandra writes about story plotting and how to do it!
http://alexandrawolfe.ca/three-act-story-plotting/
Sophia gives advices on how to blog
That was my week!
Now do tell me how was your week?
Thanks for reading!
Sophie
Chores on audiobooks are defo way more bearable! 😀
Well done on the presentation! I don’t think i could talk about my work in any other language than english… and it’s not even my native language. :/
Lol, I’ve found my house getting steadily cleaner and tidier so I can catch a little extra listening time with the books too. I can’t do romance either but I’m loving working my way through the little dude’s audible collection!
Sucks about the loss of your colleague. Did you get any explanation? It’s scary to think that could happen… It would cause so much damage to most families, the sudden loss of an income. 🙁
Oooh thoses candles are beautiful!
Happy to hear the meeting in dutch went well! Yeah, usually people are generally happy to be talked to in their language; even if you struggle a bit hah :p
Mom is really bad in english, like-AWFUL! And yet somehow people get what she’s trying to say xD most of the time atleast..
If you don’t mind me asking, what is your field specialty? 😮 And that’s a definitely a packed week! I’ve also never tried audiobooks but I think I should give non-fiction a shot through audiobooks… It’s just that my love for the written word makes it hard for me to love the idea of audiobooks hahah Stay awesome, Sophie!
Well Lashaan I am working in fighting money laundering and terrorism along with fraud etc. So not so far from your own specialty LOL
Nooooo waaaaay Too many coincidences in one day! I can now understand why you don’t read crime/psychological thrillers/spy espionage stuff as much
Hahaha yes way!
Hope you have a better week my busy bee! You’re a rockstar! 🙂
Thank you TRisy!!!
Lots of great reviews in this week. I totally want to read Wicked Saints! I don’t have it yet but will get it. Have a wonderful week and sorry about work and the non-stop meetings. I can imagine how tired you are. Here is to a better and less exhausting week for you!! I have to go read some of these reviews.
Mary
Thank you Mary!!!
I get the chore and audiobook thing, Sophie. Once I discovered Alexa could read books to me from my Kindle, I started taking advantage of it everyday. Makes chores, getting ready, etc. much more pleasurable.
Oh yes Teri!!!
Nice to hear your evaluation was a good grade and sorry to hear about your coworker. I do chores while listening to audibles. It’s a good relationship. I get the chores done and enjoy a great book. makes it all better:)
Hahaha exactly Laura!
Much oof to the person who got fired. Not getting to say goodbye to someone you work with (especially if it’s someone you enjoy working with) is sad and I hope you two get to cross paths and can continue connecting if you did get along with them. I’m glad to hear you’ve had a good week despite all the work you have to do!
I sent him a mail Sophia as I wanted to show my support and thank him for wha he’d done for me!
Congrats on getting all of those ARCs that you requested. That’s so great! I’ve been listening to audiobooks while doing chores too and really love it. Have a great week!
Thank you Suzanne! You too!
I love audiobooks! They’re what keep me sane during my communtes to and from work. I also listen while running and cooking and chores. Glad you’re enjoying your chores more because of them. I bet soon you’ll be able to listen to romances as well.
Nice that your presentation in Dutch went well! I only speak English so I’m impressed!
Congrats on getting the ARCs you wanted! That’s so nice they granted access. It just shows it doesn’t hurt to ask. 🙂
Oh you are a fellow commuter too Rachel? Yes books make it so much better!
Hey Sophie! Glad to hear your training went well, but oh no! Sorry to hear about the co- worker who was fired. Awww that’s awful.
And I don’t listen to audio much but if I did haha I can imagine taking my audiobooks everywhere with me!
Bookish candles are pretty awesome. 🙂
Maybe one day you’ll garden while listening to audiobooks too Greg LOL
I’m so glad your work went well even though the travel was tiring. You know you can listen to audiobooks while traveling. I have increased my reading by 100 books a year by listening to audio while doing chores, traveling, or waiting for my daughter and running errands. One can also listen while exercising of some types. Have a wonderful week!
Here is my Sunday Post
Oh I did not thought of it like that Anne but yes I can guess my reading will increase too!
Whoo hoo! Congratulations on the presentation. Glad to hear it went well. Chores are definitely better with audiobooks, but I still don’t like doing them. Getting approvals is always a great thing. That’s awesome that you were able to get the books you wanted.
Thank you Sam!
Oh boy, not only did you do training to an audience, but in another language altogether! Sophie, you are one talented lady, that much is obvious – believe me, I’m linguistically challenged, so I admire you. And sorry to hear about your colleague, that’s kind of shocking, because you have to ask yourself, if it happened to them, can it happen to me? Hopefully not.
And thank you for the shout out, you are a star! Not sure how many people would find that article very helpful, but I do like sharing them. 😀
You are so welcome for the shoutout! And I did not know that you were linguistically challenged Alexandra!
Looks like you had a good week despite all that stress! Audiobooks are not for me but I’m glad you’re enjoying them!
Thank you Raven!
Yay for audiobooks!!! I am picky about narrators too. Sometimes, their pitch or pronunciation makes it difficult for me to understand with my hearing loss. But, I have found so many great books. Hopefully work is less sad this week and no one gets fired. That is stressful! But congrats on the training in Dutch! Yay!
Samantha I don’t have earloss like you but growing older slowly means that some “wavelenght” make it difficult to grasp the words of I have to turn the sound up! A very deep and low voice for example won’t work.
I hate when people get fired at work 🙁 its always so sudden and throws everything into turmoil for a while 🙁 I hope your work gets better soon!
I mostly listen to audiobooks while driving to and from work but they are great for chores too! Basically any time when you are doing mindless work that you can’t actually read while doing!! 🙂
That’s exactly what I am doing Brittany!
Glad you finally joined the audiobook bandwagon. I tell ya, I’ve loved em for more than a decade cause you can enjoy a book AND be productive. Hopefully work settles down soon…I hate hearing you are so exhausted.
Well Tracey I definitely joined the bandwagon! I even bought three more credits yesterday! And thank you I hope it too!
I just cant get on with audio books (or the price here for some of them!!)
Well Caro I now have a monthly subscription on Audible. 10 EUR for one book a month. But then you can buy 3 more credits (read books) for 21 EUR so it’s “doable”.
Ooooo I wonder how that converts to GBP?
Can I ask you if you received physical ARC for those books you emailed the publisher for or an eARC?
I am happy for you!
Anyway, I hope you’ll have a great week ahead!
Irena I got an eARC as I live outside of the US! I doubt I’ll ever get a physical ARC but that’s fine. I was already very happy to get to read the story ahead!
I tried listening to audiobooks while exercising, but I couldn’t concentrate on the story. Maybe if I did it during chores. Hmm.
What a stressful week you had! Hope the new week is better.
Thanks for sharing, and for visiting my blog. Enjoy your reading.
I think if I was exercising hard Laurel I would only hear my loud breath LOL
I started listening to audio books last year, and I too have found chores are much more enjoyable with books!
Hahaha everyone told me this but I only recently took the plunge 😉
Yep. I listen while doing chores too. It does make them fun! Have a great week!
Thank you Kimberly! You too!
Oh I like this idea about trying to love chores and incidentally Beneath a Scarlet Sky is on my TBR too. I am sorry your colleague was fired and I hope you have a relaxing week ahead.
Try the “chores thing” Gayathri and come back telling me if it worked for you too LOL
Sorry about our co-worker. and glad your presentation went so well! 🙂
I really want to try more audiobooks but I am not sure I want to do chores lol
Have a great week, Sophia! Happy Reading! xx
Thank you so much! You too!
I’m glad to hear that you liked Scarlet Sky so much. It will be our book club read in May. That should give me time to listen to an audiobook.
Have a great week!
Oh Deb I can’t wait to read your thoughts on that one!