Fiction Friday

No races this weekend, so instead of Flat Mama Friday, we have Fiction Friday two weeks in a row. It's a good thing I never stop reading!

I am going to start with a book that I am working on for a Litsy Challenge called the Chunkster Challenge. You choose a book that is 1000+ pages (or as close as you can get) and you read it a little at a time. I decided that every time I finished a book, I would read it for an hour. This book has some serious history for me. It was published in 1978, after Stephen King's publishers chopped out over 400 pages. I read that version, probably 3 or 4 times before the new version came out in 1989. In this version, King put back most of those pages fort an extended version of the story. I have probably reads this version 20 times, I am not gonna lie. I have had the book below since 1989. I will not show you a pic of the spine. You would cry. I may have to purchase a new copy, although I will never get rid of this one. It even has address labels from all 3 houses that I have lived in since getting married. I am only sorry that the first label covered my original hand printed name and phone number from high school. 

I have barely started it, I am on page 125 or so, out of 1156. I am almost to the point of not wanting to put it down, which will become the true challenge. If you haven't read it, get yourself a copy. It's a classic case of good vs. evil, Stephen King style. I also highly recommend the stupid, campy mini series that was made 1994. The cast is epic. 

And now I can move seamlessly into the first book I read since my last Fiction Friday, written by King's son, Joe Hill. Strange Weather is a book of 4 short stories, with the weather being the only thing that ties them together. Without giving any spoilers, I will say that they were all super intense, just as twisted as his father's stories. I liked the first one the best, and the third one the least. His endings are unique and left me equal parts thrilled and frustrated. 

Challenge Prompts:

BINGO: last year's TBR

Pop Sugar: anthology

Wizarding World: set in the Northeast

Mount TBR: book 2

A to Z: "H"

52 in 52: a  hardcover book

USA: TBD, there are two possibilities, I am just waiting to see which I will use

Booked2020: Cover Crush (Look at it! so cool!)

After reading such a seriously messed up book, I needed a nice palate cleanser, so I moved on to Lemon Meringue Pie Murder, which I zipped through in one day. I kind of thought I guessed the murderer, then I second guessed myself, but I was totally right, for all the wrong reasons. 

Challenge Prompts:

BINGO: about the woman

Wizarding World: troublemaker

Mrs Darcy: book 2 of 3 by the same author

52 in 52: guilty pleasure

After fully cleansing my palate, of course I moved on to a messed up, psychological thriller. I had already seen season 1 of the show and was partway through season 2 when I got this. It is so much better than the show, and I am adding the sequel to my wish list for sure. Even though I knew how this was going to end, more or less, I was still on the edge of my seat. I started it at Panera, read for an hour, but couldn't stop thinking about it....

Naturally, I moved on to Starbucks after I picked up some things at Hobby Lobby. Another hour there and then home to read some more! I love Wednesdays!

Challenge Prompts:

BINGO: about books (he works in a book store and they talk about books constantly, even mentioning Doctor Sleep by Stephen King!)

Pop Sugar: Involving Social Media

Wizarding World: Villain

A to Z: "K"

Mrs Darcy: debut novel

52 in 52: female author

 I am moving on to Chelsea Girls for my Booked2020 #LiveandLearn prompt. This one takes place during a time in US history that I have never really read about, so I am looking forward to it. Once I finish this, I will have one more prompt for Booked2020 and I will be done with the first Season.

What are you reading right now?

Wordless Wednesday

Training Update, Osteoarthritis Edition

Sigh.
Shortly after my horrible trail race on New Year’s Day I started experiencing a new pain in my knee. Not the are where I tore my meniscus, but on the other side, towards the front. I was so frustrated, having just kind of sort of run for the first time since Thanksgiving and somehow managing a course PR. I made my doctor's appointment and on Friday morning he told me that I had arthritis in my knee. Wonderful. Two weeks off from running, but I can ride my bike.
He also gave me a wonderful hand out that says arthritis is caused by any number of things:
Wear and tear from regular use (hello, running!)
Injury to the knee (torn meniscus)
Being overweight (oooops)
Misalignment of the knee joint (my PT once told me that my knees are a little double jointed)
Hmmmmm basically I’m the perfect storm for an arthritic knee. Wonderful.
Oh, and trail running? That irritates it. Even better.
So I went home.
Had a pity party. For days.
And then brushed off and started making plans. Also. Un-making plans.
I cancelled races that I knew I couldn’t train for, and downgraded races that had shorter distances. I also stopped sitting on my butt, and got out there and did what I could.

Monday i did 45 minutes on the stationary bicycle, plus a 10 minute walk and 10 minutes of yoga.

Tuesday I walked a mile and did 20 minutes of PT. I also signed up for a two mile race that takes place during a 4 miler, I am planning to run a mile and walk a mile.

Wednesday I taught yoga and did 2 planks, one minute each. They about killed me.

Thursday I did an Aaptiv upper body workout, 13 minutes of yoga, stretching my upper body, 28 minutes on the bike (coaching) and two planks. 

Friday I taught yoga and did 2 planks.

Saturday, the new season at Run For Your Life started. The 5k program began on Tuesday. Anyway, on Saturday, we held the 3 mile time trial to find out what pace group each new runner belonged in. I rode towards the back of the pack with my current runners and some of the new runners. I rode about 3.5 miles and it was a lot of fun. 

Sunday, we walked the pups for 1.5 miles and saw this bird. When it flew, it was the most brilliant blue. Super cool and we watched for a few minutes, I’m not gonna lie. I’m easily amused. Not a bad week, considering my knee still aches a bit. I’m totally stalling, but at some point today I’m doing a total body workout on the Aaptiv app. 

What was your favorite workout this week?

Fiction Friday

Ten days into 2020, and I have been reading like a crazy person. TV? What TV? Show me the books! I started off with Twisted Twenty Six, by Janet Evanovich. 

I love this series, they are always laugh out loud funny, and this one focused on Grandma Mazur, which was a hoot. Stephanie is also getting better at her job, which is fun to "watch". I am still Team Ranger, but I wish she would make up her mind either way!

Sidebar here, to focus on the challenges I signed up for, which I talked about in my last Fiction Friday, here.

This book filled the following prompts:

Book Bingo: My Choice

Pop Sugar: 20 in the title

Wizarding World: series of 6+ books

A to Z: "E"

52 in 52: W in the title

USA: New Jersey

Next I read Wonder. I wanted to focus on Booked 2020 as much as possible, and this filled one of the prompts. Y'all. Every middle school kid needs to read this book. Maybe even 5th grade. This book broke my heart. I loved the different perspectives, they really showed how life is, and the different ways people see the same situation. 

Challenge Prompts:

BINGO: Movie adaptation

Popsugar: same title as a movie, but unrelated (there are multiple movies called Wonder)

Color Code: Blue

Wizarding World: Blue Cover

Mount TBR: book 1

A to Z: "P"

52 in 52: leaves you thinking

USA: New York

Booked2020: Finish in a Day

I was going to use it for the prompt about wearing a hat, but I finished it so fast, and my daughter gave me another book that fit that prompt, so....

Next up was the second book in the Hannah Swensen series. I am addicted to this series. My daughter turned me on to them, and now I keep ordering them! Pretty soon I will be able to get them from the library, but they don't have the earlier books.  Anyway, the mystery was good and I didn't figure it out until just before she did, which was fun. I am totally Team Mike. 

Challenge prompts:

BINGO: About food

Pop Sugar: Pink cover

Wizarding World: Set at Christmas

A to Z: "F"

Mrs Darcy: Recommendation 

52 in 52: Recipes inside

USA: Minnesota

I chose this book because I needed one set in Hollywood for Booked2020. There were some slow parts, but overall a really good book. It was about Hollywood in the 30s, and it's based on true facts, so some parts were hard to read. Clark Gable was a bit of a jerk, I'm not gonna lie. 

Challenge Prompts:

BINGO: Artist as the protagonist (because actors are artists, and also, one of the main characters was a legit artist)

Pop Sugar: More than 20 letters in the title

Wizarding World: Gold on the cover

A to Z: "A"

Europe: Italy (a portion of the book was in Italy)

52 in 52: Title begins with A

USA: California

Booked2020: Set in Hollywood

This book was given to me by my daughter when she was here for Christmas. She knew it would fit my WOC prompts, but look! She is wearing a hat! I adored this book. I plan to borrow the rest of her Jasmine Guillory's books from the library. Very quirky, and the main characters were over 50. LOVE!! This was also a quick read.

Challenge Prompts:

BINGO: written by a WOC

Pop Sugar: Written by a WOC

Color Code: Green

Wizarding World: Green Cover

A to Z: "G"

Europe: United Kingdom

52 in 52: Features Royalty (the Queen, plus a Duke and Duchess)

Booked2020: Hat on Cover

Next up is another Hannah Swensen book. I am loving how close the sisters are getting and I am still Team Mike. I wonder if that will change? I guessed the murderer about 3/4 of the way through, second guessed myself, and then changed my mind back. So much fun!

Challenge Prompts:

BINGO: Author is from my country

Wizarding World: Law is broken (you know, murder)

Mrs Darcy: book 1 out of 3 with the same author

52 in 52: in a series

I didn't count this as book 2 with the same author since I used Strawberry Shortcake Murder for another prompt in that challenge. The way I am ripping through these,  I won't have a problem getting 3 anyway!

I started this one today. It's my Booked2020 Cover Crush and for Pop Sugar, it's my Anthology. I love Joe Hill, so this should be an easy read, for the most part!

What are you reading right now?

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday Gnome Trail Race