Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
We’re actually experiencing summer-like temperatures this week, and I’m so happy about it now that the kids are out of school. I guess Mother Nature is making me eat my words after complaining in last week’s 5+1. I hope you’re having great weather as well and have some fun on tap for the long weekend. Here is this week’s Friday 5+1! This post contains some affiliate links.
Zoodle Spiral Slicers
I have mentioned that I’m trying to eat “clean(er)” recently, and I’ve stumbled across some delicious looking recipes like this one that include spiral veggies, sometimes in the place of noodles. This Zoodle Spiral Slicer makes easy work of spiralizing veggies.
Orphan Train
I am back on an audio book binge, and have knocked out almost three books this week alone thanks to Audible. Orphan Train was one that immediately got my attention and I couldn’t stop listening to it once I started. Don’t you just love books like that? Here is a description from Amazon –
Christina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train is an unforgettable story of friendship and second chances that highlights a little-known but historically significant movement in America’s past—and it includes a special PS section for book clubs featuring insights, interviews, and more.
Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to “aging out” out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse…
As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.
The Life We Bury
I just finished this book yesterday, and while more of a mystery/suspense type of book, it was equally compelling. The Amazon description –
College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe’s life is ever the same.
Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran–and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder.
As Joe writes about Carl’s life, especially Carl’s valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory.
I love a good suspense novel, and it helps the the narration on the audiobook was really well done. The more I listen to audiobooks, the more I appreciate the importance (and the talent) of the narrator.
TV – What to Watch This Summer
I know you don’t plan on watching TV all summer, but if you do, here is a list of some shows to watch.
Summer Fiction
And if you are looking for more summer fiction ideas – here is a list of some more books to consider.
And my +1 for the Week…
Clean clothes in the dirty laundry. My oldest son just left a giant load of dirty clothes in the laundry room, and nothing gets me going into crazy mode than finding a perfectly folded shirt (or two, or seven) in the dirty laundry. I’ve decided since he’s going to be a senior, and released into the world next year, that this summer is going to be the beginning of my “Teen Boy Bootcamp”. I have failed as a mother in teaching him some basic life skills, and have gone into a bit of panic at the thought of all that he still has to learn in order to live on his own. Laundry is on the list.
Have a great weekend!
Jenny
4 Comments
Julie
May 27, 2016 at 12:28 pmLol about your son. Mine started college last September and moved into residence. I taught him how to do laundry before he left home, but he found it was easier to sweet talk the girls into doing it for him! He is now living in a house with a bunch of guys and no meal plan and just discovered that groceries are expensive! The meals he took for granted at home and the leftovers he wasn’t interested in are now in great demand. It’s such an exciting time to watch them grow, enjoy!
jill
May 27, 2016 at 1:48 pmLoved Orphan Train and thanks for the suggestion on the other two. Ugh! My teenage son has been known to do the same thing of putting perfectly clean laundry into the dirty bin as a procrastination tactic from putting away it away! Infuriating!
Lisa
May 27, 2016 at 4:49 pmGood for you with your +1! His future wife will appreciate your efforts.
Karin
May 28, 2016 at 7:31 amLove my spiralizer! My son used to do the same thing – and then deny it! Now he lives on his own and has to do his own laundry. And he is still doing the same thing, only now he does it, because he won’t fold his clothes, like he was taught, and still tosses everything on his bedroom floor… Oh well, I certainly tried. Your book suggestions look intruiging.