It’s almost pathetic to admit that, only two weeks out from Winter Break, I’m beyond relieved to have a 3 day weekend.  January is no joke in our house with both kids playing basketball, as well as all the other activities!  We have no big plans this weekend, though.  My son actually has a 4 days weekend as Friday was a teacher planning day at his school.  But tomorrow is MLK, Jr. day and everyone has it off.  Our big plan is to sleep in!  I’m not sure if the weather is going to cooperate to do anything outside.  While we’re having a moderate winter in terms of temperature, it’s actually a very wet winter with rain on most days.  Yes, Oregonians are used to the rain…but that doesn’t mean that all of us want to actually be out in it (I mean, my daughter does, but…)  If the weather holds, I might see if I can get the family to go for a walk at a local nature park or something like that.

I am hoping to do some more posts this week.  I have an idea for a weekly (sort of) series on podcast recommendations.  I realized that a regular TV Tuesday post is going to be hard because, honestly, I just don’t watch that much television!  So, I think Tuesdays will be for Podcast Talk, with a break for a TV Tuesday when needed.

I’m linking up with Kathryn at Book Date for her It’s Monday…What are you Reading? hop.

Last week, I read:

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
I’m not sure who recommended this to me, because I’ve seen it all over the place.  While it was the “pack librarian” aspect that attracted me to this book, it was the “Kentucky Blue” aspect that kept me going.  I had never heard of these people before and spent a fair amount of time googling it while and after reading this book.  As for the story itself, it was interesting and moving.  I found myself thinking about it after I finished the last page, which is always a good sign.  However, there were some parts of the book that didn’t work for me.  There were a couple secondary plot lines that felt either underdeveloped or unresolved.  I wish that Richardson had either improved those or possibly not included them.

Enemies in Love: a German POW, a Black Nurse, and an Unlikely Romance by Alexis Clark, narrated by Allyson Johnson (audiobook)
I have quite an inventory in my Audible library and I’m trying to work through them.  This one was available in their Audible originals and I decided to give it a try.  I had it stored in my mind that there were German POW’s stateside during WWII, and I knew there were African-American nurses, so I wasn’t surprised that the two could be in close proximity.  However, I had never heard of a story such as this.  The history surrounding these two people was more interesting than their story, but their relationship was a good frame for the history.  If you like these sorts of histories, you might want to check this one out.

You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley
This book seems to be everywhere and I will admit that I added it to my holds list before I actually knew what it was about.  Once I read the synopses, I realized it sounded really schmaltzy.  And, guess what!  It is really schmaltzy.  But, if you know you are going to get schmaltz, it’s easier to tolerate the schmaltz. Ultimately, this was a pleasant enough read, but I don’t think it really deserves all the hype.  There were some structural issues that really bothered me and I will confess to more than a few eye rolls while reading this.  Ultimately, though, it was a pleasant enough way to spend a few hours, even if it didn’t leave any kind of impression on me.

Currently Reading:

• Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl
• GI Brides: The Wartime Girls Who Crossed the Atlantic for Love by Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi (audiobook)
• Fieldnotes on Ordinary Love by Keith S. Wilson (poetry)