5.14.2014

What's Up Wednesday (35)


What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, so we can check in with each other. To join, just check out Jaime Morrow or Erin Funk's blogs for the link widget and sign up!


WHAT I'M READING

Still reading Sea of Shadows. I'm not that far in, but I was surprised to find that the fantasy world is Japanese-based. It's pretty interesting so far.

I mentioned I might be switching gears though because I really want to read The Fault in Our Stars before the movie is out. Besides that, my friend wants to do an impromptu book-club reading of Junot Diaz's THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO, which I just bought last week.
WHAT I'M WRITING

I'm getting back into writing if that counts?

Do blog posts count too? I'm doing a few more of them than usual this month - this past Monday I talked a little about my "home away from home" as part of a feature for Dog Vacay and next Monday (5/19), I'll be participating in a bloghop called WRITERS ON WRITING. I was tagged by Tracey, whose Writers on Writing post is here, posted this past Monday.

Also in terms of blog writing, this month marks the return of Book Reviews! I know, neither Alz nor I have done any in a while. In case you missed it, I reviewed the unflinching and lovely WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart. Don't worry. I only talk about the writing style and themes, no spoilers. It's a book where going in blind is best, so you can also bookmark my review for after you read too. I read an ARC months ago, and I'm looking forward to actually being able to talk about it with other people now that it's out!

Two other book reviews I hope to have up this month are 1) CONTROL by Lydia Kang (a review that I should have written months ago) and 2) DIVIDED (the sequel to DUALED) by Elsie Chapman. I was recently approved for an ARC of DIVIDED, so I hope to have it read and reviewed by the end of the month when the book will be released.

I wanted to have those 2 book reviews this month too because May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month in the U.S. and I thought it'd be a good opportunity to highlight books by two Asian-American/Canadian authors.

So that's most of my writing / planned writing of late.


WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

My dear friend Eva! She's graduating with her Masters in Public Administration this week, and I could not be more proud of her. She's going to do great things (and already has as an undergraduate advisor and reading volunteer)!


WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

Most of my free time this past week has been spent binge-watching ARROW. The Sister and I got through all of Season 2 just in time to catch the season finale tonight. I already kind of regret it because now I'll have to wait until Fall for more and I want it nooooow, haha.

Channeling Felicity Smoak. Appropriate since she pretty much says
what I'm thinking when I watch this show. Yep, I own her S1 finale
horse-print dress! One of my favorites.
Mother's Day was this weekend, and we had a nice family lunch. The Sister dug up this old picture of us with our mom from when we were babies. Well, she was a baby. I looked like I just stepped out of a catalog.



Other than that, I'm just trying to stay cool. It is HOT this week in SoCal - like summer hot. I think we're going to hit 100F today. Here's a post-swim Loki to get you through the day. :)



Q4U: What's up with you this week?

7 comments:

Katy Upperman said...

I wish my husband would come home already so we can start ARROW. Between you and Tracey, I'm dying to watch it! I have never heard of THE BRIEF WONDEROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO, but it sounds fantastic and the cover is lovely. Definitely one I'll mark To-Read. Also, that horse-print dress is fab! Have a great week, Alice!

Jaime Morrow said...

I didn't know that Elsie Chapman was Asian-Canadian. I've actually been to Prince George, BC (where she's from). Cool!

Yay for getting back into writing! It's been a real struggle for me, so I know how hard it can be to just do it again. Wishing you all the words and ideas! :)

Love the horse print dress, by the way. Felicity Smoak is *awesome*. I'm going to have to wait to watch the finale until hubs gets home from Texas...in a month. Ugh. Hope I don't get spoiled! Have a great week, Alice! :)

Miss Cole said...

How cute is that photo of your family!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAW!!!!

Loving your Felicity dress. Eeep season finale incoming. I am NOT prepared... *gnaws nails*

Have an awesome week!

Lori M. Lee said...

Aww, you look like your mom :) SO CUTE! And I'm looking forward to your reviews! They are always so insightful.

Melanie Stanford said...

The hubs and I caught up on Arrow on Monday night in time for the season finale. I love Arrow (and Felicity!) but I feel like they're dragging out the climax just a bit.

linda said...

Awesome, looking forward to your reviews! :D

Fida Islaih said...

I can't wait to read WE WERE LIARS so I can't wait to go back and read your review (: