Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Sunday Post / It's Monday What Are You Reading?

Billy Burgess #IMWAYR , Sunday Post

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Date.

Good Morning, Everyone!

What Am I Currently Reading?

Last week wasn't a good week for me; well, at least it was a bad week for reading. I've only had time to read a few pages in the thriller The Lost Night by Andrea Bratz. I do like what little I have read so far. I spent the majority of my free time boxing more my grandmother's belongings from her apartment this week. The storage unit wasn't available until Friday afternoon. It's a little smaller than what I thought it would be, but it'll have to do for now. Despite the freezing rain yesterday, we (my mother & me) did get all of the bookshelves and all of the boxed "fragile" items into storage. The weather is supposed to be better today, so we're planning on moving all of the furniture today. We borrowed a dolly from a relative and we have another relative who is going to help. Plus, my dad will be helping as well. He would've helped yesterday, but with all the boxes in the way only two people can maneuver inside my grandma's apartment. If there's time this afternoon, we're going to move a cabinet/bookshelf, nightstand, a magazine rack, and a small shelf to my grandma's room at the nursing home.

I hate this cold weather! I've been sick most of the week with another cold and sore throat. And to top it off, I now have a cold sore! So, I'm guessing being in and out and of the rain yesterday didn't help me any. I'm temporary back on caffeine! And, no, this isn't the reason why I have a cold sore. I already had it before I added the caffeine back into my life. I'm overexerting myself and I need an extra boost from caffeine to get me through this weekend. Once we get my grandma's stuff out of her apartment, then I can relax and switch back to decaf.

UPDATE: Just a few minutes after posting this, I was informed my grandmother either had a seizure or a light stroke earlier this morning. She's prone to seizures (or what she refers as "spells"), but hasn't had one in very long time.

UPDATE: It was a light seizure. Grandma seems to be doing alright!

UPDATE (6:50 PM): A little update on my grandmother. She was a bit loopy after her seizure, so they ended up sending her to a hospital in the city. The doctors think her seizure medicine was too high of a doze and caused the seizure. She might be released back the nursing home sometime tomorrow. On a side note, we moved all of my grandma's furniture to the storage unit. However, we didn't take the tall bookshelf, nightstand, or magazine rack to the nursing home since my grandmother wasn't there at the time. So the plan is take the furniture to her room on Tuesday. There's a few things left in her apartment that we'll pick up tomorrow. Then we'll clean the apartment on Wednesday.

UPDATE (Monday 11:30 PM): My grandma is still in the hospital. She had a cold at the end of the last week. She had a fever today and a really bad cough. After a few tests, she has been diagnosed with pneumonia! She will be in the hospital for awhile. If everything goes as planned, I'll be visiting her on Thursday. As for my grandmother's apartment, we finished moving everything out of it today; though we didn't take any furniture to her nursing home room. Instead we put everything in storage for the time being.

UPDATE (Wednesday): If everything goes as planned, my grandmother will be released from the hospital sometime tomorrow.

Last Week's Reviews

The Passage
(Winter Reads)

The Restoration Series: Jonathan's Walk
(Web Series Review)

In the Mail

Book Blogger Hop: February 22nd - 28th

Billy Burgess book blogger hop ,

Book Blogger Hop

Instructions: Select all code above, copy it and paste it inside your blog post as HTML

Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop!

If you want to schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

The Book Blogger Hop now has its own Facebook Group! Please join the group to get all the newest Book Blogger Hop updates. Also, you can communicate with your fellow book bloggers in the group.

What To Do

1. Post on your blog answering this question:

This week's question is submitted by Angelica @ Paperback Princess.

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below. Please enter your Name/Nickname @ Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Here's an example: Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer

3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading a few posts and possible become a new follower. The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

The Friday 56: The Lost Night

Billy Burgess The Friday 56 ,

Rules

Grab a book, any book.
Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it).
Post it.
Add your (url) post below in the Linky at: www.fredasvoice.com
Add the post url, not your blog url.

A chronic friend-defector. I'd noticed it as well but had thought- hoped - she was like me, floundering through her early social life until the right people, the right friendships, appeared.

page 56, The Lost Night by Andrea Bartz

My Thoughts

Review - The Restoration Series: Jonathan's Walk

Billy Burgess streaming , web series

Available today to stream is brand-new 5-part documentary series "The Restoration Series: Jonathan's Walk." Presented by Prison Fellowship, "The Restoration Series," follows the lives of men and women who have been part of the in-prison program, The Academy, which tackles recidivism - the tendency of a criminal to reoffend.

"Jonathan's Walk" centers around Jonathan, a man who has spent the last 15 years in prison. He's now getting ready to be released on parole and reenter society. During his time in prison, Jonathan has missed out on many family milestones, including his daughter's first day of school, so, of course he has been looking forward to leaving prison.

Transition back into the community isn't an easy thing to accomplish, so the odds are against Jonathan. Over half of ex-prisoners end up returning to prison within two years of their release. With his wife by his side, Jonathan is determined to become a better man.

You can signup and watch the series at: www.prisonfellowship.org/restorationseries

Final Thoughts

Winter Reads: The Passage

Billy Burgess Winter Reads ,

AMAZON

I hardly ever watch network television anymore. Most of the scripted series are almost unbearable to watch, and the ones I do find interesting are most likely to be cancelled quickly.
Nevertheless, I've have been watching the new FOX vampire series The Passage, which is based on the trilogy by Justin Cronin. After watching the first few episodes, I ended up purchasing The Passage paperback at my local Walmart store, which has a new art cover to tie-in with the television series.

Published in 2010 by Ballantine Books, The Passage is a massive read at over 800 pages and is broken into 11 parts, with the first two parts being set before & during the vampire virus outbreak, and the rest of the novel is set 93 years after the apocalypse.

The beginning plot centers around the government's secret project known as "Project Noah," where they have been experimenting on a new drug that will prolong life. All the test subjects have been death row inmates, who have been transported from prisons to a Colorado military compound. The experiments began with "patient zero," Tim Fanning, who was infected by a Bolivian bat carrying an unknown virus.

Brad Wolgast is one of the FBI special agents assigned to locate and transport the test subjects to the military compound. It's not an easy job, but Wolgast has never had a problem completing an assignment. Well, that is until he's assigned to transport a six-year-old orphan, Amy Bellafonte, who will become youngest test subject in the experiment. Unlike the other test subjects, the virus doesn't consume Amy, but instead it gives her telekinetic powers and immortality. Against orders, Wolgast takes it upon himself to protect Amy.

Fast-forward 93 years into the future, the plot shifts to an isolated, walled California colony. The people there are shocked when a now fifteen-year-old Amy arrives and leads an expedition to the colony in Colorado, where she must face her past.

Final Thoughts

Sunday Post / It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Billy Burgess #IMWAYR , Sunday Post

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Date.

Good Afternoon, Everyone!

I took a slight break from writing reviews last week, but I should be returning to the world of blogging this week with several planned reviews. When I say planned, it means I haven't written them yet!

Thanks to the bad weather last week, we didn't get any more packing done at my grandma's apartment, except for the little bit we did yesterday afternoon. We're at a point where's there's no more room to stack boxes. My aunt did get a storage unit, but it won't be available until maybe Wednesday.

What Am I Currently Reading?

Thanks to a snowstorm, I had the extra time to finish reading The Passage, as well as its sequel The Twelve and The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin. I'll be posting reviews for them sometime this week. As for my next read, it'll be the thriller The Lost Night by Andrea Bratz.

Last Week's Reviews

Bohemian Rhapsody
(Blu-ray Review)

In the Mail

Blu-ray Review: Bohemian Rhapsody

Billy Burgess Blu-ray , movie

AMAZON

Now available to purchase on Blu-ray (as well as 4K Ultra HD and DVD) is the award-winning blockbuster Bohemian Rhapsody (PG-13; 135 minutes), which is a biography of the rock band Queen and their lead singer Freddie Mercury (played by Rami Malek).

Along with Rami Malek, the rest of the cast includes Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Allen Leech, Tom Hollander, and Mike Myers.

Queen is one of the most popular rock bands who had dozens of #1 hits, including We Will Rock You, Another One Bites The Dust, Bohemian Rhapsody, Hammer To Fall, and Radio Ga Ga. The band consisted of vocalist Freddy Mercury, lead guitarist Brian May, bass guitarist John Deacon, and drummer Roger Taylor.

Bohemian Rhapsody mostly centers around Farrokh Bulsara (later known as Freddie Mercury), a young college student who forms a band called Queen with former Smile band members Brian May and Roger Taylor (played by Gwilym Lee and Ben Hardy). Later, they hired John Deacon (played by Joe Mazzello) as the bass guitarist; though this event is never shown in the film.

Basically the film chronicles the band's rise to stardom, their breakup (which never occurred in reality), and lastly their reunion at the 1985 Live Aid at Wembley Stadium.

Blu-ray Special Features:

The Complete Live Aid Movie Performance Not Seen in Theaters
Rami Malek: Becoming Freddie
The Look and Sound of Queen
Recreating Live Aid

Final Thoughts