Denise's Reading Blog

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Review: Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox by William R. Sanford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Michael J. Fox by William R. Sanford

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Review: Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox by Keith Elliot Greenberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I like the short chapters and the pleasant font.

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Michael J. Fox by Keith Elliot Greenberg

One of my favorite pictures in this book.

Review: Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox by Jill C. Wheeler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I liked the pictures! XD 🤭

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Michael J. Fox (Star Tracks) by Jill C. Wheeler

I borrowed this eBook on archive.org. I saw one biography on there and this one was recommended to me based on the metadata. The following are my favorite pictures from this book. 😉

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Review: I Heart New York

I Heart New York by Lindsey Kelk
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I finished reading this book on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 7:54 p.m.

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I Heart New York (I Heart, #1) by Lindsey Kelk (Goodreads Author)-Highlights and Notes from Apple Books

A screen shot of my iPad eBook cover.

I am not sure where I first came across this book, I think it was on Hoopla, but all I knew was that I loved the title and book cover! I was really anxious to read another book that’s set in New York. After reading this I feel like I always have to be reading a book that’s set in New York. This book has quickly been added to my Goodreads favorites shelf. It was such a fun read! Now I really want to read some of the other books in the I Heart book series!

I made a I Heart New York by Lindsey Kelk Spotify playlist for this book because there were bands mentioned and I listened to it all the time! I love The Stills now! I also love that the author and Angela both love indie rock bands! :P <3

“The New York City skyline. Manhattan. The Empire State Building. The beautiful, beautiful Chrysler Building. The Woolworth Building with its big old churchy steeple. And I fell in love. It hit me so hard that I stopped crying, stopped thinking, stopped breathing. I felt as if I’d been winded. Winding the cab window all the way down, I breathed in the skyscrapers, the giant billboards, the industrial riverside stretches and the sweaty, steamy air. I was in New York.” (31)

“and you came to the best city in the world to rediscover yourself.” (44)

“Don’t get up,’ she said, opening the door. ‘Just enjoy the food, watch some shitty TV and get ready for tomorrow.’

‘What’s tomorrow?’ I asked, cracking into the pancakes. I was so hungry and everything was so good.

Jenny grinned from the doorway. ‘Lots of things. It’s my day off, it’s the day I’m taking you out so you don’t spend a second longer than necessary alone watching cable, and it’s the first day of your New York adventure. Be up and in reception by nine-thirty.’

And she was gone.” (45)

“as a knock at the door shook me out of my wow-I’m-really-in-New-York-and-let’s-not-think-about-why trance.” (48)

⁃ Lolz

“p.s. hope you enjoyed Joe too, I bet your ex didn’t bring you pancakes in the morning looking like that…

I laughed out loud, but it sounded so strange.” (50)

⁃ Lolz hehe!

“You’re in New York, it’s like, the best place on earth to be a writer. There are a million books inspired by Manhattan.” (55)

⁃ That is SO true!

“Angela Clark, by the end of today, I’ll have made a New Yorker out of you.” (66)

“Looking right, I swam in the endless downtown view afforded by the New York grid system, channels framed by skyscrapers rising high into the sky.” (71)

“She wasn’t wrong, the Flatiron building was incredible, all triangular and pointy but everything we passed was cool. Gorgeous, organized, New Yorky and cool.” (74)

“But she’s here to look after everyone. New York is made up of millions of different people, Angie, and they all come here looking for something, just like you.” (75)

⁃ Lady Liberty.

“And New York is a great place to do that. It’s a city of new beginnings. People go to LA to “find themselves”, they come to New York to become someone new.” (76)

“I took one last look out at the statue. Wowsers. I was in New York.” (78)

⁃

“Hmm, a new friend, a new wardrobe and a new city. Compared to Saturday, this hadn’t been a bad day.” (78)

“sipping my bucket of coffee” (85)

“Even though I’d never been here, the streets seemed so familiar. Either I’d found my spiritual home or I’d watched too much TV.”(95)

“I was back to dreaming my New York life, instead of living my New York dream.” (102)

“Thankfully, this time she didn’t just laugh and proved herself to be not just a great life coach but a great hair-holder-backer and glasses of water provider. Once she’d stripped me down and helped me into the shower, I began to feel slightly more human. This was definitely a crash course in friendship.” (121)

⁃ I love this friendship of Jenny’s and Angela’s! It’s so sweet!

“Pulling out my notebook and hotel room pen, I started to scribble my thoughts. God, imagine writing an online diary for The Look magazine!” (133)

⁃ I like that Angela is writing in her notebook in a café! So cute!

“but I needed to find some way of celebrating my job, my New York minute.” (183)

“New York is so amazing. It makes me feel like…like I’m really living, you know? It makes me want to do new things and just discover every inch of it. See everything there is to see.” (189)

“There’s nothing worse than staying when there’s nothing to stay for.” (195)

“You want to walk the last couple of blocks?’ Tyler asked, reading my mind. I nodded eagerly and jumped out onto the pavement, leaning against the wall and looking out across the lake. It was like a scene from a movie. My movie.” (215)

“I’d really like to write. Just write, whether it’s magazines or books, whatever. Not necessarily deep and meaningful, but just something that someone can enjoy. Something that they can sit down with for an hour to enjoy, and escape from, I don’t know, whatever it is they need to escape from.” (230)

⁃ I love that, Angela!

“What you saw on the surface, what was right in your face every day, that was only a third of it, the rest was up in the sky.” (251)

“It made this whole New York adventure real.” (253)

“We stood and looked out over the city. The sun was long gone from the sky and a blanket of reassuring darkness had been tucked over New York, with the newly lit Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building acting like giant nightlights, keeping everyone safe. It looked so completely different, this magical island out there on its own, defiantly sparkling away.” (261)

“thinking about how different the views were out of our windows. I could see yellow taxi cabs, the Chrysler Building and thousands of New Yorkers hustling and bustling around the city.” (319)

“It was just like Jenny had said, New York wasn’t somewhere you came to find yourself again, it was somewhere you came to become something, someone, new.” (345)

“In a Starbucks with wireless internet I logged on. My blog was short and to the point. The Adventures of Angela: Moving On From Moving On. Yes, I had a lot of crap to wallow in, and I could feel sorry for myself for the next five years if I wanted, but I also had a lot to be glad about and from here on in, that was what this diary was going to be about.” (345-346)

“he yawned again. He really was too cute.

‘I’ll see you there.’ I yawned a little myself. It was even contagious on the phone.” (360)

⁃ I yawned too lolz

“I could understand why Alex loved Williamsburg, it was so chilled out, but I was still in love with Manhattan, despite the maddening crowds. The noise, the people, the feeling that anything could happen at any given second. That was what inflated my blood pressure, that was what sent adrenaline surging through me as the streets got narrower, more congested. I loved the neon billboards, the giant Target ads, the garish Hershey store, Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Co, Virgin, Sephora, Toysus. They were just adverts, stores, restaurants, but it was the clicking cameras and the pushing people with the happiest faces you’d ever seen that made the place what it was. And it was amazing to me.” (379)

“People love you, Angela, and they love to live vicariously through someone else. They don’t want to run away to another continent and leave everything they’ve ever known, but they love that you’re doing it for them,” (380)

“I had just worked out I was happy, I had just worked out it was definitely Alex, not Tyler, and now this. Jenny would say it was life testing my decisions. My mum would tell me it was fate bringing me home. I would say, enough, have we got any more Ring Dings. And since I was the only person in the room, I went with my option.” (383-384)

“I hung up and put my phone in my bag, taking out The Look. I opened it on my page and looked at the intro.

The Adventures of Angela. Twenty-something ex-Londoner, Angela Clark, guides us through life and love, finding friends and finding her way in the Big Apple.

It wasn’t a very complete description, I thought, but at least it was somewhere to start.” (425)

Excerpts From: Lindsey K. Kelk. “I Heart New York.” HarperCollins, 2010. Apple Books.

This material may be protected by copyright.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Review: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future by Michael J. Fox
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I finished listening to this eAudiobook on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at 12:03 p.m. I listened to it on the Audible app with my free trial. I listened to the entire audiobook while I worked.

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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future... by Michael J. Fox-Notes & Highlights

“I couldn’t afford not to read books” (Ch. 2, 28:50).

I like this quote! I have felt this feeling too, Michael! :] Even when Michael was broke he still read! He read for entertainment!

Another thing that I have heard Michael say is that “what other people think of me is none of my business.” I have never thought of it in this way before. I like this very much! <3

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Review: Lucky Man

Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finished listening to this eAudiobook on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 at 4:07 p.m.

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Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox-Notes & Highlights

I borrowed this eAudiobook from the Phoenix eLibrary. I listened to it while I worked and also while I did my skincare because I had no new podcast episodes to listen to. I like to listen to audiobooks during these times.

“Acknowledge my love for him.”

Michael was talking about his dad while he was writing his manifesto. When he was writing that it made me think that this action was needed because all of his trouble had to be released onto paper. I liked this quote.

This is one of my favorite excerpts.

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Review: The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 7

The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 7 by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this entire volume in two days. I borrowed it from the Cholla branch library. The first time I tried to get it I arrived too late at the library, so I had to get it the following day. I can't believe that this was just published like a month or two ago and my library already has it! I love them for that! I remember these scenes from

City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4) by Cassandra Clare

City of Fallen Angels by

Cassandra Clare. I not too long ago was re-reading the book via Eaudiobook from my library XD. I wish they would put the scene where Simon and Jace go to the supermarket and some girls are staring at Jace XD. I hope that part comes in the next volume. Anyways, I always love when these graphic novels get published and I love reading them SO much! I CANNOT wait for the next volume to be published!

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The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 7 (The Mortal Instruments: The Graphic Novel, 7) by Cassandra Clare (Goodreads Author), Cassandra Jean (Goodreads Author) (Artist)

The library book I borrowed.

I listened to my ➰Trance (No Vocals) Spotify playlist while I read this book.

So romantic! <3 I love their hands here.

I love this one too! I wonder what it sounds like.

Sunday, February 11, 2024

The End of Winter Reading 2024

We reached the community goal and my last minutes.

Monday, February 5, 2024

Review: Angela's Ashes

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My last reading session was 350 minutes. I finished reading this book on Monday, February 5, 2024 at 3:36 p.m.

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Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt-Notes & Highlights

Ale first read this book for school when we lived in the trailer. She had to read it in a week because school was starting soon and she didn’t receive the notice until late. Then months later we visited a Goodwill and I found this book again! I told Ale about it and Mom bought it for her. So now I just finished reading it! Initially, Ale and I were supposed to read it together, but Ale got busy. I borrowed Ale's book to read, and now she can finally have it back! =D I also borrowed the Eaudiobook from my local digital library on Hoopla.

* One of the scenes we read today had a scenario where Frank stole some bananas from the Italian grocery, and the Italian grocery owner came over to the boys and gave them a bag of fruit so the twins could stop crying because he could hear them from across the street. This is where I thought Frank would tell the Italian the truth, but he didn’t tell him anything. I really thought that Frank would tell him what he did, just like they do in every children’s show. But I guess considering their desperate situation it does make sense that he wouldn’t because if he did, he would have broken their trust with the grocer. Also, the grocer gave a hint that he knew that Frankie liked bananas. Maybe the Italian did see that he stole some and gave them leftover fruit anyway. I also remember that Ale and I read these beginning passages at the green square in our neighborhood with Mr. Twenty.

“He drinks his tea and tells us stories and shows us letters and words in the Daily News or he smokes a cigarette, stares at the wall, runs his tongue over his lips” (24).

Ale said that she thought that this sentence sounded poetic. I suppose it does, Ale. Myes, indeed.

“It’s lovely to know the world can’t interfere with the inside of your head” (202).

I like this quote. I think about this too, Frank.

❔ Questions I Have While And After We Read:

- Why do people have children?

- What's the purpose of having children?

- Is having children considered an investment?

- Why do parents always want to adopt babies instead of older children?

- Why do people have kids when they can't afford them?

And here is one of the many songs that Frank has sang in the Eaudiobook:

https://youtu.be/xXCrKoLVimY?si=nM7yfBAnMxYvxcRD

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Goodreads 2024 Reading Challenge

A cute banner I saw on the Goodreads app.

Sunday, January 14, 2024

Join the 2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge!

I did join!

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Feel Good Fiction

Cute pic from https://www.janmoran.com/.

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

January Library News

An Email from the Maricopa County Library District - Fairway Library.

WRP-Cozy-Books-Candle-1.png

Resolution:

Join our Winter Reading Program to help motivate you to read more this winter! Log your reading minutes to be entered to win weekly drawing prizes and tickets to a spring training baseball game!