Denise's Reading Blog

Friday, June 13, 2025

Cute Summer Reading Pics.!

Here are some cute pictures I found on the Phoenix Public Library website!

Review: Confessions

Confessions by Kanae Minato
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I finished reading this book on Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 3:44 p.m.

View all my reviews

🪑 Confessions by Kanae Minato

So this is the first book selection in the first ever Mother Daughters Audiobook Club. This book club consists of Mom, Yesenia, Denise, and Ale. We are all going to listen to an audiobook together and have a discussion about it when we all finish it. We chose this book because Yesenia liked that it had murder in the story. Mom and Ale also liked it, so this is the book choice. Everyone has access to the audiobook files and this will be a lenient style book club. The actual book is quite short, so I predict that we’ll finish before August lolz. I just googled mystery, thriller books under 250 pages because that’s what Mom wanted. This book I found in a reddit post where someone recommended this. They said most Japanese thrillers are this length. Mom will have a physical copy of the book from the Glendale library. I will use a free Ebook I found online. I think that this book will be thrilling. As of writing this I switched to a physical copy of the book towards the end of almost finishing the book. All of the libraries didn’t have a copy available, so I looked on the MAX library sharing service and got one all the way from Scottsdale! 😃

“I think we regular people may have forgotten a basic truth—we don’t really have the right to judge anyone else” (87, Chapter 2).

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and found it to be a page turner, really. It was interesting to see the same story from different perspectives. It was very disturbing as well. Young kids committing such crimes.

We had our book club meeting and had cucumber tea sandwiches and egg salad tea sandwiches. We each said our thoughts and I showed them the trailer.

Thursday, June 12, 2025

My Summer Wallpapers

My Currently Reading Home Screen

2025 Summer Reading Game Prizes!

Adults (ages 18 and up)

250 points: Sticker

500 points: Library Book Sale Coupon, Raising Cane's Free Drink Coupon

750 points: Sticker, AZ State Parks Pass, Two Phoenix Mercury Tickets (redeemed through a website link)

1000 points: Notebook or Power Bank, Two Free Books (one selected in person at Glendale Public Library, one selected through the County's online bookstore)

I picked up my prizes on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

These are Ale's summer reading prizes!

These are the rest of my prizes!

Mom telecommuted because the air con wasn't working at her work. She got us each a Wendy's breakfast sandwich, which was so sweet of her. 🥹 Then Ale and I went with her to her appointment that was near Bookmans. I wanted to take a picture of it for an entry to an Instagram summer reading challenge. After the appointment we went to Press Coffee inside of Sprout's and then went to the bookstore. It was cool in there, but they had no sales, so I didn't buy anything. Then we passed by the old house and I took a picture of the Little Free Library by the old house. Then I got my Burger King. Then we ate at the house and then only Ale and I went to the library to pick up our prizes. Ale said that her book was ready for pickup before we left for Mom's appointment, so it was a bookish day! I just needed to pick up the book I chose from the catalog, but Ale had to pick up ALL of her prizes. I also checked out a new graphic novel I was wanting to read called Brownstone by Samuel Teer. I am really enjoying it so far. Then we went to Walmart for a new shower head and for some more work clothes for me. And that was our day! We also finished the tv show of We Were Liars. We think there will be a season two because of the way it ended. Then we finished the day with reading our Sister Summer Book Club book. This was all on Monday, July 28, 2025.

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Color Our World Pics.

Spotted outside the Heroes Regional Library return box.

I love these!

Monday, June 2, 2025

Mom's Avatar!

Mom's reading! 😃 I will enter her 20 minutes for her.

My May 2025 Reads

📖 MY PERSONAL READS:
✅ [☀️PHOENIX LIBRARY☀️ & 🌞GLENDALE LIBRARY🌞]: 🌴 Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon

📘 MY OCCASIONAL READ:
✅ 🎶 Sex, Drugs & Goan Trance (Stories Book 5) by Thomas Jacob (Goodreads Author)

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Let’s make this summer a masterpiece!

I unlocked the Summer of Art avatar bundle and this was one of the items I unlocked. A black beret!

These two pics. are my new computer wallpapers for the Summer!

On Sunday, June 1, 2025 at 1:58 a.m. there was already 13,935 minutes read so far in our community?! Wow! I've never seen that! 😱 I waited until after midnight to enter my first minutes of 2025! 😄

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Review: Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I finished reading this book on Sunday, May 11, 2025 at 12:00 p.m.

View all my reviews

🌴 Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon

The only reason I read this was because of Alan Palomo. I mentioned it in the site I made about him.

https://sites.google.com/view/technoclique/books?authuser=0

I was browsing the shelves of the Cesar Chavez Library and saw this audiobook CD. I've had this book in my TBR list forever and decided to bring it home. Then I listened to it on my personal DVD player and CD player alongside an Ebook on Libby. Then I put the actual book version on hold from the Glendale library. It wasn't held until I was 75% done with the book. To be honest, it was only like background noise because I am not usually into these types of books. But during my reading sessions I did hear some WOH references!

“My parents saw us locked into a dismal slavery, but Coy and I, all we saw was the freedom—from that endless middle-class cycle of choices that are no choices at all—a world of hassle reduced to the one simple issue of scoring” (32).

That is the title of Alan Palomo’s new album!

“‘Please. They can subpoena you. They have permanent grand juries that have been known to indict a bean burrito. They can put you in a world of headache’” (190).

This phrase reminded me of Alan Palomo’s song called “Big Night of Heartache”.

“Something like what Sauncho’s colleagues in marine insurance liked to call inherent vice” (241).

Monday, May 5, 2025

We're Ready To Go For 2025's Summer Reading Game!

Friday, May 2, 2025

Review: Shopaholic Abroad

Shopaholic Abroad by Sophie Kinsella
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I finished reading this book on Friday, May 2, 2025 at 6:18 p.m. I really loved this book! It was just the Chick-Lit I needed! 💙 It was very inspiring!
View all my reviews

🚕 Shopaholic Abroad (Shopaholic, #2) by Sophie Kinsella (Goodreads Author)

I bought this book because it was set in New York and I kind of always wanted to read the Shopaholic series. I think this book will be fun and similar to the I Heart New York book. It has a Chick Lit type look to it. I read a little bit of it while we were waiting for our food in Cracker Barrel. I got it from Goodwill. The new location that opened near our house on 75th and Glendale. I obviously went to browse the book section before anything else. I looked through every book for anything that might catch my eye and found this to be the only one worth picking up. I paid in cash and it was only $2.29.

My personal copy of the book.

The Eaudiobook I borrowed from the Phoenix Public Library on Libby.

“‘Do you want any more of these?’ says Luke, reaching down and picking up the nearly-empty packet of Maltesers which I’ve been snacking on. (I have to eat in the car, otherwise I get carsick)” (55).

I’ve had Maltesers on my wishlist. This is my sign to purchase them for when I watch the film adaptation of the first two books in the Shopaholic book series. Update: I did try this snack and I have to say that they are way better than Whoppers. I loved them!

* I just want to say that I am having such a fun time reading this book!

“‘Open it!’

She tears it open, looks at the picture of a glossy, zipped-up pair of lips, and reads aloud the printed message:

Roomie - your secret’s safe with me.

‘How did you know I’d have a secret?’

‘Er…just a hunch,’ I say. ‘Sixth sense’” (270).

LOLZ XD OMG! This part was so hilarious! XD The weird part is finding out that Suze is having relations with her cousin, but the fact that Rebecca had a card ready for her was hysterical! It’s these little things she buys that somehow come in handy! XD XD

* I’ve just read the part where Rebecca gave her bank manager a greeting card to start off their meeting. lolz I love when she uses the cards she bought back in New York. 😆

* I love the part where Smeathie went to Rebecca’s auction. That was really nice of him to come and buy a few things. I’m also proud of Becky for finally selling her “assets” and paying off her debt.

* I also love that Becky is confident and is going to start over in New York. I love that dream! I almost got teary-eyed when she had that farewell lunch with her friends and parents.