The Geekly Reader

 Time to review my April 2021 Read of the Month, I am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall. I will not be able to say enough good things about this book. I loved the characters and storyline. I love the set-up of the novel, told as a running journal entry by the main character Jess. I quickly finished the book in just three days of reading, which with my busy schedule is about as fast as I can currently read a book. Once I hit the second half of the book I did not want to put it down. Don't judge....but this book nearly brought tears to my eyes...... SPOILER ALERT, SKIP THE NEXT PARAGRAPH TO AVOID MY SPOILER ..... Jess had to shoot and kill her dog that was her main companion throughout the novel....ughhhh....I get it but ugggghhhh....just because of this I probably will not go see the movie if it ever comes out. Ok if you skipped that paragraph good, the book was amazing; A solid 5/5....it ranks up there with some of my other favorite young adult novels from recent years ( The Hung

 One of my favorite hobbies besides reading and writing is traveling. I always look forward to at least one yearly trip with the family, and due to COVID 2020 meant no summer trip in the Pehote household ( we did squeeze in a Vegas trip in late February of 2020 for a gymnastics meet....just before the world shut down). I have been itching to travel and decided to pull the trigger and book a summer trip that can be canceled if necessary. I honestly hope with continued vaccine use travel will be possible. My philosophy on travel is simple, try not to keep repeating the same trips over and over. I get it, Vegas is great, Orland is great (for some....), but there is so much to see in this country alone, not to mention the entire world, that I try to spread my travels around so I (and my family) can share new experiences.  I have been very lucky when it comes to travel. My father worked for the airline growing up, so we did get to experience some great family vacations. I have also been abl

 Happy April, my April 2021 Read of the Month is I Am Still Alive  by Kate Alice Marshall.   This novel follows main character Jess. She has moved to Alaska to live with her father after surviving a car crash (which killed her mother). The chapters alternate between "before" and "after" as the book is working to reveal what has happened to Jess in Alaska.  April 2021 Read of the Month I have started the book and I already enjoy the alternating chapter method. From the reviews I have read it should be really good. Look for my review later this month.

 Check off one of my  2021 Spring Break goals , I completed my March Read of the Month, Nick  by Michael Farris Smith. Nick tells the story of Nick Carraway, the narrator in F. Scott Fitgerald's 1925 classic The Great Gatsby. Full disclosure, The Great Gatsby  is one of my favorite books of all time, so keep that in mind as I review this book. First thing, Sam Waterston is the only Nick Carraway, sorry Spiderman..... First, a quick summary of this book without giving too much away. Nick  opens in France during World War I, and we meet Nick as he is fighting the war and spending time on leave falling in love in Paris. During this time, and throughout the book, the reader is provided some flashbacks to Nick's childhood in Minnesota as well, we even get a sample of his father's famous speech that Carraway opens The Great Gatsby with; "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenever you f

 Spring break 2021 has arrived and I will not be traveling. It does not have much to do with Covid, I just prefer to not travel at this time of year. I usually save travel and vacations for the summer. So this means my spring break will take place in good old Brownstown Township this year, as usual. Here is what I have planned for my week "off." Finish and review my March Read of the Month, Nick Clean and organize my home office Walk every day, but Thursday looks quite awful here in the downriver area....one final blast of winter for everyone that remained in Michigan for spring break Shop for new shoes; all this walking means it is time for new shoes. Also, middle school track starts a week from today so this coach needs new shoes Find a book for my April Read of the Month Go back to camera shopping. This is something I was doing way back in November and put on hold. I think I will treat myself to a new camera in June for Father's Day. Watch John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Dis

 I had good intentions, I picked my February 2021 Read of the Month , that I will quickly review later in this post, I set aside time for reading and writing....and then last two months just exploded with events, activities, and life in general. For the first time since the shutdown I found myself running all over again multiple days a week, including weekends. For the first time since the pandemic hit I was finding myself doing more than just going to work and grocery shopping. So what popped up in the past two months, well here is the short list: Car shopping for my daughter, which took time.....but eventually we succeeded in finding a used Equinox to add to the family fleet. School sports started back up for my son, and then a travel basketball league to follow. In-person education continued for most of the time period, although the last two weeks has been remote for the high school (I still go in to get work done in the library) My washing machine died.....which resulted in a Lowe&