Monday, January 1, 2018

End Of Year Round-Up, Sort of



Sort of because it's too blooming cold to think.  Our high today is 38º and it's struggling to stay that high.  We tried to walk this morning and I couldn't do it.  Just too cold.  This is a semi-tropical area, we're not use to temperatures like this.  Down to 22º tonight, brr, brr, brr.
But anyway, if I can ignore D.Trump and most of the time I can, 2017 was a good year for us.
We traveled:

February to New York City

March to Japan

May  to Montana to visit Yellowstone Park

October  to Spain

November back to New York City

New York is incredible, haven't gotten it out of my system yet so we'll probably be going back again

I read 154 books.  My Goodreads account says 151, but my book journal says 154, so I must have not logged some of the in.

Best of the year:

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.  The Jesuits go to bring God to a faraway planet

The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch. What's real and does our mind play tricks on us

The Broken Earth Trilogy
by N.K. Jemesin. Science fiction fantasy, the first 2 won Hugos and I'm sure the 3rd will too.  Hard to describe, but oh what a story.

The OathBringer Brandon Sanderson. Science fantasy The 3rd in his  Stormlight series and maybe the best one yet.


A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute. Who wouldn't want to live in a town like Alice.

Kindred by Octavia Butler---oh she wrote so well and died too soon.  What happens if a modern day black women keeps traveling back in time to the  pre-Civil War south?

The discovery of the Joe Pickett books by C. J. Box.  Joe is a game warden in Wyoming and the books are so good.

We never watch much tv other than sports.  But we have started watching Young Sheldon, the story of Sheldon (from Big Bang series) as a 9 year old.  Pretty well done.  We like Big Bang and Young Sheldon is a good follow up to it.
For the last week we've been watching a marathon of MythBusters, a great science show (and great explosions) that ran for 14 years and it's been fun watching all the early shows.

Movies

Didn't go to the movies at all this year, just a mixture of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Acorn TV.
We like comedies, but strangely enough 2 of our favorites from last year were Passengers and Arrival, both science fiction.  To end the year we watched Kingmen: The Golden Circle.  Not as good as the first one, but quite entertaining.

Tomorrow I'll talk about our plans for 2018.


22 comments:

  1. That's a lot of books!!! Good for you- I didn't read nearly as much as I wanted to this past year...but I read books I did thoroughly enjoy.

    It was MINUS 30° here in WI this morning (with wind chill). I think our high is around Zero F today. UGH!

    I hope you have a wonderful, blessed 2018! xo Diana

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  2. Such a lovely year you've had. And, I hope you have a wonderful 2018! Pat xx

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  3. You have been very productive with your travels and reading. Happy New Year.

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  4. Wow, that's a lot of books. I have quite a few Christmas books which I was hoping to read over the festive period but it didn't really happen, never mind, I'll read them throughout the year. You've visited some wonderful places this year, I'm envious of your trip to Yellowstone Park, I watched a programme on TV about it and it looks wonderful.

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  5. You have read a huge amount of books - I wonder what 2018 will bring for you both in the way of travels. Wishing you both a Happy New Year.

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  6. Very good collection. I have nothing to round up, or down, so will just agree with yours. Especially the books.

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  7. You have done well with your reading, and you've visited some great places ...
    Here's to a Happy New Year for you both.

    All the best Jan

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  8. -30 something this morning and then the wind...it is really cold, but we can still go for a walk. We have lots of warm clothing:)

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  9. Wow great year! Lots of good books and trips. Who could ask for more? I try to stay away from the news but it isn't always easy. My middle son works at a newspaper and has to read stories every day - drives him crazy and makes him a little depressed. Hopefully this year will bring only good news - we can hope! It's been really cold here today - wind and blowing snow. Brrrr. I keep counting the days until Spring!

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  10. That is a lot of books. Sounds like a wonderful year with lots of travels. Happy New Year.

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  11. What a busy year! All the best for 2018 and your new travels. We have Mythbusters over here from time to time, such a good show.

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  12. You've had a wonderful year, visited some great places and seen such wonderful things. I hope you have as great a year in 2018:)

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  13. Wow! That's what I call busy-busy. You have a lot of memories, that's for sure.

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  14. Wow...what a busy year you have had! I love the picture in your header...it reminds me when I was a little girl and lived near a lake. Every year when it froze over, all of my siblings and would go ice skating...well, I at least tried but was never able to master it very well. I hope your 2018 is filled with blessings!

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  15. Wow, that's a lot of books! I have read 51 books in 2017... not even a close match. I hope 2018 is going to be a good year for you and Mac, and of course for your daughter, too. x

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  16. my word what a lot of books! well done and a happy 2018 to you xxx

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  17. WOw!! great travel year. You read 154 books that's amazing, me too crazy reader :) I will also count how much i read in a year :) Happy new year
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  18. It was pretty hard to ignore Trump and his Congress in order to judge the year for me. You sure did get plenty of reading in!

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    1. If I didn't ignore him I'd have to go insane and buy a gun.

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  19. I thought you pool looked pretty. Maybe ice skating is next on you list.

    cheers parsnip and manadibles

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  20. That's a lot of traveling!
    That's a lot of books!

    Looks like a good year.

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