I'm back and have missed you all. Our holiday was a lovely one.

I just finished All the Light We Cannot See - 3 Stars - This started out for me as a potential 5-star book. As the story progressed and kept going back and forth in time, making it feel rather choppy and disruptive, it became a 4-star one. By the end of it, when I’d waited so long for the characters to come together, I wouldn’t give it more than 3 stars. I liked it fine, but certainly didn’t love it, and, by the way, I felt that the book was excessively long and that the pace was far too slow. The rich and lyrical writing style was beautiful, but I look far more towards the story and characters. I seldom felt a strong connection to the latter. The reader is not privy to their thoughts, feelings, and emotions. The short chapters and going back and forth certainly don’t help either. MY RATING SYSTEM 5 Stars Fantastic, couldn't put it down 4 Stars Really Good 3 Stars Enjoyable 2 Stars Just Okay – nothing to write home about 1 Star Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

Thank you all. I'll miss you and look forward to seeing you here soon. :grouphug:

Last post and workout this morning. We leave in a few days, but this is my last day of exercise - swimming soon. I'll miss you all and look forward to seeing you all again here in a few weeks.

Rebounding & going for a swim soon. I'll be gone for the next few weeks, so please keep this weekly thread going. Thank you. I'll miss you all.

Robin, thank you so much for this wonderful thread every week. Happy that you got to sleep in. :D

I read Murder on the Orient Express - 3 Stars - I was slightly disappointed in this since I felt that the pace was slow and really didn’t achieve a climax as such until the final chapter. Reading this took me much longer than it should have, mainly because I felt bored and sleepy through much of it. Nonetheless, I’d still like to try out more Agatha Christie books. The ending was brilliant and unexpected. I think that there may be a possibility that my usual rule of preferring books over movies might not apply when it comes to Agatha Christie. I’ve loved every Agatha Christie movie that I’ve seen, yet I’m not so sure about the books. MY RATING SYSTEM 5 Stars Fantastic, couldn't put it down 4 Stars Really Good 3 Stars Enjoyable 2 Stars Just Okay – nothing to write home about 1 Star Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

About to soon go swimming.

Link to new thread.

New thread. Please post your workouts here. Everyone welcome. :)

2 Classical Stretch routines: Scar Tissue & Fascia Hips, Feet, & Range of Motion

Going for a swim in the next hour or so.

About to do about 6 Miles of walking - Hamelin D'Abell Cardio Tone 4 & Jessica Smith Flat Abs Walk - both are You Tube workouts. Love the former. First time doing the latter.

Going for a swim soon and hoping to somehow fit in an Essentrics Barre routine. It's longer than the usual, which are about 25 minutes. This one's an hour long, but I hope to get it done today.

Rebounding and am about to do 5 Miles of Leslie.

I read: Yes, Your Teen is Crazy - 5 Stars - For the past few years, I’ve had a bit of an aversion to how-to books, particularly when it comes to parenting, and so on. I think that I got burned out when I overdid it a bit from the time I was pregnant and when our children were small. All I can say is that I am extremely grateful to a few of my online friends who recommended this book. My suggestion: read this book if you have a pre-teen or teen! The first few chapters are quite scary and worrisome, to say the least, but the latter part, the how-to part, is incredibly helpful and practical. I would recommend re-reading it from time to time. I know that I, for one, am the type that needs to be constantly reminded. This book will hopefully help me to regain some semblance of sanity, perspective, and understanding, during this challenging time. Still Alice - 5 Stars - This book is about early onset Alzheimer’s. It is gripping right from the get-go and seems so realistic, which is obviously frightening, considering how likely it is that Alzheimer’s and dementia may affect many of us at some point. Just the other night, as I was coming towards the end of this book, we were leaving home to go visit my parents as we do almost every evening. We saw something we’d never seen before: an elderly lady standing there in the dark, barefoot and in her pajamas. The poor woman had Alzheimer’s. We helped her back to her apartment (long story). She’d managed to open the door and wander out in the darkness while her son and daughter-in-law had gone out. It was scary to say the least. She had the all-too familiar shuffle that those suffering from Alzheimer’s have, she thought that she was nineteen, and kept saying that she has to get back home before her mother finds out that she’s out. One sign of my reading a book that I love is how much I talk about it with my husband. This one, I couldn’t stop talking about. I put myself in Alice’s shoes and wondered how I would feel and what I would do. MY RATING SYSTEM 5 Stars Fantastic, couldn't put it down 4 Stars Really Good 3 Stars Enjoyable 2 Stars Just Okay – nothing to write home about 1 Star Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.

Going for a swim soon.

Link to new thread.

New thread. Please post your workouts here. Everyone welcome. :)

Happy Fourth of July everyone! :) About to try out Cathe Friedrich's Ab Hits. Not sure if I'll like it or not.

Going swimming soon.

I'm about to soon do a Jessica Smith 1 Mile Power Walk followed by Hamelin's Armtastics Taster.

Kim, I'm so sorry. That's so sad. I've been getting lots of sleep and feel fine, but the downside is that whenever that happens, I really don't get to exercise. I have to choose between sleep or exercise. It's too hot here to exercise for much of the day. Things get in the way, obligations and distractions. Yet I also need my sleep.

Swimming soon. Wish I had time for a super-long swim, but I'm taking our daughter to the spa this morning for her birthday. :)

I read The Miniaturist - For most of the book, I thought that I would likely end up giving it 4 or 5 stars, that’s how much I liked it. All in all, it was a bit too enigmatic for me in certain areas. I liked it, but certainly didn’t love it. I chose to read this now, because it takes place in Amsterdam, and we’ll be heading there for a few days soon. MY RATING SYSTEM 5 Stars Fantastic, couldn't put it down 4 Stars Really Good 3 Stars Enjoyable 2 Stars Just Okay – nothing to write home about 1 Star Rubbish – waste of my money and time. Few books make it to this level, since I usually give up on them if they’re that bad.