Weekly Recap #81: Week of 12/2 -12/8
It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.
I’m really hoping this upcoming week is my last busy week of the year because I’m truly exhausted right now. I didn’t realize how tired I was until Saturday when I woke up at 6:40 a.m., decided I wanted to rest my eyes for just a few more minutes, and next woke up three hours later, lol. Oops! We’ve added after school band practices and Math Club to my son’s already busy schedule so I feel I like I spent half my week in the car chauffeuring him around and then scrambling around at home to make up for the time I’ve lost doing everything else that needs to be done. It’s all better than him sitting in front of the xBox for all of those hours so I try not to complain too much, but all that running around just makes me feel old and tired, lol. Thankfully the band concert is this Thursday so then those practices will stop and some downtime will open back up for me.
On the blog, even with the busy week, I did manage to do six posts, including a discussion post. My goal was to do at least 12 for the year and so far I’ve done 10. Hopefully I’ll make it. I do have a few other topics I’d like to write about, if I can find the time Yes, time, or lack thereof, is definitely the theme of this week’s post!
Speaking of the blog, does anyone else use WordPress? Specifically, did you update to WordPress 5.0? I updated last Thursday night and nearly had a heart attack when I went in to write my next post. They have totally revamped the editor and it looks NOTHING like it did before I updated. It’s all boxes now. You have to add boxes to type each paragraph of your post into. Lots of the formatting shortcuts I had been using now no longer work. It took three to four times longer than it usually does to write a post because everything was so hard to find and hard to use. I also usually write my reviews in Word and then just paste them into WordPress. Well, if I do that now, the formatting goes haywire and most of the words get pushed together so I have to re-proofread and reformat the entire post. After muddling through it long enough to get my Friday post up, I spent yesterday looking around to see if there was a way to undo the update. I found that WordPress has released an official Plugin that will restore the old editor. As much as I hate adding plugins to my site, the alternative, which is keeping a complicated new editor that I don’t have time to properly learn how to use right now, is even worse. For anyone else who is struggling with the new editor, here’s the plugin link — Classic Editor. I’m sure I’ll revisit the updated editor at some point after the holidays once I’ve watched some videos or something on how to use it, but damn, bad timing WordPress.
I didn’t get too much reading done this week with everything else that was going on, but I did manage to get through The Accidental Beauty Queen. I have to say this was a case of the right book at the right time because it’s such a sweet, fluffy, and fun read and it has so many of my favorite things in it. I won’t say much more since I’ll be reviewing it later this week, but it was just a perfect fit for me this week. I also started My Favorite Half-Night Stand yesterday and so far I’m really into it. Watching You is the last review book I need to get through before the end of the year so that’s on deck and then I hope to round out the year by finishing V.C. Schwab’s Villains duology. I haven’t even looked to see what ARCs I need to read in January, so this reading plan may change a bit once I get into the 2019 frame of mind and see what I have going on.
Oh well, that’s all I have. I hope everyone has a great week!
WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK
- [2 Dec] Weekly Recap #80: Week of 11/25 -12/1
- [3 Dec] Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield ★★★★½
- [4 Dec] Top Ten Tuesday – 10 Wintry Reads That Would Be Perfect to Read in Front of a Roaring Fire
- [5 Dec] Can’t Wait Wednesday – IMMORAL CODE by Lillian Clark
- [6 Dec] The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas ★★★★
- [7 Dec] Discussion Post: Are You a Scrooge When It Comes to Lending Your Books to Others?
WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK



UPCOMING REVIEWS



STACKING THE SHELVES


TOTALLY RANDOM
You’ve a great week of reading ahead of you!
Thanks, I hope so! 🙂
Ugh YES! Damn WordPress! The same thing happened to me and I also tried to work with the new editor, but it’s the worst. Thank goodness for plugins, that’s all I can say! Also, I did see a little box you can click on settings somewhere that says “disable Gutenberg editor” so that’s another way to get rid of it😁 (insert evil laugh) Die, Gutenberg, die!
I’ll have to look around for that little box because I seriously hate Gutenberg right now, lol.
Aw, I’ve done that often, planned on resting my eyes a little but woken up a few hours later totally confused lolol. I use WordPress but haven’t updated to the new editor. I am so bad with updates, I don’t update my iPhone or apps unless I have no choice. Facebook messenger had an update I kept ignoring, but then it refused to let me use it until I updated it lol. I never like the updates changes, it’s like if it’s not broken don’t fix it.
Happy reading, they all look good especially Watching You. Enjoy your week!
I agree wholeheartedly with ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.’ And that WordPress update is a prime example.
Happy reading to you too!
The Accidental Beauty Queen looks so good 🙂
It really was a fun read!
I’ve heard meh things about My Favorite Half-Night Stand, so I’ll look for your review! You said you’re enjoying it right now, and I’m hopeful that remains true for the rest of the story. I really enjoyed The Bear and the Nightingale when I read it this year, and I need to finish the series! I was disappointed with Strange the Dreamer. Did you like Muse of Nightmares? I have a copy, but I don’t know if I want to read it.
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear?
I really liked Muse of Nightmares but I also loved Strange the Dreamer so I might not be the best person to look to for guidance, lol. Something about Taylor’s writing style just really captivates me, although I know others think the books move way too slowly.
I had heard some rumblings about the new WordPress editor, but I had no idea it changed that much. Glad you were able to find a work-around. Right? Accidental Beauty Queen totally hit the spot for me too. It was fun and sweet and made me smile. I hope you like Half-Night. Seems people either love it or hate it – I loved it.
I ended up really enjoying My Favorite Half-Night Stand It kept giving me Friends vibes, which is always a plus for me.
Haha, I love that random. Books are always distracting me from the stuff I need to do. I wish I could get more sleep. I always seem to wake up around 6, no matter how exhausted I am.
Same here. I feel like being tired has become part of my personality, lol.
I hear you on the running around! It gets crazy!! And I’ve seen a little bit on Twitter about the WP update- sounds like a very frustrating experience! Glad they at least made the Classic Editor available…
I really want to read Watching You, I’ve found that I really enjoy Lisa Jewell’s books and I’m looking forward to that one!
This will be my first Lisa Jewell read, so I’m pretty excited for it.
LOL, that “totally random” perfectly describes my life and how I don’t get chores done!
I really want to read The Accidental Beauty Queen, it sounds adorable!
The Accidental Beauty Queen was so good! I wasn’t convinced that I would love it when I first selected it, but it was everything I hoped it would be and more.
Oh gosh, I slept in so late today. I was just really exhausted. This coming week won’t be too terribly busy, at least not until the weekend, and then next week is busy, so I’m going to be exhausted again by the time Christmas gets here. LOL I loved Vicious, but I still need to read Vengeful…maybe on my winter break (I work at a college, so I get one, yay!)
-Lauren
Right? All I want for Christmas is to not be tired, lol.
I thought I was the only one struggling with the new WordPress editor. I don’t know why they feel the need to change something that’s working just fine. Thank you for the plugin link! I’m so using it until I figure this new thing out.
I don’t know why they did what they did, but I don’t see where it’s an improvement at all. It’s very disappointing because I’ve loved WordPress for years.
Ok, I was curious about the new editor and couldn’t figure out why I didn’t have it — and your post explained because I have the Classic Editor plug in installed — and I forgot I did lol! I hope you get a chance to relax soon!
Be prepared for a big surprise if you decide to uninstall that plugin!
I feel you on the exhaustion thing. I ended up taking an impromptu mental health day last Wednesday, which is something I rarely do. But this year has well and truly caught up with me and I am overwhelmed and burned out. I went in Thursday and arranged to take the whole week of Christmas off. Hopefully that will help.
I’m looking forward to Watching You. I usually love anything by Lisa Jewell. And I’m excited for the new Christina Lauren, as well.
I’m taking the week after Christmas off for the same reason. Hopefully we’ll both start the new year feeling more rested. 🙂
I’ve been sleepy too but don’t have a reason for it. I think it’s just the cold weather.
I don’t have wordpress but I remember Grace tweeted something about it over the weekend. I hope it all goes back to normal soon.
Happy reading!
Yeah, WordPress is no fun right now. Thank goodness I found that plugin. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t.
Yes… I recall the stage where I felt I was spending the best parts of my life running the children around to various activities or their friends’ houses. It passes, thank goodness! In the meantime, I’m sorry you are running on empty. I’ve heard a few rumbles about the new WordPress update and thank you for the warning. as I always write my material in Word, then cut and paste after losing several posts midway through. So I won’t be subscribing to Word 5.0 anytime soon! Have a more restful week, if possible, Suzanne.
Yes, definitely avoid WordPress 5.0 as long as you can. The post I tried to write using it is probably one of the most stressful posts I’ve ever tried to complete!
I remember those days of chauffeuring my son to a zillion places, and I sure was glad when he could return the favor(lol) Sure hope you get some rest and relaxation soon! Hugs…RO
Oh yes, I will definitely be glad once my son can return the favor, haha!
I’m exhausted just reading about how busy your week was!
It find everything feels even more nuts this time of year too as you have so many extra things to do on top of the usual!
Yes, it’s a crazy time of the year for sure. I look forward to relaxing at the end of the year.
I’ve heard /read about others issues with the new editor who also used the Plugin. It IS horrible timing. I don’t worry about any of that as I use WordPress and Nosegraze does my hosting and all that.
Your books are all ones I’m reading or want to read or have read. I hope you get time for them soon and enjoy them. Anne – Books of My Heart
Thanks, me too!