Friday, August 12, 2016

Sunday Post #155



The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer 


It's been all Olympics here this week. I've been enjoying the Games in spite of the coverage on NBC, and judging from other bloggers and Twitter I wasn't alone. NBC just does a terrible job and it's amazing to me that in this day and age we can't get streaming like the UK or Canada- even pay for streaming. I would pay to be able to watch without ads and their "human interest" stories. 

The Games themselves have been fun and interesting. Lots of good events, and lots of drama. I've enjoyed rowing but had to watch it almost exclusively via streaming, and usually recap videos. Very frustrating. I have enjoyed the swimming and diving and I'm looking forward to week two track and field. Some highlights of the week- rowing was cancelled one day due to bad weather, Katie Ledecky is an amazing swimmer and keeps shattering her own records, the diving pool turned green and one swimmer called it "the swamp", and the US lost to Sweden in soccer and is out. Huge upset. Congrats to Sweden, and tough loss. 

Last week I did the Olympics Book Tag but didn't get to Time Siege. It will be up in the next week or so. I reviewed Panic instead and it was nice to revisit that one. I also finished my readthrough of A Dance with Dragons and now I need to slot something into Wednesday. Here's a look at what I'm reading and reviewing in the next few weeks. 

Time Siege (Time Salvager #2)Truly Madly GuiltyPanicThe Originals



And I'm listening to...





NEW ARRIVAL/ UPCOMING REVIEWS:

Vicarious (Vicarious, #1)The Wanderers (The Wanderers, #1)Murder in the Secret Garden (Book Retreat Mysteries #3) 


BOOKISH LINKS

Lauren Oliver talks about her new book Replica. 



85 comments:

  1. I am loving the Olympics!! I streamed the gymnastics real time to watch with my daughter because she an't stay up that late to watch - me either really!! Ledecky is a beast and I love it. I am excited for the track and field stuff too. Love thta picture of the beach and the clouds. Have a great week!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am too. The gymnastics has been nice. And Ledecky- man she's a trip. Almost effortless seems like. Amazing swimmer.

      Delete
  2. Sadly, I haven't really watched the Olympics all that much... Now that we're back home, that may change, though. My limited knowledge of Spanish made it a bit hard to follow on Spanish TV.
    It sounds like you're having a great time with it, though, and I need to feel the Olympic spirit as well.
    The cat pics are great - thanks for sharing :)
    Have a wonderful weekend and a fab week ahead, and happy reading.
    Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you get to watch some now that you're back. Hope you enjoy the rest of your month! And I am enjoying! I'll miss the games when they're done.

      Delete
  3. Cute cat pix....and Brie Larson was great in the one role I saw her in, for ROOM.

    I'm not watching the Olympics...I find sports on TV to be annoying...LOL.

    Sounds like the NBC presentation isn't the best either.

    Enjoy your week, and thanks for visiting my blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanx. I haven't seen Brie in anything yet but that casting caught my eye.

      No Olympics for you? To be honest I'm not a huge fan of sports on TV either, usually.

      Hope your week is great!

      Delete
  4. I'm right there with you about the NBC coverage. I am enjoying seeing some of the events though. I don't mind the occasional human interest story, especially when they focus on athletes from other countries.

    Such a cute cat! I like your beach photos too. I wish I was at the beach right now. LOL

    Have a great week, Greg!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NBC has not made a fan out of me. :) I love the rowing and except for a few taped races in the last day or so, there's been no coverage. You can watch it all online of course but I don't have cable, and you need a cable sub. so yeah... I;m not a fan. :)

      Thanx for the kind words about the pics. The beach does sound good right about now!

      Delete
  5. Ledecky sure was something to watch. She is amazing and making the Olympics for me! I love browsing over at Deviant Art. So many spectacular images I could spend hours there. As always, great post, Greg!

    Laura's Sunday Post

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ledecky is amazing. No question. I've enjoyed her races maybe the most, she just goes out there and does phenomenal. Thanx Laura, have a great weekend!

      Delete
  6. Its too bad NBC isn't showing better coverage. Are there any American sports channels that is covering the Olympics too?

    I love the kitten pictures you are sharing. Looking forward to seeing more. Have a great week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NBC has exclusive rights, and you can sream online if you have a cable sub. Since I don't have cable, I'm pretty much stuck with basic network coverage. and they tape delay and curate their broadcast as they put it to meet the needs of their audience. So... the coverage is pretty bad. :) I've heard the CBC and BBC do a much better job and stream free? But of course you can't access those from the US without a VPN or something.

      Are you enjoying the Games, and is your coverage good? And glad you like the cat pics- I have a ton!

      Delete
  7. The summer Olympics have never interested me as much as the winter Olympics, I think because Canada isn't so much of a summer country... ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah I can see that. Canada has been doing pretty well in the games though, I think. I watched a race the other da where the Canadian team got the silver- I think it was rowing, not sure. But a thrilling finish.

      Delete
  8. Yeah, I just started streaming the gymnastics online because the TV coverage was crap, especially for the men's gymnastics, that was hardly getting shown at all. But they have different commentators for the TV coverage and the streaming, and it turns out I like the streaming commentators better anyway lol.

    That's so weird about the pool turning green. I didn't even hear about that.

    Those cat pics are so adorable! Keep 'em coming lol. And aww, little turtle!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NBC sucks. I complain about it a lot but just can't stop. lol At least with streaming you can see stuff, although I don't have cable so I don't get the full streaming, just the recaps they deign to show. It's nice though when the online commentators are good though.

      I know- about the pool. I was just reading yesterday they sorta figured it out- a worker poued the wrong stuff in the pool to "clean" it. Oops. The pictures were quite stark when you saw the blue swimming pool next to the green diving pool.

      Glad you liked the pics!

      Delete
  9. That's interesting about how you can read Replica on its own or in alternate chapters with the other book. It sounds confusing to me to do that! I do want to read them both though.
    I hate the commercials on US tv, drives me crazy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, commercials on American TV are s out of hand. It's like all you get. I love Netflix cause I can watch without the darned things. And even cable channels- you have to pay a ton and you STILL get commercials.

      I think Replica looks interesting too. I'm going to read it alternating chapters and see how that goes. :)

      Delete
  10. Oh Nice books for you there and cute cat! happy reading!

    ReplyDelete
  11. How beautiful are the Star Trek posters? I adore them, and you're right, the Voyage Home is particularly brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are those great or what? I haven't seen those movies in ages, but I wouldn't mind having a few of those...

      Delete
  12. I haven't watched the Olympics at all because I don't have cable. I suppose I could have watched the coverage from CBC or BBC using Tunnelbear ($7.99 for a month) but the events I like are over. Maybe I'll do that with the Winter Olympics. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought of using Tunnelbear and came very close, since they weren't showing any rowing at all. :) But now the rowing is over and I probably won't bother, although I'm tempted because it would be so much easier to watch via BBC I would think. I really think it's terrible you can't see much in the US without cable. I mean sure they show stuff but it's all curated and tape delayed and they don't just stream the entirety of the events.

      I may very well go with Tunnelbear and then I could go back and stream stuff I missed, and watch more the way I want to.

      Delete
  13. First, did I miss your adopted cat's name or did I just forget? What is it??? :D

    Second, YES! Olympics!! And the swamp, I saw that yesterday on tv and I was wondering what was up with that. I was kind of channel surfing between events so I didn't hear the details but I thought to myself, "they have to dive into that???" Blech!!! I've been watching the Olympics with either my computer or my iPad on my lap. Or Illuminae. But Illuminae sucks all my attention :) I have the Gemina ARC already from BEA, too!!!

    Thanks for the including the Replica video!!! I have that physical ARC to read (from BEA) so her info helps!!!! :)

    We've got the cooler weather today, finally. Hope the lake breezes cooled you down!! Have a great week!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's Cocoa, and she's about a year old. She came from a farm. And we have FOUR cats! Can you believe it? Yeah we're crazy. And the pool. I laughed when I heard someone refer to it as the swamp. I guess the wrong stuff got poued into it. So jealous you have Gemina! Ha ha.

      Replica looks awesome doesn't it? She actually has a couple of Replica related vids I stumbled across on Youtube.

      It's cooled a bit but not much. But it's usually a bit cooler at the lakeshore anyway- it can be sweltering here and at the lake you actually get cool after a while.

      Delete
  14. I was doing SOOO well avoiding the Olympics - and then got snagged by the tennis and the next thing, I'm watching until 4 am and shouting as Mo Farrar falls over and STILL wins the gold (obviously he can't perform this superpower effort without my screaming at the set from the sofa). So am a bit wiped out today... Now jigging to 'Kiss It' - thank you for that and ahhhing over these sci fi pics. Happy reading Greg and enjoy the Olympics despite the grotty coverage...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I am enjoying as much as I can, given NBC's limitations. Glad you enjoyed the tennis- that's exciting. One of the more exciting sports to watch I think, especially when it's down to the wire. It's taking most of my time to watch the games and I'm not getting much reading done. :)

      Delete
  15. You got a CAT?!?! What a cutie! I love the coloring! Mine is a calico!
    I have missed all the Olympics being away, I have heard a few about who has won stuff but just haven't watched. Mickey mouse needed my full attention :)

    I am excited to read Replica, I am hoping to read it in September since the kids will be back to school and I think I will have more time :)

    Have a great week, Greg! Happy Reading!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have FOUR cats! Want one (or two)? ha ha. We have all we need. :) The Olympics have been fun but I think if I was at Disney I'd be concentrating on that too. :)

      Delete
  16. I watched some of the Olympics over the weekend, I got roped in by a swimming competition. I love the pictures you shared of your cat -- she is so cute! 99.9% of the pictures on my phone are of my cats, I am slowly but surely turning into a cat lady! I hope you have a great week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha that's funny. It's amazing how many cat pics end up on our phones- they seem to always be doing something pic worthy. And I've been watching a ton of swimming too- it's been fun.

      Delete
  17. I've been enjoying the Olympics all week too. I've been DVRing them though which helps me condense the 4 hour primetime program into about an hour. I need to read Panic. I own it but never got around to reading it. Happy reading!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great way to do it, NBC has so many ads and other stuff we don't see that much Olympics compared to the amount of time we're watching!

      Delete
  18. I've been following the Olympics on the news. However, I did watch yesterday's Brazil v Argentina basketball game. I've been catching it on USA, and other able channels mostly. Supposedly I read Panic (according to Goodreads), but for the life of me I can't remember doing it. I do have Vanishing Girls on my shelves that I bought a while back, and still haven't gotten around to reading it. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have that problem- that's one thing about book blogging, I read so many books now I can't remember half of them. lol And I heard about the Brazil/ Argentina game, I guess that's quite the rivalry. I haven't seen any basketball yet... :(

      Delete
  19. I might be the only one who hasn't been following the Olympics. I watch the facebook links and follow what goes on with the SA athletes. But that's about it. I wanted to do the Olympic Book Tag yesterday, but had a bit of a hiccup... You can read all about it on my Sunday Post: http://marelithalkink.blogspot.co.za/2016/08/the-sunday-post-you-have-no-idea.html Will do Cover Characteristics this week again (I hope)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nah I think a lot of people skip it, or don't have time. I have seen some good South African teams, especially in rowing.

      Hope you do CC!

      Delete
  20. I'm interested in the book retreat mysteries. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are welcome, and they are good. If you like cozy mysteries I think they're worth a try!

      Delete
  21. I have never been an Olympic watcher but I have seen bits and pieces. That little gymnast Simone Biles is a wonder! The swimming has been good too. I don't understand table tennis being an Olympic sport and it was boring what I seen of it...lol. That is about all I have seen and usually right before I go to bed. :)

    Enjoy your books!
    Stormi

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The gymnasts are amazing! Every four years the gymnastics people are so good, but I heard them saying this US team is like the best ever? The swimming has been great too. But yeah table tennis? That's ping pong right lol? I don't get that either!

      Delete
  22. I loved the Olympics Book Tag and of course I left some DUNE LOVE on your hooded characters Cover Characteristics! Ha ha. That retro Star Trek art is wonderful. Your cat is sweet. I love the extra toes. It has made me realize that we haven't had a cat with extra toes in a long long time. We are going to be getting another cat next year, so I think I will keep that in mind. Have a fantastic new week. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you? I'll go check it out. That is a fun tag. You noticed the extra toes eh? sharp eyes. She does indeed have extras on both front paws.

      Delete
  23. I've been watching the Olympics, too, so not quite as much reading as usual here. Glad there's another week :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Glad to hear you're enjoying the Olympics even with the bad BBC coverage. I haven't been watching, but I did see a few posts on social media about the Olympics.

    I love seeing the pictures of your cat. I don't have any pets at the moment, so I love seeing pictures of pets on other people their blogs.

    Nice retro style posters! We're currently watching star trek enterprise. And that picture of the structure is really neat! I hope you'll have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  25. We've been watching the Olympics and avoiding the spoilers on Social Media. It especially irritates me how people post things on Facebook knowing that the other time zones haven't watched it yet. But the swimming has been really exciting and sad to see it end. I haven't been reading much because of the Olympics but it was a nice break lol. Your cat is adorable and pictures on our phones add up quickly. I have over a thousand (mainly from the Comic Cons) I need to delete. I've already transferred them to my laptop but I'm just lazy to delete them from my phone lol. I hope you have a great week!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I've been watching so much my reading has been like... non existent. lol and yeah the swimming. Track and field is awesome, love the races and the hurdles and just all of it.

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I like the idea of the Olympics but I haven't watched a single minute. Crazy, eh?

    I'm of an age to remember those vintage Star Trek posters. Perhaps I had one of them.

    I hope you have a great reading week.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I am sure my reading has slowed down due to Olympics watching and agree with the coverage. My husband absolutely hates the interest stories and all the commercials. There were a few events that I really had to search for in order to watch. Have a great week.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I'm watching the Olympics off and on during the week too. I love the gymnasts, the swimmers, and the rowers the most.

    The new Liane Moriarty book is one I'm going to make sure to read soon. Have a good week!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Star Trek IV is one of my favorites of all the movies. I haven't watched much of the Olympics. Gymnastics is about all I usually watch. You've got some great books, I can't wait to see your review of Wanderers. I didn't get around to cover characteristics this week, hope to get to it with the mountains next week. Hope you have a good week and thanks for stopping by my Sunday Post earlier!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Love to hear that Lauren Oliver is coming out with a new book! Loved her Delirium series! As for the Olympics, we watch the streaming coverage too and wish that there was full coverage! It seems with streaming that we are slowly losing things to watch because we don't have a cable provider. But if we had a cable provider, wouldn't we be watching it on regular tv?! ugh..

    Thanks for sharing Dorothy! Loved it!

    Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  32. I've only seen a bit of the Olympics. We're in the same boat, access-wise. At one point in my teens my family had four cats, a Scottie, and a Husky. I miss them all!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thanks for the weekly helping of art. I would love to live in that first one.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Glad you are enjoying the Olympics. I just catch up on the news! It all seems to be going okay which is great. I was pleased to see Fiji get a gold in the Sevens ( a rugby/football sport) we are usually pretty good at it but were knocked out. However loved seeing the Fijians celebrate.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I've been watching a lot of Olympics. What else am I suppose to do? I loved how Phelps lost to a fan he met years ago. That was awesome. The green diving pool was pretty ridiculous. Of course the Dutch had to have a bit of drama in their gymnastics team with one of them being send home, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  36. "NBC just does a terrible job" Right? I've heard this so much and it seems to be the consensus. I can't tell you how many times they cut to commercial in a key moment ahhhh. I watch it whenever I catch it on and it's so fascinating-I always get way too invested, haha. Lovely pictures!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love watching it too, so true! It's easy to get pulled in. And yes the commercials can be aggravating!!

      Delete
  37. I've mostly watched the events I want using the NBC Olympic Sports app on my roku. Why? One, because I actually get to see the events I want. And two ... not only does NBC suck, that channels has gone out every night on Directv. It's like the universe is conspiring against me. lol. Anyway, have a great week, Greg!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Love the Star Trek stuff and the adorable kitty pics! Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  39. I kinda like the human interest stories. I don't follow athletes other than at the Olympics so it is cool to hear about what they have overcome. It is shit that those who want it can't just stream it thought. I totally agree.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't really follow much either the rest of the time. I just wish I could stream like the BBC since my attention span is such that I don't want to sit through commercials lol.

      Delete
  40. I'm sad to say I haven't been able to watch much of the Olympics. I've been travelling plus being in a +2 and +3 GMT timezone hasn't helped. :(

    I'm interested to see what you think of Panic. I definitely want to pick up some more of Oliver's books so I'm on the lookout!

    Here's my weekly round up : #IMWAYR

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's hard to watch when traveling! I liked Panic and definitely want to try more of her books, starting with Replica.

      Delete
  41. I love the cat pics. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had much time to watch the Olympics, but I did watch some track stuff that was on really late last night.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I caught some track stuff too but missed just about everything yesterday. I watched a ton of swimming though so maybe I need a break. :) I do like the races and the hurdles so will definitely tune in for those!

      Delete
  42. Truly Madly Gently is on my list. I love the Olympics and enjoyed your recap. Ledecky is awesome. Happy Reading!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. I hope you like Truly Madly Guilty, I'm looking forward to it.

      Delete
  43. Katie Ledecky is amazing!! I love the swimming events - and that green water, so gross! Rio definitely has its issues! Despite all of that, they have been exciting to watch.

    The cat pics are adorable! Isn't funny how many you take of your pets without realizing it? Lol. And the turtle is adorable as well. We are going up north this weekend - I hope we see some wildlife. Not bears though, I can miss those.

    Murder in the Secret Garden and The Wanderers both look good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She really is. Amazing to watch her go- especially when she's ahead of that world record line! I've really liked the swimming- and the diving pool! Yikes that would be gross.

      I know, I have so many cat pics. It's crazy. I hope you guys have fun up north- anywhere near Traverse? We had a place up on Bear Lake (by Grayling) for a lot of years, but I never actually saw any bears.

      Delete
  44. I've been watching a lot of the events through the NBC app since they fail to show half of them on tv, or if they do it's like 6 hours later and they've already spoiled the results on facebook. *rolls eyes* The US team being out of the women's soccer is upsetting because they are an incredible team...though I think I could do without Hope Solo. She's a decent goalie half of the time, but she has some serious personality flaws. Sweden played really smart that game. Ledecky is amazing, super human even.
    I hope you have an awesome week this week Greg!! (Oh, and just in case you don't make it back to the blog, I enjoyed The Invisible Library! It has it's issues but it was a lot of fun)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've thought about using a VPN to access the BBC coverage. The coverage here is awful. It's nice that the app is working for you, I haven't tried it. I was surprised by the US team soccer result and while I kind of defended Hope Solo at first the more i thought about it the less sympathetic I was. You have to represent and be a good loser as well as a good winner I guess. Sweden did play well, and deserved to win.

      And yes Ledecky. Seeing her smash those world records was amazing. Is she a fish? And I'm glad you liked Invisible Library. It did have some issues, but I loved the concepts.

      Delete
  45. I have been watching the Olympics everyday since it started. I am from Canada so I am watching the CBC coverage and we can stream all the events online too. It's pretty fantastic, however eating into my reading time. Swimming has been my favourite, I am a swim coach so I love it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like your coverage better. :) I did see a great come from behind finish by a Canadian team the other day, I think it was rowing- very thrilling. I wish we could stream like you guys do. :)

      That's neat you're a swimming coach, I would think that would make the swimming even more exciting.

      Delete
  46. I have to admit I've only been paying attention to the Olympics through what my co-workers are mentioning of it in the hallways. :P

    Love the Star Trek posters. Also, the fact that Larson is wearing a Captain Marvel hoodie while reading that comic.

    ReplyDelete
  47. I haven't been watching much with the Olympics. Look at that kitty! And turtle. And beautiful vision there!

    Oh some really neat pictures! Thanks for sharing them all!

    ReplyDelete
  48. I'm a little late getting around to commenting on the Sunday Posts but better late than never, right? :)
    I've actually been a bit curious about the Olympics this year and have been watching a few clips here and there online. I got a new phone this past week and had to transfer over almost 1000 pictures of my kiddo. And I use my DSLR way more often! Haha! It took forever though!
    Have a great week! :)

    ReplyDelete
  49. Hey Greg, mahalo for dropping by. I miss being able to watch the Olympics on TV. We only use Roku for Hulu, Netflix, and Prime. Our girls dominate the TV; I hardly watch it anymore. But I get to see good highlights on IG with all that they've been posting. Your cat's coloring is really nice.

    ReplyDelete
  50. LOVE the kitty pics and the turtle!! ♥ Amazing fantasy/sci-fi art as usual, I just spend forever gazing at every single one LOL! Hope you keep enjoying the Olympics!! I used to tune in but now I only watch tv through Netflix and streaming so I can't anymore...

    ReplyDelete
  51. I have really enjoyed the Olympics. Every time I think of dropping cable because they piss me off, I think of what I would be missing, so I will pay the bill again this month. :-) I love your pics. Hope the turtle made it back to the water.
    sherry @ fundinmental My Sunday Memes

    ReplyDelete