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Book Review: The Widow’s Watcher by Eliza Maxwell

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It doesn’t take me long to read a book if I can keep an interest. There were several times early on, when I wanted to quit reading and move onto something else. But I am determined to meet my book quota for the month and finished it. I had to take several breaks though as I often found myself getting impatient or bored.

I finished the book about an hour ago as part of my 2022 Good Reads Challenge. This makes book number #2 that I’ve read so far. I had to read some of the reviews before making up my mind and reflected on the ending for a while.

The Widow’s Watcher by Eliza Maxwell

“They spend their whole lives walking away from you,” the kindergarten teacher had said on her little girl’s first day. “Your job now is to be there when they look back.”

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Summary

The story centers around two people and their own stories of personal loss and grief. Or more accurately, horrific tragedies that don’t seem plausible but still entertaining to read.

Jenna Shaw is a grieving widow who has lost her husband due to a tragic accident. She is an unlikable character who has lost the will to carry on. She drives out to the middle of nowhere in Minnesota to end her life.

Unbeknownst to Jenna, the spot she chose to drown herself in belonged to an older man who was known being a “gruff” recluse. Or as she calls him later – “old bastard.” Lars Jorgensen spots Jenna from his kitchen window and he rushes to stop her.

When her van refuses to start, she is trapped in town with Lars for several days. The two form an unlikely friendship and they help each other through their own losses which are revealed to the reader throughout the book.


My review and thoughts

What I did not expect was to cry at the end of the book. I suppose I could identify with the inner voice that was Jenna’s guilt. Her guilt manifested as her daughter Cassie’s voice and this makes sense to me. I often hear my own mother’s voice in my head. She is my worst critic at times, and my savior at other times.

The book is pretty slow but the pace quickens up around chapter 19-20. You start to warm up a little to the Jorgensen family as you learn more about their personal tragedies and loss. While some of the twists and turns are a little unrealistic – stranger things have happened in real life.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars


All in all, I found myself more emotional towards the end of the book and for that reason – I gave it four stars. The book was well written. Worth sticking it out to the end even if the ending was a bit disappointing.

Was it perfect? No. Enjoyable? I guess that would depend on where you are in your life. If you’re no stranger to grief like I am, then you might enjoy it.

Worth reading? Yes.


Interested in more of my reviews? Follow me on Good Reads!

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Good Reads – August 2021 – Comedy Edition

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My mother loved to read. Our house was filled with books from top to bottom. I caught the reading bug at an early age and would spend many nights curled up with a good paperback book.

I think this is what led me to enjoy writing as much as I do as an adult. I don’t read a lot of books anymore, but I really enjoy podcasts and audiobooks.

I’m going to use this blog to continue sharing whatever I am listening to or “reading” for the month. This isn’t limited to audiobooks or paper books. I’ll be sharing some of my favorite discoveries here.

Podcast: Markiplier and friends – Distractable (Spotify)

I’m not much of a gamer, but I love watching certain gamers on YouTube fumble their way through games that I would never play. The only two games I’ve ever owned were the Sims (all versions) and Minecraft. I get bored really quickly of games – so it’s more fun to watch other gamers comment and play. But it’s even more fun when all the gamers I like, get together and kill each other, so to speak.

One recent discovery, is Markiplier – one of YouTube’s biggest success stories.

Mark Edward Fishbach is the face and name behind the Markiplier channel on YouTube which has nearly 30 million subscribers. Mark’s main focus is “Let’s Play” games that fall under the horror category. If you’re not a fan of horror, no worries. Mark plays a variety of other games, most hilariously, you can watch him struggle with anger management during his replay of Pogostick.

Pogostick is a game that Mark swore off for good, until the company trolled him and sent him a sponsorship. But it’s this video that lives rent free in my head forever.

Mark has teamed up with his long time childhood friends, Bob and Wade to create a humourous podcast called Distractable. I’ve binged listened to ALL of these episodes and each one is pretty hilarious. But none are as entertaining as the episode titled “Bob’s Fridge.”

If you have listened to this trio play Uno, you know that Bob and Wade can go into spectacular fits of rage over the card game. But none live up to this one podcast episode as Bob hilariously describes his experience with Lowe’s and the installation of a new fridge.

I think we’ve all been there. Maybe that’s why I find this episode so hilarious. If you only listen to this episode, I promise – you won’t regret it.

I’ve listened to this thing twice – and it’s great for when you need a laugh.

The other episodes aren’t as funny, but they are entertaining if you’re looking to kill some time while doing laundry or whatever chore you find boring. The premise of the podcast is that Bob, Wade and Mark compete to tell who tells the funniest or best story. They purposely try and “distract” each other from the main topic, and some of their tangents are for real laugh out loud, gut busting material.

Good Reads

I haven’t kept up with my Good Reads challenge. Mostly because Audible, is SO expensive and I prefer listening to audiobooks while I do other things like work on art pieces. But I signed up for a free Audible trial because I wanted to listen to Seth Rogen’s new book called:

The ever adorable Seth Rogen is a man that wears many hats. He is Canadian born, but currently resides in California. He is an actor, writer, producer, director, business owner, and activist.

Seth is also an avid pot smoker, so if that’s an issue for you, you might not love this book. Or Seth. For me, it’s more that Seth is truly a genuine person, he is humble, supportive of his loved ones, and that laugh. It’s adorable.

Together with friends like Evan Goldberg and James Weaver, Seth has over 40 production credits (according to IMDB), 99 working credits as an actor, and has scored dozens of awards for his work.

Year Book is narrated by Seth Rogen himself. He goes back in time to tell stories of his childhood years with his grandparents. He talks about how he got into stand up comedy as a young teen and how his grandparents were his biggest target for his jokes.

I know Seth’s sense of humour isn’t for everyone. But sometimes you just need a good belly laugh. Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, and Seth MacFarlane are my go to guys when I need to watch something funny.

Free Audiobooks

That’s all I have for you this month. I haven’t done as much reading as I’d like. But I hope to change that once my Ipad comes in – if it ever comes in! Four weeks left to go. I did some digging around and found some free websites where you can listen to audiobooks.

As much as I love the audiobooks on Audible, I find the platform is too expensive. You have to pay $14.95CDN per month to use the platform and you only get 1 credit per month. That means you only get to listen to one book each month without paying. Then you have to pay for any other book you want to listen to. Some books I’ve seen as high as $40 for one book!!

You can give LibriVox a try if you’re like me, and you’re on a budget. This website hosts a collection of free public domain audiobooks. You won’t get the latest book from Obama here. But you will have access to a lot of older books that are worthy of a listen. You can listen to them on any device or download the files and save for later use.

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For my September Good Reads post, I’ll have to pick some books from this website. If you have any other free resources you like – please leave a comment below!

https://librivox.org/search?primary_key=0&search_category=author&search_page=1&search_form=get_results

Previous Recommendations

https://atomic-temporary-134655889.wpcomstaging.com/2021/01/27/february-good-reads/

https://atomic-temporary-134655889.wpcomstaging.com/2020/12/26/good-reads-my-christmas-reading-list/

https://atomic-temporary-134655889.wpcomstaging.com/2021/02/14/february-podcast-recommendations/

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February Podcast Recommendations

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Hello dear readers! It’s Sunday morning at 7:42 am and I’m wide awake. Sipping my first coffee of the day – I’ve moved onto Nestle’s Gold Cafe and am loving the medium roast. Since switching to instant coffee, I’ve tried the Tim Horton’s Dark Roast, Starbucks Vanilla Latte, and Folger’s Dark Roast. I think Tim’s still might be my favorite and I don’t miss regular coffee as much as I thought I would. Did you miss my post on this major announcement? No worries, check it out here – the day that I switched to instant coffee and never looked back.

I’ve been hooked on audiobooks and podcasts lately. I’m getting tired of YouTube and the same shows on Prime and Netflix. I’ve turned to Spotify and am really enjoying discovering new content. So, along with my monthly Good Read recommendations – I’m going to start a monthly series with podcast recommendations and updates.

And hey, guess what? I started a podcast this morning! I have two episodes up on Spotify and apparently, even have two followers already! That’s amazing. I plan on recording at least one per week – if not daily while I’m off work. I’m researching various topics I can cover. So first off – go follow me on Spotify. Or you can follow my stream on RSS (I think).

Armchair Expert – Dax Shepard

I’ve been listening to this podcast for a few weeks now and it’s just enjoyable. Dax is a well known American actor who has starred in shows like – wait, I have to look this up. The Ranch (Netflix tv), El Camino Christmas (terrible movie by the way), Parenthood and Robot Chicken. But most people know him as Kristen Bell’s husband. He had a short cameo on The Good Place which Bell starred in and it’s pretty hilarious.

The first episode of this podcast Dax interviewed Kristen – whom he lovingly calls Bell when talking to other guests. They had just had a fight and were still annoyed with each other. It was sort of like listening to couple’s therapy and mostly talking about Kristen’s tiny “boobs.” I learned entirely too much about her anatomy. Other notable guests that I enjoyed included Seth Green, Jason Segel, and even Hilary Clinton.

Amazingly enough, the show has been on air since 2018 and has grown in popularity. I guess I’m just late to the party. Make sure to check it out – here’s the first interview of the show.

Oh – I almost forgot. Dax has a costar named Monica who comes back at the end of each episodes and corrects every time Dax made an error during the interview. Their banter is pretty hilarious.

Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Now I’m not a huge Conan fan and I just discovered his podcast this weekend. I’m more about the people that are being interviewed. Just looking at Conan’s recent guest list – I followed the podcast without listening to any interviews. Is that terrible of me?

His first two guests are David Spade and Bryan Cranston – two both very talented comedic actors. I loved Bryan in Malcolm in the Middle and later in the hit show Breaking Bad. But honestly, Bryan is great in everything he does. Even in an old episode of Xfiles.

Conan has had some great guests on his show in the last year from Jim Parsons, Kevin Hart, John Leguizamo to the amazing Bruce Springsteen.

I’m really looking forward to listening to these interviews! I think Spotify podcasts may have just replaced my daily morning YouTube routine. Isn’t it great how much content is available to us now?

Wow this is really hard sticking to just three podcast recommendations. It seems like everyone has a podcast these days. Does anyone have time to actually listen to them? There are podcasts for all genres and walks of life. So, I’m just going to recommend one that I’ve listened to a few times and is a bit of a guilty pleasure.

And no, it’s not Joe Rogan. I used to listen to his podcast until he switched to Spotify and removed his content from YouTube. He said he wasn’t going to sell out. But it feels like he sold out. And who wouldn’t for a cool $100 million deal. I’d do a lot for that kind of money… does that make me a terrible person?

Directionally Challenged

Hosted by two stars from The Vampire Diaries – Candice King and Kaylie Ewell – these two lovely ladies interview a great variety of women – and of course on occasion, friends from The Vampire Diaries like Michael Trevino (Tyler) and Julie Plec (show runner). Admittedly, I tune in when they have their friends on the show. Topics range from self-help, spiritual guidance and motherhood.

If you were a fan of TWD – it’s a guilty pleasure – I highly recommend checking out early episodes of this podcast. Here’s the interview with Paul Wesley – I’m listening to it next.

What are you listening to right now? Let me know your favorite podcast in the comments below! Have a great Sunday!

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February Good Reads

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Last month I gave some book recommendations that I wanted to read – which I haven’t yet. I finally finished listening to Carrie Fischer’s audio book “Wishful Drinking” which was just delightful. I still have to read Michael J Fox’s new book which my sister bought for me for Christmas. It’s on my to-do list this weekend.

I’ve been listening to Dax Shepherd’s podcast “Armchairs” and it’s quite entertaining. He’s had some impressive guest stars including one of my favorites – Matthew McConaughey. I first fell in love with him with the movie A Time to Kill which was a dark movie about racism in the southern states. A movie that would be very “questionable” today. But back in the day – it was one of the best movies – Donald Sutherland, Sam L Jackson, Keifer Sutherland, Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd and Matthew as the lead. An all star cast. The book was amazing too by John Grisham.

This podcast episode is hilarious because Dax is just fan-girlin’ over Matthew. It’s cute.

I’m listening to Dax’s interview with Matthew right now. I think what I like about him is he’s so articulate and well-spoken. It doesn’t hurt that he’s got a sexy southern Texas drawl. But he tells stories in such a fascinating way that you can’t help but stop what you’re doing and listen.

It’s a great way to have background noise while working on Etsy products. I’m working on a new line of daily planners and journals for you.

So, here are my good read recommendations and books to read for February 2021. For me – I’m only picking 3 but I’ll more than likely just read one.

Matthew McConaughey – GREENLIGHTS

Oscar winning actor Matthew McConaughey spent some time alone in the desert to put together this book about his life. I was interested to learn that Matthew was also a “diary” kind of person and wrote daily to keep track of life’s little and big moments. One day he decided to go through his collection of diaries and chose some of his favorite stories to put in this book. The podcast episode with Dax was so interesting – that I signed up for a 30 day free trial with Audible just so I could listen to Matthew’s audiobook. I just like audiobooks better than reading because I can do other things while listening.

Greenlights was published in October 2020 and Matthew has been working hard to promote his book. I think I’ve watched just about every interview did in the last year. That’s how much I love this guy. Matthew has done so many movies but you might know him best from hits like Interstellar, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, A Time to Kill, Dazed and Dallas Buyer’s Club and The Wolf of Wall Street.

He also has a sleep app called “Calm” in which he speaks to you in that soothing Texan drawl to help you fall asleep. I’ve listened to it via YouTube and it’s fantastic.

Greenlights

LAUREN GRAHAM – TALKING AS FAST AS I CAN

Fans of the 90’s hit show The Gilmore Girls will recognize this author’s name. Lauren Graham was the main star of Gilmore Girls and played the role of Lorelai Gilmore for seven years. She joined the cast again in a reboot of the series in 2016 which I have to say was extremely disappointing. But aren’t most reboots?

Lauren has had a steady acting career and has written four books – according to her author profile on Good Reads. I didn’t even know that Lauren had written any books until I listened to her interview with Dax. This is why I love podcasts! You learn so much about artists that you never would have guessed.

Quote: I must work harder to achieve my goal of not seeking approval from those whose approval I’m not even sure is important to me.”

I’m excited to listen to this audiobook. I’ve always enjoyed Lauren as an actress and she seems like a genuine kind of person.

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between)

BORN STANDING UP – STEVE MARTIN

Steve Martin is one of those actors I grew up with as a child of the 80’s. He was the funny man along with greats like Billy Crystal, Robin Williams and the legendary John Candy. One of his most popular movies, Planes, Trains and Automobiles plays on a loop every Christmas season.

I fell in love with Steve Martin in the movie Parenthood which was a great family comedy that starred a young Keanu Reeves and Rick Morranis. Other notable movies include The Jerk, The Man with Two Brains, Roxanne, Father of the Bride, The Pink Panther, and more recently – It’s Complicated. A hilarious coming of age movie about mid-life dating starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and John Krashinksi.

Steve recently paired up with another favorite of mine, Martin Short (Father of the Bride) and performed in a slap-stick comedy tour – at least until COVID restrictions came along. Steve is mostly retired from acting but is one heck of a banjo player! He plays often with his bluegrass band The Steep Canyon Rangers – and let me tell you, they are just a delight to listen to. Steve’s instagram accounts is one of my favorites to follow.

Born Standing Up is Steve’s story about why he left stand up comedy and what he’s doing now with his life. I can’t wait to read this book!

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

That’s it for my February recommendations – what are you reading? Let me know in the comments. I’m on a memoir kick right now as I often find them to be highly entertaining and an easier read. I’m not interested in politics or history. I will get back into fiction reading – but most of my time is spent working on my own artistic projects.

If you’re interested in following me on Good Reads – here’s the link. I update my reading list about once a month. I feel like everyone has a book these days. It’s motivation for me to keep writing!

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/96153844-wendy-j

Click on the image to find out how to get your free copy

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Good Reads – my Christmas reading list

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This week I’m determined to get back into reading which is something I loved doing as a teen. I would spend many hours each night getting lost in paperback books. I loved the Gordon Kormon books, Judy Blume, RL Stine and even Sweet Valley High series. I spent my weekly allowance which was $5 on a new book every week.

I remember coming home from the library with piles of books and would have them finished before the weekend was over. I just couldn’t get enough of them. I loved getting lost in these fantasy worlds.

So, today – to switch things up a bit I’d like to share my favorite biographies that I’ve read – or plan to read in the next few months. And yes, okay, I cheated a few times and listened to audiobooks. It’s just easier to listen to while you work on something else.

Wishful Drinking – Carrie Fisher

Who didn’t love Carrie Fisher. As a child of the 70’s, I grew up with the original Star Wars movies. We watched these movies every Christmas week. Wishful Drinking is a delightful and entertaining book about Carrie’s life as an actress and her relationship with her mother – Debbie Reynolds who was also a famous movie star.

Confession time, I only got through half the book. I really hope to finish it this week.

Michael J. Fox – No Time Like the Future

Michael J Fox was a household name after the first Back to the Future movie was released. But the thing I loved about Michael was that he was from Edmonton – my home city. I’ve followed Michael’s career since he starred on the hit show Family Ties. We often watched the show together as a family. It saddened me to learn of Michael’s struggle with Parkinsons Disease. When my own dad was diagnosed a few years ago, we turned to Michael’s books for inspiration. I’m looking forward to reading this one. Thanks to my sister who spent almost a whole day trying to get the book for me!

Alex Trebek – The Answer is

Legendary gameshow host, Alex Trebek released a book not long before he died. Alex was one of the world’s most beloved game show hosts. I remember watching Jeopardy with my grandfather after school. He would bet me a dollar for every question. And by the end of the show, I’d owe him about $10. Of course he never asked me to pay up. It’s a good thing otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to buy all those books!

My Want to Read List:

I just love reading about the personal lives of actors or musicians that I admire. Some other books I have on my to read list are:

  • Home Work – Julie Andrews
  • Me – Elton John
  • A Promised Land – Barack Obama
  • Dolly Parton – Songteller
  • Greenlights – Matthew McConaughey
  • The Last Days of John Lennon – James Patterson

Once I figure out how to add the Good Reads widget here, I’ll start sharing my want to read list and progress with you. I think it’s important as a writer, to read books for inspiration. I think my passion for reading as a kid helped me to become a better writer today. I just wish I had the discipline to actually write a full novel.

What’s in your reading list? Let me know in the comments!

Anyone interested in joining a book club? It’s a thought!

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