Running as an Overweight Woman

Hello readers!

I have been meaning to write this post for a while, and here it finally is! My experiences with running are, as always, just anecdotes and not to be taken as a rule or guideline, but I think they might resonate with someone and be helpful.

Running is a sport that has been predominantly male since forever. The first woman to run a marathon signed up for it against the rules and was famously pursued by one of the officials once she got found out DURING the run:

Did you know that people (*cof* men *cof*) thought that a woman’s uterus would literally fall off from running? Huh.

Mini-Review: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Magical Realism, Literary Fiction, Young Adult

Goodreads 

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is well-known among book bloggers and booktubers, a gorgeous magical realism story about Ava Lavender and her family, who has generations of pain and magic in their history. Her family seems to be cursed to fall in love foolishly. Ava is born different, and is mistaken for an angel by a pious man.

This book is written beautifully, and I specially liked the descriptions of the baked goods in the family’s bakery. Made me hungry! This short book packs the story of four generations of this family very well, it never felt too short at all. There is so much beauty, pain, prejudice, love and betrayal, it’s very emotional and I was addicted to this.

The magical realism part, however, bothered me a little. Perhaps because I’m Latin-American, I expected the magical realism to be executed differently. I wondered if it was perhaps fantasy instead, but it isn’t quite. That made me frown a bit, but it’s a pretty good book in any case! I was very impressed by this debut!

Soul Ripping Romance Tag #2

I was tagged by Katie from Never Not Reading for this really cool tag! I think she tagged me months ago, but well… better late than never?

The Rules

• Thank the person who tagged you and create a pingback to the original author – Nel at Reactionary Tales.
• Share at least 5 (but more are welcome) romances that tugged your heart strings. They can be from books, movies, TV shows, manga; anything you can think of! They can be examples of sad tears, angry tears, happy tears or a combination of all three.
• Nominate 5 (or more) people to share their emotional traumas
• (Note: Try not to spoil the story for your readers in case they would like to check out these romances on their own)

eARC Review: The Fever King, by Victoria Lee

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, LGBT+

Goodreads

I have received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Fever King is the story of Noam, the son of two refugees who’s trying to keep what is left of his family together. When he’s struck with magic virus, a sickness that has wiped out most of the previously-US population, he’s the only survivor and wakes up in a mass of dead bodies. But now that Noam has survived magic, he has a power of his own – a rare, powerful magic that the government wants to use.

Mystery Blogger Award #2

 

Sarah @ Sarah Ames-Foley tagged me on this really cool award! It’s the second time I’m nominated and I’m super excited for this. Thank you, Sarah! Also, if you don’t know her blog, you’re MISSING OUT. Sarah’s reviews are always so beautiful and eloquent and her reading taste is just amazing, she reads a bit of everything, from fantasy to contemporaries and romance, etc. Check her blog out!

Review: The Devil’s Queen, by Jeanne Kalogridis

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Historical Fiction, Magical Realism

Goodreads

The Devil’s Queen tells the story of Catherine de Medici, a controversial figure whose reign marked her as a bloody and heartless queen. From her early orphan years to the fateful St. Bartholomew’s Massacre, this book is a fascinating fictionalized telling of a most fascinating queen who loved astrology.

I saw this book in a museum bookstore, right after having my brain hammered with Renaissance paintings and thought – this is great?! I love a good historical drama, and so far I’d mostly read Tudor and World War II stories – and I’m always on the lookout for other interesting times in history. So I simply had to have this.

Running with a sports watch vs. without one

Hello readers!

When I started running a bit more seriously than just as a warm up to my workouts, I figured a sports watch would be very helpful. I don’t like wearing watches very much and was a bit skeptical in the beginning, but all the people I know at work who run really recommended getting one, so I went online and bought the cheapest one I could find. It was really helpful! Keeping my heartbeat in check and finding out my pace and how far I was running was really good to help me structure my trainings and keep track of my performance.

Within a few months I decided to upgrade and got a really good running watch that measured things I didn’t even know existed (VO2 what). It was a data-lover’s dream come true. So many graphs!

I love graphs

Theeen a couple months later the screen broke (it may or may not have been my fault). I returned it and now I’m waiting for the repair/replacement. It’s been about two months now that I haven’t used my watch (slow service is all kinds of fun). So I’ve been running without a sports watch for about the same time that I ran with it, and here are my impressions:

eARC Review: Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Mystery

Goodreads / Amazon

This was one of the books published in 2019 that I was looking most forward to reading! It’s a mystery novel with a thriller-like pacing, so gripping I almost fell on my face reading it while going home. I just needed to know what happened next.

In the small town of Miracle Creek, the Yoos run the Miracle Submarine, an alternative medical treatment to promote healing of the body by breathing pure oxygen. When the submarine one day explodes and two people died, secrets threaten to come to surface during the trial. Did Elizabeth plan to murder her own child?

This court mystery is absolutely enthralling. There was a surprising depth of humanity in the book, which talks a lot about immigration and fitting in, about autism, about the difficulties of being a parent to a disabled child and the joys of it, too. Even infertility is discussed honestly. I was absorbed by the story and read this in one day. I loved the multiple POV, which gave each character such depth. A really, really great book that I highly recommend!

 

eARC Review: Notes on a Nervous Planet, by Matt Haig

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genres: Non-Fiction, Self Help, Memoir, Mental Health

Goodreads

I have received this book via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Will I read anything Matt Haig ever publishes? Well, probably. I’ve loved his Reasons to Stay Alive, a book that means so much to me and that came to me in a perfect time and helped me face and deal with my own mental health. So I was beyond excited about his new book, Notes on a Nervous Planet!

Mini-Review: Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things, by Jenny Lawson

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Humor

Goodreads

Furiously Happy is a collection of stories from Jenny Lawson’s life and experiences with mental illness. I’ve been wanting to read Furiously Happy since it came out, but somehow I never got to. When I saw it in the airport on my way to my vacation I bought it immediately – and have zero regrets.

This book was such a fun, light read and yet it had such deep emotion and many relatable moments. I loved it very, very much and it was perfect for the trip – the short chapters made it easy to read just a little every few days. Laughing about mental illness should absolutely be a trend, as it makes you feel so much less alone and weird. Jenny Lawson is hilarious.

Highly recommend this one!