Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously (Jessica Pan)

Why I have this book: I borrowed the ebook from the ebook library, but ended up buying (with a credit) the Audible version so I could get stuff done while listening.

And on that note... once again the audio version was different than the ebook. The audio was recorded for the British audience, and the ebook was Americanized (soccer vs football, for example). One change that made me laugh was when the audio version said something about a "piece of piss." What? Did I hear that right? I looked in the ebook version to see what she really said, and that version said, "a walk in the park." Of course, then I had to look up "piece of piss" to see if that's really what she said, and I guess she did since it means "something extremely easy to achieve or do." I learned something new. I've never heard that saying before. MAYBE IF THEY'D QUIT AMERICANIZING BOOKS, WE'D ALL LEARN NEW THINGS. Of course, it's not like I'd start saying that, but it was something new to learn.

Back to the book. I gave it four stars on Goodreads. Even though the author and I live very different lifestyles (hers is way cooler), I can relate to a lot of her feelings. While I'd never do some of the things she did during her "year of living dangerously," it made me more determined to get out of my bubble and do some things that I know will be good for me even if I feel more comfortable at home.

Her words made me chuckle aloud a few times. Jessica Pan is a good writer and a good narrator. I enjoyed this book a lot.

I liked this quote:

"I'm also shocked to discover that talking to strangers turns out to be one of the cheapest, easiest ways to feel good and get a hit of dopamine when you're feeling low, invisible, or lost in your own world."

I just finished this book tonight (gasp... and I'm writing my review the same day!), and I don't recall any profanity. If there was any, it must have been infrequent and/or mild. She does talk about doing mushrooms, but it doesn't really go into it very deeply. 

Britt-Marie Was Here (Fredrik Backman)

Why I have this book: I borrowed it from the ebook library.

I enjoyed this one very much, and I gave it a solid four stars on Goodreads.

Britt-Marie was fun to get to know, and it was heartwarming to see human relationships develop as the  characters let down their guards with one another.

I also had the audio version (I borrowed both), and it was interesting to see that the audio version was based on the European or British-English publication. The ebook was Americanized a bit. When I switched to audio, I heard that the game (soccer in the ebook) was now called "football," and that the Americanized version used the word "spastic" in place of "retard" in the audio version. I guess what we consider the "R-word" in America isn't offensive in Europe? Maybe it's never been used there as an insult like it's been used here.

Good book. I'm glad I read it. I do wish there was an epilogue to tell me how things end up a bit later.

There is some profanity. The storyline talks about an affair, death, drugs, divorce, etc. Life. Nothing offensive or descriptive with any of that, in my opinion.

Four books in the Prairie River series (Kristiana Gregory)

Why I have these books: I had the whole series in paperback before, and I remember LOVING them. They came up on a good deal on Kindle, so I bought them to read again.

I gave them each three stars this go-around. (I think I read them the first time before I had Goodreads.) They are written for mid-to-upper elementary kids, and are kind of along the lines of Little House on the Prairie in tone. I didn't remember them being as religious in nature as they are, and I actually think I was confusing them in my mind with another book series or book that I read? There were things that I thought were going to happen that never did, so now I'm wondering what other book or series I was thinking of.

Anyway, I did enjoy them. I like the simplicity of life set in those times. The simple faith, the simple lifestyle without a lot of the modern distractions, the sense of community, etc. I fully realize they dealt with challenges that we don't worry about: harsh weather conditions, lack of medical help, growing all our own food, survival in the early days of settling the land, worrying about "Indian" attacks (or from the perspective of the Native Americans, worrying about attacks and losing land to the white people), etc.

Yeah, life wasn't simple at all for them, but I guess it was nice to imagine a time without all the distractions and information and crazy stuff that is happening in our day. It was a small escape from the things that are on my mind right now.

Side note: In one of the books, the author talks about the different tribes of Indians a character had encountered in his travels. One was the "Utahs." I have never heard of a Utahs tribe. I think she meant the "Utes." When I googled, it did say that early explorers used variations like Yuta, Eutaw, and Ute-ahs for the Ute tribe. Interesting new information for me! 

Also, the Kindle versions of these books had some weird formatting, so that's too bad. It was a little distracting.

Clean. There were some deaths and descriptions of things early settlers dealt with, but again, it is geared toward elementary readers, so it's not overly graphic.