Thoughts on A MURDER MOST CAMP

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely last Wednesday of April? Things here are okay. I’ll do a wheelchair saga update next week. Dad’s okay. Just keeping busy. Anyway, it’s the last Wednesday of April, so you know what that means! Book review time. A Murder Most Camp by Nicolas DiDomizio was released yesterday (the 28th) from Poisoned Pen Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!

A Murder Most Camp follows Mikey Hartford IV, the child (almost 30-year-old manchild) of a grocery chain empire who has done very little with his life outside of being the stereotypical rich kid. This all changes when daddy dearest changes the conditions of access to his trust. Mikey gets shipped off to a summer camp in the hopes that helping kids and being in nature will bring out his good side. Throw in solving a 13 year old murder with a bunch of tweens and falling for a “regular” guy, and maybe Mikey can change.

Plot: meh. I really wanted to like this one more than I did. The murder mystery part was beyond slow, mostly because there weren’t many suspects and it was super obvious that three out of four weren’t the baddie. It just really dragged. The romance was slightly better, but not much. It was a bit abrupt. There was also family stuff that drove the story more than anything. That was okay. But mostly, the book mostly felt like a shrine to ’90’s movie references. Mikey endlessly references Clueless and other movies that are older than him like they came out in his teens or something. At least pick references for things that would have been pivotal in his time. Or scale back on the references. Maybe one a chapter instead of five per page. It just made the book feel dated instead of cute.

Characters: pretty flat for the most part. Mikey gets a lot of development, but it feels forced. It’s like the author is trying to convince the reader that Mikey is a good person instead of letting the story show us that. There’s so much telling rather than showing. It’s like the author doesn’t trust the reader to see the character growth. It’s annoying. None of the other characters really get enough page time to come into their own, so they’re all a bit flat.

Writing: the best part. Other than copious amounts of movie references, the writing was smooth. It was a quick and easy read. Something good for a day at the beach or a rainy day in.

Ultimately, I was disappointed in A Murder Most Camp. It was mediocre at best. I think I was just hoping for more than I should have. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t good.

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Probably a little over 2.5 anyway. If you’re looking for an uncomplicated, mindless read to get you through a weekend trip or something, this is a good choice. Otherwise, give it a miss.

Don’t Wanna

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are okay. The generator is in, so we spent some time getting it connected to the internet. It’s name is Sparkie. But mostly we just had a lazy day today (Tuesday). It’s gloomy and blah and just not conducive to being productive. Things are slowly happening on the wheelchair front, but I won’t have enough for a proper update until tomorrow, which means you’ll have to wait until May 6th for the saga to continue. Next week is my usual book review. Anyway, I’m tired and it’s blah and I don’t wanna do a good post today, so I’m not gonna. See you next week!

Wheelchair Saga Part 2

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are happening. Dad’s been trying to get a generator installed and everything is happening all at once with that this week. I also had my “Mobility Evaluation” with my PCP yesterday (April 14th). So, I thought I would give you all a quick update on the Wheelchair Saga (part 1 is here). Don’t worry. The post will be almost as quick as my appointment!

According to my previous post, we left off after my phone interview with Universal Med Supply. After that, I received like ten reminders to go to my doctor’s appointment. As if I’m the unreliable one in this situation. Although, I will admit that Universal surprisingly did what they said they were supposed to do. They sent the doctor the paperwork and even got in touch with the office to explain exactly what is needed. Before the actual appointment. Color me impressed. Not that I would’ve known any of this if I was relying on them to keep me updated. Luckily, my doctor’s office has been fabulous about letting me know when they receive things and generally keeping me updated on their end, so I didn’t bother the sales dude at Universal too much. I did send him one email over the two week wait to let him know my doctor had confirmed she’d gotten the paperwork for my appointment. But not my usual amount of pestering people for updates.

The appointment itself was super short. We got in early and were out within 30 minutes (total). Everything the doctor needs was stuff she could pull from my chart. Granted, I’ve only been seeing her a year and a half or so, but she took over the practice from my previous doctor. The doctor who delivered me. So, new doctor has 40 years worth of charts on me if she needs them. Mostly, Universal insisted she get a height and weight for me, both of which are in my charts. Apparently she asked if she could just use my last visit info so I wouldn’t have to come in (I saw her for a 3 month check up in February and go back for another in May), but that wasn’t acceptable. And what do you think the paperwork was all about? That’s right. It’s to prove that I’m cripple enough that I deserve a wheelchair (the only means of existing outside of a bed for me), but not so cripple that I should just be put of my (read: everyone else’s) misery. The doctor seemed surprised by this, but it’s the same thing I have to prove every single time I need something. It doesn’t matter what I need. I have to prove I’m cripple enough. Even though my diagnosis is one of the “never getting better” ones. It’s like insurance makes things as difficult as possible in the hopes that you to get tired of fighting and just fade away. Oh wait. They do. But anyway, the appointment went well.

I have an email out to the sales dude asking what the next step is, whether they have behind the scenes stuff to do, what I have to do, etc. It was after 6:30pm when I sent it, though, so maybe I’ll hear back tomorrow (today?). Wednesday, as I sent it on Tuesday. We’ll see. I’ll do another update when I know what’s going on.

Making Plans I Probably Won’t Follow Through On

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are fine. No real updates on the wheelchair saga other than paperwork is being sent back and forth between the company (Universal Med Supply) and my doctor’s office. I probably won’t have an update until next week (if I get home from the doctor and finish eating early enough to do a proper post) or the following week. But at least things seem to be happening on that front. Beyond that, it’s TACO Tuesday, so at least we have a couple of more weeks before Trump threatens to destroy an entire civilization again. Maybe. Who knows what the Cheeto in Chief will rant about next. Anyway, I don’t really have anything to talk about, so I thought I would share a few things I wouldn’t mind doing if I get this new wheelchair (it’s all ifs until it’s delivered and I’m sitting in it). But I like hermit life, so I probably won’t do any of them.

1. Go to the Oar House or Half Shells. Either one works for me, but building up the motivation to want to go that far from home in either direction is hard. Maybe a fancy new wheelchair will make me want to leave the house. Show it off. I doubt it, but maybe.

2. Make Dad walk up and down the street with me a couple of times a week. We actually stopped doing this because roaming dogs were becoming an increasing problem around here for a while. Maybe we’ll find somewhere else to walk, but if it requires getting in the van, we definitely won’t do it. But at least I think about it.

3. Depending on when the chair arrives and is finalized, maybe go to SMU’s Celebration of Lights (or do something holiday-y) or Scarborough Faire or something. I don’t know. Covid gave us such a good excuse to stop doing shit. I feel like we need to get back out there, but people exist out there, which isn’t a great draw. We’ll see.

See? I think about doing stuff. I wouldn’t mind doing stuff. I mostly just hate the drive to and from said stuff. And the people. But the stuff is great.

Wheelchair Saga Part 1

~ shawnaborman ~ 4 Comments

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely first day of April? Things here are okay, I guess. We aren’t doing April Fool’s because this year has been enough of a joke. Anyway, I recently mentioned that I was going to try to get a new chair soon. My current chair is starting to throw random hissy fits and being a general drama queen. She’s almost 8 years old and I’m not exactly the easiest person to live with, so it’s time for a new one. I’ve just been putting it off. I tried to find a new supplier, but ended up just asking the one who got me my current chair. I had reasons for not wanting to work with them again (mainly because they try to foist Invacare chairs off on people, namely me), but the other companies I reached out to either didn’t answer emails or were beyond useless, so I just stuck with the company that I know. I just have to be firm about what I need and want. So, here’s how it’s going so far…

On March 26th (we’ll call that day 1 of the process), I emailed Universal Med Supply (the company that got me my current chair). My Quickie S636 is no longer in production, so I did research and ended up deciding I want a Quickie Q700 M with basically what I have on my current chair. There are a couple of things I couldn’t find online (the back cushion I currently have and the light up wheelie bar casters, for example), so they might not be available anymore, but most of it seems doable. Medicare/Medicaid is supposed to cover Quickies. Anyway, I explained what I wanted in my email and asked if they could do it. The service department forwarded my email to the sales department. I guess they didn’t realize I was CCed because they hemmed and hawed and ended the email by saying if they couldn’t get the chair, they would just tell the patient (me) that they only had Jazzy chairs. I wrote back that I know my chair isn’t made anymore and that the one I want is a new model and don’t try to foist a Jazzy off on me. Again, this is the company that tried to pawn off an Invacare chair they had in stock on me last time. After I called them out, I got an email, text, and phone call from a sales dude who thinks they can get the chair. He did apologize and informed me they don’t even have Jazzy chairs, then he mentioned another chair I’ve never heard of that they have in stock as a back up. In no uncertain terms, I politely told him I want a Quickie and nothing else. He believes they can do it.

The first step in the process was to schedule a “Mobility Evaluation” with my PCP (primary care physician). Sales dude said to schedule it for two weeks out because Universal is supposed to use that time to interview me, get the paperwork together that the doctor will need, then get in touch with the doctor to go over everything. I made my appointment on Monday for a couple of weeks from now. Universal called me yesterday (the 31st) to ask a bunch of questions they should already have the answers to. The woman who did the interview did explain that she had to go over everything because it’s been 8 years since I got a chair, so Medicare/Medicaid requires updated information even though I’m never going to get any better. She then proceeded to text me a picture of an Invacare chair to make sure it was what I wanted. I told her I want the Quickie Q700 M and texted her a link to the Sunrise Medical page. Explained that was what I want with tilt and recline. She said okay.

I emailed sales dude right after the interview to find out what my next steps are and make sure they’re going to get in touch with the doctor and why that lady had an Invacare chair listed instead of the Quickie. He didn’t know why she had the wrong chair, but assured me that he has told everyone what I want and that the “field operations” team definitely knows. Supposedly, they’ll be getting in touch soon for some reason. It’s unclear to me why at the moment. But for now, I just have to wait until the doctor appointment. That means I’ll probably pester sales guy next week to make sure they got in touch with the doctor. But mostly, I’ll be spending the next few days making a list of everything I want and need, plus any questions we have, so I don’t forget anything when they come out to prepare to actually order the chair.

Initial summary of the process thus far: this is the main part where I have to prove I’m cripple enough. I have to do this so very often that it is tedious and annoying. Also, throughout the entire process, I will have to metaphorically stand my ground about wanting a Quickie and not let them try to give me something I don’t want. Yes, I’m a Quckie girl. Yes, it’s basically like Ford vs. Chevy. But also, Quickie is still the only legit brand I found that offers motors that go 8 mph. Sure, you can get something that looks like a manual chair strapped to a riding lawn mower base that says it goes 12 mph. I mean, I’m Texan, but I’m not that particular brand of Texan. A legit company covered by insurance and 8 mph motor upgrades (probably not covered, but I’ll try) is good enough for me!

Thoughts on THE VANISHING CHERRY BLOSSOM BOOKSHOP

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are fine, I guess. We’re not here to listen to me grumble. It’s the last Wednesday of March, so you know what that means. It’s book review time! This month, I just went with something that had a pretty cover. The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura was released by Harper360 on the 24th (yesterday). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!

The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop follows Sakura and Kobako, her cat, as they use their unusual bookshop to help people confront and conquer their own grief. The customer must be reading the same page of the same book on the same day in the cherry blossom season for the path to the bookshop to open. It’s a strange kind of magic. No one quite understands how it all works. But if you’re lucky, the bookshop might even appear for you.

The plot and arrangement. The book is broken into four short stories, basically. Each one focuses on a different person or people and refers back to a book that somehow shaped their lives. The last one gets pretty meta. It’s all very lovely, but kind of shallow. Instead of really digging into each character and situation, everything is kept simplistic. That’s not bad at all. It makes for a calming read in a time of chaos. I think it’s mostly meant to make the reader think about their own life. To make them conjure up a story about the grief that they need to process. I’m not the target audience on that front, but it was still a soothing read for me.

The characters. Again, they’re all pretty simplistic. We don’t get to spend enough time with them, even Sakura and Kobako, to form any bonds. I enjoyed the different depictions of people, but there wasn’t much flesh to them. I don’t even remember most of their names. It wouldn’t be ideal if this were a character driven story, but it’s not. This is a plot driven story. The reader is meant to engage with the plot more than the actual characters. At least that’s how it seems to me.

The writing. Even that is pretty simplistic. I don’t know if it’s a translation thing or what, but it’s very basic. I know a lot is lost in translation, the translator even explains some of what is lost. But I think it works to enhance the calming effect of the book.

Ultimately, I enjoyed The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop for what it was. A calm in the storm. Did I want more out of it? Yes. Am I mad about not getting more? Not really.

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. A solid 3. Yes, it could’ve been better, but if you’re looking for something calming and easy to read, I recommend trying it.

Screaming Into The Void

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are fine, I guess. Eye twitch inducing. But fine. So far. I don’t have much to ramble happily about. The stuff I have to rant about isn’t really worth a full post each. So, here’s a short list of things I currently scream into the void about. The scream is internal and the void is just that dark space in my soul where I shove all the bad/annoying stuff. Yes, my soul has pockets! Anyway, to the mini rants.

1. -Gestures at the world, but mostly this country- You get it, right? I mean, the administration is literally starting a war just to distract from the fact that the orange dude is a pedo. The government is shut down because the right wants to fund the gestapo wannabes and rig the midterms because they know people are tiring of them. And just the general horribleness of people (coughMAGAtscoughcough). Yeah. You get it.

2. The batteries in my chair are dying. Again. They were just replaced July 1st. And, of course the company who handles the chair is giving me a hard time about replacing them because the warranty is only 6 months and Medicare/Medicaid usually only covers one set a year, so they wanted me to pay out of pocket without even trying to get the batteries through insurance. Just fucking try. That’s all I ask.

3. My chair is old and discontinued and needs to be replaced. The company mentioned above is trying to pressure me with scare tactics about not being able to maintain it. Blah blah blah. Yes, I’m aware I need a new one. I hate the entire process of having to prove I’m “cripple enough” and spending months arguing about what I need or want and then having to adapt to a new chair, especially when it isn’t the same model as the one I’ve used for 15+ years. They’re never comfortable enough and more often than not, I lose something. I lost my ability to game switching chairs. Okay, it was my ability to sit forward on my own that cost me my gaming, but it happened during a chair switch. I lost most of my ability to type switching chairs. Most of the time, it’s just little things that no one else notices like not being able to hold a fork the way I used to (something I can adapt to even though it’s not as easy as it used to be), but sometimes the losses are big. And it’s scary. That’s why I avoid changing chairs until I have no choice. So, when that process starts, prepare to listen to me bitch about it.

There’s more, but it’s making me angry just thinking about everything, so I’m going to stop now. What’s bothering you? What are you screaming into the void about? Feel free to share here or on my social media pages! I’ll be back next week with our regularly scheduled book review.

Women Again!

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? I’m tired, hurty despite taking aspirin, and high on Benadryl. I really don’t feel like writing anything here, but I don’t want to skip two weeks in a row. Luckily, it’s Women’s History Month, so I’m going to do something I do just about every year. I’m going to share some lovely lady authors with you! It’ll be a short post, but at least it’s a post. On to the ladies!

1. Leonie Swann. Specifically her Agnes Sharp series. I love those books.

2. Jennifer Dupree. She’s a wonderful lady and a great writer. Yes, I’m biased because she’s a Stonecoast buddy, but that’s okay.

3. Ellie Alexander. Specifically her bakeshop mysteries. I’m currently working my way through them. On number 6, but there’s around 23 at the moment.

4. Jesse Q. Sutano. Specifically her Vera Wong series. I’m planning to try out the aunties books too.

5. Melanie Brooks. Again, Stonecoast has me biased, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. Lovely lady and great writer.

Exhausted

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone this lovely Wednesday? After two nights of little to no sleep for no reason other than my brain insisting on being awake, I’m exhausted. There’s nothing I want to blog about. If you have anything you want me to ramble about, let me know here or on my social media pages and I’ll do that next week. But for now, I’m going to go do nothing and hope I can sleep tonight. Later days.

Thoughts on THE TRIDENT AND THE PEARL

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are about the same. The government has finally approved my benefits for the coming year (it starts March 1st, it’s weird), so yay for still being cripple enough. I guess. Anyway, it’s the last Wednesday of February, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I decided to try getting outside my usual murder mystery stuff and jump on the romantasy train. Not even the fluffy kind. Turned out to be straight up fantasy with a little romance mixed in. The Trident and the Pearl by Sarah K.L. Wilson was released yesterday (the 24th) from Orbit Books. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!

The Trident and the Pearl follows Coralys, a queen desperate to save her people even if it means submitting to the will of the gods. To stop the storms that have destroyed her isles, killed so many of her people, and even taken her husband, she makes a bargain with a voice on the wind. Stripped of her title, she’s forced to marry the first man who steps foot on her land. An old fisherman. But at least her people will be safe. Right? Dragged into the gods’ petty bickering, Coralys soon finds out nothing is what it seems in her new life.

Book cover: I don’t normally mention the covers unless they’re super pretty or something, but this cover is annoying. Did no one read this book before they commissioned the art? Both Coralys and Oke are described as having brown skin. Why are these people so white? The artist even mentions working with the author directly, so the color of the characters should have been easily established. Was the brown skin in the book just added as an afterthought or what? Did they make them white in the final draft and I just don’t have that? I’m so very confused.

Plot and pacing: the plot had so much potential. I wanted to love it, but everything was pretty much a mess. The first half of the book is spent repeating the same stuff over and over again. I almost gave up. When things finally do start happening, it still manages to be super slow. A lot of the story relies on miscommunication, but after a couple of examples the rest are so forced that it turns into willful ignorance which ruins the whole story. It was a dumpster fire in terms of pacing and the execution of the plot.

Characters: everyone else is fine, but Coralys is horrible. She’s supposed to be this amazing queen, but she’s an idiot. Basically, she immediately comes to the wrong conclusion about EVERYTHING and will only listen to people who reinforce her beliefs despite knowing they’re evil and out for themselves. Holy shit, she’s a MAGAt. Kidding. Kind of. Anyway, she’s not a good character at all even though the story keeps insisting she’s wonderful and amazing and all that fun stuff. The rest of the characters are pretty flat. Including Oke.

Writing: it was nice for the most part. A little purple for me. But it wasn’t bad.

Ultimately, I didn’t like The Trident and the Pearl. It was a mess. I wanted to enjoy it because it’s got all my favorite fantasy things in it, but it didn’t work.

Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. I don’t recommend it, but it got published and some people like it.