This Post Is What Happens When Your Parents Are Your Best Friends

            I'm back from 8 days in Michigan where, for the majority of my vacation, I was with the rents, the grandrents, and The Sades. Between cooking, eating, playing cards, eating, working out, sleeping, and beaching, I read.  

Beach weather. 

Side note: Harrison, I know you said I should link to my Goodreads, but if I didn't post books reviews on What's for Dinner?, what else would I write on here? See the problem? 

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Open by Andre Agassi. I didn't really know much about Agassi other than that I thought he had done crystal meth (true) and that I had heard his dad (abusively) forced him to play tennis (also true). I was 11 when Agassi retired and while I remember hearing the names Sampras and Agassi and even watching matches, his story was new to me. And wow, it's a story. Agassi is, and this is by his own characterization, a contradiction. He is kind of an asshole but he's also sweet  He has a 9th grade education yet he has given millions of dollars to build a school in Las Vegas for at-risk students. He hates tennis (a theme of the book) yet it was/is his life. I switched off from liking him and liking him less but I never disliked him. It's hard to dislike someone when he is telling the story, when he has control and spin of the story. That's not to say that there weren't times when I thought that the public disdain for him wasn't fair. He did a bunch of dumb things. He wasn't a nice guy much of the time. He would  admit it all too. I recommend this book to anyone who likes sports, not just tennis, and to almost all other people. It's a sports story, yes, but it's also a human story. I will compare it to Friday Night Lights (oh, how I miss you, FNL): while liking football may make FNL better, the show is about relationships, hardships, and love of all kinds. Open isn't just about tennis. 
Too Long; Didn't Read: Great read even if you don't like tennis/sports.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I feel like I'm late to this party. This is a beautifully written book on many levels. First, the beekeeper parts were fascinating. I forget that beekeeping is a real thing and that honey comes from bees. Second, Lily's character is complicated; we love her yet she is so frustrating. I love historical fiction, especially books set in the South, and who doesn't love a good coming-of-age story? Third, the supporting characters made this story. August, May, June, Rosaleen, T. Ray, Zach-they all made this story wonderful. To those that have seen the movie, is it a good movie? Is it faithful to the book?
TL;DR: That's not too long, read it. 

She Went All The Way by Meg Cabot. What's a summer vacation without a good beach-read? (Not a summer vacation, to answer my rhetorical inquiry). I found this book in my book shelf from my chick-lit phase and thought I'd give it a try. Pretty much your run-of-the-mill Meg Cabot novel: from the very first page you know the heroine (who used to be chubby when she was younger) will get the guy, along the way there will be descriptions of all the hot sex they have, and the plot will be completely unrealistic (murder, fire, explosions). Yep, just what I signed up for. Read in two days. 
TL;DR: Meg Cabot=sex, predictable love story.

Always Something There to Remind Me by Beth Harbison. This was pretty bad. I read it in two days, but it was not a good book. It wasn't even good by my chick-lit, no-think, beach-read standards. Unlikable characters. The flashbacks to heroine in her high school years were painful to read. The present day was boring. 
TL;DR: Don't read. 

Good Dog. Stay. by Anna Quindlen. This is an essay in book form about Quindlen's life with her dog, Beau. It's eighty pages with over half of those being adorable photos of dogs. For non dog lovers, I wouldn't recommend reading this as it would most likely be boring and seen as excessive and ridiculous (how could someone love an animal so much?) But for dog lovers, even just pet lovers (I say just because dogs are the best of all pets), Good Dog. Stay. is wonderful. I laughed, empathized, sympathized, and teared up. I understood Quindlen. There's nothing ridiculous or excessive about the love one can have for a pup.  
TL;DR: Wonderful essay for mutt lovers. 

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If you made it this far, wow, thank you. Now for some music, here's my "I Promise It's Not All Country" Playlist, aka what I'm listening to right now on repeat:

1. "Ex To See" - Sam Hunt
2. "Break Up In a Small Town" - Sam Hunt
3.  "Raised on It" - Sam Hunt
4. "She's Like Texas" - Josh Abbott Band
5. "I'll Sing About Mine" - Josh Abbott Band
6. "Dirt" - Florida Georgia Line
7. "ThisThat" - Sam Lachow
8. "First Flight Home" - Jake Miller
9. "Guinevere" - Eli Young Band
10. "7 & 7" - Turnpike Troubadours
11. "1968" - Turnpike Troubadours
12. "Perfect Girl" - JB and The Moonshine Band

Bolded aren't country per say—Sam Hunt is a pop-country artist. 

Sam Hunt doesn't look like a
 country singer either. 

Side note 2: I hate the way Blogger formats photos. I've just spent 15 minutes trying to put this picture in without it looking like a 7-year-old's art project. Do any fellow user of Blogger know how I can get rid of this "frame" and have more control over the format of photos? 

        To finish off Leah's Books, Music and TV coverage, Bachelor in Paradise was on tonight so that means I'll be watching it tomorrow on ABC.com and most likely doing some pretty rad and pretty spotty live-tweeting if you're interested. Dear, that was a long post. I did that all in one sitting except when I had to get up and go to the bathroom. What an inconvenience the human body is. 

TL;DR: I read books, I listened to country music, I watched trashy TV so I pretty much continued being Leah. 

That view.