#And now school has started again several weeks ago and with that the capstone on top of normal readings and hw

[merlinity]

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[haleyfury]

June was another transitional month into my new normal, with plenty of books in tow. I’ve been keeping busy, between starting my remote jobs and grad school. It’s crazy to think I finished my first round of grad school classes, and my second round started this week. I started experiencing some Zoom burnout this month, so reading and taking my eyes away from my laptop screen with books helped things. I actually have to read two YA books for my grad school classes in July, and I’m so excited to be getting to read YA for school – I read two YA books for undergrad, but that was purely because I decided to do my capstone projects on them.

My reading and TV watching were all over the place this month. I read a lot of contemporary and reread a few books, while I still dove into a reality TV this month. I often had trouble really concentrating on TV, movies especially – I had one night where I tried watching three different movies and then ended up rewatching Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and an episode of Queer Eye. 

What is also improving my reading mood even more is that my local library re-opened for door side pick up! I may or may not have put 15 books on hold as soon as the online catalog re-opened. Although there are plenty of good things going on personally right now, there’s definitely still some uncertainty this summer, to say the least. While my state’s covid-19 cases have significantly decreased over the past two months, we’re seeing multiple states have huge increases in cases. Between work and school, I’m typically home Monday through Friday but these increases has made me rethink a few weekend plans and curious to see how my state moves forward with re-opening plans. I went to my first outdoor restaurant and first trip back to Barnes & Noble last week, but my family and friends and I are still being cautious and smart about where we go. 

Beach Read by Emily Henry | 5/5 Stars

Like me, I’m sure you’ve seen Emily Henry’s Beach Read EVERYWHERE, but I’m here to confirm that the hype is more than worth the read! There’s such depth to this contemporary romance.

Love at First Fight by Sandhya Menon (novella) | 5/5

I’m a firm believer that Sandhya Menon is the queen of novellas, with Love at First Fight as no exception. You don’t have to read it before picking up 10 Things I Hate About Pinky this July, but it was a really fun addition to the Dimpleverse! 

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell 5/5 (reread)

One of my best friends IRL is reading Fangirl, aka honestly my all-time favorite book, which led me to make the decision to reread Rainbow Rowell’s contemporary books this summer. Attachments still reigns as my favorite adult fiction novel of hers. 

Slay by Brittany Morris | 4/5

If you’re looking to read more YA books by black authors, as well as books that reflect some of the conversations we’re currently having about race in the U.S., Slay is definitely worth checking out. 

Landline by Rainbow Rowell | 5/5 (reread) 

I forgot how much I loved Landline, including its many one-liners and sarcasm. I also loved the cameo from one of my all-time favorite fictional couples. 

10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon (ARC) | 4.5/5 

Over the past four years, my summer reading has not been complete without a new YA contemporary from Sandhya Menon. 10 Things I Hate About Pinky was such a summery take on the enemies-to-lovers trope. 

The Play (Briar U #3) by Elle Kennedy | 4/5

Elle Kennedy’s Off-Campus and Briar U series reign among my favorite new adult romance novels. It wasn’t my absolute favorite, but The Play was still a fun and flirty installment. 

The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson | 5/5

The Boy on the Wooden Box is one of those books I can’t believe I didn’t read until 2020, but I’m so, so glad I read this Holocaust memoir from child survivor, Leon Leyson, who worked for Oskar Schindler during the war.

Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby | 4/5 

Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All’s critical praise really caught my attention. If you’re looking for an often untold story from the World War II period, I recommend checking this YA book about a girl living in a Chicago orphanage out – did I mention it’s also narrated by a ghost?

You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle | 5/5

I am not joking when I say that You Deserve Each Other might be the funniest and most clever contemporary romance I’ve ever read.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick | 4/5 (reread) 

As you might be able to tell, I was on a small rereading kick in June, My Life Next Door included. I didn’t LOVE this one as much as I had the first time around – a lot more unresolved issues than I remembered – but it is such an atmospheric summer contemporary. 

Jenna Takes The Fall by A.R. Taylor (ARC) | 3/5 

Jenna Takes The Fall wasn’t necessarily my favorite read, but it made for a really entertaining read while floating around my pool. 

The Sullivan Sisters by Kathryn Ormsbee | 2.5/5 

I really wanted to love The Sullivan Sisters because I tend to seek out books about sisters, but it was just a miss for me. 

The Politician S2 (Netflix) – The Politician was my favorite show of 2019, so I could not wait for its second season to air. I’ve realized that this show is slightly ridiculous… but that doesn’t make it any less good!! Once again, I was so impressed by the acting, and this season had a few more politically relevant themes than last season. 

Athlete A (Netflix) – If there’s one thing that you must watch on Netflix, it’s Athlete A. This documentary walks viewers through the several sexual abuse cases involving Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics. To say the least, it is such an infuriating and emotional watch, as we hear from several gymnasts about USA Gymnastic’s abusive environment. I found tears rolling down my face throughout, especially because of Maggie Nichol’s story. This is such an important watch that demands more from USA Gymnastics and overall how female atheletes are treated in sports. 

The Bachelor GOAT (ABC) – I’ve been loving putting on these wrap-up episodes  while I work as background noise, and even more, I love listening to Here to Make Friends‘ recap episodes on my walks. 

Below Deck Mediterranean (Bravo) & Outdaughtered (TLC) – Reality TV is still one of my favorite forms of escapism. My Below Deck obsession is still alive & well, while I’m bummed that Outdaughtered was only 5 episodes long -although I completely understand why in order to protect the Busbys and the camera & crew. 

Lenox Hill (Neftlix) – Let it be known that I am one of the most sqeamish people when it comes to medical things and, let’s face it, the sight of blood. I learned quickly that being a nurse or doctor was not for me while taking anatomy in high school. However, I found myself obsessed with Lenox Hill, a docuseries following Lenox Hill Hospital in NYC. It was such a fascinating watch, following the neurosurgery, OB-GYN, and emergency medicine departments of the hospital. 

Some other random things I watched include Shtisel S2 (Netflix), The West Wing S1 (Netflix/NBC), and Clueless (Netflix). 

Reviews

NEW ADULT FUN: The Play (Briar U #3) Review  

SUMMER MUST-READ: Beach Read by Emily Henry

WAS IT WORTH THE HYPE? : Where the Crawdads Sing Review

MUST READ NOVELLA: Love at First Fight Review 

NEW ADULT REVIEW: Until the Last Star Fades

June 2020 Mini Reviews: Books I Should’ve Read A While Ago

FINISHING THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR: The Dazzling Heights & The Towering Sky Review

Bookish & Other Fun:

Summer Reading Recommendations: The YA Edition

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag: 2020 Edition 

If We Were Having Coffee: June 2020 Edition

TBR & JUNE READING PLANS: The Stuck At Home Book Tag

Summer Reading Recs: Based on What I Read in 2019 Edition

Gravity is Heartless Q&A with Author Sarah Lahey

What did you read and watch in June? Anything that I mentioned? Share in the comments! 

BOOKS, TV, & MY CURRENT NORMAL: June 2020 Wrap Up June was another transitional month into my new normal, with plenty of books in tow. I’ve been keeping busy, between starting my remote jobs and grad school.

[deniseyallen]

On Senate Floor, Portman Celebrates Career of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch

 WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the Senate floor today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) celebrated the career and achievements of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) with his upcoming retirement at the end of the Congress. Portman serves on the Senate Finance Committee and has worked with him closely on tax reform, the opioid epidemic, trade, and retirement security issues, among others, as well as in his previous role as U.S. Trade Representative and during his time in the House of Representatives.

  You can read his full remarks below and a video can be found here.

    “I have the great pleasure today to talk about a friend. It’s a bittersweet moment because that friend is choosing not to stay with us here in the Senate. He didn’t run for re-election. He is going back home to Utah, but I want to take a minute to talk about his incredible accomplishments here as a public servant over a 42-year career, over four decades here in the Senate.

  “You know what? Some people come here because they want to be somebody. Orrin Hatch came here because he wanted to do something for people. And, boy, he has done that. Time after time, he has stepped up to serve the American people. When Senator Hatch retires, the Senate will be losing not only our president pro tem—that means that he’s third in line to be president and he’s the president pro tempore here of the Senate, the most senior member—but we’re also going to lose somebody who, over the years, has been a mentor for a lot of us because he’s a person who is committed to legislating, to making a difference in the lives of the people of Utah and the people of our great country. He’s been a statesman. So at a time of bare-knuckled politics, isn’t it nice to have that model. And that’s Orrin Hatch.

  “Back in 1976, this kid from Pennsylvania, blue-collar kid from Pennsylvania, who had been then a union member, card-carrying union member, of which he is proud, and later went to law school and became, in Salt Lake City, a successful litigation attorney, decided to run for the United States Senate. Now he was running against a three-term incumbent. Normally that’s not a recipe for success, but he had a rare and impressive victory for a first-time candidate, and he hasn’t looked back since. When he got elected, I think he probably was a little surprised, but he also realized that he owed something to the people of Utah—and that was to put his nose to the grindstone and make a difference for them, and that’s what he’s done.

  “They say he has sponsored more bills that have become law than any other living member of Congress. He might even have that record for any member of Congress, but certainly for any of those of us who are still around. He’s the former chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, also called the HELP Committee. He’s the former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He’s currently the chairman of the all-powerful Senate Finance Committee, and I say that somewhat jokingly but truly that committee has jurisdiction over such a broad range of issues, all of which Senator Hatch has touched. I’ve gotten to work with him on a lot of those issues over the years when I was in the Ways and Means Committee in the House and now on the Senate Finance Committee.

  “We’ve worked together on tax reform, on anti-drug legislation, on pension legislation, on health care legislation, intellectual property legislation, and so much more. I also had the honor of working very closely with him when I was U.S Trade Representative because the Senate Finance Committee handles trade matters, and he was always extremely involved and engaged in expanding the opportunity for U.S workers and farmers to sell their products abroad.

  “With a slew of achievements to highlight, it is his most recent accomplishment that I want to talk about very briefly and that is the devotion he gave to tax reform. Remember it had been 31 years since we’d had any significant tax reform in this body. And a couple of years ago Orrin Hatch said, ‘you know what? We’re going to do this.’ He set up a bunch of working groups, and they were bipartisan, and I co-chaired one of them with Senator Schumer, who is now the Democratic Leader. And he said, ‘let’s go to work on this thing,’ and, frankly, a lot of people didn’t give him much of a chance. Why? It had been tried previously in those 31 years and had been unsuccessful, and here we are in a partisan atmosphere. How could that possibly succeed?

  “But he kept at it. He shepherded through the process what I think is historic tax reform and what I know is helping the people I represent. It’s helping small businesses, it’s helping American workers. It’s helping to give people opportunity that they would not otherwise have had. So, 31 years, think about that, back then Senator Hatch was a second-term senator, Pete Rose still played for the Cincinnati Reds, Ronald Reagan was president of the United States. After 31 years, it’s probably a good idea to update the tax code. And he did that. It’s pro-growth. It’s resulting in more investment in people, equipment, and jobs, and, as a result, I believe, you see this expansion of our economy out there. I think it’s the biggest single reason for it. Wages, finally going up for the first time really in a decade and a half. And families having just a little more cash to be able to spend for their Christmas shopping, for their retirement, for their health care, for their kids and grandkids. That’s exactly what Senator Hatch intended when we crafted that new law and that is a heck of a capstone for an amazing career.

  “I’m also, though, very grateful for his work in other areas, protecting religious freedom, encouraging technological innovation, focusing a lot on the tech community and how we can help in Congress to either provide legislation that helps them to be successful, which encouraged the economic growth that we have seen in this country in the last several decades, but also getting out of the way when necessary to ensure that technology can continue here in the United States to be at the cutting edge. He even has helped songwriters. Now some might think that is selfish of him because he is a songwriter himself. But he did it because he realized that songwriters deserve to be able to get a responsible return and to be able to protect their intellectual property that they have embedded in their music and their videos. So he’s been a hero to the folks in the music industry as a result.

  “By the way, he’s not done. This week, next week, and the week after, Senator Hatch is leading a bipartisan effort with Senator Brown to save the multiemployer pension system. Now, folks, this is not a task that people take on because it’s fun. It’s difficult. It’s difficult on substance. It’s difficult on politics. Who is back in the lead? Orrin Hatch, as co-chair of the select committee this Congress formed to be able to finally come up with a way to keep these pensions from going under, keep the government entity that ensures the pensions, which is called the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, PBGC, from going under, and ultimately to ensure that our economy and thousands of businesses are not impacted so negatively because we’re going to lose a lot of businesses. We’re going to lose the ability for us to be able to provide people with their hard-earned retirement money unless we fix this system. Once again, he is at the lead trying not to do something that’s good for him, or good for him politically, but something that’s good for the country that he knows has to be done.

  “So in my view, Orrin Hatch epitomizes what it means to be a public servant—and what it means to be a servant leader. Because he does it through leadership. He doesn’t have to give speeches on civility—he practices it. Over the years, he has been a model for me of a serious legislator, one focused on delivering results for the people he represents.

  “Perhaps most importantly, he is a gentleman who treats everybody with respect, everybody—regardless of your political focus, regardless of who you are in this place, what your station in life is, Orrin Hatch treats you with respect and dignity. Despite all of these legislative accomplishments during his more than four decades in the Senate, what is he most proud of? His family. I know that.

  “I got to meet his son when we worked together as lawyers in the first Bush White House. This was about 30 years ago. His wife, Elaine, and he have been together now for more than 60 years. They’ve got six children, 23 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren. Now that 24 might have increased since I started talking, I don’t know. But he’s got a lot of them. Even as he retires as the president pro tem of this body, I know he is going to stay busy with the Hatch Foundation, and, folks, he’s going to stay busy with that growing family. Shepherding tax reform will be nothing compared to shepherding all of those 47 grandchildren and great-grandchildren this holiday season.

  “So, Orrin Hatch, we thank you for what you have done for your state and your country. I know I speak on behalf of this body as a whole when I say that the impact you had during your time here in the Senate has been one that has made all of us better by being around you and made this country better. I’m grateful for having had the opportunity to work with you as a colleague, and look forward to the pleasure of our continuing friendship.

  “Enjoy your retirement, Orrin. Well deserved. Godspeed.” 

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from Rob Portman http://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=B1AF223B-6701-4E79-8D96-DC428C12AA41