It’s the time of year when the reset button gets hit and we are ready to improve ourselves with goals and resolutions. With the turning of the calendar page we can be either excited or overwhelmed with the list of resolutions we have put upon ourselves. Take time this year to be excited, you are about to transform yourself! Set yourself up for success, have a plan a place, and make small changes to achieve your goals. If you have…
I’ve suffered some choice paralysis while making preliminary lists of books I want to read for the 2018 Reading Challenge. Here are my current choices for the second set of challenge categories. Sleuthing (a mystery): The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine This is supposed to be a page-turning thriller with plot twists galore. This one is being touted as the Gone Girl/Girl on the Train for 2017. Finding Love (a romance) Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews Despite the cover…
I’ve been looking through my shelves and library catalog, making preliminary lists of books for the 2018 Reading Challenge Below are my current choices for the first 6 categories. The Big Bad (a book that is over 700 pages) The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss The 2nd book in the trilogy. I’ll be reading this after my re-read of the Name in the Wind. The Wise Man’s Fear is normally categorized as Fantasy or Epic Fantasy. Still wondering when the…
Here are 5 books that I read this year that I’m still thinking about. They had some difficult subject matter and themes but were still worthwhile reads. The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation by Natalie Y. Moore This book takes on the topic of modern segregation. How it is often swept under the rug, and how it continues to the define the city of Chicago. It combines both facts and figures as Moore weaves her experience…
I got something exciting in the mail yesterday. It was a advanced reader copy of the book Oak and Mistletoe by J.Z.N. McCauley. I won this in a Goodreads giveaway contest. It’s a new adult/young adult romance set in Ireland, involving druids and magic. The byline on the back: A Druid Curse, A Prophesied Love, A Consuming Vengeance. The premise of the book is interesting. The prologue opens with twin sisters and an older brother taking a trip to Ireland…
In my quest to pick the suggestion for the memoir category for the 2018 reading challenge I wanted to pick memoirs that are approachable for someone who doesn’t usually read memoirs. I decided to focus on ones that were written by women and beyond the story of their life offered some nugget of wisdom. Here is the little list I made to tick off to give you my favorite recently read memoirs. Conversational tone Witty/Smart/Funny Shows struggle to success or with…
Not much time left to meet those reading goals of 2017. My to-read goal was set at 40 this year & I exceeded my goal and I have read 115 books. Gold stars for me! Below are some free-floating bookish thoughts. I’m also working on my best of list for 2017 and my reading wish list for 2018. Before the end of the year I’m going to try and read a few more books. The majority of my reads this…
The Martian by Andy Wier is a book that would fit into the following categories for the 2018 reading challenge, Noteworthy and Acclaimed, It’s All About the Destination, Pay it Forward, and lastly, it’s a little bit of stretch but – Hidden in Plain Sight (because he wrote the book as serial format on his website) My husband read this book, my interest was piqued so I read this book, then I sent this book to my mom. This is a…
Still Life by Louise Penny is a cozy mystery taking place in Three Pines, a small village in Quebec, Canada. It would be a great pick for the Sleuthing, First Things First, Noteworthy and Acclaimed as well as It’s all about the Destination categories in the 2018 reading challenge. Nothing ever goes wrong in Three Pines. Until, the body of a well-loved member of the community is found lying dead in the maple woods. The community works together to find out…
Can you believe it? We are 9 days away from Jólabókaflóð! What is that? It is the amazing tradition they have in Iceland where you give your loved one books, they get you books, and you spend Christmas Eve reading together. Like many things it has a double meaning, It’s also a season – the season of newly published books, a fancy catalog gets distributed to Icelanders so they can select books to buy for loved ones. Traditionally in Iceland…