July Recap

Am I down to only every-other-month recaps?  I hope not...

Let's talk about what I read this month:

Windfall by Jennifer E Smith. In this, an 18-year-old girl, who has been dealt a bad hand at life, buys a lottery ticket for her best friend (secret love) and he wins millions. Millions and millions of dollars. I really enjoyed this one. It's definitely a quintessential coming-of-age YA story where everything works out in the end, but sometimes we need lighthearted fun books. Especially in summer. Don't let the lighthearted nature fool you though; I definitely cried more than I thought I would.

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon. I was killing the YA game in July. I loved this one. This is the story of Maddy, the girl who was allergic to the world, and Olly, the mysterious boy who moved in next door. I loved Maddy. I loved Olly. I loved Carla. I want to play phonetic scrabble. And I was so so surprised by the twist - I legit never saw it coming. That's the best kind of twist, right? Also - top notch flirting in this one. Perfect for summer.

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan. You guys! This. Was. Perfection. Listen to it on audio, if you can. There's a full cast production, complete with music, which is so important to the story. Echo tells the story of three children growing up during World War II all over the world, mysteriously linked together by a magical harmonica. It was a Newberry Honor for a reason.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Yet another twist that I did not see coming. I flew threw this one in a matter of hours. Who is Evelyn Hugo? Why was she married seven times? (I would have given up long before number seven.) Any why on earth does she want Monique Grant, virtually unknown writer, to tell her story?

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin. I heard about this one from Hannah at So Obsessed With. See her review here. I would never have picked this book up on my own, even though it's set during WWII, my favorite era. And is a WWII alternate history telling, another fave. The motorcycle race that is the center of the story would have thrown me off. I'm so so glad I took Hannah's recommendation and listened to this on audible anyway. The narration is fantastic. The story moves at a frantic clip. There are so many twists and turns that I audibly gasped at several points in the story. If that's not enough to sell you, I'll leave with this - I am counting down the days until my next audible credit so I can get the sequel (only nine more to go).

Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson. A little back story - I've only read one of Joshilyn Jackson book prior to Someone Else's Love Story, and that was Gods in Alabama. I listened to it on audio, but being from the south, I had a really hard time with the affected southern accent given to the characters. But Anne Bogel (Modern Mrs. Darcy and What Should I Read Next? Podcast) always raves about her, so I hadn't written her entirely off yet. I just wasn't in a hurry to binge all of her book. But then, several months later, I saw an essay by her in the AJC about her work teaching creative writing to inmates in the women's maximum security prison in Atlanta. Hold up... She's Atlanta based? And does such a good deed on a regular basis? Perhaps it's time to give it another shot. So I read the essay and loved her writing; much more than I loved listening to it. I decided to try out her other book I hear about most from Anne Bogel, Someone Else's Love Story. It was delightful. So cute. I loved Shandi, her son Natty, and Will. And I loved that the story was wrapped up in the tidiest of tidy bows. No loose ends. Sometimes you just need that, right? Needless to say, I picked up The Almost Sisters (her latest) this weekend and am strongly considering joining the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club just to hear her author talk. AND while I was browsing the bookstore, The Almost Sisters in hand, this woman came up to me to talk about it and said that Joshilyn Jackson went to high school with her husband and she just loves her books so much and that her name is pronounced JOSSilyn, not JOSHilyn. (We also talked about Fredrik Backman, so we're basically best friends now).

Life things to recap:

I visited a winery for the first time and did a wine tasting and it was so. much. fun.  I left spending $75 on three bottles of wine, which I'm sure is revealing to you all how uncultured I am, but whatever. I usually go for the $5-$10 bottle of Barefoot Moscato at the grocery store on the rare occasion that I do buy wine, so this was a pretty serious upgrade.

So where did I go?  I went to Chateau Elan, a winery here outside of Atlanta. The statue lady pictured above is a grape stomping woman from the winery.  I didn't realize how close it was to my house (not super close - about an hour and a half away); I always thought it was up in North Georgia somewhere and would take me like four hours to get there.  I took my mom as a belated 50th birthday present.  I wanted to do something special for her last year for her 50th, but I was too broke then.  As soon as I could afford it, I booked the room and the wine tasting.

We also hit up the Mall of Georgia, where I kept my spending very on-brand and bought clothes for Isla and books for us both.  :-)

Also in July, my little family took a trip to the beach for a weekend.  One last getaway before Pre-K.  We went to Destin, FL and had the best time even though we were only there for a weekend and all got sunburned despite my diligent sunscreen application/reapplication.  (Those little footprints slay me.)

Other than that, I've been listening to lots of great podcasts (post forthcoming), watching lots of Doctor Who, and I saw Dunkirk.

GO SEE DUNKIRK IMMEDIATELY!!

Congratulations if you made it to the end of this super long post. Perhaps I should post more, so I'll have less to say in one sitting.

Anyway, tell me about your July!  What did you read/watch/do?

Big Reads: February Recap

February was a... challenging... reading month for me. It certainly didn't help that I started off the month with what will probably be the best book I read all year.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. You guys. This book. I don't have enough wonderful things to say about it. And it it beloved by many. My Instagram post about it got the most likes and comments I think any of my posts have ever gotten. I checked Guernsey out from the library, but I'll definitely by buying a copy soon so that I can re-read it forever. I loved Juliet and how spunky and smart and funny and quick witted she was. And Dawsey? Easily the best book boyfriend there has ever been. Read this one ASAP.

Big Little Lies was my book club's February pick and I loved it. I hurried to read it before the HBO series started and it was an absolute roller coaster. I did not see the ending coming (who died or who killed them) but I loved all the characters and I'm really enjoying the show as well. Have you read this one? Are you watching the show?

Gods In Alabama was very "meh" for me. This was recommended on the What Should I Read Next? podcast, and while Anne Bogel's recommendations are usually spot on for me, this one was not. I should have known to stay away because I don't really like the "southern fiction" sub genre, but the audio was a daily deal, and well... you know how that goes. I didn't love the accents (too over the top) and I was a little uncomfortable hearing the f word so often from that syrupy sweet southern voice, even though I have no problems with the f word in general (as long as it isn't being said in front of my daughter.) I didn't hate it though. I was surprised by the ending. I really liked Burr. And them love scenes tho... Also, the palmetto bug scene had me looking over my shoulder for rest of the day. My southern peeps know what I'm talking about. Those things are no joke.

I did not like The Girl Before. The further I get away from reading it, the more I dislike it. It was definitely a page turner, but that's where the good stuff ends. This story is told from the perspective of two women who lived in the same house at different points in time. The girl from the past died in the house and the current resident tries to find out why. I'm pretty sure that every single character was insane. That plus the authors use of "I'm like" and "she goes" to describe conversations killed the atmosphere for me.

What Alice Forgot had a very interesting premise. Alice, age 39, falls of her stationary bike, hits her head, and doesn't remember anything from the past ten years. The last thing she remembers is being pregnant with her first child and happily married, but when she wakes up, she has three kids and is in the middle of a divorce. I enjoyed this one. I read it quickly, but of the two Liane Moriarty books I've read now, I would recommend Big Little Lies.

And I also read the Checkmate Duo - This Is War and This Is Love and they were trashy romance novels that I read in a day each. Just to keep it real and you guys don't think I'm above such reading. I'm not and they're a good way to get out of a slump - anything you can power through and keep up reading momentum.

Man, if only I approached fitness the way I do reading...

What did you read in February that I need to add to my TBR for March?

10 Books That Are Just Plain Fun

You all were sooo encouraging on my post earlier this week about being in a reading slump! I gave up on Anna Karenina. For now, at least. Maybe I'll try again another time. But for me right now? I'm done.

The day after that post went live, I was listening to one of my new favorite podcasts, Awesome with Alison. In Episode 3, she talked about how important having fun is. A lightbulb went off, guys. That's why I read. That's my fun activity. So without further ado, here are 10 books that are just plain fun to read (plus the one I'm reading to get me out of my slump.)

The Harry Potter series. Can you talk about reading for fun without mentioning Harry Potter? I certainly can't. I absolutely love these books. Especially on audio. I've mentioned them on the blog several times, but Jim Dale's narration of these books is magical and utterly without fault. I just finished listening to Deathly Hallows and I'm strongly considering starting back over at the beginning.

Shades of Grey - no, not that one. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde. Jasper Fforde is better known for his Thursday Next series, which I haven't read, but Shades of Grey? It's fantastic. Society is divided up into a cast system based on what colors you can see, and there's a hierarchy based on those colors. Eddie Russet (a red) wants to move up in the hierarchy, but his plans to marry into a powerful family are derailed after meeting a grey named Jane. This book is fun and fast paced and I want more, but there hasn't been any news about the previously promised sequels in a long time.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling. These books are hilarious. I love Mindy. I thought she was brilliant as Kelly Kapoor on The Office (only my favorite show of all time) and I love her new show The Mindy Project. She's so funny and so smart and so talented, and I basically wish we were best friends. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? is more memoir while Why Not Me? is a series of essays about life in Hollywood. Both amazing. Both hilarious. And you should read (or listen - read by Mindy herself!) to both of these books.

Contrary to the contents of this list, I don't read a ton of chick lit or romance novels, but Agnes and the Hitman is one of the few books I have read multiple times. What do you get when you put together a food critic, an actual hitman, a dognapper, and a big southern wedding? Zany is the best way to describe it. Zany, funny, and fun.

The Assistants takes a crazy premise and makes it almost believable. Tina Fontana is a thirty something executive assistant to the CEO of a multinational media conglomorate. One day after seeing said CEO spend the entire balance of her student loans on a single flight, she accidentally double submits his expense report and pays off her loans. This quickly spirals out of control as more people find out about it, but what a ride we take along with Tina. Can you imagine being able to pay off your student loans in one fell swoop?

Dark Matter - talk about a page turner! This was probably the most fun and exciting book I read last year. Jason Dessen is walking home from a bar one night when someone whacks him over the head. When he comes to, a familiar voice asks him, "Are you happy with your life?" Then he wakes up in an entirely different world. Completely insane. Super fast paced. It left me breathless until the last page.

The Stephanie Plum series. This series has a lot of books in it. A lot. 23 at last count (plus 4 holiday books, I think) I haven't read all of them, I think I've read through 18 or 19 of them. But you guys, they are so so funny. No one gets in so much trouble as Stephanie and Lula. These are fun and funny and each one revolves around a single mystery. They're quick, easy reads and the main dudes are delish. (Team Ranger forever.)

The Royal We by the Fug Girls (Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan) is a basically Prince William/Kate Middleton fan fiction. And I loved it. This was one of the first books I checked out when I discovered my local library (it took me too long.) I'm not super into the royals, so I don't think you have to be to enjoy this story. Will and Kate are instead Nick and Bex and Bex is American. There's a Pippa (Bex's twin sister) and a Harry too (called Freddie here.) This book was fun and funny and was everything that a good romance novel should be.

Another series - The Raven Cycle. YA, mystery, fantasy, magic, ghosts, psychics, cute boys, and badass girls. What's not to love?

And finally, the current front runner for favorite book of the year (I know it's only February, but it's going to be hard to top this one.) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. When I first heard about this book, I was very hesitant. I like quirky, but that title seemed just a little too quirky to me. I didn't know much about it and I think that made all the difference in my ultimate love for it, so I'm not going to talk about the plot. I will tell you only this: this story was so heartwarming and charmingly told that when I finished it, I wanted to go right back to page one and start it all over.

So what am I reading now to get out of my slump? I'm so glad you asked! My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella.  I'm not too far into it, but it's light and fun and just what I needed to revive my reading life.

Tell me about your last reading slump and how you got over it.

Big Reads - January Recap

 

Well, the first month of 2017 is over. The news and social media have been crazy, so I've been hunkering down and introverting hard with some really good books. I read eight books this month - let's get into them.

 

My husband loves the Lightbringer Series and has wanted me to read it for a while, so I checked out the audio from my library. And it was awful. But it was recorded later by Simon Vance, so I got that version from audible. It was so much better! The Black Prism is the story of Gavin Guile, The Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He has been ruling for 16 years after the False Prism's War and things are starting to fall apart. When he discovers he has a son in a kingdom left with no men after the way, he sets out to find him in order to protect all of his own secrets. There were several OMG moments, a few strong female characters (metaphorically and literally), and many just plain interesting characters. The battle scenes were too long for my taste, but I am interested to see where the story goes from here. If you plan to listen to this on audio, definitely get the Simon Vance version.

The Trees was my first read of 2017. And what a way to kick off the year! I love Ali Shaw. I read The Girl with Glass Feet a couple of years ago, and it had such a wonderful, dark, haunting, fairy tale feel to it. The Trees has a very similar atmosphere. In it, a dark, spooky forest erupts from the earth one night destroying every man made thing in its path (a many people as well.) The main character, Adrien, is kind of fat and pathetic and in an unhappy marriage in an unhappy life, but when the trees come, all he wants is to see his wife, who is away on a business trip. His hippy neighbor convinces him to go find her across the sea in Ireland. So off he sets with the neighbor and her teenage son. He's not happy about it, but he can't think of anything else to do. The Trees is dark and creepy and the imagery of the trees so densely covering the world that you can't see the sky is terrifying. There's wonderful character growth and happy endings for all but one of the characters, but the ending couldn't be more right. Or more fairy tale like.

I got this from Book of the Month Club a few months ago, and it won best book of the year from them, but I have strong mixed feeling about it. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things is the story of Wavy and Kellen and all the people in their lives. They meet when Wavy is eight and Kellen is in his twenties and they develop a friendship. Wavy is extremely neglected and abused by her parents, so Kellen looks out for her and takes care of her. Their relationship develops into a romance when Wavy is much too young, but they're both so damaged and abused by people who are supposed to love them, that I found myself rooting for them. Much of this book made me extremely uncomfortable. Then I found myself hoping for them to end up together through all their trials, and that made me even more uncomfortable. I read somewhere that the point of this book is that love is love and it doesn't always look like we think it should. But it was still super squicky. It was a super fast read, though. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. But I would do careful research before deciding to read this one.

Hillbilly Elegy has been everywhere leading up to and following the election. I don't know who decided that this book explains why Trump was elected, but I don't think that's accurate. Hillbilly Elegy is a memoir. It's the story of J.D. Vance's life, and the life of his family, living in the Rust Belt. I loved J.D.'s crazy Mamaw. I loved reading about how he escaped an impoverished life with her help and encouragement. I even loved all of the crazy family drama. It reminded me a lot of All Over but the Shoutin, and it felt very familiar to me, being from the South.

Holding Up the Universe was fantastic! For the first 75% of the book, I thought, "This is ok." But the end totally changed that. I loved it. It's the story of Libby, the fattest teen in America, and Jack, a boy who cannot remember faces, even the faces of those he loves. I think when you get older (not that I'm old - I'm not even 30 yet.) A least, as I have gotten older, I've forgotten that the problems that young people deal with are so real and huge to them, even if they may seem trivial to me. And sometimes they have very real battles they are fighting. Libby is my hero. So is Jack, for being such a man with his dad. I just loved this one. That's two for two from Jennifer Niven, because All the Bright Places slayed me. PS - I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

You guys, I love Newt Scamander so much. (Who doesn't, right?) I so enjoyed this movie that I saw it twice. And this cover is so beautiful, how could I not pick it up? This a screenplay, so it only took a couple of hours to read, but it was like watching the movie again. Also, on March 14th, new editions of The Hogwarts Library are being released. Along with this, Fantastic Beasts is being released for the first time on audio, recorded by none other than Eddie Redmayne. #EddieRedmayneIsBAE. I know where my book budget is going in March!

The Cozy Life was a kindle daily deal recently. Have you signed up for those from Modern Mrs. Darcy? They're dangerous. Those nearly daily $1.99 purchases add up! But they're totally worth it. Anyway, I picked this one up because of all the hoopla about hygge. It was ok. Not fantastic. I now know how to pronounce hygge (hooga, btw.) But the basic principle is make your home cozy, slow down, and enjoy your life. Don't try so hard. Put the phone down and turn off the TV every now and then. It did make me want to go buy more throw pillows, blankets, and candles, though.

My Life in France was the January pick for my Mother Daughter Book Club. And it made me hungry while I read it. A lot. I thought this book was very funny at certain points (when she and her friends went to a speakeasy during prohibition, drank one of everything, and got violently ill on the way home) and disjointed at others. I also thought that Julia Child was quite the brave and adventurous woman to travel the world like she did and undertake so many new things at not-such-a-young-age. Also, that Valentine's Day card that she and Paul sent out of them in the bathtub was quite scandalous! Overall, I enjoyed this one, but I didn't love it as much as I thought I would.

If you made it to the end of this super wordy post, thank you! Virtual high five!

What did you read in January that I need to add to my TBR?

Big Reads: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

I have been on a roll with one day reads lately.

Three in a row, in fact. The Girl You Left Behind, Kids of Appetite (review coming later this week,) and this one - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.

This is my favorite kind of book. One that I simply can't put down and read in one day. Also, I love books about books. Especially when I've read the other books mentioned in the book. It feels kind of magical to me. This one in particular was just delightful (and strongly reminded me of A Man Called Ove and we all know how I felt about that one. I frickin loved it.)

Lets get into it - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is about a bookseller (the titular A.J.) who has recently lost his wife and is a bit of a curmudgeon. (Sound familiar, Ove-readers?) The story opens with publishing company sales rep Amelia Loman making her first sales call to Island Books (owned by A.J.) They have a horrible first meeting, A.J tries to drink himself to death every night, a priceless first edition is stolen, and a package is left in his store one night (hint - cover art. I didn't even see it until I was writing this post and looked at the photos I took.)

The story is a bit of a roller-coaster. I especially loved the book "review" A.J. writes at the beginning of each chapter. He's writing a letter to someone about each book and they give a small hint about the forthcoming chapter. There are plenty of ups and downs and I was fully invested for all of it. This was a truly wonderful book. If you love books like I do, definitely add this one to the top of your TBR.

Come back tomorrow for another Christmas gift idea for the little people in your life. (This one is actually for my little person, so I have to wait until she isn't home to shoot it.)

Big Reads: The Raven Cycle

Do I even have words for these Raven boys?

I love Maggie Stiefvater. I loved her Wolves of Mercy Falls series. I loved The Scorpio Races. But I was very hesitant to give The Raven Cycle a chance. I think that's due to all the hype it gets on instagram, but the series definitely lives up to the hype.

Plus all three boys are bae.

I listened the these books instead of reading them. They're narrated by Will Patton (best known by me for being the white coach from Remember the Titans.) He's fantastic. Just wonderful. It took me a second to get past the extra southern accent he gave to Adam, but it works.

I'm not sure what else to say about The Raven Cycle. It's got psychics, psychic mirrors, friendship, ghosts, hit men, dreamers, family drama, a quest for a sleeping king, feminism, a cursed romance, and true love (or two.) What's not to love?

These are definitely going on my reread stack.

Big Reads: A Monster Calls

I need to interrupt all of my planned posts to tell you guys about A Monster Calls.

I picked this book up from Target last night. I went home, put on my comfy clothes, sat down on my couch, and read the whole. dang. thing.

And I am IN my feelings about it.

Brief synopsis:

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

 Feelings:

Warning - this is NOT spoiler free. If you haven't read this book, DO NOT CONTINUE READING THIS POST. Quickly go read A Monster Calls and then come back and cry with me. It'll be worth it.

Back to the feels... Obviously I loved this book, since I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. (That's a common thing with this book, I've read.) It was completely and utterly heartbreaking, and touches on what is probably my second biggest fear.

See, Conor's mom has cancer. She's been undergoing treatment for a while, and nothing is working. She keeps getting sicker and sicker and sicker. She knows this. Conor knows this. But neither of them wants to admit it. One night, the yew tree by the church near his home comes to life and appears at his window. Conor isn't at all afraid because it's not the monster he's worried about. The monster/tree says that he will tell Conor three stories and after the third story, Conor must tell his own story - his truth.

While all of this is going on with the monster, and his mom's cancer, and his grandma (who he doesn't get along with) coming to stay/take care of his mom... On top of all of that, he's being bullied at school. But he doesn't do anything about it because he feels like he deserves it because of the monster he faces in his nightmare (not the yew tree.)

Conor's mother continues to get sicker, his absentee father returns from the states for a very disappointing visit (due to his new family taking priority over Conor and his dying mom.)

The three stories the monster tells Conor are tricky - they all have a little bit of a twist to them that leave Conor feeling frustrated with the unjustness of the world (as if he needs any more proof that the world is unjust.)

After the third story, it's time for Conor to tell his truth. He did summon the monster, after all. I don't want to give everything away, so I'll stop there.

But his truth? It gutted me. And thinking about being in his mother's place gutted me too. Basically, I'm just super gutted. But it was a truly wonderful reading experience. And the book itself is SUPER well written. I'll leave you with a few of my favorite lines:

"But what is a dream, Conor O'Malley? the monster said, bending down so its face was close to Conor's. Who is to say that it is not everything else that is the dream?"

"Stories are the wildest things of all, the monster rumbled. Stories chase and bite and hunt."

"Stories are wild creatures, the monster said. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak?"

These are all within the first 50 pages. I stopped taking note of them then because I was too engrossed in the story.

So, what stories have wreaked havoc with you lately?

Big Reads: The Underground Railroad

Ya'll.

This book.

It was... hard to read. But very, very good.

Let me begin by saying that I'm not an Oprah fangirl. I don't love Oprah. I don't hate her. I nothing her, so the fact that it was one of her book club selections did not influence me to pick up this book.

You know what did?

There were two copies of it sitting on the very empty new release shelf at my library. My library, where I hardly ever find new releases. So I grabbed it. I didn't have time to read it, but I checked it out anyway. (New releases are only for a week at my library.) I didn't finish it in time, of course. And I had to physically go back to the library to renew it. But I did and it was worth it.

The Underground Railroad was a very challenging read due to the subject matter, so there was no breezing through this book. But it is pretty darn unputdownable. The twists and turns and surprises keep coming up until the last few pages.

The Underground Railroad centers around Cora, a slave on a plantation in Georgia. Her mother was the only slave to ever escape the plantation. As you might imagine, plantation life is horrible. After a particularly terrible beating, Cora decides to flee the plantation in search of the underground railroad, which in this story is a real live locomotive train that runs underground. From there the story is a non-stop, can't relax for a second, keep you on the edge of your seat, peek into the worst of humanity. There's a slave catcher named Ridgeway, a couple of friends along the way, and too many people out to get her.

If you've read this already, when we finally learn Mabel's story, I was heartbroken. Also, tell me what you thought about this book - I'd love to discuss.

If you haven't read this yet, pick it up and read it asap. You won't regret it.