I'm linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy (welcome if you clicked over from there!). I am very active on Goodreads (as if that wasn't obvious by my above feelings) and post about books occasionally on Instagram.
I've been working more (and by "more" I mean 30 hours over the last 5 weeks but that's more than double usual!) which has cut into my blogging time. Two other book posts in the past month:
And now everything else I've read:
Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show that Defined a Television Era by Saul Austerlitz
I just read a similar book about the making of Friends a year ago and I STILL wanted to read this one. I'm not 3 time, undefeated, Friends trivia champion in my family for nothing. This rehashed much of the same information but also plenty of new trivia and back stories. I think this one covered broad story line more than the other one (the saga of Ross & Rachel got multiple (short) chapters). I still really enjoyed this book. Friends is what I claim as my all-time favorite tv show and it is such a comfort watch for me, especially season 8 which brings back fond memories of my freshman year of college. I really enjoyed this book every time I sat down with it. And now I also want this book for The Office, the comfort watch of my 20s. 4 Stars
What Happens in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
This is the novel I was reading before bed while I was reading the Friends book during naptime and it was SUCH a delightful reading week. I've read all of Elin Hilderbrand's books (and own a decent number of them) and while they are not always super memorable, I always enjoy the reading experience. This one is the second in a series about a woman from Iowa who discovered, upon his death, that her husband had a girlfriend, daughter, and expensive vacation home on the island of St. John. She didn't even know he had ever been there. That all comes out pretty early on in the first book. This book continues to follow the wife, her two sons, the step-father of the deceased girlfriend, and the best friend of the girlfriend (I think that's it). This would have maybe been better reading on a beach somewhere but I also really enjoyed reading it on my couch in Indiana. Even if there wasn't much plot movement. 4 Stars
The Favorite Daughter by Patti Callahan Henry
This was a novel about a complicated family (aren't they all complicated?) where one daughter hasn't spoken to her sister in 10 years after the sister betrayed her on her wedding day. Their younger brother gets in the middle but their Dad's Alzheimer's is getting worse and the first daughter needs to come back home to help them through it. I appreciate sister stories, seeing as I have 5 although nothing like what happens in this story has happened between us, and seeing how families can overcome betrayal and also get through hard things. 3 Stars
The Soul of Discipline: The Simplicity Parenting Approach to Warm, Firm, and Calm Guidance - from Toddlers to Teens by Kim John Payne
Parenting is hard, and easy, but mostly hard. The basics are fairly easy - feed them, cloth them, put a roof over their heads (as much as they may rebel against all 3 of those) but it's nurturing their souls and emotions that can be really, really hard. I took away of lot of strategies for dealing with upset kids from this one. I liked his Simplicity Parenting more but discipline is really tricky to get right and doing it wrong (or TOO wrong) can have lasting effect so this felt like a very worthwhile read. 3.75 Stars
Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery
I've been (slowly) rereading the whole Anne series this year, or what I thought was rereading but I found a bookmark about halfway through my childhood copy of this one so maybe I never finished it? I've lamented in the past couple books that the stories are mostly about Anne's neighbors and friends while Anne only plays a very periphery role. In this one she is sidelined again not even for her own kids, but a group of friends of her kids. I really just want to know about Anne. BUT, once I got into this it did go pretty quick and while I plan to finish out the series, next time I reread it I'll probably just do the first 3 books. 3 Stars
Pay Attention, Carter Jones by Gary D. Schmidt
Books about pre-teen and teenage boys is never a genre I thought I would be interested in but seeing as I someday will have (at least) 2 of them, it feels like a good one to read about from time to time. And this author is really good at writing about the struggles and aches of a being a young boy in a world that doesn't make much sense. That sounds very heavy but this book really isn't. I think Carter Jones is in 6th grade when a butler shows up on their doorstep and starts teaching him about manners and cricket. Carter Jones has 3 (I think?) little sisters, a mom, and a Dad is who is deployed and while he never expected to care about cricket, it ends up really helping him through this all. I never expected to like a book about 6th and 8th graders playing cricket, but here we are (One of his previous books got it's own post and another made a "Best of Year" list). 3.75 Stars
More than Enough: How One Family Cultivated a More Abundant Life Through a Year of Practical Minimalism by Miranda Anderson
I really enjoyed this book, a look at minimalism through the eyes of a mother and how they did a year without buying things (besides food, obviously, and consumables, and direct replacement items when needed). I am constantly fascinated by the minimalism movement and I really appreciated a look at how a whole family took it on. I always feel like we have too many things and this gave me new ways to look at our possessions but also simplifying schedules, routines, and conserving energy for the most important. AND she was an interview guest on the Young House Love has a Podcast while I was reading the book! 4 Stars
Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
This is a middle grade book which is a surprisingly enjoyable genre. The kid at the center of this one has just had to move from a house in Brooklyn to an apartment with his parents and while he is going to the same school, life just isn't the same. He befriends another kid in his apartment building who convinces him that they are in a spy club and that they need to figure out what their mysterious neighbor is up too. I think I like reading about the pain and struggles of these pre-teens because while their issues feel HUGE to them, as adults you know everything will probably work out. But that doesn't make it any easier to get through as a kid. And revisiting those years through a book is MUCH BETTER than having to live them yourself! 3.5 Stars
An Edited Life: Simple Steps to Streamlining Your Life, at Work and at Home by Anna Newton
I ended up reading two minimalism books in one week which was not planned and I usually try to plan out my genres better so there isn't such close overlap, but library due dates and holds meant that I did this time. I definitely liked More than Enough better but I did take away some things from this book too, mainly about reorganizing my closet and dresser so I'm only looking at things for the current seasons/weather and not having to sort through all my summer things to see my sweaters. I gather than Anna Newton runs a successful blog (which I had never heard of) so followers of that would probably appreciate this book more. 3 Stars
Wooing Cadie McCaffrey by Bethany Turner
This was a rare book that I added to my TBR after seeing it on the shelf at the library. I was drawn in by the pink cover and pictures of NYC on the cover. I didn't check it out that day but did a couple weeks later and did really enjoy it. It's Christian Fiction but while some of those books can feel a little heavy handed in the message, this one did it with a much lighter touch. I really just appreciated a more chaste romance while also set in NYC, a place I really enjoy (have I mentioned that before?). And while I still did, nicely, want to knock some sense into Cadie for not just talking about her feelings and just assuming things...this was a fun and enjoyable book. 3.5 Stars
The Art of Making Memories: How to Create and Remember Happy Moments by Meik Wiking
Memories are important because the accumulation of them makes us who we are. I've enjoyed this two previous books about Hygge and Lykke but this one might be my favorite. It was a super easy read with a lot of tidbits about making events and just regular life memorable but also with tips on actually remembering things. I am a HUGE fan of my routines and rhythms but this was a good reminder that going outside my routine and normal life usually produces the most memorable experiences. It was a good read just for myself but also for what I want to make sure my boys remember from their childhood. 4 Stars
Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
This is historical fiction set in the year leading up to and through Grace Kelly's wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956. Grace Kelly is a periphery character that happens to bring together a perfume maker and a paparazzi photographer in Cannes, France. Both of their paths continue to cross with Grace Kelly's in the year leading up to her wedding. I really enjoyed this one - it was mostly light and fun but life is never completely fun and they have obstacles to overcome. Maybe it just felt light because most of the historical fiction I read is WWII based and so just the fact of not being based around a war made this seem fluffier. It was a delightful read. 4 Stars
Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim
This book combined a little bit of magic, amazing sounding food, and a little bit of family drama. Natalie Tan left home ~7 years ago after her mother discouraged her from becoming a chef. Natalie's grandmother had been a very successful chef with her own restaurant and even though Natalie had never met her, she wanted to follow in her Grandmother's footsteps. Then Natalie's mother suddenly dies and Natalie has to go home to deal with that. She receives her Grandmother's old cookbook with all her recipes and Natalie decides now she has to open this restaurant and help revive their San Francisco Chinatown neighborhood. The magic threw me a little bit because it was so subtle but the food all sounded mouth-watering delicious and I appreciated how much Natalie wanted to be successful and also help her neighbors. 3.5 Stars
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
I had read The Wedding Date (the first in this loose series) over a year ago and didn't care for it but I was interested in this book because I have a fascination with the British Royals and this book involved them. A young woman (30ish?) is stepping in as stylish for a British Duchess (presumably Meghan) and is spending Christmas at Sandringham with the Royal Family to help the Duchess with her dresses (it sounds like all this Duchess does is try on clothes). The stylist brings her Mother along and the mother ends up befriending the Queen's secretary. Romance happens. I was leery going in, after not liking The Wedding Date but the issues I had with that were mostly gone from this one. More mature characters, who know how to talk about feelings a little more, helped. I breezed through it even though it was pretty obvious where it was all going. I still doubt I'd pick up any more in the series but I did like this one. 3 Stars
Read with Luke:
The Best Halloween Ever by Barbara Robinson
Luke and I have been reading more chapter books this year and this was the one I picked for October. I have fond memories of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (which I plan to read to him in December) and The Best School Year Ever, I remember my Dad cracking up at that one when my Mom read it aloud in the van to all of us. This had a pretty weak story line but it was a nice introduction for Luke to the Herdmanns and all the hijinx they can get into. I am really looking forward to reading Christmas Pageant with him. 2.75 Stars
That's what I've been reading lately. What have YOU been reading?
No comments:
Post a Comment