No new people: that’s Annie Mercer’s vow. It’s bad enough that her boss sabotaged her chemistry career and her best friend tried to cure her with crystals. But after her fiancé, Jon, asks for space while he’s gallivanting around Paris, Annie decides she needs space too—from everyone.
Yet when Harper moves in next door, Annie can’t help but train a watchful eye on the glamorous but fragile young woman. And if keeping Harper safe requires teaming up with Mo, a maddeningly optimistic amateur detective, who is she to mind her own business?
Soon Annie has let not one but two new people into her life. Then Jon reappears—and he wants her to join him in France. She’s pretty sure letting anyone get close won’t end well. So she must decide: Is another shot at happiness worth the risk?
Pagán’s writing is relatable, funny and whip-smart. Her 2019 book I’m Fine and Neither Are You is one of my favorites of the past year. I was super excited to read This Won’t End Well and couldn’t wait to dive in when it arrived.
This book made me laugh out loud and I just find Pagán’s writing to be so approachable and enjoyable to read. I especially enjoyed the parts about the friend that is involved in multi-level marketing and it was just so spot on! I love books that take on the concept of finding a new beginning when life has thrown some curveballs.
Although I wasn’t sure at first if the writing style would be hard to follow as it is written in alternating chapters of email exchanges, text messages, and diary entries as that isn’t my preferred style of narration. It ended up totally working and was part of the quirky charm of this storyline.
Pagán is skilled at building multifaceted and memorable characters and I highly recommend this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishers for an advanced copy, all opinions are my own.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
Who else is feeling so good to be getting back into the swing of things? I love structure and routines and the fresh start to a new year. This is our first full week back at school and work and I am here for it!
One of the hardest parts of juggling parenthood and work-life is when your schedule is all thrown off because it ends up feeling like you aren’t doing any of it well…which is pretty much how the last three weeks have felt for me…
I am happy to be getting back into the swing of things and we have lots of exciting work events coming up in the next couple of months.
Photography Workshop & Book Club Update
This week we are teaching our first photographer workshop of 2020 (you can read more about what that looks like in my photography life blog post HERE) and we also have our first Better Together book club of 2020 where we will be discussing The Gift of Failure with THE AUTHOR Jessica Lahey! If you live in the area, we would love to have you join us!
December Reading
I am slowly but surely getting caught up with the last month of blogging and I am excited to be sharing about December 2019 book wrap-up today.
I also had quite a few nonfiction ARCs with the end of December publication dates that I was looked forward to reading. This past month my reading was either really great or disappointing…there wasn’t a lot of in-between!
Dear Edwardwas a surprisingly touching read and the perfect book to end to 2019 for me. While this book centered on loss and tragedy, it is also a book full of hope. We neet 12-year-old Edward, who is the lone survivor of a plane crash that killed one-hundred-plus passengers including his own immediate family members, his mom, dad, and brother.
We follow Edward on his path through grief which includes flashbacks to the passengers who were also on board the flight that day. While this book sounds like it would be quite depressing to read, I really found it to be quite inspiring in so many ways.
This past fall I was invited to participate in the St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books Blog Tour for the upcoming December release, The Glittering Hour. One of the wonderful things about reading advanced copies of books is that a lot of times I get to read books before they have been super hyped up, which means I go into it without a lot of expectations either way!
I went into this book not really knowing anything about the plotline or author’s previous writing (Letters to The Lost in 2015). I was immediately entranced by the vividly detailed characters and storyline and loved being immersed in the mid-1920s and 1930s.
Told in a dual storyline, we meet the main characters Selina, and her daughter Alice. I love getting the backstory to themes and storylines and so this back and forth really worked for me. I so enjoyed following along on this treasure hunt of secrets alongside Alice. This book was not only beautifully written but totally engaging from the very beginning.
You can read my full review of The Glittering HourHERE.
“When all we crave is to understand and be understood, You’re Not Listening shows us how.”
In You’re Not Listening, author Kate Murphy explains what listening truly is and isn’t, and how important it is to our connection with ourselves and one another. Not only is this book super fascinating but it is always making me rethink so many things!
In our technology-filled world, there are so many new ways for us to interact, yet we are all longing for connection more than ever before. Many of us long for the days of simplicity and meaningful face to face conversations. When we do interact, it is often rushed and interrupted by the distractions of the fast-paced world around us.
I loved the balance of informative research and relatable text that made You’re Not Listening both engaging and thought-provoking. I also appreciated that Murphy emphasizes that listening skills are learned through implementation and practice and that it is something we can always learn, no matter how old we are.
You can read my full book review of You’re Not ListeningHERE.
I think expectations tend to be rather high when taking on a retelling, especially one like Little Women. For many people, Little Women is a book that was foundational for their love of reading. When I saw that Meg & Jowas a contemporary retelling of this classic novel, I was intrigued but also a little worried about my own expectations of it.\
I ended up enjoying the modern tale of family, work, love, and siblinghood but I struggled when comparing it to Little Women itself. For me, this story was entertaining as a stand-alone contemporary fiction novel, but it just didn’t work with its goal of retelling of Little Women.
Long Bright River alternates between past and present and shares the lives of Mickey and Kacey, two sisters who each are involved in the opioid crisis in very different ways. When Kacey goes missing, Mickey starts unraveling the clues of her disappearance while also bringing us back in time to share how each of them got to the places they are in.
This book was thought-provoking and sometimes was uncomfortable to read, which is a good thing in my opinion! It is part mystery and part family drama, which I think is why it worked for me so well…because we really get to know these women and their stories. I had a hard time putting this one down and can’t stop thinking about it now.
You can read my full review of Long Bright RiverHERE.
Our first 2020 Better Together Book Club selection is The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey! This book has been on my TBR list FOREVER and I was so excited to finally get around to reading it, and it did not disappoint!
Jessica will be joining us for a Q&A and book discussion of her book which we are super excited about and I am excited to share my full review soon!
I had a lot of anticipation about Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin and it was just one of the 2020 books I was the most excited about. Unfortunately, after a really great start, it ended up being a reading letdown for me.
I think my lack of connection with this book has to do a lot with what my expectations were when I read the book summary compared to my actual reading experience. I was just expecting something very different!
I enjoy Sarah Knight’s books so much. Her blunt wisdom and practical techniques are approachable and relatable. I am working on being less of a “yes” person and one of the biggest things I have learned(and am still working on!) is that saying “NO” can actually help you say “YES” to the things that really matter to you.
In F*ck No, Knight offers practical ideas that can help you say “no” in a variety of circumstances while also being realistic about it which I really appreciated. Saying “yes” all the time sounds like a good thing, but then you just feel spread too thin and aren’t really there for the people and things that you really want to be prioritizing.
When I saw that authors Siegel and Bryson were releasing a new parenting book, I couldn’t request The Power of Showing Up fast enough! Their past writing has been such a formative part of my own parenting.
Siegel and Bryson always share their knowledge, research, and experiences in an accessible and compassionate way. While they have decades of work in this area they make brain development and psychology approachable and easy to understand have the ability to write in a way that makes you feel heard while also empowering you with new tools and ideas.
The Power of Showing Up is another wonderful addition to their collection of books that speak to you whether you are a parent, caregiver, teacher, etc. They take on attachment theory and share the powerful reminder that the most important thing we can do for our children and to be there for them.
You can read my full review of The Power of Showing UpHERE.
From Calabria to Connecticut: a sweeping family saga about sisterhood, secrets, Italian immigration, the American dream, and one woman’s tenacious fight against her own fate.
Stella Fortuna came highly recommended by some of my book reviewing friends and I thought it would be a great way to round out my 2019 audiobook reads.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth and State of Wonder, comes Ann Patchett’s most powerful novel to date: a richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love, and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are.
After raving reviews from some of my Book Reviewing Buddies, I listening to The Dutch House by Ann Patchett on audio. I love a family saga that spans decades so The Dutch House was right up my alley.
Even better, it was narrated by Tom Hanks, who was just perfect! This book is a slow burn but completely enthralling and Patchett’s detailed writing portrayed these multifaceted characters was spot on.
*My full review of The Dutch House is coming soon but I highly recommend this book especially on audio!
I am a big fan of self-help books in general but I am especially drawn to the idea of confronting our own anxieties. In Everything Isn’t Terrible, author Kathleen Smith presents an approachable explanation of the Bowen theory of therapy which involves not only looking at ourselves as individuals but also at our relationship systems…
“Because when we feel anxious, we often try to make other people change. We try to calm everyone else down so we can finally relax. But if you can work on managing yourself in these relationships, it’s likely that your family, your workplace, and even the greater world will calm down a little too.”
Smith uses this approach in the work she does with her therapy clients and shares valuable examples in her writing regarding this methodology then gives us questions and ways to put these ideas into practice.
You can read my full review of Everything Isn’t TerribleHERE.
You Were There Too is a unique take on the regular contemporary romance novel and I was very excited when Berkley asked me to be a part of the Blog Tour this past fall.
It was one of those books that when I saw that it included elements of dreams I wasn’t sure exactly where it was going to go. Anything that takes on a more fantastical side can sometimes lose me quickly as a reader. I am so glad I hung on though!
This book was so much more emotional and the characters had a depth that made this book one of those ones I felt super connected to. The dream elements added so much to the storyline, I think because there were so many “real life” issues and situations that pulled it into reality for me.
You can read my full review of You Were There Too and learn more about my BOOK GIVEAWAY HERE.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
What does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?
One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them are a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured veteran returning from Afghanistan, a business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. Halfway across the country, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor.
Edward’s story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a part of himself has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery—one that will lead him to the answers of some of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do you find the strength to put one foot in front of the other? How do you learn to feel safe again? How do you find meaning in your life?
Dear Edward is at once a transcendent coming-of-age story, a multidimensional portrait of an unforgettable cast of characters, and a breathtaking illustration of all the ways a broken heart learns to love again.
Publication Date:
January 6th, 2020
Genre:
Coming of Age Fiction/Family Life Fiction
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
My Review:
Dear Edwardwas a surprisingly touching read and the perfect book to end to 2019 for me. While this book centered on loss and tragedy, it is also a book full of hope. We neet 12-year-old Edward, who is the lone survivor of a plane crash that killed one-hundred-plus passengers including his own immediate family members, his mom, dad, and brother.
We follow Edward on his path through grief which includes flashbacks to the passengers who were also on board the flight that day. While this book sounds like it would be quite depressing to read, I really found it to be quite inspiring in so many ways.
Edward’s character is such a wonderful reminder of the power of connections on a journey of healing and how people you meet by chance can forever change the path of your life.
The book also keeps you guessing with the dual timelines which go back in time to also tell the story of the day of the plane crash. For me, it was a perfect balance that allowed Dear Edward to be both powerful and also super engaging.
Thank you to The Dial Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links in my FAQs section HERE. Thank you!
Hailed as a “marvel of a book” and “brilliant and unflinching,” Alexis Schaitkin’s stunning debut, Saint X, is a haunting portrait of grief, obsession, and the bond between two sisters never truly given the chance to know one another.
Claire is only seven years old when her college-age sister, Alison, disappears on the last night of their family vacation at a resort on the Caribbean island of Saint X. Several days later, Alison’s body is found in a remote spot on a nearby cay, and two local men–employees at the resort–are arrested. But the evidence is slim, the timeline against it, and the men are soon released. The story turns into national tabloid news, a lurid mystery that will go unsolved. For Claire and her parents, there is only the return home to broken lives.
Years later, Claire is living and working in New York City when a brief but fateful encounter brings her together with Clive Richardson, one of the men originally suspected of murdering her sister. It is a moment that sets Claire on an obsessive pursuit of the truth–not only to find out what happened the night of Alison’s death but also to answer the elusive question: Who exactly was her sister? At seven, Claire had been barely old enough to know her: a beautiful, changeable, provocative girl of eighteen at a turbulent moment of identity formation.
As Claire doggedly shadows Clive, hoping to gain his trust, waiting for the slip that will reveal the truth, an unlikely attachment develops between them, two people whose lives were forever marked by the same tragedy.
Publication Date:
February 18th, 2020
Genre:
Domestic Thriller/Fiction
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Review:
I had a lot of anticipation about Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin and it was just one of the 2020 books I was the most excited about. Unfortunately, after a really great start, it ended up being a reading letdown for me.
I think my lack of connection with this book has to do a lot with what my expectations were when I read the book summary compared to my actual reading experience. I was just expecting something very different!
I love a slow burn with highly detailed characters but this one totally threw me off with the fast-paced beginning. I think if I knew it was going to be less plot-driven I would have had very different expectations for it.
I don’t need twists and turns but this was ending up being so wordy and after a dramatic beginning just lacked any oompf for me after the beginning set me up with so many questions I needed answers for.
Because the characters weren’t likable and even though it was rich with text, I never ended up feeling like I “knew them” which just made me feel uninvested in the storyline. I think this book did have some powerful messages regarding race, class, and privilege, but these fell flat for me with the particularly wordy writing style.
I think Saint X is going to be one of those books that there are strong feelings about. Even just reading the initial ARC reviews on Goodreads, there is a whole range of reactions, some that are very positive. I think, all in all, this just was a case of being the wrong timing and expectations for me as a reader.
Thank you to Celadon Books, NetGalley and LibroFM for advanced copies. All opinions are my own.
Disclosure: Some of the links on this blog are Amazon affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog (at no cost to you). Thank you!
It’s the time of the year where the end of the year recaps are everywhere! When thinking about how I wanted to share my own reading wrap up of 2019, I thought it might be fun to not only share mine but also include a bunch of my reading friend’s feedback from #bookstagram so that is what I am sharing today!
#Bookstagrammer Bonanza!
A few days ago I shared on #bookstagram HERE that I would love to include feedback from my fellow bookworms when I shared my reading recap of 2019.
I asked them to share their favorite books that they read in 2019, the ones that didn’t meet the hype and the ones they are looking forward to reading/publishing in 2020 and boy did they deliver!
SO many reading friends took the time to share their feedback and today I am excited to be sharing it with you!
Varying Perspectives & Genres with Reading
I love posting my own reading wrap-ups and recommendations but I also love being able to share other people’s perspectives and genres that might be outside of what I tend to regularly read.
While putting this post together I loved seeing the wide variety of answers because it is just so fascinating that we all react to books so differently…even when we read similar titles!
This blog post is definitely a long one, but I am hoping it inspires your own reading lists and helps you discover some titles and authors you might not have previously heard of.
Meet The Bookstagrammers!
While not everyone on this list is a “book reviewer”, everyone is an avid reader and I loved the diversity this allowed for. If they do share books publicly, I included a link to their Instagram page for easy access along with their first names.
You will notice that some of the books that are shared below are either ARCs that have not been officially published yet and some people shared books that were highlights of their 2019 reading even if they were published in previous years.
I am including links to all of these books for easy access where you can easily see more details about each of these titles.
Sadly, City of Girls by Elizabeth GIlrbert did not live up to the hype for me. Neither did Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly (though I loved Lilac Girls the prequel).
The Giver by Lois Lowry (I have always wanted to read it but it was SUCH a slow read for me) and The Silent Patient (highly recommended but also a slow read and just couldn’t’ get into it.)
The Most Highly Anticipated Book Voted by #Bookstagrammers is…
You probably noticed a pattern in this post, but American Dirt is most definitely the most anticipated book of 2020!! I read an ARC copy this past month and I can’t wait to share my thoughts soon, but let’s just say, I already know it will be one of my top 2020 reads because it was THAT GOOD.
My 2019 Reading Wrap-up!
My 2019 reading recap will be posted soon, in the meantime, you can see check out my favorites of 2019 (so far!) post from July, to see how things were stacking up at the halfway point.
Thank you to everyone who shared in today’s post! I hope this has inspired your own book list and helps make 2020 your best reading year yet! Happy reading. <3
*I apologize in advance for any errors or misunderstanding with titles/book covers when transcribing these results from Instagram to this blog post. I am happy to update anything if necessary! <3
Disclosure: Some of the links on this blog are Amazon affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog (at no cost to you). Thank you!
Licensed therapist and mental health writer Dr. Kathleen Smith offers a smart, practical antidote to our anxiety-ridden times. Everything Isn’t Terrible is an informative and practical guide — featuring a healthy dose of humor — for people who want to become beacons of calmness in their families, at work, and in our anxious world. Everything Isn’t Terrible will inspire you to confront your anxious self, take charge of your anxiety, and increase your own capacity to choose how you respond to it. Comprised of short chapters containing anecdotal examples from Smith’s work with her clients, in addition to engaging, actionable exercises for readers, Everything Isn’t Terrible will give anyone suffering from anxiety all the tools they need to finally…calm…down.
Ultimately, living a calmer, less anxious life — one that isn’t terrible — is possible, and with this book you’ll learn how to do it.
I am a big fan of self-help books in general but I am especially drawn to the idea of confronting our own anxieties. In Everything Isn’t Terrible, author Kathleen Smith presents an approachable explanation of the Bowen theory of therapy which involves not only looking at ourselves as individuals but also at our relationship systems…
“Because when we feel anxious, we often try to make other people change. We try to calm everyone else down so we can finally relax. But if you can work on managing yourself in these relationships, it’s likely that your family, your workplace, and even the greater world will calm down a little too.”
Smith uses this approach in the work she does with her therapy clients and shares valuable examples in her writing regarding this methodology then gives us questions and ways to put these ideas into practice.
I really enjoyed this hands-on approach and how interactive this book felt while reading it. The writing is accessible and also shares things we can implement into our lives in a large variety of relationships and circumstances.
I love the idea that while we cannot always change the circumstances we are in, we can change how we react to them. “By changing yourself, you change the equation.”
Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Books for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
How to say no without being an a**hole, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck
Are you burnt out from taking on more than you can handle or accepting less than you deserve? Tired of giving in instead of sticking up for yourself? Sick of saying yes all the time? You’re gonna love F*CK NO!
No is an acceptable answer, and it’s time to start using it. Whether you’re a People-Pleaser, Overachiever, Pushover, or have serious FOMO, bestselling “anti-guru” Sarah Knight helps you say what you really mean without being really mean–or burning out for fear of missing out.
Life is so much better when you say no with confidence–and without guilt, fear, or regret. F*ck No! delivers practical strategies that give you the power to decline, and concrete examples that put the words right into your mouth. You’ll discover:
The joy of no
No-Tips for all occasions
How to set boundaries
Fill-in-the-blank F*ckNotes
The No-and-Switch, the Power No–and how to take no for an answer yourself
I enjoy Sarah Knight’s book so much. Her blunt wisdom and practical techniques are approachable and relatable. I am working on being less of a “yes” person and one of the biggest things I have learned(and am still working on!) is that saying “NO” can actually help you say “YES” to the things that really matter to you.
In F*ck No, Knight offers practical ideas that can help you say “no” in a variety of circumstances while also being realistic about it which I really appreciated. Saying “yes” all the time sounds like a good thing, but then you just feel spread too thin and aren’t really there for the people and things that you really want to be prioritizing.
Her insights are the perfect balance of humor and useful tools to help work towards our own individual goals of setting boundaries in real-world situations. I got so much out this one and I highly recommend it!
Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
Hi everyone! We are in the final countdown to the holidays and I am feeling it. The kids are definitely amped up and there is something so special about seeing this time of the year through their eyes. While I do love the festivities, the feelings holidays can bring up are mixed for me in many ways and I can’t say that I am not really looking forward to January in a lot of ways!
While I will be home with the kids during their school break(which as any parent knows isn’t exactly a “break”), I am looking forward to a slower pace than our usual leaving the house by 7:30 weekday schedule.and just have daylight time to get out and do some winter adventures together. There’s a fine balance to do this though and having some kind of plan to get out of the house at least once a day is necessary for parent survival!
This is a busy time of year for Lucas at work so it will be a lot together time just three of us (plus Buzz!) so I am hoping that we are able to get together with friends quite a bit. I am also crossing my fingers that the snow sticks around (and more comes soon!) so that we can have a White Christmas!
‘Today I am excited to introduce to you another one of my #bookstagram friends, Stephanie. Stephanie is one of my favorite people to follow on #bookstagram. She has mastered the art of finding time to cozy up and read between the juggling of daily life as a working mom and I love how she always makes it a priority. Her reviews are always so fun to read and I love that we enjoy so many of the same genres. I hope you enjoy learning more about Stephanie today!
Nightstand Series Introduction:
Hello, hello! I’m Stephanie, wife of eleven years and mama to a four-year-old little lady who loves books almost as much as I do. We have a little Bichon Frise, Andy, we rescued eleven years ago – his favorite activity is lying on my lap while I read.
We live in a cozy century home in northeast Ohio, and it’s about the time of year that I am busily preparing for my months-long hibernation with a stash of tea and coffee alongside a pile of books and my heated blankets (yes, plural) to see me through ‘til spring.
I have worked as a travel consultant for seven years, and also do social media and marketing for our company – there are days I cannot believe I am paid to write blog posts, do creative social media and help people plan vacations.
I absolutely love my job and feel very blessed to be part of the travel community. This summer I also started teaching ESL online to children ages 4-12 in China – it is so much fun, and seeing the smiley faces of the kiddos when I log on while the rest of the Eastern Standard time zone sleeps is pretty great.
Besides reading, I love travel (obviously), crafting, playing board games and video games, doing puzzles, cooking vegan food, and making family memories at fun events and activities around Cleveland. I started a neighborhood book group for the women on our street, and we meet monthly for a hang-out but select a book for every other get-together. One of my favorite projects has been decorating our home, and I love the concept of hygge living and making it a place we love.
I have always been an avid reader. I grew up on Little Golden Books (my mom always let me pick one when we went to the grocery store) and moved on to Beverly Cleary, The Babysitters Club, the American Girl series (when I was young there were only THREE American Girls!), the Nancy Drew series, and then read anything by VC Andrews that I could get my early teen hands-on (no judging). One of my earliest memories as a young bookworm was my mother speaking with the librarians to ensure that my reading selections were age-appropriate.
My love of reading continued through middle school, high school, and college, where I majored in English Literature and Spanish, so my final years at Ohio University were all about reading and writing papers in two languages – because of this, I barely read for pleasure during that phase of my life.
Favorite Book Genres
As an adult, I read about 80-100+ books per year across genres. I prefer literary fiction but will dabble in middle grade, narrative nonfiction, self-improvement books, mysteries, and thrillers. I don’t read much sci-fi, fantasy, or YA.
What Time of Day do you do Most of Your Reading?
I squeeze in my reading whenever I can. I used to start my day with a cup of coffee and a book before my little one would awaken, but now with teaching ESL in the morning, I don’t do this as much. I love to read before bed and during the kiddo’s nap time. When I work from home, I try to fit in some pages before I start my workday.
What Books Are You Currently Reading?
I am currently reading What Happens in Paradise (*the second book in the Paradise Trilogy) by Elin Hilderbrand and some cozy Christmas fiction. I am a HUGE seasonal reader, and I love settling in with a Christmas story during this time of year – I usually read about five of these during the season. This year has been an incredible reading year for me with so many standouts I will highly recommend to those seeking their next selection.
I don’t listen to many audiobooks because when I do work in the office my commute is short, but the bigger reason is that I LOVE PODCASTS. I have been listening to podcasts for about ten years, back when I had to hook up my iPod to my desktop computer to download them for listening. (Guys, I am old.)
I have so many downloaded and so many listed in a journal to come back to, but my current listens are: The Deck the Hallmark Podcast (to accompany our Hallmark Christmas movie viewings), The TV Talk Machine (even though I don’t watch much television I love listening to these guys), Watch What Crappens, Be Our Guest, Currently Reading, Hello from the Magic Tavern, Sorta Awesome, Stuff You Should Know, The DIS Unplugged, and The Popcast with Knox and Jamie.
What Else is on Your Nightstand?
I like a tidy nightstand, so I try to keep the stuff from accumulating. Usually on my nightstand: my earbuds, my Kindle in its Novel Nuzzler sleeve, and my vintage-inspired alarm clock.
Sometimes on my nightstand…
The tv remotes (I am bingeing ER on Hulu and watching at bedtime), my current library book, chapstick, an oil roller, and lotion. (In the winter months, my controller for the heated blanket.) I keep my acupressure mat next to my nightstand and use it every night.
Thank you so much for sharing today, Stephanie!
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
The timeless classic Little Women inspired this heartwarming modern tale of four sisters from New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra.
The March sisters—reliable Meg, independent Jo, stylish Amy, and shy Beth—have grown up to pursue their separate dreams. When Jo followed her ambitions to New York City, she never thought her career in journalism would come crashing down, leaving her struggling to stay afloat in a gig economy as a prep cook and secret food blogger.
Meg appears to have the life she always planned—the handsome husband, the adorable toddlers, the house in a charming subdivision. But sometimes getting everything you’ve ever wanted isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
When their mother’s illness forces the sisters home to North Carolina for the holidays, they’ll rediscover what really matters.
One thing’s for sure—they’ll need the strength of family and the power of sisterhood to remake their lives and reimagine their dreams.
I think expectations tend to be rather high when taking on a retelling, especially one like Little Women. For many people, Little Women is a book that was foundational for their love of reading. When I saw that Meg & Jowas a contemporary retelling of this classic novel, I was intrigued but also a little worried about my own expectations of it.
I ended up enjoying the modern tale of family, work, love, and siblinghood but I struggled when comparing it to Little Women itself. For me, this story was entertaining as a stand-alone contemporary fiction novel, but it just didn’t work with its goal of retelling of Little Women.
A lot of this is just coming from my own personal preferences but I struggled to connect and didn’t love the changes to the storyline that happened. I also fully admit that I have rarely enjoyed a retelling(I am talking to you, Eligible,by Curtis Sittenfeld!), so maybe I am just not a good candidate for these types of novels! I do have to say, I admire anyone that takes on the retelling of a classic and I enjoyed Virginia Kantra’s writing style very much.
So the book was totally fine…I liked some of the characters more than others (which often happens for me with family life fiction) but I just didn’t love this because of what I was hoping it would be.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
Hi everyone! How is your week going? I can’t believe we are so close to the kid’s holiday school break, considering it feels like Thanksgiving break was just yesterday! We have been busy at work getting all our 2019 things tied up before we have almost two weeks off from school and this time of the year always feels like a race to the finish line.
We try to keep it low key with the holiday festivities but even so, it always feels like a lot. As much fun as this season is, the kids are always wired, the noise decibel is high, there is so much sugar EVERYWHERE and there are just so many things to remember(or a lot of times, to forget, in my case…ha)
I often struggle to try to find the right balance between being real and straight up whining and I think it can especially be hard online. Family life is great AND it can feel like so much. As the kids have grown older, some things feel much easier and some things feel SO much harder.
I have been feeling like I am treading water lately and while I know I am not alone it can sometimes feel that way. I am always grateful for friends, both in “real life” and online that remind you that NO ONE has it all figured out.
Today I am excited to introduce you to one of those people, my #bookstagram friend Caroline!
Meet Caroline!
Caroline and I connected over DMs on Instagram. Caroline is part of the amazing #bookstagram duo @texacalibooks. Friends Caroline and Nina share about all things reading and for this post, I asked Caroline to share how @texacalibooks came to be…
Nina and I went to law school together and have been besties ever since. Nina had the account for about a year called “One Awesome Book” and about 50 followers. She kept telling me to start one too since we constantly gave each other book recs.
We decided it would be more fun to do it together since we don’t live in the same city. So we changed the name, got me added, my obsessive personality kicked in and here we are !!
#Bookstagram Buddies
We may live on opposite sides of the country, but we always end up having so many things in common. Her kids are a bit older than mine so I always appreciate her great perspective and advice.
We love chatting books, work/life balance, and COFFEE and she is just one of the sweetest most genuine people and her writing always makes me smile. I am excited for you to learn more about Caroline today!
Nightstand Series Introduction:
My name is Caroline and I live in Los Angeles with my husband, who I met in law school, and our two kids – Alexa is 14 years old and Beckett is 11 years old. I grew up in Tucson, Arizona and went to the University of Arizona for undergrad and The Ohio State University for law school (go Bucks!). I am a partner at a law firm in Century City specializing in real estate finance and have been at the same firm for almost 18 years. Ack, I am old!
Simply put, I am a working mom constantly trying to find that elusive work-life balance and failing miserably. I work very long hours and every weekend so between that and having two very active kids who play club sports, there is not much time for hobbies.
My daughter plays soccer and is also on her high school lacrosse team and my son plays soccer, basketball, and baseball. Life in sunny California means club teams are year-round and I am that soccer mom who has a sweatshirt, tee-shirt, and hat for my kids’ soccer club that I wear while I pace on the side of the field.
I basically spend my time not working acting as their Uber driver to and from practices and cheering them on in games that are all over Southern California – as far south as San Diego and as far north as Santa Barbara. We had one weekend a few months ago where the kids had 9 games between them, all out of town and about 25 miles apart from each other.
But I do carve out a little time for myself every day by running about 3 miles very early in the morning (and in the dark!) before my kids are awake and I always make sure that I read before bed every night regardless of what time I am finally going to bed. I also have an intense love for coffee, Target, extra soft sweatshirts, sneakers, Hallmark movies, and Bravo shows.
We are family who loves to ski so we go to Utah every winter for a family ski trip and we also spend a week doing nothing but laying by the pool in Hawaii every spring break. In the summer our crazy lives come to a grinding halt because my kids each go to sleepaway camps in Wisconsin.
My husband is from Chicago so my son attends the same camp that my husband went to as a kid and my daughter attends the sister camp that is owned by a camp friend of my husband. So after a very hectic school and sports year, my husband and I have an empty house which is always weird. However, the time is filled quickly with work, scouring the camp websites for pictures of the kids and making sure that we are not messing up our son’s many fantasy baseball teams while he is away.
What Kind of Reader Are You?
I have been a reader my entire life. I was the dorky kid who brought a book everywhere with me. I remember being the only kid at sleepaway camp who actually read in the cabin during rest hour. The only time I had a lull in my reading was in law school because between all of the studying and working, there just was not time to read.
When I graduated law school, the chick-lit genre was just starting and authors like Sophie Kinsella, Jane Green, Jennifer Weiner, and Helen Fielding sucked me in immediately and kickstarted my love for reading.
What Time of Day do you do Most of Your Reading?
I read in the mornings when I am getting ready for work. I put the book on the bathroom counter, propped open with hairbrushes while I brush my teeth, blowdry my hair, etc.
My son also reads before bed so if I can take a breather from reviewing documents for work, I snuggle up to him with my book. Also, I always read a little before I go to sleep. And I suffer from insomnia so I often read my books in the middle of the night with my little itty bitty book light.
The ultimate is when one of my kids has an out of town game and there is not a conflict between the schedules so my husband drives and I can read in the car. Freeway reading is the best.
Favorite Book Genres
I am all over the board right now in terms of genres. I still love chick lit the best but I am also very into thrillers, young adult, historical fiction and contemporary fiction.
What Books Are You Currently Reading?
I recently finishedAmerican Royals and The Swallows and loved them both so much. The last book that really shook me and stayed with me long after I finished it was A Woman is No Manand I had a major book hangover after The Flatshare.
My one real book confession is that I didn’t love The Goldfinch. It dragged on too long for me and I was impatient and bored.
What Are You Listening To?
I only listen to music in the car. My kids insist on it and I am usually at my office before I realize that I am still listening to whatever they put on. They went through a major Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen phase but now it is more pop music.
What Else is on Your Nightstand?
I always keep a glass of water on my nightstand because I wake up thirsty in the middle of the night. Other necessities are my glasses because all of my reading at work has made me absolutely blind and lotion (I have a whole routine at night where I put lotion on my feet and then sleep in socks and my feet are nice and soft when I wake up.)
I have an alarm clock, my phone, the remote control that I have to keep on my side or my husband will find it and put on sports, a picture of my kids hugging each other so I can remind them that they actually do love each other, candles because this is LA and we have earthquakes, a flashlight because this is LA and we have earthquakes (see candles), my Casper light which is my most favorite thing ever and a little ceramic keepsake that my mom gave me when I was a little girl.
On the shelf under my nightstand is my stack of library books. I am a big library supporter which I love because I never spend money on books and I don’t have to worry about clutter when I am done reading them. The downside is that it also means that I am always a little behind on the hot new books and I am beholden to the library due dates. The struggle is real!
Thank you so much for sharing with us today! I hope you enjoyed learning more about Caroline. <3
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
Erin
Shannon
