I am super excited to introduce you to my friend Stephenie AKA @reads.on.wednesdays today. She is a fellow boy mom and we have such a similar taste in books.
Welcome to another edition of my reading list and book recommendations guest post series. Today I have my first guest poster that is a librarian! While I consider myself a big reader, librarians are on a whole other level of reading awesomeness.
Welcome to another edition of my reading list and book recommendations guest post series. I have a great lineup of reading friends and book professionals sharing their current reads the next few weeks and I couldn’t be more thrilled!
Katie and I are #bookstagram buddies and you might know her by book tree she featured this past holiday season that went totally viral in the online book community!
Katie posts daily book content which I am always super impressed by and loves so many of the same genres as me so she is always a go-to for me if I needing some book feedback or inspiration.
Katie is not afraid to share her honest thoughts on the reads she reads which I always appreciate and is just so much fun (except when she gives me grief about not reading Harry Potter yet!!)
I am actually meeting up with her and two of my other reading friends Kristina and Stephanie this spring at the 2020 Book Expo in NYC and I can’t even wait! I hope you enjoy learning more about Katie today.
Hey everyone! My name is Katie (aka @katieneedsabiggerbookshelf) and I am a born and raised Jersey Girl! I spent my college years in Savannah, GA which is where the “y’alls” come in that I sometimes throw out!
I currently live in Delaware with my boyfriend Dave, my cat Brody, and his dog Courtney. They love each other deep down, they just never show it!
When I’m not reading, (aka when they force me to do that thing called work) I sell yearbooks for Walsworth yearbooks. I just started this job in May and am loving it so far!
I spent five years doing sales for Pepsi so when this opportunity came along to do sales but also get to add in my love of photography and graphic design I had to jump at the chance! I love getting to work with the students, and help them get creative with their book! I also love to crochet, knit, paint, photograph, sew, and really just do anything crafty!
One of my favorite stories is that I had trouble learning to read. When I was in first grade, I could fly through the math worksheets, but reading gave me a ton of trouble. I went to extra help for it and it was game over from there.
My math skills quickly disappeared once subtraction was introduced, and soon you couldn’t find me without a book in my hand. My reading tastes are really all over the map, especially since I started my #bookstagram. I read pretty much anything except I don’t do a ton of fantasy, and I really only read sci-fi if it’s by Blake Crouch.
I read any time of day! I don’t really read in the morning because I am NOT a morning person. I am a roll out of bed, get dressed and brush my teeth, grab a bite to eat and my coffee on the way out the door!
I will read if I get to an appointment early and have a few minutes in the car alone, and always on my lunch break (when I take them.) Since I spend all day in the car, I always have an audiobook or a podcast going! In terms of sitting down to crack a book, I am mostly a nighttime reader though.
I just finished The Simple Wild and Darling Rose Gold and am starting on The New Husband, Before Anyone Else, and The Other’s Gold.
This is a really tough one! There are so many I have loved recently. I am going to give my three 5-star reads from January though! A Sky Painted Gold, Hum If You Don’t Know The Words, and Catch and Kill. All were amazing reads that I couldn’t put down!
There are so many great sounding books coming out I don’t even know where to start! Some I am excited about include Truths I Never Told You, He Started It, Night Swim, and Beach Read! They are all repeat authors for me (except Truths I Never Told You-which I need to read her first one ASAP! It’s on my backlist shortlist!) And I can’t wait to see what they have come up with for their next read!
I was hoping to love Normal People, Three Women, and Saint X. But they just didn’t do it for me. The first two I did finish and was mad I bothered, and the third I DNF’d.
I am listening to The Others Gold, and am anxious for my pre-order of Children Of The Land to come in.
I generally prefer non-fiction on audio, but if I’m not listening to a book I love listening to Sarah’s Bookshelves Live, Here To Make Friends (the Bachelor is my guilty pleasure), or Bad On Paper Podcast.
My nightstand is pretty boring. I have my books (bottom is my next read, the middle is my current physical book read, and the top is my kindle.) I generally read my kindle in bed because I’m a side sleeper and its easier to read a kindle on my side than a physical book! So I almost always have three books going at once!
Then I, of course, have my phone and apple watch chargers, water, chapstick, and the tv remote to turn it off once Dave falls asleep! My favorite part isn’t my nightstand, but my amazing floating shelves above my nightstand! They make me so happy and contain some of my TBR, minus my superwoman one that has my lady power books!
Our room doesn’t have a lot of room for bookshelves, but I did just add these gems upstairs in the office. Since I had to put all my book tree books away it made for a good time to organize the shelves a bit better! And I see some blank spaces waiting to be filled! I have several bookshelves throughout the house, but this one looks the prettiest!
Thank you so much for sharing today, Katie. I loved hearing all about your recent reads and I now need floating bookshelves ASAP!
Disclosure: Some of the links above 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!
Welcome to the first Nightstand Series post in 2020! I love being able to share book content with a wider range of perspectives and genres and I am so appreciative of all my reading friends who have helped make this happen by sharing their reading list and recommendations.
I started this book friends series last January and it has been so fun looking back at all the people and books that were shared. You can check out all of my 2019 Nightstand Series posts below…
Kristy @kristy.dooley.photography
Kristina @kristinasbookishlife
If you are a reader and are interested in sharing your booklist & recommendations in 2020, please comment below and I will send you an email to get you on my guest post calendar.
Today I am so excited to introduce you to my friend Michelle AKA @michellenputney! She was one of my very first #bookstagram friends and I always love seeing what she is reading and enjoying.
Michelle writes the most amazing reviews over on Goodreads and is never afraid to share her honest thoughts while also sharing an incredible amount of detailed perspective. Anytime I see a book I want to read on there, I have to see what Michelle thought first because her reactions are always spot on!
I hope you enjoy getting to know more about Michelle today!
My name is Michelle Putney and I’m a 37-year-old bookworm from Buffalo, NY. I am married, have a 2.5-year-old daughter, Olivia and 2 golden retrievers Apollo (10) & Atticus (8.5). I would have 10 golden retrievers if I could, but sadly that isn’t a reality at the moment!!
I work in the life insurance industry but am happiest when I am with my family, walking the dogs and reading. I love instilling my love of reading in my daughter and so far she loves to read just as much as I do! We go to the library about every 2 weeks and check out about 10 books at a time so we can read before nap and bedtime.
I have always been a voracious reader for as long as I can remember. My parents used to yell at me to get my nose out of my books while driving to our family vacation destinations of Cape Cod, MA or Bar Harbor, ME so I could see the beautiful scenery. (Nancy Drew was much more interesting to me!)
Even though I have been reading/recommending books for years, I finally figured out that people use Instagram to connect with other like-minded readers and decided about 6 months ago to become a more serious #bookstagrammer.
My handle is @michellenputney (let’s connect and be friends!)
Since I have such a young daughter I don’t get as much time to read or be involved in the book community as I would like, but I am very appreciative to be a member of this great group of people. I typically read during Livie’s nap time or after she goes to bed.
I am reading All The Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White and Long Bright River by Liz Moore.
The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup and Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano.
Westering Women, The Majesties and I have very conflicted feelings about Saint X.
For the rest of January and for February – Long Bright River (I’m only 100 pages in so I still have a lot to go), The Dark Corners of the Night (UNSUB #3), The Sundown Motel, A Good Neighborhood, and Eden Mine.
I would love to listen to audiobooks, but I wouldn’t be able to stay focused the way I need to while doing chores around the house (otherwise, I could get a lot more reading time in!). I only have a 10-minute commute, but I make it twice a day to spend my lunchtime with the dogs so I do get a chance to listen to some podcasts.
I am listening to the latest episodes of In The Dark right now, as well as The Rachel Maddow Show. I loved Serial and listen to Pod Save America and Pantsuit Politics as much as I can (I’m a political junkie too!).
My nightstand is pretty boring since I don’t want anything nice to get accidentally knocked over by my daughter since she is very inquisitive 😉
I have a stack of books I’d like to get to next, my iPad with everything I have from Netgalley and Edelweiss and the alarm clock I’ve had since 1997 (my first year in high school). The thing is a relic and is only used for the clock, but it reminds me of simpler times in life. I also like that it’s been in my childhood bedroom, my college dorm/apartments, and now my home with my own family.
Thank you so much for sharing with us today, Michelle. I am going to check out some of your political podcasts, I think I will need them during 2020! <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!
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!
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!
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.
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.
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff and A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum.
Ninth House and Saint X.
I am excited about American Dirt finally coming out because I loved it!
Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center, The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer and The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo.
I read ARCs of The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver and The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and loved them!!
American Dirt, Just Mercy and The Most Fun We Ever Had.
A Good Neighborhood, Saint X, The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner, This Won’t End Well by Camille Pagan, and Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano.
The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff, Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane, Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan and The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.
Long Bright River (already read and loved!) by Liz Moore, We Wish You Luck by Caroline Zancan, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel and The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.
Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owen and Where The Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah.
Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison.
A Conspiracy of Bones by Kathy Reichs.
Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See.
I was really excited about The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman and it just fell flat for me.
Untamed by Glennon Doyle and The Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White.
The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey and To Have and To Hold by Molly Millwood were my top two picks of 2019.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb.
Most excited about Jenni Allen’s book coming out called Get Out of Your Head but so much more! I am a lover of nonfiction mostly!
The Gown by Jennifer Robson, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and Wonder by R.J. Palacio.
Where The Crawdads Sing (loved the story, but it was such a slow read for me) and Sing, Unburied Sing (DNF)
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle and The Return by Nicholas Sparks.
Daisy Jones & The Six and The Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center.
Normal People by Sally Rooney and Three Women by Lisa Taddeo didn’t work for me.
American Dirt and My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell.
ErinInheritance by Dani Shapiro, Normal People and The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri.
I felt that both The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and The Most Fun We Ever Had did not live up to the hype.
American Dirt and Untamed!
Long Bright River, Dear Wife, and Little Fires Everywhere.
The Silent Patient & A Nearly Normal Family
Darling Rose Gold and American Dirt.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb, Inheritance by Dani Shapiro and This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel.
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).
Dying to get to American Dirt and Know My Name by Chanel Miller soon!
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager, and The Idea of You by Robinne Lee.
When All Is Said by Anne Griffin and The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo.
I’m most excited about Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey, You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, and Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel.
Night Road by Kristin Hannah, The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo, Say You Still Love Me by KA Tucker, and Bad Blood by John Carreyrou.
Dominicana by Angie Cruz and The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead.
American Dirt and Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (publication on the last day of 2019 counts as 2020, right?!)
ShannonThe Flatshare by Beth O’Leary and Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
The Unhoneymooners and Normal People.
American Dirt and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Maybe You Should Talk to Somone (total surprise as nonfiction books are not my favorite) and Where The Crawdads Sing.
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.)
Soooo many on my TBR list, but thinking of starting with The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Things You Save in a Fire or The Most Fun We Ever Had.
Beyond The Point by Claire Gibson, Verity by Colleen Hoover, The Swallows by Lisa Lutz and Call me God.
My Friend Anna and Saint X.
The Missing Sister, The Girls Weekend and Long Bright River.
The Book Women of Troublesome Creek, Cilka’s Journey and Where The Forest Meets The Stars.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and The Flatshare.
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle and Brave Girl, Quiet Girl by Catherine Ryan Hyde.
Where The Crawdads Sing, Queen Bee, and Cemetary Road.
Still Lives by Maria Hummel.
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver and The Lies that Bind by Emily Giffin
The Dutch House, City of Girls, and A Hundred Summers.
Normal People and the end of After The Flood.
Daisy Jones & The Six, Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain and Just Another Kid by Torey L. Hayden (while this book was first published in 1988 I read it for the first time in 2019.)
Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand and Run Away by Harlan Cobin were both books I really looked forward to and fell short for me.
Writers & Lovers by Lily King, My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell and The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren.
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum, Daisy Jones & The Six, The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton.
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah.
The Ensemble by Aja Gabel, Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Miracle Creek by Angie Kim.
Where The Crawdads Sing – I think it’s possible the hype was too high by the time I read it.
The Wreckless Oath We Made by Bryn Greenwood, Children of Virtue & Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi, A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum.
Red At The Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Long Bright River by Liz Moore, These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card, The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Madel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins.
A Woman is No Man, The Lost Man and She Said were some top books.
American Predator, Get a Life Chloe Brown and Verity (I know everyone loves it but aargh the stupid naive woman trope!!)
The Dearly Beloved, Ask Again, Yes, Ten Thousand Doors of January and Gilead.
The Last Romantics, The Huntress, and The Starless Sea.
The World That We Knew and The Dutch House were my absolute favorites.
Nevermoor and The Giver of Stars were books I was so excited about but just weren’t for me.
Very excited for American Dirt and The Heir Affair!
Daisy Jones & The Six, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and A Woman is No Man.
American Dirt and A Good Neighborhood.
The Beekeeper of Aleppo, The Dearly Beloved, The Dream Peddler, Ask Again, Yes, Daisy Jones & The Six, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill and The Flatshare.
Three Women and Talking to Strangers (I felt hoodwinked by the marketing of both of them.)
Saint X, Valentine and American Dirt.
The Stand by Stephen King, The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton and The Chesnut Man by Soren Sveistrup.
The Whisper Man, Good Girl, Bad Girl, and Elevator Pitch.
The Other People by CJ Tudor, Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough and The Dilemma by BA Paris.
Ask Again, Yes, The Flatshare and Rise and Fall: The Story of 9/11.
Once Upon a River and The Bromance Bookclub.
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel!
A Woman is No Man, and There’s Something About Sweetie.
The Beautiful and We Met in December.
Such a Fun Age, Ten Things I Hate About Pinky and In Five Years.
Beyond The Point, The Girl in the Letter and One True Loves.
I have so many on my TBR that aren’t 2020 book releases…Things You Save in a Fire, Labor with Hope and The Most Fun We Ever Had.
The Great Alone, The Things We Cannot Say and The Idea of You.
Next Year in Havana (too slow for me)
Looking forward to American Dirt and Long Bright River!
The Silent Patient and The Unhoneymooners.
Looking forward to Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson and In Five Years by Rebeca Serle!
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 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!
Hello! I hope you are enjoying this time between Christmas and the New Year. This week of the year always throws me off because the kids are home from school but Lucas is quite busy at work during this time of year, so he doesn’t have a lot of time off.
So while it is festive, it is also kind of like normal…except we have none of our regular routines or activities scheduled! We tend to thrive off of this stuff, so each day is kind of a mixed bag. 😉
I always have these dreamy ideas of what school breaks will be like, and then I am snapped back into reality. While we do have fun, I still spend a large percentage of my life refereeing between our boys and answering the question “can I have something to eat?!” while I am currently cleaning up from the food we just made…
While I haven’t had as much time to devote to this space during the last two weeks, I am trying to stay consistent with my guest posts, and today I am excited to introduce you to my book friend, Tancy!
Tancy is not only one of my Bookstagram reading buddies, but she also makes my most favorite book sleeves ever! You can visit her Etsy shop, Beyond Booked, HERE.
If you haven’t heard of a book sleeve before, they are fabric pouches that protect your books so you can bring them with you wherever you go! Tancy has the most gorgeous fabric choices and is just so wonderful to work with.
In addition to loving her book sleeves, I love reading her thoughts and reviews of the books she is reading. She is always so thoughtful with her feedback and she always inspires me to add new book selections to my TBR pile! I hope you enjoy getting to know more about Tancy today!
My name is Tancy Campbell and I currently live in San Diego California. I am a native of North Carolina but as a military spouse, I tend to move around frequently. My husband is a Master Chief in the US NAVY. He has served for just over 18 years and has plans to do 6 to 7 more. We also have two children, Kennedy 9 and Dallas 4. We have one 15-year-old Maltese who is about 5 pounds but has an attitude of a 70-pound dog.
I am a stay at home mom that loves to read, run, sew, and help others with their finances. I am in the process of turning my hobbies into businesses. I have an Etsy shop where I create stylish book sleeves for readers on the go. In addition to that, I am in the process of becoming a certified financial coach.
I’ve always enjoyed reading as a kid. I remember sitting my dolls in front of me while I read to them. I was a very bored kid but I could count on books to entertain me endlessly. Once I went to high school and college, academia sort of sucked the fun out of reading, so for about 8 years I read just to get by.
Once I graduated I began picking up books here and there but it wasn’t until I found the Bookstagram community in 2018 that the desire to read was fully reignited. This was a learning time for me, as I didn’t even know what I was interested in anymore. The more I read the more I found myself attracted to certain genres. I enjoy dystopian, WWII Fiction and Non-Fiction, and African American lit.
I read whenever I find the time. This maybe while for my daughter to get off the bus or whenever my son is in swim, or maybe I’ll get a couple of pages in while waiting in line somewhere. I tend to keep a book with me because you never know when you will have downtime. I plan to get in the habit of setting aside read time maybe every morning or every night.
I genuinely look forward to reading all the books. It’s such a nerdy thing to say but I get overwhelmed just thinking about all the books there are vs the time available to read them.
I am currently reading Becoming by Michelle Obama, and like most reviews will probably mention its fantastic. My favorite book this year is Atomic Habits by James Clear. It guides you on how to successfully create good habits and break bad ones.
Another favorite of mine this year was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I was very surprised to have liked this book, let alone LOVE it. I completely judged the book by the title thinking it was based on romance but after several recommendations from the Bookstagram community, I read it and LOVED it.
My podcast list is long and mainly in the area of personal finance and business. I’m currently listening to…
I’m also planning to listen to The Simple Path to Wealth very soon.
Currently, on my nightstand, I have 4 unfinished books and 2 books I would like to start soon. By having them on my night table I can see them and be reminded that I need to finish what I started.
I also keep a small jewelry box there, one I received from my children a couple of Christmas’s ago. Then, of course, night light and my phone charger. I’ll sometimes bring water up to hydrate before bed. Other things that can occasionally end up on the side table are my planner and pen so that I can jot notes for the next day.
Thank you so much for sharing today, Tancy! I have Atomic Habits on my bookshelf and you have made me want to read it ASAP.
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!
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.
@brownhousebooks (my reading life)
@travelbystephanie (my travel life)
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.
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.
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.
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.
The One (John Marrs), How to Find Love in a Bookshop (Veronica Henry), The Mother-in-Law (Sally Hepworth), Into the Jungle (Erica Ferencik), Daisy Jones & the Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid), Evvie Drake Starts Over (Linda Holmes), The Girl He Used to Know (Tracey Garvis Graves), The Escape Room (Megan Goldin, and The Story of Arthur Truluv (Elizabeth Berg).
My biggest disappointments of the year have been: The Unhoneymooners (Christina Lauren), The Chain (Adrian McKinty), and Nine Perfect Strangers (Liane Moriarty).
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.
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.
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!
Two sisters travel the same streets, though their lives couldn’t be more different. Then one of them goes missing.
In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don’t speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling.
Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey’s district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit–and her sister–before it’s too late.
Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters’ childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.
January 7th, 2020
Literary Fiction/Suspense
I wasn’t sure I was going to pick a book this month from Book of The Month Club, as I had read a couple of choices already as ARCs and the rest of them weren’t really calling to me. I have been taking a break from thrillers and thought this one might fall into that category too.
Then I started reading reviews from my most trusted #bookstagram sources highly recommend Long Bright River. I decided to go for it! and I am so glad I did!
(*You can get your first Book of the Month Club book for just $5 when you use my referral link HERE.)
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.
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!
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 !!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
I recently finished American 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 Man and I had a major book hangover after The Flatshare.
I am desperately waiting for the Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and American Dirt!
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.
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.
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!
Welcome to another edition of The Nightstand Series! It’s been so fun to have this series back in the swing of things and today I have another book-loving friend sharing her reading list and book recommendations!
Mandi and I have known each other since our early 20s and she has been a part of my adult reading life for almost as long as I can remember. We have always swapped books and it has been fun to watch our reading tastes grow and change over time. Mandi has always had an impressive amount of books and I could always count her to have a bookshelf full of amazing recommendations…and she is still that way today!
I hope you enjoy getting to know more about Mandi today!
My name is Mandi AKA @mandireads and I live in South Burlington, Vermont with my husband and our yellow lab Chance.
I enjoy being active (hiking, spinning, group workout classes, walking), being on the lake in the summer, music (if it’s live, even better), spending time with friends and family, eating candy, true crime, podcasts and obviously reading.
I love traveling both within the US and abroad and have been fortunate enough to have been able to travel to some incredible places. I have a real soft spot for our annual trip to Maine every fall and after our destination wedding in April, Barbados is my favorite island that I’ve traveled to.
My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, hands down. (I LOVE FOOD!) Growing up my parents would make whatever we wanted as a birthday dinner; my request was always a full Thanksgiving meal (thanks Mom)!
I have always been a reader. I had to take a little hiatus during grad school (there just weren’t enough hours in a day with school, a full-time job, and life), but once I graduated I jumped right back into reading!
I have been known to read a book cover to cover in a day. In the 7th grade, we had to do a book report on a trilogy or three books by the same author. I was the kid that read three John Grisham books!
I love a lot of different genres, some of my favorites being true crime, mysteries, thrillers, romance and military (true stories or works of fiction). I am a mood reader and try to be open to different types of books and joining #bookstagram and Book of the Month has helped with that. That being said, I can’t seem to get into or enjoy time travel, sci-fi, and dystopian type books.
For a long time, I was strictly a physical book reader and put off getting an e-reader for a long time. When I finally cracked and got my first Kindle I understood all the hype! You can read anywhere and anytime without having to carry around a ton of books. You never have to worry about running out of something to read when you’re traveling either!
During the week I get most of my reading done in the afternoon and evenings. I don’t watch a ton of TV and can tune out background noises so I can read while my husband watches sports or one of his shows. On the weekends it always depends on our plans, but rarely is there a day I don’t get some reading in.
I am currently listening to Call Me God, about the DC Snipers in 2002, through Audible. I just finished Daisy Jones & The Six (thanks for letting me borrow it Gen!) and need to figure out what to start next.
Some books I loved so far this year have to be Beyond The Point by Claire Gibson, Verity by Colleen Hoover, Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes. I could add so many other books that are worth picking up, but I’ll try and keep this short 😉
Off the top of my head, the books I’m most looking forward to reading in the next few months have to be The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett Graff, Regretting You by Colleen Hoover, Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin and The Swallows by Lisa Lutz.
Lock Every Door was a miss for me. I loved Riley’s other books (Final Girls and The Last Time I Lied especially) but this one fell short for me. My Friend Anna is a book I went into with really high expectations (the overview sounded so good) that also fell short. It was an interesting read but I had a hard time connecting to it.
I love podcasts and listen to a few. I get my morning news highlights from ABC’s Start Here and my True Crime fix by listening to True Crime Garage and Crime Junkie. My foray into podcasts was Serial (again, thanks to Gen) and I was instantly hooked. A few other true crime podcasts that I always recommend are Dirty John, Up and Vanished(especially the first season on Tara Grinstead), 22 Hours: An American Nightmare and The First Degree.
Audiobooks are something I got into this summer. I typically listen to them when I walk the dog, which is a lot and has helped pass the time with all those miles and sniffs and pee breaks and on solo car rides (when I’m not giving a concert anyway)!
You will always find my kindle, whatever physical book I’m reading, lotion, chapstick, water and my apple watch charging up for the next day. Sometimes you’ll find a book sleeve, books I want to read soon and whatever hair tie or clip I used that day. For the most part, I am pretty minimal and don’t handle clutter well (especially on my nightstand!)
Thank you so much for sharing with us today, Mandi! You certainly made my TBR and podcast list even longer!
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.
