Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Books 45-56 of 2018

You can find Books 1-44 for the year here:

Books 1-2 for 2018
Books 3-11 for 2018
Books 12-22 for 2018
Books 23-31 for 2018
Books 32-44 for 2018

Here are my latest reads...


I had watched the Netflix movie of "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" and loved it! So I knew if the movie was that cute...the book would be better. I thought this series was so cute. I actually loved reading the 2nd and 3rd book. I cannot wait till they make the rest of the movies.


"All the Ugly and Wonderful Things" was a WOW book. This book is not for everyone. There is major (BIG) abuse involved so beware and do not read it is is an issue for you. However, I will quote Patry Francis (this is on back cover of book)..."Like the best fiction, this is a novel that means to disturb and challenge as it forced us to look with compassion on every last one of its flawed, memorable characters." This book stuck with me and I found the title to be spot on. It is one of my top reads of the year.

"The River of Stars" is a different, modern twist on an immigration story. 

"Young Jane Young" was a look at how a mistake in your youth that is big political news...affects different characters that are involved. I found it interesting.

"Jar of Hearts" was a thriller that kept me turning the pages. The ending was a little...meh...but as a whole it was a great book.

"Harry's Trees" was a sweet book with a touch of magic. And I found out the author actually wrote some of the book while visiting Pawleys Island...which is where I live.

"The President is Missing" was good but certain parts I felt could have been edited and it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be...but I think I wanted more of a Spy Genre book.

"The Hopefuls" was a perfect read...especially since I read it after "The Heart's Invisible Furies." It was a fun look at politics and young love.

"The Heart's Invisible Furies" has been on my TBR for awhile. It was great. I loved how it spanned the entire life of Cyril. There is so much to say about the book but in the end...you know it is good when the character stays with you long after reading it. One of my top reads of the year.

"Lethal White" is a book I have waited forever for...like 3 years! I love the Cormoran Strike series and anything JK Rowling writes is gold in my opinion. Now I cannot wait til the next one!!
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Friday, September 14, 2018

Books 32-44 for 2018

Linking up to Modern Mrs. Darcy

You can find Books 1-31 for the year here:
Books 1-2 for 2018
Books 3-11 for 2018
Books 12-22 for 2018
Books 23-31 for 2018.

Book #32 was "the Arrangement" by Sarah Dunn. I thought this was a different premise and you really see the thought process from a male and female point of view when the couple decide to allow each other to have affairs while married for a certain time period and what happens. I liked it.


Book #33 was "One of Us is Lying" by Karen McManus. I really enjoyed this one as I love a good Young Adult book. I knew what happened but I loved all the story lines and this would make a good movie. Really good teenage drama stuff!


#34 was Elin Hilderbrand's new book "The Perfect Couple." I usually read her new one every summer. This was not that great for me. I like her writing and all the fun descriptions but it was just ok.

#35 was "From the Corner of the Oval" by Beck Dorey Stein was a surprise hit for me. I really enjoyed reading about her time working for The White House. It is more about her personal life then politics but it was super fun to read.


#36 "My Oxford Year" by Julia Whelan. I love all things English and was excited to learn about Oxford but the love story became more the focus so this one fell a little flat for me.


#37 Daniel Silva's new book "The Other Woman." I love Daniel Silva books so I actually get this each year as soon as the new one hits. I love a good spy book. It was great and now I have to wait til next year for the next one.


#38 "Ghosted" by Rosie Walsh. After reading a book I love...I read this one. I almost stopped reading it a couple times. It felt like it had three different writing styles and plots all in one. So it did not do it for me.


#39 "The Book of Essie" by Meghan Maclean Weir. This was a surprise hit for me. It was a new, refreshing premise and I really liked the way it was written. The ending wraps up fast but it was a great book that I would recommend. It does deal with sensitive topics so if that bothers you...beware.


#40 "The Book of Joy" by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams. I first listened to this on Audible and loved it. I highly recommend the audible version but then bought the book as I knew I would want to reread and highlight parts of the book. It would make a great gift to anyone. Such an important topic to find Joy within yourself.


#41 "The Kiss Quotient" by Helen Hoang. Woah! So I picked this up after hearing a lot about it. It was definitely steamy...lots of sex scenes which I was not expecting at all! So if you are not into reading that...skip the book. But for some reason the characters and situations are still cute and you want to see how everything plays out. Interesting but I would not recommend to everyone.


#42 "Bring Me Back" by B.A. Paris. I really liked B.A. Paris' two previous novels so much that I could not wait for this one to come out. It was disappointing. It almost had too much editing in places where it would have been nice to have more details and background. I don't know...it just wasn't for me. But I would still watch out for and probably read the author's next book.


#43 "The Banker's Wife by Cristina Alger was a fantastic book! Fast paced and smart...I couldn't put it down. And I heard they are making it into a TV series. Highly recommend...read this one!


#44 "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens was another winner! I heard about this book everywhere plus it is Reese Witherspoon's book of the month pick. It was beautiful. I fell in love with Kya and her life. Her hardships and hope were inspiring. The marsh details made everything so real. Read this book now!!




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Friday, August 3, 2018

Lately including 4th of July...

I cannot believe it is already August! The summer went way too fast and now we are in the countdown to school starting in a few weeks. We still have some things planned in these last weeks of summer but already summer 2018 has been wonderful. Norah had her 11 yr old appointment and she measured 5'3.5" tall already. I love that she will be a tall girl...I think she will be taller than me in a year or so easy! Well since I haven't updated the blog in a awhile...gotta back up to July.

Jeff and I had a quick date night one night at a local place call Frank's Outback. If you are ever in Pawleys Island...you have to stop in and eat. Always so good!


4th of July we went to Debordieu with friends to watch/participate in the annual parade. Norah loves this parade as she loves getting involved in the water fight action.










4th of July was on a Wednesday this year so Jeff went to work the next day...so I took Norah to Georgetown that night to see the fireworks.










I took Norah and her friends Maren to lunch and a movie one day. Ant Man and the Wasp was great! I seriously love all Marvel movies!



Of course some beach time is a given.


I got to go to Charlotte for a couple days with no kid and had the best time! I got to catch up with friends and get some shopping done in actual store and not just online. ;) Already thinking of when I will get to go back!



I had to take this pic of Norah and you can see Finn in the blanket...he loves Norah!


Norah has done a little work in her summer workbook this summer...not as much as she probably should but a little is at least something.


Norah and her friend riding bikes. I have to give Norah complete credit for all her active ways this summer. She is still playing tennis and on her own has started running at night and even sometimes doing a quick 7 minute exercise video. I really am so proud of her about staying healthy!


For the last week and a half it has rained so much...and it is quite annoying. We are used to afternoon pop up showers at the beach daily but the "rain all day" stuff really hampers what activities you can do around here. So movie day with friends one of the rainy days!!



Ellie was the first friend Norah made when we moved to Pawleys Island. Norah was 5 and Ellie was 6...Now Norah is 11 and Ellie is 12. I love watching them grow up and I think they will always be close.



Norah and I went to Mt. Pleasant one day and had lunch and ran some errands to escape the rain. Always fun when I am hanging with Norah.


I realized that I forget to get pics of our dogs which are definitely part of our family. Finn and Darcy!



We finally got a break in rain one day and I went with Norah on one of her runs...I walked...it was such a pretty day and the temp was perfect.


One of our favorite parts of the summer is when our friend Christie and her two girls, Harper and Perry, come to visit. Christie and I have known each other since the girls were born. Norah and Harper are a few months apart. We miss them so much since we have moved. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate while they were here and we had lots of rain. We made the best of anytime we had an opening of no rain...hitting the beach, pool, and lunch out!



We celebrated my mom's birthday this year with a dinner out at Frank's. It was a fun night.




We had a rare family movie date!! It was raining (shocking...) and the three of us went to see the new Mission Impossible which of course was great! I love those movie...spy stuff and action...yes!!


Another pool day with a friend!!

Today is another rain day at least for half of the day so Norah and I are figuring out what we will do!
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