January Reads (4)

One star = did not like it at all

Two stars = eh, it was okay

Three stars =  liked it

Four stars = really, really liked it

Five stars = absolutely loved it

3-Star (2)

***Salt to the Sea (Fiction, R. Septeys)

Two stars for the education about the most tragic maritime disaster that NO ONE seems to know about (me included).  One star for everything else.  Ugh.

***Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (Fiction, )

I just could not get into this book.  Part of me thinks I should give it another try, but I already know it’s not going to be a 5-star read.  So why bother ha ha.

4-Star (2)

****The House at Tyneford (Fiction, N. Solomons)

This was just the right book at just the right time for me.  Not lots of depth, yet not fluffy either.  It had a hint of Downton Abby, with a bit of a twist: a Jewish girl from a prominent family in Austria must escape before it becomes occupied by Germany, and becomes a maid for a prominent family in England.

****The Brutal Telling (Fiction, L. Penny)

#5 in the series.  There seemed to be a lot of characters in this one (more than usual), but I still enjoyed it.  Louise Penny is such a great story teller!

Total Books Read: 4 (4 fiction)

DNF (Did Not Finish) : 1

Little Bee (Fiction, C. Cleave) – couldn’t get into it…and this was my 2^nd try

2019 Reading Goals

I don’t have lots of reading goals for 2019.  I read a LOT last year.  This year, I pretty much have one goal:

1.       Slow down.  I sometimes feel overwhelmed when I look at my book stacks or my TBR list.  So I tend to ‘rush read’ through books just to get through them and get them ‘over’ with.  And that is NOT what reading is about!  I want to really enjoy the process more.

2.       Stop buying so many books.  To say that I’m on a book ban or that I won’t buy any books, or even any NEW books is just…well it’s not going to happen.  However, I want to cut WAY back.  Even at the bookshop and book sales.

3.       Be more intentional about the books I buy NEW.  It’s easy to throw a used book into a paper grocery bag if you know that entire bag of books is going to cost you $5.  But when it comes to new books….I want to be WAY more intentional about the ones that I buy.  New books are expensive!

4.       Go through my bookshelves regularly.  I have pared down my KEEPER shelf a LOT.  I sold some books.  Even 4-star ones.  If I don’t think I’m going to ever re-read it and if it doesn’t bring me JOY (ha ha), then I let it go.

5.       Read at least 100 books.  I set my goal on Goodreads at 100 books for 2019.  Last year I read 150+.  I think I’ll easily hit 100 books even if I slow it down.

That’s it!

2018 Year in Review

I'm so late on this!  It's already February!  But better late than never I guess?

January

Well the year started off on a bad note when I had my first emergency room visit EVER.  I was in the worst pain I’ve ever had in my life.  I will never forget sitting in a wheelchair, tears streaming down my face, holding the giant cup of CT contrast I had to drink wondering how on earth I was going to manage it without throwing up or passing out.  They got things figured out with the tests and sent me on my way with pain pills.

We also got a king size bed.  Normally this isn’t something I would include in a ‘year in review’ post, but getting this king size bed has been life changing.  I can’t even believe the space we have and I’m sleeping a lot better now.

February

Surgery!  To fix the above mentioned issues.  My uterus was trying to self-destruct (hence the horrible pain).  I wish I were exaggerating, but this is exactly how my surgeon described it to me.  They took out just about everything they could (but left some important things too).  It went well.  I stayed one night in the hospital.  I was home recovering for 4 weeks.  Everything went smoothly and I feel SO MUCH BETTER.    

The addition started on our house (my mother-in-law’s kitchen).  About a week into it, they discovered a major plumbing problem.  Which they fixed.  And then the addition resumed.

March

March was all about surgery recovery, organizing, and just life.

April

We had our 8^th anniversary.  We went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory and kept it pretty low key because we left for Iceland the next week.  That was our gift to each other. 

We also had our French Memorial.

May

Iceland!  We went for a week.  It was unbelievable.  I still just can’t stop thinking about it.  And I want to go back so bad!  In fact, a 2^nd trip has been discussed (in 2020).  We shall see!  I’ve traveled to other countries, but none of them have had the same effect on me that Iceland has had.  I wish I could describe it without sounding like a loon.  It’s just IN me now.  I look back at my pictures and I just get this feeling of longing and sadness that I’m not there.  I drink a cup of my precious Arctic Thyme tea that I got there (arctic thyme is a plant only grown in Iceland) and I take a whiff of it and I am immediately transported back.  Our little cabin.  The crazy weather.  The crazy landscapes.  The smell (it’s good).  The fresh air.  The fresh water EVERYWHERE.  The people.  The music.  The slower pace.  The peacefulness.  The remoteness (it felt like we were the only ones on the island).  I loved everything about it.  It was just a pretty perfect trip.  I think Belgium comes in 2^nd as far as the ‘feeling’ of a country.  We’ve discussed another trip to Belgium at some point too.  With Belgium I think we were just so surprised by how much we loved it.  It’s a tiny little country, but boy does it pack a punch.  Okay I’m getting off track.

June

June was our Regional Convention, which meant the visit of my seeeeester!  It was lovely.

July

In July, our ductless heating and cooling was installed.  It was a huge relief to get that done.  My house was in shambles and had tubes and wires and HOLES in the ceilings for about a week.  I never knew what or who I would be coming home too.  But the love I have for these ductless units now….amazing. 

My nephew came to visit as well.  We had a nice time!  We didn’t do anything too touristy, except a hike that I thought was going to kill me (Tent Rocks).  Spoiler alert…it didn’t kill me.  Ha ha. 

We also had some painting done in July.  The addition was slowly wrapping up (I won’t even go into that because I’ve been trying to block it from my memory).

August

In August we had a couple stay with us for a week for PS School.  It was nice to have them and they were easy guests.

We also had concrete work done.  We had a path poured out front, a patio for my mother-in-law poured out back, and the concrete leveled out on the West side of our house.

September

In September my parents came to visit.  We went to a lot of bookstores.  It was so much fun!  We had a nice visit with them.

We also made the bittersweet decision to switch back to English from French.  We miss our French family, but moving to English was a great move for us.  We love our new congregation. 

October

Nothing out of the ordinary in October…just incredibly busy at work.  Balloon Fiesta.  Also, my husband tore up the carpet in the man cave.  There was linoleum that looked like wood underneath.  We’re leaving it alone for now.

November

In November hubby went to Chicago with my nephew for a couple of Blackhawks games.  While they were gone, we had our new piece of fencing installed…the FINAL part of the addition project.

Also…Black Friday!

December

I traveled to Nebraska in December for my niece’s baby shower.  It was so much fun.  I got to see all of my family and go to help out with the shower.  And it was cold, but not SUPER cold.

Uncle Bob also came for an impromptu visit (funeral).

It was a stressful year (surgery, the addition, and our house being tore up, etc) but it was also a great year because we got a LOT accomplished.  The addition is complete.  Our heating/cooling is complete.  We visited a country that I still just can’t believe exists because it is so amazing.  I got to see a lot of family and we had lots of visitors.  All in all, a really good year.

Travel:  Colorado, Iceland, Nebraska

Visitors:  7 (my sister, my nephew, my parents, a couple here for PSS, and Uncle Bob)

2018 Reading Recap & Favorites

2018 was a big reading year for me.  And I realize that the year isn't over yet, but I had a chance to blog today and I don't think I'll be finishing up any more books before the year ends.  

So, I present to you, my book stats for 2018:

Total books read:  158 (!)
Fiction:  117
Non-Fiction:  41

This is not surprising...I always read way more fiction than non-fiction.

I read quite a few 4 and 5 star reads this year.  I won't break it down for you, because not everyone is a statistics nerd like I am (and I'm lazy).  But I read more 4 and 5 star books this year than I did last year.

Here are my favorite ADULT FICTION reads of the year:

Maggie O'Farrell is my new favorite author.  Her books are just consistently good!

And the other four books just STUCK with me.  Especially the two on the bottom, the Great Alone, and Us Against You (the sequel to Beartown).  Both made my cry.  In a good/bad way.

And a 4-star book that I keep thinking about that I should have given 5-stars:

This book about mental health was way ahead of it's time.

I had some nice re-reads of the year as well:  Anne of Green Gables, Old Man and the Sea, and Lord of the Flies to name a few.

Here were my favorite NONFICTION reads:

Quite a mixed bag with non-fiction.  A memoir, a graphic novel, a book about Danish people, and a book that makes me laugh just THINKING about it (it will definitely be a re-read).

My favorite Children's book of the year:

It's such a charming book. 

And finally, my favorite YA book of the year (not so charming...much darker, but wonderful):

Along with the entire Lunar Chronicles series!

It was a great reading year.  I'll be doing another post in the next few days about my 2019 reading goals.

December Reads (10)

One star = did not like it at all

Two stars = eh, it was okay

Three stars =  liked it

Four stars = really, really liked it

Five stars = absolutely loved it

1-Star (0)

2-Star (1)

**Homeland (Fiction, B. Kingsolver)

I should just stay away from short stories.  I don’t like them!!!

3-Star (2)

***Bird Box (Fiction, J. Malerman)

Lots of hype about this suspense book.  It was definitely a page turner, but you never find out what the entities (monsters, aliens, something else?) are.  And there was a little weirdness to it (which was not made apparent until the very end).  I won’t be recommending it to anyone, nor will I be watching the movie.

***The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Non-fiction, R. Skloot)

The story of Henrietta Lacks and her HELA cells that were (and still are) used for loads of research in the 50’s.  It was an interesting book, but it seemed to drag on.

4-Star (5)

****Necessary Lies (Fiction, D. Chamberlain)

I really enjoyed this historical fiction novel about the Eugenics program that happened in North Carolina between the 1920’s and 1970’s.  Eugenics is forced sterilizations.  I had NO clue this happened, I guess it’s not something they teach in the history books. 

****A Rule Against Murder (Fiction, L. Penny)

The FOURTH mystery novel in the Chief Inspector Gamache series.  They keep getting better!

****The Reptile Room (Fiction, L. Snicket, #2 A Series of Unfortunate Events)

These poor orphans.  One unfortunate event after another.  Yet these books are endearing, have plenty of characters you can root for, and they are HILARIOUS. 

****First We Make the Beast Beautiful (Non-Fiction, S. Wilson)

Sarah Wilson wrote the book ‘I Quit Sugar’ a few years ago (it was a hit apparently).  She was (is?) also one of the editors of Cosmo magazine.  Anyways, this is her story of anxiety.  It is not a self-help book. It is her story.  And how she copes and doesn’t cope with it.  There were SO MANY times in the book where I was like ‘YESSSSS!!!  This is ME!!!’ and I whipped out my highlighter.  There’s even parts of the book where she says ‘oh, and share this particular part with someone you are close to who doesn’t understand anxiety’, in the hopes that it will help them try to understand. 

A lot of the reviews on Goodreads have been negative, stating that the editing of this book is terrible and it’s all over the place.  I think these reviews are coming from people who don’t suffer from anxiety.  Because to me, the book made perfect sense.  I didn’t feel like it was all over the place.  It felt like I could have written it myself.

She also doesn’t get too preachy about the no sugar thing.  She mentions it over a few pages, but that’s all. 

I personally think everyone should read this book, especially people who don’t have anxiety.  I think it’s portrays an accurate picture of how crippling anxiety can be.

I probably should have given it five stars.

****Food: A Love Story (Non-Fiction, J. Gaffigan)

HILARIOUS.  That’s all.  Here’s a couple of quotes:

“I’m convinced that anyone that does not like Mexican food is a psychopath.”

“The green chili addiction in New Mexico is one I understand.  Green chilies are exciting and a little dangerous.  If I lived in New Mexico I’d be eating so many green chilies I’d have to get a haz-mat suit.  I’ve heard there’s talk of reshooting all the episodes of Breaking Bad but instead of meth, Walter and Jesse sell green chilies.  I can’t wait.”

HILARIOUS.  I listened to the audio, read by Jim Gaffigan himself which made it even funnier.

5-Star (2)

*****Crossing to Safety (Fiction, W. Stegner)

I think I started and stopped this book six times.  But finally, something clicked.  It still took a while to get into.  But around the halfway point, it just begins to soar and it doesn’t stop.  It’s the story of the friendship between two married couples, the Langs and the Morgans.  Their friendship begins in the 1930’s.  They are all very academic and literary people.  The two couples are opposites in many ways, yet their friendship remains strong throughout the years.  Strong enough to see each other through successes, failures, prominence, destitution and most importantly, illness.  I plan to read this book again and highlight the multiple beautiful passages that Wallace Stegner has written.  This book (even with its slow start) is incredible.

*****On Writing (Non-Fiction, S. King)

Stephen King is brilliant.  Even if you have no interest in writing anything ever, you should read this book.  Or better yet, listen to it.  He narrates the audio book himself.  He is hilarious.  And incredibly smart.  And down-to-earth.  I loved this book!

Total Books Read: 10 (4 non-fiction, 6 fiction)

Formats

Kindle: 

Audio: 8         

Real Books: 2

DNF (Did Not Finish) 9:

South of Broad (Fiction, P. Conroy) – couldn’t get into it, unlikeable characters

A Secret Kept (Fiction, T. de Rosnay) – couldn’t get into it    

An American Heiress (Fiction, D. Goodwin) – couldn’t get into it

Transcription (Fiction, K. Atkinson) – confusing (and boring) from page 1 

Driftless (Fiction, D. Rhodes) – couldn’t get into it

The Alice Network (Fiction, K. Quinn) – I might revisit this one at some point.  But for now, I am sick of WWII novels that go back and forth in time.

A Tale for the Time Being (Fiction, R. Ozeki) – strong start….faded quickly

The Map of Salt and Stars – it got weird

Fruit of the Drunkin Tree - it got weird