whatcha readin'? {goals 45 - books 15-20}

Here are a few more books that
I did finish so far this year…
still trying to get caught up on the posting.

15. Life in the Fasting Lane - Fung, Mayer & Ramos
🔉🔉🔉
I did enjoy this book and got a lot out of it.
I did it as an audio book via Everand.
I found it helpful to have the different point of views.
Now I just need to put it into action.

16. The American Girl - Kate Horsely
❤️❤️❤️
This was a bit of a puzzle…a mystery..
it kept me pretty interested all the way through.
A good fast paced read.

17. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
😍😍😍😍😍
This is a definite re-read for me.
I read this book at least once a year…
and sometimes I go back through
the whole series. It’s a comfort thing for me.
Oh. And this cover. I adore this cover.

The artist is Elly MacKay and I am enamored.

18 & 19 - Fable & Saint - Adrienne Young
4 ❤️’s for Fable; 5 ❤️’s for Saint
These are part of the World of the Narrows series
and I loved them. They are YA but so frigging good.
I can’t wait to read Drift now too
and check out her other titles!

20. Sylvanus Now - Donna Morrisey
❤️❤️❤️
I read Kit’s Law by this author years ago
and remember loving it…I picked up this one
at a book sale and I did enjoy it
though I found it a little heavy on the
fishing and sea for me…I got a little bogged
down in the description…but otherwise,
I liked it.

And here’s a “little free library”
I came across while driving around
Canoe Cover area (to be honest, it may
not even be close to that. I never know
where I am, haha)
I left 2 books and took 2! :)

whatcha readin'? {goal 45 - books 1-3}

I went through a bit of a
reading slump
in January…
well….let’s be honest…
I went through a bit of a
life slump
in January in some ways.

Winter can do that to a person.

3 books complete in January…
one was an audio book:

1. When the Body Says No - Gabor Mate
   ♥♥♥
   To be honest, this was not really what I thought
   it was going to be…or maybe
   what I wanted it to be.
   I wanted reassurance that yes, stress can cause these things
   but if you do these things, you can avoid the diseases
   that stress may cause….
   but instead the book caused me stress
   because they seemed to indicate that
   you could have had stresses outside of your control
   AS A CHILD
   THAT YOU MAY NOT EVEN BE AWARE OF
   that may have already
   started you down the path to disease.
   How is that fair or reasonable??? Sigh.

2. Fitter, Calmer, Stronger - Ellie Goulding
   ♥♥♥ - audiobook
   This was ok…nothing really revolutionary.
   Apparently she is a famous musician
   but….I didn’t know that when I picked the book. 🤷‍♀️

   (oh wait…she did this song! I didn’t know that.)

3. Holiday Romance - Catherine Walsh
   ♥♥♥♥
   I liked this more than I had expected to.
   A fun rom-com kinda lighthearted book.

NEXT UP: Outlive (Peter Attia); I Let You Go (Clare MacIntosh) and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (VE Schwab) (and maybe even more if my reading slump is really over!! :)

kinda whatcha readin' but ....

since I haven’t finished reading anything yet
for 2023
instead,
I wanted to talk about
the last book I read in 2022:
How to Host a Viking Funeral
by Kyle Scheele

This was the perfect book
for me to end my year on…
it was interesting and amusing
hearing about the author’s various
ideas and shenanigans over the years,
but also inspiring….
it made me soooo want to build
giant things out of cardboard
(and also made me want to burn things!)
(which, if you know me, is likely not a great idea.)

But what I loved most about this book
was that he tied the story of the Viking ship
full of regret
into so many brilliant observations and
truths
about life….

Honestly, I took a lot of notes
when I was reading this….but
I realize when I look back at them now
that they were not meant to be shared….
they were small (and large) surprise insights
into my own glitchy brain…
it helped me see how I am
in a bit of a different light.

I totally recommend reading this.
I enjoyed it 110%.

No regrats. (heh. if you know, you know).

whatcha readin'? {goal 35::books 21-25}

Another Monday,
another catch up on books read
so far this year.

And…I know my goal was 30
but…spoiler alert…I HAVE HIT 30 ALREADY!! Yay me!!!!
so for funsies,
I am trying to do a challenge
I saw online #TenBeforeTheEnd
and have picked 10 titles that I am going to
try to finish before the end of 2022.

and as promised, here are books 21-25:

21. Cilka’s Journey - Heather Morris
♥♥♥♥♥5 out of 5
So good but so sad,
and tragic and frustrating
and horrifying.

22. The Paris Apartment - Lisa Foley
♥♥♥♥4 out of 5
Interesting…I liked the setting…
twisty-turny….quick read

23. The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Hahn
♥♥♥♥4 out of 5
I like books about Belly and Conrad and Jeremiah…
don’t judge me. :D

24. Lilac Girls - Martha Hall Reilly
♥♥♥♥4 out of 5
Notes I wrote after reading it:
sad & horrifying & hopeful

25. Beautiful World, Where Are You? - Sally Rooney
♥♥♥♥4 out of 5
No notes written but I know I set the book aside
as one that I don’t want to give away
because I feel I will read it again…

whatcha readin'? {goal 35 :: book 3}

I frigging loved this book.

Clever and funny
and interesting and
thoughtful…
the characters were quirky,
the plot was tricky,
the writing was
at times deep and made me stop & think
and then laugh out loud
in the next paragraph.

Read this one.

5♥♥♥♥♥’s out of 5
NEXT UP:: THE HOME FOR UNWANTED GIRLS- JOANNA GOODMAN