tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87900200838779081392023-11-16T04:28:55.470-08:00Breathing KairosBeautiful day, happy to have been here. -Jane Catherine LotterAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.comBlogger196125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-32648201362305611002016-09-02T11:01:00.000-07:002016-09-02T11:01:11.500-07:00August ReadsHoly moly, I read a lot in August! About half and half graphic novels and novel-novels. In the interest of not writing a million words, I'll keep it short and sweet.<br />
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<b>Of Neptune (Anna Banks)- </b>The final book in the <a href="http://breathingkairos.blogspot.com/2016/08/july-reads.html" target="_blank">mermaid trilogy</a> I talked about reading last month. It was pretty meh. It got very Twilight-y for me, which doesn't ALWAYS have to be bad, but the love triangle and the very controlling boyfriend and the teen angst sexual tension felt boring. Overall I thought it was a pretty meh ending. Seemed too easy and tidy to me. The conflict between characters just kind of magically disappeared instead of actually being resolved. There was some good action though and some more interesting mermaid mythology woven in there.<br />
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<b>Little Robot (Ben Hatke)- </b>This is a graphic novel composed of illustrations and not text. It is adorable and wonder-filled and the kid body language is spot on. Every little kid that likes pictures books will love this book. Kittens, a feisty little girl and robots?! Yes please.<br />
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<b>The Paper Magician (Charlie N. Holmberg)- </b>This book is set in an alternate universe England where magic exists and the magically inclined can choose to bond with one material and master it. Ceony, a young magic school graduate, is forced into Paper Folding, a dying magical art, but discovers that it's actually quite marvelous. And then of course all hell breaks loose. I really really enjoyed this book! I thought the characters were lovely and the relationships they built were interesting and it was such a new plot idea to me! Material magics. Magicking paper or metal or glass or plastic or whatever the case maybe be. The back story was so intricate and thought out and displayed for the reader in really interesting and beautiful ways.<br />
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<b>Mouse Guard Fall 1152 (Daved Petersen)- </b>This graphic novel kind of read as a little Red Wall-ish to me. But I guess any sort of book about warrior rodents might. It was a beautiful book. Drawn lavishly. Bright pages. Lovely to look at. The story felt a little underdeveloped for a fantasy story but there is something to be said for simplicity. It's marketed (or at least my library had it so) for 8+ but I'm not sure I'd let my particular 8 year old read this. Maybe 10+. There are some deaths and I know my kid would be pretty upset by that.<br />
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<b>Zita the Spacegirl (Ben Hatke)- </b>Another Hatke graphic novel. And actually, to save myself some time, I'm going to go ahead and talk about the entire trilogy here in this one space instead of making 3 separate entries. A little girl gets transported through time and space and winds up somewhere nutso out in the universe and makes a bunch of neat friends and these are all the stories of her adventures. A great female hero and really interesting side characters make for such a good book. The illustrations are beautiful and bright and attention grabbing, the story lines are perfect for children and it only gets better as the series progresses. Plus it's also an online comic so you can keep up with Zita after the books are done! Hatke is a genius. Highly recommend his graphic novels for all kiddos.<br />
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<b>Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (Chris Grabenstein)- </b>The gist is this- a highly eccentric bajillionaire builds a library in a town that hasn't had one for 12 years. Before the library is opened to the public a bunch of 12 year olds are given the opportunity to sleep over but when they wake up they realize that a game is afoot. If they can figure out how to escape the library using library resources they will win big! I really wanted to love this book. It had good moments. My main problem with it was that the characters were SO one dimensional. They fell flat. I didn't really care about any of them or care who won the game. The best thing to be said for this book is that it is absolutely overflowing with a love of books and libraries, and that's wonderful! It's very much a Willy Wonka like feeling but for books instead of candy.<br />
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<b>Trigger Warning (Neil Gaiman)- </b>Continuing my reading of all things Gaiman, I ordered this book of short stories after reading a story from the collection in my book store. Most of the tales are quite spooky. I really enjoyed it so much. I liked that in the front of the book he explained the inspiration behind each story so you can get some behind the scenes of writing the book. The stories were all really great and if you are a lover of BBC shows it has some fun surprises for you in delightful Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes tales.<br />
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<b>The Glass Magician (Charlie N. Holmberg)- </b>This is the 2nd novel in the Paper Magician trilogy and it was thrilling. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of reading this book. I say again, such an imaginative and interesting idea to have these different magicians all bonded to a material and that is their field of study and magic. The characters are sweeping and the romance isn't overpowering to the story and is really very sweet and the tale itself is scary and kept me on the edge of my seat.<br />
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<b>Cleopatra In Space (Mike Maihack)- </b>A young Cleopatra is transported thousands of years into a future where she is meant to be the savior of a universe. The first book is all about her first few months of school and her first mission. I can see where it would be really thrilling for kids, and indeed my own children have been reading it and really enjoy it. The illustrations are great and kind of old school comic feeling. Again, it's so nice to have another fun, fast paced, adventurous graphic novel with a great female protagonist.<br />
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<b>The World Will Follow Joy (Alice Walker)- </b>Last but not least, a collection of poems by the gifted and beauty-filled Alice Walker. There were quite a few that stood out to me in a personal way (namely When You See Water and My Desire) and they have stayed with me since I read it.<br />
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Upward and onward to September and maybe even some Fall weather to look forward to! I'm looking for some spooky Halloween reads to start later this month/early next month. If you have any suggestions for a good Halloween book, let me know! Happy reading. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-77512562592317364952016-08-15T04:49:00.000-07:002016-08-15T04:49:56.475-07:00July ReadsIt's the middle of August and I'm only just sitting down (at 2 in the morning) to write my August reads post. It has been a hella busy month so far. The kids started school on Monday and the week before that was preparation for school and moving my mother to a new house etc etc etc. I am wide awake though so lets bust this post out while I can!<br />
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<b>The Goose Girl (Shannon Hale)- </b>Not wanting to give too much away about this I'll just say it's a fairy tale retelling about a young princess with the gift of animal speak. It was a beautiful story. My favorite retelling I've ever read. I found out after I'd read this that there are more books! It's a series! That is the best news I've had all year.<br />
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<b>Ingo (Helen Dunmore)- </b><i>Sapphy's father, a man notorious for his love of the ocean, mysteriously disappears off the coast of the family home. Sapphy begins to feel a pull to the ocean and when she notices her brother going missing for hours at a time she starts to realize she is not the only one. </i>I wanted more mermaid stories in my life and this caught my eye. It was an interesting read. I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads. Good bones and a surprising ending but the character development and the relationships felt a little off for me personally. I might continue on with the series. I'm curious to see how it progresses.<br />
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<b>Of Poseidon (Anna Banks)- </b><i>Galen and Emma have an obvious connection from their very first meeting. Galen knows something about her that Emma hasn't realized yet and it's his mission to set her on the right path and protect her in the meantime. </i>I thought this would be more lighthearted than it was. Be warned, it gets pretty heavy very early on. There were some good parts and not so good parts. The good- mermaids and mermaid lore, interesting plot idea, swoon worthy cover, great characters. The bad- very Twilight-ish romance and insta-love. It's a good fluffy read if you're looking for a fun beach book.<br />
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<b>The House of Hades (Rick Riordan)- </b>I keep saying the most recent Percy Jackson book is my favorite but this one is REALLY my favorite. I enjoyed it so much. The character growth is so great in these books. A pro of characters growing up in the books. The relationships get even stronger, the story gets more interesting and harrowing, there are really awesome new monster characters introduced/reintroduced and more adventure than you know what to do with. Love love love. Gush gush gush. Sad that the series is nearly over for us.<br />
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<b>Serafina and the Black Cloak (Robert Beatty)- </b><i>Set in the Biltmore estate, Serafina has lived her entire life hiding in the basement of the estate where her Pa works. But when children start vanishing in the night Serafina is the only person who knows who the terrifying culprit is- the main in the black cloak. She sets out to uncover the mans identity and save the children. </i>This was a slow build for me but when it finally got to the adventurous parts it took off. It was wonderful and spooky and uplifting. Definitely a book that the kids would love. Something fun to reach for come October, maybe.<br />
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<b>The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Neil Gaiman)- </b><span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer650160522"><span id="freeTextContainer12274935891194350731"><b> <i>Adults
are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands;
perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep
beneath rhododendrons, to find the spaces between fences. </i></b>I finished this book weeks ago and I am still thinking about it and already wanting to read it again. It is beautifully nostalgic. It was short and scary and held such a feeling of childhood in its pages and when I finished I felt this sad heaviness in my chest because I knew something beautiful had ended. I will own this book and I will buy it for my friends and family. It was a very good book. </span></span><br />
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<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer650160522"><span id="freeTextContainer12274935891194350731"><b>A Monster Calls (Patrick Ness)- </b>I don't want to say anything about the plot. I feel like the less you know the better it is. I implore you to read this before the movie comes out. I honestly don't think a movie will do the feelings of this book justice. I finished this book in one sitting. At 2 in the morning I turned the last page and read it and then I stayed up another hour thinking about it and sitting with it and crying over it and enjoying the fact that a book like this exists. The illustrations were stunning. The words on the pages took my breath away. I immediately purchased a copy of it. Read this book. </span></span><br />
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<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer650160522"><span id="freeTextContainer12274935891194350731"><b>Of Triton (Anna Banks)- </b>In the interest of not giving away anything about the first book of this trilogy I won't mention the plot. I will say that the romance got a little better for me. Less overbearing. I enjoyed this book more than the first. Another very good fluffy read if you're looking for a fun mermaid story. Definitely read the first book first or you will be all sorts of lost.</span></span><br />
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<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer650160522"><span id="freeTextContainer12274935891194350731">And that's a wrap on July. So far August has one very good book finished and a handful of graphic novels done and dusted. I hope wherever you are you have a good book for company. Happy reading, friends. </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-84036228374077103832016-07-01T09:52:00.000-07:002016-07-01T09:52:16.744-07:00June ReadsThis June we spent a week at the beach and I got much less reading done than I anticipated but it was still a pretty good reading month and I read some interesting stuff.<br />
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<b>James and the Giant Peach (Roald Dahl)- </b><i>James accidentally drops his magic crystals by the peach tree and before he knows it the peach at the top of the tree has grown as big as a house. After finding a secret entrance into the peach he makes friends with an assortment of bug pals and starts off on an adventure across the ocean. </i>I think reading The BFG first was a mistake because so far no other Dahl book has stood out as much to me. Maybe I'm expecting too much of them because The BFG was such a superb piece of story telling. I'd been looking forward to this book for a while and it was okay but it just felt like things kept happening to the character and they'd all sit around exclaiming about the same thing. That was the extent of the dialogue. Or the bugs would be like 'James fix it!' and that was it. The ending was quite lovely, though. Much better than Matilda, which was rather abrupt. <br />
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<b>In the Woods (Tana French)- </b><i>Twenty years after a childhood trauma, Rob Ryan finds himself back in his childhood home town as a detective on a murder case of a young girl. The case is chillingly similar to his own unsolved mystery. With most of his memory of the trauma missing, Ryan has the chance to solve the murder and his own mystery once and for all. </i>This was a thrilling story. It was engaging and character driven and beautifully written. My favorite mystery/thriller/detective story I've ever read. I'll definitely read more of the Dublin Murder Squad.</div>
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<b>The Accident Season (Moira Fowley-Doyle)- </b><i>The accident season comes at the same time every year. For a month strange accidents leave Cara's family bruised, cut, shattered and sometimes worse. With layers of clothing and padding on the furniture they all try to survive. </i>This book was craaaazyyyy. In a great way. I was so intrigued by this idea of an accident season and people not being able to escape injuries no matter how careful they were. But it's so much more than that. There's a thrilling plot line and wonderful characters and growth. The book builds and builds until the beautiful ending that leaves you going whaaaat.</div>
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<b>The Mark of Athena (Rick Riordan)- </b>Percy and pals getting into trouble trying to save the world again! This book brought back Annabeth which was awesome because I love her. I loved that this book had such a focus on her and her parentage. There was a lot in the story about the power of thought and problem solving and I really enjoy that her character is such an embodiment of that. </div>
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<b>Daughters of the Sea- Hannah (Kathryn Lasky)- </b><i>Spoilery- </i>This book is hard for me to describe because there's not much I can say without giving it away so don't read if you don't want to know! I was looking for a mermaid book for the beach and my tiny, farm town library happened to have this in stock so I grabbed it and it was pretty meh. There's a mermaid but not until the last few pages and the story before that is pretty dull. The characters are boring until the very end of the book. A lot of questions go unanswered. The plot is spread too thinly across too many pages. Where there should have been a building of anticipation for the big reveal it fell flat. I don't know if I'll carry on with the series. I'm interested but mostly because it's mermaids and I love mermaids, not this particular story. It had such potential but it never got its junk together enough.</div>
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<b>Daddy-Long-Legs (Jean Webster)- </b><i>Jerush Abbott, an 18 year old orphan, is given an opportunity of a life time- an anonymous millionaire has agreed to pay for her education in exchange for one letter a month telling him of her studies. Daddy-Long-Legs is written through letters from Judy to Daddy. </i>I read this book pretty often. At least every couple of years. My worn out, torn copy is one of my favorite possessions. I first read this book as a 13 year old girl (so my copy is 16 years old) and fell so hard for it that I have continuously kept coming back to it like a favorite comfort food. It's good for my soul. Judy is so lovable and wonderful and her tales are enchanting and fun. I will always keep going back for this book.</div>
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<i> </i><b>Smoke Gets In Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory (Caitlin Doughty)- </b><i>A licensed mortician tells her experience as a crematory operator through witty and eye opening stories about how we view death in our society and how we treat the dead. </i>I was so excited to read this book and it did not disappoint. I learned so much and I'm still thinking about this book a week later. It's poignant and funny and makes you seriously consider how we as a society try to hide death and how we treat the dead. It goes into some possibly triggering scenes, such as baby cremation and an unfortunate circumstance of a cremation machine screw up that leads to some.. melted human remains, for lack of better terminology, but in my experience with the book nothing was over the top or grotesque. It was all very respectful and humbling. A great read.</div>
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That's it for June! Another month dusted. Hard to believe half the year has gone by! Have you read anything about death or the caring for the dead? I find myself very curious to continue on and find some more books on the subject. If you have any recs, let me know! </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-76085357934811384512016-06-29T05:28:00.002-07:002016-06-29T05:28:38.836-07:00May Reads- Part 2I have been laaaaazy this month. It doesn't help that we were out of town for a week and that summer has happened and my hands are full with 2 kids. So part 2 of my two part reading recap for May is happening just two days before July but hey. Better late than never.<br />
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I talked about how much I'd read in <a href="http://breathingkairos.blogspot.com/2016/06/may-reads-part-1.html" target="_blank">May Reads- Part 1 </a>and it was a lot. You can check out that post for the first half. Now onto the second act!<br />
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<b>Ivy + Bean (Annie Barrows)- </b><i>Ivy and Bean just know that they can never be friends. But when Bean plays a joke on her sister and needs a place to hide, Ivy comes to the rescue and the two begin a mini afternoon adventure where they discover that sometimes you find a best friend in the last person you thought you would. </i>I read this aloud with my 5 year old and loved it. Super duper loved it. We'd been wanting to read it for a while and then magically our library had it all of a sudden so I took it is a sign. The characters are quirky and fun and smart and hilarious. I see some people complaining that they don't like how the protagonists are deliberately 'bad' and getting into trouble and they think it sets up a bad example for children reading the story but in my opinion it's not as though they are doing anything harmful. Practical jokes and whatnot aren't going to make your kids the antichrist. It's a fun story with fun girls and I like that the girls aren't boxed into 'girlish' things. They have a variety of interests.<br />
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<b>The Secret Keeper (Kate Morton)- </b><i>As a teenager Laurel witnesses a shocking crime that involves her mother, Dorothy. After years of secrecy Dorothy is ailing and Laurel realizes it could be her last chance to discover what happened that day so long ago. Against a backdrop of WWII London and a past that takes us all the way into the 60's and beyond, we explore Dorothy's past to find out what happened and why. </i>THIS BOOK. It was so good. My favorite of hers so far. I was disappointed when it was over because it was just that great. It's such a beautiful story and Morton spins history so well and the characters were amazing and flawed and jumping off the page at you. It's all told in Morton's signature style of weaving back and forth in time and it could not have been better. So loved it.<br />
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<b>The Twits (Roald Dahl)- </b><i>The Twits are smelly and ugly and mean. The only things they like doing are catching birds for Bird Pie and making their caged monkeys, the Muggle-Wumps, do tricks. But the Muggle-Wumps have had enough and are out for freedom... and revenge. </i>This book was just eh. A really quick read at the very least. </div>
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<b>Matilda (Roald Dahl)- </b><i>Matilda is a little girl with a lot of brain power. She can do double digit multiplication in her head and read any book. When she is faced with negligent and abusive parents and an evil headmistress the only way to deal with it is with smart revenge. </i>I read this with my first born. I think he was a little bored, to be honest. I was into it, though. I admit that I loved the movie a little more. I think the characters in the movie were funnier and more heart warming and just kind of... fuller. More rounded out. BUT the book is still great! Very similar story line to the movie. The great thing about Matilda is that even though she's a super genius girl and she is heaping all this revenge on these buttheads, you love her and root for her because she has big feelings and she's still just a kid who doesn't understand the world or why people can be so mad. A great book for readers too.</div>
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<b>The Scorch Trials (James Dashner)- </b>No synopsis because I don't want to give anything away. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. More than the first.I had heard that the first was great and then the rest of the series disappointed but I definitely felt the opposite this time. The first was very meh for me. It was predictable and I didn't think there was any character growth or really anything drawing you to the characters and making you root for them. In The Scorch Trials I was pleasantly caught off guard by much of the story line and I think the characters started to get more flushed out. </div>
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<b>The Death Cure (James Dashner)- </b>Again, no synopsis because I don't want to spoil anything. This book fell flat for me in most ways. Similar complaints. No character growth, the characters keep getting into dumb situations, etc. SPOILER WARNING. I hated Theresa's relationship with Thomas. I thought Thomas was a big baby about it. I didn't understand why one girl could lie to him and he didn't even think about remaining friends and continuing to trust her but another girl lies to him to save his life and she's a manipulative b who can't be trusted ever again. The love triangle got on my nerves. The only good things about this book for me were Newts storyline, even though it was depressing (but at least there was growth and change and you felt something for a character) and the ending because it felt like a nice, tidy way to end things and also kind of like the only option. </div>
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<b>Vengeance Road (Erin Bowman)- </b><i>After her father is tortured and murdered by a gang of outlaws for a journal that contains a map to a hidden gold mine, Kate Thompson disguises herself as a boy and rides out looking for revenge. </i>This is my very first western! I honestly picked it out for it's beautiful cover. I mean COME ON. That covered is amazing, right? I want to own this book 1000% for the cover alone BUT it's also a great book. I really enjoyed this. I thought it grew beautifully. The characters were so fleshed out and great. Definitely enraging at points because humans are frustrating creatures but their flaws were part of what made the book work for me. I loved that this was a YA Western but stayed true to Western style and wasn't watered down with romance. It's gritty and dirty and gross and full of shoot outs and revenge and gold and saloons and cowboys. Bowman even wrote it in the cowboy dialect and I loved that. The quest for revenge felt real and blood thirsty. Aces. This book was an awesome way to end May. </div>
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And with that I am finally done recapping all of my books for May. June will be much easier. Not a lot of reading has been done. </div>
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I hope wherever and whoever you are, you have a great book to keep you company. Happy reading. </div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-14064138803805798052016-06-07T06:52:00.003-07:002016-06-07T06:52:40.416-07:00May Reads- Part 1I read A LOT last month. I didn't keep track of it like I usually do so it's a very daunting thing to sit down and try to type out thoughts on 14 books. Hence why this is 'part 1'. I'll break this into 2 parts so that it's not so harrowing for me, myself and I and it's not a super long read for anyone out there in internet-land.<br />
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I did read a lot of really great books in May so lets get into it.<br />
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<b>Julie and Julia (Julie Powell)- </b>I think most everyone knows what this book is about. It was made into a movie a while back an I really enjoyed the movie so I wanted to experience the book. I was actually surprised by how different the 2 were. The movie goes much more into Julia Child's life where the book really only has a few blurbs about her. I also thought the movie kind of painted the author as a nicer person than she is in real life. That being said, I did really like the book. I related to the author a lot and it made me want to start a big project for my last year of my 20's.<br />
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<b>The Maze Runner (James Dashner)- </b><i>A dystopian adventure set in a glade surrounded by a huge stone maze that changes position. A group of boys with no memory of their lives before the glade are charged with discovering the secret of how to get through the maze and escape. </i>I went into this with okay expectations so it wasn't that hard for it to go beyond what I thought it would be. Mostly what I could think the whole time was why don't they just tell Thomas what is going on already!!! Why do they have to act all secretive about the damn maze and what they are there for. Enlist his help. Stop being twerps. That frustrated me. But it was action packed for sure and it kept my attention although I never really felt very pulled to any of the characters and I didn't feel like there was any character development through it. A lot of the characters and the relationships between them seemed forced. I did like the story and I think it had a lot more potential than what was shown.<br />
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<b>Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Benjamin Alire Saenz)- </b>I don't feel like I can give this a proper description because I really don't want to give anything away. It was a gorgeous story woven so delicately and carefully it was like reading someone's thoughts. I read it with fervor. I ate it up. It reminded me of being a teenager and I really honestly feel like it should be required reading for all teens and young adults and even adult-adults because it's just such a good story and so easy to relate to no matter what stage of life you are in. I super duper triple hardcore recommend this books. Really great summer read too.<br />
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<b>The Pigman (Paul Zindel)- </b><i>High school students John and Lorraine pull a prank on a strange old man and unwittingly wander into a friendship with the man they dub 'the pigman'. </i>I read this as a teen and wanted to try it again because I remembered it fondly. Eh. What a flop. There was like ZERO character development. Spoiler- the old dude dies (they tell you this in like the first couple of pages) and they are writing their story down but they don't seem to have LEARNED ANYTHING. They did all this awful shit and were total butts and then the dude dies and they are just like oh well. I mean. What a couple of twerps. I know there is a sequel and I have read it but I don't plan to read it again.<br />
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<b>The Son of Neptune (Rick Riordan)- </b><i>The 2nd book of The Heroes of Olympus finds Percy Jackson followed by monsters (what else is new) and heading right into the Roman demi-god camp. </i>Our boy is back! I love Percy. I am really enjoying this series. I love the Roman side of it. This book was just like any other Riordan book. Full of prophecy and adventure and action and mad Gods and a short time span to get a big thing done. I am really enjoying the new characters.<br />
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<b>Dorothy Must Die (Danielle Paige)- </b><i>Amy Gumm is living her life in Kansas but a freak tornado blows through and lifts her right up and plops her down in... Oz? Turns out it's not like the movie anymore. Dorothy has turned evil and it's up to her and a band of wicked witches to do what needs to be done. Dorothy has to die. </i>I really liked this. It's such a crazy retelling! I'm going to continue on with the series soon and find out what happens next. I will say though that the back of the damn book gives away the plot twist, which makes NO SENSE and made me VERY ANGRY. So like don't read the back of the book, man. Don't do it. I read the back and then I bought the book and read it and waited the whole book for the thing on the back and turns out it's the plot twist on the last few pages of the book. THE LAST FEW PAGE. I raged for like 10 minutes at my husband about the inhumanity of it all.<br />
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<b>Paper Towns (John Green)- </b><i>Q has been in love with his neighbor Margo since they were kids but after a strange happening when they were children they grew apart and have barely acknowledged each other.. until Margo climbs through his window one night and enlists his help in an elaborate pranking scheme. After their all nighter Q arrives at school to find she has taken off and he and his friends embark on a wild chase to find her. </i>I like John Green as a human and I'd never read his books so I wanted to try something out. I read the first paragraph of Paper Towns and was hooked. It was such a lovely page of writing. However, the rest of the book fell flat for me. It was hilarious in parts and epic in parts and sad.in parts but overall there wasn't any character growth and the main characters really annoyed the shit out of me. Margo was such a butt. I hated her 'I'm not like every other girl' trope and how Q was trying to save her the whole time. The ending was pretty satisfactory for me but altogether, although it had many good qualities, it just didn't fit into a seamless good book.<br />
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That's half of my May reads and my fingers and brain need a break! Part 2 coming soon. Happy reading!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-13166254501083830352016-05-04T09:41:00.000-07:002016-05-04T09:41:09.122-07:00May TBRI've finally made my way through my giant stack of library books and I can jump into my recent book buys. Is anyone else like this? If you have library books you have to put your own books aside because of extreme anxiety about borrowing someone else's books and getting it back to them in a timely manner... it can't be just me. Anywho, I can't read my own books when I have library books. BUT THE PROBLEM IS I am always putting library books on hold because I hear of some great super cool new book that I want and I can't spend a ton of money on books all the time.... so my library stack is usually pretty big and usually added to like once a week at least. I had to put myself on a library ban. For real. I banned myself from checking out any more books. We still make weekly trips to the library for the kids so it.was.hard. I got through it and now I'm on the other side and I'm about to dive into my OWN books! Worth it in the end. <br />
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Getting into my May TBR- I made it a small stack so that I don't get overwhelmed so there will probably be more than this read but I like to underestimate myself so that later I can exceed my goal and be like way to go, April, you are so good at life and reading and book stuff.<br />
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Without further ado, the books I plan to read this month-<br />
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<b>The Pigman (Paul Zindel)- </b>This will be a reread for me. I remember really enjoying this book in high school so I'm hoping to still enjoy it. I found it at the used book store for 1 dollar and couldn't pass it up.<br />
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<b>The Son of Neptune (Rick Riordan)- </b>My ongoing read-out-loud book with the first born. I really enjoy this Heroes of Olympus series. I'm hoping we'll finish this up in the next couple of weeks.<br />
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<b>Dorothy Must Die (Danielle Paige)- </b>I've been scoping out local book shops and saw this at an adorable Beauty and the Beast library-esque place and just thought it looked and sounded cool. I love a good retelling. <br />
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<b>The Maze Runner (James Dashner)- </b>I've heard mixed things and I didn't know if I wanted to actually purchase this book but I found it in mint condition at a used book place and thought what the hell. I've actually just finished this one today and I really liked it.<br />
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<b>Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Benjamin Alire Saenz)- </b>I have heard nothing but good things about this book and I couldn't wait to get to it. I might read this one next. I mean, just the cover is beautiful.<br />
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I have a few other recent purchases in mind to start this month (maybe start the Mortal Instruments series finally?) but we'll see how it goes. No pressure!<br />
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That's it for me today. Happy reading! <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-12145374918761437272016-05-03T04:40:00.001-07:002016-05-04T09:41:21.348-07:00April ReadsApril reads- the good, the bad, and the wtf.<br />
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<b>The Witches (Roald Dahl)- </b><i>This is not a fairytale- it is a story about REAL witches. Disgusting, terrible, detestable witches that disguise themselves as nice old ladies. So how do you know when it's a real witch and not just an ordinary old lady? </i>I never read Roald Dahl before the past year and just.. what have I been doing with my life! I adored this book. It was everything I could have ever hoped for. Dahl, that sweet pickled gerkin, is obviously a masterful artist of tale weaving and this is just another example of that.<br />
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<b>The Baby Sitter's Club #1 Kristy's Great Idea (Ann M. Martin)- </b><i>Kristy and her friends all have babysitting gigs around town and love taking care of kids. Then Kristy gets a (you guessed it!) great idea- start a baby sitter's club! Four qualified sitters, one place to reach them. </i>It has been years upon years since I read any BSB. I love them. Sure, it's like 3rd grade level reading. Whatever. Don't judge me. Still as cute as ever.<br />
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<b>The Last Hunt (Bruce Coville)- </b><i>The conclusion to The Unicorn Chronicles, we find the center of Luster, a vast, magical tree called the Axis Mundi, pierced through and dying by the magic of Beloved, who has finally found a way to enter Luster and finish the slaughtering of the unicorns that she started so many hundreds of years ago. </i>The series is over! Sob. This was a great middle-grade read. I had a few da fuq moments in the past 3 books. If you've read them you can probably guess what they were. The conclusion of the series left me with a little to be desired. I didn't feel that everything was answered when I closed the book. Some lingering doubts, some scowls over things that happened, etc. Still action packed though and it did all come around and reveal itself for the most part by the last page.<br />
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<b>How To Be a Woman (Caitlin Moran)- </b><i>Moran browses through titillating subjects of womanhood (what is so wrong with body hair?) and interjects her feminist wonderings with sordid and often hilarious stories from her own life. </i>I read this for Our Shared Shelf, the Emma Watson Feminist book club. Overall I gave it 4 stars (although after pondering it a bit I felt like it was more of a 3 star book for me) and I did enjoy a vast amount of it but some of it fell flat. It's a very personal book full of very personal opinions so I don't really think that what I have to say about it matters much, to be honest. I will say that there was a fair amount of casual racism and the word tranny was used at least once and that all made me feel a bit squeamish. I felt like the book was touted as being a feminist manifesto but overall it was just a memoir with some opinions thrown in and honestly, the way she used the word tranny and retard made me feel like she is just another white lady feminist and she isn't expanding feminism to be for all ages and races and abilities and genders. So. Eh. I liked it. I just didn't like some parts of it and I did not consider it a feminist book despite it being basically about female issues and such. I DID like the chapter on abortions though. A lot.<br />
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<b>The Horse and His Boy (C.S. Lewis)- </b><i>A young boy named Shasta is on the run to Narnia and freedom with a talking horse named Bree, a young girl named Aravis and her talking horse Hwin. They discover the plan by the Calormen to invade Narnia's neighbor and ally, Archenland. They hurry forward to arrive before the Calormen army and warn the king of the oncoming invasion. </i>So... wow the racism of this book. I know, I know. It was a different time, blah blah blah. But still! It's hard to swallow. It spoiled the entire story. It could have been such a lovely, simple, little fantasy tale but the intense racism thrown onto the Calormen characters was just too much.<br />
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<b>The Magician's Nephew (C. S. Lewis)- </b><i>Diggory and Polly are tricked by Diggory's Uncle Andrew into entering a Wood Between Worlds. A wood full of pools that can lead them to entirely new worlds... The first world they enter gives them far more than they bargained for and a whole lot of adventure. </i>This book made up for the intense racism of the last one. It was beautiful. The perfect fairytale. Essentially this book is the origin story of Narnia and it was awesome to see how things from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe fit together into this story.<br />
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<b>The Last Battle (C.S. Lewis)- </b><i>The conclusion to the Chronicles of Narnia and Narnia itself. </i>SPOILERS. SERIOUSLY. DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE YOUR LIFE RUINED. Okay. I was so excited to finish this series. The last book renewed my love for Narnia. I was pumped. Unfortunately it did not have that Narnia magic. It fell flat. I was so excited to see the old, beloved characters come back. Eustace! Jill! Diggory and Polly! The Pevensie children! But of course, it's not that easy is it? Because Susan has grown up and is more interested in 'lipstick, nylons and invitations'. In other words, she has become a woman and likes being a woman and being sexual. So after all that junk with Edmond and saving Edmond and forgiving him for betraying them FOR CANDY they can't put in some freaking effort with their sister if they really think she's that bad off? Of course there's also the ending which is just.. cult-tastic. Like, I know it's supposed to be a religious thing. I get that it's heaven and yadda yadda yay they get to go to heaven. But like.. they DIED. That's the end of the Narnia books? They died? The end? The story was not inclusive at all and it made me feel very iffy about it being a children's book because they are quite impressionable and there's obviously a lot of Jesus stuff in it but I guess most people know that by now so they can wait until their kids are better able to handle that sort of thing. Just so much of it seemed like very lazy, boring story telling. The characters, for the most part, are just spectators watching things happen around them and they are not an active part of it. Disappointing ending.<br />
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And that's all I've got for April! A total of 7 books and 2280 pages read for the month and 35 books of my goal of 60 and 11,238 pages for the year. I've already finished one book for May so it's looking pretty good so far! Happy reading. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-33331168030211559462016-04-04T05:54:00.001-07:002016-04-04T05:54:44.713-07:00March ReadsAnother month gone, another month of reads.<br />
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<b>Me Before you (Jojo Moyes)- </b><i>Lou Clark is a twenty-something who has settled for her small, ordinary life in a her small town. Her world gets shaken up when the tea shop she works at closes and she has to scramble for a new job placement. Enter Will Traynor, a man who used to live life large but after an accident has to live life from a wheelchair as a quadriplegic. Clark takes a job as his day caregiver. When Clark finds out that Will has shocking plans for his future, she sets out to show him that life can still be accessible and wonderful from his chair. </i>Okay. I can't go into much without giving away a lot but this is one of my top 5 favorite books of the past year. Loved it. I didn't really expect to! I thought I'd be tough but it broke through my icy heart and I need to own this book asap. I've heard a lot of people critique this book as perpetuating this idea that a disabled life is not a life worth living but I feel like it's the exact opposite of that. I think it is about living life to the fullest, being inspired, being loved and loving and making hard choices and how relationships can affect us. I can understand the ableism critique of this for sure but I don't think it's as prevalent as some people have seemed to make it.<br />
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<b>Allegiant (Veronica Roth)- </b><i>The faction based society that Tris has lived in her entire life has been shattered. Hoping for a new life of peace, Tris, Four and a handful of friends venture outside the wall to find out what waits on the other side. What they discover is more lies and twists as they navigate human nature once more and try to save their loved ones. </i>Mehhhhh. The first like half of this book was really bleh. I hated the dual perspective. Once again Four and Tris' relationship got on my NERVES. The end was full of action but wasn't really surprising. I felt like you saw it all coming. Or at least I did. It was very bland to me. I wanted to think Tris was brave and daring and whatever but mostly I just felt like they were all asses. <br />
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<b>Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? (Lorrie Moore)- </b><i>A grown woman looks back with nostalgia at the summer she was 15. Berie and her best friend Sils worked together, stole liquor from their parents together, went out dancing together and seeping the fun out of their small town lives. Everything is carefree until Berie realizes Sils really does need her help and that's when everything changes. </i>I loved this book. An easy read but full of complicated characters and situations. The bittersweet retelling of Berie's youth from the perspective of middle age Berie is beautiful and touching. It was kind of heartbreaking but the story telling was so beautiful that it was worth it.<br />
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<b>Dept. of Speculation (Jenny Offill)- </b><i>The character simply referred to as 'the wife' ruminates on the consuming love of motherhood, the day to day droll of marriage, the highs and lows of a long lived relationship and the seduction of art. </i>Another love. I couldn't put this down. It is written in short, staggered paragraphs and the feelings jump off of the page and right into your lap. I could feel the fierce love, I could feel the rage and confusion, I could feel the longing and the pain and the need and it was very reflective and engaging. It is perfectly done. A beautiful piece of literature. The piercing emotional insights will last long after you are done reading. I've been thinking about this book for days.<br />
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<b>The BFG (Roald Dahl)- </b><i>Had Sophie been carried off by any other giant in the middle of the night she would have been swallowed up immediately. As it is, she is taken by the Big Friendly Giant, a dream blower who travels around England bringing happy dreams to little children. When Sophie learns that the other 9 giants are galloping off to eat their fill of human beans, she knows they must do something about it! </i>Ahhhh, this book is magical and wonderful and perfection. I loved it so much. My son loved it and laughed out loud constantly. It is whimsical and fun and scary in parts and full of adventure. I'm very excited to see how the movie interpretation is later this year!<br />
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<b>Song of the Wanderer (Bruce Coville)- </b><i>Cara must travel through the wilderness of Luster, the land of the unicorns, to find her way back to Earth and save her Grandmother, the Wanderer. A surly dragon, vicious delver attacks and dangerous terrain make for a hard road and all while Beloved, the enemy of the unicorns, is watching and waiting for the opportunity to attack and steal the amulet that will let her enter Luster and finish the slaughtering of the unicorns that she began so many hundreds of years before. </i>This book started out as a chapter book with my little girl but she wasn't super into it (the beginning was very LoTR, just walking around and talking to people about what needed to be done, so I don't blame her for getting bored) so I finished it on my own and I'm glad I did. I read the first book of The Unicorn Chronicles as a little girl and loved it but never knew there were more books until very recently. <span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: black;">Holy p</span><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: black;">lot twist that </span><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: black;">I did</span><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: black;"> not see coming</span>.</span></span></span></span>The beginning is a little slow but the pace picks up quickly and the adventures are many.<br />
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<b>Dark Whispers (Bruce Coville)- </b><i>Cara must travel to the Valley of the Centaurs in pursuit of a mysterious story that could hold the key to the survival of the unicorns. </i>The 3rd book in The Unicorn Chronicles and it wastes no time diving into the adventure in this one. In this novel the point of view changes practically every chapter and that usually bothers me but I felt that in this book it made sense and it kept you guessing and antsy for what happens next. I appreciate these middle grade fantasy novels.<br />
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<b>Over Sea, Under Stone (Susand Cooper)- </b><i>The Drew children discover an ancient map in the attic of the home they are holidaying at by the sea. Quickly it is discovered that this map is special and the key to finding a powerful source to fight the evil Dark. The children, with their mysterious Great Uncle Merry, begin a perilous journey of seeking out the grail. </i>This is a fantasy series built around Arthurian legend so naturally it is wonderful. I was captivated by Great Uncle Merry and this ancient struggle between Good and Evil and the legends behind it all. It's a lovely little read. <br />
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<b>The Fairy Rebel (Lynne Reid Banks)- </b><i>Jan is sitting in her garden when she gets the biggest surprise of her life- a fairy is earthed on her toe. Tiki the fairy puts herself in terrible danger by helping Jan, who is desperate for a child, have a baby. After the Queen of the fairies discovers that there is a fairy child they must rise up against her darkness and evil. </i>This is one of my favorite books of all time. I adore this book. It leaves me so happy and I can ride that happy book high for days. It's a great story, cool illustrations and the perfect little something when you need a fairy tale.<br />
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<b>The Silver Chair (C.S. Lewis)- </b><i>Eustace and Jill escape their school bullies through a door in a wall and come out the other side into Aslan's land. Aslan himself has a task for the children. Through dangerous adventures with serpents, giants and dark tunnels they must find the lost Prince and restore him to Narnia. </i>I've yet to read a Narnia book that doesn't make me all goose bumpy. The end made me cry. Like a lot.<br />
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<b>Living Dead Girl (Elizabeth Scott)- </b>Strong sexual assault trigger here. I have a lot of feelings about this. This was an unfinished book for me because I got about a third through it and just could not. It read like torture porn for me. I understand that there is a place for things like this and as a sexual assault survivor myself I think talking about this is important but I just did not like the interpretation of assault that I saw or how frequently (like every few pages in the part that I read) it happened. Not to mention that I also didn't enjoy the writing at all. Even if the subject matter hadn't been hard for me and the subject not broached the way I would have liked it, the writing just wasn't great and I didn't enjoy the format.<br />
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<b>The Siren (Kiera Cass)- </b><i>Here is the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6618272-the-siren?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">goodreads</a> page for this book if you'd like a summary. </i>Another started but didn't finish for me. Womp. It just didn't grab my interest. I thought the idea of a siren story sounded super neat and in the first 50 something pages I hadn't gotten into the story yet so I decided to give it up.<br />
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<b>The Lost Hero (Rick Riordan)- </b><i>The first book in the Heroes of Olympus series follows 3 new heroes- Jason, Piper and Leo - as they discover their godly parentage and set off on a quest to (what else?) save the world. </i>I really enjoyed this! The ending definitely made sure I'll come back to read the rest. The first born and I started this wayyyyy back in January and we finally finished it. It's not that we weren't into it, it is just super dense and a lot of pages to get through. I loved the story told from the perspective of all 3 heroes. I felt the character development was beautiful and intentional and really noticeable. The story being woven is exciting and mysterious and I'm anxiously waiting on the next one to arrive at our library. </div>
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That's a wrap for March! Happy reading. </div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-18230735130475075042016-03-21T05:28:00.001-07:002016-03-21T05:28:50.933-07:00100 Things I Love<div style="text-align: center;">
books. cupcakes. sugar skulls. natural light. opera. tulips. yarn. white noise. clue. senior dogs. dr. pepper. spring. baking. gilmore girls. brick houses. wrap around porches. the ocean. flowers in vases. children's lit. gold. lemonade. granny squares. netflix. linen smell. the color aqua. rainbow book shelves. earrings. white cupboards. wood floors. picnics. slides. crocheting. fantasy novels. harry potter. coffee aisles. children. marriage. butter. thunderstorms. beards. seaweed salad. cozy blankets. cotton dresses. ice. decorating cakes. growing flowers. day trips. museums. hammerhead sharks. board books. zoos. celtic accents. trashy novels. aquariums. bunting. bookcases. ice cream sandwiches. chocolate. stacks of books. old photographs. josh groban. husband. coconut rum. names. windows. sunflowers. sex. teapots. beauty and the beast. toy stores. fire. going out to eat. memory boxes. school photos. holding hands. squishy chairs. fireworks. youtube. book vloggers. pajamas. being a mama. reading out loud. naps. christmas. birthdays. doors. walks. short hair. new years. knit hats. stickers. spanish moss. islands. laughing. peaches. peanut butter. star gazing. book stores. azalea bushes. pets.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-85356353998265373412016-03-15T06:44:00.001-07:002016-03-15T06:44:37.390-07:00List 10- Beginning Chapter BooksReading is a passion of mine, if you didn't know, and passing down the love of reading to my children is one of my top goals as a mother. Over the past few months my 4 year old and I have started diving into the brand new world (for her) of chapter books! Here is my list of 10 GREAT beginning chapter books for you and your preschooler with one sentence on why it's great- <br />
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<b>1. Amelia Bedelia (Peggy Parish)- </b>Amelia Bedelia will follow all of your instructions exactly which leads to some pretty hilarious mix ups and shenanigans that will have your kid LOLing.<br />
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<b>2. Dinosaurs Before Dark- Magic Tree House #1 (Mary Pope Osborne)- </b>A magic treehouse transports 2 kids anywhere in history that they want to visit so your kid is sure to find a book with a topic they are interested in and learn some cool facts.<br />
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<b>3. Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (Barbara Park)- </b>Junie B. Jones is a sassy little lady with a penchant for getting into trouble and making preschoolers giggle themselves silly.<br />
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<b>4. The Mercy Watson series (Kate DiCamillo)- </b>Full of piggy adventures, buttery toast, funny supporting characters and bright illustrations it is sure to be engaging and fun for any beginning chapter book enjoyer. (It is my daughter's personal favorite.)<br />
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<b><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;">5. Tales From Deckawoo Drive (Kate DiCamillo)- </span></span></b><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;">Following some supporting characters from the Mercy <span style="color: #0000ee;">Watson seri<span style="color: #0000ee;">es, these books are just as fun and <span style="color: #0000ee;">and colorful as the piggy tales. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"> <b>6. Beezua and Ramona (Beverly Cleary)- </b>A <span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;">witty, imaginat<span style="color: #0000ee;">ive, joy<span style="color: #0000ee;">fully</span></span> </span>eng<span style="color: #0000ee;">aging <span style="color: #0000ee;">read that anyone with a sibling<span style="color: #0000ee;"> can relate to. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><b>7. Fantastic Mr. Fox<span style="color: #0000ee;"> (Roald Dahl)- </span></b><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;">Follow Mr. Fox on hi<span style="color: #0000ee;">s clever adventure to outwit the farmers<span style="color: #0000ee;"> in this brief 96 pages and use your voice acting chops to play it up and make it extra fun.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #0000ee;">8<span style="color: #0000ee;">. The Princess in Black (Shannon and D<span style="color: #0000ee;">ean Hale)<span style="color: #0000ee;">- </span></span></span></span></b><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;">One of my perso<span style="color: #0000ee;">n<span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;">al</span> favorites because it </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;">tosses aside the <span style="color: #0000ee;">boring idea of what a princess shou<span style="color: #0000ee;">ld be and introduces a fun, kick ass princess that is gor<span style="color: #0000ee;">geously <span style="color: #0000ee;">displayed in vivid colorful <span style="color: #0000ee;">illustrations.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><b>9. Emma and the Blue Genie (Cornelia Funke)-<span style="color: #0000ee;"> </span></b><span style="color: #0000ee;">Another book full of colorful illust<span style="color: #0000ee;">rations that depict an adventure between a girl and her dog and the genie she <span style="color: #0000ee;">find<span style="color: #0000ee;">s washed<span style="color: #0000ee;"> up on the beach.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"> <b>The BFG (Roald Dahl)- </b>A hilariously ridonculous fantastical tale of a girl and the Big Friendly Giant that kids laugh out loud to and can't get enough of. (Bonus- read it now and watch the movie when it comes out!)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"> </span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-58450952120659978832016-03-14T06:32:00.002-07:002016-03-14T10:00:40.377-07:0020ish Bookish Facts About Me1. I prefer paperbacks to hard cover. I just love the pliability and feel of a paperback and the lighter weight really helps when carrying it around in my bag.<br />
2. The first book I ever bought with 'my own money' was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when I was 12 or 13. I found 5 dollars in a parking lot and ran back inside the store we'd just left to buy it.<br />
3. My homeschool teacher found out that I was reading the 2nd HP book and had never read the first so she bought it for me and had me start all over.<br />
4. That teacher, who is also my mentor and friend to this day, is 1000% responsible for me picking up a very good reading habit as a teen.<br />
5. My favorite book for a very long time was The Hobbit.<br />
6. It isn't anymore. In fact, I can't choose a favorite book. Depending on my mood and the time of year and what I've read recently, different books always come to mind first.<br />
7. When I'm reading during my free time with no one around I always turn on some sort of classical or jazz playlist and turn the volume on low. I enjoy that background noise.<br />
8. I dog ear books. :/ Womp womp. I know this is severely frowned upon. I really plan on stopping. I just lose bookmarks so easilyyyy.<br />
9. I am very cheap about buying books. I almost always buy 2nd hand. This has become harder for me recently because I LOVE LOVE LOVE that feel of a brand spanking new book. That buttery, never held before feeling. But books are expensive, yo.<br />
10. My book shelves are currently organized by color.<br />
11. All of my children's books are on different bookcases and they aren't super organized except by, like, type. Like, board books on one shelf, Little Golden books, tall books, chapter books, etc.<br />
12. The book I've read the most is probably.... any of the first 4 Harry Potter books. I've read a few other books twice but never more than that.<br />
13. I read to my siblings out loud a lot. That's how I've managed to read HP so many times, actually. I read each of them to my siblings individually as well as reading them on my own a couple of times. And now I get to read them all over again with MY kids.<br />
14. My parents are not 'bookish' people. My dad has read a bit but my mom hates reading, books, libraries and anything to do with literature. For real. I don't know where my love of reading really came from. I have just always loved books.<br />
15. The first (and only) signed book I've ever received was As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes. My husband bought it for me for my birthday last year and I flipped the flip out.<br />
16. I've only been to one midnight book release and it was for the last Harry Potter book. It was fun as hizell. I took my siblings, who were 12 and 14 at the time, and we were sorted into houses and got to play games and all that jazz.<br />
17. I only read my first audio book last year. It's still a new thing for me. I don't have a lot of opportunity for audio books, what with having very loud children running around me at all times.<br />
18. I used to read several books at once. I had a car book that was in the car, my bag book that I took everywhere, my book beside the bed that I read at night or when I first woke up in the morning. Now I have to chill out with all of that and I try to not be reading one book (on my own, not counting chapter books read aloud to my kids) at a time. <br />
19. I have only read maybe 3 e-books. I should definitely invest in an e-reader of some sort because it would be great to not have SO MANY BOOKS but the honest truth is... I love physical copies of books. They are my drug of choice. I love having them on my shelves and feeling them and smelling them and generally being a creepy asshole with them.<br />
20. I love book covers and I will 100% buy a book based on its cover. No shame.<br />
21. I am still really sad that I didn't go to Hogwarts and I'm not a witch.<br />
22. My top 5 favorite books read in the past year are- The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, Wonder by R.J.Palacio, The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, The BFG by Roald Dahl, and Me Before You by JoJo Moyes.<br />
23. I spoiled the entire ending of The Hunger Games trilogy for my sister. I thought she had read the last book and let slip that whole big thing that happens (YOU KNOW) and... yeah. Whoops. I still feel awful, 4 years later.<br />
24. I generally don't read the premise of a book other than like the basics. I don't like to read too much about what something is about because I like going into it with mystery. Plus I am SUPER weird about spoilers but after that thing with my sister can you blame me.<br />
25. Dumbledore dying in HP was spoiled for me by an acquaintance. Had it been in person and not over the internet, heads would have been rolling.<br />
26. I never watch the movie before reading the book. I think plenty of movies based on books are amazing. It's not that I am a prude about it. I just prefer reading and immersing myself in a story through books before watching it on the screen.<br />
27. I almost always read a book before making a purchase. I'll usually borrow it from a friend or from the library and then add it to my 'to buy' list if I love it.<br />
28. Exceptions to the above mostly involve series. If I know I enjoy a series I will usually buy the next book in it without reading it first.<br />
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And that's 20(ish) bookish facts you might not have known about me but now do. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-74859219072095267912016-03-03T04:45:00.004-08:002016-03-03T04:45:42.596-08:00Little ConfessionsWelcome to another Confessional Thursday.<br />
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I confess....<br />
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I pretty much never get dressed. If there is a place to go I will put on pants,... but otherwise? Pajama day is every day. Sorry not sorry.<br />
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If it isn't pajama pants, it will always be leggings. ALWAYS. Do I even own a pair of jeans anymore?<br />
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I confess that I have neglected pretty much everything except my children for 2 days while I've finished Me Before You, which I became way more invested in than I thought I would. Despite it being what I found predictable, I really enjoyed it and there are few things as good as getting lost in a book.<br />
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This week I have drank nothing but lemonade. I blame the Spring like weather. It is warm and sunny and feels like the right kind of time for a tall glass of sour sweetness.<br />
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There is a giant stack of library books that just came in for us and I am overjoyed at the mere sight of it. I often find myself thinking 'I would much rather be reading' when I'm having to socialize. Good thing my kids and husband are also book nerds.<br />
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I confess that yesterday I started vacuuming under the couch cushions with our big shop vac and somehow this led to me vacuuming the cracks between the wooden floor slats... and it was the most satisfying thing I have done in a long time. Vacuuming is such an instant gratification sort of thing. Somehow that led to me washing walls so I think it's safe to say Spring cleaning is happening.<br />
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And that'll do for this round. Happy confession making!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-46659370979556770952016-03-02T10:16:00.000-08:002016-04-19T19:02:50.836-07:002016 MMD Reading ChallengeI love a good reading list. Challenges are easily the best of the reading lists for me. No actual books to read but a list of categories to fill. Yes please. Modern Mrs. Darcy is one of my most favorite blogs and this is my first year partaking in the reading challenge but I am very excited about!<br />
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So far I have managed to check off-<br />
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<i><b>A Book You Can Finish In A Day- </b></i><br />
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I've actually managed to get through a few books in a day over the past 2 months but Tuck Everlasting was the OG. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is youthful, sweet, and will give you a big case of the feels.<i><b> </b></i><br />
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<i><b>A Book You've Been Meaning To Read-</b></i><br />
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When I started using Goodreads back... 2ish years ago? This was one of the first books I put on my 'to read' list. I've always been intrigued by Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and indeed it proved to be a very intriguing read. It's one of those books with such a perfect cover, you know it has to be good. There are a few more books that I've crossed off my list this year. Divergent, The Selection, Tuck Everlasting. But this is the most memorable one, I think.<br />
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<i><b>A Book Published Before You Were Born- </b></i><br />
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Published in 1983, Heartburn by Nora Ephron fits the bill. It was kind of a flop for me. I enjoyed many aspects of it individually (the recipes shared, some plot elements) but together it didn't do much for me.<br />
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And that's 3 of 12. Something I have a hard time with is remembering to factor in challenge reads to my book buying/borrowing. I think a good step for me will be to actually make a list of the books I want to use to fill the categories so that I don't end up in December with 10 MMD books to read. I'll get cracking at that but it's not a bad start so far.<br />
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Happy reading! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-38993226017319228092016-02-29T05:59:00.004-08:002016-02-29T05:59:58.102-08:00February Reads<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Another month of good reading. The cold months are very good for that. Here's what I read in February...</div>
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<b>I Feel Bad About My Neck And Other Thoughts On Being A Woman (Nora Ephron)- </b><i>A collection of short chronicles on being a woman and the anxiety and maintenance of getting older.</i><b> </b>I'd heard a lot of her books mentioned recently and randomly saw this book at our local library while I was waiting on an audio book of hers to arrive. So I grabbed and thought it would be a fast, easy read, which it was. It was not entertaining for me however. Maybe I'm not at the right age. Maybe I'll appreciate it more when I'm older. I think it could be one of those things, you know? This time around it wasn't great. I did love the final chapter, where she talks a bit about death and knowing your own mortality and such, but the rest was a bit of a dud for me.<br />
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<b>Heartburn (Nora Ephron)- </b><i>Ephron relives the demise of her own marriage in a tale told from the perspective of Rachel, who at 7 months pregnant discovers that her husband is having an affair and is in love with another woman. </i>This book was not bad. I have to preface with that. It was fine. It was funny in parts. Maybe Ephron is just not my jam because it wasn't side splitting to me the way it seemed to be to other people. We all have our things, right? I listened to the audio book of this, read by Meryl Streep, and I think that was a lot of the problem. Meryl Streep was phenomenal. Truly. She did a great job! It was just that it was a 179 page book and it was FIVE AND A HALF HOURS of audio. I could have finished it in under 2 hours and that's all I could think while listening to it. I think it would have more enjoyable for me if I'd read it rather than listened to it.<br />
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<b>The Distant Hours (Kate Morton)- </b><i>A mysterious story following 3 elderly sisters and the secrets they have kept for over 50 years. A young woman stumbles upon them while trying to unravel her own mother's past. </i>Kate Morton, I think I love you. I read The Forgotten Garden a while back and loved it. This book has taken me months to plow through, not because of any fault of it's own but because I've been entranced with library orders and since I OWN this book it didn't have the same shiny appeal of library books with a very loud return date. HOWEVER, it was fantastic. It was a toss back and forth between the 1940's and the 90's, which I am always intrigued by, and had the makings of a delicious historical mystery thriller. A spooky old castle, secrets long hidden, an English country side, a dark and stormy night... I'm glad I own this one.<br />
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<b>The Elite (Kiera Cass)- </b>I blogged about reading <a href="http://breathingkairos.blogspot.com/2016/02/january-reads.html" target="_blank">The Selection</a> in January and now I'll tell you all about how I felt reading the rest of the series, so <span style="color: #cc0000;">spoiler warning</span> in case you are reading these! <i>The Selection has been narrowed down from 35 girls to 6. Amid growing threat from outside rebel forces, America has to decide where her heart lies. With Prince Maxon or with her first love? </i>This was another fun, fluffy read. It's great for a quick reading escape if you like some marshmallow romance. Admittedly, the lack of character development for like 2 and a half books was throwing me off but I DID enjoy it. Because I know there are a lot of people reading it I don't want to give anything away!<br />
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<b>The One (Kiera Cass)- </b><i>The Selection is nearly over. One must be crowned. </i>Again, I don't want to give anything away! This was my favorite of the series so far. I thought the plot thickened nicely. The emotions were a little over simplified and it had me cussing at imaginary people a few times but sometimes that happens with books, am I right? #booknerdlife<br />
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<b>The Heir (Kiera Cass)- <span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>SPOILERS, TURN AWAY NOW</i></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><span style="color: black;"> Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing about her parents' epic story of finding true love and happily ever after through The Selection but she isn't interested in finding a Prince Charming of her own. Fate intervenes and this princess is going to have to put on a brave face and make her way through her very own selection. But she has no plans to fall in love or end her Selection with a ring on her finger. </span></i><span style="color: black;">It was a little meh to go from America's story to Eadlyn's because I liked America. I also wanted to hear all about how America and Maxon fixed the country and got rid of those pesky rebels but that is largely skipped over in this book. I know there are short stories and such so maybe I will search for those. I also found Eadlyn slightly insufferable through a lot of it but I think you're meant to? She had her endearing moments and I loved her brothers and their whole family dynamic.The end of this caught me completely by surprise! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">I do have to say that I love love love Kiera Cass as a person and want to be buddies with her and her acknowledgement sections were often my favorite parts of the entire book because she is SO CUTE. Those book covers are also SUPER swoon worthy. Love them. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children<i> </i>(Ransom Riggs)- </b><i>A horrible tragedy sends 16 year old Jacob on a journey to the island his grandfather escaped to during WWII. There he plans to search for answers to all of the mystery surrounding his grandfather's early life but what he finds is more than shocking. Uncovering secrets older than he could imagine, he immerses himself in a world of peculiar children and dangerous enemies. </i>I loooooved this book. It has been on my to read list for over a year and I randomly purchased it last weekend for funsies and I'm glad I did because I would have wanted to own it anyway. It's beautifully told and the old photographs that go along with the book are fantastic. My copy had an interview with the author and I think that made it even more fun and interesting. The story is haunting and equal parts sad and liberating. It is such a diverse and intricate world you step into. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Insurgent (Veronica Roth)- <span style="color: #cc0000;">Possible Spoilers</span> </b><i>The 2nd book in the Divergence series, Insurgent follows Tris in her escape after the attack on her old faction. War is blooming. Haunted by her grief and decisions, Tris must learn what being Divergent truly is and embrace it no matter the cost. </i>I loved this book. It definitely has middle book syndrome. The story drags a little for a while. I see a lot of people complaining about the characters changing so much between the last book and this one but like... they kind of went through a lot, right? To me it made sense that they were different people and they didn't have the same characteristics we'd grown used to. You have to get used to the new dynamic but that's how life actually is, right? People change, especially under stress. Anyway. I really enjoyed it. Very excited to read the next one and FINALLY watch the movies. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><b>The Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes)- </b><i>Thinking he'd left his childhood friends behind, Tony is surprised when his closest friends return, one of them from the grave, after he is well past middle age. He is forced to reconsider his relationships and things he thought he'd understood all along as a mysterious new legacy is put before him. </i>This was very compelling. So much of it was really rather scary. The big ideas and grand gestures and plans of youth replaced by essentially just letting life happen to you in later years. The philosophy aspect, which I'm sure is very interesting for some people, was pretty meh for me because I don't really care but the human parts were very raw and I felt like I was watching a wound closing and being opened again. I did not see the end coming at all. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">I'm about to head off on a walk to the library for more books. A heaping pile of books are waiting on hold for me there and I am a delighted lady. Happy reading! </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-40143139820368674022016-02-18T04:43:00.005-08:002016-02-18T04:43:58.038-08:00Little ConfessionsAnother confession filled Thursday? As my goddess Amy Poehler states- Yes Please.<br />
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- Deadpool is the filthy, R-rated, swear wordy, Ryan Reynolds flopping penis filled, gory movie you can't bring home to Mama and I loved every second of it. I'm one of those geeks that has been waiting around for a Deadpool movie since forever and it is FINALLY here and it is beautiful in all of its filthy glory. Thoroughly enjoyed. Will probably see it in theaters again before buying it as soon as it is released.<br />
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- Valentine's brunch was lovely and full of heart shaped pizza and caprese skewers and making bird feeders. Then I got sick. A cold came out of nowhere and kicked my ass and I have been down for the count since Sunday afternoon. Instead of sexy fun V-day times, I napped from 3 to 7 and then went back to bed around 10 and slept on and off for the next 2 days. Me and cold meds have a serious fling going on right now. Nyquil, will you be my Valentine?<br />
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- Our kids are dinosaur obsessed (is there anyone with a kid that isn't?) and have begged to see Jurassic World and we decided to let them watch it and just fast forward through the gory/scarier parts. It worked out well. The only thing that scared Alice Mae (and ME because I forgot it happened) was that scene with the hand that slaps up onto the car window. Yeah. Alice was having NONE OF THAT BUSINESS. She screamed. Very loud. But in general she is the kid who loves all things gross (she will ball her tiny little fists up and smile so big while saying in a very excited voice 'this is gonna be SO AWFUL') so it was just a little scare and then back to the action. Ollie was fine but he had a very deep attachment to the dinosaurs so when the first one ended up dead he was shattered. Sob city. The end (<span style="color: #cc0000;">SPOILER ALERT</span>) where some of the raptors didn't make it? Do not even start. He cried for a solid 10 minutes. That kid has a big heart. All in all though, a nice movie night with the kids who already think Chris Pratt is the ultimate BAMF because of The Guardians of the Galaxy.<br />
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- Because of being sick and Valentine's weekend plans and such, it has been over a week since our last library trip. I need my fix! Even though I have 2 books at home that I own and am currently reading. Life is not complete without a fresh new stack of library books.<br />
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That'll do it for this gal who still needs at least one nap a day to feel up to life. Go forth and be random.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-92118732813703518542016-02-11T06:03:00.000-08:002016-02-11T06:03:17.159-08:00Little ConfessionsI've never done a confessions post but it sounds fun so I'm going for it!<br />
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- I did yoga camp for 30 days in January and I haven't done jack all since. I probably need to find a daily workout I can do in my living room but so far I've been too busy... not doing that. #sorrynotsorry<br />
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- My reading list keeps getting longer and longer and at this point I am having panic attacks about how I will never get to read all of the books I want to read before I die.<br />
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- Yesterday I was so lazy that my kid had toast for breakfast and cereal for lunch and then I saw this meme and I was like oh snap, it's like January (from Birth Without Fear) knows me or something. Cue the 'I always feel like somebody's watching meeeeee' song. Ain't no shame in my mama game. #nailingit<br />
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- We have started the Spring cleaning process a little early this year. My confession? We cleaned out our room. Our room that was just one mountain of dirty laundry that I have ignored for months. Some of it wasn't even dirty. It was clean laundry that I pretended wasn't there and never put away. The good news is it that it's all out of there now. The bad news is that it's in my kitchen (where our washing machine is) and it's a slow washing process due to our tiny machine.<br />
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That's about all I have in me right now. A girl has to have some mystery after all. Head over to The Newly if you want to link up with your own confessions.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-53672971645415504672016-02-05T05:03:00.000-08:002016-02-05T05:03:40.184-08:00A(nother) Baby BlanketLast year I made the resolution to crochet a blanket for each of my friends' new babies throughout the year. I decided to continue on with that this year and because I know such fertile myrtles there is already one done and dusted and being mailed off tomorrow.<br />
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Here's a problem I run into literally every time I go to make something. Color. I love color, I think I'm quite good at matching color, but it mostly gives me a hardcore panic attack in the moment and I have a VERY hard time choosing. Most of the time I just ask someone what they want or I'll make a blanket based on what I know they like. Like the Jets color blanket I made for my friend's baby last year. Easy enough! This friend had no idea what colors she wanted, though, and only mentioned something about probably going with a very bright scheme of pink and blue so I went to the store unarmed and ultimately had an anxiety attack over what colors to choose. But then I thought why choose any colors at all? Why not let the yarn do all the work for me? And ta-da, a variegated blanket was born and in the perfect colors, I think!<br />
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The color is Bon Bon by Red Heart. I used nearly 3 skeins to get this size, which is about 37 inches from corner to corner. I had enough left over to make a headband to go with it and some more after that (enough perhaps to make some granny squares for my Weasley Blanket). I used <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rainbow-ripple-baby-blanket" target="_blank">this ripple blanket pattern </a>which I highly recommend. Super easy to follow, fast and pretty. I've used it at least twice in the past.<br />
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I'm pretty obsessed with this blanket. I love the colors. I love the feel of it and the size and the shape and all of the pointy, flower like goodness. It leaves for it's new home tomorrow and I can't wait to see the little miss all wrapped up in it when she arrives soon.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-57106995348409283972016-02-01T05:42:00.001-08:002016-02-01T05:42:25.843-08:00January ReadsHard to believe January is already done and over with and in the bag. The Winter months always seem to be good for my reading. All of that snuggling under blankets and trying to cuddle up and stay warm means more reading. Here's what we started our year off with-<br />
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<b>The Mouse and the Motorcycle (Beverly Cleary)- </b><i>Ralph the mouse lives in the knothole of a hotel room. When he makes friends with a little boy who comes to stay, the boy lets him borrow his toy motorcycle and makes little Ralph's dreams come true. </i>Starting off strong with some Cleary. Always good for the soul<i>. </i>I had so much fun reading this book with the kids and they enjoyed it as well. One of those books that they begged for more than one chapter at a time. It was a quick read for us and such a sweet book to cuddle up to.<br />
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<b>The Reapers are the Angels (Alden Bell)- </b><i>Temple is a young girl wandering on her own in a fallen world where a plague of the dead haunts everyone. </i>I picked up this book because I'd heard a few people talk it up. I wasn't hugely impressed. The writing style is lovely and the characters are really well developed and full but something was just missing for me. Maybe it was reading it so close to The Girl with All the Gifts that did it in for me because that book was so devastatingly good but although I enjoyed this book as a whole, it didn't ring any bells for me. It had some really interesting differences to other books in the zombie genre so I'd definitely recommend anyone interested in that genre to check it out. I enjoyed that in general the book had little to do with the zombies and more to do with what life for people living in a world like that would be like.<br />
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<b>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling)- </b><i>The final chapter of the Harry Potter series. </i>I hadn't read this book since it's release date however many years ago and I remember being disappointed with it. I think it was mostly that I was disappointed that the books were coming to a close or maybe 20 year old April was just too young to appreciate it. For whatever reason, I enjoyed it so much more this time around. And now that I've finished reading the entire series again (many of those books for the 5th or 6th time) I get to start it all over again with my kids which is actually kind of exciting.<br />
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<b>The Last Olympian (Rick Riordan)- </b><i>The campers of Camp Half-Blood have been preparing for a full year to battle against the newly risen Titan lord Kronos. Percy Jackson must face the unfolding of the long awaited prophecy as a battle for Western civilization plays out in the streets of New York City. </i>Another last for us. The first born and I were so sad to be done and we sped through it much faster than usual, reading multiple chapters after school as well as before bed time. I think this book was definitely the best of them all and it was very fulfilling to see the character bloom and come into their own. We're reading The Lost Hero now, which still has some of our Olympus friends in it, which dulls the blow of goodbye a little bit.<br />
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<b>Tuck Everlasting (Natalie Babbitt)- </b><i>Winnie Foster stumbles upon the Tucks quite by accident while attempting to run away from her stuffy home. Once she learns their secret, events unfold that will tie the family to her forever, quite literally. </i>I had never read this and was looking for an easy read. It's a charming book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A very quick read if you're looking for one but definitely full of enough action and pretty words to keep you interested.<br />
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<b>Autobiography of Red (Anne Carson)- </b><i>A book in verse, Carson re-imagines the Greek myth of the red winged monster Geryon. </i>It was wholly beautiful and heavy and tender. The writing style was perfectly unique and the story was gripping and heart breaking. I can't wait to read more by Anne Carson now that I've discovered her.</div>
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<b>The Selection (Kiera Cass)- </b><i>A selection of 35 young women is chosen from the country to attempt to win the heart of Prince Maxon. It's a chance to change their lives and take them out of the caste they were born into. </i>I started this book not entirely sure what I'd think. I'd seen it on a few book lists and had some friends recommend it to me. I did enjoy it. It's definitely fluff reading but there's nothing wrong with some fluff in your life. It took me about half the book to really get into it but once I did I was hooked. I'd describe as being like Cinderella entering The Hunger Games. There's a little danger, a lot of pretty dresses, some love triangle action. A good read for when you don't want to ponder things too hard.<br />
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<b>Divergent (Veronica Roth)- </b><i>A dystopian world where the people are divided into factions dedicated to a specific virtue. Sixteen year old Beatrice must choose a faction to dedicate her life to on the appointed day. Can she choose what she feels is right for her or will she stay in the comfort of her family's faction? </i>I don't know why I haven't read these before. It's right up my alley. I just kept forgetting about them, to be honest. I've even made myself stay away from the movies all this time because I prefer to read the books before I see the movie. I picked it up on a whim simply because I saw it at the library and was like why not and I'm hooked. Hooked I tell you. I stayed up way later than I should have reading this book and I had to text my sister the next morning and bed her for the next book (knowing she owns them) so that I wouldn't have to wait on the library to mail it to us here in the boondocks. I'm sure most people have read this by now so I don't really have to talk it up but if you like dystopian YA, like The Hunger Games for instance, you'll probably like this. A lot. BRB, gotta go finish these books.<br />
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That's a wrap for the first month of 2016. I hope you're reading something good and staying warm. xx Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-19311045522560230442016-01-29T04:58:00.000-08:002016-01-29T04:58:03.453-08:00Friday FivePhew. That week went by fast. I'm not complaining. It's hard to believe this is the last weekend of January though. How does time do that? Here's 5 things occupying my time and mind this week-<br />
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<b>1. It snowed! A little. </b>Saturday we woke up to a very light dusting of snow but it was our first snow in a whole year so we got out of bed early and put on our warm clothes over our PJs and went to play. Five minutes in Miss Mae remembered she hates the snow and went back inside because she was miserable but the first born was all about it. If we didn't have somewhere to be he could have stayed out there until it melted. Definitely his daddy's yankee son. Al is my southern belle.<br />
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<b>2. The Circus. </b>Tickets to the circus were a gift to our kids from my MIL this past Christmas. It's not something that I'd personally buy tickets for because the animals make me sad and I don't want to put my money into supporting that kind of thing, but the people parts of the circus are rad. It would be cool if they'd just get rid of the animal parts and have it be all people doing cool stuff. The kids had a good time and I hope they enjoyed it because we are never taking them back to a place where cotton candy costs 14 dollars and a snow cone costs 12. Seriously.<br />
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<b>3. Alice is turning 5 soon. </b>In 3 months my baby turns 5. I don't know how that happened. I don't know how I blinked and she grew up. She's the sassiest thing I've ever seen and I could just spread her on a cracker and eat her. I will be counting down the days to her birthday very bitter sweetly. I'm so excited for year 5. She gets to go to school for the first time! But 5 has always seemed like a big deal to me and she's leaving the baby years. <br />
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<b>4. What we're reading. </b>My latest book is Divergent, which I've been meaning to read for ages. I happened to see it sitting on a shelf at the library so I grabbed it up before I could forget about it again. I've even kept myself away from the movies so that I could do the books first, because that's what I prefer. Al and I are still deep into some Mercy Watson books and Junie B. Jones and Ollie and I have started with a new Rick Riordan series now that we're done with Percy Jackson. We've got The Lost Hero and we're enjoying it. I like his love of Greek mythology. It's pretty cool.<br />
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<b>5. Weekend plans. </b>This weekend we're gonna party so hard. We're gonna get wild and crazy. We're gonna turn up that music so loud. We're gonna get crunk. No but really... we're going to clean a lot and maybe go to the library in the morning. The house is a wreck and both kids need to clean their bedrooms and I have like 5 loads of laundry to do so we'll be staying in. We really turn up the music super loud though because that's how I like to clean. While dancing and singing.<br />
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Cheers to the freakin' weekend! <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-11929520072933365462016-01-22T05:18:00.001-08:002016-01-25T08:33:37.457-08:00Friday Five<br />
T.G.I.F ammirite?<br />
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Some going ons around the Kairos household.<br />
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<b>1. What We're Reading- </b>I just finished up The Deathly Hallows, which was magical (get it... get it??? but seriously) and started Tuck Everlasting. The first born is obsessed with Percy Jackson still but sadly we are nearly finished with the final book. It will be so sad when we're done.<br />
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<b>2. Severe Winter Weather Warning- </b>The South is in for it, y'all. So far in our area we've only had a lot of rain overnight and no freezing as of yet but I'm not holding out hope that we'll be passed by entirely. It's always a little scary when we have ice storms because of how many huge power outages even us younguns have been through due to winter weather. Hoping to keep the power on! Because heat is really nice in 20 degree weather. <br />
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<b>3. Speaking of Deathly Hallows- </b>I happened to have just started DH when the news of Allan Rickman's death broke. It was really heartbreaking for me. I am not a huge Snape fan (touchy subject since a lot of HP fans seem to worship Snape) but Rickman was the perfect Half-Blood Prince. Perfect. And he was so perfect in so many other notable roles, one of my favorites being Dr. Lazarus in Galaxy quest. I couldn't just let my book go back to the library without a nod to the beautiful bastard so I snuck a little sketch into the last chapter of Snape.<br />
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<b>4. Looking for Valentine's Ideas- </b>It's only a few weeks away! Husband and I already have plans for a hot date to see Deadpool (anyone else wickedly excited for that movie?) and a dinner out the night before but I want to spend the actual day with the babes and have a little Valentine's party! Pinterest to the rescue! I already have some fun pink straws and heart pattern cups and a so cute tablecloth with doodles for the kids to color. All bought at Wal Mart for a total of about 4 bucks. Now to plan the food and games and maybe a cute movie?<br />
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<b>5. And that's it- </b>Other than some crochet projects that I don't feel like getting up to take photos of and some books I'm excited to read, I don't have anything to talk about! Stay warm! Get your weekend on. I'm going to use up every second of mine.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-13417219051080896042016-01-11T08:02:00.002-08:002016-01-11T08:02:53.942-08:00A Book Challenge!I like lists. It's a thing about me. I make lists all the time. Checking things off of lists? Best. Thing. Ever. So satisfying. I'm a fan of book challenges because it gives me things to focus on when trying to pick my next book. I thought, why not challenge my kiddo this year as well? Give him his own reading challenge to complete? And so, this short list was born.<br />
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The 2016 Reading Challenge! Really, this could be for any age or grade or reading level. Adults, preschoolers, young adult, elementary aged, whatever! (Maybe as an adult you don't have a teacher or teacher friend to recommend a book, you could ask your favorite librarian instead!) I made it specifically for my 8 year old to keep him interested and challenged and looking for new and different things. If this goes well we might add to it through the year. The possibilities for a reading challenge are really endless! You can totally freestyle it and do your own thang. Hopefully this gives you a nice jumping off point though!<br />
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We'll be utilizing our challenge list by printing it and taping it to the wall next to our book log so that we can cross off challenges as we complete them and add them to our book list. I'm excited to see what will be chosen to fit each category!<br />
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Happy reading! <br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-44701659507999447422016-01-08T06:48:00.002-08:002016-01-08T06:48:54.092-08:00Friday FiveWe've survived the first week of the new year! And it was a pretty good one for us.<br />
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<b>1. Yoga- </b>I'm challenging myself to complete the 30 days of yoga camp from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFKE7WVJfvaHW5q283SxchA" target="_blank">Yoga with Adriene</a>. I just completed day 7 and I'm so proud of myself! It has been a struggle some days but overall I definitely feel a difference. My body doesn't hurt these days! I feel some soreness from using muscles that have been overlooked for a while, but I don't feel the back pain and joint pain that I'm accustomed to. Bonus- Alice has seen me doing this and she has started her own morning yoga routine as well. If you aren't familiar with yoga for kids, it's SO healthy for them and has so many physical and mental benefits. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga" target="_blank">Cosmic Kids Yoga</a> is amazing and I highly recommend. My kids love it.<br />
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<b>2. Making All the Blankets- </b>I started making a granny square and somehow that turned into me making myself a blanket. Then I joined a CAL for a penguin blanket (because PENGUINS!!!!) and so now I am covered in blanket squares. I ain't even mad. I am loving my penguin.<br />
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<b>3. Walks- </b>I'm trying to work on my anxiety and get out of the house more. First step has been trying to make a weekly date of walking to the library with the kids. So far so good. We finally had some days with no rain this week and although it was chilly the sun felt so nice. <br />
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<b>4. My Favorite Christmas Gift- </b>Percival the Penguin. A painted masterpiece from husband that now sits at home right above my yarn shelves. I love him so much. He is my favorite thing ever.<br />
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<b>5. 365- </b>This year I am trying to remember to take a picture of myself every day. For a few reasons. One being I think it will be really cool to see the changes in myself from day 1 to day 365. I'm not stressing about when or where. Usually they are at the end of the day and I look tired and ready for bed, which I am. And that's cool. That's what my life is like and I'm trying to document that in as many ways as possible. <br />
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That sums up our first week of 2016. Almost typed 2015. That's gonna happen for another 7 months.<br />
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Head on over to <a href="http://farmerbell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">September Farm</a> to see more Friday goodness! <br />
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<span id="goog_1993971751"></span><span id="goog_1993971752"></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-4211518597870744062016-01-04T07:02:00.002-08:002016-01-04T07:02:43.565-08:00Why Not?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Husband and I have been talking about this new year we find ourselves in and all of the possibilities. We are blessed every January with a new beginning. The Earth begins another rotation. We can step over the threshold and onto a clean slate. What will we choose to do with this new chapter? What choices can we make to feel better, do better, love better. How can we live our best lives and be our best selves. We've talked out our goals, both individually and as a family, and we've talked about having a special motto or word to help motivate us.<br />
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He has decided his motto will be JUST DO IT and let Shia Labeouf be his spirit guide for the year and although we are only 4 days into this new year, it's working for him! When he finds himself unable to make a decision or doubting himself he just says JUST DO IT and goes for it and it's helping him. I think that's pretty neat! And it gives us endless opportunities to do our Shia impressions.<br />
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I've just this morning decided on mine. <i>Why not? </i>To everything I will reply 'why not'. I want to fall in love with my life. Why not read all children's literature all day, every day? Why not go for a walk every day? Why not do yoga every day? Why not have a Harry Potter marathon and eat only Harry Potter recipes for a week straight? Why not do the things that make me happy and healthy whenever I feel like doing them. I don't want to regret anything. So WHY NOT.<br />
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We've just stepped into this brand new, shiny new year that is bubbling over with possibility. Another 12 months of blissful chaos. Why not try to make every day count and make everything as happy and full of love and light as possible. There are things I've always wanted to do. I've always wanted to run a 5K but I kept holding back waiting to be in better shape. But WHY NOT run a 5K NOW? I've always wanted to make a yoga a daily practice but I keep putting it off out of total laziness and feeling like there isn't enough time in my day. Why not go for it and make it a habit and carve out some time for myself? I always want to make library trips with my girl a weekly tradition so that we have something fun to do when our boys are away but I always hold back from it because of my anxiety and just end up going on Saturdays with Husband. But why not go and do it and have those fun memories to look back on with Alice when she's grown up?<br />
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So maybe this year we all ask ourselves why not or we find our inner Shia and just do it. Go for it. Live the life you want. What's stopping you? What holds you back? If the answer is yourself, maybe you can change that. That's my hope for this year. I want to go for it every day. <i>Because why the hell not.</i><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-47784248913615636202015-12-29T05:22:00.002-08:002015-12-29T05:23:49.770-08:00December ReadsDecember has been a nice, cozy time for curling up with good books. I've enjoyed a lot of really really great books which is an awesome way to end the year.<br />
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<b>The Family Under the Bridge (Natalie Savage Carlson)- </b>This delightful Parisian tale follows hobo Armand as he finds, befriends and becomes 'grandfather' to a little family of 4 (and their 'dog that should be white') that he finds camped under his bridge one winter. This was one of our family books this month and it was a lovely, sweet little book to curl up to. It has illustrations for the younger crowd that still needs/wants pictures in their books and short enough chapters that you can read just a bit at a time. The french words were fun to pronounce and we got a giggle out of that.<br />
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<b>When Santa Fell to Earth (Cornelia Funke)- </b>When Nikolas Goodfellow's unreliable reindeer Twinklestar bolts and leaves him stranded in a small town, he must repair his caravan and hit the road before the big bad Goblynch and his Council of Yuleland finds him.Cornelia Funke penned a charming, curious new take on the tradition of Christmas and Santa. I enjoyed this so much. It's great for early readers and kids that still love picture books because it has illustrations throughout. The story is sweet and a perfect little Christmas/Winter family read.<br />
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<b>Emma and the Blue Genie (Cornelia Funke)- </b>Another by Ms Funke, this one follows Emma on a magical adventure as she finds and frees a blue genie and sets off with him and her noodle tailed dog to Karim the Genie's homeland to save his magic. Alice and I read this one and it's a GREAT choice for kids that are just starting out with chapter books. We actually listened to the audio book and followed along with the actual book because it has lovely full color illustrations on nearly every page and it was really engaging and fun. I liked hearing Funke read it herself. She has a very pleasing voice and accent.<br />
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<b>The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)- </b>With no notice the circus appears. Its doors only open from nightfall to dawn. Within the black and white adornments, 2 ancient illusionists have pitted their best students against each other. I feel like opinions with this book have been very divided. You love it or you hate it. I loved it. It is a slow burn kind of read. I started this about 2 months ago and it took me this long to finish it, mostly because I had a lot on my plate but also because it does start off rather slowly. But, it was enchanting to me. I was enthralled and by the middle of the book I had a hard time putting it down. The action winds down about 30ish pages from the end, though, and it got a little slow and boring for me after that. Overall very enjoyable though. I was excited that this was a NaNoWriMo book. That is really fascinating to me.<br />
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<b>The Girl with All the Gifts (M.R. Carey)- </b>I don't feel like I can properly give this book any sort of intro or description. I can't remember how I found this book, but I'm so glad I did. One of my favorite reads of the year. It was beautifully written, poignant, fast paced, heart wrenching and left me with an aching in my chest. I mean, Joss Whedon loved it so what would I expect other than awesomeness.<br />
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And that's it for 2015! I've loved this year for reading. I've discovered a lot about what I like and what I'm most interested in, which is mostly children's lit, and this year my kids and I have started reading chapter books together which has honestly been a dream come true. I'm excited for the next year of reading! <br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11778279923206441390noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8790020083877908139.post-6917510801306724592015-12-17T08:55:00.001-08:002015-12-17T08:55:38.400-08:00Resolutions- Looking BackYesterday I went over my<a href="http://breathingkairos.blogspot.com/2015/12/resolutions-how-did-it-go.html" target="_blank"> crafting resolutions </a>and how it went this year, today I am going over my other resolutions and goals for 2015 and looking back on how this year went.<br />
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My <a href="http://breathingkairos.blogspot.com/2015/01/oh-hey-friday-2015-baby.html" target="_blank">resolutions </a>went like this-<br />
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<i><b>Say YES more- </b></i>I feel like this was a success. I have major anxiety issues and sometimes saying yes is so hard for me that it makes me ill but I did try a lot. I think we've had more experiences and adventures this year than any other.<br />
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<i><b>Happiness Project- </b></i>This one is half and half. I stuck to it for the first half of the year and then things went very downhill in my personal life and even though that was probably the most important time to try to stick with it, trying to force happiness when things are in chaos is just too much for this gal. I'd like to do this again one day. I think it's a lovely idea.<br />
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<i><b>Read more- </b></i>Boy did I. In my blog post I said I wanted to hit at least 25 books but I ended up setting my Goodreads goal to 50 books and I surpassed that by 9 books so far. I think I'll finish at least 2 more before the year is over. And this is with 3 months of hard reading slumps for me so I think that's pretty good! I also wanted to read at least 1 chapter book a month with my kiddo and we are sitting pretty at 18 books. Not too shabby!<br />
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<b><i>Exercise- </i></b>Again with a good start and then it fizzled out.<br />
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<i><b>Budget- </b></i>Not so much until the past month but now that we're starting I think it will be easy to keep going. I want to save save save.<br />
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This year was really hard, not gonna lie. There were some huge personal bumps in the road and it honestly doesn't look like 2016 is going to be the best heading into it right now. I'm thinking about my goals for the new year and I know these goals are going to be much more personal and related to my relationships with people and my physical and mental well being. I'll be back with an update about what I am going to focus on closer to the new year. I'm happy with my goals for this past year though and I feel like I did a pretty great job. Sometimes goals change or just aren't feasible in the life you're living at that moment and that's okay. You just gotta do you, boo. Go forth and be awesome.<br />
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