Hi everyone. If you read my goal 2018 update last week, you might be already aware that I wanted to read a book a month in 2018 or a total of 12. So far I am doing pretty well and have completed five books in total, am almost done listening to two audiobooks and am reading my sixth. Below you'll find a couple of 5 star books, a couple of 4 star books, and a book I didn't even finish. Eek. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by.
If you’ve read my blog over the past
year, you know I love Gilmore Girls and am now sharing the series with my girls
as well. Who wouldn’t want have the
mother-daughter relationship of Lorelai and Rory?!? I picked this book up over
the Christmas holidays, so technically it was my first book completed in 2018 . It was an easy read, compiled of short
stories from Lauren Graham’s life from an early age, to birth and growth of the Gilmore Girls, to the
challenges that many face in Hollywood. At times all I could hear was Lorelai in my
head, and other times it was what I would assume is the real Lauren. Excellent choice for
a beach or road trip read this summer.
Our book club kicked off 2018 with this book, The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin.
This is a book that helps you discover which of the four tendencies,
upholder, obliger, rebel or questioner, you most likely resemble. My best friend declared me an upholder even
before I had a chance to research what the book was about or take the online quiz (take it if you haven't done it yet, it's FREE).. The author describes each of the
tendencies with insight, hilarious examples and backs it with research. Though I clearly
identified with the upholder tendency, I also have large pieces that fall into
the obliger category, specifically when it comes to working in a
primarily collaborative workplace, where going full steam ahead by yourself would result in
little getting accomplished, not to mention a complete breakdown of the
collaborative process. I didn't give it a five stars because I feel like it's not super simple to just fall into one category like the book sometimes reads.
Finally five stars and not because I choose this book for book club. Historical fiction, or
regional fiction (not sure if this is a real category but a story that takes
place in a country/culture I know little about such as the Kite Runner), have become my favorite reads as an adult in my 30's. The story takes place between WWI and WWII in
France, with the main characters coming together in an unlikely search of a
young woman. Throughout their journey the story of heroic women comes to live as they
became secret agents during WWI.
Everyone in the book club LOVED this book. The characters are rich, interesting,
troubled, heroic and compelling.
Giving it five stars, like the Alice
Network, but for completely different reasons.
This is a fast-paced, criminal, suspense novel that develops all the
characters fully and makes you sit at the edge of your seat. There are very few books now days that I will
stay up past 11p.m. to read, but
this one did. I read it in less then a
week, which is quick for me. Within the
first few pages a death happens and your are thrown into a race for truth and justice, though the truth is often not what it seems.
Usually, I am all over books like this but
the first couple chapters almost had me throwing in the towel. I swear and am rarely offended, but the word
was used as a gimmick and it got old very quickly and became super annoying. That all being said I am glad I pushed through because it became much more thought-provoking and less vulgar. There were some
key lessons that I took away from the book is are:
"Do Something" Principle (p. 158). Even when you are feeling stuck, or overwhelmed, just pick a place to start and get moving forward in whatever, rather than just spinning. I love this idea and try to use it whenever I am overwhelmed b the sheer amount of work that's on my plate.
"Action isn't just the effect of motivation; it's also the cause of it." (p. 160)
I quit reading it around page 235 out of
600+. No review really except that it’s
long. The characters are more interesting
then I originally thought they would be, and the writing was dense but
draws you in. My demise came when I left
the book for over a week, and just didn’t find it compelling enough to return
to, especially with over 400 pages to go.
😊 I think I’ll watch the Nextflix version
instead.
What do you do when a book just doesn’t
draw you completely in?
Do you jump ship?
Do you push on?
How long before
you throw in the towel?
Welcome to our Continental Drift linkup! The reason we are dabbling at a link up was that we wanted to connect and learn from bloggers from all across the world about their passions and lifestyle. We will host the Continental Drift link-up the first of every month. The concept for myself and my fellow hosts (Mutton Style & Sydney Shop Girl ) is that we, the hosts, will write a post about our life on our continent/Country/state over the past month (hence the name) and our favorite thing from the month.
Starting June 1st we will have a prompt that we are writing about. You are welcome to join us using the prompt or link-up with any family friendly topic that you like, be it DIY, cooking, sewing, crafts, lifestyle, de-cluttering, traveling, moving homes, fashion, style, beauty, make up, etc. Your hosts to this linkup come from UK, Canada and Australia. Enjoy getting to know each other!
2018 is over a quarter completed and I wanted to revisit my goals for the year both personally and on the blog. I find that when I sit down to revisit my goals it paints a clear picture of what I've done and where I need to put more time and energy. Though I generally stick to whatever goals I originally outlined for myself, I have learned that it's important to readjust goals accordingly and I don't believe in doing stuff unless I really want to. Anyway let's take a look at the 5 goals I had set for myself at the beginning of 2018.
1. Swimming. I am proud to announce that I completed a 10 week swimming course!!! I learned to do the front crawl pretty well, the back crawl okay, and the breath stroke and the whip kick not at all :) I am now going to the pool once and week to swim laps and am able to do approximately 500m. At some point, I would love to try out a mini triathlon but don't feel there yet. My goal it to continue the swimming throughout the summer by trying it out in the lake once a week. (see readjusting my goal for the summer)
2. The "Wearing My Closet Challenge" in January was a hit for me, see post here. I didn't buy anything new and I also lasted through February as well!!! Recently I purchased a few pieces for spring/summer such as this bright yellow kimono, along with many other pieces that I will be featuring on the blog every Friday and on my IG (below are a few of the outfits that have been posted on IG). Currently, I am sticking to my budget of $100/month, except for my trip to Portland, but I don't think I really need much else to get me through spring/summer at this point so I am thinking I'll be doing a no shopping May and probably July/August.
3. Reading. I am doing pretty well on my goal of reading 12 books for the year. Blog post coming with my full book review next Wednesday, May 9th!
4. Cooking. I loved trying out new recipes from Hello Fresh, full review of the service and recipes found here. I also have tried some great new recipes from my Yum & Yummer by Greta Podleski that I received for Christmas. My two favorite recipes have been the Double Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake (super easy and absolute goodness in every bite), and the Sensational Spinach Salad that I've been taking regularly to work for lunch.
5. Family Time. We have spent tons of family time together over the first part of the year, hitting the slopes at a local hill, swimming, having cabin time, etc. One of my specific family time goals was to get back into reading with the girls and I've definitely made time to read with Anya since the new year. We are trying to get back into a routine of having her read out loud to us right after supper and us read to her at bedtime. Halie goes off and reads her own books but for Easter she received the book Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle that her and I are going to start reading together before we go see the movie.
As far as my goals, I will continue to make time to read daily with one of the girls, as I feel we are still struggling with the routine. I am also happily reading a lot more and find tracking my books very helpful in ensuring that I carve out time to just read instead of watching TV in the evening.
Now please follow each of your hosts Bojana of Bodaciousblog, Sydney Shop Girl and Mutton Style on at least one platform (Instagram, Twitter or blog) and comment on their blogs. It would be great if you could read and comment on the blog above yours in the link up. You might make a new friend. Please also do add a link back to our blogs on your posts to help the linkup grow. Thanks for stopping by, we look forward to learning more about everyone!
