whatcha readin'? {goal 40:: MISSION COMPLETE}

January 15, 2024 Arlene Giddings

It’s no surprise that I
totally did not keep on top
of updating the blog
with all the books
I read in 2023
but I DID hit my goal of
forty
just by the skin of my teeth
but I did it
so that is all that matters in
the big orange house.

Here is what I read…in list form…
cause it’s 2024 and, frankly,
I’m over it.

Frankenstein - hated. Literally HATED this book
House in the Pines - Ana Reyes
♥♥♥♥
The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
♥♥♥♥♥
Love & Gelato - Jenna Evans Welch
♥♥♥♥
Life after Life - Kate Atkinson (this book was a struggle but beautiful but also made me want to hurl it into the ocean)
♥♥♥
She Who Became the Sun - Shelly Parker Chan
♥♥♥♥♥
Whiskey in a Teacup - The Adorable Reese Witherspoon
♥♥♥♥
Slammed - Colleen Hoover
♥♥♥
The Book of Goethel - Mary McMyne
♥♥♥♥♥
Bone Black - bell hooks
♥♥♥
The End of Her - Shari Lapegna
♥♥♥
Call Me Zelda - Erika Robuck
♥♥♥♥
Milk and Honey - Rupi Kaur {audio book}
♥♥♥
Really Good Actually - Monica Heisey
♥♥♥♥
Molly’s Game - Molly Bloom
♥♥♥♥♥
Demon Copperfield - Barbara Kingsolver
♥♥♥♥
A Court of Thorns & Roses - Sarah J Maas
♥♥♥♥♥
I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jeannette McCurdy
♥♥♥♥
The Whole Body Reset - Stephen Perinne
♥♥♥♥
Happy Place - Emily Henry
♥♥♥♥

21. A Court of Mist & Fury - Sarah J Maas
♥♥♥♥♥

22. I Carried You Home -
♥♥♥

23. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
♥♥♥

24. New Boy - Tracy Chevalier
♥♥♥♥

25. Homecoming - Kate Morton
♥♥♥♥♥

26. Breaking the Girl - Kim Corum
♥♥♥♥

27. Hello Beautiful Ann Napolitano
♥♥♥♥♥

28. A Homemade Life - Molly Wizenburg
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

29. Expected Loss; Anticipatory Grief - Alan Woolfelt
♥♥♥♥♥

30. From Scratch - Tembi Locke
♥♥♥♥

31. Did you hear about Kitty Karr - Crystal Smith Paul
♥♥♥♥

32. The 5 am Rule - Robin Sharma
{i hated this with ALL my heart.
if i could give negative hearts, i would.}

33. It’s OK to Laugh - Nora McInerney Puemon
♥♥♥♥ .5

34. Book Lovers - Emily Henry
♥♥♥♥♥

35. How to Pronounce Knife - Souvankham Thammavongsa
♥♥♥.5 {mainly because I don’t love short stories}

36. Self Care for Grief -Nneka M Okona
♥♥♥♥

37. One Day in December - Josie Silver
♥♥♥♥♥ {this one surprised me that i would
love it so much}

38. Surviving the Holidays with you - Gary Roe
♥♥♥

39. Ugly Love - Colleen Hoover
♥♥♥♥

40. Inside Out - Demi Moore
♥♥♥♥

41. Evidence of the Affair - Taylor Jenkins Reid
♥♥♥

Note: I realized as I was typing
these out that I had miscounted
in my list so I actually read
forty ONE books this year. :)

and took a LOT of photos of
my books as I was reading them…
this was just a few of them.
:D

whatcha readin' 2019 {book 2::goal 25}

February 4, 2019 Arlene Giddings

I really didn’t know what to expect from this book.

I really only picked it up because
it was available to me.

But I was totally and pleasantly surprised
at how much I actually go out of this.

(Mostly, due to timing, you know with the stupid separation and all…)

But, all in all, I did find it helpful and interesting
(and also very amusing which is incredibly important).
There was a whole section on the phenomenon
and mystery of online dating
which, as you might know, I have been dipping my toe
into (very, very tentatively, because really…it’s a scary place out there).

And sometimes, it’s just nice to read something
that you can relate to
and, if all you can get out of it is a sense that you
are not alone…that there are other people out there stumbling around
in the dating world trying to avoid fake profiles
and offers of unwanted photos and forced small talk/awkward silences…
then that is probably good enough.

I know it made me feel better.

4 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s
NEXT UP: EVERY NOTE PLAYED - LISA GENOVA

where i have been when i have not been here...

December 6, 2017 Arlene Giddings

the truth is
i feel like i have been
kind of all over the place...
work is busy,
christmas is coming.
the days are shorter
and darker
and colder...

i am in snuggle down mode...
all about blankets and books,
movies and hot chocolate-y chai tea...
i tell myself the light is not good enough
to doodle by
and that one more night
away from the gym
is not going to hurt...

i am reading harry potter...
right now i am on book 3...
harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban.
i have read it before but
i can't really remember it...
i am thoroughly enjoying it though.
i am not sure that i am going to make my goal
of 24 books before the end of the year though
which actually completely surprises me.
i was sure that i would do it this year.
finishing this one will be put me at 19.
sigh.

i just need to shut the tv off
and disconnect myself from my little Sims world
and maybe read a real book
made out of paper and ink
and not just on my phone...
but if you are curious about my Sims world,
you might like to know
that jon bon jovi and joan jett
just got married and have a baby...
RON BON JOVI....
heeheehee...
oh.

and joannie and chachi just got engaged.
or wait.
that might have been the fonz & pinky tuscadero.

yeah.
i really need to disconnect from the virtual world for a bit.
:)

whatcha readin'? {2017::book 8 - goal 24}

August 14, 2017 Arlene Giddings

it's no secret...
i adore alice hoffman.
this is the 2nd of 3 books
i read of hers
just this year...
just this year SO FAR.
i suspect there will be more.

and
it's also no secret
that i love fairy tales
if you know me at all...
there are books of fairy tales
all through my house.

so can you imagine how happy
it makes me when one of my
favorite writers
references fairy tales
with words that sound like music
and poems and whispered secrets.

once again, she did not disappoint.

"Every fairy tale had a bloody lining. 
Every one had teeth and claws"
Alice Hoffman

4 out of 5 ♥♥♥♥'s

NEXT UP: BOY SNOW BIRD - HELEN OYEYEMI

whatcha readin'? {2016::book 15 - goal 12}

September 19, 2016 Arlene Giddings

i had no idea
what to expect from this book.
i had never heard of it,
i don't know even know
where my copy of the book came from...
i assume i grabbed it at a booksale.

i picked it up one afternoon
and
i could not put it back down.

i read the whole book,
no, i devoured the book
in an afternoon.

it is not a light, happy read.

it is sad and frustrating and infuriating
but so beautifully written.

this was a first novel for kathleen grissom
but i just realized that there is a second part
to this book that came out in april 2016...
note to self - look for "glory over everything"
(and speaking of new books coming out
i just found out alice hoffman has a new book
coming in november!!!)

5 out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥'s (i considered putting 6 out of 5 ♥'s...that's how good it was.)

NEXT UP: 11-22-63 - STEPHEN KING