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

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.

1. Frankenstein - hated. Literally HATED this book

2. House in the Pines - Ana Reyes
   ♥♥♥♥

3. The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
   ♥♥♥♥♥

4. Love & Gelato - Jenna Evans Welch
   ♥♥♥♥

5. Life after Life - Kate Atkinson (this book was a struggle but beautiful but also made me want to hurl it into the ocean)
   ♥♥♥

6. She Who Became the Sun - Shelly Parker Chan
   ♥♥♥♥♥

7. Whiskey in a Teacup - The Adorable Reese Witherspoon
   ♥♥♥♥

8. Slammed - Colleen Hoover
   ♥♥♥

9. The Book of Goethel - Mary McMyne
   ♥♥♥♥♥

10. Bone Black - bell hooks
    ♥♥♥

11. The End of Her - Shari Lapegna
    ♥♥♥

12. Call Me Zelda - Erika Robuck
    ♥♥♥♥

13. Milk and Honey - Rupi Kaur {audio book}
    ♥♥♥

14. Really Good Actually - Monica Heisey
    ♥♥♥♥

15. Molly’s Game - Molly Bloom
    ♥♥♥♥♥

16. Demon Copperfield - Barbara Kingsolver
    ♥♥♥♥

17. A Court of Thorns & Roses - Sarah J Maas
    ♥♥♥♥♥

18. I’m Glad My Mom Died - Jeannette McCurdy
    ♥♥♥♥

19. The Whole Body Reset - Stephen Perinne
    ♥♥♥♥

20. 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'? {goal 35:: books 15-20}

I have had a weird mix
of books this year….
I seem to rotate between
desolate, heartbreaking
war torn loss and incomprehensible cruelty
to
fluffy and light,
fun and silly,
romantic young adult books….

My brain is mystery even to me.

Here are 5 more reads so far this year.
And honestly….all I might tell you is if I liked it or not…
because my brain ALSO sees no need
to retain ANY information about a book (or movie)
after I finish it…or sometimes, while I am reading it.

(Again, my brain=mystery)

16. The Exiles - Christina Baker Kline ♥♥♥♥♥
Heartbreaking. Brutal. Cruel

17. To All The Boys I Loved Before - Jenny Han ♥♥♥♥
Light. Airy. Fluffy. Sweet. Romantic.
Made me incredibly happy :)
The Netflix version…not so much.

18. The Last Story of Mina Lee - Nancy Jooyoun Kim ♥♥♥
19. PS I Still Love You - Jenny Han ♥♥♥♥
PS….I still love this series. Enough to read another one right away….heh.

20. We Begin At The End - Chris Whitaker ♥♥♥♥♥
Note I had written to myself after finishing this book:
I had zero expectations of this 2.00 book I bought
at a convenience store but it brought me to my knees
sobbing on my deck.

whatcha readin'? {goal 35::book 8}

I feel like lately the only thing
I get on here to write
are “whatcha readin’” posts
which is good in a way…
it means I have been reading a lot
but I haven’t been saying much more.

There is lots going on for sure
and now that I have figured out
how to write blog posts
OUTSIDE
well…….
you may be hearing a lot more from me
(which may be good
or bad
depending…heehee).

Back to the book.
I picked this up
because of the cover and
the title
and the author’s name
which seemed so perfect
for a book about witches….
Hester Fox.
Like…..yeah. ♥

It was a good book…
It was a nice quick easy read…
the writing felt a little….
young to me,
if that makes sense.

But it was an enjoyable read.

3.5♥♥♥’s out of 5
NEXT UP:: THE SCENT KEEPER - ERICA BAUERMEISTER

Final roundup - Books - 2021

The truth is
I didn’t hit my goal of 35 books
this year but I still read
more than I did
the year before (31)
so I am ok with that.

Here is a list of the last stragglers…

• Their Perfect Match - Debbie Macomber
  Honestly, this was painful. Not really my kind of thing.
  ♥ out of 5

• Hillbilly Elegy - JD Vance
  This was a bit of a tough, long read but worth it.
  ♥♥♥ out of 5

• Feeding My Mother - Jann Arden
  I had really, really been looking
  forward to this one and it did not
  disappoint. Her writing is beautiful
  and poignant and full of realness.
  Made laugh and cry…
  sometimes,
  at the same time.
  ♥♥♥♥♥ out of 5

• The Midnight Library - Matt Haig
  I loved this one. Big love.
  ♥♥♥♥♥ out of 5

• If I Knew Then - Jann Arden
  Another one that I was very excited about….
  I am at that point where I am aware of my age
  and the changes and perceptions,
  both mine and from other people
  and society as a whole,
  so I really enjoyed this.
  It made me think.
  ♥♥♥♥ out of 5

• The Last Thing He Told Me - Laura Davis
  A good way to catch my attention is
  definitely to lead with an ee cummings poem..
  I love, love, loved this book.
  Worth the hype
  ♥♥♥♥♥ out of 5

• Didn’t See That Coming - Rachel Hollis
  I don’t “love” Rachel Hollis but
  it was a book about dealing
  with the end of things you might not
  have seen ending
  and yeah…
  I can relate.
  ♥♥♥♥ out of 5

• The Four Winds - Kristen Hannah
  I love Kristen Hannah….
  I love everything by her…I find her
  writing draws me in, makes me want to stay.
  I can’t lie. I didn’t want to stay in this book…
  I loved the writing but I was
  exhausted and wrung out dry
  by the time I was reading it…
  so sad, so bleak, so desolate,
  at times so hopeless…
  but given the subject, that was unavoidable.
  Definitely worth reading but
  not a light beach read.
  ♥♥♥♥ out of 5

And that takes me to 33 books for 2021!

I am going to keep my goal for 2022 at 35
since I didn’t quite hit it this year.

Happy reading!! :)

(captain’s log::day six of temporary restrictions complete)

whatcha readin'? 2020 {book 17::goal 30}

I had a bit of a love/hate
relationship with this book….
actually,
not even really love/hate.
It was more of a meh/hate
relationship.

It was an ok read.
I didn’t love it.
It was amusing in places but
I found it long…it took me a long time to finish it.
I just wasn’t drawn to it.

2.5 ♥’s out of 5 ♥♥♥♥♥’s
NEXT UP:: SCRAPPY LITTLE NOBODY - ANNA KENDRICK