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

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

tuesday truths...trying something new...

It’s scary to try something new.

But it’s also exciting and intriguing,
fun and interesting to push yourself out of your comfort zone
just an eensy-teensy bit.

I have been doing a lot of
new things lately
that have scared me…
but in a good way….mostly… :)

Change scares me.
I fight it, tooth and nail.
I always, always have.

But I think I am getting a little better.
(I don’t cry nearly as much, heehee).

In the spirit of “trying something new”
I thought I might push myself COMPLETELY out of my comfort zone
and try something that I have been considering for a long time
but did not have the guts to try…
I am also just coming off a 5 day cold so
it’s possible the effects of the children’s cough and cold
will have worn off by morning
and I will have totally chickened out on this whole idea.

But…for now…

I have created a Patreon account.

If you are not familiar with Patreon,
it is a way that I can share more of my photography and artwork
and maybe push my creative side a little harder
by forcing myself to be more accountable.
Patreon allows me to offer perks and treats for
anyone that chooses to follow me on that medium…
which means, I am forcing myself to focus
and stop spinning my wheels in 22 different directions.

If you check it out, please feel free to let me know
if there are things that you would have liked to have
seen offered as treats/thank yous…
and there is no pressure to sign up there.
This is really just an experiment, a new venture,
you never know til you try…
so today,
I try.

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tuesday truths....the music edition

If you follow me on Facebook,
(not only do you know that I post WAY too much but…)
you probably also know
that I love music.

I can’t sing.
I don’t know a note.
I can’t tell pitch or tone or anything else…
but I know what I like
and I can’t go a day
without listening to music.

I have to have a playlist
on all night while I am sleeping.
I listen to music in the car,
while I’m painting, cooking, cleaning, working…
and sometimes
I just lay on the
couch or the
bed or the
floor
and lose myself in the darkness
and the words
and the
heartbeat.

And I will listen to almost anything…I’m pretty open…
I can honestly say there is no genre that I refuse to listen to
anything from…though there are definitely songs that I don’t like….
(and…I hate dire straits. Let’s just get that out there and move on)
:)
Here’s what I have been playing on repeat lately (and, um, I should warn you…I like songs that
say the eff word sooooo….just be careful if you are clicking links)

• she is beautiful - andrew w.k. (I listen to this every morning loud as soon as I get out of bed)

• seagulls stop it now - this is not actually a song…it’s a bad lip reading video but I have a weird taste in music and listen to this constantly as well. And, yeah, I still love what does the fox say sooooooo….I warned you. I have weird taste in music. :)

• whiskey - joey landreth

• armour - soul filter

• she - dodie

• figures - jessie reyez

• seeing all red - shakey graves

• patenipat - charlotte adigery

• jekyll and hyde - five finger death punch

• whistle stop - roger miller

• chop suey - system of a down

• sweet sixteen - billy idol

• video games - lana del ray

• little bit stronger - leighton meester (i forgot about this song. I don’t listen to a lot of country but this song…well….it speaks pretty loud to me right now…so…it’s on the daily playlist)

And I looooooooooove recommendations for new music! :) Hint, hint…heehee.

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whatcha readin' 2019 {book 1::goal 25}

I loved the first two books in this set…
I don’t really want to say series because,
although they are related, they are very distantly related,
like 4th cousins 3 times removed that heard of each other
but just vaguely….

You really can read these independent of each other…
but it’s better to read them as they were written even
just for the timeline…but
do you have to read them all to know what happened
with the earlier characters? Yeah…not so much.
Did I need to re-read 2 one thousand page books
before I started this one?
Definitely not.
But they are good books and I did enjoy re-reading them.

However, I do wonder it might have been overkill.

I found myself a little irritated and wanting to be done
of the third book. I don’t think it was the writing or the
characters, I think I had just been in Kingsbridge for
too long and should have taken a light-quick-read-book-break in the middle maybe.

Which makes me feel a little bad about
only giving this one
3.5 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s.

But…not bad enough to change it.

NEXT UP: MODERN ROMANCE - AZIZ ANSARI

whatcha readin' 2018 catch-up post...

My goal for 2018 was to read 24 books…
and I read 36!

I wrote about 27 of them on here already,
but here is a quick blurb on the ones that I missed

28. Educated - Tara Westover
Allllll the hearts. If I could give more than 5 ♥♥♥♥♥ out of 5…I totally would.
I loved this book. Her writing, her story.
So good. Heartbreaking. Incredible.
Hard to wrap your head around.
So sad and yet so happy for her….
Those were all the notes I had written to myself about this book.
I love, love, loved it.
Go read it. If you are only going to read one thing I have recommended this year,
make it this one.
(but really, why wouldn’t you trust me on more than one book?
I’m a good judge of books! I promise!)

29. The Magnolia Story - Chip and Joanna
2.5 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s

Honestly…I don’t know why I even tried this book.
I knew nothing about Chip and Joanna
or even why they were writing about a magnolia…
but it seemed popular
(and he is cute. I am not going to lie. His cuteness is kinda sold me on the book).
Anyway. The book irritated me
but just because…it’s not really my kind of thing.

30. In a Dark, Dark Wood - Ruth Ware
4 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s

Pretty good. Very quick, suspenseful read.
I thought the writing was ok but nothing that
took my breath away. I didn’t love the characters.
But…it was ok.

31. The Lonely Hearts Hotel - Heather O’Neill
5 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s

Oh. Did I mention a book taking my breath away?
Because this one did.
Heather O’Neill is a Canadian novelist but also a poet
and that is so obvious in her way with words….
I adored the writing…
but I fell head over heels in love with the characters.
Rose. Oh…I loved Rose.
Seriously. Read two books I recommended this year…
you’ll thank me!

32. Mrs - Caitlin Macy
2 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s

This one…yeah…I am not recommending this one.
I really did not enjoy this book.
It felt presumptuous and overdone to me
I felt irritable while reading it
and that is not how you want to feel when
reading a book.

33. The Storied LIfe of AJ Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin
5 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s

I loved this book.
I had written myself a note that said
”35 pages in and I am loving this book,
reminds me of Nick Hornby…slightly sarcastic and snide.”

Also, I loved that the part about how
people would come in the bookstore looking for
”a book with a red cover, do you know the one?”
YES. People really do that.
Sigh.
(and yet, I kind of miss retail. Heehee)

34. Option B - Sheryl Sandberg
5 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s

Yeah…remember that I was reading this
at the height of my separation
before I had admitted out loud that
I was in the middle of a separation…
so my mindset may have affected how much I liked this book.

But it helped me. I found myself making a lot of notes
that when I look at in retrospect now,
knowing where I was at while reading it,
I can see why some of these things spoke to me
so strongly.

But I loved how she talked about Anne Dilliard saying
”how we spend our days is how we spend our lives”
which I took to mean that you should find the happy
in your every day life, don’t just wait for the big things,
make your own gawd damn happy.
And that you cannot/should not rely on someone else to make you happy.
They may not always be there.

Oh.
And you can fail by failing to try.

Also.
Believing it will all work out … helps it to all work out.

35 and 36 Pillars of the Earth and World Without End - Ken Follett
5 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s

OK. I am not sure that these
should count
because I read them before
but they are also about a 1000 damn pages each
so…I am counting them!
:)
I loved these books. I loved them just as much the second time around.
Although I was a little frustrated with myself
when I realized
I probably didn’t NEED to re-read them before reading the third.

They are connected but very remotely…
you could easily read these as single books
or out of order and not really be affected…
I mean, obviously a little but not that much…

But the books are so good.
……………………………………………………
And that was it for 2018!
I debated on whether to set my goal for 2019 at one more
than my goal last year - which would be 25
or
to go one more than the amount I had read…
which would be 37…

Um. I set the bar low…and went with 25. :)
Got any recommendations?