it's a "whatcha readin'?" end of the year ROUND-UP

I am not sure why
I struggled so hard
to get here this year
and write about books…
but the good news is
I not only hit
but I surpassed my
self imposed goal of 41 books
and actually read 44
(which means the goal for 2025 will now be 45!!)

The last post I wrote about books
took me to 21.
So here is the short list of the rest
but a couple of them
I may write more about later.

BOOKS 2024:

22. Dark Places - Gillian Fynn
♥♥♥♥ August 2024
23. Gut Smart Protocol - Dr Vincent Perde (audiobook)
♥♥♥♥ August 2024
24. The Winners - Frederick Backman
♥♥♥♥♥ August 2024
25. The Diamond Eye - Kate Quinn
♥♥♥♥♥ August 2024
26. Glow in the effing Dark - Tara Schuster
♥♥♥ August 2024
27. A Court of Frost & Starlight - Sarah J Maas
♥♥♥♥ September 2024
28. Uglies - Scott Westerfeld
♥♥♥♥♥ September 2024 (book club pick)
29. The Perfect Couple - Elin Hilderbrand
♥♥♥♥♥ Sept 2024 (the series? not so much)
30. This Summer will be Different - Carly Fortune
♥♥♥♥♥ Sept 2024
31. Court of Silver Flames - Sarah J Maas
♥♥♥♥♥ Oct 2024
32. Fable - Adrienne Young
♥♥♥♥♥ Oct 2024
33. Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Oct 2024
34. Pumpkin Spice Cafe - Laurie Gilmore
♥♥♥♥ Oct 2024
35. One Dark Window - Rachel Gillig
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Nov 2024
36. The Creative Act - Rick Rubin
♥♥♥♥ Nov 2024
37. A Man Called Ove - Fredrick Backman
♥♥♥♥♥ Nov 2024 (book club pick)
38. Two Twisted Crowns - Rachel Gillig
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Nov 2024
39. A Mindful Morning - David Dilliard-Wright
♥♥♥♥ Dec 2024
40. The House in the Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune
♥♥♥♥♥ Dec 2024
41. The Enchanted Sonata - Heather Wallwork
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Dec 2024
42. The 12 Week Year - Brian Moran
♥♥♥♥ Dec 2024
43. A Winter in New York - Josie Silver
♥♥♥♥♥ Dec 2024
44. The Christmas Fix - Lucy Score
😈😈😈Dec 2024 (a little spicy…just fair warning)

Looking forward to lots of reading in 2025!
I also started using a new reading app called Fable,
come find me over there!
And have started to make a reading bullet journal
because…I like paper and pen…heh.

What was your favorite read of 2024?
What are you excited to read in 2025?
:)

whatcha readin'? {goal 35::book 9}

Oh, how I loved this book.

Once again, I really wasn’t expecting anything.
I don’t even know where I got this one…
and I had just bought like 3 new books
but saw this one sitting on my end table
(where it has sat for about a year
untouched
in full view)
and for some reason,
the blue-green cover suddenly caught my attention.

And it kept my attention.

The writing was beautiful, lyrical, sensory
and full of evocative imagery…
I realized after that this was a Reese book club pick
and then I was like yeah, I can see that.
I always love the books they pick.

Anyway, it was a beautiful read.
I was sad to see it come to an end.

Definitely 5♥♥♥♥♥’s out of 5
NEXT UP:: SISTER STARDUST - JANE GREEN

whatcha readin'? {goal 35::book 6}

I picked this book up
while I was still in Halifax
but at the tail end of my dad’s stay
in the hospital…
it’s not my usual kinda book purchase
but it ended up being a pretty good choice…
a lot of twists
a lot of turns
a lot of thinking you know
what’s going on
and then a lot of realizing
you don’t actually know
what’s going on….

so…
kinda like life
in a nutshell.

(seriously
every time I write about a book
I have read
I feel like I need the disclaimer
that this is
obviously not a
real book review…
this is just me saying
hey, so I read this book
and then going completely
off topic
with whatever seems
to be currently occupying
the space in my
brain….)

3♥♥♥’s out of 5
NEXT UP:: THE HENNA ARTIST - ALKA JOSHI

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' {goal 35::book 12}

this book.
this frigging book.

i literally could not wait to
write about how much
i loved
this book.

i really had no idea what to expect when i picked this up.
for some reason, i always thought
that this was a book of poetry
which i would have been totally ok
with but it turns out it is actually
an incredibly interesting and thought provoking,
intense and empathetic book
about anxiety…
the various forms, the degrees,
the stages, the highs and lows,
the way it presents itself differently
on the outside for people…

i think (know) i was probably (definitely)
a little bit (insanely) anxious as a child
but i don’t consider myself to be
anxious as an adult…which may surprise
some people…yet if you knew me
as a child,
you know what my past anxiety level was
that i am measuring against
(to give this some perspective,
let me remind you that my grade one teacher
wrote that I may need psychological help
in my report card….and she was most likely (definitely) right….)

anyway.
i digress. :)

all i can say is
if you think you might be a little anxious
or a lot anxious or even not at all
anxious, you should still read this book
because chances are
someone in your life is and this
reallllllly helps to see where
they might be coming from….

105♥s out of 5
NEXT UP:: A SPARK OF LIGHT - JODI PICOULT