Recent Reads (Show us your books link up)!!

As I mentioned last week, I didn’t read very many books in December…unless we’re talking kids books, in which case I read about 1000 since I was home with the kids so much 😉 I’ve gotten back into a few lately though! Linking up one day late with Show Us Your Books hosted by Jana Says and Life According to Steph.

Decked with Holly by Marni Bates (3 stars) – I saw this somewhere on Goodreads and decided to give it a chance for a little holiday quick read. It wasn’t bad, but I probably wouldn’t recommend it unless you are looking for a very fluffy holiday read.

Love Story by Erich Segal (3.5 stars) this was one of two books I chose that had the same title for the Semi Charmed Winter Book Challenge. This is a pretty famous novel from the 80’s which includes the quote “love means never having to say you’re sorry” (which I totally disagree with – lol). Overall, it was OK, but it was really short, and I wouldn’t read it again. It’s been made into a movie too which I haven’t seen. Not a bad way to spend the time though.

Love Story by Jennifer Echols (3.5 stars)- I think I actually liked this one better than the more famous Love Story but it was still not a spectacular read. haha. I have been on a roll of not-so-great books lately. The storywriting in this book was interesting, and the characters were cute, so I did enjoy parts of it a lot. It made me want to visit Kentucky sometime too and ride some horses 🙂

Corpse Pose by Diana Killian (3.5 stars) Not too bad, and seemingly my only real adult fiction choice lately? haha. This book falls into the category of “cozy mysteries” maybe? It was interesting, and I liked the yoga studio side story, but don’t rush out and get this one.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (4 stars) The strange thing I noticed while I was reading/listening to this book was that I was unsure whose side I was on. Usually, it’s pretty crystal clear but I could see myself feeling for Artemis, especially with his parental situation, and feeling for the fairies as well. It was an easy and captivating read, and I appreciated the humorous writing and fast pace. Not sure if I’ll get to the rest of the series anytime too soon, but still very glad that I gave this one a chance. I think it’s a great read for teenagers or anyone who enjoys this level of reading. I’ve seen this one on a lot of “I like Harry Potter, what should I read next?” lists, and I can see why, although it’s not really very similar.

Current Reads:

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – I got through about 70% of this book before the e-library took it back from me – so I’m waiting for it for a few more weeks. What an incredible story so far, although very long!! I’ve heard that the audiobook is also amazing. I will post a rating when I finish it sometime this month.

Poser by Claire Dederer – I’m working my way through this one slowly but surely…it was one of my picks for the Semi Charmed Winter Book Challenge and I’m not sure if I will finish it in time (or at all – I struggle with nonfiction and this category in the challenge really was not my favourite!!) This book is a bit whiny, so I’m not 100% on board right now.

The Silkworm – by Robert Galbraith this one is for the Winter Book Challenge too and I’m just not in the mood to finish it…but I might try in a week or two…or I might not. We’ll see how it goes, haha. I want to love these books by J.K. Rowling but this one isn’t my favourite.

Dumplin’ – by Julie Murphy Almost done this one & loving it. Great characters and great premise for a book.

Some thoughts on reading challenges:

Yes, I just signed up for another book challenge, but I absolutely loved the categories for it, and I found that I could slot a lot of well-loved or highly anticipated/well recommended books into the categories. As I mentioned last week, this year I am going to read the books I want to, and not adhere to specific challenge categories. I like the idea of book challenges for helping me organize my TBR list and add some variety to what I’m reading all at once, but if the categories are a bit too stringent or I can’t find good books to fit into the categories, I am done worrying about that. I read 3-4 books that I didn’t love in December due to the last challenge, and there are so many other great books out there that I really would rather focus my time on. Anyway…just a little memo and an “aha moment” to myself, haha.

Happy Wednesday & go check out everyone else’s Show us Your Books posts from yesterday!!!

Book Challenge by Erin 4.0 Book choices

We had a pretty low key weekend, and the girls were pretty tired and grumpy by the end of it so I took them outside yesterday afternoon and they were happy for an hour 🙂 We still have a bit of a dry cough going on, and I am focusing a lot on cleaning the house and purging things, which is unfortunately not very fun or condusive to having fun as a kid 🙂 That being said – we have some fun things coming up for them, so I don’t feel too bad spending time organizing the house!!

I wanted to check in today and share my picks for Erin’s Book Challenge:

· 5 points: Read a book, any book that is at least 200 pages long. TBD – this will just be an extra book that I read during the challenge time 🙂

· 10 points: Read a book that begins with the letter “D”. DUMPLIN’ by Julie Murphy (already started this one on the weekend – loving it so far)

· 10 points: Read a book with a four word title. ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES by Jennifer Niven

· 15 points: Read a book with one of the following words in the title: “mother(s)”, “father(s)”, “son(s)”, “daughter(s)”, or “child(ren)”. THE MOTHER DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB by Heather Vogel Frederick

· 20 points: Amazon ranks their “most popular authors”, and they update this list hourly. Based on when you make your book list, look at the top 100 authors, and pick a book to read from one of those authors, but here’s the catch – it needs to be an author new to you…one of the most popular authors, yet you’ve never read them before. http://www.amazon.com/author-rank As of today, KRISTIN HANNAH or TRACY BROGAN or VINCE FLYNN, This will probably end up being THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah if I get it from the library in time.

· 20 points: Read a book set in any country in Asia. THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini

· 25 points: Read a book with a “Season” in the title. (I start the challenge in Summer and end in Autumn; many of you start in Winter and end in Spring…so the title of your book should have Summer, Autumn/Fall, Winter, or Spring in the title.) WINTER GARDEN by Kristin Hannah

· 30 points: Read a book that will make you laugh from the list attached. (submitted by Bernadette)http://www.buzzfeed.com/erinchack/books-guaranteed-to-make-you-laugh-out-loud BRIDGET JONES DIARY by Helen Fielding

· 30 points: Read a book that is a friend or family member’s favorite book (or the favorite book of another participant from this challenge). (submitted by Peggy) PERSUASION by Jane Austen which is many friends’ favourite book but recommended especially by one of my friends from home and most likely also of Kristen’s favourite books?? 🙂

· 35 points: Read a book published the year you were born. (submitted by Meredith) ENDERS GAME (year: 1985) by Orson Scott Card

Hello, 2016!!

I’ve been a bit inconsistent with blogging lately, and truly I did plan to post a few more times in December but we got INCREDIBLY busy (surprise, surprise!!) and then we spent most of our Christmas vacation battling a brutal cold/sinus infection/ear infection plague in our house. We are fortunately all much better now, and looking back I can actually appreciate that we were forced to have a lot of unplanned downtime while off work, so it was OK, but basically I had a nap almost every day and went to bed early whenever I could.

Some highlights of Christmas holidays include a week long visit with my brother, who lives in Calgary, some time with my new baby niece (although she was sick and learning to breastfeed etc etc too), seeing some friends, delicious dinners with my in-laws and parents, lots of board games, some wine, some sweets, some shopping, a bit of reading, Gotham, some purging and organizing, and (a bit) of exercise in there somewhere. On the final weekend before coming back to work, I also won $80 playing poker with Brian’s friends! #awesome #beginnersluck

I found out before Christmas that my job will be switching to 60% (part-time) until June. At first I was a bit disappointed about this, but I have embraced the extra time I will have with our kids before Molly starts school in September. Starting January 18, I will have Mondays and Fridays at home (i.e. super long weekend!) I am planning to use this time to get our house more organized, take the kids to fun events at the library and other play places, and really get our meal planning under control. I’m really excited about this change for now!! #askmeagainin2months

I was a bit disappointed to miss my Goodreads goal of 100 books last year, but I was pretty close and I honestly just lost interest in reading a bit in December with too much other stuff on the go. I’m back at it now though and I’m so excited to make myself some new reading goals for the year. Towards the end of last year, I was hesitant about my feelings towards the Goodreads book challenge, because it’s just a number, and quality/enjoyment is more important to me than the number, but I set my 2016 challenge to 100 books again because I like how it keeps me on track a bit. If I don’t meet it again, that’s OK.

Some other book/reading goals for the year:

Complete another reading challenge. I’m planning to do Erin’s challenge and I will post my preliminary choices later this week.

Focus on quality over quantity. I’m not going to pick shorter books just so that I can get to 100. I won’t finish a book if I’m not enjoying it just because I chose it for a reading challenge or it counts towards Goodreads.

Listen to the Harry Potter books on audiobook &/or re-read the entire series and blog about my thoughts. I really want to think more deeply about this series and it’s been a couple of years since I re-read it all. I also got the illustrated Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone for Christmas from Brian and it is beautiful!!!

Read some new-to-me authors and some other books by favourite authors

Read all of Jane Austen’s books

Knock out at least 20 books from my Goodreads TBR list 🙂

Read 5 non-fiction books

Try to finish the Semi-Charmed Winter Book Challenge, but if I don’t finish it (running out of time!), try to still appreciate the variety of books I read for it

Write more reviews on Goodreads & really put thought into the books that mattered to me (i.e. write down quotes I liked, try to remember favourite characters, etc)

Anyone else have any reading goals for themselves this year?!

I also have a few “life” goals for the year, which I will talk about in more detail soon, including:

Finish all 5 races that I am currently signed up for (5Ks and 10Ks – first one is at the end of the month)
Participate more on social media (especially Twitter and Instagram)
Spend less time scrolling through Facebook
Unsubscribe from any newsletters I am constantly finding myself deleting
100% organize our house using this method here & the principles of KonMari
Strive for better physical and mental/emotional health by continuing with my yoga class, running, and eating more vegetables
Keep a daily journal of 1-2 highlights of each day or funny things the kids say (this binder is easily accessible, and so far, so good!)
Write more (blogging, journaling, just for fun). My brother gave me this book —> for Christmas and I can’t wait to delve into it a bit more
Learn more about photography (Brian bought me this e-book for Christmas and I love this post too with a lot of resources), blogging, and cooking.

I know this sounds like a lot, and some of it isn’t very specific, but I am already working on these little things and I am going to check in every month on some of these goals and see how I’m doing.

Best Books I read in 2015 (Top Ten Tuesday)

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish, and this week’s topic is the Best Books you read in 2015 sorted however you’d like. Since many of the books I read this year were not actually released in 2015, I’m going to categorize mine as the best books that I read this year in general 🙂 I had a few great re-reads this year too (Pride and Prejudice!) but I’m not counting them in this list.

I am planning to link up this post with a “Best of” Show us your Books with Steph and Jana on December 29, but I wanted to post it today too.

When I decided to come up with this list, I originally just sat and thought of all the books that were most memorably the BEST in my mind. Then I went and looked at the books that I rated 5 stars on Goodreads, and picked out my favourites. These are the books that really stayed with me the most this year:

EDITED Dec 30 to add:
I am so disappointed I only read 98 of my goal of 100 books on Goodreads this year, BUT I read a lot of great books! My reading has really fallen short in the past month (hello, busy Christmas season), but I am slowing getting back to it now that things have settled down. I have a few goals posts coming up in the next few days too!!

1) The Martian
I am obviously not alone in my love for this book, and I also really enjoyed the movie. I couldn’t stop talking about this book for weeks and I encouraged everyone that I know to read it. I *loved* it on audiobook. I will probably re-read this someday, but maybe not right away. If you haven’t read it, please do!! Even if Science Fiction is not your thing, I think almost anyone who likes books would appreciate this one 🙂 Mark Watney is an amazing character and the story is so different from anything I’ve read lately.

2) Jane Eyre
I bought this at a used book store over 5 years ago and only got to it this year. I listened to parts of it via Librivox and read parts of it too. I loved this story and Jane Eyre is an amazing character who makes strong, feminine life decisions. This book is a classic for a reason and I’m glad I finally read it.

3) Me Before You
This book made me feel a wide range of emotions and it will definitely stay with me for a long time to come. I am considering re-reading it before I read After You next year, but I think from all of the reviews I’ve read that it might be better to just read After You on its own. Either way, this book made me think in a way that I hadn’t expected.

4) Winter (and really, the entire Lunar Chronicles series)
I’ve professed my love and excitement for this book enough, but series like this one really remind me why I love to read.

5) Edenbrooke
I enjoyed this book and Blackmoore this year. I’ve heard that Heir of Edenbrooke was a bit of a letdown, but it’s pretty short, so there’s no reason for me not to read it (probablly this week, actually). I loved these characters and this entire storyline SO much and I think I will actually end up purchasing this book and re-reading it and highlighting parts of it, etc. etc.

6) Little Women
I should have read this book when I was a teenager. I loved it so much at this age too, especially near the end when they are all “becoming adults” 🙂 This book made me feel a wide range of emotions, and I enjoyed the entire story.

7) The Royal We
For awhile I was a bit ashamed of how much I loved this book and my husband teased me a little bit when he learned what I was up so late reading about, but honestly, this book was smart and HIGHLY entertaining and I loved it. End of story. It may not be of the same writing caliber as Jane Eyre, but I absolutely wholly loved it all. This book might not be for everyone, but it will be for most people 😉 (haha)

8) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
I really liked the letter format of this book. It felt like you were really getting into the characters’ mindset and thoughts and it felt more intimate that way. I was also overwhelmingly excited by the ending 🙂

9) The Sea of Tranquility
I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. It was incredibly raw and not altogether happy, but I really, really loved it. I especially loved Josh’s character (obviously). You should definitely check this one out if you haven’t yet.

10) Three Way Tie::Big Little Lies, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Fangirl – these were all books that I finished quite quickly because I loved them so much. I was on the edge of my seat for all of Big Little Lies. I loved the character of A.J. Fikry and I enjoyed his bookish nature. The characters in Fangirl made me feel happy and while I didn’t enjoy Carry On quite as much, Fangirl and Attachments are probably my favourite Rainbow Rowell novels.

What are the best books that you read this year? I might add a few more thoughts to this post by the end of December 😉

Recent Reads (Show Us Your Books Link-up!)

Today Steph and Jana are hosting their monthly Show Us Your Books link up 🙂 It’s one of my favourite days to read blogs and the best day to get tons of great book recommendations!! I’ve spent some time this month cleaning out my Goodreads to-read list because I was feeling pretty overwhelmed at the 600+ “to-read” books…but I am looking forward to reading about what other people have enjoyed lately. I had another month of great reads, and here are my thoughts on them:

Winter (Marissa Meyer, 5/5 stars)

As expected, I absolutely loved this book. This was worth waiting for, and I really felt like all of my excitement about reading it was totally warranted. This series was probably my best discovery in reading this year, and the conclusion to it was phenomenal. I will admit that I was a bit surprised by some parts at the end, but I felt that overall the author wrapped up the series well and left space for any spin-offs in the future if she wanted to write them. I enjoyed being reunited with all of the characters and also seeing some characters work together that I was originally unsure about. I also really liked the conclusion of all of the different love stories 🙂 I can’t wait to re-read this book because I know I read it way too fast and didn’t soak it up enough. I really hope we get to see this series someday on the big screen!

Little Women (Louisa May Alcott, 5/5 stars)

I listened to this one on audiobook and the narrator was great. It took me forever to get through it, because I had other print books on the go, but that doesn’t mean I loved it any less. The stories of these girls growing up were so sweet and there were some very heartbreaking moments in the book, but I loved it. I really wish I had read this book when I was younger, but at least now I can recommend it to my daughters when they are teenagers 😉 Honestly, I think I enjoyed it more now than I would have enjoyed it as a teenager.

Wonder (R.J. Palacio, 4/5 stars)

I had heard a little bit about this book, but I didn’t realize I would like it as much as I did. Auggie is an incredible character. Funny, strong, smart, interesting, and at times a little bit oblivious. I really welcomed the narrator changes in the story too, and found that it was a unique way to hear different perspectives on how Auggie’s condition affected the lives of those close to him.

The Ocean At the End of the Lane (Neil Gaiman, 4.5/5 stars)

I listened to this on audiobook and loved every single second of it. There were times when I found myself a little bit lost because I was drifting off listening to the words, but it was easy to keep up with. This was a great story about childhood friendship, childhood feelings and frustrations, and dreaming. I’d highly recommend the audiobook read by Neil Gaiman himself, although I’m sure this book would be great in print too.

Every Breath (Ellie Marney 4/5 stars)

I was initially drawn to this book after reading Hannah’s review, and I was not disappointed. This is my favourite kind of YA read…a little bit of mystery, some friendship with the possibility of more, and some witty and fun writing. If you have any interest in Sherlock Holmes (or even if you don’t – it’s not really the same), you’d like this one!!

Bella’s Christmas Bake Off (Sue Watson 3.5/5 stars)

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a review. I liked this story, and it was a bit different than a lot of other Christmas stories (i.e. sappy Christmas stories) I’ve read. In a way, it was still missing something, but it redeemed itself at the end and it was a feel-good Christmas book, so if you’re in the mood for that, I would check it out. All the talk of delicious Christmas food didn’t hurt either 😉

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Barbara Robinson, 5/5 stars)

This was a very quick read (as in, an hour or less) and is definitely a children’s chapter book, but it was funny and sweet. I can’t wait to read this one to Molly in a couple of years.

This month, I also re-read Mockingjay in anticipation of seeing the final movie tomorrow!! I’m glad I re-read it because there were some details that I had forgotten about! I think I will re-read the entire series in the new year. ❤

Current Reads:

All The Light we Cannot See (loving it so far! Absolutely beautiful writing!)
Corpse Pose (for the Winter Book Challenge)
Poser (Also for the Winter Book Challenge)

What have you been reading lately? Head on over to the link up to check out some other great recommendations!!!

5 on Friday//Friday Favourites

I am still in disbelief that it is already December 4!! I just dug out our Advent Calendar & some decorations for Molly to play with last night, but we are doing full-out decorations and getting our tree this weekend, so maybe that will make things a bit hollier and jollier around our house. Time is just slipping away and Christmas will be here so soon!

Here are some of my favourites this week:

ONE — my little Christmas kids!! ❤

TWO — Christmas cookie exchange tonight!! I am so looking forward to meeting some new moms from my area & playing a few Christmas games. I baked The Pioneer Woman’s gingerbread cookies for the occasion 🙂

THREE — This yoga sequence below before bed and this GREAT free guide to beginners strength training a la IIFYM.

FOUR — I love this list of Christmas book recommendations for children…Janssen’s 2014 list is also awesome and we have enjoyed many of the books in the past few weeks including these two absolute favourites:

FIVE — This made me LOL. I can totally see my husband doing this to me sometime, haha.

Any fun plans for the weekend? Any fun current reads? I am starting on All The Light We Cannot See tonight – can’t wait to share some of my recent favourite books on Tuesday with Steph & Jana!!

Winter Book Challenge Month 1 Update

Here’s my progress update on the Semi-Charmed Winter Book Challenge hosted by Megan at Semi-Charmed Kind of Life. Here are the categories I’ve completed so far:

10 points: Read a book that does not take place in your current country of residence.

BLACKMOORE (Julianne Donaldson) (4/5 stars) loved this story, but not quite as much as I loved Edenbrooke.
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10 points: Read a book that someone else has already used for the challenge. — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher Kristen @ See You in a Porridge.

WONDER(R.J. Palacio) (used by What Low Reads en Francais!!!) (4.5/5 stars) This was a great read!!
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15 points: Read a book with “boy,” “girl,” “man” or “woman” in the title (or the plural of these words).

LITTLE WOMEN (Louisa May Alcott) (5/5 Stars) absolutely loved this book!!
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15 points: Read a book with a one-word title

WINTER (Marissa Meyer) (6 out of 5 stars – lol jk) I loved this book so much and I gobbled it up in a day and a half when it came out!!
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20 points: Read a food-themed book. — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher Jamie @ Whatever I Think Of!

BELLA’S CHRISTMAS BAKE OFF (Sue Watson via Netgalley) (3/5 stars) I wasn’t the biggest fan of this one, but it had some OK moments.

TOTAL POINTS SO FAR: 70
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And here are my other choices, with some revisions from my original list:

5 points: Read a book that has between 100 and 200 pages.

My original choice for this one, A STUDY IN SCARLET was longer than 200 pages. Oops. So I didn’t bother with it and now I am going to read THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE instead.
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10 points: Read a debut book by any author.

NORTHANGER ABBEY or SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (Jane Austen) <– still haven’t started this yet and I might end up revising my book in this category to EVERY BREATH which I just got out from the library (and I am LOVING!) after reading Hannah’s review 🙂
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15 points: Read a book published under a pseudonym

THE SILKWORM (Robert Gailbraith AKA J.K. Rowling) (1/2way done this one)
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20 points: Read a book with a person’s first and last name in the title

ARTEMIS FOWL – (Eoin Colfer) OR BRIDGET JONES’ DIARY (Helen Fielding) depending on my mood…haha…both are easily accessible at the library.
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20 points: Read a book with a verb in the title.

ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE (Anthony Doerr) <–just got this one from the library
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30 points: Read two books with the same title (by different authors). — Submitted by SCSBC15 finisher bevchen @ Confuzzledom .

I had to revise this category from THE ALCHEMIST and THE ALCHEMYST because Paulo Coehlo’s is not over 200 pages (uggh!)…SO back to square one and I think I might read The Pact by Jodi Picoult and Karina Halle and but I’m also considering Easy, Elsewhere, Be Careful what you wish for, Forever, Any advice?!? haha. I am so torn on this category because I feel like I will end up choosing one book that I normally would not read since I can usually only find one highly rated book with a title…but I guess that is the point of the Reading Challenge, haha!!
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30 points: Read a nonfiction book and a fiction book about the same subject

So I narrowed this one down to 2 yoga books:
POSER: MY LIFE IN 23 YOGA POSES (Claire Dederer), nonfiction, and CORPSE POSE (Diana Killian) , fiction.

I have both of them from the library right now and will hopefully finish them next week.

Check out everyone else’s updates over here today!

What I learned in November // December goals

Well…the busiest month of the year is nearly upon us, and although I am trying to keep things a *bit* more low-key around Christmas this year, our lives inevitably fill up with a lot of wonderful things, and I love it. Our girls are at a great age to celebrate the holidays this year and Molly is already SO excited about everything that the season brings. Lucy isn’t as audibly excited, but she’s going to love the Christmas tree and all of the stories and songs that come with Christmastime. 🙂

We had a pretty busy weekend with Brian’s work Christmas party on Saturday night and a baby shower for my cousin yesterday. The girls slept over at my parents’ house and did GREAT, so that was a relief!! I am going to be playing catch up tonight and tomorrow night to get our house back in order and clean in time to get our decorations up this coming weekend.

November was a good month in many ways, although I have to say, we didn’t get as much rest and rejuvenation as I had hoped for. We had a sick toddler (ear infection = a lot of tears and no sleep), a moody 4 year old (at times), but we also had a lot of fun. We still haven’t had our “first snow” of the season yet, but it’s coming because it is definitely getting chillier out there.

That being said, here are some things I’m reflecting on at the end of the month:

Book hangovers are real. I flew through Winter and it took me a couple of weeks to even be interested in reading another book. I still haven’t picked up the books I was reading before Winter. I finally decided to re-read Mockingjay in anticipation of seeing the final movie next week and now I think I’m back on track with wanting to read. Which is good, because I have about 12 books out from the library to read in the next 3 weeks. Oops.

The dishes can wait. I have admittedly let some housework slip a bit this month in favour of getting down on the floor and playing with the kids or reading to them as much as possible every night, and I have to say that I haven’t (totally) regretted that extra time interacting with them.

It’s OK to say no. There are a couple of things this month that we just couldn’t fit in, and although I really didn’t want to miss anything, we also really needed that downtime.

Meals don’t have to be gourmet to be healthy and enjoyed. Case in point: tonight we are having breakfast food for supper, which is my girls’ favourite thing ever. Scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit. All the food groups and easy to prepare in a few minutes. #winning Sometimes I get ahead of myself a bit with cooking elaborate meals, but weeknights don’t really allow for that.

And here are some personal goals for December:

1) Get some form of exercise 5/7 days a week. Whether it’s a workout video, a walk, some yoga at home or at my class, or a run outside, I just want to get back into the habit of moving my body as much as I can. It’s SO good for the mind and I need to make time for it.

2) Go through all of our toys and really consider their worth. We got rid of 8 books of clothes, books and unused toys this past month, but we still have an overabundance of stuff and I want my kids to feel a bit less overwhelmed by toys.

3) Ensure that I am eating the recommended 5-10 fruits/veggies per day. I usually do well with this, but I’d like to fill up on veggies as much as possible at this frantic and treat-filled time of year 😉

4) Enjoy the special moments to come. I am going to be an aunt in a few weeks! My brother is visiting us for Christmas! My sister in law and her partner will be home for the first time in 4 months, too. I can’t wait to spend time with all of my family and friends this month.

I have another post coming today with my update on the Winter Reading Challenge 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Quotes from 14 Books I read in 2015

So far, I have read a number of absolutely amazing books this year. I’d say, in some ways, it has been my best year of reading. I owe this to discovering some book blogs, to finding time to read on my commute, and to giving audiobooks a try. It was hard for me to narrow down the top 10 quotes I loved from books I read this year, so I’m doing quotes from 14 books instead. Sorry!! 😉

Although these books weren’t all my favourites, these quotes really stayed with me. I am planning to start keeping a quote book next year (maybe even digitally if I get lazy), because I really like looking back on certain parts of books and remembering how reading those words made me feel.

Here are my favourites lately, to link up with The Broke & The Bookish for Top Ten Tuesday:

Sea of Tranquility (Katja Millay)
“I know at that moment what he’s given me and it isn’t a chair. It’s an invitation, a welcome, the knowledge that I am accepted here. He hasn’t given me a place to sit. He’s given me a place to belong.”

The Martian (Andy Weir)
“They say once you grow crops somewhere, you have officially ‘colonized’ it. So technically, I colonized Mars.In your face, Neil Armstrong!”

I especially loved this line in the movie 🙂

The One (Kiera Cass)
“You are not the world, but you are everything that makes the world good.”

Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
“There is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow creatures, and feeling that your presence is an addition to their comfort.”

Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Too many to choose from, really, but here are two of my favourites:

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”

“An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.”

Edenbrooke (Julianne Donaldson)
“You are bright and fun and delightfully unexpected. You are brave and compassionate and selfless. And you are lovely beyond measure. I want you, all of you, just the way you are.” He drew in a breath. “If you will have me.”

Blackmoore (Julianne Donaldson)

“I think the most profound beauty is found in what our hearts love.”

Where’d You Go Bernadette (Maria Sempele)
“That’s right,’ she told the girls. ‘You are bored. And I’m going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it’s boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it’s on you to make life interesting, the better off you’ll be.”

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (Gabrielle Zevin)
“We are not quite novels. We are not quite short stories. In the end, we are collected works.”

“We aren’t the things we collect, acquire, read. We are, for as long as we are here, only love. The things we loved. The people we loved. And these, I think these really do live on”

“You know everything you need to know about a person from the answer to the question, What is your favorite book?”

Attachments (Rainbow Rowell)
“I’d know you in the dark,” he said. “From a thousand miles away. There’s nothing you could become that I haven’t already fallen in love with.”

The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows)
“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.”

The Royal We (Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan)
“Whatever this is… it doesn’t happen twice in a lifetime. I’d rather work at this with you than settle for less with anyone else.”

Cress (Marissa Meyer)
“Maybe there isn’t such a thing as fate. Maybe it’s just the opportunities we’re given, and what we do with them. I’m beginning to think that maybe great, epic romances don’t just happen. We have to make them ourselves.”

Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
“I’ve got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen.”

What are some of your favourite quotes from books you’ve read lately?? Do you keep track of them? Goodreads is so helpful for this, but I really think the quote journal is going to be fun for me moving forward!!!

Humpday Confessions on a Thursday!!!

One of my hilarious fellow Canadians started up her Confessions Link up again this week with a co-host and although I was busy yesterday ~~remembering and enjoying my holiday~~ reading Winter, I still want to participate in the link-up today!! Here are some recent confessions:

I’m having a hard time thinking about getting back into another book today after finishing The Lunar Chronicles last night. I’m listening to Little Women on audiobook & I am loving it, and I’m reading The Silkworm and have not been too drawn in yet. Maybe I just need to give myself a day or two to savour how much I enjoyed Winter. I sincerely hope that this series is made into a movie franchise someday!!!

I think I get more out of audiobooks than print sometimes, because I have this terrible partial-skimming habit when I am reading a really interesting book. I read really quickly if I’m intrigued and I know that I miss parts of books by skimming ahead. I can’t stop myself from doing it, and I definitely do not miss anything extremely important, just minor details/descriptive details but the only way I know to stop is to start reading words aloud in my head. I think that’s why the pace of audiobooks just seems slow to me, but I definitely absorb the entire book. Any tips for stopping this bad habit? I guess I will just rely on re-reading some books that I know I love. I think I might try Harry Potter on audiobook in 2016 because I know I will skim parts of it and I want to get it all in. #fastreaderproblems

Most people in my real life don’t know about my blog. If someone were to blatantly ask me, I’d tell them, but for some reason, it just seems like it’s OK to keep it separate. Of course, Brian knows about it and I will probably share it with my immediate family sometime or they might have already discovered it, but I don’t know if all my friends from high school need to know that they can read my thoughts anytime they’d like (if that makes sense?)

I’m pretty confused about what day it is today thanks to the Remembrance Day holiday yesterday. I feel certain that it’s Monday and I have yoga tonight, but in fact it is Thursday and almost the weekend #soconfused?

Brian always makes fun of me for this, but if Lucy has a particularly good night of sleep (i.e. sleeps all night, sleeps till at least 6 am), I want her to wear the same pyjamas and do everything exactly the same the next night. We have a few pairs of good luck jammies. #superstitiousaboutsleep

I thought I’d love these Jamberry nails more than I actually do and I am pretty sure I’ll take them off tomorrow…although looking at the picture, they aren’t too bad!

Fall Fever Jamberry nails

My current yoga session ends in December and I thought I’d try to find a class that starts at 7 or 7:30 pm so I could go after the kids are in bed, but after thinking about it more, part of the joy of yoga for me is missing bedtime…6:00 class it is! #we’llseehowitgoes

Molly’s halloween treat supply is slowly decreasing and she hasn’t had any of it in 2 days…