14 Favourite Romantic Comedies (Chick Flicks)

Happy Friday!! I’m back with another list of 14 things! This time I’m sharing 14 romantic comedies I enjoy. Many of these I have seen over and over again – they are not all high quality films and to be honest I haven’t seen a lot of good NEW romantic comedies. I think the 2000-2010 era produced too many movies in the genre and now there’s not much left to do…BUT I still love it. I think I’ve seen most good OR bad romantic comedies out there. Everyone has their own favourites, but these are some that I personally really like 🙂 Maybe you will find one you haven’t seen before or one you haven’t seen in awhile for something to do this weekend 🙂

By the way, writing this post made me feel SUPER nostalgic…watching these kinds of movies brings me right back to spending a few Fridays a month at the movie theater with friends or watching movies in someone’s basement on the weekend…ahh, the good old days. 🙂

1) Definitely Maybe (2008) – I love Ryan Reynolds and this was a unique and cute story. The ending credits also include this song that I LOVE.

2) Crazy Stupid Love (2011) – I love Emma Stone and I thought this movie was HILARIOUS at times. I like the marriage components…I like the unexpected “twist”…it is cute and funny. Plus, Ryan Gosling…

3) Love Actually (2003) – the best Christmas movie ever 🙂 I watch this almost every year. There are definitely a few story lines that I didn’t love and if you are ever curious about all the types of love shown in the movie, I found this site a few years ago that explains it well but I can’t find it again. The Wikipedia site is a wealth of knowledge though and apparently BBC One broadcast a short film about what everyone was up to 14 years later, so now I need to get my hands on that. Lol. (I know I need to get a life).

4) 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) – RIP Heath Ledger. This movie is so great. I loved The Secret World of Alex Mack as a pre-teen so I really liked seeing Larisa Oleynik in this. I want to rewatch Alex Mack now…sigh. Also, this movie helped me understand The Taming of the Shrew a bit in my Shakespeare class in University, so there’s that! haha. Off topic: I loved Julia Stiles in a bunch of movies, including Save the Last Dance!

5) My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) – Watched this one probably 10 times as a teenager.

6) Notting Hill (1999) – does it get any better than Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant?

7) He’s Just Not that Into You (2009) – this is another funny movie that I rewatched recently and discovered that I still really like. I love the Jennifer Aniston/Ben Affleck storyline. The Scarlett Johannson one – not so much.

8) Wedding Crashers (2005) – Rachel McAdams is awesome in this movie. It’s not THE best, but it made me laugh and I haven’t seen it in years. Of course, the Notebook would be the preferred Rachel McAdams choice and I like that one too.

9) The Holiday (2006) I loved this when I first saw it, and then didn’t watch it again for YEARS but I watched it over Christmas this past year and yes, it is still so good. 🙂

10) A Walk to Remember (2002) – brings me back to my teenage years. Heartbreaking but cute.

11) PS I Love You (2007) – I saw this in theatres with a friend and my make up was a mess by the end of it. I still loved it though – especially the Irish setting.

12) Knocked Up (2007) We re-watched this both times I was pregnant and it was fun 🙂

13) The Big Sick (2017) I laughed SO hard when we saw this movie in theatres. It is absolutely hilarious and so well done. This photo is from my favourite scene (I laughed so hard I cried):

14) Pride & Prejudice (2005) – I would argue that this isn’t a chick flick but it definitely falls a bit into that category and I LOVE this version of it. I also love the BBC mini-series and watched it all in one sitting once but the Kiera Knightly version is easier to watch time-wise and so beautiful.

Are any of your favourites on this list? Also…a PSA: Don’t ever, ever watch the movie ABOUT TIME when you’re pregnant. I’m not kidding when I say I cried for about 5 hours straight. lol.

A couple of honourable mentions: She’s all That, She’s the Man (lo
l), Hitch…I could go on forever and ever here.

Hope you all have a great weekend! We have a busy-ish day tomorrow including a huge used book sale (YAY!) and a birthday party for an adorable one year old. May the 4th be with you all!!

14 Things to be Happy About

When I was on a high school trip, I came across this book in a gift shop called 14000 Things to be Happy About and decided that I had to have it. It’s pretty random and the “things to be happy about” don’t all necessarily apply to every person but it is uplifting and it made me smile more than once over the years. Here are a few things to be happy about as listed in the book:

-melt in your mouth food
-full freezers
-watching children ice-skate
-hot appetizers
-gentlemen rising when a lady enters or leaves a room
– strawberry-rhubarb jam
-turkey trots
-a romantic holiday with one special person
-learning to like yourself better

ETC.

Today I wanted to share my own things to be happy about. It’s been a pretty happy week here – a fun birthday party for 4 year old twins, the first BBQ of the year, 4 gorgeously sunny blue-sky spring days in a row, plenty of time in that sunshine, kids in a happy mood, warm-fuzzy books like this one. Of course, it’s rainy now, but that too is allowing me to step back and catch up on things indoors.

I feel like most of these things are pretty self explanatory 😉

1) Hot coffee
2) Swings
3) Sparkling water
4) Hugs
5) Comfy jeans
6) A good hair day
7) Yoga
8) Bluetooth headphones
9) Slow cookers
10) Cheese and crackers
11) Running shoes
12) Rain boots and puddles
13) The ocean
14) The library

Anyone have any fun plans for the weekend?! Our girls have a superhero running race tomorrow so I will share their Wonder Woman costumes I made this week 🙂 Other than that we are taking it pretty easy and enjoying each other’s company this weekend. Happy Friday!!!

14 book recommendations in different genres

Happy Friday!!

I am looking outside the window at snow right now — I’m so glad it’s the end of April, haha. This was a good week though! I finished a couple of books (but still have a bunch on the go – as always), looking forward to a few family activities this weekend, and Brian and I watched Wonder (SO good – almost as good as the book imho!)

This week for 14 Things Friday I wanted to share 14 random book recommendations. These are some I would recommend to someone as long as they tell me what genre they like. Unfortunately, most of my choices here are pretty popular so many people have probably already read them but I’m just using this as an excuse to share a bunch of books I’ve loved over the years.

I also had some colouring time with Molly yesterday in which I made some word art including a lot of my favourite books :

1) Classic: Persuasion by Jane Austen Although Pride & Prejudice is my favourite Austen novel, Persuasion is second and it is shorter and maybe a BIT more approachable and less widely read than P&P. And it is SO worth the read. ❤ Runner up: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

2) Thriller: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown I love Dan Brown’s books and I gobbled this one up in less than 24 hours 15 years ago. A bit gruesome in places though…Runner up: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

3) Mystery: A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny (the 4th in the series and where it “gets really good”) It’s not a secret that I am obsessed with the Inspector Gamache series and my favourites are probably #8, #9, and #12, but I really got super invested in these books around #4. Runner up: The Dry by Jane Harper

4) Romance: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne which was one of my favourites last year Runner up: The Knitting in the City series by Penny Reid OR The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

5) General Fiction: Beartown and the upcoming Us Against You by Fredrik Backman I know not everyone loves A Man Called Ove but Beartown is 100% worth the read, in my opinion. Runner up: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

6) Historical Fiction: Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah I loved The Nightingale and The Great Alone, and Winter Garden was excellent too. Check it out if you enjoyed her other books…I liked the setting. 🙂 Runner up: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

7) Science Fiction: The Martian by Andy Weir <– this was my very first audiobook and it was SO excellent. The movie is also quite well done. Runner up: Red Rising by Pierce Brown <–I really need to read the other books in this series…

8) Memoir: Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. I love the thoughts in this book. Runner up: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalinithi on audio

9) Non-fiction: Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin this book still makes me think all the time. I have a whole post I’m working on about life as an Obliger 😉 Runner up: The Secrets of Happy Families by Bruce Feiler <–I still think about this book all the time.

10) Children’s Picture book: Waiting is Not Easy by Mo Willems <– one of my favourite children’s authors 100%. Runner up: Press Here by Herve Tullet

11) Children’s Chapter book: The Magical Animal Adoption Agency trilogy by Kallie George I love this trilogy. Runner up: Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White <– I am dying to read this to Molly.

12) Middle Grade: Greenglass House by Kate Milford and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

13) YA/NA fiction: The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay This book was incredible and I am way overdue for a re-read. Runner up: Tell me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum this book was sad but such a fun concept.

14) Humor: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah – particularly on audio. This book was awesome. Runner up: Talking as Fast as I can by Lauren Graham

Read any of these?! What do you think of them?

Happy weekend everyone!!

14 Random Facts about Me

Happy Friday the 13th!! Today is also my parents’ wedding anniversary, so I am thinking of them today as they celebrate 33 years 🙂

Today I’m excited to start a new series on my blog with a random list of things every Friday. I’m going to try to stick to 14 things on each list and I have a bunch drafted and ready to go, but I wanted to start this first one with 14 random facts you might not know about me. The last time I did a post like this was around my birthday a year and a half ago. I recycled 2 facts from that post so don’t check it out yet. Haha.

1) 14 is my favourite number. Like many kids, my favourite number used to always be my age at the time, but when I turned 14 I decided that would be my favourite number moving forward (my birthday is August 14 – I’m so creative). 😉

2) I play 3 instruments: french horn, piano, and violin/fiddle – however, I hardly ever make the time to play any of them these days. I should really get back into at least one or two of them.

3) I grew up on the other side of the country and moved to the east coast to go to university when I was 19. My mom is from Nova Scotia though so most of my extended family on that side was here, and now my parents have moved here too so Calgary isn’t really “home” anymore. (I don’t feel super sad about this – but there are a few things I miss). I’ve lived in Nova Scotia for 14 years now!

4) I currently work part-time in a permanent position, but I might go back to work full-time when our youngest daughter starts school in 2019. I love the work-life balance of working 3 days a week and spending extra time with our girls but I feel like it is selfish to have so much time to myself (and also, I might get bored) down the road when they’re both in school. We’ll see how it goes.

5) This will be news to no one here, but reading is my very most favourite hobby and although I am much more serious about my reading life than I was a few years ago, it’s always been a part of my life. I love love love love love it and I don’t think a day ever goes by anymore without me reading at some point. However, I mostly only talk to the internet about books because I don’t have tons of super bookish friends in real life. (Although if anyone ever brings up a book or asks me about one I am ALL FOR talking about it incessantly 100%! Maybe that scares less serious bookworms off?!)

6) I’m taking French classes and I love that too – our 6 year old is taking French immersion in school and since I used to be almost fluent, I am enjoying the challenge of learning the language again. It’s one evening a week.

7) Brian and I met online and I am so grateful we met each other (More about our story here or here if you are nosy :D).

8) I am not a super outdoorsy person in general but I do really enjoy it in the fall, and I love camping in the summer. We are antsy to get out camping again with the girls this summer. I have a list planned for things I love to do outdoors 🙂

9) I love keeping in touch with friends and I really need to do a better job of it – my close friends are spread out all over the country but many of them live nearby and I would love to see them more.

10) I try to talk to my parents almost every day and I probably also talk to my in-laws at least several times a week. They are a huge part of our lives and I appreciate our relationship.

11) I used to collect quotes from books and movies, and we have a few framed in our house. I had a major Pinterest addiction when Molly was a newborn and I was up at all hours feeding her. Word art is amazing.

12) Although I appreciate art and art history, I don’t know a lot about it. However, my favourite painting is Starry Night and I wish so badly that I had seen it when I was in NYC in 2008. (It’s at MOMA and I HOPE to see it someday)

13) I am the kind of person who hears a song I love on the radio and then listen to it a million times until I’m sick of it. Then I usually don’t listen to it for a year or so and when I hear it again, it’s amazing again.

14) I love lists and I’ve always made them. I can’t wait to share more FOURTEEN THINGS. I have a bunch of fun ones planned and I think each one will have its own theme. I am hoping it will be a fun and random way to be chatty on the internet once a week. Do you like lists?

So that’s it! What lists have you made lately?!

We have a bit of a lower key weekend planned – tonight Brian is out so I’m going to watch a movie or This is Us, tomorrow night we are having a date night and the girls are having a sleepover with my in-laws and Sunday I’m getting a massage and we will do some fun family things. I got most of my housecleaning done yesterday so I hope we can relax a bit this weekend!

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (Show us your books April!)

Time for one of the best days of the month – when I can look forward to virtually chatting about books ALL DAY LONG 🙂 Seriously though…I was at the library the other night and a group of women twice my age were gathered in a program room talking about Louise Penny and I was DYING to join them but it was kind of private. Rambling sentence short, I want to talk about books and here’s my spot to do it. PLEASE talk books with me!!! lol.

That being said, I have been reading A LOT for pure enjoyment/distraction/relaxation so far in 2018. I don’t regret it, and this happens to me a lot in the winter months when there is less socializing going on and the Canadian winter encourages me to curl up with a cup of tea and a book every night. That being said – most of the books I’m sharing here are not necessarily books I would blanket recommend to everyone because we all have our preferred genres etc. However – I still feel like I’ve read a lot of good books for my preferences lately so I want to talk about them!! 🙂

Linking up as always with Steph and Jana with some short reviews of books I’ve read since mid-March. Also linking up with Rachel this month.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND:

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wavering between 4 and 5 stars on this one. What an incredible memoir. It took me a little while to get into this, which is sometimes the case with memoirs for me in general, but the latter 75% of this book read like fiction (at least to me). I couldn’t believe it. Someone in a group I’m in mentioned that this felt similar (in some ways) to The Great Alone, and I can see that comparison – it’s just scarier because this one wasn’t fiction and this is a real person who experienced these things. Wow. SO well written. I have nothing but empathy for this author. Here’s an interview with her. Even MORE interestingly, here are some Amazon reviews about this book from her family’s perspective and other people who know the Westovers. TORN about my thoughts on this book after reading those.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for the advanced review copy of this highly readable memoir. It’s a “read now” book on Netgalley until April 23 so if you are interested in it, I would suggest heading over there to get it! It was very profound and so well written even if this genre is not one you normally seek out (like me).

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a short novella. In my opinion, Fredrik Backman can really do no wrong. Like The Deal of a Lifetime, this one was a bit too short for me :(, but it packs a very powerful punch. Can easily be read in one sitting. A bit confusing at the beginning, but SO so good.

Beauty and the Clockwork Beast by Nancy Campbell Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kristen recommended this book to me almost 2 years ago and I was dying to read it, but I couldn’t get my hands on it anywhere! I wasn’t sure if I would like the steampunk genre so I wasn’t willing to buy it on kindle. I recently found it on Hoopla via my library and was so excited to read it. I listened to most of it and the audiobook was very well done (I read the last 30% because I could NOT put it down). This genre is incredibly fascinating and I loved the characters, the setting, the ‘tons, the paranormal aspects…this book introduced me to things I didn’t know I liked. Lucy was such an interesting and strong character and the mystery aspect of this book made it quite fast-paced. I was unable to put it down until I found out who was causing all the trouble. Steampunk certainly won’t be everyone’s genre of choice though. I can’t wait to read the next one via Edelweiss!

This month I read MOST of the Knitting in the City Series by Penny Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love love love love love this series but I can also acknowledge that these books aren’t for everyone. An amazing friend lent me these on Kindle and I FLEW threw them. They are 100% contemporary romance but they are really funny and the characters are unique, fun, and different than one another. I have 2 books left in the series and I am going to wait just a little bit so that I can savour it. The addiction is real here though – each story is about another woman in a group of friends so it is just too much fun constantly revisiting the group again and watching the next relationship blossom. I am surprised by how she has managed to make each story so different from the others. I appreciate reading about these female friendships in such a humorous way and reading their completely (in my opinion) unrealistic love stories. This is super fun fiction for me so if you like contemporary romance, I highly recommend these 🙂

OTHER ENJOYABLE BOOKS:

Ashes on the Moor by Sarah M. Eden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have enjoyed many of the books in the proper romance umbrella published by Shadow Mountain (i.e. Edenbrooke), and this one was no exception. It was sweet and enjoyable. It was quite a quick read, and parts of it were heartbreakingly sad. It reminded me a little bit of the concept behind North and South. The people in the town really grew on me and Evangeline did too. If historical romance is your thing, particularly if you prefer it clean, this was a cute book. I read it in one sitting.

Thank you to Netgalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for providing me with an advanced review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book had been on my radar for awhile and when I finally got to it I gobbled it up in less than 24 hours. It wasn’t 100% amazing but I was REALLY into it while I read it and it was quite enjoyable, VERY funny, sooo snarky, and highly readable. I will definitely get to the next two in the series later this year.

On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not my favourite of the series but I still do love those Bridgertons. Sad to say goodbye to this series but I will pick up some other books by Julia Quinn when I’m in the mood for sure.

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was pretty much exactly what I was expecting it to be, and I really liked it. It was fun to read and the characters were great. I love the pretend relationship trope so I knew I would enjoy this and I will be happy to pick up another book by Guillory in the future. It passed the time nicely and was fun to read – what more can you ask for in a Friday night read?!

You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Having only read Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld (and loving that one), I was excited to dive into this despite only sometimes loving short story collections. This was one of the better collections I’ve read and I think it will be quite well received this summer. These stories were quite readable, quite eye-opening, and there was a bit of a wow factor in most of the stories. The characters were very diverse and that was fun to read too. A lot of these really made me think about how you can make quick judgements about a person without being correct…the whole collection really embodies that saying of “assume = ass out of u and me”. Like many short story collections, I liked a few stories way more than others, but that’s the way it is! I recommend giving this one a chance 🙂

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advanced review copy of this book.

Intermediate Thermodynamics by Susannah Nix
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was adorable. I enjoyed her first book last month and picked up this one on audio on Hoopla. I don’t usually listen to romance on audio but I kind of like it – the manly voice is interesting. Haha – and you can’t skim audiobooks. 😉 I love Susannah Nix’s characters so far and the L.A. setting is also kind of fun to read about – I haven’t read many books set there for some reason. I appreciate what she is doing with her women in STEAM fields of work too.

Don’t Bother:

Maybe Someone Like You by Stacy Wise
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

I skimmed parts of this and read it in one night over a holiday weekend, but I will admit that it was pretty forgettable – literally the next morning I could not remember the title or the main character’s name. Thank you to Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for the advanced review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

In summary: I definitely recommend almost all of these books depending on your reading preferences, but in particular EDUCATED, You Think it, I’ll Say it, Beauty & the Clockwork Beast, and Penny Reid’s books!!

CURRENTLY READING:

Graceling on audio, Down a Dark Road, and A Conjuring of Light <3<3<3

So, what have you been reading lately?!

A Few Things I Recommend

I’m finally remembering to link up with Lauren and Bre for their “add it to your list” recommendations post which happens the last week of every month.

Here are a few things that I don’t hesitate to recommend, although some of these are for children, so if you aren’t super interested in those recommendations – understandable! haha

1) Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover This book absolutely blew me away. It took me awhile to get into, and it made me feel a VERY wide range of emotions while simultaneously making me feel extremely grateful for my own childhood and the opportunities I have had in my life. At times, I forgot that I was reading a memoir because this book reads a bit like extreme fiction. It’s a READ NOW book on Netgalley right now, so definitely check it out if you use Netgalley or if you don’t, you could still sign up for this one because it’s free for everyone! (Until Apr 23)

2) Hoopla App – After hearing reading friends talk about this for months, my library JUST got Hoopla. It is a digital lending service that works a bit differently than overdrive. You can access certain ebooks, audiobooks, tv shows, music, and movies and there is a limit to how many you can borrow each month (my library has a limit is 5, which is perfectly sufficient when I still have access to my regular library digital holds AND tons of other books). The great thing about Hoopla is that you get the book RIGHT AWAY (that is, there aren’t any holds to wait for!) It doesn’t have everything and does not seem as exhaustive as my regular library digital catalogue, but it is worth checking out!! I found a few books I’d been dying to read for months on there and it was so exciting.

3) Chocolate flavoured yogurt – since I make our own plain greek yogurt in the Instant Pot, I sometimes want to spice it up a bit so I add a teaspoon of cocoa powder and 2 squirts of liquid stevia. To me, this tastes like dessert and it is still pretty healthy. My kids also go crazy for this.

4) Yoga with Adriene – I’ve raved about her before, but I particularly love some of her videos about headaches and neck pain and I think they would be great if you experience any kind of tension from your work posture (like I do). Try this one, this one, this one, and this one.

5) HasFit App – GREAT workout app that I’ve been using sporadically.

6) Zootopia – my girls’ favourite movie right now. They’ve watched it 3 times in the past month (and they don’t get movies very often). They love the Shakira song too. Lol.

7) Disney read along CD books – Lucy listens to these every single day. We currently have about 15 out from the library. They retell Disney movies in a read along story book. They are wonderful for the car.

8) IKEA coffee – way better than I expected it to be, and inexpensive, and organic. Yum.

—-> And on that note, Ikea’s Smaland where my kids had the time of their life for one hour during March break and I sat in a comfy Ikea chair and read my book for 45 minutes.

9) Jimmy Kimmel’s Lip Sync Battles – Brian and I spent 2 hours watching comedy on Youtube instead of a movie a few weeks ago and it was GREAT. This particular video of Triple H singing How Far I’ll Go from Moana is hilarious. lol.

source

10 books on my Spring TBR

At the end of 2017, I made a new shelf on Goodreads called TBR-2018. I turn to this shelf any time I’m not sure what to read next, and it also includes books on my shelves that I haven’t read yet (and books on my kindle that I forget about, honestly). I have gotten into a “bad habit” of seeing a review of a book on Instagram or a blog or Goodreads and instantly going to request it from the library right away (and then suspending it so all my holds don’t come in at once). Sometimes I get holds in from the library and I don’t even remember why I thought I wanted to read that book. I’m trying now to just add them to my Goodreads TBR categories and sort those out every once in awhile instead of having all the books come in at once from the library. I’m trying to remind myself that those books will always be there!!! 😉 (Netgalley is just as bad for this).

ANYWAY…I have a few more library books to read and then I am suspending some holds and taking a month or two to read books on my kindle shelf and my shelf at home. Here are a few books on my spring TBR list (linking up with The Artsy Reader Girl today for Top Ten Tuesday):

I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes – a few online bookish friends have RAVED about this book and I borrowed it from my parents probably a year ago and haven’t gotten to it yet. It sounds intense and fast-paced.

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton – My parents bought me this book for Christmas 12 years ago when it came out and I still haven’t read it. I’ve read and enjoyed The Secret Keeper and The Distant Hours by Kate Morton, but her books require a big time commitment so I’ve shied away from them sometimes.

Get Lucky by Katherine Center – I’ve had this on my kindle for over a year and I love her other books so this one should be good too. I think I only have this one and one other to go before I finish her backlist.

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab Kristen was kind enough to mail me this a SUPER long time ago and again, I just need to commit the time to it because I have heard that the ending to this trilogy is amazing.

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman – I had been stalking Netgalley several times a week to see when this book would be on there and then they e-mailed it to me and it was one of the best days ever. I loved Beartown, and this one sounds excellent too. (Comes out June 5)

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory – waiting for this one to come in at the library before I suspend holds…I have heard mostly wonderful reviews of this new release

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – I’m planning to listen to the Maggie Gyllenhaal narration of this one on Audible. I have tried to read War and Peace at least 10 times with no success but I have heard this work of Tolstoy’s is a bit more approachable and the audio version feels like the way to go 🙂

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (re-read) – I haven’t read this in quite a few years and I am going to listen to Rachael McAdam’s narration this time.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (re-read) – I want to listen to the audio version of this before seeing the movie in May – CAN’T WAIT to see the movie fyi 😉 The trailer is here. It looks SO GOOD!!!

You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld – I have this one from Netgalley and though I haven’t read much of her work (only Eligible, which I loved), I look forward to this one.

Have you read any of these? What else should I add? I have a TBR list a mile long so this is just some of the many books I’ll read this spring, I’m sure! 🙂

Show us your Books March 2018

Yay, book chat day!! 🙂 We went without internet ALL weekend after a cable got disconnected during a snowstorm last week so I am rushing to get this posted today. My reading life has been all over the place – I’ve been trying to keep up with Netgalley and Erin’s challenge and books I have anticipated for months, but I also find myself craving some fluffy happily ever after stories on weekends when I’m relaxing. It’s a mix!

I can’t wait to see what everyone has been reading. Linking up today with Steph and Jana, our amazing hostesses 🙂 Here are a few books I read in the past month or so since the last link up:

HIGHLY RECOMMEND:

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

This book comes out May 15. I had extremely high expectations for this book because I absolutely adored Happiness for Beginners and though I haven’t read all of Katherine Center’s books yet, I have enjoyed many of the others as well. This book was just as great as I expected it to be. I think it claims my second spot out of her books because I just have such a strong adoration for Happiness for Beginners but this was still so great.

I am not ashamed to admit that I read it in one sitting on a rainy Sunday evening and loved every minute of it. It was more emotional (for me, at least) than Happiness for Beginners because the reality that the main character finds herself in is so devastating and hope seems to falter for quite a bit there.

As with many of her books, I loved the cast of characters. Her writing is so great and I found myself laughing and crying and deeply rooting for the characters. And of course, I was quite happy with the ending and all the feels 🙂

I will absolutely be re-reading this one and adding a paper copy to my bookshelf in addition to this advanced copy provided to me by St. Martins Press and Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book and share my opinions before its May publication – I follow Katherine Center on Instagram and I had been following her progress with this novel and waiting with bated breath to have these words in my life.

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It feels like it’s been awhile since I read a psychological thriller after burning myself out on them a bit last year – but this one deserves all the hype. I spent most of the book not knowing exactly who or what to trust and the ending was particularly surprising to me – and intense too. The short chapters really make this one move quickly. I highly recommend this one if you like this genre – it was kind of a better version of The Girl on The Train (in my opinion) and the writing was very good.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This isn’t a popular opinion but this book was difficult to read. It took me forever because I just never connected with the overall story and the format. However, I did enjoy many of the stories and the writing was wonderful…it just wasn’t enough to hold my interest over other books. I do think this is an important book and I’m glad I read it, but it was difficult to connect with because I would just be getting into a character and then their story was over. (Read for “home in the title” category for Erin’s challenge).

Leaving Everest by Megan Westfield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After loving Lessons in Gravity last year, I was really excited to see that Megan Westfield had a new book coming out. I was a bit hesitant about this subject matter because Everest is soooo grandiose and the magnitude of the mountain and the survival skills required to summit it freak me out a little bit BUT I needn’t fear because this book made me really appreciate and love the Everest life. Emily and Luke and the supporting characters were so fun to read about and I had read 60% of this book without even realizing it. I happily finished it off the next morning and am now looking forward to revisiting it soon. It was also great to see a slight mention of April and Josh from Lessons in Gravity.

Again, I was reminded that I like the new adult genre quite a bit, especially when it is done well. Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for providing me with a copy of this for an honest review.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this audiobook and finished it quite quickly. It was a cute story about a 12 year old girl and her friends and there were elements of time travel, A Wrinkle in Time, learning about friendships and family, and some growing up. It was great.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This audiobook was incredible. Woodson’s storytelling is so riveting and it was a joy to listen to. I was completely invested in it and if anything, I wanted more. I think the format of this really lends itself well to an audiobook too – the poetic nature of the writing was a bit harder for me to read in print although it is still lovely. This had been on my TBR list for way too long (and in my audible queue) so I’m glad I finally made time for it.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow – this audiobook was fantastic. This book will stay with me for a long time. I loved the language, the description of Barcelona, the mysterious story, the sadness, the emotions, and the love of books. This is an incredible story even though it was very dark at times. It reminded me a bit of The Book Thief for some reason (although meant for an adult audience) and it also reminded me a bit of The Count of Monte Cristo though that could be because the audio narration felt similar.

STILL WORTH YOUR TIME:

Force of Nature by Jane Harper
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After loving The Dry (like many – it was so popular last year it seemed!), I was anticipating this book and it was another good one. I didn’t love it as much as her first book but I still found her writing to be absolutely captivating and all-consuming, particularly her description of setting. I really had no idea how this book would resolve and the ending was fast-paced and page-turning. I really like Aaron Falk as a character too and hope we see more of him in her future work.

The Phantom’s Apprentice by Heather Webb
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am very familiar with the musical of The Phantom of the Opera but have not read the original book. I’d say this novel did a wonderful job of encompassing the story and adding to it as well. It took me awhile to get into, and made me realize that probably my favourite part of the Phantom of the Opera is the music, because other parts of it are creepy (a ghost?! a stalker crazy ghost in an old building?! ahhh). I did really like this book though and if you are a huge fan of the original story, this would be worth your time to consider. It’s still set in historical times but the story is told a bit more from Christine’s perspective.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sonnet Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel for review. It is now available.

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I still appreciate and admire Agatha Christie’s writing and I like Poirot as a character, this was not as good as I expected it to be. The cast of characters here was just unlikable to me and I found myself not really caring what happened to anyone. The mystery itself was also predictable. (Read for “setting = transportation” category of Erin’s challenge).

By the Book by Julia Sonneborn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had been anticipating this book for months because I love Persuasion AND I am generally a huge fan of many Austen retellings. While this fell a little flat for me, I still liked it. There were certain parts about it that I decidedly DID NOT like at all, but the ending was good and the characters were good enough and there were some cute parts. I liked the university setting and the supporting characters too.

Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This was really cute. I wouldn’t classify it as a P&P retelling at all but I did enjoy the mention of the book a few times. Way less drama than P&P in my opinion. haha. Passed the time nicely. Very similar to Dating You/Hating You in a lot of ways.

Other books I read and enjoyed but don’t feel the need to discuss in extreme detail:

I went on an R.S. Grey binge towards the end of my Kindle Unlimited free month and read Anything You Can Do, The Foxe and the Hound, The Allure of Julian LeFray, and The Allure of Dean Harper. Anything You Can Do is likely one of my favourites of hers – I love that type of love story and it was well done and funny. The others were all good and as I’ve said before, her books are like sitting down to watch a romantic comedy in book form. Somewhat forgettable after the fact, but so enjoyable in that moment. I also read Living Out Loud and it was 3/5 stars for me – I can’t wait for the second part of this S&S retelling. I read this book in one day and while it wasn’t my favourite, it was still cute. I also read and enjoyed the first in a trilogy by Susannah Nix (contemporary romance) about women who work in scientific fields. It was funny and cute.

What have you been reading lately?

I’m currently reading:

Educated by Tara Westover

Re-reading:

First time reading the illustrated version! This is one of my favourites in the series so I am loving it.

Short Book Reviews – Show us Your Books link up!

So happy to be linking up with Jana & Steph today for Show us Your Books!!! It feels like it’s been ages since the last link up and I can’t wait to check out the books that everyone has been reading. I’ve shared a few reviews here and there over the past month, but this post is still pretty long because I basically did nothing but read and be a hermit in January. Click to the end to see a basic TL;DR about all these books. Haha 🙂

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING BOOKS

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I talked about this book more here, and all I really have to say is that this book was excellent and deserves all the hype it is getting. It was so well done.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the review copy of this wonderfully exceptional book. 🙂 It will stay with me well into the future.

Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I by Hazel Gaynor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was all over my Instagram feed in December and I had heard so many good things about it. The cover is also gorgeous and the premise was appealing to me, but I was reluctant to pick it up when I finally got it from the library in January (did I want to read something Christmassy after just packing it all up?!) Don’t let the title sway you – this book has a lot of mention of Christmases over the years, but it’s not specifically related to Christmas in any strong way. This book reminded me so much of another book I loved, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society except that the individuals writing letters were already friends so they spoke of shared history. The literary references and insertions of Shakespeare’s works and other poets etc was wonderful, and I loved the way the story unfolded (even though I did guess at some of it – it was predictable, but I didn’t mind one bit).

This story reminded me of what it feels like to write and receive letters, which is a bit lost these days and something I would like to get back into this year. The characters in this novel are fun, strong, and real. The cast isn’t as large as in Guernsey, but I liked the focus on the two main characters and their family/friends as side characters. I can’t stop thinking about how much I enjoyed this book, hence the 5 stars. This book came to me at exactly the right time and I am so happy that I picked it up.

A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh, I just love these characters. They are SO fun to read about, and quite humorous. Although I predicted the ending to this mystery, I still really liked this book and there were a few twists and turns. This is some of the most entertaining historical fiction I’ve read for sure.

Followed up by:
A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

WOW. I am absolutely in love with this series. I found this one to be the quickest read of the three – I absolutely couldn’t quite put my finger on what was going on in the mystery. Stoker and Veronica were amazing as always in this third instalment and their chemistry just HAS to pay off at some point! I am already highly anticipating the next in this series – I HOPE IT IS SOON!!!

Thank you to Berkeley Publishing and Netgalley for the advanced review copy of this book which came out in January.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This audiobook was excellent. I love Elsa’s character so much, and the entire cast of characters is quite fun. Elsa’s love for Harry Potter might have predisposed me to loving her right from the very beginning, but this whole book was just so well done. The mysterious aspects, the family ups and downs, and the true emotion here were so evident (particularly on audio, I think) and I am a Backman fan forever and ever. He has not yet written something that I didn’t enjoy immensely. (Read for Erin’s challenge: book written in another language)

From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kristen sent me a message when she found out that this book was out, and I promptly downloaded it immediately and read it until I was done. I really love Mariana Zapata’s books, and this one was particularly fun as a lead up to the winter Olympics when figure skating is featured a bit more prominently in the world in general. These characters were wonderful and I really really loved this book. Dear Aaron is next on my list by her after reading about some of those characters in this book.

Still Me by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Oh, it was so wonderful to read about Louisa Clark again. And Ambulance Sam. And a bunch of new entertaining characters. This was so, so enjoyable. Me Before You was absolutely sensational and a 5 star read for me. Unlike many others, I actually quite liked After You on its own. Still Me was better than After You and in some ways it felt like more of a continuation of Me Before You. There are some fun snippets of Will Traynor in this one. Louisa comes into her own in some ways. I love her as a character and I had forgotten that. I appreciate JoJo Moyes’ writing and need to get at her backlist soon. (In particular, The Girl you Left Behind is sitting on my shelf unread).

Greenglass House by Kate Milford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me a little while to get into this book, but the audio version was really very well done and I eventually could not wait to find out what happened at the end. The setting and the cast of characters were really interesting and unique and the story unfolded in a fun way. I can’t wait to share this one with my children in a few years – perfect middle grade book, in my opinion.

Enjoyable enough :

Dating You / Hating You by Christina Lauren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book reminded me quite a bit of The Hating Game, but there was a bit less angst. It was super cute and very funny – it was interesting to get a bit of a fictional inside look at the life of a Hollywood agent.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Winter is the perfect time to read this book, as I’m sure many readers would agree. At first, I wasn’t sure how much I liked this book – it seemed sad, and difficult to read during January. However, I stayed with it and really did end up liking it. I’d say it’s more of a 3.5 star rating but rounded up to 4 due to the lovely writing and interesting setting. This is ultimately a story of hope, growth, and belief. The magical realism and snow girl character made this really fun, and I really liked all of the other characters too.

Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I talk about this book more here. My favourite short stories were: Click by Katherine McGee, The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer Armentrout, and The Unlikelyhood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davies.

The Beau & the Belle, The Duet, and The Design by R.S. Grey
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

These books were super easy to read and they passed the time just fine. I love curling up with one of R.S. Grey’s books on the weekend and just passing an evening with some smiles and the knowledge that a happily ever after moment is coming. It’s like watching a romantic comedy in book format, and I love it. Overall, they didn’t have quite the depth that I seek out in some books, but they were funny and the characters were great. The Duet was probably my favourite of the three of hers I’ve read so far and I talk about The Beau and the Belle more here.

Neanderthal Seeks Human and Truth or Beard by Penny Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Penny Reid’s books are VERY funny. I read the first in each of these series and like R.S. Grey’s books, these pass the time sooo nicely. In particular, in Neanderthal Seeks Human, Janie is a one of a kind character, and so much fun. I will slowly read the others in this series although they’re not at my library so I am keeping an eye on kindle deals.

Not recommended overall:

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This wasn’t my favourite Austen adaptation. I’ve heard that it does follow the Youtube series pretty closely. It’s funny because in some ways it felt similar to Eligible, which I loved, but I think it lacked the humour of that book…or something. Anyway, it wasn’t too bad but I am off Austen retellings for a little bit after this one. (probably until next week or something – haha). Read for Erin’s challenge: book with a person’s name in the title.

As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

The premise for this book is quite captivating and unlike anything I’ve read before, so I was initially quite taken with it. I read the first third of it quite quickly and was anxious to find out what happened. However, Eldon’s character soon got pretty old and he never seemed to do much. He was also so angsty and difficult to read about. I will say that the author strung me along quite nicely in that I wanted to keep reading to find out what his wish was – and what others had wished for – but overall, this book wasn’t quite as good as I expected it to be. The ending did redeem it in some ways, and this might be better received in its target YA audience but for me it was a bit of a flop. Freebie for Erin’s challenge.

If you’ve read this far – yay, thank you!!!

TL;DR – I highly recommend The Great Alone, Last Christmas in Paris, From Lukov with Love (if you like romance), and Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell series as well as all of Fredrik Backman’s books. 😉 Still Me was wonderful too.

Currently reading in some capacity: The Shadow of the Wind (loving it on audio), Brown Girl Dreaming (almost done on audio), and Homegoing. <–taking my time with that last one and have taken it out from the library 4 times now :S Needing to start another Netgalley book too. I tried Ensnared last week and had to take a major pause – might be a DNF but I hate to do that with ARCs.

What have you been reading lately? My Netgalley shelf and my library holds are both exploding but I’m trying to keep up OR just let some go until later. Too many books, too little time!!! 🙂

Books for Review (January-February)

All of the books listed in this post were provided to me from the publisher or author as an advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.

I’ve read a few REALLY great books lately, and since a few of them are recent publications, I wanted to highlight them! I’ll also share short reviews in the Show us Your Books link up next week. The Great Alone came out yesterday, The Beau and The Belle came out on February 1, and the other three books came out in January or December.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, this book was so powerful and thought-provoking. The tension and plot-building in this story reminded me of Beartown. Both books take place in remote locations that are cold and have tight-knit (and opinionated) communities. The description of the setting in this novel was absolutely incredible and I am certain this will be on many people’s must-read list this year. A trigger warning for some domestic violence, so beware of that if this might not be the right time to read this book for you. I had previously only read Winter Garden and The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, both of which were amazing and I found it so interesting to see her writing in a more modern (still, 1970-80s) time period. She certainly never fails to bring tears to my eyes in her work (that’s 3/3 right now – haha – I will have to continue to test this). Leni and her family and friends will be in my mind and heart for the rest of the year and I can undoubtedly say that this will be in my top reads for 2018 already.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the review copy of this wonderfully exceptional book. 🙂 It will stay with me well into the future.

PS: Read an interview with Kristin Hannah about The Great Alone here.

The Beau & the Belle by R.S. Grey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have read and loved three R.S. Grey books in 2018 and this one is lovely. The characters are adorable and humorous, and I loved the setting. I loved the initial meeting as well as the reconnecting down the road. The side characters were also great – including both the mothers and the other friends etc. Also…how gorgeous is the cover? If you are looking for a lighthearted romance, I can’t recommend this author enough.

Thank you so much to this lovely author and her marketing team for sending me the advanced review copy of this novel.

Longbourn’s Songbird by Beau North
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I really, REALLY liked the time period that this re-telling was set in, and I enjoyed the progression of the plot that was somewhat close to the original, although there were some very with obvious changes that didn’t seem TOO ridiculous to me (as in other adaptations). Better yet, if you haven’t read the original P&P, this is still a nice little story to read and it was quite well written. I like Beau North as an author quite a bit and I’m looking forward to reading her other work now that I’ve enjoyed two of her Austen retellings.

Thank you to Netgalley and Beau North for the review copy of this wonderful book.

As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the advanced copy of this novel for review.

Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I often find it quite difficult to rate short story anthologies, so what I did here was provide a star rating for each story and then averaged them 😉 *nerd alert*

The concept of this whole anthology was super fun – I LOVE reading about first meeting, first falling in love etc. Although I enjoy and really love the stage of marriage that I’m in, I think it is fun to reminisce about those early days and reading about them is just so fun. The butterflies, the wondering what to say… it’s all amplified in this anthology because it features young adults 🙂 This is a fun book to read around Valentine’s Day too if you want to experience some lovey-dovey ness.

SIEGE ETIQUETTE by KATIE COTUGNO
This was a story about a boy and a girl at a party who had known each other for years but never spoken. It was okay but nothing too exciting and reminded me why I sometimes find short stories hard to read. (2/5 stars)

PRINT SHOP by NINA LACOUR
A cute story about a teenage girl starting a job at an eccentric print shop and how she goes out of her way to offer customer service to another teenage girl over Twitter. Cute and modern. (3/5 stars)

HOURGLASS by IBI ZOBOI
A story about a high school senior who wants to get out of her small town and move on. (3/5 stars)

CLICK by KATHERINE MCGEE
A cute story about a program for online dating that takes your entire internet history and matches you up with someone based on your compatibility. Packed a punch and I really, really liked this one. (4.5/5 stars)

THE INTERN by SARA SHEPARD
A story about a girl who spends a part of her day entertaining a rock star and learns a bit about herself in the process. (2/5 stars)

SOMEWHERE THAT’S GREEN by MEREDITH RUSSO
A story about a transgendered girl and some of the issues she is experiencing in high school due to one girl’s public stance on her. (3/5 stars – very interesting)

THE WAY WE LOVE HERE by DHONIELLE CLAYTON
A story about an island in which all of the inhabitants know when they will meet their true love. A look at future destiny. Cute and unique. (3/5 stars)

OOMPH by EMERY LORD
A cute story about a girl meeting another girl while waiting for her flight at the airport. (4/5 stars)

THE DICTIONARY OF YOU AND ME by JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT
One of my favourites in the anthology – this one is about a girl who works at the public library and spends quite a bit of time trying phoning a guy to return the dictionary he took out months ago. I can’t resist a good library setting 🙂 (4.5/5 stars)

THE UNLIKELY LIKELIHOOD OF FALLING IN LOVE by JOCELYN DAVIES
As someone who has studied a lot of statistics and works with them daily, I loved this. Such a cute story about a girl who does a high school stats project on the likelihood of seeing a stranger on another subway train in NYC. So cute. (4/5 stars)

259 MILLION MILES by KASS MORGAN
Super interesting premise but the ending didn’t live up to it for me. (2/5 stars)

SOMETHING REAL by JULIE MURPHY
Not my favourite, unfortunately. Was not super impressed with the whole reality show concept. (2/5 stars)

SAY EVERYTHING by HUNTLEY FITZPATRICK
Cute. (3/5 stars)

THE DEPARTMENT OF DEAD LOVE by NICOLA YOON
such a cool concept (4 stars)

Thank you to Netgalley and HMH books for young readers for the copy of this book.

Read any good books lately? Are you dying to read any of these??