Secret Sisters – Literary Ladies Book club link up

When I first read the synopsis for the Literary Ladies’ book club February pick, Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz, I was pretty intrigued. I had never heard of this author, but when I searched for her I learned she has written TONS of books. I put the book on hold, and hoped to get to it sometime. The next day, I went to the library to pick up a bunch of other books on hold that I had been excitedly waiting for and Secret Sisters was in the one-week rapid read section. I scooped it right up and started it right away. I had forgotten how much I like this genre every once in awhile. It reminded me a bit of some of James Patterson’s books (i.e. the Women’s Murder Club series). It was an easy read, and I finished it in a couple of days. I enjoyed some of the plot twists and the character development although I did find a few parts predictable and unbelievable at the same time.

Long story short? This book really captivated me from the get-go, and I really enjoyed it. I will for sure seek out more books by this new-to-me author. In my mind, books like this pass the time just fine and provide me with the distraction and relaxation I crave so much from reading.

Thank you for introducing her to me, Kristen, Kari and Kay!!

Their next book club pick is You Had Me at Hello, which was also recommended highly by a favourite book blogger of mine, Hannah at So Obsessed With. The title in itself totally gets me because I love that line in Jerry Maguire:

I am looking forward to adding it to my February reads because I have a few intense novels lined up for this month too and this will provide some balance!!!

I’m looking forward to sharing all of the books I’ve read lately in Show us your Books next week (Tues, Feb 9) 🙂 I didn’t manage to finish the Winter Book Challenge with Semi Charmed Life because there were two books I picked that I just couldn’t finish, but I still did OK with it!!

Literary Ladies Summer Reading Challenge Final Link Up

When I first saw the info about this summer reading challenge on Kristen’s blog, I immediately went to work writing down possible books for the categories. I did end up changing my mind a bit, but my final list was as follows:

YA Book – Sloppy Firsts 4/5 Stars

A book with a one word title – Cinder 4.5/5 stars

A book about summer, or a book with summer in the title – Twenty Boy Summer 2.5/5 Stars

A book recommended by a blogger – The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry 4.5/5 stars

A book by a non US author – Big Little Lies 5/5 Stars

A book on my TBR list for more than a year – The Perks of Being a Wallflower 4/5 Stars

A book with a female heroine – Jane Eyre 5/5 Stars

A suspenseful book – Gone Girl 3.5/5 stars

Book written by a celebrity or comedian: One More Thing 4/5

Book that will be a movie or TV show – The Martian -5/5

And as I mentioned in my last update post, I finished all the books from my list in August!

The books I would absolutely recommend that I read: The Martian, Big Little Lies, Jane Eyre, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. I also (obviously) loved Cinder and I have gobbled up the rest of that series in the past month or so.

I’d like to take a minute now though to reflect on the challenge and how I feel about reading challenges now that I’ve got this one under my belt 😉

One thing I absolutely LOVED about the reading challenge was that I really expanded my horizons in reading. There were some books on my list that had been on my “to be read” list for WAY too long and I knew that if I thought I “had” to read them, I would. And I’m so glad I did!! I also loved the interactive component of this challenge and the fact that it increased my participation on Goodreads/commenting on blogs/talking to other book lovers about similar choices. Additionally, I liked that I didn’t binge on one particular series. Usually (like most people, maybe?), if I read a good book, I will read the sequel immediately after, and then the next in the series, etc until I’m done it and in withdrawal. haha. This really forced me to move onto another book for a bit and absorb each series bit by bit. I wouldn’t necessarily do this moving forward, but it was interesting. Finally, I liked how this challenge made me fall in love with audiobooks. Throughout the challenge, I’d usually have 1 (or 2!) books on the go, and an audiobook, and I loved that because sometimes you have time to read, but sometimes you need to wash dishes or go for a run, and then you can turn to an audiobook at that time.

The only thing that I didn’t love about myself during this challenge was how intense I got about it…haha. By that I mean I really wanted to finish first so I felt like I chose books that weren’t TOO TOO long or hard (although some were longer, and none of them were necessarily SUPER easy). I also rushed through a couple of them, and I felt like I should be reading every single second that I wasn’t with the kids or working…so that was a bit weird, but I did enjoy all the reading I did this summer!! And this feeling isn’t the challenge’s fault, it’s all mine. 😉

I’m not doing any other challenges at the moment (although a fall one would be great!!) but my current reading goals include finishing all of Jane Austen’s books (I haven’t read a few of them yet!) by Valentine’s Day 2016, finish 100 books by December 31 (Goodreads tells me I am a few behind schedule but it doesn’t realize that summer socializing is coming to an end LOL) and if I finish 100 books I will allow myself to read Harry Potter again for the 10th ish time 😉 I am dying to read it again, and I know I should just say OK go ahead, but I’m also trying to really broaden my horizons a little bit. So many books, so little time!!!

Thanks for hosting such a great reading challenge ladies! I’m looking forward to the next one!! 🙂

Literary Ladies Update #2 and current reads

I’ve drafted several posts lately and then I haven’t had enough time to edit them or add pictures, so they’re left sitting as drafts and the moment has passed. BUT here I am today, so that counts for something?? We have had an insanely busy past few weeks. Stressful moments at work followed by nights at home with a screaming, tired, preschooler and a teething toddler have left me totally burnt out. Every day this week, I actually felt like digging myself a hole and hanging out there for awhile on my own with some peace and quiet. However, I let a few things go for this weekend, and my mind is MUCH clearer today, and I think I will survive now 😉

So, aside from turning 30 last Friday (ahh!!) I have been doing a lot of running, reading, and listening to great tunes and podcasts lately. Here is my update for the Literary Ladies Summer Reading Challenge:

Books read: 10/10!!

Books read since last update: The Martian (see thoughts below) and One More Thing.

I finished all my books awhile ago (almost within the first month, but The Martian on audiobook took a bit longer and One More Thing did too). Here’s my previous update, in case you want to know what I thought of the other 8 books I read.

My favourites from the challenge:

The Martian – honestly one of the best books I have read (listened to?) in years. It was amazing as an audiobook, and I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed the print version nearly as much. I can’t wait to see the movie. By the end of the book, I was actually squirming with anticipation to find out what happened with Mark Watney. Amazing, amazing book. Thanks to Kristen’s recommendation…I hadn’t even heard of it until I read about it on her blog, and I have already recommended it to everyone I know (my dad and my brother both absolutely loved it too!)

Big Little Lies – this book had me hooked right from the beginning and I couldn’t stand not knowing the ending so I finished it in about 2 days.

Jane Eyre – I can’t believe it took me so long to read this book (I listened to most of it, actually). Classics are classics for a reason.

Cinder – I have since finished Scarlet and Cress, and I love this series. I can’t wait for Winter to come out this fall. I have been actively seeking out more fairytale retellings too and I think I will try to get back into watching Once Upon a Time sometime soon too.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry – this was a heartwarming and pleasant read, and I loved it.

I’m so glad I did this challenge. It definitely broadened my reading scope and got me to read more books this summer than I otherwise would have. Now that I’ve caught the reading bug again all the time, I don’t think I’ll stop anytime soon!

Right now I’m reading In the Unlikely Event (so far it’s about 3/5 stars for me, but I’m only about a third of the way through – I’m interested but not 100% hooked on the characters and I have an ominous feeling about what is to come)…and I have these others on the horizon in the next week or so and while I’m off work for a week (Sept 1-8) 🙂 This one is for the Literary Ladies Book Club pick of the month.

I just finished the other two Lunar Chronicles books, and I loved them. Cress was probably my favourite of the three so far. I liked Scarlet too, but the storyline just wasn’t as exciting to me as Cinder and Cress. I am actually glad in a way that I didn’t discover this series until this spring, because now I don’t have to wait quite as long for the fourth book to come out 😉

I’ve also read the 2nd and 3rd Jessica Darling books – the third wasn’t my favourite but I am hoping the fourth will be better! Still a good series to pass the time 😉

I have heard amazing things from many bloggers about the Sea of Tranquility, and I hope it isn’t TOO emotional for me, haha.

Anyway, I’m off to go for a run on my lunch hour here…hope everyone has a great weekend!! I hope my weekend looks a little bit like this photo:

But I’m sure it will end up being more like this:

Update: Literary Ladies Summer Reading Challenge

I think I read more books this month than I have in years! I loved the break from watching TV in the evenings. I love having an audiobook and a regular book on the go, because sometimes it is just easier to listen to a book (i.e. walking to work, on the bus sometimes, going for a run, washing dishes.) I know I posted last week about books lately, but I wanted to create a post just for the challenge so I can link up today.

I’ve read 8/10 of the books from my list so far, and I’m hoping to be finished by the end of the week!

Books I’ve read so far:

YA Book – Sloppy Firsts 4/5 Stars

A book with a one word title – Cinder 4.5/5 stars

A book about summer, or a book with summer in the title – Twenty Boy Summer 2.5/5 Stars

A book recommended by a blogger – The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry 4.5/5 stars

A book by a non US author – Big Little Lies (amended from The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up which was less than 200 pages) 5/5 Stars (and I will read the Life Changing Magic soon!)

A book on my TBR list for more than a year – The Perks of Being a Wallflower 4/5 Stars

A book with a female heroine – Jane Eyre 5/5 Stars

A suspenseful book – Gone Girl 3/5 stars

Books in progress:
Book written by a celebrity or comedian: One More Thing
Book that will be a movie or tv show – The Martian – I AM SO, SO, SO HOOKED ON THIS AUDIOBOOK!!!

Books that I will be reading when I finish the challenge:

Scarlet
The Husband’s Secret
Second Helpings

Literary Ladies Book Club & Summer Reading Challenge!

Hi there! It’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted in this space!

However, as you may remember, I LOVE to read and I am finding a lot more time for it lately on my commute to work and now that I have children who mostly sleep all night 😉 Last week I came across an awesome SUMMER BOOK CHALLENGE that I’m so excited to participate in, and I wanted to share my book choices for the challenge on my (old) blog space!!

Here are my reading picks for the Literary Ladies summer reading challenge (Jun 21-Sept 21 2015):

1) A YA Book – Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty (Jessica Darling Series #1)

I’ve already picked this one up from the library, so it might be the first one I start on Jun 21! I’ve heard a lot of good things 🙂

2) Non US Author – The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Marie Kondo who is Japanese!!

A few people recommended this to me, and while I’ve heard it is a bit extreme, I think I need it in my life!!

EDIT: I amended this book choice to Big Little Lies by Lianne Moriarty because the book by Marie Kondo is less than 200 pages on my Kobo!! So I’ll still read it sometime, but it won’t count for this!

3) Book recommended by a Blogger – The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin recommended by Kristen here.

I’ve heard SO many good things about this book and I can’t wait to jump into it.

4) A book that’s been on your to-read list for 1+ years- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by

This one has been on my to-read list on Goodreads for ages now, and I haven’t seen the movie either…so I think this summer is a good time to give it a go!

5) A book with a kick-ass female character – Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

The audiobook is all cued up thanks to Librivox!

6) Book that is or will be a movie – The Martian by Andy Weir

Going the audiobook route on this one too – I think I will understand it a bit better that way! Can’t wait to check out the movie this fall with my husband’s favourite actor as the main character!

7) A book written by a celebrity – One More Thing by B.J. Novak AKA Ryan from the Office AKA Mindy Kaling’s “best friend”

I started this a long time ago and didn’t finish it, so I guess it counts as a bit of a re-read. I think the short story format will work well for the bus commutes. If for some reason, this book of short stories doesn’t fit the category, I am going to amend this choice to Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.

8) A book with a one-word title – Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I deliberated on this category for a long time, and almost went with Invisible by James Patterson. The problem with Goodreads is that it’s too easy to read reviews, and I figured Invisible might be a bit more gruesome than I’m up for right now, so the highly recommended first book in the Lunar Chronicles fits this category for me.

9) Suspenseful book – Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn

I must be the only person on the planet who hasn’t read this book yet, and I want to read it before seeing the movie which I noticed is now on Netflix!!! Unfortunately, I have encountered a few spoilers for it, but I think I’ll still enjoy it.

10) A book about summer or has summer in the title – Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Oh, boy did I ever deliberate over this one too. There are so many books with Summer in the title and some of them seem a bit too teenage-angsty for my current mood (i.e. turning 30 in a few months, lol). Who knows, maybe my choice will be that way too, but it seems pretty good! I will also probably check out Summer at Sea at some point this summer 🙂 This category also made me remember Summerland…whatever happened to that show? It was OK for a bit there!

ANYWAY….

If you’re looking for a fun virtual book club to join, I am pretty intrigued by the Literary Ladies Book Club! They have a Goodreads page and they are planning to host a Twitterchat on the last day of the month to discuss that month’s book. Their pick this month is Saint Anything, and I’ve been anxious to try out Sarah Dessen for awhile!!

You can follow along with my progress for this book challenge on my Goodreads page. I hope to blog a bit more this summer too, because I am finding myself with free time (occasionally) in the evenings these days and I want to try to capture this season of our lives with a bit more sincerity!

XOXO!!