Happy Tuesday! It’s Show us Your Books Day with Steph and Jana, and I can’t wait to add some books to my TBR list 🙂

February in general was a VERY slow reading month for me, quantity-wise. 🙂 Some reasons for this:

• Less time commuting to work (3 day week instead of 5 day so less bus time/less reading time)
• Reading long books AKA Quality over Quantity which was a goal for 2016 for me
•  Busy busy busy times at home with the kiddos/lack of sleep/bedtime at 8 pm many nights hahaha!

That being said, I  read some VERY amazing books this month and I can’t wait to chat about them today!! I also have a separate section at the bottom for the first time in my Show Us Your Books post about kids books (I know this section isn’t for everyone, but skip it if you want!!!)

Here are the books I’ve gotten through since my last update:

WINTER GARDEN by Kristin Hannah (5/5 stars)

This was my first book by Kristin Hannah and it certainly will not be my last. Although it took me awhile to get into this book, I became TOTALLY absorbed and read the majority of it in one day/night. Once I got partway through it, I couldn’t put it down and the story was really captivating. I still have The Nightingale by her on my list for Erin’s Book Challenge to read sometime soon.

ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr (4.5/5 stars)
I started this book in November or December and put it down for a bit until I got it on audio from the library this month which really helped me finish it. The writing is absolutely beautiful, and it won the Pulitzer for a reason. I actually enjoyed the switching between characters more than I thought I would. It was a wonderful reading experience though and I would highly recommend the book although it’s not neccesarily a re-read for me. PS: Isn’t the cover absolutely gorgeous?!?!
—Thanks to Anne Bogel’s several podcast guests who talked about this book and motivated me to finally finish it 😉 Speaking of which, one of my favourite book bloggers, Janssen from Everyday Reading, is today’s guest on What Should I Read Next? (Off topic, I know!)

THE CARDINAL’S SIN by Robert Lane (3.5/5 stars)
***I received this book in ebook format from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*** 
This book was approved for me on Netgalley months ago and I just didn’t get around to reading it for awhile, but I started it (finally) on a whim last week and I quite enjoyed it. It reminded me a bit of James Patterson’s Private series as well as Dan Brown’s books. The only thing I didn’t love about it was that I got a bit lost in some of the dialogue because it was more like:
“blah blah blah”
“blah blah blah”
instead of “blah blah blah” said Him. “Blah blah?” said her.
Haha. Anyway, I just had to go back a few times and see who was talking, but that’s the only major complaint about the book. It had a decent and intriguing plot. Apparently it’s the third in the series, but I think they stand alone too.

————————————————————————————————————————–

I’m currently still working through my reads for Erin’s Book Challenge including Bridget Jones’ Diary and Enders Game. Can I just say that one thing I have appreciated SO MUCH about this challenge is that it is 4 months long?! Totally attainable and still gives me time to read “non-challenge” books.

FAVOURITE KID READS LATELY (skip this section if you don’t care! haha!) 

Room on the Broo by Julianne Donaldson We love Julianne Donaldson’s books in our house and I first discovered them through the Virtual Book Club for Kids. The Gruffalo is another great read by her, but Molly really loves Room on the Broom and loves witches too! #FutureHarryPotterFan

LMNO Peas by Keith Baker This is an adorable take on your typical alphabet book and my kids love watching all of the little peas hard at work. The pictures are really cute too.

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beatty I had this one on hold from the library for awhile because Brian is an engineer so we talk about it a lot in our family 😉 This is a fun book about a little girl who loves to build things, and learns that failing isn’t a bad thing as long as you keep trying!

The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak My in-laws just bought this book and it is hilarious!!! This video of B.J. Novak reading it also makes me laugh. Molly thinks this book is the best thing ever and she has even started to read it to us so that she can say the funny words. This book is such an awesome concept for a children’s book.

Children’s Books I received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review:

Glory the Lion Cub and the Dunnos by Marianne Perry
This book was a bit above our age range, so we didn’t really get through it all, but I read most of it on my own. It isn’t one we’ll be running out to purchase, because we generally like books with pictures right now (except for BJ Novak’s? haha?) I might check it out again for Molly in a year or two when her attention span is a bit longer.

Leo Can Swim by Anna McQuinn
We are anticipating swimming lessons coming up again in the spring, so this was a great book to read with the kids right now. The pictures are so cute 🙂 Also, hilariously, Lucy, who doesn’t talk very much, was convinced that the baby on the front of this book was her friend Emma and she thought the whole book was about Emma swimming, haha.

Jake’s Kindergarten Checkup by Chrystal De Freitas
This was an appropriate read with Kindergarten in our near future too. Molly hasn’t gotten her shots yet (at least not since age 18 months), so it was nice to prepare her a bit for this. She is also really into doctors right now because of Doc McStuffins, so this fit in well with that interest. I liked the sibling dynamic here too. I can always get on board with books that teach kids something or help them to understand scary experiences.

The Storybook Knight by Helen Docherty I love rhyming children’s books, and we love dragons in our house, so this book was a huge hit. My daughter has asked to read it again almost every night, and my younger daughter loves the pictures. I will be buying this in print sometime soon.

This is just a small sampling of our kid reads over the past month. My kids read a million books a day and we have a lot of favourites, but these were some that I wanted to especially highlight 🙂

I definitely didn’t read as much as I planned to this month, but I am finding that the 2 extra days at home & not commuting to work are really cutting down on my reading time! Plus, I am trying to consciously spend a bit more time with my hubby at night and exercise more…so all of that eats into reading time too 😉 Oh well – I still enjoyed the books I read and that is what matters to me!!!

Linking up with Steph and Jana to share my reads from this month. Looking forward to others’ posts today too 🙂

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy (4/5 stars) this was such a sweet book! The characters were adorable and the premise was really interesting. It was one of my better reads this past month.

Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz (4/5 stars) – I liked this book a LOT more than I expected to, and I wrote about it last week when I linked up with the Literary Ladies Book Club.

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (5/5 stars) – Liane Moriarty has not let me down yet, but like many others, this was my favourite by her so far. This book provoked a lot of interesting thoughts and I loved the way it all wrapped up. I can’t imagine being in Alice’s position, but Moriarty did make you feel like you could relate to it so well.

Every Word by Ellie Marney (4/5 stars) I really enjoyed the first book in this series and this one was good too. There’s a 3rd that I’m trying to get my hands on asap. The characters are really interesting, and this one had a very detailed plot and some more background information that was brought up in the first book. I’ve heard that the third isn’t as good as the first two, but I’m still captivated enough to keep reading the series. Although I love the Australia setting (<3 Liane Moriarty too, remember?), it was cool how a lot of this one took place in London.


The Mother Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick (3.5/5 stars) I read this in about 3-4 hours one night. It was good, and it was what I needed after Every Word. It was when I was feeling sick but couldn’t sleep, so it worked out 🙂 I might read the others in the series someday, but probably not right away…they were just a little but too juvenile for me at the moment (intended age is middle grade ;)).

After You by Jo Jo Moyes (4/5 stars) It’s been almost a year since I wept through read Me Before You, so I had forgotten some of the details and I am glad for it because I really enjoyed this book!! It didn’t feel like a sequel in some ways, despite talking about Will throughout the book. I liked some of the twists and turns that happened to Louisa and I really enjoyed a certain paramedic’s presence 🙂 IMHO this is absolutely worth the read if you like JoJo Moyes’ writing, but don’t expect it to necessarily help you answer a lot of questions from Me Before You.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (4/5 stars) This book was INTENSE but I liked it. It was pretty emotional but so well written and realy different in a lot of ways too. I’d definitely recommend it but I would also warn of possible triggers (search them out if you are curious).

I’m not the only person in my house who is obsessed with books, by the way…this little one can’t get enough of them and I keep catching her lying on her tummy reading 🙂

Currently reading: Persuasion by Jane Austen (audiobook), All the Light we Cannot See (still, kinda) and sorta reading Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah but I have to return it to the library tomorrow so I might not finish it…we’ll see!!

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!!!

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!!!

Today is the day that WINTER IS HERE!!

(The book, not the season – thank goodness :)). I am about 10 chapters in (Thank you Lucy for waking up at 4:30 am!) & loving it so far. I can’t wait to chat about this final book in the Lunar Chronicles series. I have been gearing up for it by reading the fanfiction winners’ entries on The Lunar Chronicles blog (lots of fun stuff going on over there!) Marissa Meyer is also periscoping at the book launch event today…I’m not really into Periscope, but it might be fun to check out. I really feel like I haven’t anticipated a book this much since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (or all of the HP’s, really), so it is a fun feeling.

My November edition of Show Us Your Books will feature Winter (if I can wait that long to talk about it! – Doubtful!) but here’s what I read in October up until this week.

Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson (4 stars)

I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as Edenbrooke, but I still really liked it. I love a good “friends become something more” storyline, so I was happy with how that all played out. Definitely worth the read if you’re into books from that timeframe.

A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston (2 stars)

I almost didn’t finish this book, but I did eventually and I have to say I wasn’t the hugest fan. The way it was written just wasn’t captivating enough for me. I wrote a bit more about this here.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (4 stars)

Many people have heard of this book, and I will admit that it motivated me to purge some things that I’ve been holding on to for years and will never use again, but I haven’t worked through the whole method (nor do I agree 100% with all of it) yet. There are tons and tons of blog posts and suggestions on implementing this method!!

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick (3 stars)

This wasn’t the best YA I’ve read this year, but it wasn’t the worst either. I couldn’t stand the mother in this story, and I found parts of it very unbelieveable, but it was still a cute story overall with some more mature subject matter than some YA novels.

The Prophet by Khalil Gibran (4 stars)

I listened to this on audiobook on a whim, and realized I recognized passages of it, so I think I read it before. It was nice to listen to and I found myself finding some of the quotes online that I especially enjoyed. It’s not for everyone, but if you are philosophical or religious, or you like books like The Alchemist, this might be a good one for you.

Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows (5 stars)

I loved this story SO much and the characters were amazing. I couldn’t believe how much I felt drawn into the world of Guernsey. I also especially loved the ending and I rooted for it throughout the book. I was surprised at how much I liked the letter-writing style of this book, but it really worked for it. Go and check this book out immediately if you haven’t already!

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty (4.5/5 stars)

After reading Big Little Lies this summer, I knew I would feel similarly about this Liane Moriarty book. Her writing just grabs me right in and I can’t stop thinking about her book until I am done it. I love the way she toys with moral dilemmas and partway through this novel, I couldn’t think of a single way for her to end it that would feel justified, but she did (in my opinion). The epilogue especially wraps it all up in an interesting way. Her books definitely make you think.

The Matchmaker’s Match by Jessica Nelson (3 stars)

I signed this out on a whim from the e-library and I liked it overall. I found the story to be a bit predictable, but I was OK with that. The characters were cute and I like reading books from this time period, so it worked for me. The premise of a woman matchmaker in those days was interesting too, and I liked the independence of her character.

Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child by John Gottman (3.5 stars)

I got some great tips from this book that I will be putting into practice with our girls. Having studied emotional intelligence from a career standpoint during my Master’s, I think it is n important skill to develop in children.I skimmed a few chapters (typical for me and non fiction) but I was intrigued by many aspects of this book.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (CHILDREN’S book) (5 stars)
A cute children’s book that I had never read…and a great story of friendship and charity. On that note, I also read TONS of other children’s books this month (we average at least 5 a day per kid before bed), including some great Robert Munsch and some Halloween favourites. 🙂

What have you been reading lately? I’m working through The Silkworm, Little Women, and of course I am starting Winter today after work. Making my way through the Semi-Charmed Winter Reading Challenge one book at a time! I am also getting closer to my 100 books in 2015 goal on Goodreads!!

Check out the Show us your Books Link-Up HERE at Steph’s blog or HERE at Jana’s blog today!!! There are always lots of great recommendations, regardless of your taste in books.