Stephany Writes

How I Find Books to Read

I’ve been thinking lately about TBR lists and finding books to read. I believe with my whole heart that everyone can be a reader, but you just have to find the right books for you. It may be paranormal romance, or high fantasy, or literary fiction, or chick lit. And, of course, you have to devote time to it. (I can’t roll my eyes hard enough when someone tells me they don’t have “time” to read yet wants to talk to me about every Netflix show they’ve binged in the last six weeks. Mmkay.)

I also think that finding a genre you like is just one piece of the puzzle. I think you also have to know how to actually find books to read. How do you do that without stumbling across a listicle online or walking into a bookstore and picking up a book that has an appealing cover? Friends, that’s why you have me. I’m here to help you find books to read because I recently realized that I have a steady stream of book recommendations coming at me from myriad sources.

Let’s discuss:

Podcasts

I listen to an array of bookish podcasts that provide me with a wealth of new and old books to add to my TBR. Some of my favorites include What Should I Read Next, Sarah’s Book Shelves Live, and No Thanks We’re Booked. What’s great about these podcasts is that they highlight why you should read a certain book, which is a great way for me to immediately pull up my Goodreads app halfway through an episode and add the book to my want-to-read list.

Goodreads

Right after Instagram, Goodreads is my favorite social media platform. I’m on it daily, either scrolling through the feed or updating my currently reading list. I also get a daily email from Goodreads that details the latest updates from my friends list: what they’re currently reading, what they’ve recently reviewed, and what books they’ve added to their want-to-read list. I find this email so helpful. If someone adds a gushing review about the book, I’ll probably mark it as want-to-read. If the opposite happens, someone has a negative review about a book on my list, I might remove it, especially if the reviewer is someone whose reading taste aligns with mine. And sometimes I’ll find new books to add to my list, especially if the cover catches my eye, a bunch of friends have marked the book as want-to-read, or it’s from an author I like. That daily email is a lifeline to my reading life!

Along with the daily email, Goodreads also sends me a monthly newsletter to tell me about new books from authors I’ve previously read. I love this email because it reminds me to request certain books from my library (and, more often than not for my romances, recommend the library buy the e-book version) and also keeps me in the loop with publishing dates.

IRL friends

I met my core group of friends through a book club, and we’re still going strong many years later! We are still essentially a book club – we always read a book each month and meet up to discuss it over dinner or brunch or a fun activity – but our book club meetings are probably 90% chatting about life. Even so, there’s still a lot of bookish talk in the midst of the chit-chat, especially about the books we’re reading and loving. Most of them are also very active on Goodreads, too, so I can see what they’re recommending there. I get a lot of my best recommendations from my friends because we’re so similar in our reading tastes!

Book Riot

Trying to describe Book Riot is… not easy. I would consider it to be a bookish media company. They publish articles, have numerous podcasts, have a membership program, and a lot more. On their blog, they publish around 10 or so articles daily with book listicles, essays about the bookish life, and more news-y articles, and through their articles, I have found so many great books to read. As far as their podcasts go, I only listen to two and the one I listen to for book recommendations is All the Books. Every week, the hosts discuss some of the top new releases and I find myself needing to keep my Goodreads app open when I’m listening to add new books to my want-to-read list.

Book of the Month

Book of the Month has introduced me to so many great books. I don’t think it’s necessary to subscribe to reap the benefits of using BOTM as a book recommendation source, either. Simply check out the site on the first of every month to check out the titles or, my personal favorite, check out Sarah’s Book Shelves as she does a monthly roundup post of the BOTM selections, where she gives a very detailed overview of each book. Even when I don’t select a book, I’ll add it to my Goodreads want-to-read list because while I don’t want to spend $14.99 on a hardcover of the book, I may want to check it out from the library later.

#bookstagram

Finally, I have found many great recommendations from #bookstagram, which is a bookish community on Instagram. Bookstagrammers are known for showing their book hauls, talking about what they’re reading, and discussing the books that are getting a lot of buzz in the publishing world. Oftentimes, the bookstagrammers talk about books I’ve already heard of, but it’s due to their gushing reviews that I finally add it to my Goodreads want-to-read list. Also, it’s just fun to follow bookstagrammers because it makes my feed so pretty and positive.

I know this is a lot of information and if you’re someone struggling to find books to read, this may feel overwhelming. But, believe me, you do not need to have all of these streams going to find book recommendations. My advice is to follow one or two bookish podcasts (I’d recommend What Should I Read Next for new readers), as well as either subscribe to Book of the Month or keep track of what they’re offering each month. I know people who read just from BOTM books! It’s not a bad system at all, and you’ll definitely get to enjoy a great mix of authors and genres.

Now, go forth and read. If you’ve finished a Netflix series in the last month, you definitely have time to read a book. (Or two. Or three. Or ten.)

How do you find books to read?

What I’m Reading (3.4.19)

Happy Monday, friends! I am feeling good after a really relaxing weekend. There were plenty of naps, as well as family game night with my brother, nephew, and mom. We played a three-and-a-half hour game of Monopoly where we had these bouts of laughing so hard our sides hurt. I’m still thinking about some of the stuff that happened and giggling to myself! Those are the best kinds of nights. <3

This week, I finished reading one book, abandoned another book, and am currently in the middle of reading three books. The book I abandoned, Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan, was a surprising one to me. I think it might be a case of reading a book at the wrong time, so I may try to pick it up at another time, but I wasn’t connecting with it. The book also dealt with the death of the author’s father and best friend, and I’m still heavily grieving my grandfather’s unexpected and traumatic death, so that part of the book was too much for me to handle right now. I think I may try to come back to it in a year or so, when my grief isn’t so raw.

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo (★★☆☆☆)

Dozens of my friends have read this book and loved it. So many five-star ratings and exclamations of how sweet this book is. So, I picked it up thinking I was going to read a really sweet love story… and was sorely disappointed in it. It follows Lucy and Gabe, two people who meet in college (on 9/11, no less) and have an immediate connection with each other. But life has other plans and they don’t meet again until a year later, and this time, their love feels fated. Unfortunately, when Gabe is offered a job as a photojournalist in the Middle East, they make the tough decision to break up because Lucy’s life and her career in TV is in New York, and she’s not willing to give it all up for him. What follows after that is thirteen years of pining, of desire, of love. Annnd… of really selfish decisions made on the part of both Lucy and Gabe. I found Lucy to be a difficult person to relate to and wanting to shake her due to the choices she made. Apparently, though, I was told that because I don’t have a past love like the one Lucy and Gabe had, I couldn’t understand why they felt this pull to one another. I call bullshit on that. I agree that there are just some loves we have where there’s an intensity and a connection that cannot be explained or replicated with anyone else. But I don’t agree that that means that love supersedes everything else. I don’t believe that it gives someone permission to hurt people in their lives and to make selfish decisions that can have massive ramifications.

I’m currently reading…

> Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren. Oh boy, do I love a good friends-to-lovers romance, and this one is delivering. I’m nearly finished with it (less than 100 pages to go), and it’s been such a fun read.

> The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain, on audio. I’ve had this book on my Goodreads want-to-read list for years (originally added it to my list in 2013!), and I chose it because it was one of the few audiobooks available on Overdrive that didn’t have a wait. I’m a few hours in, and it’s so intriguing!

> The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I was never assigned to read this book in high school, so I’m reading it to fulfill my yearly goal of reading four “classics.” It’s a pretty hefty book (nearly 500 pages), so I imagine I’ll be sitting with this one for a little while.

What are you reading?

Quick Takes on a Friday (v. 2)

1) Our itinerary for Ireland is set! We will visit Galway, the Cliffs of Moher, Kilkenny, the Rock of Cashel, and Dublin (with possible stops to Waterford and Belfast planned but we’re leaving it open-ended for now). We have hotels booked in Galway and Kilkenny and I’m planning on booking this tour to see the Cliffs of Moher. Eeks – it’s all coming together!

2) Another coworker told me this week that she’s leaving, which means I’m the last one standing in our friend group. It just really kinda sucks, even though I’m happy for my friends who have moved on to bigger and better things. I deeply miss the days when our group text was blowing up, gossiping about coworkers and talking about things happening in the office, but I’m trying to forge new bonds with the coworkers around me. It helps, but I still wish my friends were here.

3) Yesterday, I realized that I’ve been using expired milk in my scrambled eggs in the morning. The expiration date on the bottle is February 2! What’s crazy is that I swear I bought that milk two weeks ago so was it already expired when I bought it? I usually check the label but I guess this one slipped past me. I feel okay, though, and I’m just mixing a small amount in my eggs that I then heat up so maybe I’m killing all the bad bacteria?!

4) I keep having dreams about Grandma and Pops. They’re never in the same dream, and the dreams are both so vastly different. My dreams about Grandma bring me such peace and comfort. We’re just hanging out and she’s taking care of me, as she always did. My dreams about Pops are disturbing, as he’s here and healthy and fine… but he never responds to me. I’ll talk to him and ask him questions, and he just acts like I’m not there. I wake up from those dreams so upset because that is the opposite of how Pops was, and it breaks my heart all over again.

5) I’m happy to report that Eloise and Lila are getting along! They are not best friends yet, but these things take time and Eloise definitely takes a while to warm up to people. (Kind of like her mom, heh.) Lila has been an absolute ANGEL, though, and her sweet little face makes my heart so happy. She’s so easygoing and snuggly, and it fills my heart with such joy that I get to keep her forever!

6) After weeks of being scared to do it, I filed my taxes this week and I’m pleased to say I am getting a decent refund. I had convinced myself that I was going to owe money this year because I made a not-insignificant amount of money freelancing in 2018 and I’ve been getting less money withheld on my paychecks. I keep hearing horror stories of people who owe money this year, and I am so thankful I am not in that boat.

7) Next month I am attempting my first of four no-spend months and I am both nervous and excited about it. I am excited because March is a three paycheck month for me so I’ll be able to make serious progress on both saving for Ireland and paying off my credit card. But I’m nervous because I keep thinking about things I want to buy and I’m scared I won’t have the willpower to resist once March rolls around.

Have you ever attempted a no-spend month? 

Quick Takes on a Friday (v. 1)

1) I woke up yesterday morning thinking, “I should revive 7 Quick Takes Friday” on my blog! This was a series I did regularly on Fridays back in 2011-2012 days, and I don’t know why I thought about it at this moment in time. But I couldn’t get it out of my head to do, so I’m bringing it back but I’m just going to write however many quick takes I want (less than 10, more than 5) and challenge myself to keep each “take” short, three sentences or less.

2) I finally started watching Big Little Lies on HBO. We’re reading the book for my work book club and since everyone but me and another person have also watched the show, we wanted to do a book vs show debate. I’m three episodes in and I am loving it, and can’t believe I waited to so long to watch it!

3) My mom and I did something totally crazy yesterday: we booked a trip to Ireland! I got an email about crazy low fares to Dublin, and since my mom has told me repeatedly how much she wants to visit Ireland, we start texting about it. And suddenly, tickets were booked and I was scouring the Internet for Ireland itineraries. We leave at the end of April, and I couldn’t be more nervcited (<– my new term for being nervous + excited at the same time)!

4) Some new podcasts I’ve added to my feed: Sarah’s Book Shelves Live (she’s one of the few snarky book people I know of, and I love her for it!); Terrible, Thanks for Asking (I’m bingeing through her archive now, but I may need to space of the episodes as they make me so sad); Up and Vanished (thoroughly engaged with season 1), and Enneagram & Coffee (Sarahjane’s voice makes me want to curl up and fall right asleep… it’s so soothing!).

5) I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow and a part of me wants to ask my therapist to just massage my hands for the whole 50 minutes. My hands have felt so achy lately and I’m not sure why! I can’t even do a plank anymore because the pressure on my hands is excruciating.

6) This weekend is the 24in48 readathon, and I’ve been going back and forth if I want to participate. I have a fairly plan-less weekend; the only things on my plate are a massage on Saturday and a writing date on Sunday. I think I’m going to give it a try, though, and see how close I get to that magical 24 number.

7) I’ve loved watching Eloise get more and more comfortable with me, and I swear she’s become my little shadow lately! She always wants to be near me, even when I’m in the bathroom, and I can’t lie: I love it. Dutch was permanently affixed to my side and I wasn’t expecting to have that kind of closeness with a cat, but Eloise has proven me wrong.

What I’m Reading (1.23.19)

Surprise! It’s a “What I’m Reading” post in the middle of the week. I didn’t end up finishing any books this week until Sunday evening and I knew I wouldn’t have time to put together a post in time for Monday morning, so I just switched things up on ya. We all need that from time to time, right? 🙂

Little Panic: Dispatches from an Anxious Life by Amanda Stern (★★★☆☆)

Little Panic is the book to read if you want to feel less alone in your anxiety struggles… or if you want to really try to understand what the world is like for those of us who struggle with anxiety. It’s a book that could be exhausting at times because Amanda’s inner world is exhausting – just as my inner world is exhausting. This book is raw and vulnerable, and I truly appreciate Amanda for being so open and honest about her struggles and the way they have affected her. While my anxiety isn’t as severe as hers, I could definitely relate to her struggles and her overwhelming fear at just about everything that crossed her path. The book is written in a nonlinear form, moving back and forth between Amanda’s childhood and adulthood. Interspersed throughout the book are notes from the various specialists she saw as a child (therapists and the like). That made the book feel a little disjointed at times; it was missing the type of flow I’m used to having in memoirs. I also found that the book was just a bit too long (it was over 13 hours in audiobook form) and I think it could have used a tighter edit. But even with those negatives, I still think it’s a book that is worth a read.

Irresistible You by Kate Meader (★★★★☆)

I love when I find a romance writer who I can trust to write a strong, well-crafted romance novel. These are the writers who I don’t have to worry about. I know their romances won’t require suspending crazy amounts of disbelief or cringing over silly dialogue. Kate Meader is one of those writers, and since she’s a new find for me, I am so delighted! This book officially begins her Chicago Rebels series: Harper Chase, one of the new owners of the Rebels, is ready to get her father’s professional hockey team into the playoffs for the first time in a long time, and it all starts with her new acquisition: Remy DuPre. Remy is one of the most solid hockey players in the league who can always be counted on to bring a team together. Of course, as you might expect, Harper and Remy have some serious chemistry and wind up falling in love. Aww. I really, really loved the natural evolution of their relationship, as well as the super steamy love scenes. (I love a well-written steamy love scene, but if you don’t, this book probably isn’t for you!) I also really enjoyed the feminist undertones of this novel – both from Harper and from Remy. Throughout the novel, Harper had to contend with sexism due to being a woman in a man’s world. Plus, there was also the subplot of Harper not willing to go public about her relationship with Remy because she knew she would be judged way harsher than Remy would. It’s a valid concern, and I’m glad it wasn’t glossed over. I also found the way the author resolved this plot point to be believable to an extent. (If this happened IRL, I think the backlash would be way more overt, but this is a fiction and a romance after all. We need our HEAs!)

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter (★★★★★)

Oh, what can I say about this outstanding novel that hasn’t already been said? This book is a must read, in my opinion, and completely stands out in the WWII subgenre. And I think the main reason it stands out is because this is a true story, albeit a fictionalized version. It follows three generations of the Kurc family in Poland as they navigate a cruel world that has suddenly deemed them unworthy of humanity based solely on being Jewish. The whole family is separated throughout the war: one brother flees the continent, others move to a different Polish city to pose as Aryans, and still others stay in their hometown and struggle to survive. It’s a story of grit, tenacity, resilience… with a dose of luck thrown in there. Hunter did an amazing thing with this novel because not only is it incredibly well-written, but it also preserves her family’s history in a beautiful way. I am so glad I finally read this novel and want to get it in the hands of everyone I know.

I’m currently reading…

> Healing Spiritual Wounds: Reconnecting with a Loving God After Experiencing a Hurtful Church by Carol Howard Merritt. I just started this book, and I’m taking it slowly by reading one chapter every night before bed. I bought this book after hearing Merritt on a podcast and her words really spoke to me. I’m not sure what I’m hoping to get out of this book but I’m going to keep an open heart and mind.

> Act Like It by Lucy Parker, for my romance of the week. I’m only a chapter into this delightful romance and it has already captivated me!

> The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. Typically, I wouldn’t read another novel about war so soon after finishing one, but I already returned this book to the library once and had to wait weeks to get it back. My next read, however, is most likely Anne of Green Gables so that will be the palate cleanser I need!

What are you reading?

What I’m Reading (1.14.18)

Happy Monday, my friends! I had an incredibly busy weekend that has me feeling a bit on edge as I enter this new week. I always tend to feel that way when I have a weekend that doesn’t allow for enough downtime. Thankfully, this week will be quiet (and I have a work-from-home day scheduled for Thursday, which is much needed) and I’m not making any plans for Friday and Saturday in the hopes I can fully recharge my batteries.

Even with the busyness, however, I still managed to finish four books! One was an audiobook and one I had about 30 pages left in when I started the week, ha, but it all counts. I’ve decided to change up my reviews somewhat, make them a bit more concise. Enjoy!

Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang (★★★★★)

This is a beautifully written novel that starts with a teenage girl attempting to end her life by losing control of her car on an icy patch of the road. What follows is a nonlinear timeline of what happened to lead Liz to believing suicide was her only way out, and how her accident reverberates throughout her friends, her school, and her community. The writing is just so gorgeous, and I was so impressed to learn that this book is Zhang’s debut novel. The story reads fairly quickly due to short chapters and it’s not one to be missed, in my opinion.

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson (★★★☆☆)

This thriller has a fairly insane premise: a man and a woman are on a flight together and start talking. The man mentions how he knows his wife is cheating on him and he could kill her for it. Instead of being creeped out by that pronouncement, the woman tells him she can help. After all, she says, some people are the kind worth killing. From there, the plot takes off and doesn’t slow down even at the end. (Honestly, the final twist almost bumped my star rating from three to four stars.) Overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of this thriller and it might have simply been due to the extremely unlikable characters. I don’t need likable characters, especially for thrillers, but there was just something about these people that I really despised. Every character seemed to be the worst of humanity; none of them were redeemable in any way. However, my opinion seems to be in the minority because most people rave about this book and it has a 4.03 rating on Goodreads with over 61,000 reviews. So I guess you should take my opinion with a grain of salt, ha.

Maybe This Christmas by Sarah Morgan (★☆☆☆☆)

I was really looking forward to this contemporary romance, the final in a trilogy about a group of brothers who work at their family’s winter resort. Throughout the first two novels, Brenna and Tyler were secondary characters but with a shared history that I couldn’t wait to explore. The result was rather disappointing, however. Brenna and Tyler have been best friends since they were kids, skiing together nearly every day after school and throughout that whole time, Brenna had a crush on Tyler. Tyler became a skiing sensation, winning multiple Olympic gold medals and World Cups until an injury ended his career. He comes back to Snow Crystal disappointed and angry but Brenna is happy to have her best friend back in her life full-time. As I’ve shared previously, the friends-to-lovers trope is my favorite of the romance genre but this was a good lesson in how not to write it. Brenna was written completely differently than she had appeared in the first two novels of this trilogy, and her self-consciousness around Tyler didn’t read true to life. You wouldn’t be that way around someone who’s been your best friend since you were kids! I was also disappointed in the ending – not because of the HEA (I always love an HEA!) but because everything wrapped up a little too neatly in a way that made me suspend reality just a little too much.

Text Me When You Get Home: The Evolution and Triumph of Modern Female Friendship by Kayleen Schaefer (★★★★☆)

This book gave me all of the warm fuzzies about female friendship and the women I call my friends! The title of the book is something I have said to my friends or been told to do after leaving their home or a restaurant or a party. It’s something that always makes me feel good, knowing I have someone checking in on me and wanting to know I got home safe. It reminds me that I may be single but I am not alone. In Text Me When You Get Home, the author explores the evolution of female friendship, starting with how it wasn’t much of a priority for her mother as a new wife in her early twenties, and what it looks like today, both in the real lives of women and what’s portrayed on TV shows and movies. It’s a well-researched love letter to female friendships, and how they are arguably more important in the lives of women than romantic relationships. I loved every bit of this book.

I’m currently reading…

> Little Panic: Dispatches from an Anxious Life by Amanda Stern, on audio. This is a memoir about living with anxiety, starting from Amanda’s childhood and how she lives with it today.

> Irresistible You by Kate Meader, my romance pick for the week. Kate Meader is a new-to-me romance author, so we’ll see how this goes!

> We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter. I’m reading this for book club (my suggestion, so it had better be as good as everyone says, ha). I read the first 50 pages on Sunday evening and was immediately sucked into the story, so I think I’m thoroughly going to enjoy my time with this novel.

What are you reading?

Monthly Recap | December 2018

Books

I read 11 books in December to bring my yearly total to 134. I’m interested to find out if I can even come close to that number again, but I’m also not worried about doing so. Reading is my happy place, but it’s not a competition and I don’t read to fulfill any kind of arbitrary numbers goal.

I started December reading Starry Night, my first Debbie Macomber book, and it was just okay. I like my romances to be steamier and this book was a little too cutesy for my liking. I read Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty’s latest, and loved it. Such great characters and a unique plot! I listened to Rest in Power, written by the parents by Trayvon Martin, which was such a hard but necessary read. I read Alyssa Cole’s latest contemporary romance, A Duke by Default, and found it so charming and lovely. Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis was a reread for me, but I loved it even more the second time around. I heard mixed reviews about The Great Alone but I ended up really liking the novel. It started off very slow but hit a turning point where I couldn’t put it down. I read my third Christina Lauren novel, Dating You/Hating You, which was so much fun and I had a smile on my face the entire time I was reading it. I finished off my goal of reading four classic novels by reading The Catcher in the Rye, which I did not enjoy one bit. Arrogant white male protagonists are not my cup of tea, I suppose. I listened to What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan on audiobook and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It was really interesting to read about the culture of China, both historically and present day. I read Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, and loved it so damn much that it was my favorite read of the year. That’s a must read, in my opinion. And, finally, I finished 2018 by reading One Day in December, which I received from Book of the Month. It was a good read, but not a standout.

Movies

The Princess Switch (★★★☆☆) – This movie was really, really cute, if also really, really cheesy. It’s a Netflix original starring Vanessa Hudgens. She plays two characters: down-on-love Stacy who lives in New York and runs a bakery and Lady Margaret, a duchess who must marry a man she doesn’t love in two days. Stacy and Lady Margaret run into each other on the set of a baking competition that Stacy is competing in and discover they look exactly alike, so they decide to switch places for two days. Lady Margaret wants two days to not think about her impending wedding and all the responsibilities that will entail, and Stacy wants a few days to live like royalty. Well, as this is a romantic comedy, Stacy ends up falling in love with Lady Margaret’s fiance and Lady Margaret falls in love with Stacy’s best friend and trouble ensues. It’s completely implausible, but was a cute Christmas movie I watched while wrapping presents.

Podcasts

I loved the episode of How Search and Rescue Dogs Work from Stuff You Should Know. Fascinating!

I found myself enthralled by the Death, Sex & Money episode, When a Banker Was Called to the Convent. What a beautiful, funny soul Sister Josephine is.

On Hysteria, the founder of Moms Demand Action came on to talk about gun control and how much progress has been made in the past few years. It was really interesting!

This American Life just released an episode called The Room of Requirement, which seemed like a love letter to libraries. One of the stories was about the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, which sits right on the border of the US and Canada and is a meeting place for people who aren’t able to leave the US due to Trump’s Muslim ban and their families (who come in via the Canada side). Another story followed a woman connecting with her favorite children’s librarian who brought her hope and inspiration when she needed it. This episode is one of TAL bests, I think, and totally worth a listen.

Posts

I revealed that I’m an Enneagram Nine and what that means for me personally.

I introduced Eloise to the blog!

I made my annual Christmas list as well as talked about my favorite present-day Christmas traditions.

And I completed another round of “Best of…” posts, which is always my favorite series because it allows for such great reflection on my year.

Highlights

> I received the honor of employee of the month at work, which was such a surprise! I mean, I definitely deserved it because I work damn hard at my job, but it was still quite the shock to hear my name (and all the nice things our CEO had to say about me!)

> My mom and I spent an evening together shopping for Christmas presents and then stopped at Steak n Shake for dinner where we enjoyed some very delicious peppermint milkshakes. Best decision!

> I adopted Eloise! Her “gotcha” day is officially December 8th, and my life has not been the same since she came home with me. Life is just so much better now!

> My mom and I had a second Christmas shopping adventure, this time at the mall and this time finishing with an outstanding cannoli cake. We did December right, that’s for sure.

> I finally went to the doctor in mid-December after spending two weeks with a terrible cough that wouldn’t go away and was keeping me up at night. She treated me for bronchitis, sending me home with a z-pack and steroids, which healed me right up! Thank heavens for modern medicine, am I right?

> I upgraded my phone to the iPhone XS and I’m oh-so-happy to make that decision. I’m part of the “iPhone Forever” program through Sprint, which means I can usually upgrade my phone for free whenever I want, so I decided to take the plunge and do it. (What can I say? I desperately wanted Portrait Mode.)

> We had a really fun holiday day at work! We had a cookie bake-off, Secret Santa gift exchange, and everyone wore ugly Christmas sweaters. It was so much fun!

> I met up with my mom and Chip at PetSmart for holiday pictures with Santa. Chip was a little apprehensive about everything, but we got a great photo of him with Santa. (And he looked so handsome in his Christmas bow tie!)

> My girlfriends and I had our annual fancy dinner and Secret Santa gift exchange. It was such a great night!

> My mom had me, my brother, and my nephews over to make Christmas cookies and it was so much fun! I ate a good amount of cookie dough and even the littlest nephew was happy to get in on the action. I can’t wait to do it again next year.

> I spent Christmas Eve baking cookies and then went out to dinner with my mom and stepdad at a fancy steakhouse. It was our second year doing that, so I think it might be our new tradition.

> I already talked about Christmas Day on a previous post, so suffice it to say, it was a lovely day and I felt very loved and happy.

> The day after Christmas, a good friend came over to meet Eloise and Eloise actually came over to her and let her pet her. I was so surprised that she was so friendly! We also ate pizza and watch Ellen’s comedy special on Netflix, so it was a solid night.

> I spent New Year’s at a house party with some friends, and actually got a little emotional as we counted down to the new year, champagne in hand. I have such a blessed life and great friends and I was just so grateful to have such a fun start to 2019.

What was a highlight from December for you?

Meet Eloise

I shared some very exciting news on Instagram yesterday, and now it’s time to share it on my blog. Prepare yourselves, friends, because there’s about to be a whole lot of cat posts and pictures on this blog! Please meet my new little ball of love, Eloise Joy. She is around 6-8 months and was a stray who needed a good home, and I am so blessed to be able to be the one to give that to her.

As many of you were aware, I was planning on getting kittens sometime in the new year. I thought that would be the perfect way to start 2019, since 2018 started on such a low note. However, that’s not exactly what life had in store for me.

Last week, one of my mom’s coworkers texted me about a cat her friend, K., had rescued. She was estimated to be around six to eight months old, a former outside cat who showed up on K’s back porch a few weeks ago in rough condition. She was skin-and-bones with matted hair and was being bullied by one of the other outside cats. K was able to coax her into her garage. K is a cat lover to her core and fosters kitten for a nearby rescue all the time, so she was well familiar with how to take care of Eloise. She fed her, bathed her, and took her to the vet so she could be spayed and dewormed. She also got a round of shots. Gradually, as the weeks progressed, Eloise fattened up, her hair and whiskers started growing back, and she became a snuggly ball of love with K.

And, boy oh boy, did K want to keep Eloise. Unfortunately for K but fortunately for me, K already has a cat and this cat was not a fan of Eloise. He told her in no uncertain terms that K was going to need to find a new home for her.

I met Eloise on Friday, a week ago. She was reserved with me, not quite sure what to make of this strange woman in the only home she’s ever known. She never really warmed up to me on Friday, although she did let me pet her while she was eating and played with me for a short period of time. But even with her reservedness, I knew. She was meant to be mine. We were meant to find each other at this point in time.

On Saturday, I texted K and told her that I wanted to bring Eloise home. K was overjoyed, saying all she wanted was for her to find a good home before Christmas.

And it’s been quite an interesting week for me, learning the ropes of new cat motherhood. 🙂 Eloise is a sweetheart in every sense of the word, but she’s understandably very skittish and unsure of me right now. She spends a lot of time under my bed, although she gets braver as each day passes. Yesterday was the first time she came to me for pets and even let me hold her. Slowly but surely, she’s warming up to me. I have no doubt that she’ll be ruling the roost, running all around the apartment and getting into lots of trouble in no time.

For now, I am so grateful to have her in my life. I already love her immensely and I miss her the whole time I’m at work. I can’t believe how everything worked out. It feels like this was exactly the way it was supposed to happen. This was the cat I’ve been waiting for this whole time. I was meant to be her human and she was meant to be mine.

Serendipity at its finest.

What I’m Reading (11.26.18)

Happy Monday, my friends! I’m finally ready to bring back my “What I’m Reading” series. Yay! It’s been a long time since I last did this, but boy did I miss it.

Last week, I was off work for the holiday and it was a much-needed break. I did a lot of napping, watching episodes of Friends, and spending as much time as possible with my fur-brother Chip. And reading! I finished three books this week and the reviews are below:

Books Finished

Title: Now That You Mention It
Author: Kristan Higgins
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Published: 2017
Format: Library e-book
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Plot Summary: After being hit by a car and then breaking up with her long-time boyfriend, Nora takes a leave of absence from her job to spend a summer at home. She wants to reconnect with her mother and her teenaged niece but finds that’s going to be a lot harder than she ever expected.

My Thoughts: Normally, I love a good Kristan Higgins novel. Her romances are usually light-hearted without falling into the chick-lit category. And while this book had all of that, there was also a level of fat-shaming that I found problematic and irresponsible. You can read my review on Goodreads for further detail on exactly the different types of fat-shaming the author felt necessary to include (oh yes, there were multiple instances of it), but it downgraded my review significantly. I just cannot abide by it anymore. I don’t care how funny or engaging your book is, there is no excuse for fat-shaming ever. And there is no place for it in the world of romance. Basically, Kristan Higgins is now forever on my “do not read” list, which sucks because the last book of hers I read was five stars. But I just cannot support authors who condone these behaviors.

Title: No One Tells You This
Author: Glynnis MacNicol
Genre: Memoir
Published: 2018
Format: Library hardcover
Rating: ★★★★☆

Plot Summary: “If the story doesn’t end with marriage or a child, what then?” is a question that plagued Glynnis MacNicol on the eve of her fortieth birthday. She’s single and childless, two statuses that often come with a level of pity from other people. Over the course of the year, Glynnis is going to figure out exactly what it means to live life on her own terms.

My Thoughts: Oh, how I loved this book! We need more stories from single women who are forging a new, completely different path than what is traditionally defined in our culture. I felt a kindred spirit in Glynnis and even though there were many parts of her story that made me sad (during the year she documents, her mother’s health declines rapidly and she has to go into a nursing home), this story was still uplifting, hopeful, and made me feel better about my chronically single status. I think what really pulled this book together was not only that Glynnis was single and happy with that status, but that she was not always happy with it. There were times when she is deeply vulnerable about wanting a partner and not wanting to be alone. Of recognizing what a couple-centric society we live in, and how much easier the world can be to navigate for those with partners. There was something so human and beautiful in that acknowledgment. Also, Glynnis’s writing is exquisite and she had so many turns of phrases that I had to sit with and soak in.

“[I]t was a truth universally acknowledged that by age forty I was supposed to have a certain kind of life, one that, whatever else it might involve, included a partner and babies. Having acquired neither of these, it was nearly impossible, no matter how smart, educated, or lucky I was, not to conclude that I had officially become the wrong answer to the question of what made a woman’s life worth living. If this story wasn’t going to end with a marriage or a child, what then? Could it even be called a story?”

Title: The High Season
Author: Judy Blundell
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Published: 2018
Format: Library audiobook
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Plot Summary: Every summer, Ruthie, her teenaged daughter Jem, and her ex-husband Mike have to pack up their belongings and give up their home during the summer. It’s the only way to afford the house, which is Ruthie’s pride and joy, so she does what she must to keep it. This summer, though, things are going to get a little crazy when the elegant and popular Adeline Clay arrives and set their seaside village ablaze.

My Thoughts: So, I listened to this book on audio and there were pros and cons to that. On the pros side, this is a slow-moving story that is more character-driven than plot-driven, which always works better for me on audio since I can dip in and out of it. On the cons, though, was that the story could feel boring and meandering at times and it took me forever to figure out who was who. There were so many different characters and it was hard to understand their significance to the overarching plot until further into the story. All in all, though, it was a well-written story that had a lot to say about privilege, love, divorce, art, and the messiness that accompanies being both a teenager and an adult.

What I’m Reading This Week

  • The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile – I’m reading one chapter a day of this book and I think that’s the perfect way to consume a book like this. Each chapter throws a lot of information at you, so it’s really not one to breeze through quickly. I’ll finish it this week, and hopefully, I’ll be able to figure out what my Enneagram number is when I finish it!
  • Happily Ever Ninja by Penny Reid – I’m a quarter of the way through this novel. Since the main characters in this romance are married, it’s not a typical romance. But that’s par for the course with Penny Reid! She’s not a typical romance writer. 😉 It’s engaging so far, but I have no idea where it’s going yet!
  • Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty – I picked this from Book of the Month for November, and I was stoked. Liane Moriarty is one of my favorite authors and I’m looking forward to reading this novel.
  • Starry Night by Debbie Macomber – Even though I’m a voracious romance reader, I don’t tend to read too many Christmassy romances during the holiday season. Well, this year, I’m changing that. I mean, I love a good Hallmark Christmas movie, so why not the same thing in book form? I’m starting my binge with this one by Debbie Macomber, which sounds delightful!

What are you reading?

A Thanksgiving Recap

Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in the US, and while it was a difficult day – the first one without Pops – it was also a good day. I thought it would be fun to recap my day the way Amber usually does for her Canadian Thanksgiving, recapping everything she did and listing out what she’s grateful for. Here we go!

***

I woke up on my own a little before my alarm was set to go off and decided to spend that extra time reading before I needed to get up for the day.

I am so thankful for my love of reading. Reading sustains me, encourages me, comforts me, makes me think, and makes me laugh. I would not be the person I am today without reading.

After spending some time reading, I got up and got ready and then headed over to my mom’s. We went on a long, hour-long walk with Chip. It was 60 degrees, sunny, and so, so beautiful.

I am thankful for my relationship with my mom. We grow closer and closer as the years pass, and I wouldn’t trade our relationship for anything. She’s the best mom and the best friend I could ever ask for. I am thankful for Chip and how he has helped stitch my heart back together after it was shattered from losing Dutch. And I am so thankful for clean, healthy air. It’s never crossed my mind to be grateful for that until I watched news story after news story about these terrible California wildfires and schools and businesses closing because it’s just too dangerous to even walk outside. 

I left my mom’s apartment a little after 10 and zipped right over to Starbucks to order a peppermint mocha, my very favorite drink that I wait for all year long. I had great service, the kind that put a smile on my face.

I am so thankful that I am financially stable that I can order a drink from Starbucks whenever I want. There was a time in my life where even a $5 drink was out of my budget. I am also very thankful for peppermint mochas. 🙂

I came home, drank my peppermint mocha while posting to Instagram Stories and scrolling through social media, and then got ready for Thanksgiving dinner while listening to a podcast.

I am thankful for social media and podcasts – two things that help me feel less alone. Social media helps me connect with people and share my life, while podcasts keep my apartment from feeling too silent. Podcasts have also opened my worldview, encouraged me, and kept me laughing even on days when I thought laughter wasn’t possible. I am so, so thankful for the joy that podcasts bring me.

Our reservations for Thanksgiving dinner were at 1 p.m. at a restaurant downtown, and it was my first non-homecooked meal Thanksgiving. It was… weird. I don’t particularly enjoy all the work that goes into Thanksgiving dinner – the cleaning, the meal prep, the cooking – so I wasn’t sad to give all of that up for a restaurant meal, but it was still a weird experience. My brother, sister-in-law, and two nephews came to dinner (sadly, my stepdad had to work) and it was nice to have a very low-key meal. I have a big family, so Thanksgiving can typically be overwhelming and overstimulating for me, and this was the opposite of that. So, in that respect, it was nice. The food was pretty delicious, although I wish I could have gotten a to-go box for leftovers, haha. But still, nothing beats a homecooked Thanksgiving meal. Maybe next year… or maybe not. We’ll see.

I am thankful to have family to celebrate the holiday with, family I love and who fill my heart up. Family can be difficult… probably the most difficult aspect of the holiday season, but I’m glad to have my family. The boys were cute and fun, and it was so nice seeing my brother (the last time I saw him was at Pops’ funeral, sigh) and chatting with him.

After dinner, we strolled through downtown for a little while to walk off our meal. There was a Christmas tree and lots of Christmassy decorations to look at. We took family photos in front of the tree and then watched the boys chase each other for a little while.

I am thankful for the gorgeous weather that allowed us to walk outside without a) shivering or b) sweating. It was the perfect temperature yesterday! I am also so thankful for my nephews who made me smile and laugh on a difficult day.

I arrived back home a little before 3 p.m. and I immediately took off my makeup, got in comfy clothes, and slid into my bed with a book. And then I napped for… oh, three or so hours. YES.

I am thankful for napping! Oh, man, do I love a good nap. I look forward to my naps and feel zero guilt about taking them. It’s one of the perks of singlehood – napping whenever I want. I take advantage of this any time I can.

After a wonderful, long nap, I took time to post to social media (including a very cute post on Chip’s account) and then had a low-key evening. I watched a few episodes of Friends, ate a snack, and colored.

I am thankful for TV shows that help me take my mind off my sadness whenever I need it to – and Friends has definitely helped me through this season of grief. I am thankful for coloring because it’s one of my favorite methods of self-care. And I am very thankful for chocolate chip cookies. 🙂

The end of my Thanksgiving was spent working on this blog post and reading blogs. It was the perfect ending to a rather emotional day!

I am so thankful for this blog and the joy it brings me. I have recently realized how much blogging truly fills up my life, helps me to feel less alone and sort out my feelings. I’m not sure what my life would look like today without blogging!

Other things I’m thankful for this year: football, my cute apartment, the ability to move my body in the way I want to, medication that moderates my anxiety symptoms, proactive doctors, a job I love, sweet friends, online shopping, my comfy couch, kittens, travel, and homemade pumpkin bread.

What are you thankful for this year?