Fortunate that this does not apply to my mom but sure does apply to my MIL

Read in 2024 (finally last review from 2024). I listened to this over audio that was narrated by the author. She discusses the ending of her marriage. She encapsulates the bitterness & rawness of being a new mom, her marriage falling apart but all the while life still having to move on. The balance of being a working mom. She discusses her past alcoholism & eating disorder which impacts her life & how she handles challenges.

Read in 2024. I listened to this one over audio that was narrated by the author. I liked Cultish a little more but found this one interesting too. Montell highlights different psychological concepts & how they connect to our current society (social media, conspiracy theories, biases). I was already familiar with a lot of these ideas from other readings.

Read in 2024. I love reading psychology based books. I also love Duckworth‘s podcast “No stupid questions.” I really enjoyed her books & it of course gave me a list of other books to read. She takes the basic principles of her research on examining grit & applying it to everyday examples. I love the idea of finding & trying a challenging activity/skill. I really like her thoughts on finding your passion in life.

Read in 2024. Typical Christian Lauren book. Fun, quick summer read. I read it over the summer when our lives were in the midst of chaos & transition, so all the details are escaping me (I‘m sure I could remember if I read the cover). Point is it was a good escape book when I needed it.

Read in 2024. Christina Lauren‘s books all follow the same patterns but still fun, quick books to listen too especially while doing puzzles or chores. Not my favorite one of her books but still a fun listen.

Read in 2024. A big fan of Abby Jimenez & liked this one. The only thing I can‘t decide if I‘m a fan of is the cross over of all of the characters. One of the main characters in her books seems somehow related to another character in another one of her books. I can‘t decide if I find it neat way to have all these connected people that find love or if it‘s just a little odd. Maybe it‘s my own personal issue but just something I started to feel with

Read in 2024. I discovered Abby Jimenez‘s books last year & read all of them. This was one of my favorites. A heartbreaking story turns into a sweet love story.

It was a snowy day yesterday in MD, got got about 8 inches. My kids had fun sledding & I took a walk with my eldest on the hiking trails through our neighborhood (he wanted to look for birds, he is in the birdwatching club at his college). Overall a good day & tried to do some reading with a cup of hot cocoa. Today, school has been canceled again but it‘s too windy & cold to do much.

Read in 2024. Super short book about the author‘s loss of her father during the pandemic. “Grief is a cruel kind of education.” “It is an act of resistance and refusal: grief telling you it is over and your heart saying it is not: grief trying to shrink your love to the past and your heart saying it is present.”
“It does not matter whether I want to be changed, because I am changed.”

Read in 2024. After my dad‘s sudden death last year I read some grief related books to see if it would help pull me out of my reading funk. This one was a low pick for me (probably because I wasn‘t in the right headspace). I can get her trying to make sense when someone you love passes unexpectedly. TW: because she does speak at length about the suicide of her close friend, as she‘s grappling with her experience.

Read in 2024. One of my favorites from 2024 (but forgot to put on my NF list). Dinner Guests was my favorite chapter in his book, the discussion about his family history was fascinating. I also found his chapter on cemeteries also interesting. I love Thomas‘s wit & insight he brings to subjects that are close to him.

Read in 2024. One of my favorites of 2024, it part made me feel a little more hopeful post election. I think it helped me to remember what the US has endured during its history. It made me realize that Democrats are constantly being handed a Sisophyian task of trying to be the party that is helping everyone & making a more equal society. The hard part of our country is of course Democracy looks different to everyone. Democracy takes woke but worth

Read in 2024. Definitely one of my favorites from last year. I listened to the audio read by the author, which was wonderful & got to hear various birds. Cooper highlighted the incident in Central Park but this book is about so much more. He discussed what led him to birding, his experiences of growing up gay in the 1980‘s, traveling the world to see birds. He interweaved his social justice with the various events throughout his life.

Read in 2024. I love Senna‘s books. She likes to push a person‘s comfort level in ways we don‘t always think about. Jane is struggling to make ends meet as a professor & author. Her book that she has spent years on has been rejected by her agent. She finesses her way into a meeting with tv execs & pitches a story that one of her friends loosely mentioned. Jane knows that tv is big money & it could finally be the big break her family needs. The tv

Read in 2024. I‘m not much for magical realism but I did like this one. I like jazz and liked the intersecting world of current & the Harlem Renaissance. A swoon worthy romance

Read in 2024. The story is told from all different points of view from different members of this dysfunctional family. I do really like how the mental health/illness was presented in the book. To me it‘s always important to present the trueness of MI & the effects that it has on a family. Presenting MI as real highlights what so many other families go through & not presenting it solely as something shameful or negative.

Read in 2024. There‘s a lot going on in this story: parent abandonment, drug abuse/DV/emotional abuse, jealousy. The story spans over many years. It was a decent story. I really liked Benjamin‘s research that she did about the history of surfing (which I found more interesting & found more books to read).

Read in 2024. The book is about a group of friends that have living funerals for each other after one of them from their friend group passes away. The story goes back & forth between their time in college to what they‘re current going through in life. They discuss their highs & lows of life. Nothing ground breaking but I enjoyed it (although months later I can‘t remember anything poignant about the story).

Read in 2024. At first I was a little unsure when I started listening to this one. It dealt with many topics & areas that I know nothing about but I realized that it‘s important for people with all different experiences to be able to tell their story. The biggest thing that resonated with me is the f-in patriarchy. Just that realization of how much of our lives as women is directed by the patriarchy (especially as we get older). The societal

Read in 2024. For most of the story you hear Andy talk about his break up with Jen. At first I felt bad for Andy as he tells his side of the story. He‘s struggling with his career of being a stand up comedian & he‘s having a hard time understanding why Jenn broke up with him. Then the very last part of the book you hear Jenn‘s side of the story. It made me understand more about why you heard so much about Andy‘s story. To me it spoke to the bigger

My 12 favorite nonfiction books of 2024, tagged is my favorite of the year. I still have some reviews that I didn‘t finish that I need to post. I‘m definitely more of a nonfiction reader. Looking forward to finishing up some books I started in 2024 & getting through so good books on my TBR (too many books, not enough time)

My favorite 12 fiction books of 2024. The tagged book was my favorite of the year (I slacked off on completing most of my book reviews for the last few months, I need to try to fill them in)

I read 77 books for 2024, my original goal was to read 100. But my life was full of too many ups & downs this year & reading was not a priority. I‘m hoping to get back into different reading challenges & using my book journal again this year. Overall still a decent year of reading but I still have a huge TBR list to get through

I took my 9 year old to her first musical today at the Kennedy Center. We saw &Juliet, she loved it. It‘s the story of what happened if Juliet survived (with Shakespeare‘s wife, Anne, rewriting the story). It was a great show, highly recommend. After we met a lot of the cast. They were kind enough to take photos & sign her poster. They were all so nice. It was a great introduction to the theater for her.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve to all

The audio narration is great for this one. I wasn‘t sure what to expect when I started but I really liked it. Margo gets pregnant while in college. After struggling to find a job, try to afford/find daycare she decides to start an OnlyFans page. There were some bigger societal issues to make you think about. Like how hard it is to make money, how expensive & hard to find childcare is…women are in this constant push & pull of what society finds

I liked the audio narration for this one. It‘s definitely a different book type for me. I thought it was an interesting & different type of story. I wasn‘t crazy about how the book kind of just ended. I‘m not sure if there‘s some kind of message about marriage or finding the right person.

For me I loved the audio of this book. It was loud & full of emotion, the narrator really embodied Anita. The book addresses racism, classism, sexism…in the 1980s how a woman of color could be erased by a white man & her accomplishments (almost) forgotten. There are dual timelines, for me I liked hearing Anita‘s side & Raquel (a student writing her thesis for art history & stumbles upon Anita)

Another one I listened to over the summer. I love GUPs adventures with his niece & nephew. This time he‘s helping them prepare for their dad getting remarried. The audio is narrated by the author.

Listened to this one over the summer (probably while packing). Like most Christina Lauren books it follows a similar pattern. It was a sweet story but there were some sad parts. CL books are always an easy, fun listen.

I read this one over the summer (so behind on reviews). It was ok, an interesting book about class, money, race, power dynamics. I liked her first book more. Her books definitely try to make you think more about situations that can arise & the bigger dynamics within society.

I listened to this one over audio. It was an interesting historical fiction book. It‘s several stories within a story. In the 1920‘s when many people in America were struggling financially, Benjamin Rask became incredibly wealthy. The story spans over many years. The story deals with mental illness, greed, corruption. It was a different story, it kept my attention while working on puzzles. I like historical fiction so it was a pick for me.

I think the election has broken my husband. He usually never wants to decorate before Thanksgiving. Although we aren‘t doing turkey this year because my kids don‘t eat turkey. Plus now that my husband works with the federal government he has no time off (only 11/28). We decided to buy a fake tree due to the reality of there will most likely be more droughts, forest fires in the upcoming years.

I‘m in the minority here but I didn‘t even finish this one. I still had 4 hours left & I doubt I‘m going to renew it to finish. Maybe because there were so many characters, it was hard to keep up. Plus I‘m not really into the whole pulling characters from other stories & entwining it into another story. There were some other things that irked me: all the different accents, it just felt like she was trying to address every major issue women were

Listened over audio. I liked this one. Little bit more but still a long book. It was an interesting story about women spies. A good listen while doing puzzles & chores.

I listened to this one as an audiobook. I liked it, it was long. It was good for re-building Lego sets, cleaning, working on puzzles. It was an interesting story about women that were code breakers during WWII. It was my first Kate Quinn book.

I read this book years ago (written in 2007). I have pulled it out to re-read it. Anyone who wants to understand how our global economy works & the labor that is used, this is an eye opening book. Especially now that we are entering a new era of backlash against immigration & migrant workers. Many US companies use modern slave labor as their workforce. It‘s easy to turn a blind eye or blame others if we don‘t know the circumstances.

On a lighter note…I needed to buy some Lego sets for Christmas. Lego had this Books are My Passion set (after spending $130). LEGO was the only place that had 2 of the sets my 15 year old wanted. I think the promotion runs till 11/11. I really wish they would just sell these in the stores as a set to purchase.

I‘m finding strength in people that are prepared to fight (civil rights organizations, the ACLU, women‘s rights groups, etc). I‘m hoping that as a family we‘ll fair the storm but it‘s also scary. My husband is now a government contractor & he has funding for the next 4 years but no one in the government really knows what to prepare for right now. My oldest is a wildlife biologist major & he is fearful for his future, the environment. He said all

On IG this morning a woman had posted that she had received a hate filled racist text about slavery. We just got an email from our school that these texts are being sent to kids in our school district. This is beyond disgusting. Please report to your school district should this happen to you. This is what is going to be unleashed by these unconscionable people. No one schools be exposed to this, especially children. I live in Maryland

As disappointed & disgusted that I am with the results, I have to try to remain hopeful. I have to look to others that have endured fights for a long time & felt like the struggle was endless. Racism & misogyny go hand & hand in the US, unfortunately. I told my kids that nothing changes in our house: we will be kind to others, stand up for others, advocate for those that can‘t, read & learn from others. ✊🏻

Voted earlier….now the anxious wait. I‘m nauseously optimistic like so many of us. Pillows are from Sophie & Lili

Super quick audiobook with a cast ensemble. Fun, light, easy audiobook. It‘s a a crossover story from The Unhoneymooners.

Christina Lauren books are always a fun, quick audiobook listen. If you‘ve read one Christina Lauren book they all follow a similar pattern. Just fun books to listen to while doing things like chores or working on puzzles.

I‘m at the stage in my life where I can relate to this book…aging parents, kids growing up, hormonal changes. I listened to it over audio & was a quick listen. For the most part I liked it, some parts irked me. I‘m adding a trigger warning since abortion is discussed a few times in the book.

My son is a freshman in high school & had to read this book for English class. We listened to it over YouTube recording from 4 years ago by the American Writers Museum. It was very powerful listening to so many amazing authors & scholars to read this story. I think I read this in college (but sadly couldn‘t remember). I‘m happy that this was required reading because it‘s such an important story in America‘s history & story.

Picked this one up at the library (went to get new cards for Frederick County). Cute book to get into the fall season. I‘m not much on graphic books (although my kids love them) but it was a fun, quick story.

Fall has finally hit in western Maryland & it‘s pretty spectacular. Driving around quickly reminds me that we live in a pretty rural area. View of the mountains (not sure what mountains they are) from our neighborhood. Now time to start over posting with all the book reviews I need to catch up on.

We went & found the 3 covered bridges that are in Frederick County (there are 6 total in MD). In all our travels we‘ve never seen one. It was beautiful day, fall is slowly starting to peak through here. I‘m slowly getting back into a reading rhythm after months of barely making it through a book. Still have reviews to post, slowly getting there.