The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family by Ron HowardMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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Welcome to my altered journey through life. You never know if I will be into home improvements, knee deep in a good book, on an Alaskan cruise or just being silly. I hope this blog will give you tips, tricks, ideas and books to add to your TBR list. Thanks for stopping by.
12 March 2022
Review: The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family
The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family by Ron HowardMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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05 March 2022
Review: The Discovery of the Titanic
The Discovery of the Titanic by Robert D. BallardMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finally picked this book up at a used bookstore (it was rather pricey as a new book), and it is just as spectacular as I imagined. There are notes and an in-depth look at how the team found the Titanic. The photos are simply outstanding!!!
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Review: Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies
Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies by Lauren RednissMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the most perfect book! I mean perfect! The book tells the life story of Doris Eaton Travis and is beautifully put together, full of ephemera, cutouts, illustrations/doodles, and a fun text. I think Doris must have had the most catching personality if she was anything like this book.
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Review: Welcome to Dunder Mifflin: The Ultimate Oral History of The Office
Welcome to Dunder Mifflin: The Ultimate Oral History of The Office by Brian BaumgartnerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
If you love The Office, if you want to know how it was brought from England to the USA, if you want to know how people begged NBC to give this show many chances, if you want to know why we all love this show.....well, this is the book for you. The book is full of interviews that Brian did with creators, cast members, TV execs, and just about anyone that was connected at some point with the creation and development of the show.
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04 March 2022
24 February 2022
March book pick
I have been waiting to share this book with you for a little while now. I can finally say that you will be able to read this on March 8!! Woo hoo!! I admit I have never read "Little Women", but supposedly this book is a retelling of that book by Louisa May Alcott in a more modern sense. All the events take place during World War II and each one of the sisters does something to assist in the war effort. Some girls will be on the front line, while others are holding down the fort. There is romance, grief, and a little plot twist.
I am excited to hear your take on this and see how it compares to the real "Little Women", please drop me a line and let me know.
Don't you just love the cover? Enjoy!!!!
15 February 2022
30 January 2022
February audiobook book pick
I wanted to choose an audiobook for you that was fun, quick, something that would make you laugh or smile. This one is perfect for a car ride, cleaning the house, or a good walk.
"Me and Patsy" is all about Loretta Lynn and her good pal, Patsy Cline. You can tell by the title that there was nothing boring about these two girls when they got together. If they weren't causing a scene in a bar, they were trying on makeup or talking about sex.
I have not read Coal Miner's Daughter in a long time, so I can't remember, but this book is very candid and honest. Loretta doesn't leave anything (and I mean anything) out. I am not a fan of country music, and probably can't name any Loretta song other than the ones she mentioned in the book, but I found this book fun. The whole time I was reading it I kept thinking about how my friends would LOVE this one! I will tell you that I read the book and it was a very quick read, and then I followed it up with the audiobook. I am encouraging you to try the audio version as well. The narrator tries to sound like Loretta, her accent is perfect for this book!!!
I hope you enjoy this one! Let me know what you think.
24 January 2022
Review: Punch, Pastries, and Poison
Punch, Pastries, and Poison by Harper LinMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love a Harper Lin. Fran plans a joint birthday party for Matt and herself and invites the entire town.....be careful of who you invite to your birthday party, even if your town is full of people you say are your friends.
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22 January 2022
February Book Pick
I am in a book club where just about everyone in the group simply adores a Fiona Davis book. It is pretty much a given that our club will read this book and I hope you will too.
If you have never read a Fiona book, please get started right now! If you have read the entire catalog you will find that this one fits in nicely with all the others. As usual, Fiona gives us a book set in an NYC landmark, in two time periods. This book gives us Angelica/Lillian who is trying to rebuild her life after the Spanish flu ruined everything for her. She is a woman who will drop a false identity of a nude model and live life anew under her legal name, Lillian, as a personal secretary to Helen Frick. Helen's dad is Henry Clay Frick, a very wealthy man who has put it in his will that on his death his home and his thrilling art collection will become a museum.
The modern part of the story has another model that finds herself on a job at the site of the Frick Museum. Here she meets an intern who will help her solve a mystery that dates back to the days of the infamous Angelica. As a reader, we are pulled back and forth between the two time periods watching a murder mystery unfold before our very eyes.
You're going to love this one!!
17 January 2022
06 January 2022
Review: Double Shots, Donuts, and Dead Dudes
Double Shots, Donuts, and Dead Dudes by Harper LinMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Matt and Fran are so adorable!! While the Pink Cupcake series (if you haven't read it, you should), is my favorite of all.....this one is still superb. Fall break is coming up for many of you so download the series and sit on the beach and read. They are quick, enjoyable reads, books you can read while watching the kids frolic on the playground.
This one went in a slightly different direction, which I love about Harper; there may be a death in every book but she keeps it fresh with the hows and whys. I can't tell you too much or I will give away the plot, but I will tell you that I was hungry from the first restaurant burrito to the donut recipe at the end of the book.
I received an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
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30 December 2021
Review: Dear Evan Hansen
Dear Evan Hansen by Val EmmichMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have been kind of obsessed about DEH for about a year now. I think the play and soundtrack are brilliant. Once I heard there was a book I just had to read it. I think I liked it even more. You don't have the music (being a musical nut, I thoroughly enjoy that part), but you have a GREAT story.
Without giving much away...Evan is kind of a mystery to his mom, friends, and the kids at school He has an absent father, a mom that has a job but goes to school and a therapist that makes him write letters to himself.
The death of a classmate changes Evan's whole world. He gets caught up in something he can't handle because he doesn't know how, and he has to face the facts of things that have happened in his own life.
It is a very quick read because the play itself is only about 2 hours.
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25 December 2021
How to keep a book journal
I should probably change the title of this, I was going to, but I thought, "no, this is how I got to my journal, so it is my story." As in life, my story may not work for you and that is fine. Whatever system (that is if you even want a system) you choose is what is best for you. I just want to give you advice....you don't have to stick with the system you choose. I started my book journal in 1996, and it has evolved drastically. As a matter of a fact, I am about to have a new stamp made because I have decided to change it up one more time.
In 1995, I bought a book at the US Post Office store in Little Rock, Arkansas. I paid way too much for the book, especially since I didn't journal, but it was adorable and I wanted to do something with this adorable book. I needed to do something special because I am telling you, it was not a cheap book.
I used this book for a few years until I decided to keep more stats and then I added more information. I found a book stat chart on the internet and made a similar one in Excel. I realized quickly that you can do lots with Excel and I started a journal there, I still kept up my paper one, but this one had numbers. I don't even like numbers, but I loved this part.
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| My Excel sheet |
After adding formulas to count my books for me and a few other columns of stats, I edited my paper journal chart once more and decided that I couldn't print off my Excel journal anymore. I wanted a journal similar to where I started, a journal in an already bound book. This is when I developed my stamp. I ordered it from rubberstamps.net (they have made a lot of custom stamps for me, they are quick and very good).
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| Here is that first book, a very expensive (like $25) pet stamp journal book |
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| The insides of the pet stamp journal |
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| The pet stamp journal book took me to 2013 to fill because I wasn't keeping much information on my books at that time. |
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| These are inserts I clipped to other journal books of the first chart that was created in Excel |
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| 2014-2021 stamp |
This last one is the new stamp that I just created. I was hoping for a simple layout that tracked the DNF books and was in the order of Goodreads as far as the information. The empty box next to Borrowed is where I will write the library or person's name that loaned me the book, I did add a heading because it was too cluttered. I was going to put "source", but I had little room to write.
I would love to see what you fellow readers do to track your books, please share.
24 December 2021
Review: Story of a Murder: A Bookish Cafe Mystery
Story of a Murder: A Bookish Cafe Mystery by Harper LinMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Maggie's life in the bookstore is going just fine, she has a slight crush on her boss and seems to be fitting in better with his rejuvenation of the bookstore. Life is just great until her half-sister shows up. Angel is desperately trying to escape a cult and a man that is no good for her. Maggie is trying hard not to be impatient with and distant from Angel, but she just can't do either...that is until Angel's man turns up dead. Angel and Maggie will have to mend fences and work together to solve this murder.
I really don't think you have to read the other books in the series, but you will have more fun if you do read the other books in the Bookish Cafe series.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
View all my reviews
23 December 2021
First book pick of 2022
A few months back, I was lucky enough to get my hands on this book a few months before it was published. It wasn't my first Julia Kelly book, but it became my favorite Julia Kelly book.
This book introduces us to Lily, a young woman that doesn't want to be in the last group of debutates, but her grandmother and mother demand it so she must. We will follow Lily on the journey of parties, presentations, and dances, a typical debutante life until her world turns upside down by a family secret. I love books like this, you know the ones, where you expect something and the story gives you something so different.
This is an excellent read for the start of those 2022 reading challenges.
21 December 2021
Fellow book nerds END-OF-YEAR stats
Hello to you fellow readers.
I have created an end-of-year book stat sheet for you. This features your top 10 books of the year and your final reading stats.
If you didn't keep up with your reading stats and want to in 2022, don't worry, I will be posting tips and tricks soon. I have been keeping a book journal since 1996 and I have changed it many times and finally, I have the perfect stats book for me. More on that later....even if you aren't interested in stats, you might be interested in your top 10 books of 2021.
Download a copy of the stat sheet here.
20 December 2021
Review: Empowered Embroidery: Transform sketches into embroidery patterns and stitch strong, iconic women from the past and present
19 December 2021
2022 Reading Challenge
Every year I try to do a challenge of my own to get me out of a reading box, but also to just have some fun trying to fit a book into categories. Over the last few years, I have made my own to distribute to friends. My challenges have just one requirement, that you do what you want with it. If you don't like a category, you mark it out and insert your own. If you don't like how I worded something, you reword it. If you wish to use one book for three categories, you do so. It is your challenge, your reading life, I am just there, I hope, for inspiration.
Don't forget to come back here each month in 2022 and get my MUST READ book of the month, book reviews, and maybe some free bookmarks you can print or download. My summer reading challenge will come out around April and will be full of fun reads for your all summertime adventures.
Thanks so much to you all that followed along with me in 2021. I hope you had a wonderful reading year and I am hoping you stick around for next year.
2022 Reading Challenge--download the challenge here
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