The Love Haters

 

A sweet, light, upbeat, happy-ending romance - everything you'd expect from Katherine Center! I just love this author's stance that books should be happy and romances can be fun and light. She goes into this in the author's note at the end, and I do wish they'd put it at the beginning (so I would reco reading it first!). 

I like how KC dives deep into a random topic, researches it, and writes about it in a way that afterwards I feel super knowledgeable about it too (why yes, I too am now an expert on the coast guards!). I loved the beautiful, tropical FL Keys beach setting of this book & mostly enjoyed all the characters (Rue was perfect, Hutch was generally good but maybe could have communicated a bit better). I like how KC moves her stories along pretty fast (I think that's part of keeping it a light/quick read). And I really enjoyed the major drama/disaster at the end!!!

The missing 5th star is due to two things: 1. there were a few parts that were just a little *too* slap-stick roll your eyes funny for me (ripped underwear and t-shirt like a diaper? no way! getting knocked into the water with her entire overnight bag? come on!)., 2. It was too overly focused on body-image for my taste (AND for what I expect from a KC book). A little bit as a sub-plot/character development/learning to "love yourself" kind of play with the title/theme of the book?...fine. But I was 40% into the book still wondering when Katie was going to gain a little self confidence and we were going to stop reading details about her body. Regardless, a KC book is always an immediate YES to read so I still full reco this one!!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Letter From Sicily

Last Letter From Sicily was a really sweet, beautifully written, very enjoyable historical fiction novel (with a dash of long-lost-lovers romance) set around WWII in Italy (specifically Sicily) & the US (specifically Milwaukee WI - I had no idea so many Italian immigrants went there in the 1900s!). Oh and the novel was based on the author's grandparents' story - how sweet is that!? 

The WWII time period is probably my top favorite historical fiction time period to read about, but this was the first one I've read from the Italian/Axis perspective, and I found it absolutely fascinating and I definitely learned new things (I know more about Mussolini now than I did before!) . Honestly I couldn't put the book down, it was a gripping story! I loved all the Italian phrases and the beautiful descriptions of Sicilian scenery and life. It was interesting to read about immigrants coming to the US from an Italian perspective too (not to mention heartbreaking; what a tough time so many people went through!). 

I do wish there had been character names at the top of each chapter, as occasionally we got the story from Concetta's dad (Enzo) or little sister's (Giuseppina) pov. I also wish that since we WERE getting multiple characters povs that we had been able to dive a little deeper into their characters. I think Enzo got a quick ending and resolution to all his character flaws, but we were left hanging a little bit with Giuseppina...what happened to her? Was the baseball guy a good thing? An epilogue might help tie up some of the lose ends! 

September Reads

 

Top favorites this month: 

Before Green Gables (the cutest prequel to one of my fav series - all 7 of which I reread at the end of last year! - the backstory of Anne, written in such a similar style.)

Queens of Crime (ARC. Love me some MB - this one was so fun about a group of female mystery writers in the 1930s who come together...and solve an actual mystery!). 

Anxious Generation (made me feel more than ever that we need to focus on a play-based-childhood & stay away from technology as long as we can!)

Pink Glass Houses (not fabulous, but hilarious! About the glamorous life and drama of wealthy PTA moms in Miami)

I also really enjoy's Kendra Adachi's newest - The Plan. So pumped to see her in person in a few weeks!

Evvie and I finished another Little House books...another one of my top FAV series!!

May Books

Nothing like a week in Hawaii (and two 12-hour travel days) to give you LOTS of time to read! And the 4 books I finished on our trip were all GREAT!! 

Paradise Problems was probably my top fav of the week. Spicy summer novel set on a gorgeous island...totally perfect as we were sitting at a beautiful Hawaiian resort! A couple has to pretend to be married in order for the guy to get his inheritance....and of course, after much drama, they fall in love for real. A few of my book club gals and I actually met the authors a few weeks ago when they came to Dallas for a book signing event so it was extra fun to read after hearing them talk about the book!

The next three were tied for me. Husbands was such an interesting concept (don't like your current husband? send him up into the attic and down comes a new one! interesting to think about what could happen if you really could turn your life upside down and start over that easily...and all the issues that come along with doing it!). 

Just for the Summer was a cute light read...lots of focus on mental health and family baggage. The characters were a little irritating to me for not being *quite* realistic enough, but in general it was a sweet book. 

Book club picks...The Fury was our May book (my pick! really liked it, didn't LOVE it. The style of writing was probably the most interesting part...written as a Greek tragedy, which was pretty cool.) 
The River We Remember is our June book (serious mystery....a little too serious for me!)

Top favorite book this month is Jodi's Picoult's new's book coming out on 8/20 - By Any Other Name. It was SO good!! It's a historical fiction and apparently a little different than her usual style. Alternated between two timelines, present day and 1500s. Super well researched. Feminist/sisterhood struggles in both times! In a nutshell: did Shakespeare actually write his works!?

Two non-fiction reads this month: Until the Streetlights Come On & Chasing Slow. Both really great reminders on the importance of kids getting enough time to just play outside and be free and unstructured & then just slowing down in life.

Two more in the Hawthorn drama...I'm just hooked on these. They're cute!

Two readalouds: another Poppy adventure (this was one of my favorites in the series so far - Mama Poppy goes on a trip home & takes her teenager with him....learns how to stand up to her family and majorly bonds with her kid by meeting him where he is). And the a sequel to a favorite of ours, In the Year of Ms. Agnes. Miss Agnes and the Ginger Tom wasn't quite as good as the first one, but we still loved it.

April Books

I think my reading highlight of April was getting to attend the North Texas Teen Book Festival! I took Arden and Turner with me and we had SUCH a fun time getting to hear from a bunch of well-known authors, including our absolute favorite: Karina Yan Glaser who wrote the Vanderbeekers series (she was so kind to chat with us and take a picture with the kids!). We also met Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (who wrote The War The Saved My Life, a book that Arden listened to and really enjoyed), and bunch of other authors whose books are now on our to-read list! The kids were pumped to hear from Wings of Fire author, Tui T. Sutherland, and I absolutely fan-girled at a panel that had both Jennifer Lynn Barnes & Katharine McGee!!!

Kid Reads: 

We finished another Dimwood Forest book: Ereth's Birthday (focused on the lovable, gruff porcupine who thinks everyone forgot his birthday & ends up saving a litter of kits - baby foxes). Loved this one! The Tiny Hero of Ferny Creek Library was a recommendation from an indy bookstore in Ft. Worth and it was SUCH a cute story! We are still talking about the tiny green hero, Eddie, and all his adventures - we just love books that talk about books & the love of reading. 

Top reads this month: 

The Inheritance Games - Cinderella-esque middle-grade novel with short chapters, riddles, puzzles, mystery & a love triangle. It's not deep, but super cute and I loved it. Getting to hear from the author at the book festival was SO fun...and I'm already listening to #2 in the series!

Berlin Letters - Cold War, historical fiction, multiple timelines, CIA...espionage...code breaking...this was a great one! I don't think I've read any historical fiction novels specifically around the Berlin wall before - always love digging into a new time in history. I particularly loved the end being tied up with a bow (tho not always realistic, it's my favorite!).

Frozen River - Another historical fiction novel (my fav genre!), this one about a midwife in the late 1700s. Besides the storyline of normal chaos that comes along with midwifery (Call the Midwife anyone!?), there were also plot-points of murder, rape, trials, and lots of other 1700-era drama.

Garlic & Sapphires - I was excited to read another by Ruth Reichl after loving the Paris Novel last month, and this one was great too! So fun reading about her wild disguises she'd put on so she could review restaurants without being recognized. Lots of great (and delicious) food descriptions!

Honorable Mentions:

The Mystery Guest - Pretty similar to the first one, but I have a soft spot in my heart for sweet Molly (I loved Amelia Bedelia as a kid) so I enjoyed it anyway!

The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder - If you’re a Little House fan (like I am!), this is such a great book that dives into the historical details of Laura - and Rose’s life. I loved learning more about what life was like then, for both women. I was fascinated to discover that Laura and Charles traveled so much as they got older, and downright shocked to learn that Rose literally traveled across the country and to Europe - numerous times! In my mind these characters stopped in time where the books ended (& that's so not the case!), and so I loved learning more about them. I also didn’t realize quite how successful Rose was as an author, and how much she helped her mom make the Little House books what they are today. The only warning I’d give on this book is that is super flower/gardening heavy - but the beautiful pictures make up for the occasionally dense agricultural parts. I was excited to see that MM has written other similar books on some of our favs…Beatrix Potter, Secret Garden, etc - can’t wait to read those!

 

What a good month of books!

Somehow I read 17 again - not my normal number.

It's such a joy to sit down and revisit what I liked (and disliked, ha!) about each book I read (or listened to!) this month. 

Recommend: Phoenix Crown & Zero Days - two of my FAV authors and both of these were FAB (former: historical fiction around the San Fran Earthquake of 1906, and latter: a thriller about a hacker trying to solve her husband's murder). The Paris Novel is a francophile's dream: the most gorgeous descriptions of French food and art and fashion in the 1980s (pub date 4/23!). The Many Lives of Mama Love (our April book club pick!) was one of THE best books I've read this year - absolutely gutwrechingly raw memoir of Lara Love Hardin's life (an addict who ended up in jail but manages to turn her life completely around). Couldn't put this one down & has forever changed the way I view addiction & incarceration. Amanda Skenandore has been added to my list of fav historical fiction authors, and her newest novel, centered around the Galveston hurricane of 1900, was a really great read. 

Honorable Mentions: The Seven Year Slip (time travel right-person-wrong-time romance), & The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard (multi-generational Parisian fashion historical fiction). 

Kid Reads. 3 family readalouds: another one of the Penderwicks (absolutely darling family series that we just love so much), an "I Survived" (not our normal readaloud speed, but absolutely timely for us as we read it while IN Galveston over spring break), and our top favorite: Nothing Else But Miracles (WW2 historical fiction, set in NYC, about 3 sweet siblings waiting for their dad to return from war - SO GOOD). Arden and I finished the 2nd Sarah Plain & Tall ("Skylark" - the family is forced to spend time in Main to escape the prairie drought), and Turner and I finished the 2nd Dimwood Forest book ("Poppy & Rye" - where we follow the adventures of our heroine mouse and her porcupine friend as they defeat the beavers). 

Nonfiction. Everyone should read Atomic Habits! Such a good book with so many good takeaways (and step by step methods) about how to make habits actually stick and become part of who you are. Lasting habits (ie parts of your identity) get formed from tiny small changes. 

Evelyn's Birth Story 7.15.19

After we had Arden, our baby #1, I thought I'd never forget the details of her birth day. I mean how can you? Especially with your first precious baby! And yet, as sleep deprivation set in and as time went on, the very specific parts of her story started getting a little blurry. Sure, we knew the big picture, the overarching story, but when exactly did we get to the hospital? What was that funny thing the nurse said once we hit hour 9 of labor? Etc. So, with Turner, baby #2, I was determined to get the details down on paper (or more accurately, on my computer!) so that we'd have everything straight (his birth story is here) - and we did the same thing with Evelyn, our tie-breaker baby #3. Here is her story:

To set the scene: my due date, Friday 7 /12, came and went and our little family got to have one last fun weekend together, just the 4 of us - details to bring you up to speed are over on my 40-week bumpdate (and all previous bumpdates can be found here).

{Baby3} Nurse Thank You Gifts

The nurses (both labor & delivery, and postpartum) at the hospital are our heroes!

Since we had Arden, I've always put together some kind of "thank you" basket for our nurses & brought it with us to the hospital. 

With Arden, I wanted to keep it healthy (after talking to a nurse friend who told me they get a lot of junk food!), so I packed up oatmeal packets, granola bars and fruit BUT I didn't actually get the baskets assembled before I went into labor, so we had a family member helping us put the baskets together at the last minute. Whoops. One other mistake we made was dropping off the baskets at the nurses stations right when we got there (one at L&D and one on recovery floor)  but I'm not even sure we had our names on it. Whoops again.

{Baby3} Big Sibling Hospital Gifts

Someone told me about the idea of having a few "big sibling" gifts ready for the kiddos when they come to visit the new baby at the hospital and I knew I had to put something together for A&T. 

{Baby3} Bumpdate: 40 Weeks!

40 Weeks! 

BABY’S GROWTH/MOMMA UPDATE

Well, we made it to 40 weeks! Spoiler: we made it to 40 weeks + 3 days, but in those 3 days (or really, 2 days and a few hours) I didn't get the chance to post this update :)

{Baby3} Bumpdate: 38 & 39 Weeks

38 & 39 Weeks! 

BABY’S GROWTH/MOMMA UPDATE

I guess it makes sense that towards the verrrry end of pregnancy that the appointments start stacking up! I've had three over the past two weeks, plus a surprise visit to triage at Baylor Hospital (more on that later!).

4th of July 2019

Happy 4th of July!

I'll admit: we're all in bed and it's not even 9pm.

We are in a season right now where fireworks are just too late for our family (not to mention that our kiddos I'm sure would be absolutely terrified by the noise), and I'm okay with that...mostly. Ha! 

I can't wait until the kiddos are old enough to enjoy them (because really, fireworks are spectacular!), but for now I'm totally happy with how we celebrated America's birthday, which involved time at the splash pad with our cousins & a big 'ole family lunch complete with grilled chicken, corn on the cob, plenty of watermelon, and of course, apple pie.

{Baby3} Bumpdate: 36 & 37 Weeks

36 & 37 Weeks! 

BABY’S GROWTH/MOMMA UPDATE

Well we're one week past the one-month mark and it's like time is stuck in fast forward - it's going by so fast!!!

{Baby3} Bumpdate: 34 & 35 Weeks

34 & 35 Weeks! 

Baby Evelyn is due ONE MONTH from today!

BABY’S GROWTH/MOMMA UPDATE

I'm finally starting to see the whole "oh man are you just hiding a basketball under your shirt?" thing that people have been asking me lately. It's honestly hard to tell from my viewpoint (other than yes, my belly is large and I bump into things all.the.time), but these comparison pictures made me realize just how differently I carried Turner vs. Evelyn!

No appointment since last post but I do start having them weekly from now until the end!

Turner's 2nd Birthday: Construction Party!

Our TurnerBear turned two (what the what!!!) & we celebrated with a construction truck-themed birthday party! The party was at an imagination play place called PlayQ Studio & it was the perfect location for this age. 

A few months out when I started planning this party, my main goal was to keep it pretty simple. I usually tend to pinterest and craft the heck out of parties like this one (and really enjoy doing so!), but I knew that with being pregnant, I needed to keep it as easy as possible. 

I did use pinterest to come up with some decorating ideas, but overall kept it pretty simple!

Instagram: Snacks with dad 🤣

Snacks with dad 🤣

Instagram: “Look momma, we’re on a train!” 🤣

“Look momma, we’re on a train!” 🤣

{Baby3} Bumpdate: 31, 32, and 33 weeks

31-32-33 Weeks! 

Goodness when you wait almost a month to post there's a lot to catch up on! Here goes:

BABY’S GROWTH/MOMMA UPDATE
Let's see, since my last post I've gotten adjustments at the chiropractor a bunch of times, had 2 doc appointments, and 1 meeting with my doula.

Baby first: she's doing great! My mom was in town for one of my appointments and because of that, my sweet doctor did a surprise sonogram so that my mom could see babyE moving and it was awesome! At my second appointment I was scheduled ahead of time for a sono so it was really fun getting to see her twice in two weeks! The latter appointment (technically 34 weeks) is usually the last time I'll get a sonogram for this pregnancy & where the doc takes one last pass at all measurements (she's looking great) and makes sure the baby is in the right spot & head-down (she is!).

And speaking of baby...we decided on a name! Introducing...Evelyn Williams! Middle name is still TBD. We've loved the name Evelyn since we were trying to debating what to name Arden almost 4 years ago, and this time around we just kept coming back to it so we finally decided to go for it and commit to it! Taylor still says nothing is official but I ordered a big sign for her room and a sweet friend surprised us with a monogrammed blanket so I'm calling it very official! The meaning of Evelyn is just perfect too - it's "wished for child" which seems especially fitting since she's our rainbow baby. How cute is this banner? Found it on Etsy and it's coming to the hospital with us to put up on her bassinet while we're there and then will get hung in her room at home.

{Baby3} Maternity Pictures

About a month ago we did a short session with our favorite photographer and we just got our pictures back! As usual, they turned out great! I decided this set of pictures was going to serve as our "maternity session" too so we made sure to get a few specifically highlighting baby E :)

Instagram: I just love these ladies and look at how much these babes have grown!!! 😭😭😭

I just love these ladies and look at how much these babes have grown!!! 😭😭😭