February- Meagan's Book Club Pick

 

I am so excited for February's book club pick! Someday, Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli is a beautiful story of grief, regret, acceptance, community, and family. I flew through the audiobook a few months ago and couldn't not believe this was the authors debut book!

We will be reading this one together in anticipation for our Zoom discussion with the author! For me, whenever I hear more about the book from the author, I can't help but feel more connected to the story. I am so excited to learn more from Onyi and how Someday, Maybe came about. I hope you read along with me this month! 

For the synopsis:

"A stunning and witty debut novel about a young woman’s emotional journey through unimaginable loss, pulled along by her tight-knit Nigerian family, a posse of new friends, and the love and laughter she shared with her husband. Onyi Nwabineli is a fresh new voice for fans of Yaa Gyasi, Queenie and I May Destroy You.

Here are three things you should know about my husband:
1. He was the great love of my life despite his penchant for going incommunicado.
2. He was, as far as I and everyone else could tell, perfectly happy. Which is significant because…
3. On New Year’s Eve, he committed suicide.

And here is one thing you should know about me:
1. I found him.

Bonus fact: No. I am not okay."

CW: suicide

Bestie Book Club: The Housemaid

It's hard to believe I was in Hawaii two weeks ago...I am having Hawaii withdrawals big time and I wake up feeling like it was a total dream. Were we even there?? Did my eyes see those breeching whales and breathtaking sunsets?? Take me back! 

While we were in Hawaii with our best friends, we decided to do a bestie book club and it was so much fun! If you are going on vaycay with your bestie this year, plan on a book club! We had so much fun squeezing in pages any chance we could get and discussing along the way. We chose to read The Housemaid by Freida McFadden and omggggg it was so good! 

The Housemaid

But you know me too well and of course I have a few thoughts and critiques about The Housemaid. It was shockingly similar to The Last Mrs Parrish...tooooo similar, imo. However, the ending through me for a loop and I cannot wait to read the new book in the series. One of the reasons why this was a great beach read was that it had quick chapters and often times left you on a cliff hanger...so of course you had to read one more chapter! Overall, I gave this a 3.5/5. I could have used a more original storyline and a bit of steamy romance. 

My Top 9 Romances

For as confident as I am when recommending books, I have the hardest time recommending romances. This is mainly due to the wide range and subjective view of steam. What is low steam for one might be a drop in the bucket for another. As avid readers, we should be able to set our own boundaries and have the will power to put books down when they reach their content threshold. Since so many of you look to me for recommendations, I will caveat these 9 romances with my steam range. For some reason, I can't use a flame emoji, so for the sake of this blog post, each 💋 is a "flame" on the steam scale.

💋: only kissing

💋💋: quick and not descriptive sex scenes

💋💋💋: open door with graphic writing but the sex isn't the entire plot of the story.

💋💋💋💋: open, graphic, and mainly about sex.

I hope that makes sense! Here are my top 9! You don't see any 💋💋💋💋 mainly because that is my threshold and those books get put down eventually...ha ha

Shop All Books

Valentine's for Book Lovers

If you're looking for a few gifts for Valentine's Day... *hint hint* 

1: striped pajamas

2: cozy blanket

3: bathtub caddy

4: large tote

5: book light

6: candle

7: frother

8: cookbook

9: favorite mug

January Book Club Discussion

January has come to an end and we went out with a bang by having the best discussion for Signal Fires. Wow! That book was even better the second time through! I loved discussing the different themes with you all and appreciate your vulnerability and shared experiences. 

To recap for those that weren't able to attend:

• Themes discussed:
• Grief, Regret, Connection
• What does signal fires mean to me?
• definition: light signal, a beacon that can be seen from a distance.
• everyone experiences their own moment of being a signal fire when we need help and we also in turn see others in their signal fire moment and come to help. A very reciprocal relationship.
• Discussed Theo and Sarah and the consequences after that fateful night.
• The relationship between Waldo and Shenkman
• The relationship between Waldo and Ben

I pulled quite a few discussion questions from Dani Shapiro's website and that helped guide our discussion! Please enjoy watching! 

The Big Finish

★★★★ 

I went into The Big Finish totally blind and really enjoyed it! I loved the story development and the quick writing. Duffy, the curmudgeon, anchored the story and became such an endearing character. You know me and grumpy old men! Can’t get enough!! 

I thought the middle lagged a bit, but I was so impressed with how everything came together by the end. I’d love to see where Josie and Anderson are now. There were so many beautiful moments of second changes and new beginnings. 

If you’re looking for a sweet book to read this winter, look into this one!

Target Book Basket Haul!

There are a few questions that my followers ask that circulate weekly and one of them is what I do with our library books and books my kids keep in their room. Honestly, that is a losing battle trying to keep things neat and tidy and organized, but one thing I am vigilant about is keeping their books in something. Either a bookshelf, basket, bin, bag, ledge, whatever keeps them off the ground. Our dog has been known to chew up books and nothing else brings me into a rage faster than a chewed up book. 

I was at Target earlier this week and found so many great baskets! If you're looking for better storage for your books, I have a tip for you: Grab books at the store and try them out in the basket! This is super helpful especially with children's books. Grab the biggest book they have and see which baskets work. Every book lover knows the frustrations of books not fitting where you want them and children's books are always an awkward size.

LINKS:

1. Braided Seagrass Crate 2. Wire Stackable Basket 3. Metal Storage Bin 4. Woven Banana Folio Bin 

5. Stackable Wood Storage Bin 6. Braided Hyacinth Leather Handle Basket 7. Rattan Storage Basket

Recapping 2022

Whenever New Years rolls around, I am not ready to roll out my goals and resolutions. I am always envious of the people who are so put together and ready to hit the ground running at the turn of the calendar and year. But give me the start of a new school year and I am full of goals and resolutions. 

Let's recap 2022 before diving into my 2023 goals. I am very proud of myself that my total finished books last year came to a whopping 106 books. It was so much fun going through my year of books and pulling out my favorites. Landing on a top 10 was harder than I thought and even after, I left out a new favorite that I finished in December. 

The book I would add to this list (no surprise here) is This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. I read it after I compiled this list and immediately regretted it because This Tender Land absolutely was a favorite book of 2022! Keep an eye out for my full review because WOW, just wow. 

Do you see any of your 2022 favorites on this list? Two of my favorite moments were interviewing Clare Pooley and Shelby Van Pelt. I had stars in my eyes! It is such a privilege any time I have the opportunity to connect with an author. It makes all this book stuff worth it and I love being able to get to know them better. I cannot wait to see which authors come my way this year!

Where the Lost Wander

What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this incredible book? I’m kicking myself for taking this long picking up an Amy Harmon book and now I’ve stacked my TBR with all over her backlist titles for the next little while.

Where the Lost Wander is primarily about the May family traveling across the Overland Trail in 1853, but there is so much in this story that captured my heart. 

The development and detail of every character was so rich, but the character that I loved the most was John Lowry. John was the guide for the May family, but we learn bits and pieces about John and his upbringing throughout the beginning of the story. We learn about the relationships between the Indian tribes and their people. 

There is a lot of tragedy along this treacherous trail but the people crossing were so courageous and determined to make a better life for their families. I have always admired the strength of the early settlers. My own family has history of crossing the plains and settling in Canada and this gave me a bit of insight into the difficult road they chose and the many things and comforts they sacrificed in order to create a better life. 

One of the pieces of this story that caught me off guard was how connected I would feel to the Indian tribes and their beautiful traditions. John Lowry was the bridge to connect both worlds and I found Harmon’s writing to be so beautiful and respectful as she approached these conflicts. History is difficult to understand at times, but there is always something to be learned and I learned so much.

Wow! This story is going to stick with me for awhile! All the stars!

 

January- Meagan's Book Club Pick

 

We are kicking off the new year with Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro! I am thrilled to be back to monthly book clubs. I have missed you all so much! Last year, as we know, was a bit bananas with my family moving. I knew that I wasn't able to sustain 12 book clubs with my personal life happening in background, but now things have settled and stabled and I am ready to get back to it. 

For the synopsis:

"Signal Fires opens on a summer night in 1985. Three teenagers have been drinking. One of them gets behind the wheel of a car, and, in an instant, everything on Division Street changes. Each of their lives, and that of Ben Wilf, a young doctor who arrives on the scene, is shattered. For the Wilf family, the circumstances of that fatal accident will become the deepest kind of secret, one so dangerous it can never be spoken.

On Division Street, time has moved on. When the Shenkmans arrive—a young couple expecting a baby boy—it is as if the accident never happened. But when Waldo, the Shenkmans’ brilliant, lonely son who marvels at the beauty of the world and has a native ability to find connections in everything, befriends Dr. Wilf, now retired and struggling with his wife’s decline, past events come hurtling back in ways no one could ever have foreseen.

In Dani Shapiro’s first work of fiction in fifteen years, she returns to the form that launched her career, with a riveting, deeply felt novel that examines the ties that bind families together—and the secrets that can break them apart. Signal Fires is a work of haunting beauty by a masterly storyteller."

I hope you read a long with me this month and carve out time every month this year. I have the next three months planned out and they are good! If you are interested in following me on instagram, you can find me here. I will also say that the majority of the book club content will be conducted through the subscription on instagram and you can sign up there if you are interested in being part of the end of the month discussion.

Book Review // The Two Lives of Lydia Bird

*Grateful to Random House for gifted copy

Rating: 3/5

Review: After reading the premise, I was hooked! Check it, Lydia’s boyfriend, Freddie dies in a car accident on her twenty-eighth birthday. Months after he dies, Lydia starts taking sleep medication that was prescribed to her, and she finds herself dreaming of a very vivid life where Freddie is very much alive. Lydia is now caught between real life without Freddie, and a dream life with Freddie.

Did it hook you too? I saw two things wrong with this book after finishing it earlier this week.

1. The pacing. For me, it took 200 pages to get into the story. While I found the grieving process difficult to read at times, it honestly lacked emotional depth. I kept reading with the hope that the pace would eventually pick up, and I guess it did towards the end, but not enough for me to rave about. 

1. Storyline didn’t develop. Everything was surface level. The sidebar stories were fine. Lydia’s character was full of problems. The ending was cliché and expected. 

I was really hoping for Lydia Bird to knock my socks off, because I’m a sucker for an adorable cover. But also because I’ve heard great things about Josie Silver’s first book, One Day in December. Mehhhhh. This one was a bummer, for sure.

Synopsis:

Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They’d been together for more than a decade and Lydia thought their love was indestructible. But she was wrong. On Lydia’s twenty-eighth birthday, Freddie died in a car accident.
 
So now it’s just Lydia, and all she wants is to hide indoors and sob until her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to try to live fully, happily, even without him. So, enlisting the help of his best friend, Jonah, and her sister, Elle, she takes her first tentative steps into the world, open to life—and perhaps even love—again.
 
But then something inexplicable happens that gives her another chance at her old life with Freddie. A life where none of the tragic events of the past few months have happened.
 
Lydia is pulled again and again through the doorway to her past, living two lives, impossibly, at once. But there’s an emotional toll to returning to a world where Freddie, alive, still owns her heart. Because there’s someone in her new life, her real life, who wants her to stay. (amazon.com)