Monday, October 30, 2017

It's Monday! The Once and Future Lois

How I feel when thinking about holiday cooking. 
I finally got one book shaved off of my "currently reading" list.... The Once and Future King. I'll have a review up here in not too long. The weather has dropped here in Kansas and I even turned the furnace on. My mind turns with the weather to Thanksgiving and Christmas. They're two of my favorite holidays and that may or may not have to do with the food. With the colder weather my musical preferences have turned to Ella Fitzgerald and Norah Roberts. They're soothing music seems perfect for curling up with a cup of hot tea and a blanket. Hot tea and blankets naturally lead you to cozy books. Curling up with a good book just seems like the right thing to do in the cold months ahead and I'm looking forward to much of it.

Currently Reading

  • War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
  • God Is by Mark Jones
  • Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot 
  • The Mortification of Sin by John Owen
  • A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (re-read) (audiobook)
  • Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey 

Finished Recently

  • The Once and Future King by T.H. White
I'm still not sure if I'll be starting anything new yet until I finish one of my nonfiction books but we'll see. If I do it will most likely be something off of my Classics Club list. 

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Monday, October 23, 2017

It's Monday! Sixteen Weeks

I'm now sixteen weeks pregnant! Part of me can't believe I'm that far along already and part of me is ready to fast forward a bit... not too much just a bit. Let's not get too crazy. Here's a couple sixteen week bump pictures I took recently because I was getting complaints of lack of bump pictures. There just hadn't been a super evident bump yet. I could tell but it was hard to tell in pictures. Now though it's starting to pop out more.


Anyways.... reading. I've been a bit better about reading recently but still have a lot to do. My goal is to focus on completing my classics club goal and not worry about any other reading challenges... not worry too much that is.... I still worry a little. ;) To really kick that goal off I started reading War and Peace (my greatest reading fear) on the Serial Reader app (thanks Julie for recommending it). I'm finding reading War and Peace much more tangible right now thanks to the app and actually enjoyable. I still have many other books to go on my classics club list but getting War and Peace out of the way will be a blessing.
My book club chose to read Call the Midwife for the next month which was my excuse to finally get it read! I was so excited about that and I can't wait to read the other two books in the series.

Currently Reading

  • War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
  • The Once and Future King by T.H. White
  • God Is by Mark Jones
  • Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot
  • The Mortification of Sin by John Owen
  • A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (re-read) (audiobook)
  • Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey 

Finished Recently

  • Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth 
I'm not wanting to start anything more (unless I have to like for book club or something) until I finish The Once and Future King and at least one of my nonfiction books. I don't know why I insist on reading so much nonfiction a the same time! 

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Thursday, October 12, 2017

Finally Fall Book Tag

Once again I'm stealing a tag because I can. I saw this over at Coffee, Classics and Craziness and at Edge of the Precipice and it looked like fun! It's actually feeling like fall here in Kansas now. We had a hot September but just in these last couple weeks, really since October started, it's started to cool down. I do like fall but it seemed like such a dramatic change from hot to crisp that I'm still pouting a little about it all. The pouting is partially fueled by the fact that my husband likes to leave the windows open all of the time so the house is colder than I'd like it. Thank goodness for fleece Batman pajamas. It does feel like the perfect time though to be curling up with a good book and a hot cup of tea though so I'm hoping this will fuel some more reading in my life. Unfortunately I also desperately need to get my continuing education completed to renew my nursing listen coming up in just a few months. I'm well underway but I need to get it all wrapped up. Work before play and all of that you know.
Anyways, back to the tag!

1. In fall, the air is crisp and clear: name a book with a vivid setting!

My first though is the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. His books truly painted pictures with words. I could see the scenery and taste the food he described. And now I want to re-read all of his books so badly!!!! 

2. Nature is beautiful… but also dying: name a book that is beautifully written, but also deals with a heavy topic like loss or grief.

I'm stealing Eva's answer but it's so good! Definitely The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. How it deals with death is beautiful and unique and I love it.

3. Fall is back to school season: share a non-fiction book that taught you something new.

So many!  I don't read a lot of non-fiction but I love the ones I do get around to. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer was very influential on me a few years ago. I liked Quiet by Susan Caine. I'm not sure if Hidden Figures is considered non-fiction or historical fiction but that definitely taught me something new. There's so many theological books I've read that have taught me so much.... John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion and Arthur Pink's The Sovereignty of God pop to mind. I'm reading John Owen's The Mortification of Sin right now and it's challenging me a lot. As I said... so many!

4. In order to keep warm, it’s good to spend some time with the people we love: name a fictional family/household/friend-group that you’d like to be a part of.

The Weasley family! I love them dearly.


5. The colorful leaves are piling up on the ground: show us a pile of fall-colored spines!


6. Fall is the perfect time for some storytelling by the fireside: share a book wherein somebody is telling a story.

The first book I thought of was The Book Thief but I've already used that so I'll go with The Princess Bride by William Goldman.

7. The nights are getting darker: share a dark, creepy read.

Dracula by Bram Stoker was my creepiest read so far I think. I read it last year and LOVED it! So different than what I was expecting. I've also read some pretty creepy Dean Koontz books but Dracula is what really stands out to me right now.

8. The days are getting colder: name a short, heartwarming read that could warm up somebody’s cold and rainy day.

First book that comes to my mind is Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I'm not sure why but it did. Children's books tend to warm my heart and that series is pretty much always guaranteed to.

9. Fall returns every year: name an old favorite that you’d like to return to soon.

I've already mentioned Brian Jacques' Redwall series but besides that I've been thinking about the J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series because I've been rewatching the movies with my husband. I've also been wanting to re-read A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh and Richard Adams' Watership Down.

10. Fall is the perfect time for cozy reading nights: share your favorite cozy reading “accessories”!

A cup of hot tea and a warm blanket. 

Monday, October 2, 2017

It's Monday! What's Happened?

Life has been busy I'll admit but that's no excuse for my slacking reading. I haven't had an It's Monday post in a while either. So actually I do have a little to update... still my reading progress is sad. I was thinking recently about how my Classics Club challenge finishes up in 2019 on my 25th birthday and I'm only a little over halfway through it. I started out strong the first couple years and I've really slacked off since then only getting a few in every year. I'm not sure what's going to happen there but I'd really like to finish it in the time I designated but most importantly I just want to finish it to say I did it. There are lots of books I'm excited about reading still left on the list. Forget my other reading challenges... I've even more woefully behind one them than my Classics Club challenge. Oh well.
Truth is, with getting married, managing a household and now a baby on the way my life is legitimately more busy than it used to be. I have a nursing license that will need to be renewed soon, a social life I pretend to keep up and did I mention that I'm pregnant.... that's exhausting by itself. Oftentimes I just want to lay down and shut my eyes... not lay down and read a book.
Ah excuses. I have lots of them. My goal right now is to take care of my legitimate excuses first and then brush aside my not so legitimate excuses and take the time to read some more.
With that in mind... here's what's been going on in my reading life of late.

Currently Reading

  • The Once and Future King by T.H. White
  • Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot
  • Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey
  • The Mortification of Sin by John Owen
  • A Tale of Two Cities by Charle Dickens (audiobook) (re-read)
  • God Is by Mark Jones

Finished in the past couple months

  • Lila by Marilynne Robinson 
  • The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
  • Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay- See my review HERE.  
I don't want to start anything new until I shave a couple books off of my currently reading list.... I have a terrible habit of reading far too many books at the same time. To be fair though Let Me Be a Woman I'm reading with my mentor so the progress is slower and God Is is a devotional that Brian and I are doing together so naturally it will be slower.
So here's hoping my reading picks up like I dream it will!

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