Seen Any Movies Lately?

I read this book ages ago (well, technically listened to the audiobook, which I'd recommend) and now it's a movie. Looks pretty good, what do you think? Any other good movies worth watching these days?

 

What Are You Reading?

I love having a stack of good books in my to-be-read-next pile.  Having just plowed through a bunch of good ones recently (novels/memoirs: Unmarriagable, Inheritance, Becoming, and YA reads: No Fixed Address, The War That Saved My Life, and Nowhere Boy).

I'd love any recommendations!  What was the last great book you read?

image/bbb

Audiobook Switch

Ever since having kids, I have a renewed interest in the audiobook.  I probably hadn't listened to a legit audiobook since my family took our annual summer road trips to rural Oregon when we were kids, bulky set of audio cassettes in tow.  However, these days, audiobooks are significantly easier to obtain, borrow, and buy, with the added luxury that bulky CDs and listening accessories are no longer necessary.  

For a while, I did the audible route.  You've likely heard of audible as they've dominated the audiobook market until recently.  After a few months, I grew weary of the high cost per book and began looking into other audiobook options that were A). both more affordable and B). supported small businesses in my local community.  

Enter - libro.fm.  Have you heard of them?  I hadn't either, but they're brilliant!  Libro.fm is your independent bookstore for digital audiobooks.  The same, easy, downloadable audiobooks you know and love fo cheaper AND Libro.fm works with independent bookstores to create co-branded audiobook storefronts.  When signing up, you select a bookstore in your local/preferred community, which will received earnings with each book sale. Basically, your audiobook listening benefits small bookstores in your local community.  Audible for sure doesn't do that!  Plus, to sign up today use the code "SWITCH" to get 3 audiobooks for the price of one. 

Here are a few of my recent favorites - and note, I'm a stickler for a good narrator.  I've been known to return many a book where the narrator did not fully capture my attention.

+ A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

+ Educated by Tara Westover

+ Inheritance by Dani Shapiro

+ Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal

+ Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

+ Becoming by Michelle Obama

+ At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider

+ Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

+ Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

+ Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

And - for kids' books, there's also an enormous library!  My recommendation, Matilda by Roald Dahl (narrated by Kate Winslet).

So, there you go!  You ready to make the #audiobookswitch to libro.fm?

Lovely Little Reads

It's been a while since I've mentioned my children's book blog and instagram on this site, so wanted to fill you in about this project I've been working on. 

As a former 1st and 2nd grade teacher, currently on sabbatical for a few years while I stay home with my young kids, one thing I miss most from my teaching days is the reading and sharing of children's books.  Hence, I created my own page to share my favorites, brief synopses, and links so you can check out these books on your own.  I hope you'll follow along!

instagram @lovely.little.reads

facebook @lovely.little.reads

blog www.lovely-little-reads.com

Last Great Book I Read: A Place For Us

This book.  There are very few books that I could say "took my breath away," and this is one of them.  Undoubtedly in my top 5, up there with Gone with the Wind and The Fountainhead.  I listened to the audiobook, which is excellent! It is narrated by Deepti Gupta, who reads Fatima Farheen Mirza's words with a soothing, gentle grace.  Also probably the best audiobook I've ever listened to.  I found excuses to run errands just so I could pop my headphones on and keep listening.

I first learned about this book on this podcast episode, A Place for Us is the first novel from Sarah Jessica Parker's new imprint, SJP for Hogarth.  The story chronicles an Indian-American Muslim family, as they reconnect for the oldest daughter's wedding.  The story is told throughout a series of flashbacks spanning decades and offering perspectives through the lens of different family members.  Perhaps what captured my attention most about this novel was the intimacy of a family Mirza is able to capture.  The thoughts we think but do not say aloud.  The wonderings had after challenging conversations. The worry parents carry for their children and hold close to their chest.  Every nuance of this story is told with such poise and clarity, honoring the devotion parents have toward their children and children toward their siblings.  If there ever was a well told story, this is it. I have nothing but good words.  I can always justify a good book if I'm still thinking about it days, weeks, even months after reading it...which I am.

Read it.  Trust me.

The Hate U Give

Did you read The Hate U Give?  It is an excellent young adult novel that debuted in February 2017, and has already been made into a movie!  I saw the preview when watching Crazy Rich Asians, I couldn't believe it!  Is it me or is the book-to-movie turnaround light years faster than it used to be?!

Anyway, this book is...WOW!  In a nutshell: sixteen year old Starr Carter is straddling two world; the low income neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends.  Everyday she navigates between her identity among her wealthy, predominantly white friends at school, and her the all black neighborhood where she lives.  She feels like she has a handle on her parallel identities when driving home at night with her childhood best friend Khalil, she witnesses his murder by a white police officer after they're pulled over.

Khalil's death becomes national news.  Many call him a thug, drug dealer, gang banger.  Protesting ensues.  Her identity as a witness is kept confidential due to her age, but what Starr wants more than anything is for the world to know what happened that night, that Khalil was sober, unarmed, and an innocent victim.  

As always, read the book first, but the movie looks just as captivating!

Currently...

We just got back from a fun weekend of camping with friends, and are gearing up for a busy week!  Back to school is in the air?  Freshly sharpened bouquets of pencils anyone?  (Name that movie!).

+ currently obsessed with this audiobook...

+ ...and because i've become such a recent superfan, binging on her podcast

+ just finished reading this book, and started this one

+ diffusing these this oil for a calm, zen vibe

+ just discovered these snack bars (less sugar + more protein than kind bars + D/GF)

+ just started using this shampoo, it has a subtle ginger ale scent (sounds weird but smells nice)

+ just started watching this funny show, I'm digging it

+ loving this dress for my girl for back to school

How's your summer wrapping up?  Are you ready for back to school?

image/bloom

In Defense of Harry Potter

Are you a Harry Potter fan?  Before you abruptly stop reading, hear me out...

I feel like people seem to fall squarely into two camps with this topic.  Either you're 

A). Camp One: You love, love, love Harry Potter!  It's one of the most revolutionary book series of our time!  It is brimming with powerful life lessons to educate our children with tales of hardship, exclusion, discrimination, friendship, belonging, and love.

or

B). Camp Two: Nope.  Never read it.  Not really my thing.  

(Insert audible sigh here).  I am definitely in Camp One.  I adore this literary series for so many reasons, many of which can be explained far more eloquently by other writers I admire, such as Tsh Oxenreider and Kelle Hampton.  However, ultimately, I just believe it's a literary rite of passage and experience that I want my children to have, and ideally one we can share as a family.

Long story short, my husband fell into camp 2.  Where I am a voracious reader, he prefers to absorb content via podcasts or online, with a few sporadic books and magazines thrown in for good measure.  A few months ago I propositioned the idea of him reading Book One, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - just to try it!  Perhaps this was selfish of me, but I really want our kids to read and experience the magic of Harry Potter someday, and feel it would be useful for him to learn the language, terminology, and jargon specific to the series.  He begrudgingly complied and lo and behold, ended up devouring book one!!   From there he went on to finish (and enjoy) all seven books in six months!  Am I proud?  You bet I am!   I took a non-believer, reading skeptic, and converted him to a Harry Potter enthusiast.  We have since watched all eight subsequent movies on HBO to expand upon the experience.  If that's not a testament to the power of J.K. Rowling, I don't know what is!

And truth be told, if I'm going off genres of books I typically gravitate toward, Harry Potter is definitely an outlier.  Prior to reading the series, I had never read any fantasy fiction or stories concerning wizards, dragons, magic, and the like.  And aside from The Twilight Saga, I've really never ventured into this genre again since Harry Potter.  

While I finished reading the series long ago, I've enjoyed re-listening to them via audiobook. The narrator throughout all seven books, Jim Dale is phenomenal!  He is a brilliant performer, and is truly able to emulate the essence of each character's distinct voice and personality through his reading.  It was almost as good as reading it for the first time.  If reading a tactile book is not your thing, I highly recommend listening to the series.  These books can be pretty pricy but they're available via downloadable audiobook or audiobook CD at your local library.  Also available on audible.com (first book is free), and if you become a member, you can download each subsequent book, one per month for the $14.95 monthly membership fee (instead of the $35+ original price). {FYI - This post is not sponsored in any way, just want to give you any insider advice I can to save some $$}

And if you're really a true HP fan, you ought to check out the Ringer's Binge Mode Harry Potter podcast, where super fans Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion do a deep dive into the themes, character development, motivations, and undercurrents of all seven books, chapter by chapter, starting with book one.  This is not a G rated podcast, there is ample swearing, inappropriate but hilarious fodder, and spoilers everywhere, so please make sure you've already completed the series before listening.

Alright, enough about Harry Potter for one day.  If I've somehow managed to sway you just an inch toward to "perhaps I'll ready this someday" camp, I consider that a small victory.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society

Did any of you read this book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society way back in 2009?  Long, cumbersome name, but a delightful, moving read.  Well, turns out, Netflix made an original film out of it, and we watched last night and enjoyed immensely!  Has a lovely, charming cast, including my favorite, Matthew Goode.  Here's the trailer.

What do you think?  Will you watch it?  I highly recommend!  

Last Great Book I Read: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

I just finished this book in a manner of days!  Eleanor Oliphant is quite a character, literally like no other I've ever read.  She's practical and frugal, struggles with reading and interpreting social cues, and says exactly what she's thinking in all situations; the good, the bad, and the ugly.  As such, she's cultivated a life of isolation where her primary relationships with frozen pizza and vodka rather than people.

As the story unfolds, we get flashes of Eleanor's unconventional upbringing, insights into some of the terrible circumstances of her childhood that shaped who she is and how she acts.  There is a significant shift in Eleanor's life when she meets Raymond, the carefree, happy-go-lucky IT guy at her office. In an unexpected right-place-at-the-right-time moment, Eleanor and Raymond find themselves rescuing an elderly man who has fallen on the sidewalk.  

They later befriend the man, Sammy, and all of a sudden, Eleanor finds herself with not one but two potential friends.  This is a heartwarming, uplifting story about finding friendship out of isolation and light from darkness.  Eleanor Oliphant, in spite of her peculiar, unusual nature will surely charm you as she comes to fully realize that the world is not even close to what she's been told.

Read this one!!  Also - worth noting, this is soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon, so you know that means you better read the book first!

image/amazon

Last Great Book I Read: Landline

Normally I'm a paper book kind of person.  I tried the kindle for a while, but honestly, I love the tactile nature of a book in the hand.  The passage of pages, seeing your bookmark slowly creep through the volume.  The sound of an aggressive page flip when you can't wait to find out what happens next.  There's just something about it that can't be replicated digitally (in my humble opinion).  

However, there have been a few books that I just couldn't get into in paperback form, but that I really loooved via audiobook.  Landline by Rainbow Rowell is one of those.  After reading Attachments for my book club which I absolutely adored, I picked up Landline at the library and was underwhelmed.  I don't know what it was exactly about this title, but after several attempts and impending boredness, I just couldn't get into it.  

Normally, I'd just let it go and move on, after all there are plenty of books in the sea...but I kept hearing friends mention this title, offering their own rave reviews, which led me to try it once more via audiobook.  Boom!  Such a difference!  Rainbow Rowell write great dialogue and there was just so much energy and life brought to these conversations when listened to that was somehow missing in the written word.  

I felt the same way about Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Gabrielle Hamilton's cheffy memoir, Blood, Bones, & Butter, which I could not get into in paperbook, but have now listened to twice on audiobook.  

So moral of the story is, when in doubt, try the audiobook!

image via rainbowrowell

Summer Reading

Hello there!  What are you reading this summer?  As a faithful library-goer I have a looooong list of books in my queue, but as all library fans know, it's a crap shoot as to when your book will actually come in!  On my list there are some decent wait times but plenty of others where I'm like the 200th or even 1000th in line.  So, while I'm waiting around...I'd love hearing what you're reading this summer!

On my summer reading list:

+ The Female Persuasion by Meg Wollitzer (I enjoyed her other book, The Interestings)

+ Am American Marriage by Tayari Jones

+ The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams

+ The Boat People by Sharon Bala

+ The Ensemble by Aja Gabel

+ Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

And here's a few I've recently read and enjoyed.  

+ The Queen of Hearts (reminiscent of Greys Anatomy)

+ Still Me (3rd in the Me Before You series)

+ I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (YA novel)

+ Emergency Contact (YA novel)

What are you reading this summer? Please...do tell!!

image/bloom

Are You Green Enough?

Lately, I've been stepping up my clean living game.  Ditching the OxyClean, Chlorox wipes, Rinse Aid, and other chemical laden products which populate my home.  It's been a progression, definitely not overnight.  A few months ago I ditched scented candles, tossing everything but my unscented in-case-of-a-power-outage stash, and replacing household scents with essential oils. As you may recall in early May, I made the switch to Beautycounter, so now I'm confident my skincare and makeup are clean, but still...that's barely scratching the surface!

I recently finished the book Green Enough by Leah Segedie of Mamavation, which reads like a guided map to all the toxins lurking in your home.  Turns out, my home is filled with things I wouldn't ever thought to consider as harmful.  More than anything, by reading this book I've educated myself.  

Leah Segedie is frank, she straightforward and she doesn't sugar coat. There's even a little swearing thrown in which I found amusing. She is blunt about buying organic vs. not, where to save your money, and where to splurge. She examines products and packaging many Americans use and likely have in your home, and sheds light on which ones pose the biggest threats to you and your family's longterm health.  

My favorite part was walking room by room through an average American household, naming names, calling out the worst offenders and highlighting products that are legitimately clean through the categorizes "bad," "better," or "best."

Not gonna lie, reading this book was a little overwhelming, as I can't financially justify ditching all the bad stuff in one fell swoop, but I did find it useful, and gave me some helpful tips and suggestions of what to buy and avoid going forward.

So...how green are you these days?

image/designmom

Lovely Little Reads: Rosie Revere, Engineer

What can I say, I love Andrea Beaty's rhythmic rhyming text! I genuinely enjoy reading Rosie Revere, Engineer aloud on repeat at bedtime (much more than some of my daughter's other favorites like the cloying Pinkalicious, do not get me started!). Beaty's text makes the reader's voice rise and fall with such vivacious intonation and momentum, it is truly a joyful read aloud experience. 

Not to mention the message! Failure is okay? Normal? You mean, everyone makes mistakes? Everyone?! And then gets up and keeps going? Amen! 

I can only hope that Andrea Beaty will go on to create books for all of the colorful characters in Miss Lila Greer's class (as she has done with Iggy Peck, Architect and Ada Twist, Scientist) and deliver to us more whimsical, upbeat stories about the kid superpowers of curiosity, creativity, and discovery. 

P.S. Go check out my other recommendations on my instagram page!

image/amazon

What Are You Reading?

What are you reading these days?  Recently I've found myself falling into a rabbit hole of parenting books, and reading them consecutively one after another is exhausting...I'm ready for a good old fashion novel.  Better yet, a beach read!  Any suggestions out there?

I've also recently been "rereading" Harry Potter via audiobook when driving, which has been a nice change of pace.  I recently downloaded another one, Blood, Bones, and Butter, which I've already listened to by audiobook years ago (read about that here), but it was just that good a memoir, so I decided it was worth another go.

So please, tell me!  What are you reading?  I need some recs ASAP!  Thanks in advance :) 

Anne of Green Gables

Have you heard?  A remake of Anne of Green Gables will be available this month on Netflix!  I read and loved the first few books as a kid, but wasn't a huge fan of adapted movie or TV mini series.  Hence, I am excited to see if this does the books justice!  Here's a preview, the trailer looks promising and the setting verdant and wild.

What do you think?  Will you watch?

This post is part of my partnership with Netflix where I share what my family and I are watching each month on our favorite streaming platform. All thoughts and opinions are my own.  #StreamTeam

Last Great Book I Read: My Lady Jane

Historical fiction with a substantial heaping of magic is not my typical read.  While I do appreciate a good love story, especially one amongst royals - I tend to opt out of books parading magic (with the exception of Harry Potter and Twilight...of course).  But My Lady Jane is a clever, charming read, and I couldn't get enough.  Truth be told, I polished off the hefty thing in four days.

And for those skeptics, don't let the presence of magic deter you.  While I resist telling you more of the plot, consider this book an fictional explanation of real life character, Lady Jane Grey's 9-day reign as the queen of England (more on the real Lady Jane Grey here).

In a nutshell, a historical fiction spinoff love story, infused with magic, with a twist.  And for the record, you can always tell the hallmark of a good book is when you finish it only to be disappointed that it's over.

image/amazon

What Are You Reading?

I'm in need of a good book recommendation...or two...or three.  Really throw them all my way, I'll bookmark 'em in goodreads and call it a day.

In the last few months, I've read Commonwealth, The Other Typist, and my new favorite genre (young adult) which were all fantastic and thought provoking, It Ain't So Awful Falafel (dorky name, but quite good), Winger, and Exit, Pursued by a Bear.  Is it just me or are the YA choices way better now than they were when I was in middle/high school?

So...what are you reading?  Please, do tell!

Last Great Book I Read: A Man Called Ove

It's been a while since I've read a book I could emphatically recommend.  Until last week, when I read the final pages of A Man Called Ove. For me a good book is markedly met with happiness and sadness.  Happy that you found such a captivating gem of a read, and sad in that the story is over, and there's no more to be had.  

If my review isn't enough, the Amazon review speak quite highly of this book as well, with over 3,000 enthusiastic review after review, overall just shy of five stars.

So you want to know about Ove?  He's a curmudgeonly old man.  He subscribes to philosophies of the old world; routine, order, and following the rules.  Some might call him a grump, a bugger, a mean old fart, but he is staunch in his beliefs, respects honest labor, hard work, and as a strong sense of justice.  As such, he is wary of new people, and change he can't comprehend, namely technology, laziness, and situations that can't be fixed with the contents of a workman's toolbox.

The story is woven together, vacillating between Ove's past and the present; as he navigates a new chapter with the overtly friendly, though absurdly unhandy neighbors next door, countered with glimpses into Ove's past which shed light on why he is the way he is.  The story is quite charming, flecked with moments of sadness, laughter, and unlikely friendship.

It's pretty good.  You should check it out!

image/amazon

What I've Been Reading Lately

+ a few books - some chic lit inspired*, some a bit more meaningful

After I Do

The One That Got Away *

After You
Happier at Home

+ an emotional, incredibly moving essay about being newly widowed

+ ten truths all middle schoolers should know

+ the incredible things we do during conversations

+ fifty-two places to go in 2016

What have you been reading lately?
Articles? Books?  Essays? I'd love to add some material to my list!

image via sfgirlbybay