If you are going to read any book review of mine of the entire year, this is the one. This is it. I read two books this month, and was BLOWN AWAY by both. One was the most beautiful and moving book I’ve read certainly this year, if not ever. I would be shocked it it doesn’t end up in my top spot as most loved book for the year. The other just knocked me on my booty with SO MANY things to think about and unpack about myself.
My reading really slowed down in late summer. Maybe it was that beach vacation with small children that doesn’t allow for extra time to “read.” 🙂 This is a combined two month book review! And I have to admit, none of these were my favorite reads of the year.
I started August reading The Dictionary of Lost Words.
It’s time for my monthly book review! I didn’t get through as many books as I wanted to this month, so I only have two books to review for you. I always wondered how people found time to read. Having really little kids at home, I feel like I rarely have a free minute. And when they go to bed, I ALWAYS choose to veg on the couch and watch TV. Always. It’s my way of relaxing and calming down.
But about a year ago, my husband said he had joined Audible, which is an audiobook app, and that I should listen to the new Matthew McConaughey book. Well, I did. And I loved it. Thus began my reincorporation of ‘reading’ again. I listen when I take the dog for a walk, folding clothes, making dinner, doing yard work. And it’s been the best thing to finally get to enjoy the very long reading wishlist I had kept for years before discovering audiobooks.
Happy book review day! I’m sorry I disappeared last week. I was feeling exceptionally uninspired, so I just gave myself a week off to recharge. But this week, it’s book review week and What’s Up Wednesday tomorrow. Those are two of my most favorite posts each month!
Last June was my very first book review ever on Sunwashedlinen.com. And it’s all because I found audiobooks. I could finally fit ”reading” into my very busy ”mama” schedule. So happy that I found Audible and that I’ve gotten to read so many books over the past year!
I read three books this month. Two audiobooks and one hard copy book. One I adored, one was pretty good, and one just average. So, let’s get into it…
Edit: My heart is heavy and shattered given the events in Texas yesterday. The fact that we’re here as a nation weeping again at the loss of innocent little lives in America. That we did nothing as a nation to change the course of the future after Newtown makes me sick to my stomach. That we live in a country that it seems the risk we take with sending our children to school in this country includes a higher risk of being shot and killed in their school than every other developed nation. It’s inexcusable. Exhausting. Heart wrenching. It makes me want to hold my babies close to me and never let them out into this seemingly cruel world.
I’m not tone deaf. And truthfully, I considered just pushing delete on this post. All of it was written before this horrific event. But it’s written. And it’s fun to read. So I’m going to leave it here because these are my memories that I want to be able to go back and read for myself. But where I’m personally at tonight, as I sit here in my pj’s having tucked my precious boys into bed, is a mess. Angry. Pleading with my fellow Americans. Can we please compromise to do something to move in the right direction to fix this. We must be better than this.
My favorite post of the month! A post with a little bit of everything. A little bit of food and recipes, a little bit of books, a little bit of looks at family, and lots more! I can’t believe we’re at the end of May getting ready to gear up for summer.
As always, I’m linking up with Shay and Sheaffer to share with you what’s going on in our life!
1: WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK:
I can not stop. You guys, I love these Chicken gyros, and they are on the menu again this week. AHH. So good!
Some homemade pizza and sundried tomato pasta with creamy burrata rounds out the week. Yum!
2: WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT:
Another fun soccer season for our little man!
We’ve had so much fun watching Harrison play this spring. He truly loves soccer. Every day he comes home and asks to play soccer, so we’ve had so much fun watching him get to do something he really loves with his friends. He may be the most into it four year old soccer player on the team, but we love every minute of getting to watch him!
You want to know how I know the weather started to improve in Kansas City, my children weren’t sick for an eternity and home for school, and I spent time on walks and gardening? I read four books this past month. Because I listen to all of my books, I stick in AirPods usually once a day if I can, and spend 20-30 minutes on a walk or outside gardening, and listening to a book. And this month there were some really good ones!
It’s book review day! This month I only got through two books. One I loved. One I was just meh about. I thought about delaying this post another month until I had finished more books, but you know what…who says you need multitudes of books for a good book review?
In March, my kids went to school most days, life was mostly normal, and the weather started to get nicer, which meant I took more opportunities to pop in my AirPods and go for an afternoon walk…and listen to books. I read three books in March…
And my goodness. They were all GOOD. In fact, if at least one of these doesn’t show up on my top three books of the year this year, I’ll be surprised.
You want to know the last time I reviewed books I had read? November. Life happened, and in December, I didn’t feel like I had read much so didn’t have much to review. January we lived in a state of illness and school closings. And here we are at the end of February! And I finally have some books to tell you about!
My friend Jen at Show Me + Sweet Tea always uses book descriptions from Goodreads in her book reviews, and I love that idea! That gives you a much better idea of what the book is about, so I’m going to jump on that bandwagon.
Way back in December, I read The Bullish Case for Bitcoin.
I became a reader again last year. Thanks to my, albeit very late, discovery of audiobooks, the second half of my year was FULL of reading. Books that I thought I’d never have time to get through before, that I had had on my reading list for years. I wrote a whole post about how I became a reader HERE.
This year, I listened to 21 books. 20 of those books I reviewed here on my blog. Here’s some links back to past book reviews:
I took a look back at all of the books I read this past year, and came up with my top three favorite books of the year. When I actually sat down to try to rank them, this was a really hard task! I can’t imagine how hard it will be once I’ve read books for an entire year!
In third place…
