March Book Recap!

March was the month of the Nonfiction!

Normally I feel like I tend to go more towards fiction novels, but I have to say I have absolutely LOVED the nonfiction I've read this month!

It started with A Grief Observed by CS Lewis. This was actually recommended to me by one of my closest friends. Near the end of February a good friend of my good friends passed away. He was merely an acquaintance to me, but I was still absolutely shocked and still saddened. I never know how I will react to death. In this case I could feel old emotions of anger and that overwhelming sense of "why?" coming up. This book was recommended to me actually by a friend who was really close to the guy who passed away. I trust her recommendations about pretty much anything and this was a good book in this circumstance. It basically follows Lewis as he loses his wife and deals with his own grief, anger, and confusion toward life and especially God. Through it it made me realize how selfish my emotions are relating to not just this death, but just death in general. It helped me reach a better understanding and peace. I don't doubt that next time I experience death I will probably pick this book back up for a quick read (and it really is pretty quick!)

Next was The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel. This was another book that was made into a movie this year. I've always really liked learning about WW2 and thought this sounded great! It is a perspective that I have NEVER heard or thought about before. It surrounds a group of unlikely war heroes who use their background in art history and art restoration to go find, protect, and restore art that either has been stolen by the Nazi Party (who knew Hitler was such an art buff!) or may have been in threat of being ruined just by he movement of troops.

Apparently The Monuments Men didn't fill all the WW2 books for the month. My book club this month decided to read The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Beer. Another true story about a woman's journey during WW2. This was also a perspective I had never heard as it was a Jewish woman who goes undercover basically pretending to be her Christian friend. Edith goes to a work camp and you learn about what that experience was like, before returning home, going undercover and moving to a new country, meeting a man who is a Nazi and actually is attracted to the fact Edith is lying about her whole story and marries her. As much as I feel for Edith's fear and paranoia that her real identity could be found at any time, I also found myself feeling a bit of disdain at the fact that other Jews were in hiding and not able to go outside, or at concentration camps, while this woman ends up essentially rising to a place of respect by being a Nazi Officer's wife and mother of his baby. There were some confusing feelings in this book for sure, but overall it was still really good.

Lastly I read Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass Isak Dinesen. Technically 2 books, although Shadows on the Grass was much shorter and was basically a call back to Out of Africa. It followed Karen Blixen (the author's real name) through many of her years in Africa. Karen was a Danish woman who moved to Africa to start a coffee plantation in 1913 and lived there until about 1931. She talks about her struggles, some of her hunts, but more than anything her interactions with the natives. It was a cool perspective, again-that I hadn't really heard before.

Another successful month of reading. Starting to get to the point where I'm going to need more recommendations from friends and do more searching to find what books I want to read next! 


Books Read in 2014:
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
The Fault in Our Stars  by John Green
Burned by Ellen Hopkins
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
A Grief Observed by CS Lewis
The Monument Men by Robert Edsel
The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Beer
Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass Isak Dinesen

February Book Recap!

February.....not so successful as January.
I still read a book! But emphasis on "A" book. Just one. Luckily it was pretty good.

I bought Freedom by Jonathan Franzen a while ago because I thought it sounded really good. I admit it was part of Oprah's Book Club. I have never watched an episode of her show or read her magazine or bought into anything else of hers, but her book club does have some pretty good tastes! If I see that sticker of approval I'll typically pick up the book to at least check it out!

Freedom was a bit more dense and would have taken longer to read than most of the January books even if I wasn't working crazy hours this entire month! Freedom is a fiction novel that basically follows a family from normal, to dysfunctional, and back to slightly normal. More times than not I found myself reading and thinking "why the crap are you making that decision?!?" Because you could almost see the dysfunction developing. Plus I felt like I was getting a lesson on environmental and government policy at one point which wasn't as pleasurable. Overall though it was a good book. It was interesting to play the "will they, won't they" game, and try and figure out how things will turn out. By the end I actually cared a bit about the characters which is the primary goal of any author.



Books Read in 2014:
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
The Fault in Our Stars  by John Green
Burned by Ellen Hopkins
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Update to January Readings

Remember when yesterday I said I wouldn't be finishing Burned by Ellen Hopkins in January because I was only 3/5 of the way through it? Apparently I underestimated myself.
Last night I started reading and then next thing I knew I was almost done! It helps that her book is written is a totally different format than regular novels so it doesn't take long to get through the book at all!

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! Another teenager falling in love storyline but with some strong added extras to the plot that make it pretty good! And an ending that really makes you go 'holy crap! i wonder if she does it!' The only downside was sometimes the format taking away from the book, but thats pretty much it.

And that means I finished 3 and a half books in January!
Lets see what February brings!! 

January Book Recap

It's Friday!!!!!!!!! Just had to get that out there.
More importantly it's the end of January. My goal is to post updates as to how I'm doing throughout the year on my book reading resolution every month.

I'm off to a really strong start actually! In January I read 2 full books, plus half of another, plus 3/5th of another. Let me explain-I cheated and started my resolution early. I started Great Expectations around Christmas so by the time January actually started I was almost half way through it. And currently reading another book (which I don't think I'm going to finish tonight so thus will carry over into February).

I'm proud of myself so far! I admit the next 2 months may be more difficult as I think I'm either working or have other plans every single weekend which are big reading times for me. For about a week or so this month I would get up a half hour early just to be able to sit in bed and read for a while. I actually really liked that. It was a nice calm way to start my day.

Here are the books I finished/started in January:

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens: I read this one years ago in high school and remembered I liked it, but didn't really remember why. Reading it again I remembered why! Such a great book! Good story, great characters, and some fun twists!

Wild by Cheryl Strayed: Another memoir of hiking a 1,000+ mile trail. Except this time it was the Pacific Coast Trail as opposed to the Appalachian Trail like other books I've read. I'm not going to lie, I thought I would enjoy it more than I did. Her time hiking I enjoyed, but her life off the trail through flashbacks I didn't really care for. Granted I'll probably still consider seeing it in it's movie form starring Reese Witherspoon that comes out this year.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green: Also a book being made into a movie this year. Although I don't think I'd care to see this one in theaters. I liked the book as a whole, but the end was a little lacking for me (and not in the way the author probably hoped for). While I liked the book, I don't think the movie will have the same effect.

*Not Finished Yet*
Burned by Ellen Hopkins: A very easy read so far-although it takes a minute to get used to her writing style where every page is almost more of a poem format. Jury is still out on the book though since I haven't finished yet!

From shattered to rebuilt

a few years ago I lost someone close to me.

not through death, not through distance, but because of actions of stupidity.

because of bad decisions.

a few years ago a friendship was ruined.

and it shattered me.

it made me look at my life.

it made me take stock of what was important and how i was living.

it made me realize i didn't like myself anymore.

and it made me change.

the person i am today is not the person i was before.

as for the friendship-it was built back but on shaky ground.

it went from tolerating, to talking, to joking.

but there was still the awkwardness in the room at times

the unspoken elephant of the day our friendship was originally shattered.

but we never addressed it.

until now.

finally the time came to talk.

to tell each other what we've both felt for a while.

to be able to say those words "I'm sorry".

to be able to say "it made me change".

to realize that its both of us who have changed.

that we are both stronger and more confident in who we are.

i'm sad we missed out on those few years, but i'm beyond thrilled we made it past that trial.

to discuss it and move on.

to understand the thoughts from the other persons point of view.

to finally be able to know that it's settled.

to be confident in our relationship.

and know for sure that i have my friend again.

Welcome to the Polar Vortex!!!!!

That was what was in all caps and large font on the homepage of CNN's website yesterday. And it's pretty much true. (Props to whoever came up with "polar vortex" by the way-very science fictiony and dramatic!)

But seriously-it's the coldest blast of temperatures to hit the USA in a while out there. Here in North Carolina we got down to about 7 degrees last night, with a windchill of at least -6! AND THIS IS NORTH CAROLINA!!!! My friend in Wyoming wasn't making a big deal over his -12 degree weather (not sure what the wind chill would have made that!) and instead went outside to test if you throw water into the air in that temperature if it will freeze before hitting the ground-spoiler alert-some of it did! Another friend posted a screenshot of his phone reading a -42 degree wind chill in his area! So I guess I can't complain to much about my -6 degrees!

All of this is to say that I don't want to let excuses keep me from my goals this year.
(didn't see that switch coming did ya!!!)
See normally Tuesday's I always go to the gym super early in the AM since I have a church thing Tuesday evenings-typically my goal is to be at the gym by 4:30am. Knowing what the weather was going to be like last night and into today I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to skip the gym today! But seeing as how my obnoxious sinus infection kept me from the gym for a few days already in 2014, I knew I shouldn't skip more days when I don't have a good reason. And so I set my alarm for 4:10 this morning-promptly checked the weather upon waking up (which is how I know it got down to at least -6 degrees with the wind chill) and bundled up! My greatest concern was my car turning on honestly-Sally, aka my car, isn't used to that type of weather. But she started, I took it easy on her, and as always she got me where I needed to go.

So I learned a few things this morning-1) I can properly layer for colder weather than I can ever remember experiencing, 2) the gym is remarkably empty on a morning like today, and 3) I can never say it's to cold to go to the gym again unless it is at least -10 degrees!!!

Happy 2014!

So far all 2014 has brought me is a sinus infection....well at least I think it's a sinus infection-going to the doctor today to see what their opinions are.

Started feeling bad in 2013, to the point that New Years Eve meant me attempting to go to sleep early and being grumpy when a random watch started beeping just after midnight (seriously! I hadn't worn this watch in literally months and suddenly it come alive and wants to celebrate the new year! I guess it's better to have inanimate objects come alive to celebrate instead of to haunt).

Other than that, the start of a new year also means more New Years resolutions to make and hopefully not break! This year I've decided to make a resolution that really shouldn't be that difficult. I want to read at least 1 book a month. (Children's books don't count.) I love to read. I love escaping into another world and getting lost there for hours. There have literally been days where I spent 8 hours reading and when it came time to stop reading and go out to dinner it took me a while to transition back into the real world! But I find that parts of the year I just drop the ball on reading. Suddenly it will take me months to finish a book because I claim I don't have the time. And that's a lie. There's always time. I just use it to sit mindlessly in front of yet another NCIS marathon on the USA network instead. With this resolution I'll be forced to at least do a book a month. Ideally it would be great to do more than a book a month.

There are other things I'd like to accomplish like donating blood 6 times this year and getting involved in new social things more. But I feel as those will be ongoing things. And things I may not have as much control over (case in point-I actually was scheduled to donate blood today but thanks to the extreme stuffiness that's not going to happen).

So here's to a new year! I can't wait to see what else 2014 has in store for me!!!