A Book Worm's Birthday List

Hey y'all,

We are week into the new year....how are y'all feeling? This past week has actually been very productive goals wise, even meeting  a large number of new friends this past weekend. That goal is almost done!

So quick recap of my weekend: Thursday night I went to a Young Professionals Bible Study at a local church. It was my first time going so I was really nervous but it was a great night and a met a few new people which led to Friday. I was invited to dinner and seeing The Hobbit on Friday. Yes I am a nerd and have seen all of the Lord of the Rings movies (yes multiple times including the extended editions and read all of them) but I had yet to get through The Hobbit book so it was a nice suprise. Saturday included cleaning my apartment and heading to church with the same group as Friday. After church we all went to dinner and then hung out eating Apple Pie bread and watching Big Bang Theory. Sunday included finishing cleaning my apartment, seeing my parent's for lunch, the gym, and watching season 3 of Downton Abbey premeire!

See I told you it was a busy weekend with little time to blog. But I was really blessed with all of the people I met and can't wait to see who else I will meet this year!

Now onto my birthday is coming up (23 days until 23!) so I thought I would create a little birthday list. However, I feel that my birthday list could be split into a few categories so I thought I would make a few different posts. Here is post #1 a book lover's gift guide. Suffice to say it I could most definetly fall under the term a bookworm. You could blame my parents for limiting our TV intake to PBS, taking us to the library weekly, or just constantly encouraging learning and exploring. I am blessed with the childhood I had since it shaped my adult life, hello BA in English. Now onto the list:

Barnes and Noble's Nook Simple Touch
This one is a tough decision since I am such an anti-ereader person and advocate for real books but I am asking for this for traveling and taking to the gym mainly. I promise to still read true books.
I am still on the hunt for the perfect case since the Lilly Pulitzer and Kate Spade cases from this summer. Suggestions are welcome.

Classic Story Infinity Scarf
Who wouldn't want the text of Pride and Prejudice wrapped around them on a chilly day?

Beautiful Books. I wouldn't mind these from Anthropologie, or their Children's Classic Set

A book about various cultural icon's favorite books. Want!

And what Jane Austen fan would not want this book clutch from Kate Spade.

And then there is always the wonderful site of etsy for lots of book lover things. I even got some Jane Austen bookmarks this Christmas.

Peace and Blessings,
jDl

Bookworm Life

Hey y'all,

Welcome to post #2 of the day. If you missed #1 CLICK HERE. So It has been a month since I have linked up with Heather of blonde...undercover blonde and I unfortunately haven't read that many books since then, but here goes:

5 of 5 stars

Synopsis from GoodReads, "Callie Perry is a successful family photographer living in upstate New York. She adores her two daughters, has great friends, and actually doesn't mind that her workaholic husband gets home at 9 p.m. every night-that is, when he's not traveling six months out of the year.
Callie's younger sister, Steff, on the other hand, has never grown up. She's a free spirit, living in downtown Manhattan and bouncing between jobs and boyfriends. Lately, she's been working as a vegan chef, even though she can't cook.
Lila Grossman is Callie's best friend and has finally met the man of her dreams. Eddie has two wonderful children, but also a drama queen ex-wife who hates Lila. And then there are Callie and Steff's parents, Walter Cutler and Honor Pitman. Divorced for thirty years, they rarely speak to each other. The lives of these colorful characters intersect when they each receive a shocking note that summons them together for one extraordinary summer in Maine and changes their lives forever. This novel is about the hard choices we have to face, about having to be your parents' child long after you've grown up, and about the enduring nature of love." I was crying throughout the end of this book. It is a great story about love, sisterhood, and the beauty of the smaller things in life.

3 of 5 stars

From Goodreads "When you meet the man of your dreams on girls night out, it's hardlyPerfect Timing In this fresh and funny contemporary romance by bestselling author Jill Mansell, Poppy Dunbar's whole life gets turned upside down after a chance encounter with a handsome stranger...

Never a troublemaker, Poppy had always been content with the way things were supposed to be donewhich included marrying predictable Rob McBride. But that was before she met Tom Kennedy the night before her wedding. Could she really be falling in love with a stranger?Unable to forget Tom, or go through with the wedding, Poppy runs off to London. Her new life and colorful friends are anything but predictable. Misunderstandings, family secrets, and jealous quarrels ensue, but can Poppy stop running long enough to figure out whator, rather, whois in her heart?" This book for some reason to me seemed to drag on and on. A cute story but I was never completely invested in the characters. 

LABOR DAY WEEKEND MEANT SEEING MY BFF, aMl=NO TIME FOR READING.

4 of 5 stars

Synopsis: "Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow." I loved The Giver  as a child and with The Hunger Games Triology my love for dystopian kids literature returned. Enter, Matched. The story of a girl in a very structured society gets a small glimpse at a mistake, a chance for choice which leads to questions of love in the decision of the Society matches. A place where only 100 songs, 100 poems, and 100 pieces of art remain, the rest destroyed by the government to give a small glimpse of culture but not enough to spark creation and a love of the arts (aka. I would probably die in this society with my English major/Art History minor/Clarinet playing/former ballerina ways)While this book was good, the ending really captured me and intrigued me....

Enter, (STOP HERE IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS ABOUT THE SEQUEL TO MATCHED)

5 of 5

Synopsis"Chasing down an uncertain future, Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky--taken by the Society to his sure death--only to find that he has escaped into the majestic, but treacherous, canyons. On this wild frontier are glimmers of a different life and the enthralling promise of a rebellion. But even as Cassia sacrifices every thing to reunite with Ky, ingenious surprises from Xander may change the game once again.

Narrated from both Cassia's and Ky's point of view, this hotly anticipated sequel to Matched will take them both to the edge of Society, where nothing is as expected and crosses and double crosses make their path more twisted than ever." I was sucked into the sequel of Matched and loved the second perspective with the use of Ky's voice. It was so interesting and I now can't wait for the conclusion in Reached, this November. 

What are you currently reading?

Peace and Blessings,

jDl