Photo Drop: Rest of February

Decorating cookies on Valentine's Day.

Ty made me bookshelves for Valentine's Day and I sorted books by color to make a rainbow.

The haul from my 27 valentines at school!

Elise not feeling good when she came home from school early after throwing up.

Another load of cookies from the cookie cupboard!

Rained on my run and Ty said it was hard to take me seriously when I was talking. I walked into the bathroom and saw why when I looked in the mirror!

Choir Performance

Elise found my phone while I was loading up cookies from a booth and took pictures with her friends.

What I Read: February

I had this all typed up and ready and forgot to ever post it. February was mostly for romance. I also had a couple picks I read for black history month.

Books:

• Book Lovers by Emily Henry- I adored this one. It was so sweet and I loved the main character. I loved that she was a high powered business woman, but still allowed to have the happy ending. There were so many sweet moments that gave me that tingly feeling as I was reading!
  

• Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith- I picked this up at the bookstore because I wanted something fun for February and the cover was cute. I didn't realize it was a YA book. I read all book genres, but this one was just not good. It was boring and I had a hard time finishing it even though it was short!

• Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman- I was so excited to read this novella after reading all the graphic novels. It was really cute, jut like all the Heartstopper books. I love Nick and Charlie's story!

• My Monticello by Joceyln Nicole Johnson- The book jacket on this one made it sound like one narrative. I was expecting a story that wove multiple character's storylines together. Instead it was multiple short stories followed by a novella. I didn't like it overall, but the ending was good.

eBooks:

• Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson- I really liked Nothing to See Here. It was weird but also funny. This one was also weird, but not funny. He has a way of making you really like these super strange characters. 

• Rouge Protocol by Martha Wells- Book 3 in the Murderbot Diaries series. I always love these and the humor in them is great!

• My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson- I was excited to read this short story about Shandi Pierce from Someone Else's Love Story. It was good but not as good as her books.

Audiobooks:

• Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow- I bought this years ago at Goodwill and would start it and stall out. This time when I started stalling out, I decided to switch over to an audiobook and even then I struggled to finish. The beginning was boring since I read George Washington by Chernow and his and Hamilton's stories during the Revolutionary War were so intertwined. Much of that section in this book was very similar to that section in Washington's book. I thought his book about Washington was a lot more interesting and had way more information that was new to me in it than this one, but that probably was because I started with Washington when I started reading books about the presidents. Then Hamilton's feuds with Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe were both detailed in books I read about them. Add in the other books I've read about Eliza Hamilton and there really wasn't much new in this book. Still, I had to read it since it inspired the musical Hamilton!

• Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur- I loved Written in the Stars which I read in December so I was excited when I saw there were other books in the series. This was the 2nd one and focused on 2 different characters than the first book. I enjoyed it even more than the first book in the series! It was really cute!

• Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson- This book was so good! It kept me guessing and thinking for most of the first section of the book. I started it as an audiobook and then it returned before I finished it so I read the rest as a book because I didn't want to wait to get the audiobook back to finish it. Now I'm desperate to try black cake!

• The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez- I was absolutely loving this book, like full 5 stars on Goodreads loving it. Then she pulled the whole, I'm going to break up with you to protect you but not tell you that and let you think something else twist. I was so irritated and it ruined the book a bit for me. I was also a bit annoyed by the epilogue. It annoys me when authors add an epilogue to the end of the book where it's years later and they're married and she's pregnant. Spoiler alert if you didn't already know this one would have a predictable ending. The characters in this one were all amazing and overall I still loved the book. I'd give it 4.5 stars.

What I Read: January

We had 4 winter weather days at the end of January/start of February which meant some extra reading which was nice. I had some books that were incredible and hard to put down and a couple that were not that great and hard to power through.

Breakfast and a good book on a winter weather day off.

Books:

• The Christmas Pig by J.K. Rowling- I read this one with the kids. It started out really good and I was into it, but when they went to the Land of the Lost, I lost interest. Carter and Elise said they still liked it, but I did not.

• Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: The Story of Schitt's Creek by Daniel Levy & Eugene Levy- I adored this book. It was so much fun getting to read about the behind-the-scenes part of the show. We are now re-watching the show because I had to after reading the book!

• Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid- I have loved all of her books and this one was so hard to put down. Each time I finished a chapter, I was desperate to keep reading. I started this at the end of Christmas break and the kids had some friends over one day so I read over 100 pages while they were playing.

• The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller- I picked this up at Goodwill and was so surprised when I opened it up and found a newspaper clipping that announced the movie being made out of the book stapled to the cover page. As I was reading I found a receipt from the 1990's that was used as a bookmark and then later another clipping that listed the top books of the year with this one at #1. It was so neat finding those little treasures and made me enjoy the book even more.

• Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey- A friend gave me this book to read and it was already after Christmas so I didn't really want to read it. I usually abandon Christmas books right after Christmas. I decided to go ahead and read it so I could return it to her and I was glad I did, I loved it! I was super ready to move away from romance books after this one though!

• Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy- I loved Migrations so when I saw this one, I couldn't wait to read it. I liked it but the end got a little bit wild. It definitely wasn't as good as her other book.

• My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones- I got excited when I was at the library because I saw Stephen Graham Jones won an award and was doing a presentation at one of our local libraries. They had this book in the display and it is his newest book so I checked it out. I loved The Only Good Indians so was hoping it would be amazing like that book. I had a hard time making it through this one. The main character being obsessed with slasher movies was annoying to me because I got tired of reading about her talking about them. I think if I liked those kind of movies I would have liked this book more. I was glad I powered through it because the ending was really good and I especially liked where he left the story.

eBooks:

• The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave- This book kept me guessing pretty much the whole way through. It was suspenseful and I had a hard time putting it down. I loved it right up until the end. The ending really bummed me out. I wish she left it up in the air instead of adding the section that played out years later. I preferred my possible endings to the one she wrote.

• Heartstopper: Volume One by Alice Oseman- I've wanted to read this book for a while because some Oklahoma politicians were trying to ban it and were making a fuss over it being in high school libraries. I've learned I like graphic novels after reading Lore Olympus, so I was willing to try these. I wanted something short while I waited on some other things I had on hold. I was also in the mood for something sweet and possibly romantic. This ended up fitting the bill perfectly. I loved it so much and read it on one of our winter weather days off from school.

• Heartstopper: Volume Two by Alice Oseman- The minute I finished volume one, I searched our library for volume two and it was available so I checked it out right away. I was worried the second one wouldn't be as good as the first but I loved it just as much!

• Heartstopper: Volume Three by Alice Oseman- Again when I finished the volume before this one, I immediately checked this one out. I devoured them on our days off due to winter weather. They made me so happy!

• Heartstopper: Volume Four by Alice Oseman- I was so glad the fifth volume isn't out yet because I did not want these to be over. They were so precious and I loved all the characters. There's a novella that I'm excited to read while I wait for volume five to come out. 

Audiobooks:

• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir- This was recommended to me multiple times as an audiobook. It was only available on Audible so I used Christmas money to get a year subscription. I didn't see why it was recommended as an audiobook until Rocky's character was introduced and they used a musical instrument as his voice. It was so good!

• Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah- I always see Kristin Hannah books and she gets great reviews so I randomly chose this while looking for an audiobook. I didn't like it very much. It felt like it dragged on and I got tired of both the characters and one issue that neither of them would just let go! Then at the end I ended up bawling in the bathroom as I was getting ready for bed. I am curious about the next book in the series, don't know if I'll read it or not with how annoying I found this one at times. There were parts of the book that were incredible, but then there were parts that drove me crazy!

Wordless Wednesday

Elise playing school on a winter weather day home from school.

Going out to play in the sleet.

Nice morning home due to winter weather. Carter was on a chess tournament and Elise was playing outside.

Elise playing hide and seek with Tesla.

Eating a candlelit breakfast.

VIP meeting with Uncie Taco.

Elise going door-to-door selling Girl Scout cookies.

Helping load cookies for other girls in the troop.

New Valentine's Day decoration.

Sunrise at the bus stop