I do love a good self-help book. SARK's Succulent Wild Woman came out the year I turned 25 and although I outgrew SARK (lady, I need a job and can't spend my days in a nap hut) never stopped reading on how to be calmer, better, more vibrant, more confident version of myself. Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn - This book is part of WM's collection so I gave it a go. I'm always searching for calm and to try to be happy where I currently am (sitting at a desk that needs to be ...
Read in 2023: Two Magical Realism books
I try to read all genres of books but I do have my preferences. I enjoy nonfiction, summery beach books, some fantasy, some romance, scant YA. Not deep fantasy, not murder/torture, not dystopian. But a genre that's caught my eye lately is magical realism, which are works of fiction that seem to be about real life, but work in a magical component that everyone is aware of. These two books were on my to be read list for a while and I was fortunate enough to find them both at my library on the same ...
Read: Bridgerton Series #1 and #2
Dearest Readers, Like many, I watched the Bridgerton program on Netflix. I adored Season 1 (Daphne/Simon) but did not finish Season 2 (Anthony/Kate) because the slow burn was too slow. For the last few years reading has been difficult for me to concentrate on and make time for, so I figured I'd tuck into the first two Bridgerton books to see how they held up next to the show. And, gentle reader, know that I'm not one to make these sweeping proclamations; however, THE BOOKS ARE EVEN ...
Show Us Your Books June 2022
Edited this morning to add: I just found out that today is the last Show Us Your Books. Many thanks to Steph and Jana for an amazing 8 years of one of the last great blog link parties out there. It's the end of an era and I'm sad to see it go but happy it lasted so long. I'll keep writing about books but you know how consistent I am when not being held accountable. ;) Look, Ma! I'm reading! Thanks to the 2022 version of Covid-19 I spent a lot of time in May flattened with no desire to do ...
Show Us Your Books – May 2022
I haven't updated since last book review? And I have how many crummy drafts? Five? Do I even do the April Extras now that we're 11 days into May? Eh, it'll all shake out. It's just a blog, not a job. Three books read this month! Goodreads is still asking me to set a goal. Not this year. Beard in Mind (Winston Brothers #4) by Penny Reid- Okay, listen. I'm far past caring about any individual brother in this series. I am instead completely fascinated by the little town of Green Valley, ...
Show Us Your Books – April 2022
Guess who's back?Back again?Kim is back...tell a friend! I did a lot of reading in prep for my CAE exam in December and it put me off from pleasure reading for a while. Which is okay! I knew the desire to read would return eventually and in March it quietly knocked on the door and I let it back in. While I didn't even set a Goodreads goal for 2022 I'm just going to play this by ear. Don't force yourself to do things you're not into and call it pleasure, okay? Goodreads, bless its heart, ...
Show us your books, November 2021
Book roundup time! Another 2-book month but by the next books roundup, my exam will be behind me! Hooray! And then it'll be silly holiday books for the rest of the year. I sure miss pleasure reading. The Night the Lights Went Out - Drew MagaryDrew Magary is a writer for Defector and freelances in other places. You might know him from the yearly Haters Guide to the Williams-Sonoma's Catalog humor column that comes out every holiday season. It was after the 2018 Deadspin Awards show in ...
Show us your books: August 2021
Welcome to the monthly book post, where I share what I read while trying to be kind to myself and not beat myself up for reading more. For the last few weeks, my life has resembled a stereotypical country music song without the pretty wife who cooks and cleans my house but I still managed to get the reading done. Yay me! Without further ado, because honestly I'm still a weepy mess about Ollie and the more I type the worse this post will be and I do like people to come back to my ...
Show us your books July 2021
Whoa-ho! Look at me with my fat FIVE books this month. I even had to redo the layout of my SUYB title image! My secret? I go outside and leave my phone inside. Or I read inside and leave my phone in another room. The phone has been my enemy lately. I'll read a few pages and wonder what the weather is going to be later and grab the phone to check my weather app. I'll read a few pages and be reminded of a person and grab the phone to check their socials. This has happened before and distancing ...
Show Us Your Books May 2020
Book post day! One of my favorite bloggy days of the month. It's another four-book month and that is fine. You'll see a reason why my reading is lower than usual in a few. The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power -- Deirdre Mask This is exactly the kind of nonfiction book that I love. It's well-researched, relatable, and very easy to read. And you're thinking, "A book about street addresses? Okaaaaaaaaay, nerd." But listen! I had no idea ...
Show Us Your Books April 2020
Book time! I'm continuing to be gentle with myself w/r/t reading goals and such, but this is another four book update and I am pleased. Because if I *did* have a reading goal for 2020 it would be 50 books, and an average of four books a month would put me almost right at that goal. If I cared about reading goals, that is. I read two of these books within three days. You'll notice that I very rarely give a book fewer than 3 stars - it's because of this book linkup! My big reading news ...
Spring Break Wrapup!
I have amassed a staggering amount of PTO at work; therefore, this week was my own personal Spring Break. I took off the same week that WM had off from school and even though we didn't travel anywhere, we still had a great time. I'm of an age now where I find odd organizing jobs fun, so keep that in mind. Here are some highlights for posterity... I went and had my hair done by Sarah and I'm so happy with how it looks. A while back I was trying to keep my hair close to its natural color, and ...
