Connie's Summer Reading List 2013

The kids are out of school in less than two weeks and that means....Mommy gets a break!  I love summer.  We don't plan a ton of stuff, instead we take it easy and do fun things around the house and swim a lot.

My favorite thing to do in the summer is read.  The patio is my favorite spot, with an icy cold beverage and a book.  This year, I won't have quite as much time, because I'll be planning for the next school year and we're going on an 11 day vacation to California.

There are 11 weeks of summer vacation!  I'm picking 8 books to read....I'm confident that I can accomplish this, and it will encourage my kids to read too.

I created the Summer Reading Program at my kids' school this year so I'd really like them to make me look good and read as much as they can.

What are you reading this summer?

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

 

The Elite by Kiera Cass

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table by Shauna Niequist

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

The Tao of Martha: My Year of LIVING; Or, Why I'm Never Getting All That Glitter Off of the Dog by Jen Lancaster

Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

April Book Club Selection

Hey Y'all!

I've been to Texas recently and now I'm craving Bar Bee Q and talking with a drawl. My kids got stick horses and cowboy hats and they are calling everyone partner!

Thank you to everyone that voted for our next book club selection!  The book that had the most books was....The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.

I will be giving away TWO copies of this book so please leave a message telling me what you did for Spring Break this year. Contest ends on Friday, April 5th.  Entry today!



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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

“Dear God," she prayed, "let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry...have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well dressed. Let me be sincere - be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me sin. Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost.” 
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn


Books like this are why I love historical fiction. I love the story telling of a time so long ago, the hardships and fears that made our ancestors so strong and resilient. 

Francie broke my heart and made me yearn for something more for her. I wanted so desperately for her to get a break. No matter what came her way, she found a way to make her circumstances better. I love that her most prized possession was her education and the lengths she went to to make it successful. She excelled at everything she tried and put all of her heart into it. 

Now that the book is over, I miss her and wonder what she's doing. Is there a sequel to this book? I wish there was.....



“From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived.” 
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

The End of Your Life Book Club ~ Connie's Thoughts

I just finished The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe a few hours ago.  I struggled to get through this book because I had so little in common with the author and his mother.  Please read Mimi's review before reading my thoughts.  She does an excellent job of explaining the book and we feel the same way about many aspects of it.

There are things that I did like about the book.  As a book lover, I loved that this was a way for Will and Mary Anne to become closer in the final years of her life. While I was reading this book, I discovered that my daughter could read much more than I realized.  I started fantasizing about the book club that we could have together for years to come!

Like Mary Anne, I love to share my favorite books with friends and recommend books when I think they can benefit from them.  I hope that my friends remember my love of reading when I'm gone.

I'm looking forward to reading many of the books that were mentioned in the book and was thrilled to find a list of them in the back of the book.

Even though I didn't love this book, I still recommend it.  It was a touching story and it made me want to be a better daughter to my Mom.  I have a difficult relationship with her but we both love to read!  This could be the link that brings us closer.  I'm going to ask her to be in a book club with me.

Have you read The End of Your Life Book Club? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Connie's Winter Reading List

I'm feeling the urge to make a list. A reading list for winter because girl needs to have goals. I'm going to limit myself to just a few books because I want to make sure I cross all of these off.

 1.) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. This book was recommended by Mimi and if she thinks it's good then it must be.

 

 2.) I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag by Jennifer Gilbert. My kids birthdays are coming up and you know I'm the queen of goodie bags. But this year, no parties and no goodie bags.

 

 3.) A Good American by Alex George. I'm reading this for BlogHer's book club and it sounds really interesting!

 

 4.) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I've always wanted to read this book and now is the time!

 

What is on your winter reading list?

New Years Help

If we are friends on GoodReads....you're well aware of my love of self-help books.  I feel like I'm always a work in progress and love learning about more ways to be awesome.

I do think I'm pretty awesome.   Wouldn't you like to be awesome too?

I just downloaded a couple ebooks from Amazon that I intend to read tomorrow.  Yes, tomorrow.  The new year is acoming friends!




 



 These are two books will help me to manage my time better. I'm anxious to make the most of every minute....because you never know how many minutes you have left.

Do you have any self-help recommendations for me?

 Happy New Year!!

Daring Greatly

I've been a fan of Brene Brown for almost two years now.  I wish I knew the exact date that I discovered her TED talk on you tube and who directed me to it because I'd like to think that is the day that I really became a better mother and wife.

Brene Brown is a shame researcher and has written a couple amazing books.  Books that I devoured once I found her and her message.  Her latest book, Daring Greatly, is the icing on the cake.

Reading Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead is going to make me a better mom, wife, friend and daughter.  I honestly believe that Brene's books came into my life for a reason.  If I hadn't read about shame and embracing who I am and who my children are, then I would not have been able to make the hard choices for my son.

I would not have been able to face my fear and be vulnerable.  I would  not have been able to teach my son that being vulnerable but also being proud of himself, would bring him great joy.  I've learned that being all in and not looking back, is an amazing feeling.  Some things are worth doing, even if there is a chance that you'll fail.

I found the chapter on the workplace to be interesting because I know that my husband appreciates when he gets feedback at work and that it greatly contributes to his feelings of being valued as an employee.

Everyone can benefit from this book and it's message.  I'm betting that you'll read it and think of a friend that could use it too.  I know I did.

I know you'll want to learn more about Brene Brown and her research.  You can read her blog, Ordinary Courage.  You can tweet her @brenebrown.  She's on Facebook.  AND she's going on a book tour.  OH MY LORD...she's coming to Denver!

She is currently doing a weekly podcast where she discusses each chapter of the book.  She's on week four so if you hurry and catch up you can listen to them each week.  I have to say...I'm anxious every week to hear what she has to say!  If you have an iPhone/iPad you can download the Podcast App and the podcast will automatically appear each week.

Gone Girl Book Club Party

I have a confession. I've been cheating on you guys.

I've formed yet another book club with some friends from school. We all had kids in Kindergarten last year and we became fast friends! I'd venture to say that we are BEST friends. And...full disclosure, three of us are very active in the PTA. 

They let me pick the first book and since we all like different types of books,  I decided on Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I thought everyone would enjoy a mystery and after reading it and starting to plan the book club gathering...I knew what I was going to do.

I made them look for their invitation by following a clue. They were hidden in the lobby of our school and I told our office staff what I was doing so that they could laugh at observe them and possibly help them follow the clue.

Make your way to the school doors, you'll have to be crafty.

Pass through the area that might be a bit drafty!

Find the desk that is welcoming, but don't sign in.

Search underneath for something blue...Your name on a clue!

The little blue envelopes were hidden at the welcome deck and under the sign in notebook.  During our book club meeting, the girls all told me stories about their search and one story made us all laugh so hard that I almost peed my pants. Note: wear depends to the next book club meeting.

My dear friend Heather took the underneath part of the clue seriously and was crawling around on the floor looking under the desk.  The problem was....this desk is outside of the principals office and this concerned our lovely principal who came out to see if Heather needed her meds assistance.  

In true Gone Girl form....I did a little quiz in the invitation.

I love planning parties and had a blast deciding what I'd serve at our book club meeting.

In the book, when Desi has Amy trapped in his house he feeds her a few items while they watch Nick on TV. (Mouse over the previous sentence to reveal the spoiler)  Manchego cheese and a single chocolate truffle.  He also gave her Sancerre wine but we went with something else.

Not shown....baked figs with goat cheese and honey!

Another part of my plan was to have a bowls of Fritos and Jelly Beans.  I was going to throw a jelly bean at each of my guest when they answered a book club question.  My husband advised me that if I wanted to stay in the book club...I should nix that from the plan.

He's so level headed.

After posting a few pictures on insta-gram, some of my husband's co-workers were questioning if our gathering was a book club, or a wine club.

I don't know where they got that idea!

If you are planning your own book club gathering for Gone Girl here are some resources for you.

Gone Girl Discussion Questions

Gillian Flynn's Website

Gillian Flynn on Facebook

Have you read Gone Girl?  Did you like it?

Connie's Summer Reading List Review

My summer ended last Thursday at 8:45am.  That's right.  School started!

I'm pretty proud of myself for reading 7 out of 11 of the books on my summer reading list.  How did you do?

Did you see Mim's Summer Book Review?


Jeneration X by Jen Lancaster

Jen Lancaster could write about the phone book and it would make me laugh.  Sometimes I think she's reading my mind.  This book is about Jen trying to finally grow up and of course, it ends up funny!


Let's Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson

Pee your pants funny!  I read several of the chapters to my husband and he laughed too. His favorite chapter is the one where she talks about working in HR and guys that email pictures of their little friend to people.   I'm a little put out that she ALSO had a pet raccoon as a child.  I thought that was MY claim to fame.


celebraTORI: Unleashing Your Inner Party Planner to Entertain Friends and Family by Tori Spelling

I love throwing parties and I love Tori.  She's got some good ideas in here but they aren't as budget friendly as I'd like them to be.


Seven Year Switch by Clair Cook

I enjoyed this story about a woman whose husband up and leaves to join the peace corp. He leaves her and her young daughter and they make a new life for themselves.  And then he comes back.  Seeing how she deals with it and in time finds out new things about herself.  I was torn about how I wanted the book to end.

Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears by Pema Chodron

I wanted to like this short book.  But it was too new agey for me.  They lost me with all kinds of mumbo jumbo about shenpa.  I did read a few helpful things about making friends and fully feeling your feelings, but I skimmed most of the book.


White Girl Problems by Babe Walker

I couldn't finish this book.  Maybe I'm getting too old for ridiculousness and people that do stupid things.  I didn't like Babe and I actually wanted to run her down with my car.


Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Wiener

This was our book club selection for July and I really enjoyed it.  I could relate to being the uncool kid with a popular friend and was really curious how this little caper was going to turn out.  In our discussion on the facebook group, many people said they didn't like the ending.  I think I must be a sucker for a happy one, so I didn't mind it.


I did add ONE book at the last minute but I'm not telling you about it until September.  Stay tuned!

Connie's Summer Reading List

ONE MORE WEEK!

 My kid will out of school next Thursday and then we'll be enjoying our 77 days of summer break!

 Much of this will be spent at the pool since I've conquered my fear of my swimming suit by wearing a dress over it. I will be sipping cold drinks and reading to my hearts contentment.

 Here is my 2012 Summer Reading List!

  Jeneration X: One Reluctant Adult's Attempt to Unarrest Her Arrested Development; Or, Why It's Never Too Late for Her Dumb Ass to Learn Why Froot Loops Are Not for Dinner by Jen Lancaster  DONE!

The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship by Lisa Verge Higgins

Let's Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson  DONE

celebraTORI: Unleashing Your Inner Party Planner to Entertain Friends and Family by Tori Spelling DONE!

The Last Letter from Your Lover: A Novel by Jojo Moyes

Joy For Beginners by Erica Bauermeister

Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook  DONE

Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears by Pema Chodron  DONE

White Girl Problems by Babe Walker I DON'T THINK I CAN FINISH. :(

EDITED to Add:

The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D.: A Novel by Nichole Bernier
Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Wiener  DONE

What are you reading this summer?

Are we friends on Good Reads?

Have you joined the Book Club?