What's New - June Recap

Happy July, everyone!!! And happy Independence Day to my American friends. We celebrated Canada Day on Monday and it was a great day! Hopefully, it's a great long weekend (or maybe just the one day off?) for all of you :)

Linking up today with Kristen for What's New With You - I'm going to copy her as usual and recap June leading into July 1 :)

I almost lost my mind in June. This was the busiest June we've ever had - both girls finished up at their daycares and they are spending the summer at home with me or with my parents or Brian's parents - which is great, but it was (is!) a big transition with some big goodbyes. We also had a few more birthdays (including my hubby!), our anniversary, Father's Day, spring AND summer sports on the go, recitals, and end of year events. I also saw a grad school friend I hadn't seen in 10 years and attended a memorial for my grad school supervisor who passed away. It was nice to see some of those people I hadn't seen in a long time.

Anyway, even though it was busy, June was a happy month too! The sun finally came out a bit, which was so nice! We had a wonderful anniversary date night on the waterfront. We saw a lot of my family and had a visit from Brian's sister who lives in Ontario. The girls have been playing well together sometimes. We did some gardening, and they did two more races. The girls also both passed their swimming levels and start on the next classes next week. I read a bunch of blah books and a few extremely good books and if you want to know what my favourite has been lately, you'll have to see next Tuesday during SUYB :)

We finished off the school year on Friday June 28 and had a busy weekend at home before going camping with our friends Sunday - Tuesday. Camping was awesome - so glad our tent didn't leak even though it rained a lot the first night. Canada Day unplugged and in nature was something I haven't done in ages and it was lovely. We are beyond grateful for these friends of ours and their girls who are such kindred spirits with my daughters. It was a special time and we can't wait to go again. :) I just need a few weeks to recover from the mosquito bites and sleeping on the ground and then we should be good to go again LOL.

Here are some pictures from June:

(Brian's 3d printed iron man mask and the girls' superhero costumes for their superhero race, Lucy mowing the lawn, anniversary ice cream at Cows downtown)

(Lucy's preschool graduation, designing a bridge with a friend at the park, summer reading calendar coloring, a crobster roll (crab and lobster) for our anniversary dinner out, Halifax from the ferry)

(Camping with friends, blurry step-dancing recital photo, sliding with a helmet ;))

So that's it in a nutshell - busy and all over the place, but SO good too. So excited for the summer and all of my extra time with my kiddos :)

What's new with you??!!!!

14 Audiobooks to listen to on a Road Trip

Happy Friday, and happy long weekend to my fellow Canadians!!! HAPPY CANADA DAY!!! This is my favourite holiday of the year (probably tied with Christmas though) and I can't wait to celebrate our beautiful country by camping in a national park in the rain this weekend. LOL. (Cross your fingers for us that it will not rain!)

Today I'm happy to share the second post in a blog collaboration with Gina, Anne, Rachelle, and Kristen!! Here you'll find 14 audiobook suggestions for a road trip (or for whenever really - I love listening to audiobooks all the time). Guys - you know I am hooked on audiobooks. I loved them as a kid, and I wish I had thought to use them more in university (especially for my Shakespeare course). I rely on them heavily these days to get through my TBR. The first audiobook I got on a free audible trial and listened to and got SUPER HOOKED in the past 5 years was The Martian - I still highly recommend that one but most people I know have read it.

A bunch of these are on Hoopla and if you haven't tried out that app yet via your library, I can't recommend it enough (mostly for audiobooks - I don't love their interface for e-books). You get the book instantly and get it for 3 weeks! I get 5 books a month via my library and usually use up all of those "credits".

Circe by Madeline Miller

I absolutely loved this book. I am familiar with The Odyssey and studied it briefly but have not read it so I wouldn't say you need to know any of that to enjoy this. This was so fascinating, so captivating, and so much more likable than I ever could have expected. It could definitely be family friendly with older teenagers too, based on what I remember.



When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

This book was absolutely gripping and so heart-wrenching. The stories that Paul shares are inspiring. His views on life and death are so interesting and this book really made me think. The epilogue led to tears streaming down my face while driving. It was an incredible read and I would highly, highly recommend it. Just maybe not when driving through the city when you need to be able to see through your tears. ;)


Castle of Water by Dane Huckelbridge

This audiobook is on hoopla and the narrator is FANTASTIC. I loved it. The two main characters are American and French, and the French parts were so well done (it all was, but that in particular). It's also pretty short. I hesitate to say much about this book because the ending was spoiled for me and I'd hate for that to happen to others...although there are some trigger warnings, in my opinion.


Graceling by Kristin Cashore

I enjoyed the full-cast performance of this audiobook immensely. The story itself was also very good and I liked it a lot. Katsa and Po were great characters, and the whole Graceling realm is very interesting. I would absolutely consider this to be an "approachable" fantasy book if that's something you're interested in. It is also on Hoopla and would be family friendly for older kids, I think - it's YA but there is some romance too.


A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie

I keep meaning to continue this series past the second one because it's really good on audio and also (again) on Hoopla. This was a mystery that I couldn't quite figure out. LOVED the characters though and the British setting (always a plus for me in my reading life - give me a book set in Britain and I'll usually be a bit drawn to it for some reason).



A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

I adored every little bit of this book, especially on audio. I do have a slight thought though that maybe this is a good book to listen to in the summer. I sent it to both of my grandmothers after reading it, thinking they would also love it, and one of them did adore it - the other found it too depressing for the winter months when she is living alone. There are some sad aspects to this book, but it is ultimately hopeful, funny, and thought-provoking, in MY opinion. And again, it's on Hoopla, so what are you waiting for?!



A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas

This super fun Sherlock retelling with Sherlock as a woman was so fun to listen to, and it's the first in a series!! It reminds me a little bit of the Veronica Speedwell books, which I adore. It's on Hoopla too :)





Still Life by Louise Penny

It's pretty much impossible for me not to mention this Canadian gem of a series - one of my most beloved series of all time!! The narrator for the first 11 books of the Chief Inspector Gamache series is quite wonderful. This first book seems to be on hoopla. I really believe this series needs to be read in order but the books get infinitely better around book 4. Most Louise Penny fans would agree with this statement. I have listened to bits and pieces of all of the books via the library but mostly read them in print. Still, I can vouch for the audio and I know a lot of fans who prefer the books this way! Her writing is quite lyrical so it lends itself well to audiobook format. The first in the series (this one) is on Hoopla :)


Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

This audiobook, narrated by the author, is so well told and beyond interesting. Trevor Noah makes his childhood humorous, and I would highly recommend this book if you are looking to just get a different point of view on what it might have been like to grow up in a country very different from any in the western world.

A few books for the whole family (all ages): 

The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson

We listened to a bunch of these books on summer road trips when I was a kid and years later, the narration is still JUST as enjoyable. So funny and fun to listen to, even as an adult.





Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

I listened to this as a kid and listened again on a recent road trip with my kids and we all loved it.








Matilda by Roald Dahl

So here's a little story. I read this as a kid, loved the movie, and then went to read it to my daughter a couple of years ago and found the language REALLY HARD TO READ. It is wacky!!! The audiobook is the way to go with this one. I've previewed the Kate Winslet version and that one is on our list for this summer. I expect it to be wonderful and then we will watch the movie as a family :)

For the whole family maybe ages 8+

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

This is one of my favourite books of all time and Rachel McAdams' narration is absolutely fantastic. I absolutely adored this on audio. It is appropriate for any age but the ending (no spoilers) might be a bit hard for anyone younger than about 6-7-8 and the language is that of a classic, so maybe best suited for not the earliest listeners.


Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

The concept of this book is wonderful - it is basically about a game that involves geocaching using books. It sounds super fun. The setting and characters in this book are great and although the mystery part of it might be a bit scary for younger readers (I was definitely a little surprised at how intense things got towards the end), it all works out. I intend to continue the series!!

Any audiobooks to add?!? Do you like reading with your ears, or are they just not for you? I just finished listening to Becoming, which is narrated by Michelle Obama, and it was incredible if you're looking for a HUGE bestseller to try on audio :) 

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14 Page-Turner books to read this summer!

I'm delighted today to be participating in this mini blog collaboration with Gina, Rachelle, Anne, and Kristen!! Today we're all sharing some pageturners to read this summer due to the fact that many of us voracious readers get asked for book recommendations around this time of the year. We'll all have another post up next Friday, so watch for that one too!! Definitely check out their posts linked below for more summer reading recommendations. I'm going to share 14 books for 14 Things Friday :)

For me, a pageturner doesn't have to be a thriller, even though that's the first genre that comes to mind when I think of that word. I've tried to include a mix of genres in my list today and some older books too that might be easy to pick up on sale on Amazon or without waiting too long in the holds line at the library.

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This was my first Taylor Jenkins Reid book and stillllll might maybe be my favourite?! I'm not sure. I listened to this book and I could NOT listen fast enough. The basic premise here is that a woman's husband is presumed missing, so after a few years, she eventually moves on, but then when she is engaged, her husband re-surfaces. I could not IMAGINE what it would be like to be in this situation. This is a perfect, perfect summer beach read that you should definitely pick up if you haven't already. Taylor Jenkins Reid can really do no wrong, in my mind, and I've found all of her books highly readable.

Lies by T.M. Logan

I'd never read anything by this author but this book was quite an intense "ahhh what the heck is going on here?" type of book that I know many of us like to turn to in the summer. I truly felt for the main character here who was quite naïve but that seemed to suit him well. This was fast-paced and though it wouldn't be SUPER hard to figure out the ending, I didn't.  Bonus: He has a new book coming out this fall!!


A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

For a turn in the complete opposite direction, this is a fairytale retelling of Beauty and the Beast and I devoured this in 3 days despite my real life being insanely busy and this book being 470 pages long. This was highly readable and so interesting - AND it's the first in a series (but the second one isn't out yet, so don't get TOO excited).



Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

I loved this book and I still think about it all the time even though I read it 4 years ago!!! I need to re-read it sometime. This is a slow-burn story with some cringe-worthy moments but it has such a unique storyline and it was impossible to put down, in my experience.




Normal People by Sally Rooney

This is one of the only books I've ever read that I put down after finishing it and thought, Hmm. Did I love that or hate it?! I couldn't put my thoughts on it together. Now that it's been a month or two since I've read it, I have thought about it off and on and although I didn't LOVE the characters here, I did like this book a lot. It was a fast read and I couldn't put it down, even though I also can't say that the plot is really fast-paced. It's hard to describe, but just know that it might hook you in quickly and you might just want to follow the two main characters over the course of several years of ups and downs. You might even be unsure whether you like it or hate it, like me.

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

This is an overly emotional contemporary romance that just came out recently and I had been eagerly anticipating it for months. It did not fall too short of my expectations, I have to say. I couldn't flip these pages fast enough. This is THE book to read this summer if this is a genre you enjoy. It is not as light-hearted as it might seem, however!!



An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks

This was quite the thrilling ride!! I felt for the main character throughout this book and I really felt like the plot moved quickly and there were some twists. I still haven't picked up their first book, but I will someday!





One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

After starting this, I was entirely unable to put it down until I found out what happened. The characters were interesting and I really liked the way it was told in multiple POVs. Highly recommend if you are looking for a YA thriller. I think I maybe preferred her second book, which just came out this year, but might be harder to get at the library :) They are standalone books though!



 The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms

This book came recommended on a podcast that I love, and then the cover won me over. It was SO good!! There were some VERY funny moments. It was definitely slightly predictable at times but not too much, in my opinion. I couldn't stop reading it - Amy's adventures in the city were so fun. I loved all of the side characters like her friends and her children, too. This is my desired type of summer read, not TOO fluffy, but not hard to read either.


The Other Girl by Erica Spindler

This book definitely held my interest and is mostly what I want out of the suspense genre. It was fast-paced and I did not figure it out. 2 years later though, it's pretty forgettable, unfortuantely... so it might not be my # 1 recommendation although it is on hoopla!




Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

Anyone who knows me knows that I love this book. At one point I owned 5 copies of it and I gave four of them away to people who I felt needed to read it. I re-read this book just last month and it was every bit as good as I remembered. It takes place in the summertime, so it feels like a perfect summer read. It has undertones of finding yourself, living your best life, rebuilding yourself after your life doesn't go the way you'd hoped, and there is a lot of friendship, family talk, and a smidge of swoon-worthy romance (though it is not a steamy book). I love it SO much and cannot ever recommend it enough.

The Huntress by Kate Quinn

I listened to this and found it quite captivating and a bit creepy. It was well-done historical fiction and I think I liked it better than The Alice Network, though I did really enjoy that too.





Fatal Affair by Marie Force

Wow, this was a fun start to a very long series. This romantic suspense book reminds me a bit of Julie James' FBI/US Attorney series or Sandra Brown's books or maybe even a bit of James Patterson's Women's Murder Club series. If you like any of those (or if you haven't read them, I recommend them too!), this would be a good one to pick up! It was definitely suspenseful but not scary and the romance was gooood. This entire series is on hoopla, so very easily accessible.

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

I read this book as an ARC with no expectations and I still recommend it at least once a month to someone, somewhere. I have never read a book that gave me the reading experience that this one did. It was incredible and if you haven't read it yet, PLEASE do!!! It is unlike anything else I've read, even by this author. The sequel was also incredible, in my opinion. This is not a light-hearted read either, however, and a friend of mine in real life actually had to put it down because it was too intense. It might not be a beach read, but maybe it's a beer on a rainy day read? Or something? To each his own, but I wish everyone I know would read this.

Honourable mentions: If you (for some reason) have not yet picked up Big Little Lies or What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty do yourself a favour and read those IMMEDIATELY. I also found The Husband's Secret particularly unputdownable.

Do you have any good books to add to this list??? I could use a couple of good pageturners to read this summer - couldn't we all??

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What's New - What we did in March 2019

Hi there!!! Linking up with the always amazing Kristen today to do a quick March recap!! Check out her link up here to see what other people have been up to lately!

March was a busy month and it had some blah moments too. We all got a tiny bit sick here and there - nothing too major but enough to add some melancholy to the wintery grey month. I mostly cocooned myself inside and read a lot of books, did a lot of puzzles and games with the kids, and got started on spring cleaning. We did do a few fun things outdoors too and we had March break so I took the kids to a few local events, but all in all, it wasn't the *most* exciting month ever. Oh well!! :) We went to the dinosaur exhibit at the Museum of Natural History, which was great. We also went swimming a few times and my girls are getting so much better at swimming after this last session of lessons. I can tell it'll be a fun summer that way :)

We ended the month celebrating Lucy turning 5 on March 31! She wanted a Frozen party so that's what we did. It was great to have a few of her little friends over to make Olaf snowglobes and have some mac and cheese. I always forget how much work goes into these kinds of home parties though and I think from here on out I will just go ahead and do it somewhere else - much less stress!!!

That's about it - I'll be back tomorrow to share those audiobooks on my TBR and next week to chat about all the books I've read lately (spoiler: it's a LOT!!!). What's new with you?!

February Recap (What's New Link Up)

Happy first week of March!! We celebrated here in Nova Scotia by getting approximately 3 1/2 feet of snow over the weekend. Yay!! :) Honestly though, the girls were BEYOND excited to see all the snow and play in it and we were fortunate that it didn't affect our typical routine too much or cause any stress having to get anywhere on time.

Linking up today with Kristen as always to share what's new - I'll do a recap of our February which was SUPER busy (waaay busier than January!!!) but also really fun overall!!

We attended a kid's birthday party (I went to 3 of them) all 4 weekends in February which was nuts - it is also my dad, my sister and my brother's birthdays in February and several friends. NUTS. March isn't much better but a bit slower paced for birthdays. That being said, I love birthdays so we had a lot of fun!!

We also celebrated Valentine's Day a bit - not me and Brian per se, but with the girls. I did a special breakfast and a "love" supper which was only special because we used a table cloth and wine glasses to drink from :) We shared little things we love about each other on pink heart papers and talked about that during supper. My girls went crazy for this so I guess it'll probably be a tradition now ;)

Brian and I had a date night the day after Valentines and met up with my friend and her husband and sister for supper before checking out the board game cafe downtown for the first time in a couple of years. It was a fun night out with some DELICIOUS food and great company :) On that particular weekend actually, we ended up seeing ALMOST everyone we know in Halifax - friends, family, etc. It was crazy and busy but my heart was so full.

Molly also participated in her first Reconciliation at our church which is one of the steps now before she receives first communion at the end of April. She really did well and it was a nice celebration with her class afterwards.

Work has been a bit busy but my evenings and weekends had some slower moments which allowed for a lot of reading, as usual, at this time of year! I made a good dent in some ARCs (but then got a bunch more, isn't that the way?!) and I'm taking a bit of a step back from the library except audiobooks so I can catch up on my own shelf and some ARCs before the spring/summer season. As a family, we also read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (so good) and a funny little book called Toys Go Out as well as 1800 picture books ;) We also watched Crazy Rich Asians and some of the Office (again) this month. I really liked the CRA movie!!!

Aside from the snowbanks everywhere, March is off to a great start - lots to look forward to including Lucy turning 5 on the 31st!! :) She is beyond excited, of course. The girls also have March break from school so I'm taking a couple of extra days off and have some fun plans around the city. Can't wait.

So, what's new with you?!

What's New Link up: December 2018 Recap

Happy New Year!!!!

Eventually (tomorrow probably), I plan to share 2018 highlights in general. Today, however, I'm linking up with Kristen today to chat about what's new and share my December in a nutshell! Go check out her post and everyone else's and send her some love and sunshine at the start of this new year. :)

Every year, December is our busiest month, closely followed by September. This year was the busiest yet (though I see next year being even worse with two children in school). I had a mix of personal fun events and children's events and family events and work was busy and WOW. Luckily, we really slowed down and I was off from Dec 21 until today which is my first day back at work. The downtime (relatively speaking) at home was a blessing and we spent a lot of time as a family just hanging out, which was wonderful.

We got our Christmas tree the first weekend in December (Dec 1) and it is still up, so I really need to take it down tomorrow/Saturday because it is SO dry now. The first full week of December was busy, we had parent/teacher interviews with Molly's teacher, which went well, and then we had Molly's first ever piano recital, which was so well done! She did a great job playing her three Christmas songs and we were proud of her confidence. The other children all played recognizable songs and it wasn't too long overall so it was nice. :) We also had a first fluke "snow storm" day in which the power went out so we all stayed home - it was weird and unexpected.

The following week, I got to go hear Louise Penny speak about her newest book with 600 other people in Halifax with my mom! It was a great event - she spoke a lot about her career as a writer, her relationship with her late husband, and Three Pines and Gamache. It was perfect. We got to meet her (again) and got a picture with her and get her latest book signed. It was so fun and really special. I am a huge fan so I was overjoyed at meeting her again, especially on the last stop of her tour and in my city! :)

Unfortunately, the rest of that week involved all of my immediate family members coming down with a stomach bug (luckily I dodged it but I got very little sleep caring for sick kiddos), but we all recovered quickly. Molly had her school Christmas concert which Brian actually had to miss because he was sooo sick. Her concert was awesome this year and my in-laws (retired full-time teachers) said that it was the best they'd ever seen. There was one hilarious kid who was way more into his class's song than his classmates and his enthusiasm brought me tears of laughter so that was fun :) It was great!

Later that week I was privileged enough to attend a songwriter's circle put on by my work for free with my dad. It was a great night out with some well-known local/national singer-songwriters and some great stories and laughter. As you can imagine, I was exhausted after that week and took the next week a bit slower :)

We wrapped up all of our extra-curricular activities and slowed down a bit for the holidays - although I was still doing Christmas shopping on DECEMBER 23 this year and that was unnecessarily stressful - will do better in 2019!!!! We had a postal strike here this fall so I ordered less online and that contributed to this last-minute stress. Anyway, it all got done, we all got sufficiently spoiled, our house is full of new toys/puzzles/gadgets and we have eaten more treats in the past two weeks than we probably did the rest of 2018...so there's that. We got to see almost all of our friends and all of our family except some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins and my brother who lives out west. We had lots of fun days at home in our pyjamas and some evenings out with friends. The break was wonderful and special this year and I tried my best to soak it all up.

My girls both got Lego sets from Santa and us and some other sets too. They are hooked on Lego!! I also made them Harry Potter robes and Brian 3d printed them wands that light up so they can dress up :) It was so fun! My mother in law made them beautiful mermaid blankets which they love, and we got some puzzles and board games. Brian bought me a surprise gift - a new HP netbook which will make blogging & online activities a bit more fun in 2019 :) 

For New Year's Eve we had one of our favourite couples over for some board games and appetizers for supper and it was great. We get a great view of fireworks in the horizon off our deck and that was fun at midnight even though it was freezing out! The next day was a tough one after being up late with our friends having heated debated about weird topics but we alternated some adult naps with parenting and it was all good ;) Brian spent the majority of the last 4 days of the break working on a 1000 piece Hogwarts puzzle that "Sirius Black" left for all of us for Christmas <--- my older daughter was super stressed and puzzled about that little joke. Haha.

We are heading into the new year rejuvenated and ready to get back into a routine. I am dying to declutter again and I will slowly pick away at it. I am also doing the Dedicate 30 Day Challenge with Yoga with Adriene. 

I'll be back tomorrow like I said with my highlights of 2018 :) And back to chat about the books I've been reading lately next Tuesday for Show us Your Books!!!!

What's new with you? Anyone do anything fun over the holidays?!