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11 February 2016

recently read

I was recently offered a part time gig helping bloggers come up with catchy blog post titles ... as evidenced by today's unique post title. But, the post speaks the truth. I did (sort of) recently read these books and if I've already recommended them ... oops. I'm sorry. These five star ratings aren't official ... just Grace official which should probably be taken with a grain of salt but I love reading what other people read and loved so I'm just paying it forward, I guess. I love reading Meredith's ratings and recommendations, Fran has yet to steer me in a bad literary direction, Janssen is the book review queen, and Anne has thee best summer reading guides around.

1. Dumplin' -  A Fran recommendation. It was one of the only books that wasn't on a million year hold list at our library so my hopes weren't super high but I was pleasantly surprised. I'm guilty of diving into easy to digest and predictable chick lit and not that this isn't easy to digest but it's unpredictable and made me appreciate that I'll never have to go back to high skool. I hope.

2. Three Wishes - I don't use the word, "adore" often/ever but I truly adore everything Liane Moriarty writes. This was her first novel and is just has quick and captivating as all of her others. (Rumor has it that Jennifer Anison has agreed to star in What Alice Forgot and that Reese Witherspoon is currently filming Big Little Lies for an HBO show adaptation. Yee Haw)

3. Attachments - I've tried reading other Rainbow Rowell books but none have hit me quite like this one. Maybe because I communicate with so many of my friends via email? I don't know but when I read the premise I was a little skeptical but it was really hard to put down and I went through a little period of mourning (head-to-toe black and all) when it was over.

4. The Royal We - When I saw that Christy wrote about this on her blog (one of my favourites - that's how she spells it, copycat forever) I followed suit and started reading it almost immediately. It exceeded all of my expectations and now I might just turn my library card over to Christy and tell her to go wild. Lucky her.

5. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - a throwback and I'm not sure what I was doing when everyone else was reading this but I'm glad I got with the program over a decade later. Like most of the books listed here it was really hard to tear myself away from even when 5/5 kids were crying. Hard. And then the cream cheese frosting on the cake was that I could watch the movie right away when I was finished reading. (Same for the second book AND the second movie ... the series that keeps on giving)

6. Why Not Me - how do I say this without sounding like every other obsessive Mindy fangirl out there? I can't. Although our day-to-day lives are almost polar opposite I find her so relatable and really think we would hit it off in the friendship department - once she sorts through her million other bff applications. Her second book was as hilarious as her first but gave me a greater appreciation for how hard she works on top of how talented and brilliant she is. I told you! Obsessive.

Currently Reading: last person on earth to read Big Magic ... it's slow going but everyone raves about it so I'm sticking with it! And I'm loving Shay's brand new cookbooks. We all know I need all the help I can get in the meal planning department and Julia plans on making a cake for every single one of her classmates for her Valentine's party tomorrow. Hopefully she's rocking her ambitious apron this afternoon.

Next up: Kate Morton's The Lake House

What are you reading? What should I read? Tell me! Please!!!

Thanks. And now I'm going to make a lot of cakes.

47 comments:

  1. Lauren Graham is turning "The Royal We" into a movie!

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  2. i've been reading "when breath becomes air." i really like it and it gives you some things to think about (at least it gives me those things). (: if you haven't read "the boys in the boat" read it! it's very good. and listening is even better as it's richard gilmore (edward hermann) who narrates. hmm... that's it for now.

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  3. I loved Diary of a Single Wedding Planner and then the follow up book, Diary of a Single Wedding Planner in Love by Violet Howe.

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  4. I'm currently reading 'Raising Faith-filled Kids' by Tom McGrath. It's slow going- as in one chapter a day slow- but I'm pretty sure I'll be happy I read it (and took notes!). I'm also reading 'The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic' by Matthew Kelly. For some reason, this book is really speaking to me. I have a feeling it will be one of those 'life-changing' reads. I would be finished with it already, but it's at church, and I only read it during adoration. My taste in literature is not normally this heavy; I must be going through a contemplative phase!

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  5. OMG I love Kate Morton. I first read The Forgotten Garden, and she instantly became one of my favorite authors. These all sound like great reads! Thanks for sharing!

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  6. I'm currently reading Augustine's "On the Free Choice of the Will"... for school. Ha. Would NOT be reading that for funsies. I feel like I haven't read any good fiction in forever, so I'll try & find some of these at the library this weekend! Half the battle is knowing what to look for when you go, so now that half of the battle is done :) Thanks!

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  7. LOVED The Royal We. And Mindy's books. Eleanor and Park was my absolute fav of Rainbow Rowell's but Attachments was much better than Fangirl. I loved Big Magic too, just read that a few weeks ago. Just started Room today and it's really compelling. Read 100 pages in one sitting (during naptime, obviously).

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    1. I tried to get through Fangirl forever. I should try again ha

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  8. I'm currently reading my final Liane Moriarty book (the last anniversary) very very very slowly so I can not cry that I finished them all. After the shock wears off I will probably finish the happiness project OR finish Me Before You, so I can go see the movie OR Furiously Happy.

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    1. Oh yes! I want to read Furiously Happy. Should've added that! Thanks for the reminder :)

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  9. The Outlander Series! Forever and ever!!! Please read it. Starz is making it a series. Season 1 (book 1) is out and season 2 (book 2) starts April 9th!

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    1. I've heard so many good things about it! Going to check how far down the hold list I'll be haha

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    2. You know me. Reading self help books as always!! Gretchen Rubin's Better than Before and finally the Marie Kondi one!

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  10. I love all of Judy Blume's adult novels, but Summer Sisters is hands down my favourite book if all time. Two thumbs up!

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    1. I was on a road trip when I finished Summer Sisters so I just opened back to page one and started it again. Loved that book!!

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  11. Eleanor and Park was so sweet! (Rainbow Rowell) but I loved Attachments too.
    Also love Liane M. Have you read Me Before You? LuckiestGirl Alive(also being made into a movie), or Al the Light We Cannot See ('my fave in recent memory). Sorry I'm tying this on my phone

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    1. no, I haven't ready Luckiest Girl Alive -- way down on the holds list haha. But really need to read All the Light We Cannot See! And I just wrote about Me Before You last week! So excited it's being made into a movie!!!

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  12. Ohmygoodness, I just found out you're back, thanks to Nell of Whole Parenting Family! And I was so excited that I had to read all of your old posts! Well, back to last year or so. Anyway, yay you!!!

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  13. I absolutely LOVE Liane Moriarty and Three Wishes was my favorite book by her :)

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  14. I am reading Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves by Jason Evert for a Lenten read, and it's really good. I mean, I totally have a crush on JP2 so I would probably love anything about him :)

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  15. i love love love liane moriarty. she's amazing. she is probably my favourite right now (i'm australian so i also spell it like that lol) and the royal we was definitely one of my top 10 last year. loved it!

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  16. I have read all of Kate Morton's books except for The Lake House. I'm waiting semi-patiently for it to be available on Scribd -- the other four are currently available there. Her books are fantastic and I'm looking forward to more from her!

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  17. I just devoured The Language of Flowers. It was fantastic. Immediately after finishing I mailed it to my mom.

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  18. Attachments is for sure the best of Rainbow Rowell!!

    I mostly am reading fluffy fluff (Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold series is a perennial favorite!), but every once in awhile I listen to the wisdom of Anne and stretch my wings. I just read Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, and it was one of those that was hard to emerge from. Like I was reading it and my husband called, and I couldn't figure out what he was talking about because I was still in London during the bombings and he wanted to talk about stuff that was happening that day. Just didn't compute!

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  19. Jennifer Weiner's Good in Bed. It came out a long time ago, but still one of my favorites! Her other stuff is great too! And a real classic that I just read in adulthood- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

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    1. I loved Good in Bed. Contemplated reading it again while I waited for things to come off the hold list ha

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  20. I'm really hoping they do a sequel to The Royal We and they have a little prince or princess!
    I really loved the Starbound Trilogy. It's very well written and features 3 different stories in the same world. And one of my favorite guilty pleasure series has been The Selection. Kinda like the bachelor with royalty.

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  21. Probably too boring- but I am currently making my way through the "good books" bc I am not ready for the "great books" yet. I just finished Little women and cannot believe I am 34 and have never read it! Now it's one of my top 10. I homeschool and need to brush up on my education before the 10 year old realizes she is smarter then me!!! Which, the 2 of us are reading Anne of Green Gables together and I highly recommend that for every mother daughter duo out there. We love, love, love it!

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  22. Kitchens of the Great Midwest! My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry! You Before Me!

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  23. You aren't the last person to read Big Magic because I'm still waiting for my copy from the library. I bought and hated Eat Pray Love so much that I couldn't bring myself to buy Big Magic regardless of how many people are raving about it and saying it's better, really truly better. So library it is, and the wait list is crazy long. Fortunately, I. Also waiting for Attachments, but the wait list is much shorter! Yahoo!

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  24. I just realized that I missed Three Wishes, it's the happiest accident to have another Liane Moriarty book left to read. I loved The Lake House! I can't wait to hear what you think about Big Magic. I'm feeling the same as Joy - Eat, Pray, Love wasn't for me, so I'm not sure what to think. Here's my January reading list if anyone is looking for a few more ideas: http://www.buildingagrownuplife.com/?p=848 (Reading is basically the only thing I seem to post regularly.)

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  25. I love Liane Moriarty (What Alice Forgot is in my top ten for sure), but I haven't read Three Wishes. Time to get on that. And thanks for saying nice things about me ;)

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  26. God shaped hole and how to kill a rock star by tiffanie debortolo.....you NEED to read them....

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  27. HIGHLY recommend Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty (there are 5 books total, all quick reads and hilarious and snarky and swoony). Also recommend Lauren Graham's book if you liked Royal We.

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  28. Call the Midwife! I absolutely cannot put it down! If you like the show, the book is a must! But even if you're unfamiliar with the show (which is amazing in itself), if you have any interest in midwifery or period pieces, it's so interesting and engaging.

    All of the stories are the stories of real people; it's written by Jenny Lee and it's her recollections of her time spent as a midwife in the slums of Poplar in the 1950s. The book goes so much in depth into each story and also into just how things were back then; the horrific, ghastly circumstances that people lived in, the attitudes of people towards childbirth, the different methods and policies of midwifery at the time. Things that would make us shudder and cringe now were so normal and commonplace then.

    AND each chapter is a different story so it's really easy to read if you've got kids (as you do!) and you aren't able to read for long stretches. You can always pick it back up and never be lost or feel like you have to "get back into it", each chapter is like a whole new mini-story so it's a really easy read.

    It really is so interesting. And so emotional! I've already cried SEVERAL times, just be prepared for that! ;)

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  29. Husband and I gave up tv for lent. I've been panicking the first few nights about how we will fill our evenings! But I just started reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and it is awesome! Thankfully it's the first in a series of 5 or 6, so that should get me at least half way to Easter!

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  30. I want to read "Why Not Me?" She's hilarious!

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  31. I loved all of Kate Mortons books- highly reccomend!!!

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  32. I need to read the new Mindy book!

    xx Kelly
    Sparkles and Shoes

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  33. Ok don't let this title put you off, but you MUST read Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I just finished it and LOVED it. Such a beautiful story. Highly, highly recommend!

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  34. Just finished 'The Nightingale' and it was amazing. I also loved/couldn't put down/ignored my child during The Invention of Wings, All the Light We Cannot See, The Kitchen House (sequel coming out this spriiiiing), and Where'd You Go, Bernadette. Apparently I have a thing for WWII and abolitionism era books, ha.

    Thanks for your recommendations!

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  35. We have somewhat similar taste! I loved The Royal We, Attachments, and love all of Liane Moriarty's books (Big Little Lies is my fav--Nicole Kidman is going to be in the miniseries too!) I like all of Rainbow Rowell's books, but Fangirl and Attachments are my favorite. I also love all of Kate Morton's books and just finished The Lake House. I would recommend reading Happiness for Begineers. I just finished it and really loved it. If you want more serious books, All the Light We Cannot See might be the most beautiful book I've read, The Nightingale is a really good WWII book too, and Never Let Me Go is so well written and super interesting.

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  36. LOVE Kate Morton! Bought it this morning :)

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  37. Just finished Joshilyn Jackson's latest, The Opposite of Everyone, and I've been recommending it to anyone who will listen. Loved it!!!

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  38. All these sound good. Here's some you may like:
    (1) The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
    (2) The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner (it's a memoir of her life ages 5-15 when she lived in a polygamous cult and her escape from it - it's AMAZING)
    (3) The End of the World by Amy Matayo (I read this in one sitting)
    (4) The entire Outlander series - swoon.

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  39. I loved these or plan to love the ones I haven't read, except for Three Wishes! I kind of hated it, but I've loved everything else Liane Moriarty has written. I'm looking forward to Big Little Lies on HBO.

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