2019 Reads

Another year, another round of books.

          

 

 

Mrs. Jeffries & The Feast of St. Stephen
The Overlook
9 Dragons
Barely Legal
Quick and Dirty
Unbound
Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords
The Drop
The Black Box
The Riddle of the Frozen Fountain- Dana Girl Mystery
The Hunt for Red October
Tahoe Killshot
Tahoe Silence
Tahoe Avalanche 
Tahoe Heat
Tahoe Hijack

I read 18 books in 2019. Not as many read as other years but pretty good! I’ve got a full time job, a part time ornament business and an almost 2 year old. So for me this number isn’t too shabby. I clearly have a love of Bosch books and I’m really into the Tahoe Owen McKenna stories from Todd Borg. I also read the first three Game of Thrones books which took a large part of the year to read. If you’ve ever read those books then you understand. The books are extremely long and very hard to read (at least for me). Those were the hardest to get through. I started book four and I just had to put it down. I needed a break. I might go back to it in 2020 and try to finish the series but we will see. I have other books I want to read. I’m also on the hunt to find more Dana Girl Mystery books. Their becoming really old so their hard to find or really expensive. 

What books did you read in 2019? Is there anything that I must add to my list? What was your favorite book for the year? 

Early Start to Reading

When Presley turned about two and a half months old, I decided to start reading to him. I knew he wouldn’t understand any of the words that I was saying but he would be hearing them. He would be spending quality time with me and it would be building his future vocabulary. We first started with the Richard Scarry’s Best Little Board Book Ever. My mom had bought the book for Presley as part of his Easter basket. 

When we started reading the book he surprised me by being so excited to look at the pages. He would intently stare at them and sometimes reach out to touch them. From then on out we would read every single day. We still do to this day! In the beginning we would be reading 3-4 times a day and 2-3 books each reading time. Now we are down to reading 1-2 times a day but we read about 3-4 books each day. When Presley was about 8-9 months old he started holding the books and flipping the pages himself. Every time he does this he starts babbling and trying to talk. He really loves his books and I credit starting him so early with reading. 

What other books does he like to read? Well there’s many. Ones that I read to him on a daily basis...

Why Does My Cat Purr
Katie the Kitten
Farmer Patrick Pig
Coco- Disney Golden Book

He loves those stories but unfortunately they aren’t board books. To be able to let him interact with the books, I sit him on my lap and hold the pages but he will reach up and touch them. The Coco book I let him play with the pages more but the other three were actually my books from childhood and their out of print (those versions) so I try to make sure he can’t get ahold of a single page and rip them. 

Now when it comes to board books and trust me when I say he loves to sit there and flip the pages over and over (literally if you let him he would do it for hours) he reads these... 

Richard Scarry’s Best Little Board Book Ever
Richard Scarry Busy Town
Dr. Seuss’s ABC 
First 100 Words
Raiders 101
Sesame Street Peek A Boo- Bath Book

I’ve read all of those books to him. When I see him looking at a certain one for a few minutes, let’s say for example the 100 word book, I’ll start following him along as he flips the pages and reading and pronouncing the words for him. He’ll look up at me and smile which of course will make you smile in turn. We know he loves his books!  

What books do you recommend? His birthday is next month and we might be adding to his reading list

2018 Reads

Every year I try to read as much as I possibly can. I feel the feeding your mind with stories other than the ones you see on television can be a good thing for your brain. While some people read a lot of self-help, non fiction, etc, I for one am a fan of fiction books. I love a good mystery. This year I didn't know how reading would go for me since I was due in February and I didn't know what life with a newborn would be like. I'm happy to report that I'm finishing the year out with 22 books read in 2018. Was this my highest year total ever? No... but that's ok!


Here's a look at the books I read in 2018. If you want to see any of the books I've read in other years click the tags at the bottom of this post.

 

 

 

I'd have to say out of these 22 books that the top three for me was The Closers, Ready Player One and Altered Carbon. I loved the Netflix show of Altered Carbon and the book is very much the same. I love the Michael Connelly Bosch series but The Closers was probably my favorite one so far that I've read in the series. Ready Player One was a surprise for me. I didn't plan on ever reading the book or seeing the movie. When my husband gave me a free copy of it that he got through work, I thought OK I'll give it a try and the book was amazing. The movie was just OK for me.


The books that I had the hardest time finishing was The Running Duck (the movie Cobra is based on this book). I thought I would love the book since I love that movie but the book was FAR different than the movie. The book wasn't horrible but I can tell you this... Stallone did a great job of adapting the book and making it into a far better movie.

Happy Reading in 2019! I've already got some books lined up on my shelf and ready to go.

What will you be reading in 2019?

Why I'm Mad at My Favorite Author

I love to read. I love nothing better in the winter to curl up under a blanket, eat warm food and read a good book. My favorite author for over two decades now has been the New York Times Bestselling author- Stuart Woods.


I can remember being at my mom's work when I was about 14 reading the book Choke.

Surprisingly, I wasn't a big reader till then. My poor mother would buy me book after book because I would like the cover art and then I would never read them. That all changed the day I read Choke. I loved the book and started reading all of his books that he had out at the time. I also expanded my reading and kept going.I've read now, every Stuart Woods book that he's written including his autobiography, Blue Water, Green Skipper. That's saying a lot... definitely if you aren't into sailing.


Since I had a baby earlier in the year in February, I got a little behind on my reading and I've been playing catch up. I'm about 8 books behind in Stuart Woods books and I've been slowly catching up. I'm currently reading Indecent Exposure and I've noticed something in the last few books which started to really annoy me. Just hear me out...


The main character in his book is Stone Barrington. He started out as a NYPD police detective but took a bullet to the knee so we went to night law school, passed the bar, got a lawyer job and worked his way up from there. That's all good and well. That's a relatable kind of guy. As the books have went on, he's started become the 1% and I'm sorry but I can't relate to having lunch on a yacht with the President, Former President and the Secretary of State. I also can't relate to having half a billion dollars, private planes, houses in multiple states and a son who's a movie producer. That made me a little sad.


When I first started reading those books Stone and his main friend Dino were both down to earth, somewhat relatable characters. Dino is still a little relatable but he's become an afterthought in the books who seems just around for short phone conversations and dinner dates. What happened to the days when they were actually friends and would have good ol' capers together? I miss the old Stone Barrington who didn't have millions of dollars at his disposal, who didn't hang out with the Presidents and white house staff constantly, who went out and found himself involved in normal affairs and crazy antics.


Maybe it's a sign of the times? Is this what people want to read? About someone else being a half billionaire? I miss the old Stone and Dino. I miss Stone going out a solving crazy things that happen and getting Dino in on it. I guess nothing can ever stay the same.


I've got about 8 more books to read to be completely caught up so maybe in one of these he'll go back to being semi normal.

Adult Book Worm

Every year I make it a goal to read as much as I possibly can. I enjoy reading and finding new authors that make me want to read even more. Most years I set out with a number of books I'd like to read but this year I'm just seeing how many I get through without the worry of hitting a specific number. There shouldn't be pressure on doing something you enjoy spending your free time doing.


We are into March (which I can't even begin to wrap my brain around how it's already three months into the year) and I've already read several books. I wanted to break all of them down since I've enjoyed all that I've read so far.


First up... How We'll Live on Mars.

I'm a huge nerd when it comes to space. I mean clearly.. look where I use to work lol. I'm obsessed with the thought of us going to Mars. Ever since I sat down and watched The Martian, I can't get enough about the red planet. This book can get a little technical so it can be a slower read. If you aren't hip to the engineering or biologist lingo then it's going to get challenging to read but I really enjoyed it. This book also happens to be what the recent National Geographic channel based their scripted mini series Mars on. The book mentions the current work of Space X and their efforts in getting us onto the red planet.


Next up... The Dana Girls Mystery Series. The Mystery of the Stone Tiger.

I got this book along with two others at my work's used book sale. The covers were vintage and from reading books like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, I recognized how similar they were in style. Well I was right! The Dana Girls were written around the same period and by the same author of some of the Nancy Drew books. This time it's about two sisters who go around solving crimes in their free time when they aren't at boarding school. Since I never read these books when I was young I've been reading them now. This one is about a museum featuring a stone tiger that keeps getting vandalized while the time begins to have odd occurrences. Together, the Dana sisters go about finding out what's going on while their on break from school.


The Dana Girls Mystery: The Phantom Surfer.

This one has been my favorite so far. The sisters along with their friend's go to a sleepy little off season beach town for a school trip. When they arrive they find that their room has been cancelled by a rival student that they don't play nice with at school. That quickly becomes the least of their problems as they realize someone else is trying to drive them away from town. The sisters quickly decide to help out the staff after they receive threats if they don't all quit their jobs and leave town.


Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again.

I use to love, love, love the Real Housewives of New Jersey. They were my favorite from the moment they hit the air. Those first few seasons were explosive with drama and family craziness. Once Theresa hit the news for her taxes and her husband scamming the U.S. government the drama got even more crazy. I had followed the story in the news and now to read her side of it, it's definitely interesting. I think she probably really didn't know what Joe had been doing. You can also tell she really loves her kids and wants everything to go back to normal.


Angels Flight.

I got into these books because I loved the Amazon Prime show Bosch. I didn't know it was based off the Michael Connelly book series until a co-worker told me. Since then I've been reading the books in the order they were published because they build upon each other. This book like the others takes place in Los Angeles and a prominent civil rights attorney is murdered. Bosch like always is on the case and out to find the killer while the weight of the department and the tension of the city rest on his shoulders.


The Dana Girls Mystery: The Mystery of the Winking Ruby.

The Dana Girls have been hired by their uncle who's the Captain of a cruise ship to solve a mystery. One of his employees has fallen ill and lost his memory. He's able to tell the Captain that his sister and mother are in danger and little information about a winking ruby. The sisters take the case and hit the high seas and then Europe to solve the mystery.


A Darkness More Than Night.

This is in the Bosch series that I mentioned earlier. I believe this is book seven in the series and it also happens to be the book that Amazon just realized will be the plot of the next season that hits prime memberships next month. They always seem to change the story around a little bit for the show so I'm interested to see what they do with the plot. This time Detective Bosch is getting the finger pointed at him for a murder.


Colony One Mars.

I told you! I'm obsessed with the red planet recently! This fiction book written by a British author sets the scene on Mars and what's happened after a failed mission from three years prior. When the astronauts get there they find that not everything from the first mission is gone. What they do find startles them and quickly breaks up the five member crew. Now their in a fight to get off the planet and back to Earth one day. This book ended with a cliffhanger and I can't wait to read book two!