To say that this post is overdue is quite an understatement. So many times I meant to sit down and type out an update on my 2021 reading goals and progress, to mention new books I’d read, to share my spiritual journey. But life got busy and I began opting for self-care like naps, workouts, and attending daily Mass instead of blogging. I did share many of my adventures from 2021 on my social media pages, so if we’re connected there you’re in the loop on what I’ve been up to. My biggest accomplishments of 2021 were meeting my goals of reading the entire Bible and still accomplishing my Goodreads goal for the year! That’s a whole lotta reading, and I’m so thankful I was able to complete both goals.
Category: Books and Life
Book Reviews and Hello, 2021!
Well, 2020 is finally winding down. What a crazy year it’s been! Around this time last year, most of us were setting goals and resolutions and looking forward to what 2020 might bring. I don’t think any of us would have ever imagined the year that lay ahead. I had high hopes for 2020, and now looking back, I realize that while it was a difficult year, it was also a beautiful year for me personally.
2020 is the year I found my faith and was received into the Roman Catholic Church. In 2020, I maintained a healthy workout routine all year, not just for the first month or two, and that’s even with the closing of gyms during quarantine. My hubby and I welcomed two new fur babies into our home this year. The Buffalo Bills won their division for the first time in 25 years! And, to top it all off, I needed an unexpected surgery this fall (hence my long break from the blog), and as shocking as it was to need the surgery, it ended up bringing incredible healing to my body. I’m now living pain-free! So while it’s easy to look back on 2020 with contempt and dismiss it as “the worst year ever,” I’m trying my hardest to find the joy amid the sorrow.
Bookstores and Libraries in a Post-Pandemic World
Like most people, my activities the last three months have consisted of working from home, weekly trips to the grocery store, and watching the news for signs of re-opening here in New York. I was beyond thrilled to finally get a haircut a couple of weeks ago and to see us moving into Phase 3 of re-opening this week, at least in my neck of the woods. The best part of Phase 3? Both my local library branch and my nearest Barnes and Noble have reopened! 
There are some indie bookstores downtown that haven’t reopened yet, but I’ll take what I can get! While it was exciting to finally be in familiar and comforting surroundings, it was definitely a surreal experience. Today, I will share my experiences of visiting the library and bookstore in a post-pandemic world. If your local branches or bookstores haven’t reopened yet, you can probably get a good idea of what to expect based on what I observed at mine.
Continue reading “Bookstores and Libraries in a Post-Pandemic World”
My Interview with RhysKeller.com
If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know that I’m not just a reader, I’m a writer. I love writing! I’ve authored several books for young readers with subjects ranging from biographies to world cultures to social media trends. Back in March, I had the privilege of being interviewed by Rhys Keller for his writing website, rhyskeller.com.
Saying Goodbye and Reading Slumps
I think it’s fair to say that a blog post is overdue here. The truth is, I haven’t been reading much. I’ve been in a reading slump. If you’re not familiar with what a reading slump is then first of all, you’re lucky! Second of all, a reading slump is when you want to read but find that you can’t do it. You can’t concentrate and can’t get into any book that comes your way.
At the end of October, my hubby and I endured the sudden loss of one of our beloved fur babies, Wylie. He was a very special dog, more than just a pet. He was a member of the family for eleven years. He came to me at a point in my life when I was broken-hearted, and he truly healed my heart. I used to tell him that really he rescued me instead of the other way around. So in dealing with that loss, I’ve found it difficult to sit quietly and read. My mind kept wandering back to memories of him and when he would curl up with me while I read. I’ve found that keeping busy is better. It gives me less time to stop and think about the loss. But unfortunately, it also means less time for reading. Enter the reading slump.
My Take on the Marie Kondo Book Controversy
After kicking off the New Year with some unseasonable warmth in the northeast, Old Man Winter showed up with bells on! January brought two intense winter storms, most recently a full-blown blizzard with unbelievably cold temps. Thankfully, my family and friends are all safe and sound and the weather seems to be tipping back toward normal over the next week or so.
As inconvenient as they are, snowstorms really aren’t all bad. They mean time to snuggle up and read or catch up on some TV. For me, that meant enjoying more of Marie Kondo’s new series on Netflix about tidying up your home and sparking joy. It has become a show I look forward to watching, but it has also recently sparked some controversy…
Continue reading “My Take on the Marie Kondo Book Controversy”
December Book Bucket List and 2018 Wrap-Up!
Happy New Year, fellow book readers and reviewers!
December took quite the unexpected turn for me. I ended up leaving the snowy northeast behind for a bit and heading to the sunny southwest to help take care of a family member who had an accident and needed unexpected surgery. Between traveling, work, and the chaos of the holidays, I’ve had little time for reading and blogging. But family comes first, the holidays were wonderful, and I plan to get back on track with reading in January.
I had planned on my next post being a list of bookish gift ideas for the holiday season, but now the holidays have come and gone. I do plan to share my list of gift ideas in an upcoming post. After all, bookish gift ideas can be useful year round for birthdays, anniversaries, or even to keep on reserve for the next holiday season. But for now, I’ll be sharing my 2018 wrap-up, my December book bucket list pick, and my reading plans for 2019.
Continue reading “December Book Bucket List and 2018 Wrap-Up!”
Friday Firsts: My First Scary Read
With the nights turning cool and the stores busting out the fall decorations, I thought it was a good time for a post about scary stories. Not only am I way overdue for a Friday Firsts post, but the scary season is almost upon us!
I have loved books from a young age. There were always books in our home growing up. We had story books and early readers, chapter books, teen books, and young adult books. I remember Frog and Toad, Nancy Drew, and The Babysitter’s Club. My mother loved to read and passed this trait down to me. She was always reading when I was growing up. Of course, her books were much thicker and much scarier looking. My mom is a huge fan of Stephen King. For a while there she had read everything he’d ever written, and perhaps that’s true today, though I think she has a little catching up to do. 😉
I wasn’t a fan of being scared when I was younger. Some kids love monster stories and creepy movies and look forward to Halloween because it’s a time to get scared. Not me. I didn’t like monsters or ghosts or creepy things. I remember a couple of creepy movies we watched as kids, but they were Disney movies, not Stephen King. I remember hearing titles like Misery and Thinner and wondering why in the world my mom would want to read something so scary. They must be good, I reasoned, if she kept reading them. I started thinking that maybe I wanted to try to read a scary book. Enter Mr. R.L. Stine.
Why I Love Reading the Young Adult Genre
Recently, Goodreads dedicated an entire week to the young adult genre. I learned about it through their emails and social media posts, and I thought it was a great idea. One post in particular really grabbed my attention:
The post declared “Be proud of what you read” and featured a photo taken of a sign at a library granting adult readers “permission” to browse, read, and enjoy books from the teen section.
I loved this post because so much of what it highlighted is what I love about young adult/ teen books. So I decided to follow in Goodreads’ footsteps and dedicate a blog post to the young adult genre.
Friday Firsts: My First Romantic Read
For this Friday Firsts post, I’d like to talk about my first romantic read. Let me start by saying that I read a ton of romance novels in my twenties. Favorite authors included Danielle Steel and Nora Roberts. My first Danielle Steel novel was Star and I read it after I saw a Lifetime TV movie version of the film starring Jennie Garth (I know, I’m dating myself here) 🙂 The book was very different, as tends to be the case, but I loved it and I was hooked. From there, I progressed to Nora Roberts novels which I loved because, they not only had romance but usually quite a mystery as well. I would stay up reading into the early morning hours because I just had to find out whodunit and if the couple was really going to end up together – spoiler alert – yes, they always did! In trying to pinpoint which of these novels was my first real romance book, I found myself going back earlier than my twenties, or even my late teens. I found myself remembering a book I read in my early teens, a time of just discovering boys and really not even understanding what romance was. Continue reading “Friday Firsts: My First Romantic Read”
Kait's Bookshelf