Old Soul, Young Heart

This year has undoubtedly been the most fast paced one so far. Like, unbelievably fast. I said numerous times that it seemed as though only half of the amount of time had passed. In August, it felt like April. In October, it felt like June. I'm getting more bummed about how quickly the days, weeks, months, and years are disappearing. I feel like I just got used to writing "2017." I didn't accomplish much in 2017. I taught some classes and took some classes. I went to work and helped some students. I was not good at all about writing my book reviews. I still like that idea, but, realistically, I know I won't be on top of it. I read 21 books this year, which doesn't sound like much to me. I have the goal of 30 books for 2018! Generally I feel like this year has been a downer and I hate that it's the second year in a row that I feel that way. There was stress around Philip's job situation. There wasn't much to look forward to. I hope I can get mo

I find a lot of books randomly from the magazines I read. I have these subscriptions that came free because of miles I earned from booking on Orbitz. I particularly enjoy my People subscription; it is one of my life's guilty pleasures. (Saturday morning coffee with celeb gossip and a crossword puzzle... what's better in the world?! That's right.  Not much. ) So anyway, most of these magazines have a page dedicated to novels that have been recently released. I always read the descriptions and almost all of them sound intriguing to me, so I make a note of them in my phone and then later add them to my "Favorites" within Heartland's library app. After I save them, I usually forget what they are about, so I'll just randomly pick one every once in a while and that's how I came across The Sea of Tranquility . This book may have been described as a late teen novel when I first found it. I definitely picked up on that fact early on. It's set in a h

It's my annual blog post on the anniversary of my mom's death. Today it is the 13th anniversary. A couple of times today I've had to check that it's been 13 years. Is my math correct? It is. Thirteen. I was at my dad's about a week ago and looked through the family photo albums, as I usually do when I get over to his house. I took a photo of my mom and I. I was probably 5 and I could tell it was around Thanksgiving by the pilgrim girl window cling. I was on her lap and we were smiling at the camera. Her arms were on my arms, her hands holding my hands. I looked into her eyes in that photo and wondered what she was thinking. Was she actually happy? Was she fulfilled? Was her life what she wanted and thought it would be? What dreams did my mom have? This is the question that made me keep looking into her eyes, wishing she was here to share the answer with me. What have you done in your life, Mom, that you are most proud of? What do you regret not doing? What h

Despite how inviting I find the cover of this book to be, I just couldn't get into this one. I saw it recommended several places, I think originally in People magazine. I believe it was one of Oprah's Book Club picks and I know I saw Reese Witherspoon post it on Instagram. From what I can tell, it included a couple of families, some cheating spouses, and a dad with cancer. It started out at a christening party which seemed to last for multiple chapters. It included a lot of characters with obscure names (which made them hard to remember) and flashbacks between when a kid was young and when a kid was grown (which, for me, made it difficult to know where I was at and when, as well as where the plot was going in general). I gave this one a try for about 75 pages and then moved on. Perhaps you would like it, though? I wonder where the title comes from, but didn't want to stick around to find out.

Well, I did terrible in 2016 with my book reviews. I think I kind of forgot that I was planning on doing that. The last one I wrote was in May, but I promise I read quite a few books in 2016! Let's start 2017 off strong with the book I just finished! It's "The White Princess" by Philippa Gregory. Now don't be put off by the word princess in the book title. That word reminds me of something I would've begged my mom to buy me from the book fair in elementary school. This one is not a fairy tale; in fact, it's based off of true events. Historical fiction is one of my most favoritest book genres and many of Philippa Gregory's books are about English history and the monarchy. This one follows the story of Henry VII (Tudor), who married Elizabeth of York in 1486. Their union joined the two rival families who both had claims to the English throne. Unfortunately, their enire marriage was plagued by "pretenders"--relatives coming forward and