Randomness...

Thoughts on it's being June:  Can you believe it's already June? I feel like this year is going by fast. But I really hope time slows down for a bit now so I can relax and enjoy the summer, and not look up and discover that it's already September. I work at an elementary school so I get time off in the summer. And while I don't have any road trips or exotic vacations planned, there are things I want to do this summer. Like take a pottery class, go horsebackriding, spend time drawing, painting and crocheting, do some birdwatching and some hiking, visit a museum or two, and hopefully go to a concert...or a play. Oh, and some family game nights are a must! I'd also like to practice being more mindful and present in the moment, and fully embrace every day. Because that was the word I chose at the beginning of the year. Embrace! So this summer I'm going to consciously embrace joy, gratitude, positivity, and hope. And hopefully let go of all the worry and stress.

I just finished reading Saving Aziz by Chad Robichaux. This incredible true story is both eye-opening and heartbreaking. It started of a little slow, but boy is it worth reading! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Here are the books I just checked out of the library...these are my June reading plan (though things can always change with my mood ... and with more library holds unexpectedly coming in):

Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen (my next buddy read with Melody)

The Hard Parts by Oksana Masters

How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) by Cristina Fernandez

The Instructor by T.R. Hendricks

The Blind Descent by Nevada Barr

Uncharted by Adriana Anders

A New Leash on Love by Debbie Burns

The Honeymoon Cottage by Lori Foster

Falling in Love on Sweetwater Lane by Belle Calhoune

The Country Guesthouse by Robyn Carr 

Crooked River by Preston & Child

 And lastly, a favorite quote about summer...one I totally agree with:

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  Things That Make Me Instantly NOT Want to Read a Book.

If any of these words or phrases show up in the blurb of a book, there's a 98% chance I'm NOT going to read that particular book. 

1. Revenge plots (they're usually so dark and depressing!)

2. Drugs and drug trafficking

3. BDSM (so not my cup of tea)

4. Politics (there's already too much of it on the news)

5. Mafia/Mob

6. Multi-generational sagas

7. Billionaire boyfriends (really? they have to be billionaires now?)

8. Unpunctuated dialogue (quote marks! they're there for a reason..use them.)

9. Novels that are labeled Fables

10. Graphic gore or violence

Happy Reading...or NOT in this case! 😉

Quick Book Recommendations...

 

Begin Again 
by Emma Lord

See You Yesterday
by Rachel Lynn Solomon
(warning: explicit language)

Things these two entertaining YA novels have in common:

Amusing mishaps

College setting

Humorous banter

Relatable characters

Unexpected friendships

Compelling plots

Romance

Happy endings

I haven't been reading too many YA novels lately because so many of them have been sadly disappointing...but I thought both of these books were a lot of fun. The stories were well written, the plots clever, and the endings of both made me smile. Check them out!

Happy Reading!

 

Ever feel this way?

 

This is totally me today.

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme? Things that instantly make me want to read a book. 

I've done posts similar to this one before with Favorite Settings and Irresistible Premises & Plots. So I decided to tweak this week's TTT a tiny bit and go with...

Words and phrases in a blurb that always make me want to read the book:

Lost Treasure

Archaeological Quests

Rare Books (or manuscripts)

Search-and-Rescue Dogs

"Snowed-in"

Remote Island

Wilderness Survival

Homesteading

Crumbling Ancestral Estate

Artists/Stolen Art

Happy Reading!

Quick book recommendations....

 

In the Clearing by Robert Dugoni

This is the third Tracy Crosswhite mystery, and the second one that I've read, but it won't be my last. I'm really liking Tracy. In this one, she investigates a cold case from 40 years ago that turns out to be murder. I loved how all the separate threads wove together as Tracy patiently figures out the truth. It's a compelling mystery. 

How to Find Your Way Home by Katy Regan

There's so much I loved about this book I don't even know where to begin! Emily's search for her homeless brother, Stephen, who was taken away when she was 12;  his vow, as her big brother, to love and protect her forever; and their subsequent struggle to reconnect after twenty years was all so poignant. Regan's writing is excellent, especially the way she interweaves the past and the present. And, of course, I loved all the birds and birding in this one. It's an unexpected and lovely novel.

Happy Reading!

Haiku Reviews...

 

My Phony Valentine by Courtney Walsh

She's a struggling chef;

He's a hockey player with a bad rep.

Dating just might save them both.

Romantic comedy .... 363 pages .... 5/5 stars.

(Poppy's and Dallas's fake romance was funny, sweet & swoony.)

Sit, Stay, Love by Debbie Burns

Dogs needing rescue 

unite a gruff ex-marine and

sweet shelter worker.

Contemporary romance .... 371 pages .... 4.5/5 stars.

(The appealing romance between Kurt and Kelsey, and all those dogs, totally made me smile.)

The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

Their bet on who will

find true love leads to bad dates, 

tacos, friendship...and love.

Romantic comedy .... 289 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(I loved the fun texts and banter between Jake and Hallie!)

Happy Reading!