Adult Fiction Beach Reading Recommendations July 7, 2016

Jamie’s post about beach reads really made me think about some reads I’ve loved while I read at the beach, or during a long car ride. Hubs and I really enjoy listening to audiobooks instead of trying to surf radio channels. I’ve already featured non-contemporary young adult reads, non-fiction adult reads, and contemporary young adult reads. Now for the adult fiction reads we’ve enjoyed!

1. World War Z by Max Brooks. Hubs and I listened to the audiobook of this. It was FANTASTIC. Multi-person performance. MUCH better than the movie too.

2. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. I read this while I was traveling in Italy & Greece in 2007. It was so neat to travel almost identically along to places Robert Langdon explored in Italy!

3. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I read this in France in 2006. It was an experience exploring Paris and reading this at the same time!

4. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. Anything by Philippa Gregory is a great read! (excluding The Red Queen, but that’s a different story lol).

5. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. So much better than the movie!

6. In Defense of the Queen by Michelle Diener. Technically the third book in the series, Michelle Diener wrote these books to be read as standalones. Minimal advantage comes from reading the previous books. Review here.

7. The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I didn’t finish the first time I attempted to read, I read it between Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I think I was expecting too much of Twilight influence and it was anything but. My second attempt was actually at the beach and I flew through it. I enjoyed it much better than the Twilight series.

8. Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B Jenkins. I’m not big on Christian lit, but I have loved the Left Behind series for years. I still really need to finish it! haha.

9. Lamb The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. A hysterical historical fiction. I should actually do a re-read soon.

I don’t really read much adult fiction! Haha. There’s also a whole slew of Star Wars novels that I love too.

 

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday #89: Series I Haven’t Finished September 8, 2015

Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Series I Haven’t Finished

affiliate links used

The Taming of the Queen (The Tudor Court) by Philippa Gregory

Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer

Daughter of Smoke & Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor

Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

Steampunk Chronicles by Kady Cross

Maids of Honor Trilogy by Jennifer McGowan

The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry

Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days by Tim LaHaye & Jerry B Jenkins

Chronicles of Faerie by OR Melling

Defiance Trilogy by CJ Redwine

What’s on your list this week? I’m usually pretty good about finishing a series. I think all of these are complete series. You never can tell with Philippa Gregory though! (:

Top Ten Tuesday #81: Hyped Books I’ve Never Read July 7, 2015

Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten Hyped Books I’ve Never Read

affiliate links used

1. Sabriel (Old Kingdom)
2. Dreams of Gods & Monsters
3. The Assassin’s Blade: The Throne of Glass Novellas
4. The Raven Boys
5. Wolf Hall
6. The Queen of the Tearling: A Novel (Queen of the Tearling, The)
7. Uprooted
8. The Girl on the Train
9. A Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy)
10. Anna and the French Kiss

Please Be Kind, Rewind: 12 – 18 April 2015 April 18, 2015

I am so happy to be back in the swing of blogging! It feels so great! I’m doing some work on a Read It Before You See It type post. I know it’s not original by any means. Just something I’d like to do. Maybe have some guest posts? I have a list drawn up and some recent ones to whip up into posts as I get through the planning stage. I think I may do a giveaway or two with it if there’s some interest! I’m pretty excited about it. (: I had a lot of great input for recommendations this week! Thank you to everyone who made suggestions! I appreciate them!

I’m super excited/sad about Forged (Taken) by Erin Bowman releasing this week. I’m excited cause I’m binge rereading the first two and I can’t wait to see how things end. I’m also sad cause I DON’T WANT IT TO END!!!! I NEEEEEEEEED more Gray in my life. This can’t be the end!

affiliate links used

Completed:
These Broken Stars (Starbound)by Aime Kaufman and Megan Spooner
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Taken by Erin Bowman

Currently Reading:
Maid of Secrets (Maids of Honor)
Pirates Past Noon (Magic Tree House, No. 4)
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Frozen (Taken) by Erin Bowman

Read with the Kiddos:

 we were bad again this week. /:

New to My Shelf:
Forged (Taken) by Erin Bowman
ARC Landry Park by Bethany HagenThanks for the trade Emma! (:

From the Library:

lots of audiobooks to start on my Read It Before You See It feature (just a sampling!)
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Then They Came for Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival (Hardcover) by Maziar Bahari
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Secret Sister March Unwrapped April 9, 2015

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Last Monday, I received a glorious package from my Secret Sister, James Bond. The awesomeness and gratitude could NOT be fully shown in 140 characters on Twitter, so I decided to do a full unwrap on the blog. This will focus on my goodies. An in depth unwrap on the kiddos’ goodies can be found on Backyard Explorers.

When I opened the front door to see if the mail had gone by, Punk spotted our giant box first.

Bug was still napping, so we just opened the top to peek in.

Once Bug woke up, we dug in! I was SO overwhelmed by my Sister’s generosity. She is the sweetest for including the kiddos!

Now! To show off my goodies!

Isn’t she the BEST?! I am still so overwhelmed. Punk has tried to claim my hot chocolate, but I say it’s ALL MINE!

I’m on a huge Tudors kick right now. My Sis and I read Gilt by Katherine Longshore together and discussed it via letters. So much fun! Well, after finishing Gilt, I continued on to Tarnish and Brazen. While on this binge, I posted my Tudors era collection (Including the Cousins’ War series)

Tudor collection consists of:
The Other Boleyn GirlThe Secret Diary of Anne BoleynQueen Jezebel: A Catherine de’ Medici NovelThe Tudors: Season 1Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England, 1544 (The Royal Diaries)Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country, France 1553 (The Royal Diaries)Mary, Bloody MaryDoomed Queen Anne: A Young Royals BookBeware, Princess ElizabethAnne of the Thousand Days / Mary, Queen of ScotsGiltElizabeth: The Struggle for the ThroneElizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, QueensElizabeth ILady JaneThe Other Boleyn GirlThe Boleyn InheritanceI did forget my DVD of Elizabeth (Spotlight Series)OOPS! I also have a few Philippa Gregory books on my kindle, but until they’re also in my physical collection, they don’t count (;

My sister very generously passed on some of her Philippa Gregory goodies to help flesh out my collection a bit more

The Other Queen
The Red Queen (The Cousin’s War)
The Lady of the Rivers: A Novel (The Cousins’ War)
The White Queen (The Cousins’ War)

Don’t worry about The White Queen not being the show cover! I don’t mind having multiple copies of favourites! (: I haven’t gotten to The Other Queen yet in my reading, so I’m pretty excited for it while I’m on my Tudor binge! (:

I was SO excited to see This Shattered World: A Starbound Novel in this month’s box! (: I have been dying to get my hands on this December 2014 release! It is definitely a top priority after my Tudor binge!

I am a huge hoarder – I mean collector of bookmarks. When I saw this adorable yarn ball and crochet hook bookmark by Craft’ed, I wanted it hardcore! I was so happy to see it! Aren’t the owls adorable? Can’t wait to use them!

In her letter, my Sis said she planned this month’s box as a royal theme and every queen needs to be pampered! The soap and bath salts smell awesome and I can’t wait to try the face mask. (: And chapstick. Oh. Man. It’s awesome and Bug keeps trying to pilfer it.

I am a HUGE Nashville Predators fan and have been wanting some regular post earrings to compliment my dangly ones. So happy to have these in my life for some post season play! Woohoo Preds clenching a playoffs spot.

My Sis is SO talented! She knit me a washcloth and some mug mats. The mats have hearts in them! LOVE! And I’ve already used one. (: Mug mat in use with my White Queen mug! (:

I am including the big bear with mine, because he was sent for me, but Bug has confiscated him for her own. He’s so soft! I can’t really blame her for stealing him!

I am so excited for my new reads! Thank you so much my dear Sister! I love and appreciate all of the goodies you shared with us! ❤

Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks

Top Ten Tuesday #49: Authors I’ve Only Read One Book by and Want to Read More September 16, 2014

Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten Authors I’ve Only Read One Book By

1. CJ Redwine (Defiance)

2. Aimee Carter (Pawn)

3. Rainbow Rowell (Fangirl)

4. & 5. Aime Kaufman & Megan Spooner (These Broken Stars)

6. OR Melling (The Summer King)

7. Sophie Jordan (Uninvited)

8. Joy Hensley (Rites of Passage)

9. Michelle Diener (In Defense of the Queen)

10. Victoria Scott (Fire & Flood)

Top Ten Tuesday #45: Favourite Movies/TV Shows (Featuring Punk & Bug too!) July 15, 2014

Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten Favourite Movies/TV Shows

This was a super easy and super challenging feature! Trying to remember all the favourite and keep it down to 10. I managed to do it! Punk & Bug thought this week’s topic was fun and wanted to share their favourites too!

Mama’s Favourite TV Shows/Movies

1. Bones

I love this show! ❤ I adore the books too. It’s easy to love them both and not get upset at the differences because they’re both unique. I REALLY hope I get to meet Kathy Reichs at YALLFEST!

2. Supernatural.

I’ve been hooked since the first season, but watch it in spurts. I was up to date, but I’m an entire season behind again! Mary and I have had many conversations about Supernatural!

3. How I Met Your Mother

My first few times seeing this show, I thought it was ridiculous. Hubby got hooked while he was deployed to Iraq in 2010 and got me hooked when he came home. Oh, Barney!

4. NCIS.

I blame my sister-in-law. I ship Tony and Ziva so hard.

5. JAG.

I still have the hots for Harm. Mmmm. I blame this show for my Naval Academy obsession. I wanted to be a JAG lawyer when I grew up lol. I married a soldier instead!

6. West Wing.

OBSESSED WITH THIS SHOW.

7. American President.

I blame my mother. This obsession led to obsession with #6. I love this movie. ❤

8. Game of Thrones.

Duh. You really thought this wouldn’t be on this fantasy lover’s list?

9. The Americans.

ZOMG I love this show. I need to catch up! Russian spies!

10. The Tudors.

SO historically inaccurate, but I loved it so much anyway. I wish they’d continued with Henry VIII’s kids. At least Elizabeth. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

Punk & Bug’s Favourite TV Shows/Movies 

1. Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood

Ugga Mugga!

2. Dinosaur Train

Dinosaurs and trains, what could be better?!

3. Sesame Street

Elmo is our favourite!

4. Thomas & Friends

This is the best show EVAR.

5. Doc McStuffins

We love to pretend that we’re Doc!

6. Sofia the First

Punk likes James and Bug wants to be Sofia!

7. Jake and the Neverland Pirates

This is a recent love. Punk loves it so much he wants a Pirate Party for his birthday!

8. Frozen

This is a new favourite.Punk loves Olaf and Bug loves Anna & Elsa!

9. Lion King

THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE EVAR.

10. Brave

The Scotland obsession has been passed down. Parenting WIN! (:

Thanks for dropping by! What are some of your favourite movies and shows? (Pictures are from imdb.com)

Waiting on Wednesday #34: Brazen by Katherine Longshore June 11, 2014

“Waiting on Wednesday” is a weekly event hosted by Jill at the Breaking The Spine. It showcases upcoming releases we’re anticipating!

 

 

My pick of the week is:

Brazen

 

By: Katherine Longshore

 

Coming: 12 June 2014

 

Publisher: Penguin Viking

 

Summary:
Mary Howard has always lived in the shadow of her powerful family. But when she’s married off to Henry Fitzroy, King Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, she rockets into the Tudor court’s inner circle. Mary and “Fitz” join a tight clique of rebels who test the boundaries of court’s strict rules with their games, dares, and flirtations. The more Mary gets to know Fitz, the harder she falls for him, but is forbidden from seeing him alone. The rules of court were made to be pushed…but pushing them too far means certain death. Is true love worth dying for?

Why I’m excited:

If you know me pretty well, you know how obsessed I am with all things Tudors/Cousin’s War era England. OF COURSE I’m going to be excited about a YA Tudor novel! I’m also excited to read about a Howard. If it’s the branch I think, she’s a relation to Anne Boleyn! I’m so excited!

Why I need you to be excited:

Tudor history, duh! It’s a wonderful time of England to study and it’s chock full of drama, murder, mystery, intrigue, etc. A novel set in this time period is obviously gonna rock! (: