Tag book reviews

Books I read in 2023

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41 books this year, listed below in the order I read them. You’ll notice some authors appear more than once (Abby Jimenez, Lisa See, Emily Henry), some are work-related, and all the books with an * designate that we read them for Book Club (7 books and a yearly plan completed in 2023!).

Enjoy the list, with a few thoughts as they come!

Flying Solo by Linda Holmes
Linda Holmes is a podcaster I enjoy listening to (Pop Culture Happy Hour) and this is her second novel. Good stuff!

The Guest List by Lucy Foley *
Our first book club book of 2023 – and a suspense-filled one it was!

Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen
Predictable and fun.

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Haunting and memorable. So good.

Layover (short story) by Emily Henry

Last Circle of Love by Lorna Landvik
Love me some Lorna!

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry *
You’ll notice lots of Emily Henry – again!

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters by Priya Parker
Learned about this through podcasts. Great podcast during COVID times and great instagram all the time.

Love Poems for Anxious People by John Kenney
A silly and delightful little book.

Love & Saffron by Kim Fay
Told in letters – great fun!

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Great story… an author that is solid.

Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty
I listened to this and didn’t find it wonderful

The Dry by Jane Harper *
Book in a bag – Great suspense!

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Saw this author at RPL – great book, great to listen to her.

Atomic Habits: An Easy Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear

The Long Way Back by Nicole Baart
Pre-release read – suspenseful!

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
Haunting depiction of addition; made his death seem even more sad because of reading it.

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradahl
Met this author in Rushford – inspiration for our Supper Club Tour!

Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan
I love J. Courtney Sullivan books… great characters.

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
Another Jimenez book… another winner!

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Listened to the audio… what a horrible childhood.

My Antonia by Willa Cather *
What a treat. Listened to the audio and read along. Great book recommended by ChatGPT!

Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide for Caring for Self While Caring for Others
Work work work… and a great book for the work we do.

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
I love Lisa See books. I listened to this one and it was sort of plodding but good characters.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
What a delight. So unexpected. So good.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald *
Another delight and filled with books books books! Lovely story!

Happy Place by Emily Henry
Another Henry – good stuff.

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
Predictably good.

Truth or Beard by Penny Reid
A light fluffy read.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear *
What a good one this is… want to read more!

The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel
I love Poeppel books and this is no exception! Great fun story.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
So glad I finally got to this, although those WW2 books are difficult.

The Lake House by Kate Morton *
Book club! Ghosts and suspense…

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck
I didn’t love this, but it was ok. Supposed to be “harry met sally-“esque, but just ok.

The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell *
Complex families…

The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman
A podcaster I listen to and a delightful holiday story!

My Christmas Curse by Joan Gable
Found it on my Kindle…

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Ah… good stuff.

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek
Work work work…

The Better Half by Alli Frank and Asha Youmans
What a delight! Loved this book. Very fun.

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
A nice holiday treat…

45

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45

Yes.  I’ve been absent from my blog for a while.  Life has been busy – and good!

In September

  • I went to a few football games under the Friday night lights and in the steamy heat of a Saturday – ah, September in MN
  • I spent time with friends, sitting in the creek with margaritas on that steamy Saturday, celebrating milestone birthdays, and organizing Cosmo Girls for year 4
  • I’ve been spending time with this guy I have been dating, whenever our schedules (and the stars) align.
  • I was preparing for a trip to NYC, so I had to work a little extra on the front end.
  • I made it to two movies in the theatre:
    The Family (with Chris) – a mobster in witness protection.  Robert DeNiro still has it, at 70 years old!  Amazing.
    The Spectacular Now (with Marie) – I was excited to see this, and it didn’t live up to expectations.  It was just ok and mostly depressing.  
  • I finished Orange is the New Black on Netflix, and it is worth watching.
  • I spent a lot of time listening to Broadway Cast Recordings of Cinderella and Matilda and reading My City, My New York in preparation for my (annual) birthday trip to New York City.  

So, yes, now there has been a birthday.

birthday cake

birthday cake (Photo credit: freakgirl)

I flew out 9/30/13 and spent my 45th birthday (10/1/13) in NYC celebrating in style!  I’ll do a recap post of that trip later, but it was another amazing trip which makes me feel so blessed.

For my 44th year, I divided the year into quarters and made lists of 11 things to do or look forward to in each quarter.  I didn’t complete them all, but it was a fun way to organize the year.  You can read the summary posts from the first three quarters here:  Quarter 1, Quarter 2, Quarter 3.

Here is a wrap-up of the 4th quarter of my 44th year:,

my final 11 things: 

  1. Fourth of July!  Always a great time with family – relaxing time at the end of the dock, fireworks, great food and photo ops!
  2. Plan a Book Fest!First annual?  Bi-annual? Bookish food and treats?  Crafts?  Oh my!  It’s coming right up, but it’s in the planning stages!  It was SOOOO awesome!  You can read all about it here!  I am just starting to think about Book Fest 2.0!
  3. Ferragosto!  I can’t wait for my made up mid-August celebration!  More details to follow!  You can read all about it – here!  Buon Ferragosto!
  4. New York City! Looking forward to planning my annual trip to NYC!  It will make turning a year older more palatable! The trip is history – and it definitely was a great time… such a great way to spend a birthday!
  5. Books! Read and listen as much as possible! Tragic fail… keep on plugging away!  I actually did TWO book reviews and giveaways this quarter, so I guess that’s where my reading was focused – on The Promise of Provence and Freud’s Mistress – click to read more!
  6. Cosmo Girls! Start planning for 2013-2014!  Organized and rolling along!  We had a great organizational meeting and a terrific first meeting of the year! It’s going to be a great year!
  7. State Fair? Go if I can!  I guess I can – I went THREE times!
  8. Help Marissa move and get settled! Done!  It was a hot hot day we moved her in, but she is well-settled, the apartment is cute, and she is having a great time and great success in graduate school!  Woot!
  9. Ferragosto Ferragosto Ferragosto!  I have a feeling it’ll be the best ever!  Again – see above!  It was terrific!
  10. Sit down and … play piano or write poems or letters or play accordion… take time.  Well, also a fail.  Didn’t get much “time” for any of that but it’s all good!
  11. What do you think I should add to my list?

So as you can see, not even 11 things on the list, but still a fun way to remember the year.

45 years old

45 years old

And for this year, 45?  

Maybe I’ll do something creative with 45 records (remember them?) like “on the flip side” or “B Side”… have ideas?  

45 rpm, flip side? b-side?

45 rpm, flip side? b-side?

 

I learned that 45 is the sum of all the numbers (0+1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9 = 45), the dialing code for Denmark (+45), a gun or ammunition (.45), and the sapphire wedding anniversary.  

Elvis Costello wrote this song called 45 (http://youtu.be/KPZkldKk1WA), referring to record singles and his age when he wrote the song.  A catchy song… There are lots more songs and movies and other information you can read about online – thanks Wikipedia!  

So I haven’t fleshed out the plan or theme for being 45, but I’m enjoying every minute of it so far!

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