Little Fires Everywhere

I love Sundays! Time with my kiddos, Brandon makes breakfast, nice & relaxing. This Sunday is even better... rain! It smells WONDERFUL outside! Let's be honest... I might like the rain so much because it gives me an excuse to sit inside all day. My kiddos are just hanging out inside playing today and Carter is outside in the garage helping daddy build a new TV stand. I cannot wait for that to be done! I'm so lucky to have a handy husband (& one that keeps the two-year old busy helping haha). On to the book.....

Last night I finished "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng. This took me about three days and it was one that I could not put down. It wasn't really what I expected -- not my typical suspense or thriller novel. This novel tells the stories of several characters in Shaker Heights, Ohio (really close to my hometown which I thought was pretty cool). Mia and her daughter, Pearl move all over the US because Mia is an artist who follows her "whims". Pearl becomes friends with the children of their landlord. This family is wealthy and lives completely differently than Pearl and her mother. As the story unfolds, pregnancy becomes a recurring theme and Mia and Pearl's past becomes revealed. I won't say anymore because you need to find out the rest for yourself! Definitely worth the read!

Trespassing by Brandi Reeds

Spring break is coming to an end, along with another book. I had such a great week with my kiddos! Made some cookies, took a lunch trip to Panera, went to the Franklin Conservatory, went out for ice cream... it was a great (and exhausting) spring break. We also had some not so great moments, like my ten month old figuring out that he can put toys in the toilet & my two year old playing with his peanut butter snack. Great memories....

On to this book. This was my Kindle First pick for the month of March. Lately I have not been impressed with my Kindle First books so, I wasn't too excited. I am so glad that this book proved me wrong! Trespassing by Brandi Reeds hooked me from the first page! Veronica Cavanaugh has an uphill, terrifying battle after her husband Micha mysteriously disappears. Her daughter, Bella, has an imaginary friend Nini who throughout the book is extremely creepy (in my opinion). Nini supposedly has predicted everything that has happened to Micha and is continuing to make terrifying predictions. This book had me non-stop reading until I finished and the ending was great! Highly recommend for anyone that loves a good thriller.

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

I loved "Big, Little Lies" and "The Husband's Secret" so I just had to read "Truly, Madly, Guilty" by Liane Moriarty. This book has been on my "to read" list forever but, so have a million other things! Too many books, too little time! I have been slacking with reading lately. I read this book in several chunks. That may be why I was underwhelmed with it. I hate when I space a book out too much and it feels disjointed. (Could be because I'm constantly being reminded that I have two children! Haha!!) This book was not as great as her other ones in my opinion. It follows three women and focuses on one large event that changes them all in some way. The three women are all very different with completely opposite pasts but, are connected by proximity and their pasts. An incident at a barbeque leaves them all shaken and changes their lives. Throughout the book you do not know what the incident is until almost the end. This is what kept me reading. Overall, it wasn't terrible but, felt a little too long and wasn't quite a page turner.

A Long Walk To Water

Normally, I would say historical fiction is the. worst. I have given it a fair shot.... multiple times. This book however, is an exception. If you are a teacher of any grade from fourth on up, this is a must read for your students. I read this one in under 48 hours and was in love from the first page. This book follows the story of two children from Southern Sudan in two different time eras (one in the '90s and one in 2008-2009). Nya has to walk all day to fetch water for her family. Salva lives in his village until one day they are under attack. Then, he becomes a refugee and lives in camps for the rest of his childhood. I won't spoil anything else but, this one will be worth your time! 

Dark Matter

Happy Thursday! This week has worn on me something fierce! I have no idea why but, I am exhausted. Like, not-even-enough-energy-to-read exhausted! Trying to stay positive though, even with the hard week. My bullet journal is a life-saver. It's like yoga for my mind 😉 On the positive side of things, it's almost the weekend and my free weekend for March. Lots of relaxing family time!

On to the book.... This book was loaned to me by a coworker. She had bought it but, had not read it yet so, I had no idea what it was about when I started reading. A few chapters in I finally figured it out. It's about the Dark Matter theory that every choice you make, splits into a parellel universe where another you made the other choice. This leads to infinite parallel universes. I am not into this kind of stuff AT ALL. If someone described this book to me I would think uhmmm no buuuuuut, this has to be one of the BEST books I have ever read. I even recommended it to my husband who does not read at all. If you read one book this year, I would give this one a go!

Behind Closed Doors

I know that I said I never remember titles of books but, there is one that is an exception. Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris. This book is absolutely amazing from the first page. The plot is completely unexpected and has the best ending that I have ever read. If you like domestic thrillers, psychological thrillers, etc. this book is so worth a read! I tell all my "booky" friends to read this book and no one has told me that they are disappointed. I NEVER read books twice. NEVER. But, this one I can't wait to read again.... as soon as they are no other books to read.

Reasons

So excited over here! Nap time and I get to start this blog! I have lots of reasons for starting this... First of all, I really do love to write but, not by hand. Nope. Not at all. I have a billion word docs with all of my lists, journal entries, etc. because I could never come up with an idea to actually start a blog for. (Besides teaching but, I already have that blog and wanted something a little more personal) Who doesn't need a place to vent, share their thoughts, and get out their frustrations and happy moments? If anything, just for myself to look back on. Today it occurred to me that I should start a book blog! How I spend most of my time when I am not hearing "mommy", "mommy", "mommy" or "Mrs. Falk", "Mrs. Falk", is reading.  I teach fourth grade and have two little munchkins running around my house. A two year old and an eight month old. Some days I think, who decided that this was a good idea? I do love them with all of my heart though and they are the most amazing people in my life. Okay, moving on. To the reason I started this blog today.... as I wrote down the title of yet another book I finished I thought  "I am never going to look back at this...) I am terrible at remembering the books I read and cannot give proper recommendations because I couldn't tell you the title if my life depended on it. However, if I wander around a Barnes & Noble I can say "I read that!" "that one was really good!" "that book is awful." I think it might be the covers that I can actually remember. This meaningless notebook of titles and ratings is useless to me. So, my blog is born.