To All the Boys I've Loved Before~ The Movie

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Y'all. I seriously loved this movie. LOVED IT. I haven't read Jenny Han's book, but I was vaguely familiar with the premise of the book. So, on this lazy Sunday afternoon, I decided to check out the movie on Netflix. It was soooo good!! It reminded me of a late 1990s-early 2000s rom-com (which, of course, are the best rom-coms!). Here's the basic premise:
1. Girl writes love letters to all her crushes assuming they will never be seen.
2. The letters are mailed without her knowledge.
3. Drama ensues.

My thoughts:

1. The acting was top notch.
2. John Corbett plays the father of the main character, Lara Jean. So what this means to my not quite a teen anymore heart: Aidan from Sex in the City is a daddy. Yay!
3. Lana Condor does a terrific job being Lara Jean. I love this character and related really well to her.
4. Noah Centineo is an adorable love interest.
5. This movie held my attention, made me laugh out loud, and warmed my heart with the romance. I honestly can't remember the last movie that has done all three of these things. Thanks to work, school, and technology, my attention span is about a third of what it once was. To keep my attention alone is a pretty lofty endeavor. Well done, Netflix. Well done.

Here's the book, if you want to read it before watching:

Happy watching/reading!! 

 

Cozy Moments: Links

Good morning!! Hope you are having a wonderful day. Here are some links from around the internet that I find interesting:

Living a Romantic Lifestyle
I love The Silver Petticoat blog because it promotes romance in entertainment. I love browsing the site for book and movie recommendations. This is their manifesto on how to live a more romantic, joyful, optimistic life.

Under the Tuscan Sun Fixer Upper
Will someone please restore this Italian villa to its former glory? So sad to see it vandalized!

14 Most Anticipated Fall Romances 
Yay for new fall romances!

All 339 Books Referenced in "Gilmore Girls"
I loved the original Gilmore Girls series and loved that Rory was such a reader! This list details all the books she read during the entire series. Wouldn't it be fun to work your way through this list?

Books N Tunes Challenge: Man Hands by Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby

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Today, I'm going to do my first book blog challenge, Books N Tunes Challenge, created by A Delighted Reader. I accepted the challenge of Level One (which means ten songs) that form a playlists to go along with a book I read. Today, I'm going to discuss one of my new favorite books, Man Hands.

Title: Man Hands by Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby

Received: Bought on Amazon for Kindle

Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖

This book definitely goes on the keeper shelf! I cannot say enough good things about it. For a book to get my keeper shelf stamp of approval, it has to be a book that I would want to re-read again. This book definitely fits the bill. It is laugh out loud funny, steamy, sexy, and just an overall "make you smile" kind of book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There is a lot of sex humor and some language, so just know that. 

Some things that stood out to me about this book: 

1. Brynn, our heroine, is thirty-four years old. I like that. The older I get, I often have a harder time relating to heroines in their early twenties (of course, there are always exceptions). Generally, I find myself enjoying romances with the heroines being in their late twenties or older. 

2. Competency all the way around. Brynn is a food blogger and amazing cook. Tom, our hero, is the star for a home improvement channel (a la HGTV). Lots of job/hobby competency going on. 

3. Humor and Sex: Some books try to juggle being funny and steamy all at the same time and fail. This book was able to be funny and steamy without being over the top or cheesy. 

4. Fast paced. I inhaled this book, which is something I really need in my reading life right now. I'm just not at the point of life where I want a long, descriptive door stop of a book.

So....now to the tunes! Here is my playlist to go along with Man Hands: 

1. "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)"~ Rupert Holmes

2. "Summer Love/Set the Mood (Prelude)" ~ Justin Timberlake

3. "Desperate Man"~ Eric Church

4. "Somethin' Bad (Duet with Carrie Underwood)"~ Miranda Lambert

5. "Super Freak"~ Rick James

6. "Hungry Like The Wolf"~ Duran Duran

7. "It's Raining Men"~ The Weather Girls

8. "What I Like About You"~ The Romantics

9. "Love So Soft"~ Kelly Clarkson

10. "My Guy"~ Mary Wells 

Check out Man Hands HERE

Hope you enjoy this review and Books N Tunes Challenge. What have you read lately? Any songs you think I should add to this playlist? 

Cozy Moments

I love this image of this majestic oak tree. It reminds me of the trees at my grandparent's farm. How peaceful is it to just look at all that glorious green? I can almost feel a soft breeze rustling the leaves. Ahhh.... Do you feel yourself starting to relax? Feel the sun on your skin. Perfect early summer day...

Now, this is Christmas all way. Red candles, Christmas lights...I close my eyes and can hear a crackling fire in the background. It feels warm, safe, holy. The most wonderful time of the year. 

This photo looks fun and flirty. What kind of drink is this? A fluffy, sweet coffee? How cute are those heart cookies? This photo makes me want to curl up on the sofa and watch a cutesy Hallmark movie or rom-com. 

Hope these images give you a much needed mental break in your day. I believe images are powerful, and we all need a cozy moment in our day. What images do you associate with coziness and comfort? 

Audiobook Love

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I recently finished two audiobooks that I loved! My library offers a free service called Hoopla that allows patrons to access free content such as movies, ebooks, and audiobooks. I LOVE Hoopla! It is so convenient and saves me a lot of money.

                                                                             
Title: Rising Strong as a Spiritual Practice By Brene Brown
Received: Library via Hoopla 
Rating:💖💖💖💖💖
Summary from Amazon: 

• The spiritual dimension of the Rising Strong process: the Reckoning, the Rumble, and the Revolution

• A sense of belonging—how spirituality encourages us to be ourselves instead of   trying to change in order to fit in

• Why the sense of perspective provided by a spiritual practice helps us find meaning and purpose

• “Are we doing the best we can?”—How faith in humanity can help us become more compassionate and less judgmental

• Why the spiritual understanding of death and rebirth are invaluable in the process of forgiveness

Thoughts on Rising Strong as a Spiritual Practice:

I haven't read anything else by Brene Brown, but now I want to. She does an excellent job on the audio. It sounds like this is actually recorded at a live show as opposed to an "audiobook," but I may be wrong. At any rate, the audio and narration is great! There were so many nuggets of wisdom in this book. One thing that really resonated with me was how she describes the way we tell ourselves stories about situations that may or may not be true. It is definitely something I'm going to start working on and trying to remember that it is not all about me all the time.

Check this book out HERE

Title: The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers by Amy Hollingsworth

Received: Library via Hoopla

Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖

Summary (from Amazon): Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood with an inside look on Mr. Rogers' spiritual legacy. It shows us a man who, to paraphrase the words of St. Francis of Assisi, "preached the gospel at all times; when necessary he used words."

Tom Brokaw of NBC Nightly News once said of the American icon Fred Rogers, "Mister Rogers was an ordained minister, but he never talked about God on his program. He didn't need to."

Eight years before his death, Fred Rogers met author, educator, and speaker Amy Hollingsworth. What started as a television interview turned into a wonderful friendship spanning dozens of letters detailing the driving force behind this gentle man of extraordinary influence. Educator? Philosopher? Psychologist? Minister? Here is an intimate portrait of the real Mister Rogers.

The Simple Faith of Mr. Rogers focuses on Mr. Rogers' spiritual legacy, but it is much more than that. It shows us a man who, to paraphrase the words of St. Francis of Assisi, "preached the gospel at all times; when necessary he used words."

I LOVED this book! Sooo much so that I am buying it for a dear friend for Christmas. It is uplifting  inspiring, and even led me to watch some of the old episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on Amazon Prime. It impressed on me the importance of how I speak to children and how to even as adults, we often carry around hurts and questions from childhood. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Fred Rogers, but I also recommend it to those who never watched the show or might not understand what all the fuss was about. I promise you, it will make you admire the man that was Fred Rogers and his vision for his life and legacy. 

Check this book out HERE

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan

          

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Title: Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan

Received: Library
Rating: DNF at page 75 of 400


This book seemed like something I would enjoy, as it seemed to fall into the psychological thriller/courtroom drama category, which I usually like. How great is the cover? It is just the right amount of creepy.  So why the DNF? I honestly think it was a pacing issue and a content issue that apparently I missed when checking out this book. Here's a list of things that just didn't quite work for me: 

1. The shifting POV/narrators. This is a tricky technique, and if done right, it builds tension and mystery. In this book, I felt like it slowed the pacing.

2. A lot of this book centers around British politics/law, and I think that may have been part of my issue. I'm sure there were references that I didn't understand. It did make me want to learn more about British politics, so that is a positive. 

3. I didn't realize when I selected this book that some of the content in the book is darker than I normally read. If I had realized that, I wouldn't have picked it up. 

I think this book would work well for others, but it just wasn't for me. There were no obvious problems with the book in terms of writing/editing. It just didn't work for my book taste.  

The Christmas Crocodile by Bonny Becker

I am an Amazon Associate member. By clicking on links on this blog and then purchasing something from Amazon, I will receive a small commission. Thank you!

The Christmas Crocodile by Bonny Becker, Illustrated by David Small

Received: Library
Rating: 💖💖💖

Summary (From Amazon):  When Alice Jayne finds a crocodile under the tree on Christmas Eve, her family goes into an uproar! The Christmas Crocodile doesn’t mean to be bad, not really, but soon he is eating up Christmas—from the dinner roast to the left stove-top burner…even the Christmas tree! Everyone has an opinion about what to do with him. Uncle Theodore suggests they send him to Africa, Father recommends the zoo, and Aunt Figgy mentions an orphanage. But Alice Jayne thinks the Christmas Crocodile deserves a real family. Can she find him a new home? And will she and the family survive till Christmas morning, with that naughty crocodile gobbling up everything in sight?

Things I enjoyed: 

1. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful. While the book does not specify a year for the setting, an introduction by Nancy Pearl says the illustrations are meant to depict the Edwardian period. I love the old-fashioned Christmas feel of the book. The illustrations are 💖💖💖💖💖. While I enjoyed the story, it didn't wow me. I thought it was cute and fun, though. 

2. Alice Jayne...What a lovely name! I love double names, especially classic double names. 

3. I found myself smiling and even chuckling a few times while reading this book. I especially found Aunt Figgy to be a funny character! 

4. Christmas!! My most favorite time of the year. I love anything set during the Christmas season. It just makes my heart all warm and fuzzy.

I would recommend this book for the illustrations alone. The illustrations just bring the book to life, and I flipped back through the book after reading it, just to look at the pictures. It is a cute story, and I think children would love the unconventional inclusion of a crocodile in a holiday story. 

Check out The Christmas Crocodile HERE