Tag Archives: tbr

everyday matters | book review

By Posted in Memoir, Nonfiction Tagged , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Whoot! Finished my very first book of the year! Well, it did contain mostly pictures BUT it was a book and it was a good book so I’m happy :D

Everyday Matters

Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory

Rating: 4.0 – 5.0

Danny Gregory is just a regular guy living in New York with his wife Patti and their 10 month old baby.  A tragic accident turns their lives upside down and Danny is forced to look at his life in a completely different way.  Needing an outlet to deal with the challenges and this new perspective, he turns to drawing.

Everyday Matters isn’t about the details of the everyday struggles that happen when your life is turned upside, rather it’s what goes on in your head when your faced with those struggles.  How do you cope?  What are you feeling?  What are you considering?  It’s like the author hands you a sketchbook and says “Wanna see what I did after the accident?”  And those moments aren’t very often brilliant–they’re messy, mundane, and seemingly insignificant.  But therein lies the beauty.  The accident forced Gregory to be more deliberate in living life, to pay attention to his surroundings, to pause, to muse, to consider, capture what he saw with pen and paper.  What he discovered was that life does go on and everyday has something about it to enjoy, something that matters!

As much as I enjoyed the book, I didn’t give it a five-star rating because it wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be and I would have enjoyed a little more writing.  However, it was a book about drawing so I think the art was what it needed to be and I enjoyed the pictures as well!

There were a couple of word-bombs dropped, just so you know.  There’s no explicit content but it is adult life stuff so I’d still have to rate it closer to a PG-13 than just PG…(I’m trying to think what I’d do if I had kiddos…)…yeah, closer to a PG-13.

It’s a quick read, quite inspiring for the writer or artist.  It makes you want to take out pen and paper and get words and/or sketches out for yourself!  Definitely a good first-book-of-the-year :D

Happy reading y’all!

This book counts towards the following challenges:

2015 TBR List

By Posted in Challenge, Classics Club Tagged , 1 Comment

I’m almost done with one of the titles off of my TBR list and I just realized I never posted my list!

Here’s what I’m hoping to complete this year:

  1. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
  2. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  3. Stop Dating the Church by Joshua Harris
  4. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
  5. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
  6. Happier at Home Gretchen Rubin
  7. Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory
  8. Shadow of the Almighty by Elizabeth Elliot
  9. What is He Thinking? by Rebecca St. James
  10. Defiant Daughters: Christian Women of Conscience by Marcy Heidish
  11. When Dreams Come True by Eric & Leslie Ludy
  12. Here I Stand by Roland H. Bainton

TBR 2015

Alternates:

  1. Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters by Jon Acuff
  2. Paper Towns by John Green

I’m suuuuuper excited!!

Happy reading y’all :)

the reluctant heiress | book review

By Posted in Period Fiction, YA Fiction Tagged , , , , , , Leave a comment

One of my absolute favorite YA novels is Eva Ibbotson’s A Countess Below Stairs.  A few years ago, I picked up another one of her books hoping that I would enjoy it just as much.  A started it several times, not being able to sink into the story. I listed it as an alternate title on my 2014 TBR list and after spotting it on Audible, I decided to give the audiobook a shot.

5711852The Reluctant Heiress by Eva Ibbotson

Rating: 2.5-4.0

Let me first just say that I have a hard time with the title.  This book, as well as A Countess Below Stairs, was re-released in 2009 from its original publication in 1982 with the title Magic Flutes.  I think the original title fits the story better, but whatever – it is what it is!

Eva Ibbotson tells the story of Austrian heiress Princess Theresa-Maria of Pfaffenstein. With nothing to her name accept a castle that is far past its prime, this princess cheerfully hides her identity and secures a position as an under-wardrobe mistress for an opera company with its own financial struggles.

Completely unselfish and unwavering in her belief that everyone is equal, she throws herself into her work and her passion for music believing that it is the medium that will level the social playing field. Meanwhile, her broken-down old castle is purchased by self-made millionaire Guy Farne who has grand designs of his own.  Only Guy’s plans center around re-capturing the heart of a woman from his past. When their paths cross, both Tessa’s and Guy’s respective worlds are flipped around and each is forced to evaluate what love means and what they truly want in life.

This book definitely charming and has its clever moments just as I expect from Ibbotson. However, I wouldn’t put it up their with A Countess Below Stairs though.  I don’t know but there wasn’t the same level of dignity in this book. And while Tessa is very sweet and likable, I didn’t warm up to the other characters very much.

I think, perhaps, I’ll give the audio another shot in the future. Distant future….lol.

I’m glad I finally got through this read and I can cross it off my TBR list and add it to my Audio Book Challenge for this year!  Two birds, one stone. Yeah, baby!

Hope y’all are having a great week so far!

Happy reading!

tbr 2013

By Posted in Life Tagged , , , , , 10 Comments

2013tbrpilechallWriters and bookworms alike have stacks and lists of books they want and/or need to read but can never seem to tackle. Well, I happen to be one such writer/bookworm!  So this year, I’ve decided to join the 2013 TBR Pile Challenge, hosted by Adam at Roof Beam Reader.

The goal is to complete 12 books from your “To Be Read” list by the end of 2013. You can check out the official rules here. BUT HURRY!  The sign-up deadline is January 5th!  Adam has graciously extended the deadline due to the challenge’s popularity and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season!!

So here goes TBR 2013!!

  1. The Pilgrim’s Progress//John Bunyan
  2. The Count of Monte Cristo//Alexandre Dumas
  3. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
  4. The Narrative of Fredrick Douglass
  5. Of Thee I Zing//Laura Ingraham
  6. 1776//David McCullough
  7. Single Men are Like Waffles – Single Women are Like Spaghetti: Friendship, Romance, and Relationships that Work//Bill and Pam Ferrel
  8. The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement//Jean M. Twenge & W. Keith Campbell
  9. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything//Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
  10. The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future(Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30)//Mark Bauerlein
  11. A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue//Wendy Shalit
  12. Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled–and More Miserable Than Ever Before//Jean M. Twenge

Alternates:

  1. Redeeming Love//Francis Rivers
  2. Teen 2.0//Robert Epstein

What do you plan to read this year?