Sunday, January 18, 2015

Sunday Salon

Wow! It's Sunday again already! My goal for this year was to do more of these, and to make my blog a little more personal. I enjoy reading all about you guys and what you get up to through the week so I am hoping that you will enjoy getting to know me better as well! Since my 48-hour-a-week work schedule got in the way of my blogging more often than not last year I am going to attempt to do a Sunday Salon at least twice a month, and perhaps more if I can manage it. I'll have to take it as it comes!

These past two weeks proved to be busy ones, getting back into the routine of school and work. Last week just flew by, as I find that my day shifts tend to! I rotate between two weeks of afternoon shift and two weeks of day shift and since I'm not a big fan of afternoons those shifts tend to drag on, while day shifts fly by! My youngest two boys, ages 8 and 9, started their swimming lessons last week at our local pool and loved them! My boys are not particularly athletic and have not shown more than a passing interest in sports like hockey and soccer, but they both love to swim! The older of the two has had swimming lessons through the school and he has enjoyed those, and for the youngest one, this is his first time, but after getting over their first-day jitters they are both loving them! I hope to sign them up again for the spring sessions so that they have lots of swimming practice before our vacation in the summer!

I have been doing lots of reading lately! I just can't seem to get enough and that is great! Last week I finished reading The Good Girl by Mary Kubica and Bad Will Hunting by Heather Wardell. I was reading The Good Girl for my online book club and was only supposed to read the first ten chapters of it but I just couldn't stop! It was just that good! That is one of the things that I absolutely love about belonging to a book club, whether in person or online, it challenges me to pick up books that I normally wouldn't and I always end up loving them!

Along with lots of reading I have been doing lots of reviewing! Most of the books that I have been reviewing are the ones that I read in 2014 and reviewed over the holidays. In the past two weeks I have posted reviews for:

Marriage to Measure by Talli Roland (one of my favourite authors!)
The Work Boyfriend by Deanna McFadden (a debut author who I would love to see more from)
Mating For Life by Marissa Stapley (an emotionally complex book, highly recommended!)
Milked: A Modern Mommy Tale with a Retro Twist by Lisa Doyle (enjoyable!)
A Sister to Honor by Lucy Ferriss (complex and eye-opening)
and A Girl's Guide to the Birds and the Bees by Sophie Hart (long title but cute book!)

My mailbox (OK, my e-mail inbox!) has been filling up with wonderful books faster than I can read them (I am definitely not complaining, LOL!). In the past two weeks I have added the following books to my TBR pile: Things You Won't Say: A Novel by Sarah Pekkanen, Reform Your Inner Mean Girl by Amy Ahlers and Christine Arylo, The Moon Sisters by Therese Walsh (an upcoming book club read), Something in the Heir by Jenny Gardiner, The Unconventional Life of Jenna Jaghe by Victoria Ward, Her by Harriet Lane, The Firelight Girls by Kaya McLaren (on recommendation of Melissa at Chick Lit Central), Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Twin Piques by Tracie Banister, I'll Have What She's Having by Rebecca Harrington, and The Oyster Catcher by Jo Thomas. Whoa! Looking at that list I was busy- and will continue to be so for some time! There are very few things that make me happier than reading, though, and I suppose that I could have worse habits!

Finally, I plan to make February "I Love Indie Authors" month at The Book Chick Blog! I love independent authors and authors that write for small independent publishing houses, and I hope to celebrate that in February! I plan to host a giveaway, post reviews, and feature indie chick lit and women's fiction authors. If you or someone you know is a chick-lit or women's fiction independant author and you would like to provide a copy of your book to give away, please get in contact with me at jonitathebookchick@gmail.com. I would love to feature you!

Happy Reading to everyone, and have a great week!

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