Good Reads...

Well folks it's here... my last semester of grad school is here and it's going to be a crrrrazy ride. On Tuesday I was assigned approximately 500 pgs to read by Thursday. That's right friends... 48 hours to read as if I was only taking one class (and I hadn't even finished my fiction fun break reading yet... sigh!). Alas, it is here and then I will be done.

I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed this break. What did I do? I cooked new recipes. I babysat for friends. I exercised. I wasted time on Pinterest. I read for FUN. I slept 9 hrs 4/7 days in a week. It was GLORIOUS.

As a result I wanted to share a few of my fav recipes & reads I found over break. Today we'll start with books because I adore good reading. And next week I'll post a few of my fav. new recipes.

Over break, I read 6 fictional books. I was going to try to write a brief review of them... but then that would just get boring. So I'm just going to list the books and give a BRIEF recommendation.

• Sing You Home - by Jodi Picoult: Eh... take it or leave it. I like Jodi, don't get me wrong, but this one didn't float by boat. 2/5 stars.
• The Best of Me - by Nicholas Sparks: Typical Nicholas Sparks book. Decent mindless read that pulls on your heart strings. I usually read his books, so it was everything you expect one of his books to be. So in that sense, it was good - it gives you exactly what you want/expect. On the other hand, at the end I'm disappointed because it's everything I ever expected it to be, yet I always want them to end differently. That's my problem... I know, but still:  3/5.
• Death Comes to Pemberley - by PD James: Ok if you know me... you know I love Jane Austen. You combine a Jane Austen novel with a PD James mystery and you get a great easy and entertaining read. I just adore PD James & I adore how she developed another story line from Austen's Pride & Prejudice. I give this one a 4/5. #love.
• One for the Money - by Janet Evanovich: Growing up, I love love love love love love loveddddddd Alias. Which is why I am naturally drawn to a book like this. Simple. Easy Read. Entertaining. Funny. AND when I was reading it I was imagining Katherine Heigl as the main character and I couldn't get enough (CAN'T WAIT FOR THE MOVIE). If you follow me on Pinterest, you know that I have a whole board created just to keep styles that could transform me into looking like KH. This book won't change your life - but I'm now hooked and plan on reading the rest of the series. 4/5.
• The Chamber - by John Grisham: This one was good. I think I have a hard time reading authors who write the same type of book repeatedly (Grisham, Picoult, Sparks)... Don't get me wrong - I still read them, but I keep hoping that something will be different when I read their next release. Then when they write a good book, but that is still similar to the rest... I'm mildly disappointed. But then again, if it's not broke... don't fix it... right? I'm still reading their books, so obviously they're doing something right.  I'd say it was a 3.5/5.
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - by Jonathan Safran Foer: I can't give this a full review yet bc I'm only halfway through it (thank you 500 pg assignment by my professor who interrupted my reading spree), but I can tell you that I've cried at least once thus far and am pumped to see the movie. I'm going to go ahead and give it a 4/5 and I'm not even done yet.

Notice not any of these books got 5/5's. That's not to say they aren't good. I reserve the 5/5 for books that suck me in and won't let me go. These books are so good that as a result my marriage/life is strained because I can't think of anything else other than reading that book. A good example of this is the Hunger Games series.... Seriously. Just go ahead, plan a weekend and hide yourself in a safe space with premade food and those books. Plan on not sleeping. Eating while reading. And hating anyone who interrupts you.

Alright - enough procrastinating... I'm off to read some seriously boring books now: Textbooks. (insert loud BOOOOOOHISSS). The good thing is, I've bribed myself with a Jubala iced vanilla latte. It's the little things that get you through the day. ;)

(Yes... That hat on my head is for hiding the # of days I haven't showered.)

Much love,