Ingenue Mom

Finished 2 more books! Nadia Knows Best is the 2nd book I've read by Jill Mansell. The first was Rumour Has It. I talked about that one when I went over my summer reads last year . I actually felt about the same about Nadia Knows Best as I did about Rumour Has It. It was pretty enjoyable. I read it fairly quickly. But again, I wasn't super invested in the characters. I'm not sure what it is, but I just don't get into her characters like I do in some other books. The weird thing for me, though, is that I'm still willing to pick up another one of hers if I'm in a book slump & just need something to read. I have a couple more on my Kindle that I got for like $1.00 one day. So maybe I'll try out another sometime in the future. Now, the second book I read was The Art Forger . This book was actually really good! I enjoyed the mystery aspect of it. It's about a woman who is a painter and her job is to do reproductions or famous paintings for a we...

I finished 2 more books! Splendor , the final book in The Luxe series was great! I wasn't sure that I liked the ending, but after giving it some thought, I really did. I think the character of Diana Holland is one of my favorite female characters in a young adult book. She's really strong. I definitely recommend this series! It's not my absolute favorite series ever, but it's up there!    I also finished Hopeless by Colleen Hoover. This one was ok. I mean, on the one hand I must've liked it because I finished it in less than 24 hours. Literally couldn't put it down! But on the other hand, now that I've finished it, I just don't think it was the best. For one thing, it was a little more risque than I usually like to read. Nothing too bad, but just more than I usually go for. I also wasn't crazy about reading what happened to the characters - and by that I mean it's very sad. It's about abuse and stuff and I didn't totally real...

Just checking in to say I finished book 3 in The Luxe series! I flew right through Envy and enjoyed it as much as I did the first 2 ! It's been a while since I've gone through a series like this! I'm really enjoying it. Onto book 4!! Envy by Anna Godbersen

Books 1 and 2 on my list of 50 for the year were actually finished in 2013. This was unintentional. I started reading The Luxe on December 29 and thought I'd finish it in 2014 and it would be ok. Well, instead I got totally sucked into it and finished the first 2 books in 3 days. It is currently January 1 and I am on the 3rd book right now, Envy.  The Luxe is basically Gossip Girl, but set in 1899. So if you are at all interested in Gossip Girl, or the lifestyles of the rich & fabulous back when girls wore beautiful dresses like those on the cover, then this book is for you. It has drama, romance, forbidden love, family struggles, money, social climbing, etc. I was really impressed by how quickly I was drawn into it.  The second book, Rumors , just continues the story and I was just as captivated by it as I was by the first one. There are 4 books total in the series and as I said already, I'm currently in the beginning of book 3. I'd definitely rate bo...

I've chosen a word for 2014 that I'm going to focus on. I prayed about it for a while and honestly didn't have to do as much soul searching as I thought I would because it was pretty apparent to me what word I needed to focus on. Simplify I'm going to try to simplify in all areas of my life: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, relational and financial. I'm trying to give myself a goal with each area to help myself simplify. Some may not seem like simplifying to you, but to me they are. Physical: Work out at least 3 times a week This strangely adds more to my week, but I want to make sure my time is spent on things I should be prioritizing and not on things I shouldn't. Mental: Read 50 books this year Again, this adds more time in this area, but it means I have to take time away from other areas. I'm going to stop watching some TV shows and stop surfing around on my iPad and focus on reading. Spiritual: Spend time daily reading th...