Living a Joyful Life

Currently reading? I’m not reading anything at the moment but will be starting a new book tomorrow.   Your book goal of 2020? 55   How many books read in 2020? 61   Fiction/Non-fiction ratio? 53/8 Male/Female authors? 3 of my books were written by a female and male duo. Aside from those 3 books: 1/58   Favorite book(s) read? I read a lot of books that became favorites this year. In no particular order: •               Evvie Drake Starts Over –Linda Holmes •               Things You Save In A Fire –Katherine Center •              I Was Told It Would Get Easier –Abbi Waxman •               Outsider –Linda Castillo •              No Offense –Meg Cabot •               The Lies That Bind –Emily Giffin •               What You Wish For –Katherine Center •              The Captain: A Memoir –David Wright •               Mind The Gap, Dash & Lily –Rachel Cohn & David Levithan   Least favorite(s)? I don’t think I had a le

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: Pizza Tuesday: Ham steak, potatoes, rice Wednesday: Takeout (Buffalo Wild Wings) Thursday: I think we're having pasta carbonara for my birthday. Friday: I think, ham. I'm not sure about the weekend. What I'm Reminiscing About... My trips to visit my family for the holiday season. What I'm Loving... Spending time with family, Youtube, reading, Christmas movies What I've Been Up To... I've been watching lots of Christmas movies, watching Youtube, and reading. What I'm Dreading... Nothing at the moment. What I'm Working On... Making planner videos for Youtube. What I'm Excited About... Christmas & my birthday. What I'm Watching/Reading... Watching: Christmas movies Reading: Nothing at the moment What I'm Listening To... Christmas music. What I'm Wearing... Lounge clothes and pajamas. What I'm Doing This Weekend... I have no plans as of now. What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month... A f

 In December, I read 4 books. Christmas Shopaholic -Sophie Kinsella I re-read this book and loved it just as much as I did the first time reading it. I rated this 5 out of 5 stars. Mind The Gap, Dash & Lily -Rachel Cohn & David Levithan This is the third installment of the Dash & Lily series. I loved this book so much, just like I did the first two books in the series. I rated this 5 stars. Holidate -Monica Murphy I really enjoyed this book, which is the third book in the Dating Series. I find it very cute and entertaining. I rated this book 4 stars. A Very Vintage Christmas -Tilly Tennant While this wasn't one of my favorite Christmas themed novels, I still enjoyed it and would recommend it. I rated this book 3 stars.

  In November, I read 5 books. Three are new to me and 2 are re-reads. All images are from Goodreads except the first photo is from Amazon. Love Your Life -Sophie Kinsella I liked this book. It wasn't my favorite novel of Sophie Kinsella's but I still recommend it and I did enjoy it. I rated this book 3 stars on Goodreads.com. Christmas At Fireside Cabins -Jenny Hale Another great Christmas novel from Jenny Hale. I highly recommend all of her Christmas books. The story, the setting, the characters... are just so sweet and fun. I rated this book 4 stars. In A Holidaze -Christina Lauren This is my first time reading a book from Christina Lauren and I loved it. I have the rest of their books on my TBR list. I really enjoyed this book. It had a really interesting plot and I loved the characters and the setting so much. I rated this book 4 stars. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares -Rachel Cohn & David Levithan I re-read this book and I loved it just as much as reading it th

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: I had takeout Buffalo Wild Wings. I always get the chicken wrap with tater tots. Tuesday: Ravioli Wednesday: Leftovers Thursday: All of the Thanksgiving food. Friday-Sunday: Thanksgiving leftovers. What I'm Reminiscing About... The Christmases I spent in NY with my family. I haven't been up to visit in over a year and I miss them like crazy, especially my nephews and nieces. What I'm Loving... I got to spend the day with my bestie and her son yesterday and we had so much fun. I'm loving the Christmas tree in my room and watching all of the Christmas movies. What I've Been Up To... I've been making and uploading planner Youtube videos. What I'm Working On... I'm working on some lists for Youtube channel content for 2021. What I'm Excited About... All things Christmas! What I'm Watching/Reading... Watching: TV shows, Christmas movies, Chicago PD Reading: I'm currently reading The Twelve Days of Dash

  In October, I read three books. The Captain: A Memoir -David Wright My favorite athlete (who unfortunately had to retire early due to a serious back issue) wrote a book and I was so excited to get my hands on it. I loved it so much. It was so interesting to learn more about him and get to see his insights on various seasons and other things. If you're a David Wright or Mets fan, or even just a baseball fan in general, I highly recommend this book. I rated it 5 stars on Goodreads.com Didn't See That Coming -Rachel Hollis It wasn't my favorite book by her but I still enjoyed it and would recommend it. I rated this book 3 stars. The Twelve Dates of Christmas -Jenny Bayliss This novel was super cute and adorable. I really enjoyed it. This is the author's debut novel and I'm excited to see what she comes out with next. If you like Christmas themed novels, I highly recommend this one. I rated it 4 stars.

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: Leftovers (pasta & salad) Tuesday: Pork chop, salad, sweet potato I'm not sure about the rest of the week. What I'm Reminiscing About... In October 2019, I was able to go see my family in NY for 3 days. I haven't seen them since and I miss them so much! What I'm Loving... Iced vanilla chai tea with pumpkin cream cold foam from Starbucks. What I've Been Up To... I've been watching TV, reading, making and uploading Youtube videos, watching Youtube, playing games with my mom, and spending time with my mom, step-dad and the cats. What I'm Dreading... Nothing at the moment. What I'm Working On... Filming and uploading videos for my planner Youtube channel. What I'm Excited About... I got to spend the day with my best friend and her son earlier this month. I'm hoping to see her again sometime in November. What I'm Watching/Reading... Watching: Chicago PD season 7, Dancing With The Stars, other TV sho

  First off, Happy Six Year Anniversary to Jana and Steph and the Show Us Your Books Link Up! I'm so excited that I found this link-up and I look forward to it every month. After reading 12 books in August, I slowed way down in September and only read 2. I was watching a lot of planner videos on Youtube and watching TV and movies. The Girl From Widow Hills -Megan Miranda Photo Credit: Amazon I enjoyed the book I read by Megan Miranda in August ( The Last House Guest ) so I decided to pick up two more of her books from the library. I enjoyed this book. It wasn't my favorite mystery novel but I would recommend it as it was a good mystery and held my attention. I rated this novel 3 stars on Goodreads.com. The Perfect Stranger -Megan Miranda Photo Credit: Goodreads.com I enjoyed this book as well. Again, it wasn't my favorite mystery novel but it was still good and I would recommend it if you like mysteries. I rated this book 3 stars.

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: BLT with turkey bacon and fruit Tuesday: Pasta Wednesday: Leftovers Thursday: Tacos I'm not sure about the rest of the week. What I'm Reminiscing About... My 3 day trip to see my family in NY last October. This was the last time I've seen my family in NY. The trip my brother & his family had scheduled for Spring of this year and the trip my sister & her family had scheduled for Spring of this year both got canceled due to the virus and I couldn't go back to NY in the Summer because I don't have a place to quarantine for 14 days by myself. I'm hoping to be able to go to NY for the holidays. What I'm Loving... Planning in my EC planner and making Youtube videos. What I've Been Up To... I've been in physical therapy after my surgery last month. I've also been continuing to make and post planner related videos on my Youtube channel. What I'm Dreading... Some things I prefer not to talk about. W

  All images are from Goodreads.com except the photo for the book The Dilemma by B.A. Paris is from Amazon. In August, I read 12 books. The Overdue Life of Amy Byler -Kelly Harms I really enjoyed this book. I read her other novels this month as well. I loved that the main character was a librarian. The plot, the characters... I loved it all. I rated this book 4 stars on Goodreads.com. Outsider -Linda Castillo This is book 12 in the Amish mystery series. This is my favorite book series. I loved this book just as much as all of the other books in the series. I highly recommend this series if you like suspense novels. I rated this book 5 stars. The Bright Side of Going Dark -Kelly Harms This is the latest release from Kelly Harms. I enjoyed this book. I loved the characters and their development throughout the book. I rated this book 3 stars. The Last House Guest -Megan Miranda I really enjoyed this mystery novel. I want to read her other books now. The mystery in this novel kept me gu

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: Pork chops, potatoes, roll Tuesday: Leftover pork chops, grains, roll Wednesday: Chicken salad sandwich What I'm Reminiscing About... My Summer trips to NY to visit my family. Sadly, I wasn't able to go up this Summer. What I'm Loving... Spending time with my mom, reading, listening to country music, texting/Facetiming with friends, watching Youtube. What I've Been Up To... I had surgery on the 4th so I've just been taking it easy. I've been doing a ton of reading. What I'm Dreading... Some things I don't want to talk about right now. What I'm Working On... Filming videos for my Youtube channel. What I'm Excited About... I haven't felt the original pain (that I've had for 3 and half years) after my surgery. I'm still having some pain from the incision site and the surgery itself but I'm focusing on getting better each day. I started physical therapy today. What I'm Watching/Reading.

  All images are from Goodreads.com except the Playing Nicely cover picture is from Amazon. In July, I read 9 books. The Perfect Wife -JP Delaney This was kind of a hard book for me to get into. There was a lot of scientific talk and for me because of that reason the novel didn't flow well. I did end up liking the book just not as much as I thought I would. I rated it 3 stars on Goodreads.  Summerlost -Ally Condie This was a cute story, not one of my favorite books ever, but it held my interest. This was such a quick read that I think I read it in one day. The story line was very creative. I rated it 3 stars. Summer Days & Summer Nights -Multiple Authors I re-read this book because it's a Summer themed book. While I don't like it as much as the holiday/winter themed book by multiple authors, I still enjoyed it a lot. I rated it 3 stars. Rules For Being A Girl -Candace Bushnell & Katie Cotugno I liked this book and found it enjoyable even though it wasn't a fav