Living a Joyful Life

  Here are the books I read in July 2024: Vacationland –Meg Mitchell Moore My Rating: 4 stars This story focuses on two women and how their lives interconnect in an unexpected way. I really enjoyed this book. I love this author's writing.   The Islanders –Meg Mitchell Moore My Rating: 4 stars This book focuses on the story of three people: Anthony Puckett, Joy Sousa, and Lu Trusdale. Goodreads says “Over the twelve short weeks of summer, these three strangers will meet and grow close, will share secrets and bury lies. And as the promise of June turns into the chilly nights of August, the truth will come out, forcing each of them to decide what they value most, and what they are willing to give up to keep it.” I really enjoyed this book. I have three more books to read of this author and then I will have read all of her books that have been published so far.   One summer on Mackinac –Alana Robin My Rating: 5 stars This novel focuses on Ariella and her las...

  What We're Eating This Week... Monday: Eggplant parm. Tuesday: Salad with tuna Wednesday: Pasta with sausage I'm not sure about the rest of the week. What I'm Reminiscing About... My trips to the lake. What I'm Loving... Lots of family time. Watching baseball and the Olympics. What I've Been Up To... We went to a camp resort for a family vacation and it was so much fun! I've been spending lots of time with family. What I'm Dreading... Nothing at the moment. What I'm Working On... Filming for my Youtube channel. What I'm Excited About... Trip to visit my family (went up in June and came back July 8th), family vacation to camp resort, my nephew N turned 16, watching baseball and the Olympics. I saw Sam Hunt, Russell Dickerson and George Birge in concert and I had the best time. All three guys put on an amazing show! What I'm Watching/Reading... Watching: Baseball, the Olympics, RHONJ, Hallmark. Reading: I read 6 books this month. My reading recap...

 Here are the books I read in June:   The Wedding Party –L.R. Jones My Rating: 4 stars I really enjoyed this mystery novel. It was very good. It wasn’t overly violent or gory and I appreciated that.   You Look Beautiful Tonight –L.R. Jones My Rating: 3 stars This book was full of twists and turns I didn’t see coming. I totally did not see the ending coming.   Homerun Proposal –Maren Moore (Orleans University #1) My Rating: 3 stars I wish this book had more baseball talk in it. I also felt like it was overly heavy on the smut. I don’t mind some smut in books but I don’t like it when it’s over the top. I did really enjoy the parts of the books when they weren’t focusing on the smut scenes, but I felt like there needed to be a lot more of those parts.   She’s Up To No Good –Sara Goodman Confino My Rating: 4 stars This story follows two women (a grandmother & her granddaughter) and shares their story. I really loved this book. This is...

  I'm writing this blog post a little early. What We're Eating This Week... Monday the 10th: Steak, salad, sweet potato Tuesday the 11th: Salad & broccoli Wednesday the 12th: Caesar Salad with grilled chicken Thursday the 13th: Cheeseburger, broccoli, French fries Friday the 14th: BLT and chips Saturday the 15th: Chicken cutlets, baked ziti, roasted potatoes, salad Sunday: Out to eat for Father's Day What I'm Reminiscing About... Summer trips to the lake. What I'm Loving... Watching all of the sports, filming for my YT channel. What I've Been Up To... I came home from visiting my family on June 3rd. My niece M graduated from high school. My nephew, J, is graduating from high school the last week of June. My nephew S graduated from middle school. I've been filming for my Youtube channel. I've been watching a ton of sports (college baseball, MLB, NBA, NHL, WNBA). What I'm Dreading... Nothing at the moment. What I'm Working On... Making lists, p...

  Here are the books I read in May: The Ballad of Darcy & Russell -Morgan Matson My Rating: 5 stars Another fabulous novel from one of my favorite Young Adult authors. I always get so excited when she releases a new novel. This Summer Will Be Different -Carley Fortune My Rating: 5 stars This is Carley Fortune's third novel written and I have loved them all so much. I have also rated them all 5 stars. I love her writing so much. The settings of her books are my favorite. I can't wait until her next novel comes out. The Quarantine Princess Diaries -Meg Cabot My Rating: 4 stars This is the latest novel in the Princess Diaries series  which I think started being published when I was in middle school if I'm not mistaken. I loved getting to read about the main characters in this series again. It's very rare that a new novel in this series gets published anymore. I think when the first novel in the series came out, a new one followed every year for a long time. The Happy...

  I am writing this a little late as I was out of town the week this link-up went live. What We're Eating This Week... Monday the 27th: Pesto pasta and salad Tuesday the 28th: Salad Wednesday the 29th: Pasta & salad Thursday the 30th: Cheeseburger, tater tots, pasta salad Friday the 31st: Sushi Saturday the 1st: Sausage & peppers Sunday the 2nd: Gnocchi in butter & cream sauce with mushrooms and truffle oil What I'm Reminiscing About... My high school graduation. With one of my nephews and one of nieces graduating high school this year (and one of my nephews graduating middle school), I am reflecting on my own high school graduation which I can't believe happened almost 19 years ago. What I'm Loving: Spending time with family, college baseball, playoff hockey & playoff basketball. Why isn't my beloved MLB baseball on the list? Because it's only end of May/start of June and my team is already out of it for the season. What I've Been Up To... D...

Here's what I read in April 2024: Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice  -Elle Cosimano My Rating: 4 stars This is the fourth novel in the Finlay Donovan series. Another great novel in this mystery series! I love the characters in these books and the adventures they get into. Bright Young Women -Jessica Knoll My Rating: 4 stars This book is so good but so sad at the same time. It’s a fictional story but based on real life events (the Ted Bundy case). I really love this author. She has two other novels, Luckiest Girl Alive , which was made into a Netflix movie), and The Favorite Sister . Ick Factor (Revenge Series) -Morgan Elizabeth My Rating: 4 stars I really loved this series. This is the last novel in the series. They are fun and easy reads and very enjoyable. I am going to continue to read more of Morgan Elizabeth’s novels. This is the first series I’ve read of hers. Perfect Game -Megan Cousins My Rating: 5 stars Any book that centers around baseball? Sign me up! I love this author so...