Back for Good

I have been a bad blogger. I unintentionally took a month long hiatus. (Oops!) I'm hoping that I am back for good this time. It's not the first time I've said that, but I'm trying to get into more of a routine at home and at work. And I want to make sure I make some time for things just for me.

I haven't really been up to a whole lot lately. I took a week of vacation in the middle of May. Just a "staycation" that I had planned to use to get some house cleaning done. I just needed a break from work. I didn't get much cleaning done, and I ended up spending two and a half days at work anyways. (Fail.)

I celebrated my 31st birthday on the 12th. It was also Mother's Day and my friend Kyla's wedding, so it wasn't much of a "me" day but it was a good day.

 

I've actually watched a fair number of movies recently. One of my goals for this year was to watch 24 movies. I was way off track and then over the past couple weeks Jonathan and I have watched a bunch. We watched all three Iron Man movies, plus the Avengers. (I love Tony Stark and Chris Evans is beautiful.) I haven't seen Thor yet, so that's the plan for Friday night. We also went to the new Star Trek movie with my brother and my parents for my birthday. I really enjoyed it as well.

We've been watching some play-off hockey too, but not the NHL. Our local QMJHL team won the President's Cup this past weekend. Jonathan is pretty excited because his NHL team (Colorado) has the top draft pick and it looks like one of our local boys might go first overall.

I read the Beautiful Creatures trilogy by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl this month as well. Not the deepest read, but I thought they were decently written and I enjoyed the story. I can't decide whether I'll see the movie or not. I tend not to enjoy movies if I've read the book. I spent the whole time comparing it to the book, and usually there are things missing. Some important, and some not so important, but it distracts me nonetheless. (Like with The Host - loved the book, and the movie would have been good if I hadn't spent the whole time focusing on the characters who were missing or the fact that I didn't think some of the actors suited the characters.)

I think that's more than enough rambling for today. Hope the weather is as warm and sunny where you are as it is here in Halifax!

Book Swap!

I was lucky enough to participate in Kimmie's blogger book swap. As I've mentioned I love reading. And I'm trying to grow my blog and meet new bloggers. It was perfect!

I was partnered with Sara at This = My Experience. We exchanged emails back and forth and discovered that we both enjoyed a lot of the same books. I really enjoyed having the chance to get to know another blogger.

My book arrived today. There is nothing like coming home from work to a pretty package. And, it was perfect timing. I just finished Changeling by Philippa Gregory at lunch today.

Sara chose to send me The Hobbit which I'm very excited about. I read it ages and ages ago but have been planning a re-read for quite a while. And then when we saw the movie I knew I had to re-read it before the next part is released.

Thanks Sara!



Old Friends

To read a book for the first time is to make an acquaintance with a new friend;

to read it for a second time is to meet an old one. ~Chinese Saying

 

 

I finished my re-read of Harry Potter this week. It was the third read through for the first four books, and the second for the last three. I have to say I enjoyed them even more this time around. I picked up on little things I hadn't noticed before and I sobbed uncontrollably during death scenes despite already knowing the outcome.

 

This week I also discovered that my favourite series of all time (Enchanted, Inc by Shanna Swendson) has two new books that I didn't know about. The fourth book came out in 2008 and left me wanting more. Unfortunately, it didn't look like the publisher was interested in continuing the series. But, I was on Goodreads yesterday rating some books and book 5, Much Ado about Magic, and book 6, No Quest for the Wicked, (both released in 2012) popped up in my recommendations. I was beyond excited. I haven't been that excited about a book in AGES. I downloaded both books from Kobo yesterday and finished reading the first one today.

 

I am absolutely horrible at book reviews, and I'm scared to say too much because a) I don't want to give any of the plot away and b) I'm worried my review may turn people away. However, since I think you should all go out and buy the whole series I figured I would include what Goodreads has to say about book one:

 

Katie Chandler had always heard that New York is a weird and wonderful place, but this small-town Texas gal had no idea how weird until she moved there. Everywhere she goes, she sees something worth gawking at and Katie is afraid she’s a little too normal to make a splash in the big city. Working for an ogre of a boss doesn’t help.

Then, seemingly out of the blue, Katie gets a job offer from Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., a company that tricks of the trade to the magic community. For MSI, Katie’s ordinariness is an asset. Lacking any bit of magic, she can easily spot a fake spell, catch hidden clauses in competitor’s contracts, and detect magically disguised intruders. Suddenly, average Katie is very special indeed.

She quickly learns that office politics are even more complicated when your new boss is a real ogre, and you have a crush on the sexy, shy, ultra powerful head of the R&D department, who is so busy fighting an evil competitor threatening to sell black magic on the street that he seems barely to notice Katie. Now it’s up to Katie to pull off the impossible: save the world and–hopefully–live happily ever after.
 

If you're looking for a deep read than this probably isn't for you. If you're looking for a fun, light-hearted, whimsical story with great characters than it is for you. So go get it!

 



Book swap!

I know I just blogged not even half an hour ago, but I just found the greatest blogger swap EVER. (Well, at least in my mind...) It's a book swap! I am so ridiculously excited. I've been trying to find ways to meet new bloggers, plus I've got my 2013 reading resolution. This is perfect. If you are a book lover, you should definitely think about joining up. I can't wait to see what book I get.

 

 

Where do people come up with these amazing ideas? It's so easy to participate too. (Is it sad that this totally made my day...?)

Book worm

I love to read. I think I always have. I can still remember my grade two teacher telling my parents I was reading at least two grade levels ahead and how proud that made me. I'll read pretty much anything, and I have a hard time picking a favourite book or a favourite author. (Though if you were going to make me pick my favourite book is The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, my favourite series is the Enchanted, Inc trilogy by Shanna Swendson and my favourite author is Kathy Reichs.)

Recently I've been tending to gravitate towards young adult sci-fi/fantasy. Particularly books that deal with dystopian societies. (Like the Hunger Games.)  I also loved Veronica Roth's Divergent. Last week I decided that I needed to read something a little different for change and borrowed The King's Mistress by Emma Campion from the library. What a fantastic read! I had forgotten how much I enjoy historical fiction. I can't seem to put it down, and I find myself wondering about what's going to happen when I'm not reading. I definitely recommend it.

Anyone have any good recommendations for me?