Recent Reads {26th Edition}

Y'all, summertime makes for the best reading.  I read some good books in this bunch, and I finished my 40th novel of the year!

The Getaway Girls:  This was our 5th bookclub read, and it was cute!  It was a light, predictable summer read, which is exactly what I needed after finishing American Dirt!  It's about three older British ladies who find themselves all at a crossroads in their lives.  To shake things up, they get the idea to take a European holiday in an RV, and the story unfolds from there.  It was really cute and witty, and it made me really want to visit France and Italy.  

A Hundred Summers:  This was our 6th bookclub read, and I loved it!  I've had many books by Beatriz Williams on my wishlist forever, so I threw this one out there in our options last time, and it won!  I keep saying I don't like historical fiction, but I keep reading and enjoying them.  This was about college sweethearts who were torn apart by scandal and then reunited one summer several years later during the 1930s.  It goes back and forth between their college years and their current time together.  There's a few plot twists along the way, and it made for a great read.  The time period reminded me of The Great Gatsby (which is one of my favorite books of all time), so there was enough glamor and scandal to keep interesting, too.  I'd definitely recommend it!

Watching You:  This was a classic "who done it" book, and I couldn't put it down!  It had short chapters, which I love, so I flew through it.  It's British, and as I've found with most authors from across the pond, there was some language in it.  Anyways, it's about a murder in a small community and it goes back and forth between several characters throughout the story.  You don't know who was murdered until close to the end, and you don't figure out who did it until the very end... I never guessed the whole time!  It was great with some really good twists!  I can't wait to read more by this author.  

Slightly South of Simple:  This was the perfect summer read!  It's about a woman who lives in a Georgia beach town and her three daughters that come to stay with her for an extended time.  There was the perfect mix of drama, scandal, love, heartache, and laughter that makes for a great beach read.  The fact that it's set in a Southern fictional town made it all the better.  It's the first in a three part series, so I can't wait to read the rest and see what happens in Peachtree Bluff!

Summer Bucket List Update

We are having the best summer so far!  It's been equal parts lazy and busy... just what we like!  Here's a look at what we've been up to these last few weeks!

Watch fireworks

Get ice cream

Go to the zoo

Go to Lake Winnie

Night swim

Star gaze

Hunt for seashells

Hunt for crabs

Play putt putt

Visit the library

Watch a new movie

Craft day

Date with Andy

Date with the boys

Summer pictures

Go fishing

Write a book

Find a new place to explore

Make tie dye creations

Catch lightning bugs

Slumber party

Make a summer dessert

Play in the sprinkler

Playground

Walk/ride on the Riverwalk/bridge 

Summer Craft Day 2020

One of the items on our summer bucket list was to have a craft day, so we cashed in on that item this week.  We made tie-dye shirts (another item on our list) and sun catchers.  Here's a little rundown of what we did.

TIE-DYE

For our tie-dye shirts, I just bought a tie-dye kit at Michael's and plain, white, cotton t-shirts.  We did this last summer with my family, so I had a bit of experience to help me.  The kits couldn't make it much easier, too.  It came with gloves (that the boys refused to wear), all the colors we wanted, and rubber bands.  You just add water to the colors and they're ready to go.  I bought plastic containers to put their shirts in so we didn't ruin anything with the dye (it's very unforgiving), and then we headed outside.  I put the rubber bands on with no rhyme or reason, so it's a random assortment of patterns.  

The boys picked four colors of dye each and got busy.  They squirted the dye wherever they wanted, flipped them over, and squirted some more.  Once they were done, we soaked up the extra dye in the container to make sure the shirt was covered.  Then I bagged them up, let them sit overnight so the colors would soak in, and finally washed them in cold water after I removed the rubber bands.  The longer they sit, the more vivid the colors.  

SUN CATCHERS

Our second project of the day was sun catchers.  I bought pony beads (like the kind you'd make bracelets out of) at Michael's in assorted colors.  The color options were endless... I already see Christmas ornaments in our future.  I labeled our muffin tin and let the boys arrange the beads however they wanted.  Once they did that, I put them in the oven and baked them at 400˚ for 30 minutes.  The boys and Andy said the smell was terrible while they baked, but I couldn't smell it.  

Once they were done, I let them cool for a few minutes, and then they popped right of the muffin pan.  I didn't use any nonstick spray or anything.  Once they cooled, they looked like glass!  Abel added more beads to his, so his were really thick.  Coop didn't add many, so his were really thin.  It was cool to see how each one turned out.  Andy drilled holes in them so we could hang them up.  I used duct tape to hang mine up in our kitchen window.  I didn't want to hang them on my curtain rod because I close those curtains every night, and I didn't want to use anything too permanent to hang them from the top.  It worked well, and you can't see it, so I'm happy with the results.  If you can get past the smell, this is a really cool craft with very little cleanup.

Recent Reads {25th Edition}

Here's my latest installment of books!  Summer is great for reading!

Truths I Never Told You:  I read another book by this author this year, so I was expecting this one to be heavy like the other one... I was right.  This book is about a group of siblings whose father is dying.  The main character is struggling with postpartum depression, and as she's going through her father's things, she realizes her mother, who died when she was young, went through the same thing.  Due to its content, it was a downer.  It also had a lot of abortion issues in it, so overall, I wasn't thrilled with this one.

Nothing to See Here:  Y,all... I don't even know where to start with this one!  😂  It was so odd!  I read it quickly, but it's hard to put my finger on the main issue of the story.  It's about a family who is rising in the political scenes and the husband's children from a previous marriage he now has to take in.  Oh, and the children happen to spontaneously combust.  Like I said, odd.  Anyways, the main character is brought in to help with the children and keep them away from the media, and it all plays out from there.  You'd think the fire issue was the main part of the story, but it wasn't... that's part of the reason I found it odd.  It was good, but the language was terrible.  

Next Year in Havana:  This book was historical fiction at its best.  I don't typically like historical fiction, but this was great!  It's about a Cuban American woman whose grandmother passes away.  Her grandmother exiled when Castro took over, and she never went back.  The girl goes to Cuba for the first time to spread her grandmother's ashes, but finds out a lot about her family and past while she's there.  I hate to admit it, but I know NOTHING about Cuba, so this book taught me a lot!  It was really good, and it had a love story woven in, so it was great!

American Dirt:  I had been on the waiting list for this book on my online library for weeks, and still had weeks to go, when I came across it at our local library the other day.  I typically don't like reading hardback books because I can't read them in bed when Andy's sleeping, but I was tired of waiting.  It's about Mexican drug cartels, and never in a million years did I think I'd like something like that.  Let me tell you, it hits the ground running on page one!  It doesn't give you any build up... it just jumps right in.  It's about a woman who gets mixed up in the wrong crowd and has to run from her home with her son.  It was SO good!  This is probably my favorite of the year so far.  It's not light or uplifting, so be warned, but its' so worth the read!

Summer Bucket List Update

Despite the crazy times we're living in right now, we're trying to make the best of our summer break.  We're off to a pretty good start, and thankfully, all these activities give us a sense of normalcy at the moment.  

Watch fireworks

Get ice cream

Go to the zoo

Go to Lake Winnie

Night swim

Star gaze

Hunt for seashells

Hunt for crabs

Play putt putt

Visit the library

Watch a new movie

Craft day

Date with Andy

Date with the boys

Summer pictures

Go fishing

Write a book

Find a new place to explore

Make tie dye creations

Catch lightning bugs

Slumber party

Make a summer dessert

Play in the sprinkler

Playground

Walk/ride on the Riverwalk/bridge