Scooter girl + what I read in Feb
We have a scooter fanatic over here 🙂
I ordered the scooter because I noticed Liv was trying to move herself on the trike by pushing her feet against the ground. We got a lot of good use out of the trike, but I feel like she’s already outgrown it. We looked at the balance bikes, but I thought a scooter would be a better option, especially since she’ll be able to ride it around our beach walks (!). The second I took it out of the box, I assembled it, and she was scooting around the living room within minutes.
So much fun, and another outdoor activity we can enjoy together <3
After the park
and naptime yesterday, the Pilot grilled a feast to enjoy while watching the Wildcats and then the Oscars.
The classic never dies:
I crashed out while reading the Kindle. I’d been sleeping horribly lately, but found that getting back in the swing of reading at night has helped me wind down. Knock on wood, I’d had a few days of awesome sleep (minus the pre-race hotel sleep haha).
Today, I thought I’d share my February reads: Morning Glory and Let’s Pretend This Never Happened.
I started reading Morning Glory on the Kindle quite a while ago. Just like all of Sarah Jio’s novels, I got sucked it, was lamenting the fact that it would soon be over, and decided to savor it. So much in fact I stopped reading entirely and forgot about it. Whoops. When I finally got some time to open my Kindle, there it was, and I was finally able to finish it last month. It was everything I expected: engrossing, tugged at my heartstrings, and I cried when it was over. Sarah Jio has a talent for interweaving past and present, and she has a lovely way with words.
Morning Glory takes place on a houseboat on Seattle’s Lake Union (very Sleepless in Seattle-esque), when editor Ada leaves her job and New York to escape the memories of a personal tragedy. She soon discovers a mystery on Boat Street regarding the disappearance of a local woman in the 1950s and is determined to unlock the secrets no one will discuss. It’s a quick read, and I highly recommend it!
The second book I “read” was actually listened to via Audible. (Thank you so much to those of you who suggested it! I LOVE it.) To be totally honest, after listening to the audio version, I’m not sure I’d want to read the book. Jenny Lawson is particularly hilarious while she reads Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, especially when she describes the photos in the book and “singing” the titles for each chapter. It’s gold.There is abundant usage of the F word (which is why I listened to this when I was in the car alone, usually driving to yoga, or during strength training. It was a bonus ab workout because I was laughing so hard) and delightfully told with Jenny’s unique voice. It’s a great book if you want to relive her hilariously awkward moments (and thank the world that your father’s wild turkeys didn’t overrun your school and that you never ran into a deer carcass) and if you’re not easily offended.
Here’s a description:
“When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father (a professional taxidermist who created dead-animal hand puppets) and a childhood of wearing winter shoes made out of used bread sacks. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it.
Lawson’s long-suffering husband and sweet daughter are the perfect comedic foils to her absurdities, and help her to uncover the surprising discovery that the most terribly human moments-the ones we want to pretend never happened-are the very same moments that make us the people we are today.
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir is a poignantly disturbing, yet darkly hysterical tome for every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud. Like laughing at a funeral, this book is both irreverent and impossible to hold back once you get started.”
Did you read any awesome books in February? I started The Husband’s Secret last week and am totally sucked in.
Have a great night! <3
xoxo
Gina
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I actually just started the divergent series because everyone has been raving and I refuse to see any movies until I read the book. So far I am really enjoying it!
I finished the Husband’s Secret last week and absolutely loved it!
I definitely notice a difference when I read before bed– it helps me fall asleep soundly!
First love by James patterson!
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes – AWESOME book!
Ditto!
That’s on my to-read list and can’t wait to get into it! 🙂
This month I read The Rosie Project (entertaining story about how a man with asperger’s decides to find a wife through a scientific survey, but with a so-so ending), Things Fall Apart (novel set In colonial Africa), A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian (two sisters try to stop their eccentric father from remarrying), and Oryx and Crake (great literary adult book for those who enjoy post-apocalyptic YA).
I actually just finished a book called Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult this evening. She is by far my favorite author and always gets you sucked in with relevant moral dilemmas.
I bet Liv would love a balance bike! Our son got one for Christmas and jams on it! It’s supposed to help them transition to a big bike without having to use training wheels. We’ll see when we get to that point but for now, it’s awesome!
LOVED “Let’s pretend this never happened”! She is hilarious!! If you get the chance check out her blog… thebloggess.com…so so so funny! Equally inappropriate (if not more) as the book but you will laugh out loud for sure.
I just started Let’s Pretend This Never Happened. I was reading the story about the raccoon her father saved for her niece and was laughing so hard my husband came in the bedroom to check on me! I love books like that to rewind after shaping the young minds of 3rd graders all day :).
I love livi on that scooter!
I just picked up Sarah Jio’s The Bungalow. Her books are fantastic!
The book Wonder was great! Highly recommend it. It is more of a young adult book, but I’m 27 and loved it.
I’m almost done reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland. Another beautifully written book by Jhumpa Lahiri, who wrote The Namesake and several other wonderful books. I highly recommend The Lowland – soo good … you won’t be able to put it down!
i’ll definitely read that one next. i read and loved unaccustomed earth a few years ago 🙂
Completely off topic: do you still like your fitbit? I just bought the Fitbit One on major sale and am excited to get it, but I was hesitant because of the costs. Is it still working well?
I LOVE the “what you’re reading” posts! I have enjoyed every recommendation from you and/or other readers, so thanks for that. 🙂
Also, I made the chicken, quinoa enchilada casserole for my family tonight & they all loved it!
Loved The Husband’s Secret. This was the last selection for my book club and it was a great discussion. Enjoy!!!
No way! I just finished The Husband’s Secret all the way on the other side of the world here in Aus. Hope you enjoy the Aussie setting! I’d love to read Sarah Jio, but we can’t buy her here at Australian bookshops and my kindle never finds her… shame! Maybe I’ll order some of her books when I order your’s!!! Happy reading xx
I LOVE Sarah Jio. I didn’t realize she had a new book out (grad school will make you out of the loop like that).
I am currently trying to get into the Outlander series…but having a hard time!
I love this post! I’m always looking for new books to read and I’m definitely going to have to check these two out. I’m currently reading the final book of the Divergent series, but I’m almost done, so it’s soon time for something new!
Thanks for the suggestions! After the wedding I plan on diving back into reading. It is such a great way to escape.
ohhhhhh the scooter <3 i wanna come for a walk with you two!!!! i am currently RE reading it starts with food cause i love it so much haha then i am on to eat the yolks!
I’m adding Jenny Lawson’s book to my list. It sounds a lot like the Chelsea Handler books where her dad is essentially running a used car lot out of their driveway! I can never put them down.
My favorite February read was Sarah Beard’s PORCELAIN KEYS. I adored it!
I just started reading The Husband’s Secret and love it so far! I just finished The Last Letter from Your Lover and highly recommend it..so good!!
As others have said, I also love the what are you reading posts! I just finished I Am Malala which was by far not an easy read in terms of the content, but such an amazing young girl that you just can’t believe what she goes through.
I just started We Are Water by Wally Lamb – so far so good! I have liked other books by him.
Definitely will be checking out Sarah Jio!
I read so many books in February (it’s what got me through the dreary Ohio days).
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet – SOOO good
The Language of Flowers – Beautiful read
Light on Life – The Yoga Journey Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom – life changing
Eye of the Needle – couldn’t put it down
Ageless Body, Timeless Mind – very interesting
Under the Tuscan Sun – so beautiful and getting me excited to go to Italy in April 🙂
I also read Morning Glory this year and loved it! 🙂
I read Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and laughed so hysterically at the story of the “intruder” slipping notes under the bathroom door that I woke my husband up. I still laugh just thinking about it…
I loved “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened”! I laughed almost everytime I picked that book up. Right now I’m reading “Jab Jab Jab Right Hook” thanks to your recommendation and it’s pretty interesting (my normal job is in marketing so it’s a double whammy for me!). My favorite book I read in February was Jay Onrait’s book “Anchorboy”. He’s a Canadian sports broadcaster (TSN) who’s pretty famous here and recently moved to the States to be on Fox Sports 1 and he’s HILARIOUS. I loved his book.
Oh, your daughter looks adorable on that scooter! There’s nothing like a child’s enthusiasm to make your day!
As for Kindle, it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to avid book readers since the invention of libraries. I love the non-glary kindle screen, it makes it so much easer for me to fall asleep after reading!
Let’s pretend this never happened looks like a very entertaining read. I’ll make sure to put that on my reading list.
Thanks for the suggestions!
I loved Let’s Pretend This Never Happened!! Her website is absolutely hilarious too! Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh is also a great read!
I’ve read both the Husband’s Secret and Morning Glory and thought they were both very good! Currently I am reading the Book Thief but I’m having a hard time getting sucked into it so it is going slowly.
I just finished The Husband’s Secret! Very good. I also read Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain and Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I highly recommend both of those as well!
i’ve heard those were wonderful! will definitely look into them.xo
Read Home Front by Kristen Hannah in 2 days. It was easy to read and really good, but definitely pulled at those military heart strings.
such a good book I now want to live on a house boat in Seattle, I love how she weaves the past and the present her books are like no others I’ve read. she just has such a great writing style and as always I can’t wait till the next book!
i totally agree. she has an amazing talent for weaving past and present
I’m just wrapping up “A Story Lately Told,” Anjelica Huston’s memoir, and it is great!
I haven’t read any of Sarah Jio’s books, but your post makes me want to check her out now that I’m back into reading after a few months out of the groove.
she is SO good. i hope you like them!
have you tried aromatherapy for better sleep? I started using lavender essential oil on the bottom of my feet (plus socks) and totally notice a difference with the pregnancy insomnia. I also recently got this oil diffuser and will sometimes put a calming oil in there before we go to bed and let it run all night. 🙂
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FEPQ5KA/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
do you love it? the reviews are pretty mixed.
I do love it. I like that it has a timer so it goes for 2 or 3 minutes and then shuts off for 2 or 3 minutes (depending on which setting you do)…which is the most effective way to do aromatherapy for medicinal purposes. It also doesn’t heat up the oil, which can alter its effectiveness.
you do can tons with transdermal application though! just to try and see if it works for you before you purchase you know?
Love love looove Sarah Jio! I can’t wait for “Goodnight June”!