Let's Watch Some Videos!

This looks like so much fun!

Such a dumb movie, but I love it!

Exactly my reaction...

Yes! League was a tragedy!

Emily and the Dark Angel by Jo Beverley

Title: Emily and the Dark Angel (Renfrew/Kyle #4)

Author: Jo Beverley

Publisher: Signet Eclipse

Genre: Regency Romance

Pages: 273

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; Seasonal Series - Read while Eating Ice Cream

Emily Grantwich lives quietly with her crippled father and eccentric aunt, managing the family's land, until the fateful day she walks down the main street of Melton Mowbray and is showered with Poudre de Violettes, thrown by a lady of loose morals at the handsomest man Emily has ever seen.

He is Piers Verderan, known by many as the Dark Angel. His friends lay the blame for his scandalous ways on his troubled past. No decent woman should be seen in his company, but Emily must dutifully manage her father's estate-which Verderan's land adjoins.

Soon Emily learns that the Dark Angel is very dangerous, especially to her sanity and her heart...

Another great Regency romance. I really fell for Piers Verderan in the last book and couldn't wait to see more from him. I immediately fell for Emily but over the course of the book, I really wanted to see a bit more fire from her. Her character progressed over the course of the story, but I was still left wanting more from her. On the other hand, I really loved Ver so much!

Renfrew/Kyle

#1 The Stanforth Secrets
#2 Lord Wraybourne's Betrothed
#3 The Stolen Bride
#4 Emily and the Dark Angel
#4.5 If Fancy Be the Food of Love
#5 The Fortune Hunter
#6 Deirdre and Don Juan

Next up on the TBR pile:

Bout of Books 23 Sign Up!

I'm rejoining my favorite readathon of the year! I love Bout of Books, but last time was a disaster. This time around, I'm hoping to knock off a few books from my nightstand stack. I don't want to pack all those books, so I better get reading.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 20th and runs through Sunday, August 26th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 23 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Title: Stalking the Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper #1)

Author: Kerri Maniscalco

Publisher: Jimmy Patterson 2016

Genre: YA Horror

Pages: 337

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Share a Tea; Library Love; Seasonal Series - Book from YA series

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

A lot of book bloggers I follow have read this and loved it, so I put it on my short TBR. Fate stepped in and put it in my face on the featured books shelf at the library. I had to get it. I proceeded to devour this book in just a few days time. I loved the fictionalized account of Jack the Ripper complete with gorey details and some great new characters. Audrey Rose is a treat. I loved seeing a young woman wrestling with her love of fine things and her love of dissection and the medical sciences. So great! And Thomas is just perfect as her foil. The characters really have a Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes feel to them without making the book too derivative. I really enjoyed this volume and hope to grab the second on at the library soon.

Stalking Jack the Ripper:

#1 Stalking Jack the Ripper
#2 Hunting Prince Dracula
#3 Escaping from Houdini

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday -- Motionless in White "Voices"

The boys and I saw MIW perform at the Warped Tour in June. They had such great energy! Loved the entire set.

Life Right Now #27

On my bedside table: Emily and the Dark Angel by Jo Beverley; Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham

On my tv this week: Still working through Legion S2 and Supernatural S5.

Listening to: I caught up with a few other podcasts so I got to start The Wilderness!

On the menu for this week:

Monday - Buffalo Chicken Sliders
Tuesday - Hawaiian Pulled Pork Nachos
Wednesday - Brinner! Waffles, Eggs, and Bacon
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
Saturday - Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quinoa Bowls
Sunday - Sloppy Joes

On my to do list: So much packing...

Happening this week:

Monday - Home Day (cleaning and packing)
Tuesday - Oakland Zoo
Wednesday - Errands; $1 Card Kit Class
Thursday - Half Moon Beach Day (our last beach day in California)
Friday - Home Day
Saturday - Stamp Club
Sunday - Oakland Zoo with the OBMs

What I am creating: I need to finish the stamp club projects for next Saturday.

My simple pleasures: Splash pads, to do list sheets, new planners, good deals

Looking around the house: The play room is a total disaster. Guess I know what we are doing tomorrow...

From the camera: Q selfie!

The Stolen Bride by Jo Beverley

Title: The Stolen Bride (Renfrew/Kyle #3)

Author: Jo Beverley

Publisher: Signet Eclipse

Genre: Regency Romance

Pages: 274

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; Seasonal Series - Set in Summer

When Beth Hawley journeys to Lord Wraybourne's castle to help young Lady Sophie Kyle prepare for her wedding, she has to share her carriage with two unexpected travelers, the rakish Sir Marius Fletcher, who is stranded after his curricle overturns, and an unidentified elderly woman, found unconscious in a wrecked carriage.

As the date of Sophie's wedding draws near, Beth realizes some mysterious shadow from the past seems to haunt the bride and groom. The elderly woman, suffering from memory loss, may hold the key. Beth turns to Sir Marius for help, but her efforts are thwarted at every turn as she encounters a most unlikely villain-while her only ally seems to have his mind set more on romance than the danger at hand...

This volume is a great addition to the series. I loved seeing the continuation of Randal and Sophie's love story even if I wanted to knock their heads together every few pages. But beyond them, I really loved Beth and Marius's story and even the introduction of Ver. I especially can't wait for Ver's story in the next volume. The big mystery wasn't hard to figure out, but I still appreciated the story and call back to previous volumes.

Renfrew/Kyle

#1 The Stanforth Secrets
#2 Lord Wraybourne's Betrothed
#3 The Stolen Bride
#4 Emily and the Dark Angel
#4.5 If Fancy Be the Food of Love
#5 The Fortune Hunter
#6 Deirdre and Don Juan

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

I need to find more time to read. May and June was amazing reading-wise and then July took a nosedive. I'm hoping to ramp my reading back up.
Working on our pantry cleanout before the move. Doing well so far, but I'm getting into some weird random things. I'm going to have to do some Googling...
The craft projects are getting done, but I've still got a backlog.
A cold glass of iced tea is calling my name.

Next up on the TBR pile:

How to Fall in Love with a Man Who Lives in a Bush by Emmy Abrahamson

Title: How to Fall in Love with a Man Who Lives in a Bush

Author: Emmy Abrahamson

Publisher: Harper 2018

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 231

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Reading Assignment; Modern Mrs. Darcy - In Translation; Seasonal Series - Read by the pool

Vienna: famous for Mozart, waltzes, and pastry; less famous for Julia, a Swedish transplant who spends her days teaching English to unemployed Austrians and her evenings watching Netflix with her cat or club hopping with a frenemy. An aspiring novelist, Julia’s full of ideas for future bestsellers: A writer moves his family to a deserted hotel in the dead of winter and spirals into madness! A homely governess loves a brooding man whose crazy wife is locked up in the attic! Fine, so they’ve been done. Doesn’t mean Julia won’t find something original.

Then something original finds Julia—sits down next to her on a bench, as a matter of fact. Ben is handsome (under all that beard) and adventurous (leaps from small bridges in a single bound). He’s also sexy as hell and planning to shuffle off to Berlin before things can get too serious. Oh, and Ben lives in a public park.

Thus begins a truth stranger than any fiction Julia might have imagined: a whirlwind relationship with a guy who shares her warped sense of humor and shakes up the just-okay existence she’s been too lazy to change. Ben challenges her to break out; she challenges him to settle down. As weeks turn to months, Julia keeps telling herself that this is a chapter in her life, not the whole book. If she writes the ending, she can’t get hurt.

My mom picked up this book at a free library event and thought I would like this quirky story. Unfortunately, most of it just fell flat for me. I was intrigued by the storyline. I loved the character of Ben. But... the writing was very juvenile. Choppy sentences. First person narration that read more like a blog post than a book. I don't know if it has something to do with the translator, or that's really how the book is written. All I know is that I kept having to stop reading with thoughts like "Is that really the sentence you want to put into print?" Some may like this little book, I didn't.

But what if the ending isn’t hers to write?

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #7

Reading: The Stolen Bride by Jo Beverley. I turned to some fun Regency Romance for this week.

Watching: J and I are getting close to finishing Supernatural S5.

Listening: I completely forgot about listening to Annotated S2 and rediscovered it on my podcast app. Yeah!! I'm four episodes in and I'm loving the collection of topics.

Making: Attempting to finish my Family Project Life spreads so I can pack away the supplies.

Feeling: Calmer this week. Hoping it lasts.

Planning: We're having a Mad Science Party for the boys's birthday party. I'm busy planning the science experiments that we will be featuring.

Loving: Having a to-do list to tackle every couple of days is keeping me on track. Usually I make them on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday -- Asking Alexandria "Into the Fire"

Such a gorgeous acoustic version of this song!

Life Right Now #26

As I look outside my window: Another sunny day in California. I know I'm going to miss the sunshine when it's the dead of winter, but I am looking forward to experiencing fall in the Midwest again.

Right now I am: Taking a break from packing a bit. We are getting it done and am coming close to things that can't be packed until a week before we leave.

On my bedside table: The Stolen Bride by Jo Beverley; Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham

On my tv this week: J and I have been watching a decent amount of Supernatural S5. We also went back and continued with Legion S2. While he was away one night, I started UnReal S4. Decent TV week.

Listening to: Lots of podcasts. I dove into this last season of Annotated, current eps of What Should I Read Next, Reading Glasses, and all the politics podcasts.

On the menu for this week:

Monday - Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Tuesday - Italian Beef Sandwiches
Wednesday - Garlic Chicken Pasta
Thursday - Tater Tot Casserole
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Bacon, Cheese, Peach Paninis
Sunday - Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Rice

On my to do list: I've got a huge pre-moving list to work through. A few things I've checked off, but I keep remembering other things to add to the list. So... a ton of little and not so little things.

Happening this week:

Monday - Home day
Tuesday - Bay Area Discovery Museum
Wednesday - Library / Mel's Play Place
Thursday - Home day
Friday - Gilroy Gardens
Saturday - Kid Birthday Party
Sunday - Home day

What I am creating: Attempting to catch up the family PL album. I want to basically caught up. before I have to put it into a box for the move. I also have been making a few cards here and there for the design team.

My simple pleasures: Pitchers of iced tea, brownies, 5 minutes of silence, a good book

Looking around the house: Things are becoming very bare around here. Lots and lots of cabinets and closets are completely empty. Of course that means that there is a ton of random stuff laying around as we try to destash and pack.

From the camera: Cars at Happy Hollow

Smoke and Iron by Rachel Caine

Title: Smoke and Iron (Great Library #4)

Author: Rachel Caine

Publisher: Berkley 2018

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 448

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Share-a-Tea; I Love Libraries; Seasonal Series - Book on the go

The opening moves of a deadly game have begun. Jess Brightwell has put himself in direct peril, with only his wits and skill to aid him in a game of cat and mouse with the Archivist Magister of the Great Library. With the world catching fire, and words printed on paper the spark that lights rebellion, it falls to smugglers, thieves, and scholars to save a library thousands of years in the making...if they can stay alive long enough to outwit their enemies.

I snagged this volume off my library's Lucky Day shelf. So incredibly excited to read this one. I was in from page one and sped through the entire book in just a few days. I loved the varying narrators to give a bigger picture of the characters. Khalila has become my favorite character in the entire story. Her quiet strength and leadership is just amazing. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that this wasn't the end of the series. I have to wait who knows how long until the final volume is this great series.

The Great Library

Next up on the TBR pile:

Summer TBR

Somehow I completely missed posting my Summer TBR post back when summer started... (For the record, it was supposed to be posted in June). So I'm back on track:

Let's see how I did with my Spring TBR:

A Magical Match by Juliet Blackwell
Rest of the Bedwyn Saga by Mary Balogh ✓
Another romance series
Out of Africa by Isak Denison ✓
The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan
The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie ✓
Two Chronicles of St. Mary's books by Jodi Taylor
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff ✓
Solaris by Stansilaw Lem
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay ✓

Summer TBR:

College Girls by Lynn Peril -- Been on my shelf for way too long
Stealing Fire by Jo Graham -- Another long shelf occupier
An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin -- Ditto
Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield -- I loved The Thirteenth Tale and have high hopes for this one
Daisy Miller by Henry James -- Classic I haven't read yet
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer -- I picked up a copy way back in February after repeatedly hearing about it. I should finally read this one
Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye -- The newest addition to my bookshelf
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith -- On my perpetual list
How to Fall in Love with a Man Who Lives in a Bush by Emmy Abrahamson -- Random book I got at Christmas
What Could Possibly Go Wrong by Jodi Taylor -- I love this series so much but have neglected it for far too long

Next up on the TBR pile:

High Summer Videos

I do have a soft spot for Godzilla movies.

I can't wait!!!!

Oh my! This looks suitably intense.

Love zombie movies and Stanley Tucci looks thoroughly creepy.

Hmmm... maybe

August 2018 Life Goals

Let’s check in on July's goals and my progress.

Sell books at HPB -- Success! We sold three full bags of books and only brought five home.
Read 15 books -- So close! I only read 14 books this month, but still decent showing.
Enjoy a week with the in-laws -- Success! We all really enjoyed the week.
Gather the twins's school supplies -- Fail, but no big deal. We were going to buy the supplies, but nothing was stalked or on sale at Target yet. I'm planning on buying them this week.
Start the birthday party idea gathering -- Success! I have a Pinterest board and have started to buy key pieces.
See at least one movie in the theater (without kiddos) -- Fail.

August's Goals:

Read 15 books -- I have a stack of books waiting on my nightstand.
Wrap up the OBM Care Exchange -- The sending deadline is the 5th. I hope to wrap-up this exchange quickly.
Finish sending out OBM cards -- Half are sent out, need to buy more stamps to get the rest out.
Pack 10 more boxes -- We've had great progress over the last two weeks. Hoping to keep the motivation to finish packing more boxes.
Plan and execute 10 more kid activities -- We have a small bucket list before we leave California.

Next up on the TBR list: