April 2019

Review: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North!

April 30, 2019May 1, 2019 Christina - Recipe & A Read23 Comments

So as you're all probably well aware, I strive really hard to be a very positive person - sometimes relentlessly so. I genuinely believe that life is an attitude problem and if you focus on the negative, you can't be surprised when things are negative. Granted, sometimes life just really is a bummer and I get that. So I say this because this is my 100th review on my Goodreads profile!!! I would love to tell you this was a 5-star read for this milestone, but alas it was not. So maybe I'm a little extra bitter this time because I wanted this read to knock it out of the park, but it's kind of my own fault and I'll get to that later. So off we go then!

Book Tag: The Liebster Award!

April 25, 2019April 26, 2019 Christina - Recipe & A Read9 Comments

Happy Friday y'all! My best friend who has been stateside from Spain is leaving town tomorrow and I get to see her just one last time in the great state of Texas before she heads back and I wont see her again until we don't live in Texas anymore (CA-RAY-ZAY). I hope everyone has wonderful weekends planned ahead of them and that it's full of all the things you want! We here in Dallas are looking at more rain starting Sunday and going into next week. I can't say that I mind because I love all weather and there's something so *romantic* about April showers in Texas. Anywho, I've been tagged in The Liebster Award book tag by Savannah of Reviews by Savi!

Top 3 Thursday: Bookish Places I’d Want to Visit!

April 25, 2019April 25, 2019 Christina - Recipe & A Read9 Comments

It's almost the weekend, which means it is almost Sunday, which means it's almost GoT time again, WHICH MEANS it's almost time for a bunch of my favorite characters to just up and die on me. However! We still have a lot of great days between now and then so I'll just reserve my period of mourning for another time. Today is Thursday, and you know that means it's time for another round of Top 3 Thursday! This weekly meme is hosted by A Cozy Reader and this weeks topic is fictional book places you'd want to visit. I find this premise particularly fun because who hasn't been reading about beautiful *magical* places and wished they could visit.

Top 5 Wednesday: Rainy Day Reads

April 24, 2019April 24, 2019 Christina - Recipe & A Read13 Comments

Y'all this prompt literally couldn't be more perfect! It's been raining, literally non-stop in Dallas since last night so tickle me pink when I see that today's Top 5 Wednesday topic is Rainy Day reads! Unfortunately since it's a work day, I won't get too much time in reading during the rain but it's April showers time in Texas and it's supposed to rain all next week! Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by a group on Goodreads where different topics are explored. If you enjoy these memes I definitely suggest joining the group! To be honest, I'm not really sure what makes a read, a "rainy day" read but for me it's something cozy and maybe a little atmospheric.

Review + Recipe: The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth + Chicken Parm Recipe!

April 23, 2019April 24, 2019 Christina - Recipe & A Read18 Comments

Happy Publication Day to Sally Hepworth's The Mother-In-Law!! This was a super fun read that I had the pleasure of discussing with the wonderful members of the Traveling Sisters group on Goodreads. Go check out their review if you haven't already because it's amazing! In other news, my husbands future boss has scheduled us to go out to New Mexico in just under three weeks! It's all getting real and it's very exciting and nerve racking at the same time! Finding a house in a state you don't live in is turning out to be much more difficult than I previously anticipated. Anywho, time for my favorite line: Welcome back to the table readers! Today with my review I'll be giving y'all a lightened up chicken Parmesan recipe that's great for when you want to #treatyoself so stay tuned after the review!

Down the TBR Hole #4!

April 19, 2019April 19, 2019 Christina - Recipe & A Read12 Comments

I've been in such a habit of only posting on Tuesday's-Thursday's that I realized Monday and Friday aren't getting the attention they deserve! Mostly it's probably because Monday's suck and Friday's I'm too excited about the weekend to get around to blogging. However, I thought today would be a great day to clean out the ol' TBR pile (especially since I've been adding to it). Down the TBR Hold was originally created by Lost in a Story and here's how it works:

Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf. --- Order on ascending date added. --- Take the first 5 (or 10 if you're feeling adventurous - but I never am) books. --- Read the synopses of the books. --- Decide: keep it or should it go?

Top 3 Thursday: Book Club Recommendations!

April 18, 2019April 18, 2019 Christina - Recipe & A Read22 Comments

Well y'all, I really think I'm finally and truly coming out of the book slump I got myself into and it's a very happy place to be. I'm almost finished with The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth so keep an eye out for a Recipe and a Read post on publication day on the 23rd! This is a great one because I'm a little over halfway through and I've already got 4 recipes to choose from! Anyway, today I wanted to participate in Top 3 Thursday! This weekly meme is hosted by A Cozy Reader and this weeks topic is book club recommendations! Being a loud and proud member of both the Traveling Sisters and Traveling Friends groups on Goodreads, and really enjoying reading with my husband I've always been a big fan of book clubs and book discussions. It's such a fun way to relive a book you love, seeing it through someone else's eyes!

Review: The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald!

April 17, 2019April 17, 2019 Christina - Recipe & A Read19 Comments

So I'm going to preface this review by saying it wont be one of my longer reviews. I don't know if it's my husband finishing up his PhD, getting older, the transplant surgery or what but I've been incredibly emotional these last few weeks, maybe longer. I'm on a hair trigger with tears - whether they're happy tears or sad tears I'm all over the place. My husband and I watched Netflix's new show Our Planet and I was fighting back tears the entire time. It's honestly ridiculous. The Night Olivia Fell has been high on my 2019 TBR since I first stumbled across it. However, from the moment I began the book it was an uphill battle for me to keep going because I found myself so emotional throughout the read. So, here's my best shot at putting all that into words.

Top 5 Tuesday: Books I’m Sure Will Be 5 Stars!

April 16, 2019April 16, 2019 Christina - Recipe & A Read21 Comments

First thing is first y'all! Game of Thrones is back for it's final season and I can barely handle myself. Honestly, the stress of worrying if this is going to turn into another Lost situation is real and I kind of wish I just had all the knowledge of how this was going to go instead of having to watch it week to week! Here's to hoping the freakin' pack survives. Anyway, I've recently finished The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald and it's a doozie of an emotional read and it took me forever to get through because I was so invested. I'll have that review up for y'all this week! Today I wanted to participate in another round of Top 5 Tuesday! This is a weekly meme hosted by Bionic Book Worm and it's one of my favorites. This weeks topic is books you predict will be 5-star reads!

This one is a little dangerous for me if we're being honest because I have a bad habit of hyping books up in my head and then being a little let down when they don't live up to my lofty expectations. I'm very good at not romanticizing situations or placing too much importance on a given event. However, that doesn't stay true for reading. I'll see a book and the synopsis will grab me and then I'll read a few glowing reviews and hype it up so much in my head there's no where to go but down. But then there are the rare few books that end up exceeding my expectations, and isn't that the dream!

Behind The Blogger Book Tag!

April 11, 2019April 11, 2019 Christina - Recipe & A Read24 Comments

It's Thursday! That means that a) tomorrow is Friday, so the weekend is about to start and b) my best friend is flying in from Spain this evening! This really is the week that keeps on giving y'all and my ride on cloud nine continues! I couldn't decide what kind of post I wanted to do today, whether a meme or a "Thoughtful Thursday" post or just skip it all together. But then I remembered Ashley, of Ashes Books & Bobs tagged me in a great post a few weeks ago and I totally forgot to do it! So first and foremost, thanks so much to Ashley for the tag and if y'all haven't checked out her blog you totally should - there's some really amazing stuff over there!