So, apparently hosting a Thanksgiving for 14 people is more than I previously anticipated. Apologies readers for missing my Food Friday post but I've got a new recipe scheduled for this Friday so keep an eye out! Especially since everyone will be particularly hungry right after Thanksgiving! In the mean time, I'll be reviewing The Other Woman by Sandie Jones!
Continue reading...
Jules Larsen does not have an enviable life. In fact, her life is decidedly a raging dumpster fire. She's lost her job and she's lost her boyfriend - and all in one day. She's got no family to lean on, no money in the bank and no prospects on the horizon that might help pull her out of the hole she's found herself in. Living on her best friends couch with a bleak outlook on the future Jules seems to have hit rock bottom. But that's the thing about "rock bottom" isn't it? Once you're there, there's no where to go but up.
Continue reading...
Hello, Hi, Welcome to the ongoing saga that is "Christina is totally full of lies"! I know I said I'd have this up 86 million years ago but my life is a giant busy mess! However, my husband and I are moving from Texas to New Mexico on September 1st and we couldn't be more excited! We're incredibly busy [read: stressed] but it's also a really exciting time since we've been dreaming about the mountains for, well, forever. Anyway, I'm back from our weekend trip to Colorado and off again this weekend so I want to fit in a couple of my majorly back logged reviews this week so I thought I'd start with my favorite. Without further ado, here's my review for Run Away by Harlan Coben!
Continue reading...
Happy Game of Thrones day everyone! I've got a hell-of-a week ahead of me with a business trip Monday and Tuesday, one of my best friends graduates with her Master's on Thursday and then my husband and I are headed to NM for his interview and to look at houses. It's sure to be a… Continue reading Blog Tour: The Shadow Writer by Eliza Maxwell!
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.
Continue reading...
Darby Thorne is an average college student attending CU in Boulder, Colorado when she receives devastating news that her estranged mother has end stage pancreatic cancer and is undergoing life threatening surgery in a matter of hours. As Darby hastily packs up her car and attempts to beat a serious winter storm to make it to Utah in time to not just see her mother, but apologize to her for their estrangement she unwittingly sets herself on a path that will change her life forever.
As Darby attempts to outrace the raging snow storm in her Honda civic (a car that’s 100% not ideal for snow conditions) things go from bad to worse until she’s forced to pull over at a rest stop. When Darby enters the warm embrace of a rest stop that’s still hours from where she needs to be she meets Sandi and her cousin Ed, well meaning if not a little low-class. She also meets Ashley, a young and charming if not arrogant man and Lars, a creep ball and mouth breather. As Darby grapples with the snow storm and tries to find signal to contact her family about her current condition she stumbles upon literally, a nightmare of a situation.
Continue reading...
It's Friyay ya'll! I've personally been a bit under the weather the last couple of days and kind of just vegging out to TV on the couch while I recover so I haven't gotten a lot of reading done *woe is me*. I hope everyone had a fab-u-lous Valentines day, celebrating it however you enjoy or not celebrating it at all! I personally hate going out on important days (holiday, birthday, whatever) and prefer to cook at home. So I made my husband some Belizean food in honor of our Honeymoon and we had a very nice, very low-key evening with our pupper. However, I'm going out of town this weekend so I've got a lot of car hours ready for me to burn through some reads! I was killing the reading game in January but I've fallen a bit behind in February but we've got time to make that up! Anyway, today I'm bringing ya'll a review for The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides along with a recipe for a lightened up chicken curry!
Continue reading...
Wynter Roth has lived in the doomsday cult known as "New Earth" for the last 15 years. Brought to the settlement by her mother, along with her older sister Jaclyn when they were fleeing their alcoholic and abusive father. New Earth is led by the charming, enigmatic, handsome and all-knowing, all-caring leader Magnus Theisen. Wynter is raised within the confines of the compound and gives up all her worldly wants, and possessions upon her family being accepted into the waiting arms of her new "family". While Jaclyn seems to flourish within the strict rules and confines set by the leaders of New Earth, Wynter struggles and fails to meet their expectations growing up.
As time elapses, and Wynter opens her eyes more and more to the world around her she begins to see this life she's been thrust into a little bit differently. She sees the cracks in the testaments that Magnus has written, the cracks and flaws within Magnus himself. However, this is the only life Wynter has ever known, she has been brought up to believe that the world outside their walls is doomed to crumble, and if she is not within the safety of her new home - she will perish with a world of sinners. When Wynter is cast out in shame from the only community she ever called a home, she is thrust into a cruel world that has begun to tear apart at it's seems.
Continue reading...
It's my favorite day of the week again!! There's something absolutely intoxicating for me about Sunday's - I feel productive and relaxed at the same time. It's the easiest day for me to really focus on myself and my self-care routine to put me in the right head space for another week. I don't know what everyone else's weekend has been like but mine was fairly busy until today. It's been 36 degrees in Dallas but that's not stopped me from spending the morning and afternoon outside! I've got my portable heater, a new book, cozy blankets, and socks and have been posted up in the front yard enjoying the sun.
We're coming to the end of the restriction portion of January's Whole30 (I'll do a post of my thoughts on it at the end) and will be starting a slow, nutritionist augmented re-introduction period but that also means doing Recipe and a Read posts will become a lot easier! I've just started The Bear and the Nightingale and I've already got some Russian recipes I'm really excited to bring ya'll soon! However, today isn't about that - today I'm bringing you a review for The Suspect by Fiona Barton! I read this with the Traveling Sister's group and it's a fun one with lots of discussion opportunities!
Continue reading...
On to today's topic: a review for My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite! This novel has taken the reading community by storm, and I keep seeing it pop up everywhere. I actually finished this before the surgery but I've been slacking on catching up on reviews. However, this is my last backlogged review! As I've mentioned multiple times, I'm really working on getting some recipes with my reads up and I hope to have at least one within the next week - so stay tuned!
I finished this quite a bit ago, so I'm going to do my best to remember everything I thought about this book. This is at it's heart a story about two sisters, Korede and Ayoola. Korede is pragmatic, level headed and sensible. Her sister Ayoola, is none of these things. Ayoola is rash, beautiful, vibrant, the favored child and deeply irresponsible. Oh, also - did I mention she's a sociopath? Yeah, well that too. This story takes place in Braithwaite's birthplace of Nigera and follows these two sisters through a series of situations Ayoola thrusts them into.
Continue reading...
recipeandaread.wordpress.com 