Goodbye May, Hello June!

May sort of went by quickly and I'm not sure I ever posted!

Unfortunately I only read one book (gasp!) last month, which doesn't really qualify for a mini review, given the book was only 60 pages.

I read Very Good Lives - JK Rowling's commencement speech from 2008. It was fantastic! I got my Mom and Dad to read it as well. I gave it 5 stars for inspiration, motivation, and all around healthy thinking and reading.

Here are a few pictures to wrap up the month of May.

Books I bought new in May

All books I got in May! Kindle represents End of Days, which isn't posted above, oops

Started reading Magonia. It's pretty good. I'm enjoying doing a lot of reading and writing outside. Except four our neighbor that smokes. And, he must be stressed lately because he's smoking every 5 minutes.

Went on a walk with my Dad. We keep trying to go on more but, busy times and lives!

Been having some stunning sunsets

 My Dad spotted this gorgeous moth and we observed it for a good ten minutes. Iridescent wings, black underneath makes him look spray painted white, fuzzy head. Just beautiful!

 James and I finally made it to Dinosauria at the Detroit Zoo. We got stuck in 30 minutes of car a line a few weekends ago, they weren't letting any more people in to park. So we abandoned and when we finally made it, it was busy but manageable. Didn't realize it would cost $5 a person but we had a great time. We ended up with free ice cream, too!

Admiring my London books collection

 Was pretty excited when I saw Bella Grace was out a few days early. I bought it immediately. Trying not to blaze through it as fast as I did the previous one. Halfway through. Savoring. Inspiration, motivation, peace.

 More time outside

 Though it's missing my newest succulent from my dad (outside soaking sun) I've been enjoying this corner of my desk. It's got a light, simple feeling to me. At least, compared to the rest of my desk and home and life. See my new bookends? They were bought and brought back from Malaysia (by a stranger)

Happy Days

Good Morning!

It has been a good past week. First, I put in my two week notice at work! Here is my quitting outfit and face! Though I don't have a full outfit picture. We only have one small mirror. I wore a beautiful brocade skirt, it's pale mint with grey dots and the high waist is a grey and white scalloped, wide elastic.

 Then, I immediately began writing! Because, that's why I'm quitting. To put all my energy into what I love and into what is my career. My Mom discovered a newer magazine by one of our favorite publishers, Stampington Collection (I actually emailed them for a job right out of college, they responded saying I was funny and they'd keep me in mind if they were ever in the area), called Bella Grace. With a copy in hand, I knew it was perfect for me! All about living life to the fullest, finding magical moments in the ordinary, being happy and positive. It's absolutely beautiful, the pictures and the writing. The pages have a matt finish that smell and feel great and will stand the test of time. Oh, I read it in a few days and was in love. I wrote a few pieces, just train of thoughts about different topics that mean something to me. I already submitted one this past Monday and am working on some others. Even if nothing comes of it for this magazine, those essays mean something to me and it's getting me excited and inspired to write more.

 I read this delightful, light-hearted child's novel this week. I've been eyeing it for some time and got it on a whim at Meijer (or I should say, my Mom did for me, she's sweet like that). It was exactly as I hoped. Charming, funny, sweet, and plain fun. I think I will get more books by this author.

 An order from amazon finally arrived this week! I bought two novels I've been wanting to read (newer ones, I don't often indulge in), because I had a gift card from my birthday from January! Bone Gap! Not a lot of reviews on Amazon but on Goodreads things are interesting. People either really love it or don't like it at all! Most people seem to think it's strange and wonderful. I'm very excited!

As you can see here, Luna is also excited for Bone Gap. Actually this picture is to show you the other novel I received. Greenglass House! Very exciting! A magical looking middle grade novel that takes place in winter. Perfect research and inspiration for the novel I'm currently working on! Plus that cover is gorgeous!

 I read this fun little book from Neil Gaiman the other day. It's a goofy, one sitting book. The Illustrations were just as fantastic as the story.

Full, mini reviews (as in the mini reviews I give as a recap) will be up at the end of the month for all the books I read in April. 

Now some extra pictures of what I've been up to!

Pretty tea at Starbucks. James and I go about once a week together, to work on separate things, together on our graphic novel, and to play card games.

 Coloring is meditation. I've had this beautiful adult coloring book, Secret Garden, for a few years. I don't get a lot colored at any given time, but I've finished a half dozen pages over two years and they make me happy to work on and to see. I have another one, The Art of Nature, which is beautiful in its own way. I'd love to have the Enchanted Forest by the same artist that did the one shown here.

 Here are the other two things I got in my amazon order! I am so excited for this spring and summer. To hike, be on the beach, exploring! Watching birds and butterflies, finding beach glass and fossils, collecting butterfly wings, feathers, pressing leaves and flowers and everything and anything else!

April Book Edition

At the start of each month I'll have a post dedicated to books. First, the books bought in the previous month, then books read in the previous months, and finally the to be read (tbr) for the coming month. Not sure how well the TBR will work!

So, first up, the books I bought in March

Here we have Flora and Ulysses, Nightbird, Cinder and Scarlet, and The Knife of Never Letting Go. 

Take a look at the colors, very blue and red!

Books read in March:

Conjured, The Darkest Minds, Never Fade (technically still have 100 pages), Cinder and Nightbird

• Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst: 3.5/5 stars; An interesting read but could have had more. The whole book built up to a part that went really intriguing and different but didn't last long. The book also could have used a heavier hand with editing, too many of the same words used in one paragraph kind of thing. 
• The Darkest Minds by Alexandria Bracken: 4/5 stars; A good read and a full world. Very immersive and well developed characters. I'm a fan of dystopian and dystopian type books, and this one doesn't disappoint despite being a bit long!
• Never Fade (book 2) by Alexandria Bracken: 4/5 stars; Doesn't suffer quite as bad as other books, being the second in a trilogy. A lot happens and there are new, different, fully developed characters introduced. There's no twist but there is a lot of action.
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer: 4/5 stars; This book took me a while to get into. Sometimes you're just not ready for a book. A year later I tried it again and I read it all in two days. It was engaging and exciting and a great, futuristic twist on the Cinderella fairy tale. Lots of action and not just solely about a love interest, though that is an element and I don't mind it in the least. I quickly went off to buy the second and was worried it wasn't just about Cinder. But the reviews told me not to worry and I'm really looking forward to reading it!
• Nightbird by Alice Hoffman: 3.5/5 stars; For such a well known author who writes delicate, magical books, this wasn't what I expected. I think, as her first middle grade book, she made it too simple. While I knew the characters, the town, and the plot, it just didn't grab me or whisk me away like I wanted it to. There was so much potential but it seemed to skim around the edges the whole time. Beautiful cover and inside cover and still an easy fun read.

Finally, what I hope to read in April:

Redwall, Fortunately the Milk, Flora and Ulysses, Invisible, Scarlet, Bird Box

So many pretty books, right? And, so many books so little time! And, just as a bonus, here's this picture!

This is my study and observation notebook on the bottom, my cloud collectors handbook and, a bookmark my husband designed that the Detroit News will be using/distributing in some way. Cool, right?