June Wrap up

Hello bookworms! Can you believe June is over? Where is the year going? I don’t normally post wrap up’s but I’m going to try and test it out this month and see how it goes. Let me know if you would like me to keep making them 🙂 Also I hope everyone has a Happy Canada Day tomorrow, and my American friends have a Happy 4th of July 🙂

So I didn’t buy any physical books this month but I did receive quite a few  e-arcs to review. I’m really excited for all these book’s and so happy to have been approved to read them. Also this month Emmy turned 6 Months old !! I have a baby update post all about it! Noah finished grade 6 and will be going into grade 7 in the fall.

E-ARCS I received: 
– The Last Time I Lied- Riley Sager( almost finished reading !)
– Drum Roll Please-Lisa Jenn Bigelo
-[Dis]Connected-Nakita Gill,Amanda Lovelace,Curys Parker,Sara Bond,Liam Ryan,Trista Mateer,RH Swaney,Yena Sharman Purmasir,Canista Lubrin,Iain S Thomas (Read)
-Cross Her Heart- Sarah Pinborough
-When The Lights go Out- Mary Kubica
-Shadow of the Fox-Julie Kagawa
-The Similars-Rebecca Hanover

I didn’t read that many books in June,for the first two weeks of the month I was having really bad headaches. But the book’s I did finish I also have reviews up
for them all.

Scream All Night  Review
One Dark Crown Review
[Dis]connected Review
Listen to your Heart Review

So because of the headaches I ended up watching a lot of Tv, thank God for Netflix.For years now my co-workers have been telling me to watch Wentworth and I’m not sure why I never did,because its an amazing show. I watched all the seasons that are currently out.This show is so crazy !! I also watched season 2 of Queer Eye. This show is so pure and beautiful. I wish I was friends with all these guys, and got to hang out with them everyday.

I’m really behind on watching movies,there harder to pay attention to with the baby. But I did manage to watch 2 this month.

-Love Simon 5 Stars
-The Disaster Artist 4 Stars
-Brain on fire 3.5 Stars

Also this month we got a couple movie trailers !!

Halloween  The Halloween Franchise is my absolute favorite movies ever ! I’m so excited!

Dumbo OMG a new Tim Burton movie !! The elephants are so cute, I can’t wait.

The Hate U Give The trailer caused me to shed a few tears, this movie is going to wreck me !!

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Emmy 6 month Baby Update

She has grown up so much this month, I feel like I say this every month but it’s so true. They grow and learn so much every month.

She just started wearing size 3 diapers,the size 2 were getting a little snug around her legs. She is still wearing size 12 clothes, I packed away all her smaller sizes,so now her drawers only have the clothes that fit. She’s drooling like crazy but still no teeth.

Foods she has tried:Rice cereal,Oatmeal,Sweet Potato,Banana,Carrots,Pears,Green Beans,Apples,Chicken and Butternut Squash. She absolutely hated the green beans and her favorite is the sweet potato and oatmeal.

She has mastered rolling over from back to belly and belly to back.When shes on her belly she can wiggle around to get a toy that is out of reach, she pushes off the floor with her toes. The other day I put her down and went to the washroom when I came back out she was in the hallway.She will army crawl in a circle and pushes
herself backwards, Its only a matter of time before she learns how to get up onto her knees.

She has gotten way to big for her baby bath tub, and she no longer enjoys being in it. She tries to sit up and then will cry. So she is now in the big tub with a bathring.
She loves the water and being able to splash, its so cute. She also went outside in her baby pool at the beginning of the month with Noah, she loves being in the water .

She is still sleeping in the bed with us. When its bedtime she will not settle for anyone else but me,I love that but it’s going to be difficult when I go back to work. She is still being breastfed, she refuses to take a bottle, but she will drink a little water out of a sippy cup.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Title: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Adult, Contemporary,Romance
Pages: 400
Rating: 4 Stars

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Synopsis

Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job,
no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her
biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to
leave show business in the late 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn’s life unfolds through the decades—revealing a ruthless ambition,
an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love—Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn’s story catches up with the
present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

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I have seen so many people gush about how much they loved this book,so when I had an audiobook credit I snatched it up. I went into this book knowing nothing about it,
except for what the title implies. This book was beyond my expectations. I could rave about this forever!! I found myself lost in this story, wanting to know more about Evelyn and her life.Oh my God, this was an amazing book!

This book is about Evelyn Hugo an aging movie star who is ready to tell her story to the world. Her story starts when Evelyn is a young girl wanting to be an actress, she marries a man so she can escape her current life and start chasing her dream. Evelyn is unapologetic is her actions,she is strong willed and willing to do anything to get the roles she wants. With every new man she meets, she quickly learns what she can gain from him. With each marriage I found myself becoming more and more invested in the story.

The story is told in two alternating timelines, present time is told by Monique is a journalist at a magazine that Evelyn requested. Monique is a biracial woman going
through a divorce, trying to make it in the journalism field. The other timelines are different periods of Evelyn’s life as she tells Monique the events of her life that landed her having seven different husbands.Her love life and career takes so many twists and turns, the true romance of this book was heartbreaking but so sweet.

Overall, this is an incredibly well written story,and this book was beyond my expectations. I could rave about this forever. I highly recommend picking up this book.

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4 Month Old Emmy Update

Emmy 4 Month Update!!

Emmy is doing so many things now that she’s 4 months old. She reached some major milestones this month such as rolling over !!She’s only done it a few times but she was so proud of herself.She is just growing so fast, I don’t have a baby scale so I don’t know her current weight.

She is grasping toys, and everything she grabs she immediately she puts it into her mouth. It’s so cute to see her playing with her toys.She wants to see everything,she wakes up in the morning and she just stares at her surroundings.

She had a few rough nights this past month where she wanted to nurse all the time and to sleep she wanted to still hold on even once she finished eating.Once that passed she was happy for a week and then she got a little cold. Her nose is stuffy so when she nurses, she can’t catch her breath, she gags and spits up the milk.She wants to be held all the time or she wants to nurse a lot.

We are still co-sleeping, for naps I’ve been trying to first put her down in her crib. Just so she can get used to being in the crib and the view. I think in June I’m going to start trying to get her exclusively napping in the crib, as then slowlywork on getting her to sleep in the crib at night.

She still has no teeth, I kept thinking her bad moods were teething but still no tooth yet.

She is such a joy to have around and we love her so much !!

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Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi // Review

Title:Restore Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Genre: Ya,Dystopian
Pages: 448
Rating: 4 Stars

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Synopsis

Juliette Ferrars thought she’d won. She took over Sector 45, was named the new Supreme Commander, and now has Warner by her side. But she’s still the girl with the ability to  kill with a single touch—and now she’s got the whole world in the palm of her hand. When tragedy hits, who will she become? Will she be able to control the power she wields and use it for good?

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TW: Transphobia, Child abuse, Gun violence, Anxiety

I was full on ready to read this book and love it but sadly I was mildly disappointed. Maybe my expectation were to high. I found the first half of the book to be a bit slow, around the half way point things start to pick up.The writing style of course is beautifully written.Shatter Me was a trilogy that is now going to be a 6th book series, and Restore Me is book 4. I feel like this is a bridge book setting up the series to keep moving forward.

Restore me picks up exactly where ignite me left off with Juliette becoming Supreme commander of North America. I really like how this book is told in the POV of Juliette and Warner’s. A lot of things that left me wondering from the original trilogy where explained in this book. There were so many revelations and twists in this book and I’m so excited to see where this series goes.

Juliette has come such a long way since book 1, she is stronger and able to better control her powers.  But she’s not perfect and that makes her such a relatable character. She discovers a lot of intense information about herself and her past in this book, it was incredible.I love how the more Juliette emotionally heals the more in -tuned with her powers she gets.

Warner I’m STILL COMPLETE TRASH FOR HIM !!He’s still swoonworthy and I love him so so much !! I really loved his point of view , we get to see how he views the world.We see him deal with anxiety which was so well done.

There relationship is still full of so much drama. These two need to learn to communicate better. Warner’s life has always been mysterious, no real information about his past. So it shouldn’t have been a surprise to Juliette that there was still things he was keeping from her. In Unravel Me and Ignite Me it’s hinted at that Warner had to do something to become in charge of sector 45 but it was never revealed what he did. But I think that now that all these secrets have been revealed will make there relationship stronger.

Kenji deserves the world! I love how supportive of Juliette he was, and he finally got some much needed bonding time with Warner. They have so many good interactions, they were so funny together!! I have always loved Kenji and I’m super happy he stayed relatively the same character. I love his witty banter.

I think Adam deserved a bigger role in this book, he was barely mentioned.We spent most of the original trilogy with him and for him to be excluded left me missing him.

I have no idea how in the hell Tahereh Mafi expects us to wait a WHOLE YEAR to read the next book. The ending scene I felt was rushed, I wanted more!

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3 Month Old Baby Emmy Update

Baby Emmy is 3 months old and is officially moving out of the newborn stages.

This girl is a very big baby, at the last doctor’s appointment she weighed 15 pounds and was 27 inches long.She is a super long girl. She’s now wearing size 2 diapers, can fit into 3-6 clothes and size 6 clothes, some of the pants are to long but they are less tight on her belly. She is growing so fast,and getting so big. She’s getting so strong, being able to hold her head up.

She’s interacting with us more, smiling and cooing when we talk to her.It’s so much fun. When we talk to her she coos back at us.It’s so cute Noah will make faces at her and she will have the biggest smile on her face. She loves her brother so much. In the last 2 weeks she’s become interested in a few of her toys,mostly the Sophie the giraffe teether and this kitty crinkle paper. She loves her playmat,it has this little dog toy and she will reach up and try to grab it.She will kick and smile. She’s nearly laughing,she has a little ha! she dose when she’s excited.

She is such an amazing sleeper, I usually will nurse her at 10pm in our bed and she will fall asleep and most nights she will sleep until 4-5am. She will nurse again and then sleeps until 8am. which is really awesome, this is considered to be sleeping through the night. For naps, the first one is usually around 11am and she will sleep until 2 or 3, she will sleep in the wrap as I do the dishes from the night before. She will only fall asleep in the wrap if I’m moving around. Her second nap she takes between 4-5 and she sleep until bath time at 7pm.

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Likes:
She loves being carried in the stretchy wrap.
She wants to chew on anything thats close to her mouth and she’s starting to drool alot.
Loves to kick and swing her arms.
Bathtime, she will kick and spalsh water all over the place.

Dislikes:
Tummy-time, is still her most hated thing.

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This is a new series I’m planning on posting every month,mainly for myself so I can see Emmy as she grows each month.

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Netflix Shows to Binge Watch // Spring 2018

Today I’m here to bring you a post about my top 10 Netflix shows that I’ve been binge watching.Being home with a new baby leaves little time to read, so I’ve been watching a lot of TV. It’s easy to throw on Netflix while feeding Emmy or cleaning up. If I don’t mention your favorite show make sure to leave me a comment as I’m always in search of new shows to try. I’ve narrowed this list down to only 10 because I have tons and I don’t want this post to be huge. These are in no particular order.

1.Jane the Virgin

Jane is a young latinix writer,working as a waitress in a hotel. Her life drastically changes when she goes to the doctor a virgin and accidentally gets artificiality inseminated with her boss’ sperm. I was not expecting to love this show as much as I do. This show is hilarious, the jokes will have you laughing out loud. The dialogue is so fun and the character’s are great.

2.Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl is an older favorite of mine, I started watching it while still in high school although I never saw the final season until now. The show follows a group of privileged New York teens. This show is not meant to be taken seriously, Serena is the stereotypical blond party girl, Blair is a queen of the school, Nate the pretty boy, Chuck is a womanizing party boy and Dan the outsider. The actors/actresses are gorgeous and the setting is glamorous. I love this show so much, I will forever ship Blair/Chuck!!

3.Supernatural

I’ve watched this show for 13 years now, its a drama that follows two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester. They hunt supernatural creatures, the show takes a turn in season 4 and starts to include biblical character’s. Dean will forever be one of my favorite character’s. If you’re new to this show then you’re in for one crazy wild ride.This show has everything; love,friendship,family. But it’s the character’s that will keep you coming back.

4.Shameless

This is probably my favorite show, it has it’s problems but I still love it. This show follows the Gallagher family, Frank is an absent alcoholic father played by William H Macy. Fiona(Emmy Rossum) is the eldest daughter of six children, she holds the family together while dealing with crazy situations that her family goes through. The casting is terrific, I love these character’s so much. Some have left the show and it has gone slightly down hill but I still love this show so much!

5.The Office

This show is pretty new to me, I first watched it 2 years ago. I’m usually not a huge fan of comedy shows, but this one is perfect. It’s filmed as if it were a documentary, about a paper company and it’s employees. Steve carrel plays Micheal Scott the manager of the company, and he’s brilliant!! The character’s are all well developed and funny in their own way. Jim/Pam’s relationship is adorable, and there pranks on Dwight is the highlight of the show. This show is perfect for a self care binge watch.

6.Jessica Jones

It’s been 2 years since I watched season 1, I’m currently in the middle of a re-watch as season 2 was released last week. This show is incredible ! Jessica is a kick-ass PI with super strength, after going through some major trauma’s she tries to rebuild her life while suffering from PTSD. Killgrave (David Tennant) is one of the best villain’s ever. He is a sociopath with the ability to control minds. This show is just so good !

7.Gilmore Girls

What kind of list would this be if I didn’t include Gilmore Girls. I come back to this show every fall,it’s my comfort show. Gilmore Girls is my favorite TV show of all times. The story follows a mother/daughter relationship, in a small town in Connecticut. I love the witty dialog, and the complex relationships of the character’s. I could write pages and pages about these character’s and why I love them so much, but I wont do that right now.You won’t regret watching this show, you will laugh and cry, its just so good.

8.Heartland

A Canadian show about Amy Fleming, a teenage girl who has a special gift for understanding and treating troubled horses. This is a heartwarming, family centered show. I love the characters and love the horses. The setting is in Alberta and it’s a beautiful backdrop for the show.Once you see a few episode’s it will pull you in to keep wanting more.I strongly recommend this show.

9. Outlander

Claire Randall,a combat nurse from 1945 who is transported back in time to 1743 Scotland. I had never read the book’s before watching the show, as of now I’ve read half of book one. The show follows the book pretty closely. I loved their choice of actors to take on the roles of Jamie and Claire,there perfect. The costumes and scenery are gorgeous. The show has the right amount of action to romance.

10. This is Us

The lives of Rebecca, Jack and their three children – Kevin, Kate and Randall – are followed at different points in time. The Rebecca and Jack stories generally take place during the early stage of their marriage. Separate stories for Kevin, Kate and Randall are followed in their adult years. I was hooked right from the first episode.I LOVED IT ! It was wonderfully written,the acting is excellent. This show will continue to break your heart, but you will keep coming back.

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Let me know in the comments if you’ve watched any of these shows and what you thought!

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The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn // Review

Title: The Woman in the Window
Author: A.J. Finn
Genre: Adult,Thriller
Pages: 427
Rating: 4 Stars

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Synopsis

Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies,
recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one
night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.

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Trigger warnings: murder, alcohol abuse, prescription drug abuse, mental health

The Woman in the Window is a fantastic psychological thriller. It’s fast-paced, and a very intriguing story.Just when you think you have it all figured out, you
get thrown a curve ball.

The story is about Anna Fox, an ex-child psychologist,who went through a traumatic experience and is now an agoraphobic.She is separated from her husband Ed and daughter. She lives alone in a big house except for her tenant who lives in the basement.She spends a lot of her time watching her neighbors from the window.
One day a new family moves in across the street from Anna’s house.

I really enjoyed Anna as the protagonist. My only problem with her is she drinks too much and is non-compliant with her medication. I know this is her coping mechanism
but it is used to often in the book to describe a situation.

I read a lot of thrillers, and I can honestly say this one played out differently than I expected.The ending OMG !! I never saw it coming. It is a pretty quick read, even though the book is over 400 pages.A.J. Finn is excellent at writing characters, I can’t wait to read more from him. I highly recommend this book.

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Life Update /// January 2018

Happy New Year !!! I’m a little late with this post but if you follow me on Instagram you know that I had the baby on Christmas Eve 🙂 I had a pretty easy labor, went to the hospital at 430 am and she was born at 7:11am. Overall it was all really fast and hectic, she is a beautiful little girl.

So I’d like to introduce you all to Emilia “Emmy”. She weighed 9 lbs 2 oz, 22 inches in length. Red hair and blue eyes.

I am adjusting to life as a new mom again, it’s been 11 years since my son was a baby. So I’m a little rusty on some things. Because she was born over the holidays it’s been a pretty busy time, but things are settling down as we get into a routine. At first breastfeeding was difficult, she wasn’t latching properly so I had to visit the breastfeeding clinic and I’m happy to say she is now feeding really well. I’m very lucky that she is sleeping so well, she will sleep 3-4 hours at a time, as long as she sleeping on me or near me.

I’m not sure how often I will be posting, as I’m not sure how much time I will have for reading. I have read 1 book already, I’m hoping I can read 2-3 books a month, sometimes more as I have a few audio-books.  🙂

Hope everyone had a good holiday season. let me know what your first read of the year is 🙂

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My Winter 2018 Most Anticipated Book’s

My Winter 2018 Most Anticipated Book’s

2017 is coming to a close, so I decided t make a 2018 anticipated books list. I’m going to be breaking down this list in terms of seasons because there are just so many book’s I’m interested in and I can’t possibly condense it all into one blog post. I tried to do as much research as possible so I’m certain that I have forgotten some book’s and I wont be listing every book, just the one’s I’m most excited for.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Publication date: January 2nd

Holly Black is one of my favorite authors and when I heard she was releasing a new book, I immediately wanted it. It’s about a girl named Jude who when she was 7 was stolen away by fae to live in there court. Ten years later she really wants to belong in the court but the fae despise humans. It just sounds so good, Fae and courts ❤

Everless by Sara Holland
Publication Date: January 2, 2018

The cover: OhMyGod ! Its so gorgeous. This is a YA Fantasy novel about a girl,Jules who lives in a world where time is drawn from blood and forged into the currency of blood-iron coins, which the wealthy drink to live longer. It sounds like a really cool premise and I’m really looking forward to it.

Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
Publication Date:January 16, 2018

This is an #ownvoices coming of age debut novel about an Indian- American- Muslim teenage girl. I’m super excited for this one. I’m trying to read more own voices book’s and this one just sounds really good.

The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross
Publication Date: February 6, 2018

There is a lot of YA Fantasy book’s coming out in 2018, and this one sounds so good. Brienna lives in a kingdom where you are born with one of the five passions. Brienna struggles with her passion, her plans do not go as planned and she is left without a patron. There is a war brewing between another kingdom. I’m really intrigued by the element of passions, it reminds me of The Enchantments of Ravens and I loved that book.

American Panda by Gloria Chao
Publication Date:February 6

I’m not usually drawn to contemporaries but this book just looks so cute. Mei Taiwanese-American teen whose parents want her to be a doctor and marry a Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer despite her squeamishness with germs and crush on a Japanese classmate. I’m really looking forward to this book 🙂 This sounds like such an adorable contemporary novel.

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston
Publication Date: February 13, 2018

This book is being pitched as Anastasia meets Firefly and I’m so here for this. This is written by the same author who wrote Geekerella (which I still need to get to). Ana goes on a quest to steal the coordinates to a lost ship. She meets an iron blood boy,and they become fugitives on the run. This sounds like it will be an angst filled ya sci- fi and I’m so here for it. The cover is so gorgeous !!

Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi
Publication Date: March 6, 2018

Restore me is the fourth book in the Shatter Me series, I fell in love with this series in 2016. So I haven’t had to wait as long as some fans for a new book but I cannot wait to get my hands on this book.

Obsidio by Amy Kauffmand and Jay Kristoff
Publication Date: March 13, 2018

This is the third book in the Illuminae files, I think this is the last book but I’m not sure. I just finished reading Gemina and I loved it. It is a sci-fi novel, with a mixed media format written by emails and video surveillance files which is super cool.

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Please let me know what winter 2018 book’s your most looking forward too. 2018 sounds like it’s going to be an amazing year for book releases and I cannot wait !

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