I’ve mentioned before that I take choosing books for vacations very seriously.  When packing for my honeymoon 10 years ago (!!!) I took choosing these books VERY seriously!  Jon and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary last week and in honor of this milestone anniversary, I thought I would share bits of our honeymoon with you today.

10 years ago, we left for our honeymoon approximately 28 hours after our wedding ended and I was more than READY for a relaxing, perfect week in Jamaica with my HUSBAND!

Checking into the hotel was the very first time I ever officially wrote my brand new name!

We had the best week with the best memories.  The most perfect start to our new life!

For as long as I live, I will never ever forget laying in the shallow end of this beautiful ocean while reading a book.  To this day, I’ve never in my entire life felt as peaceful as I did in that moment.  The waves all around me, the sky as perfectly blue as could be.  I would give anything to return to that beach and read just like that again one day.  Hands down one of my most favorite reading moments of my life!

So peaceful, right???

Beautiful.

We had our own private villa with our own private pool.  See those lounge chairs?  I remember laying there and reading next to my new tote bag with my brand new initials while Jon was laying in the chair next to me.  Every few pages I would glance over at that tote in pure disbelief that those initials were now MINE!

Only a true book nerd would apparently take a picture of the book she was reading while on her honeymoon, lol:

Our private villa had the most gorgeous balcony where I would wake up before sunrise and read while Jon was still sleeping (AKA still one of my favorite things to do on any vacation!  I would rather wake up early and read than sleep in any day):

Here are the 2 books that I brought with me that week:

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Audrey Niffenegger’s innovative debut, The Time Traveler’s Wife, is the story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity in his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.

The Time Traveler’s Wife depicts the effects of time travel on Henry and Clare’s marriage and their passionate love for each other as the story unfolds from both points of view. Clare and Henry attempt to live normal lives, pursuing familiar goals—steady jobs, good friends, children of their own. All of this is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control, making their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

My Thoughts:

Omg this book.  I SOBBED in the very best way possible!  Truly one of the best and most thought provoking books I’ve read.  If you haven’t read this gem, I VERY highly recommend it.  Beautifully written characters, beautifully written story.  I’m getting teary just thinking about it.  Such a gorgeous book.  READ THIS BOOK!

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Since becoming a widow at age twenty-seven, Anjali Kapadia has devoted herself to transforming her parents’ sari shop into a chic boutique, brimming with exquisite jewelry and clothing. Now, ten years later, it stands out like a proud maharani amid Edison’s bustling Little India. But when Anjali learns the shop is on the brink of bankruptcy, she feels her world unraveling…

To the rescue comes Anjali’s wealthy, dictatorial Uncle Jeevan and his business partner, Rishi Shah — a mysterious Londoner, complete with British accent, cool gray eyes, and skin so fair it makes it hard to believe he’s Indian. Rishi’s cool, foreign demeanor triggers distrust in Anjali and her mother. But for Anjali, he also stirs something else, a powerful attraction she hasn’t felt in a decade. And the feeling is mutual…

Love disappointed Anjali once before and she’s vowed to live without it — though Rishi is slowly melting her resolve and, as the shop regains its footing, gaining her trust. But when a secret from Rishi’s past is revealed, Anjali must turn to her family and her strong cultural upbringing to guide her in finding the truth…

My Thoughts:

I’ll be honest…this book didn’t leave nearly the impression on me as The Time Traveler’s Wife did.  I very much remember LIKING it…but I do not very much remember LOVING it.  Wasn’t horrible, wasn’t amazing.  This book was just a bit forgettable although clearly the EXPERIENCE of reading it for me was most definitely not!

I loved both of these books but the most special part of them isn’t the writing.  It is the fact that they are both completely water logged from the gorgeous Jamaican water!  Just looking at the ripples in these pages will forever make me smile and remember one of the best times of my entire life.  I will never, ever get rid of these books!

Aaaaand come to think of it…this would be yet another example of how I don’t take care of books, lol 🙂

Have you read either of these books?  What did you think?

Xo,

Jenny

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