How Do You Treat Books?

I’m currently borrowing a book from a friend and knowing that I have to give it back when I’m done reading is making me very much aware of the way I am treating it.

It’s not that I normally MIStreat books necessarily, it’s that I’m just so used to always having them next to me that I just seamlessly incorporate them into my daily life. I toss them into my computer bag, throw them onto the seat of my car, eat while reading, etc.

Not this book.

See that safe place on top of my husband’s dresser? The dust jacket (or book jacket…both terms are correct) has been sitting safely there since the day I began reading so I won’t accidentally tear or bend it. Safely away from my children’s curious hands. The ONLY times I have put it actually ON the book have been to take pictures for Instagram or Facebook, lol.

I NEVER use bookmarks…ever. I always dog ear (fold down) the corners of my pages! Not this time…a tiny yellow post it note has been holding my place. Hate it. I’ve never been one to have to read to the end of the chapter before putting the book down so I always leave off in random places. Dog earing the pages allows me to know exactly which page I left off on! Now I have to figure it out between 2 pages each time I pick it up which is annoying.

I LOVE to bend the spine of books as I’m reading. I know many of you may find this weird but it actually makes me feel more connected to the book because it feels more “lived in” as I’m reading! Here are some examples of this from my bookshelf:

The borrowed book I’m currently reading? PERFECT SPINE.

I never realized how much I use books as coffee coasters. Apparently it’s often! Not this book 🙂

And a small glimpse into my life…I have written this entire blog post with a 4 year old cuddled up to me with his favorite joke book. The book comes with a “Whoopie Blaster” and makes various farting noises. Some bloggers write to the sound of beautiful music while here I am sitting and writing to the sound of farts. Lovely.

Wake of the Sadico Winner:

How do you treat books? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

Xo,

Jenny

This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:

*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*

*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*

*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*

*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*

*Follow me on Instagram*

*Follow me on Twitter*

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel*

*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*

*Leaving a positive review on my Facebook page*

The ultimate list of my top book suggestions can be found HERE

How Have I NEVER Talked About This Book on Here??? One of My All Time Favorites and Here are Some Personal Reasons Why :)

How on EARTH have I not reviewed this book on here yet?!? One of my all time favorite books and it’s so special to me for so many personal reasons. If you haven’t yet read this book…READ. THIS. BOOK.

In 2010, I remember walking through Sams Club and seeing it among the other books on the table. I had heard such great things about it and immediately tossed it into the cart (this was waaaaaay before my minimalism lifestyle started). I immediately came home and wrote the following Facebook status:

Turns out my Facebook friends LOVED it! I couldn’t wait to start reading.

Synopsis From Goodreads:

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women, mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends, view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.

My Thoughts:

5,000,000 Stars

I brought this book with me to Minnesota where my husband had a work trip and I tagged along because when your husband has a work trip in the same town as the Mall of America….you tag along. Obviously.

While he was in meetings, I spent my days alone and SHOPPING (again, before the minimalism lifestyle) and when his meetings were done, him and I had the best time exploring a new (to us) city. What started off as a work trip quickly and randomly turned into one of the most fun vacations him and I have ever taken! The 2 of us went to fancy restaurants, international bazaars, art galleries, comedy clubs, and more. We had the best time! I remember laying in our hotel bed and completely immersing myself into this wonderful book throughout that special week. I LOVE when I’m reading a great book while on vacation…

Jon and I on that 2010 Minnesota trip! We look like babies!

Fast forward 1 year later and to one of the best memories of my entire life. I woke up, took a pregnancy test, and everything was instantly changed forever! I was going to be a MOM! Jon and I spent the whole day in complete excitement of what was happening. Our day of celebrating together had to be cut short because I had made plans that night to go into the city with 2 of my closest friends for a fancy dinner and to hear Katheryn Stockett give a book talk all about The Help! My friends and I had been planning this special night for MONTHS, how could I cancel on them?!? So I went…along with my huge secret. I remember telling the server to leave the feta cheese off of my chicken at dinner and praying that my friends wouldn’t suspect a thing because I LOVE feta cheese (they didn’t)! As much as I adore Kathryn Stockett and her beautiful book…I truly didn’t listen to a single word that she said that night 😉 I’m sure her talk was lovely!

At the book talk the day I found out that I was going to be a MOM!

When I got home that night, I found Jon reading a book of a different genre 🙂

Fast forward 4 years and my sister in law bought my daughter the most perfect shirt with the most perfect quote from the most perfect book:

LOVE IT.

Look closely at my blog’s signature picture of me reading a book and drinking coffee…I spy The Help 😉

If you haven’t read The Help, you absolutely must. It’s such a beautifully written story! It will make you laugh, cry, and every emotion in between. And as a bonus…this is one of the rare circumstances where I actually think that the movie IS as good as the book!

I went to the theater to see this movie when I was 4 months pregnant with my daughter and spent the entire movie rubbing my growing belly. Her first movie!

I loved the movie and how true it was to the book. Both the book and the movie were so well done. I was able to talk to live chat with Viola Davis (one of the stars of the movie) online after its release and was able to tell her how much I loved it! She was lovely and appreciative of my message and her and I continued to message back and forth…she was so sweet!

Obviously just thinking about this book brings up some beautiful memories for me but even without those, I would so highly recommend this gorgeously (is gorgeously a word? If not, it should be) written book. The messages that it sends, the lessons that it teaches, the in depth characters…and everything else.

Bottom Line

It’s an amazing book. Read it.

Have you read The Help? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Xo,

Jenny

Click the image below to order the book through my Amazon affiliate link. When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo

This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:

*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*

*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*

*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*

*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*

*Follow me on Instagram*

*Follow me on Twitter*

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel*

*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*

*Leaving a positive review on my Facebook page*

The ultimate list of my top book suggestions can be found HERE

I SO Wish Authors Would Stop Doing This {Part 2}

I love authors and I have an incredible amount of respect for all they do.

However, there are certain things that I so wish they would stop doing! You can read Part 1 of this series HERE.

Part 2 of this series will focus onnnn….drumroll please…

TOO MANY CHARACTERS!

Omg this is SUCH a pet peeve of mine.

I would so rather read a book with a handful of well developed characters than a book with so many characters that none of them are developed or even mentioned enough to make significant contributions to the story.

I hate, hate, HATE when I have to flip back through pages (I only read paper books) to try to figure out who a character is because there were just too many to keep straight.

I find this especially frustrating while reading thrillers. I get it…there needs to be a fair amount of characters introduced so the “who done it” isn’t completely obvious. However, it’s more than annoying to find out that the “who done it” turns out to be a meaningless character who I never even had the chance to get to “know” in the first place. Nothing worse than a huge plot twist at the end revolving around an insignificant character.

What do you think? Do you agree with me? How many characters is too many?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

And just an FYI because a few of you have asked…yes, I’m still reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo! I usually finish reading books must faster than this…but…I’ve been spending any and all of my quiet time on a Bachelor BINGE. I was 5 episodes behind and it was time to just sit and BINGE so I would be caught up for the finale. I’m alllllmost caught up but not quite so until I do, Evelyn Hugo is taking a backseat. As soon as I’m all caught up to Bachelor nation, I will finish Evelyn! My 2 spolier free thoughts on this season:

This is the first season in the history of The Bachelor that I don’t have a favorite contestant and I haven’t had one all season.
Peter has made some absolutely HORRIBLE choices. Like…throughout entire time.

Do you watch the Bachelor? Please NO SPOILERS and NO PREDICTIONS if you do!

**Winner of the Spring! Time to Build a Nest, A Story About Trumpeter Swans Giveaway:**

Xo,

Jenny

This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:

*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*

*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*

*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*

*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*

*Follow me on Instagram*

*Follow me on Twitter*

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel*

*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*

*Leaving a positive review on my Facebook page*

I was Wrong. So Very Wrong. This Book is AMAZING.

For a year and a half, I had less than zero desire to read this book.

The reviews were glowing, everyone kept recommending it to me, and yet…I was determined to read EVERYTHING else.

I even posted on Facebook and Instagram about this book telling people that I had absolutely no desire to ever read it and I just didn’t understand its popularity. Nope. Never reading this boring sounding book. Not for me.

Then I broke my toe and was in desperate need of a good book. I went to the library and nothing stood out to me. I so randomly saw one lone copy of this book on the shelf. I ignored it and kept searching. About 20 minutes later I went back to the shelf, grabbed it, and begrudgingly checked it out. There was simply nothing else! I figured that if I was EVER going to read this book, this was the time…where I was literally forced to lay down and ice my toe for 20 minutes 3 times each day.

I came home, propped up my toe with ice, opened to page 1…and promptly and happily devoured every single page after that.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens.

Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell, Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

My Thoughts:

(Disclaimer: I will never post spoilers in my reviews HOWEVER the comment section is completely fair game to discuss any and all specifics including spoilers)

1,000,000 stars

Oh this book. It’s absolutely BEAUTIFUL.

One of the best books I’ve ever read (which if you are a faithful blog reader you realize that I’ve now discovered TWO of my all time favorites over the past 6 months! How amazing is that???)

I very literally could not put this book down. I found myself reading whenever I could spare a few minutes. I thought about it ALL the time (and still do). I theorized so much of what was going to happen in the end (I was waaaay off, lol).

This is such a special story from beginning to end. I can’t even begin to imagine how beautiful this movie will be! The movie rights have already been purchased but the release date hasn’t been announced yet…READ THE BOOK FIRST! I can promise that even if the movie will be amazing, there is just no way it can capture the depth of the book. I can already say with DEFINITE clarity that the book is better 🙂

When books are overly hyped I find myself either LOVING or HATING them but rarely are my feelings somewhere in the middle. This book deserves every single bit of hype it has received. Delia Owens wrote such a lovely story. I smiled, I cried, I loved it all.

I do have 2 issues with this book:

1. The absolute biggest issue that I have with this book is how the synopsis on the cover is written. It sounds BORING. It’s not…it’s actually anything but. I’m not exactly sure how I would have written it differently but it just doesn’t do this book justice. If not for the hype surrounding this book there is NO way I would have picked this one up on my own. A big thank you to whomever gave this book a chance before it was popular and helped give it the popularity that it has so rightfully gained.

2. The imagery in this book is spectacular. The details used to describe even the tiniest of objects were amazing. There was only 1 thing not described well…the main character!!! For the first 1/3 of the book I pictured her with black skin until I finally Googled “What color is Kya’s skin in Where the Crawdads Sing?” because I was starting to think I was wrong. Sure enough…I (and apparently a whole lot of other people) was wrong! Once I got it in my head that her skin was white, I immediately pictured her as a shoulder length blond until they mentioned her long black hair about HALFWAY through the book. Ummm…what?! These details should have been solidified early on. Not to mention that I’m still not 100 percent sure I’m pronouncing her name correctly (I say it like Kaia which after another Google search I learned is also apparently how it’s pronounced in the audio version?? However, it’s supposed to be short for Catherine which makes makes me think that maybe it’s meant to be pronounced Ka?)

Even with these issues, I truly loved this story. BEAUTIFUL!

It was so meant to be that there was that one random lone copy of this book on the library shelf. This was the PERFECT book to help me though that first week with only 9 working toes!

This was the type of book where once I finished, I wasn’t emotionally ready to start reading another book right away…I LOVE WHEN THAT HAPPENS! When characters truly make their way into my heart, I have a hard time “leaving them”…does this happen to anyone else????

**As I was working on this post, I noticed that it’s on sale for only $9.59 on Amazon today for a HARDCOVER copy! Amazing deal! Amazon Affiliate link below…**

Bottom Line:

Truly one of the best books I’ve ever read. If you haven’t read this one yet…it’s a MUST.

Xo,

Jenny

Did you read this book? What did you think? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Click the image below to order the book through my Amazon affiliate link. When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo

This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:

*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*

*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*

*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*

*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*

*Follow me on Instagram*

*Follow me on Twitter*

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel*

*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*

*Leaving a positive review on my Facebook page*