Book Club and what I've been Reading

Since we got to California, I've enjoyed some great books. Here are most of them, in the order I read them (I think.... it's amazing how quickly you forget!!):

Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin

 I loved the Happiness Project so when I saw there was a sequel I couldn't pass it up. I really enjoy Gretchen Rubin's style and I got a lot of ideas for things I wanted to try from this, such as making a gallery of Halloween pictures to display every year. The central message is, figure out what makes YOU happy, and what things are worth the extra effort, and do those. Sometimes I want to just skip decorating for holidays or doing festive activities, but this helped me think about how quickly time is passing, and motivated me to make the effort to start family traditions now, while Valerie is young but old enough to enjoy things like lights and making cookies for Santa. It really does all go by so quickly and I can always use a reminder to slow down and try to make the most of today.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed 

I don't know why I waited so long to read this book, but I absolutely LOVED it. Beautiful writing by Cheryl Strayed, incredibly emotional story, and I cannot recommend it highly enough to women in particular. As a mother especially it spoke to me, and made me want to love my daughter as much as her mother loved her as a child. It even made me want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail for a minute, which tells you what an amazing story this is, since I don't camp.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

This was good storytelling that totally sucked me in, and I definitely did not see the end coming!


On Writing by Stephen King



 I loved, loved this book. I haven't read anything else by Stephen King yet, but I am such a huge fan of his writing. The man knows what he is talking about and tells a story like none other. The memoir section, especially when he got his big break, got me so hard in the feels.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr



I chose this book for the first meeting of my new book club. I missed my book club from home and decided to start one with the biodesign girls out here, although this probably wasn't the best choice for the first month. It was a good book, for sure, but so long and so heavy (it takes place during World War II) and more than most people had time to read. Apparently it took the author 10 years to write and I certainly believe it. It took me most of an entire weekend to read it and it left me feeling dark and sad about humanity. This was also Friday the 13th, the day of the Paris attacks, so... yeah.

At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

This was the book chosen for the second meeting of book club, by the author of Water for Elephants. It took me a while to get into it... the whole first half of the book, to be honest... but I did like it by the end. The protagonist is convincingly transformed from a person you can't stand into the heroine you're rooting for. I enjoyed the second half quite a bit.

Here's what's coming up on my reading list:

The Martian by Andy Weir
Waking Up by Sam Harris
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
Wildflower by Drew Barrymore

So look for another book post sometime in the spring. And let me know if you've read anything good lately, I'm always looking for recommendations!