I bought this book for Nonny for Christmas. We decided to read it for my book club and I was overjoyed! It is a really fast and interesting story set in non other than Florence, Italy. On her mothers death bed she begs her to go meet this man who was her friend the exact same years ago as she is old...so...its got to be her long lost father she has never met or known about. She goes to Florence and has a crazy time trying to piece together her mothers life while she was living there 15 years ago. Along the way she finds love, and GELATO!!!

It was so fun to read because I recently went to Florence and when she talked about the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio, and the obscure gelato place that was heavenly I reminisced about when I experienced them. It was like I was back there. I just HAD to eat some gelato while I read this book, although it is not the same frozen from the grocery store as it is in Italy.

All in all, a very fun book, albeit a bit predictable. Maybe I've just read too many romance books, but I figured out all the secrets in an instant. It was still very fun to read. She is coming out with a new book "Love and Luck" in May about a girl who travels to Ireland. So...MosleyGirlsTrip 2019 to Dublin???

My Lady Jane

I LOVED this book! I enjoy learning about English royalty, and romance, and fantasy books and this one has all of those. It is a hilarious and frustrating story about Lady Jane Gray, if she had lived and lived in a world that had people who could turn in to animals at will. There were several references to Monty Python and the Holy Grail as well as quotes from Shakespeare (attributed in the book to one of the main characters, hey he could have been Williams inspiration right?!). It was a fun read and although I said it was frustrating, it all came together in the end.

It is written by three authors with each one taking a main character and telling the story from their point of view. It was seriously fun and enjoyable. Pick it up or borrow my copy because I bought it!

Far From the Madding Crowd

This book is by Thomas Hardy, an English novelist of the early 20th century.  The heroine is Bathsheba, but she is a tragic character, struggling against her passions and social circumstances, a favorite topic for writers of this time.  Three different men love her and want her as their wife, but her capricious folly and skewed ideas of what love means cause her to make tragic choices.  The writing style is very descriptive and I especially admired his description of a stormy night where I could feel and wind and cold and see and hear the lightning, etc.  It is also a lesson in the agrarian life of its characters.  The societal dos and don'ts limit the desires of the people and cause scandal and distress to the townspeople.  Bathsheba is a strong, independent woman, but succumbs to her misled passions, realizing too late the consequences of her rash choices.  I enjoyed the book.  If you've read it, tell me what you think the title represents!!

This book was just lovely. It saved me on my 9 hour flight from Venice to Canada where I hadn't downloaded the app to watch movies on the plane. I freaked out for a minute then realized I had this book to read!

It is set in Ireland as the author is a famous Irish novelist. Chicky is a girl who leaves her homeland for New York and returns years later. She buys an old house and sets up a bed and breakfast. The story begins with her story, and then each chapter is the background and story of characters who come to stay at her bed and breakfast for a week in winter. It really is like reading a bunch of short stories, but they all connect somehow. Characters are mentioned in others chapters and then you get to learn their background during their own chapter. Well written and an easy read. It was fun and made me think about going to Ireland someday, but not in winter!

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

I listened to this book while cleaning at night and during the day (thanks Poppy!)  She starts by giving some background on what a happiness project is. Then she lays out her happiness project and what she did and learned throughout the year. She has lots of research on happiness and has several quotes that are very enlightening. I plan to get the physical copy of the book for Christmas so I can underline and highlight it. There is even a coloring book with some of her best quotes on Amazon!

What she did was pick 12 general areas to work on each month. January was Energy, February was Marriage, one month was Work, etc, etc. Each month she had smaller checklist goals that she would follow. For her energy month it was declutter, get more sleep, etc. Her goal was to make them habits and continue doing each months goals in addition to the current month she was in.

I found it very interesting to listen to. She had some good points, but here were some of my favorite/ones I remember:

-Be yourself. Sometimes we think, I shouldn't feel this way or need this, but I do, and thats ok. (She mentioned she loves getting gold stars for anything she does. She shouldn't need them, but she wants them)

-50% of your happiness is genetic. The other 50% is your life. So you do have a lot of control.

-Realize that you might be doing things "for other people" but you are really doing it for yourself. And that's ok.

-Kids DO bring happiness. She sighted some article that said having kids lowers your happiness because you lose freedom. She called BS and said she is able to enjoy more things that she would not do or experience if she didn't have kids. (Go to zoos, watch silly cartoons, etc)

Thats all for now. A great book with great ideas. It motivated me to clean out my closet and be a better mom.

Dressing Your Truth by Carol Tuttle

I just hosted my book club for this book last month. I was very interested in it after Caitlin mentioned they had read it in her book club.

The opening is all about laying the foundation for her profiling system. She emphasizes that each type of energy is beautiful and everyone has all types in them.

The meat of the book is detailing qualities, challenges, examples of the four energy types. It was fun to read and highlight the parts that were true to me. I immediately profiled myself a type 2. I highlighted almost the whole chapter.

The end is all about how to purchase her online product and why you should spend so much money on yourself because you are worth it, etc. I skimmed most of it.

Our discussion was fun and we had mostly types 3's and 4's with me the only 2 and another girl maybe a type 1. I made cookies to match each type (type 1 of me, or maybe type 2 for the attention to detail). Funfetti cake cookies for Type 1, Almond Poppyseed for type 2, Dark chocolate orange for type 3, and shortbread half dipped in dark chocolate for type 4.

This book is intriguing because I like to profile myself and be a part of a group. As I was reading the Type 1 section I thought, "This is me! I am optimistic, like to make things fun, etc". Then I started reading Type 2 and thought, yep this is me. I struggled through type 3 as it was nothing like me at all, and possibly Logan. Then I ready Type 4 and thought, "This is me! No wait, this is more Logan". So I figured I was a type 2 with a small type 1. And Logan was a type 4/3. Lovely, I hope they get along as well as we do. But then I looked at the clothing she suggests and I was way bummed. Type 2 should wear flowing and gray undertones. Boring! I love my bright yellow shirt and my white and dark color striped shirts! I wished I was a 4. So I reread 4 and thought ya, I am quiet and I LOVE rules, and I like to be alone sometimes. So maybe I am a 2, 1, and 4. Logan said it was all baloney (so type 4) and detailed to me how it was so. He did say that I look best in natural and neutral colors (boo). So, I think I will wear whatever makes me feel happy. I definitely won't wear any type 3 stuff because I don't feel comfortable in it.

The book was fun to read and gave great topics to discuss. Read it and tell me what type you think you are! I have my suspicions for all of you, but she says in the book "Only YOU can type yourself!"

I just finished this book last night for my book club. It was lovely! It's set in Regency times in England. A young woman solicits help from a man to find her betrothed whom she hasn't heard from for quite some time. The story is about their quest to find him and what happens along the way.

Within the first two chapters I had the whole story figured out. I read it quickly so my suspicions could be revealed true. It did seem to drag a little as I was anticipating the ending resolution. Overall it was a fun read.

The main character is a headstrong lady who prefers to do things on her own because she can and has no need for a man to do things for her. I was worried this would be another "female empowerment" issue (I for one don't enjoy those because I like men being gentlemen and women being ladies). But the male character gave a really strong argument on why it is important for men to be gentlemen and for women to allow them to serve them. She says,

"Nathan, I want us to be equals in this. If I am capable enough to do something, why shouldn't I do it? Why does that have to be unladylike, just so a man can put himself above me?"

He replies, "I have no such designs, I know that we are equals. I accept it and rejoice in it. In fact, I think you are far above me, which is as it should be. But for Gosh sake, Moira, let me have a little dignity as a man!"

He then goes on to say that he is a gentleman and he knows of no other way to be, if she doesn't let him be a gentleman then he will feel he isn't doing his best or being true to who he is.

Cute story.