January 31, 2014

What I'm Into (January)



Joining in for the first time with Leigh Kramer and her monthly What I'm Into linkup! Head over to her site to see all the other great bloggers participating.

Reading:

Loved, loved, loved The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. It tells the story of Ernest Hemingway's first wife and their years in Paris before he was a success. Their relationship was fascinating and flawed, but McLain made every moment compelling. Now I'm dying to dig in and find out more about Hadley's later life and read more by Hemingway himself, which to me is sign of a really good historical novel.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss is a half grammar how-to book, half funny diatribe about modern punctuation (or lack there of!). Sometimes hysterical, sometimes a bit slow, but a good refresher either way.

I'm still reading The BFG with my boys, though my goodness it is dragging! I loved it as a child but there just isn't enough action to keep us hooked as a read-aloud. Any suggestions for favorite read alouds for boys? I always need to add to my list.



I'm going to try to join Leigh in her February Reading Challenge. For this month read only books you already own rather than hitting up the library or bookstore. I am so guilty of find new recommendations on blogs or Goodreads and ignoring the great books laying around my house unread. The picture above is my working to-read in February pile…considering that I have enough unread books on my kindle alone I'm sure this list is going to change!

Listening:

Since I'm somewhat randomly headed to a Luke Bryan concert this weekend I've been listening to his album and similar music on iTunes radio to brush up. I was pathetically excited when a song popped up by Darius Rucker (aka Hootie minus the Blowfish) and I realized he made a country album! Excuse me while I turn into a 90s fangirl for a moment.


Watching:

Sherlock is back!! Sunday night was the most fabulous Best Man's speech ever. Now if only this season had more than 3 episodes. Of course, I'm watching Downton too. Frankly, the storyline with Anna really is putting me off this season. I wish Julian Fellowes could have left well enough alone for at least one season!

The Bachelor. Total guilty pleasure. It was really fun watching this week's episode where they all went to South Korea and we could see some of the same sights we saw when we picked up Ben.




Loving:

Hot chocolate dates with my boys and snuggling my dogs in the cold weather, and sneaking a few minutes outside to read when it's been warm.

Comfort cooking: Nigella's Rice Pudding, cinnamon sugar scones, homemade pizza, and spiced brownies  and drinking hot toddies and warm tea.

Classic movies: Finally convinced my husband to watch some of my old favorites…not sure if it was the end of football season or canceling our cable package  that finally made him say yes. First up The Thin Man, The Uninvited and lots of Alfred Hitchcock!

Wishing for these shoes, an excuse to make this hostess gift, and a local source for Ginger Beer so I can make this drink (in that fabulous mug of course!)

The holidays always makes me want to clear out my clutter. I've got one thrift store donation run down and a bunch of clothes loaded into Poshmark to sell and my closet looks so much better! Now to add a few new things into it :)


What are you into this month? Check out Leigh's blog for more fun posts!


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11 comments:

  1. I am so bad about this! I took a look at my kindle and I think I have enough books on that alone to get through one month! Yikes!

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  2. Ooh, I've had my eye on some Minnetonkas for a while too! I found some in TJ Maxx a few months ago but they didn't have the color I wanted in my size, but boy were they comfortable! I was a little worried Paris Wife wouldn't live up to the hype (I have several friends who have been raving about it for months) but it was an enjoyable read.

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  3. Hiya Moira! The photo of your yummy hot chocolate has me craving it now! Isn't Sherlock awesome?! I was so mad at Julian Fellows for messing with my beloved Anna and Bates, but it will be interesting to see what happens next season! I'm joining Leigh in her reading challenge this month, too. Hope you have a great February!

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  4. The Paris Wife made me curious about the rest of Hadley's life, too, though I have yet to look into it. I did read A Moveable Feast afterward, which I'd meant to read for years, and realized I quite prefer Hemingway's fiction to his prose. Glad you're participating in the February Reading Challenge! The Anna storyline on Downton is breaking my heart! Absolutely horrifying twist in this season. So sad that tonight is our last Sherlock for a while.

    Thanks for linking up with What I'm Into!

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  5. I've only done the briefest googling of Hadley-I needed to see a picture of her to see if it matched up to the picture in my head (not at all by the way!) I need to find a copy of A Moveable Feast because I'm so curious to see Hemingway's version of the story….although I'll be waiting until March to start it :)

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  6. I am so sad that Sherlock is over for the season now! I finally convinced my husband to watch it though so at least I can go back and re-watch the old ones. I'm only a few days into the reading challenge and already itching to go to the library for something new-this might be harder than I thought :)

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  7. Oh no -- the BFG isn't good as a read aloud? That makes me sad... I loved it so much as a kid. And yum, pass the hot chocolate!!! I got my son a packet of peppermint hot chocolate for his Xmas stocking and he still hasn't drunk it... if it makes it to spring, it's fair game for me to drink, right???

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  8. I'm still pouting about The BFG. It's a combination of minimal action in the first half and the fact that much of the humor comes from the garbled language of the BFG himself. I think in another few years they will enjoy it, but now (at 4 and 5) it's just not holding their interest.
    And I think if you make to spring break or the first day of spring (which comes first?) then that hot chocolate is all yours!

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  9. Oh, they're only 4 & 5? Yeah, that's probably a little too young to really enjoy it. =( I still read mostly picture books with my almost-4 yr old!

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  10. So glad you joined in! I have been linking up since October and it has turned into my favorite post of the month. Joining in though will make that February challenge hard- I know. Every month I add tons of books to my wish list thanks to Leigh and her readers. :) I am on my own challenge too. so I'm right there with you.

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  11. Thank you! You're so sweet! I'm working my way through Plate to Pixel but I haven't finished it yet. The food styling parts are especially helpful! Almost too much good info in there :)

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