February 2019 Reading List
Hey y'all! How is everyone doing on this beautiful day? Well I hope it is beautiful wherever you are at least! I am super excited for many different reasons but one of them is that I am officially one week away from MY 22ND BIRTHDAY! That is still so crazy to me that a year as flown by already and I am about to be another year older. I am also excited because I am a week away from Spring Break which is so, so very much needed right now because there has not been a break at all for the last 5 weeks and it has been rough. And the last thing I am really excited about is that tomorrow night I am taking 2 of my friends to their very first NHL hockey experience to go watch my boys the Carolina Hurricanes play and I could not be more excited! I love taking people to these games for the first time because there really is a difference between watching it on TV and being there in person, in the arena, being up close and personal, and watching the Canes play.
~THE BOYS OF WINTER BY WAYNE COFFEY | Once upon a time, they taught us to believe. They were the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, a blue-collar bunch led by an unconventional coach, and they engineered what Sports Illustrated called the greatest sports moment of the twentieth century. Their “Miracle on Ice” has become a national fairy tale, but the real Cinderella story is even more remarkable. Wayne Coffey casts a fresh eye on this seminal sports event, giving readers an ice-level view of the amateurs who took on a Russian hockey juggernaut at the height of the Cold War. He details the unusual chemistry of the Americans—formulated by their fiercely determined coach, Herb Brooks—and seamlessly weaves portraits of the boys with the fluid action of the game itself. Coffey also traces the paths of the players and coaches since their stunning victory, examining how the Olympic events affected their lives. The Boys of Winter is an intimate, perceptive portrayal of one Friday night in Lake Placid and the enduring power of the extraordinary. If y'all have been following along with me for some time you know that my all time favorite movie is Miracle which is the movie based on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. Reading The Boys of Winter, you get to really see into the lives of each of the players growing up, how they played their own game of hockey, what it was like playing for Herb Brooks, what they are doing after this life changing game, and most importantly the details of the game. It is a story that will leave you looking at how life changing this game was and what a group of young guys did for a whole country.
~EAT PRAY LOVE BY ELIZABETH GILBERT | In her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want—husband, country home, successful career—but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and set out to explore three different aspects of her nature, against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. If you have never read this book you are missing out. Eat Pray Love is beautiful in every way and opens your eyes to so much culture and different ways of life. It makes you want to go out and do things with your life and experience the same things that Elizabeth Gilbert did. The journeys and stories she tells are beautiful and truly a story that you have to read!
~AFTER WE COLLIDED BY ANNA TODD | Tessa has everything to lose. Hardin has nothing to lose...except her. AFTER WE COLLIDED...Life will never be the same. #HESSAAfter a tumultuous beginning to their relationship, Tessa and Hardin were on the path to making things work. Tessa knew Hardin could be cruel, but when a bombshell revelation is dropped about the origins of their relationship—and Hardin’s mysterious past—Tessa is beside herself. Hardin will always be...Hardin. But is he really the deep, thoughtful guy Tessa fell madly in love with despite his angry exterior—or has he been a stranger all along? She wishes she could walk away. It’s just not that easy. Not with the memory of passionate nights spent in his arms. His electric touch. His hungry kisses. Still, Tessa’s not sure she can endure one more broken promise. She put so much on hold for Hardin—school, friends, her mom, a relationship with a guy who really loved her, and now possibly even a promising new career. She needs to move forward with her life. Hardin knows he made a mistake, possibly the biggest one of his life. He’s not going down without a fight. But can he change? Will he change...for love? If y'all read my January 2019 Reading List Blog Post, I shared with y'all the first After book and now I am sharing the 2nd book in the series. It is a book that will have you not wanting to put it down. You are so entranced with everything that is going on and all of the drama that happens in this crazy relationship. It is such a dysfunctional relationship but you can relate in ways and you will for sure be falling over your feet on some of the things that Hardin says to Tessa!
~TALKING AS FAST AS I CAN BY LAUREN GRAHAM | Lauren Graham hits pause for a moment and looks back on her life, sharing laugh-out-loud stories about growing up, starting out as an actress, and, years later, sitting in her trailer on the Parenthood set and asking herself, “Did you, um, make it?” She opens up about the challenges of being single in Hollywood, the time she was asked to audition her butt for a role, and her experience being a judge on Project Runway. Graham sits down for an epic Gilmore Girls marathon and reflects on being cast as the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore. The essay “What It Was Like, Part Two” reveals how it felt to pick up the role again nine years later, and what doing so has meant to her. Some more things you will learn about Lauren: She once tried to go vegan just to bond with Ellen DeGeneres, she’s aware that meeting guys at awards shows has its pitfalls, and she’s a card-carrying REI shopper. Including photos and excerpts from the diary Graham kept during the filming of the recent Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, this book is like a cozy night in, catching up with your best friend, laughing and swapping stories, and—of course—talking as fast as you can. I can guarantee you every girl at some point in time has watched an episode or two or maybe all of Gilmore Girls or Parenthood and loves Lauren Graham. I saw this and instantly picked it up and knew I had to read it because of how witty, intelligent, and funny Lauren Graham is. You will fall in love with Lauren Graham and relate to everything that she says and has gone through in life. What amazing story she has to tell and honestly how badly you want to be watching this story on a big screen because let me tell you it would sell for a lot of money! And trust me while reading this you can really hear how fast Lauren Graham talks without her even being there!
~WORLD OF STYLE BY AIMEE SONG | Aimee Song is a fashion icon, a sartorial star, the blogger behind Song of Style, and the author of Capture Your Style. Here she collects more than five hundred of her all-time favorite looks from around the world.Her style, favorite travel spots, and personal memories from the hottest destinations all over the globe, including: Anguilla, Antwerp, Austin, Bali, Bermuda, Busan, Capri, Chicago, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dallas, Dubai, The French Rivera, The Hamptons, Ibiza, Iceland, India, Jakarta, Kyoto, London, Los Angeles, Los Cabos, Mauritius, Miami, Milan, Morocco, Nayarit, New York, Palm Springs, Paris, The Philippines, Phuket, Seoul, Sicily, Singapore, South Africa, St. Barts, Switzerland, Tokyo, Tulum, Venice. My fashion and travel happy self was so happy to read this especially since Aimee Song is the OG of bloggers and is one of my favorites to this day! Her travels are so amazing and the fact that she has been to all of these places makes me so envious of her and how hard she works. If we are being honest she is someone I really look up to that follows her passion for blogging and fashion and never lets anybody steer her in a way she doesn't want to go! And also she gave me some more great places that I have put onto my bucket list of places that I need to travel to as soon as possible!
What have y'all been reading during the month of February? I am looking for some suggestions so please let me know of any good books that I should try out.
As always thank y'all for stopping by and reading! I will see y'all back here next time!
Love, D
