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Hey y'all!!

I've thought about doing a blog about the books I've read for a long time. I like to read and read a lot. I've become friends on social media with several authors and then I joined their "street teams." So basically I have some pretty awesome friends who tell me they have new books to read. Since I already know I like their style and other stories, it makes it a no-brainer to jump at their next book. Then I go on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and some other sites and leave a review.

Then I figured--- Why not have my own blog and not only review the books of those authors?!? So I'm gonna go for it. I'm going to read like I normally do. But then I'm going to come to y'all and let ya know what I think.

Granted, these reviews are subjective. They're what I think. And they're on books I normally read anyways. Occasionally I'll post asking for suggestions on books you've heard about or read about, books you'd rather have a real person tell you their honest opinion of.  Kind of like Rotten Tomatoes: Which do you trust more? The Critics Review or The Real People? Because even I know a movie can be critically good, but still SUCK! I mean, Ryan Gosling's movie Drive scored 100% with critics but it was AWFUL!! At least that's what my sister and I thought. Critically I could see why they liked it. but honestly I wanted to walk out of the theatre the entire time. If movie tickets and concessions weren't so expensive, you can bet we would have!


I know a good deal about the types of books I like, so I go through periods where I will devour all the same author or all the same sub-genre: sports (all hockey, all baseball, etc) or historical or comedy. This is a good thing in that I get a lot of "hits" from my book sites about other books just like what I've read. But it's a crap-shoot in getting me to find a new thing for me to read and enjoy. So that's where your suggestions will help me.

Since I plan on spending a little more time on here, and letting you get to know me through my reading options; I figured I'd let ya in on who I am and why I decided that now is the time to book-blog.

Okay, so. I used to work an "outside the house" job. I liked it. A lot. It was fun to get out for a few--or more than a few--hours a day and talk to adults. People I'm not related to. People that could communicate with me on complex ideas and topics. I had my daughter in 2013 and tried to go back to work after 2 months at home with her. It was hard but I thought I was setting an example for her. How to be a mom and a productive member of society.

Things changed, though. Jobs changed. Priorities changed. Opportunities changed.

My son was born in 2016. Wow!! did having two kids make things drastically different!! I figured it would be a little harder to get out and do things with two. May be a little harder to work a full-time job and keep my promise to my then-boyfriend/fiancé about how we wanted to raise our kids. But we talked it through and did our best to make arrangements so that I could work part-time.

And then EVERYTHING changed! My daughter was in pre-school and I missed almost all of her in-school events. She would always be just so excited when I was able to make it. She would mention it for days and even weeks after the fact. I was planning the wedding to the man of my dreams and working what was supposed to be a part-time job... but one that had me out of the house almost 35 hours a week. Sometimes more.

Suddenly I took a look at my home. At my life. And I realized that I wasn't where I wanted to be. I wasn't the mom I wanted to be. And yes, it does suck a lot to think that, let alone write it. So I talked to my fiancé and we agreed to make it work with me at home. I put my notice in at my job and that was that. I married my best friend and became a stay at home mom.

Now there are times at night, after the kids are asleep and the house is picked up, when I have some minutes to myself. I like to fill those minutes (and yes, it's still just a few minutes!!) and read. I like to read all kinds of books, all kinds of stories... and I spend those few precious minutes every night  taking my little "me time."

So that's me. In a nutshell I'm a mom of two, actively trying to deny that I'm creeping more and more into my 30s every day. I'm a devourer of books. A capturer of moments. A wife and mother. And I'm excited to get started!!