BHBC: Here I Go Again

I was asked to review Here I Go Again as part of the BlogHer Book Club. This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

If you could go back in time and revisit your high school self, what changes would you make? Lissy Rider gets that opportunity in Here I Go Again, the latest book by Jen Lancaster.

Lissy was the queen bee in high school, and has lived what she thought was a charmed life. But months before her high school reunion  it all comes crashing down. Lissy goes to her reunion trying to relive her glory days and regain her footing, but instead finds she has even lower to go. When the chance comes to go back to a small window of her high school years and make some small adjustments, she does. But when she comes back, those small changes have wrecked other people's lives. And while it appears that her life is now better, she realizes that it still isn't right. Can she go back again and make the appropriate changes?

When I received the book, the cover was so cute. A peak under the dust jacket reveals the cover is a picture of a cork board with objects from our high school days! This made me happy to have a hard copy of the book to read.

This was a quick and fun read. It had a lot of great references to the 80's, reminding my of my high school years, and it was set in Indiana/Illinois, which made me feel like I was back home. I especially liked how the story reminded us all that a little adversity in our lives can take us a long way. I think this would make a great Spring Break Beach read!

Finding myself on Pinterest

Uhm, so yeah, hi!  If you are here from Pinterest, welcome.  I'm sort of in shock here.

I'm not a very good blogger.  I enjoy messing around on here, and I have lots of ideas of things to share, but rarely find the time.  I happened to do a post on my solution for my jewelry, and holy cow, it somehow started getting pinned.

So I apologize for the not so pretty pictures on that post.  I work with the tools I have.  Since this blog brings in less than $100 a year in advertising and book club posts, I don't have the time and money to devote to pretty pictures and expensive equipment.  But I enjoy sharing and I will continue to do so.

And I'm still in shock.  I feel like hunching my shoulders and blushing and kicking the dirt in embarrassment :)

Books are my escape

I still remember the first chapter book I read.  It was Socks by Beverly Cleary.  It was a book one of my older cousins had, and I read it in First Grade. (side note...apparently that book was released the year I was born. Funny.)  That was the beginning of the end.  I began to devour books, reading all of Beverly Cleary's books, as well as all the big name books of that time, and anything else that sounded remotely interesting.  As I grew older, I went through phases...Stephen King and Dean Koontz, The Left Behind Series, Danielle Steele (that didn't last long) Romance novels, etc.  I go through small times when I just can't muster the interest, and then suddenly I find a long list of books I need to read.

Goodreads has been such a great find. It's a good way to find those books that aren't a best seller, but are so good.  You can find other people that like what you like in a book, whatever that is.

I joined the BlogHer Book Club because I love to read, and the idea of free books sounded awesome.  And what I've gained is some favorite books and some meh books.  But I've had the opportunity to review some genres I might not otherwise read, and find some authors I love.

Almost every night, my son and I crawl into my bed and read for 20-30 minutes right before bed time.  Sometimes he whines to watch television instead, but not often.  He pulls out his latest book, and I pull out mine, and we each quietly read together.  This has become one of my favorite times of the day and it helps me achieve so many small goals...more reading time for both of us, some quiet time to cuddle before bed, and less screen time.

One of the best epiphanies I had was that I didn't have to finish reading a book I didn't like (unless it's a paid review.)  I could just stop reading, and if I didn't wonder what happened, it was okay to stop.

I want to read a minimum of 30 books this year, from front cover to back cover.  I try to remember to capture all of them on Goodreads, but I think I'm going to add a column over there to the right as well.

What do you like to read? Do you like to discuss books after you've read them?  Are you on Goodreads?