Hearth and Homefront

12 More Picture Books about South Korea to Enjoy and a Linkup

2016-04-25T10:56:00.002-05:00

This month the Reading Together Family Exploration Book Club read When My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park. This YA novel gives a glimpse into what it was like to live in an occupied country during World War II, when Japan had conquered Korea. Korean culture was being outlawed, even to the point of the citizens taking Japanese names and families were forced to hide the culture they were trying to preserve. This was a great read, though one that you will want to save for older children who could pick up on all the nuances.

This is the last week of our time with South Korea, so I wanted to share some other favorite picture books about the country. These are all ones we own personally (I'll star our particular favorites), because we try to give one or two books about Korea to our boys each year to help build the connection to their birth country.

This Next New Year by Janet S. Wong: A story about a half Chinese half Korean American boy celebrating Lunar New Year with his friends.

*Where on Earth is my Bagel? by Frances Park and Ginger Park: Yum Yung REALLY wants to try a real New York bagel, so his whole village in Korea pitches in to find out how.

We Adopted You, Benjamin Koo by Linda Walvoord Girard: Told in the voice of a 9 year old adoptee from Korea, this book shares insights into both the process and the feelings children who are adopted process throughout their life. This one is pretty wordy, so younger children might be less interested.

Dear Juno by Soyung Pak: Juno (in America) shares a sweet correspondence with his grandmother in Korea.

*Something for School by Hyun Young Lee: A little girl wants to wear something special on her first week of Kindergarten.

*My First book of Korean Words: An ABC Rhyming Book by Henry J. Amen IV and Kyubyong Park: A fun take on an ABC book that introduces Korean culture and words.

*The Coffee Can Kid by Jan M. Czeck: Annie and her father look inside a special coffee can and share the story of her adoption from Korea.

When You Were Born in Korea by Brian Boyd: This book is a little outdated now, but it tells the story of how a child is adopted from Korea using photographs of real people and places.

*New Clothes for New Year's Day by Hyn-Joo Bae: A little girl gets dressed in a traditional Korean Hanbok for Lunar New Year. Gorgeous pictures!

All About Korea-Stories, Songs, Crafts, and More by Ann Martin Bowler: For older children, my boys really enjoy looking through this and reading a few pages at a time. Organized by topic, it has recipes and crafts to go along with traditional folk stories.

Korean Holidays and Festivals by Frances M. Koh: Non-fiction about each holiday in Korea, organized by calendar year. Great for ideas if you want to try celebrating one of them with your kids.

Korean Nursery Rhymes-Wild Geese, Land of Goblins and other favorite songs and rhymes by Danielle Wright. This book is all nursery rhymes, but the real fun part is that each one is written in Hangul and English characters and includes the phonetic pronunciation of the Hangul so you could practice reading in Korean.

**Bee-bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park: Honestly, this is one of our all time favorite books EVER. The rhyme has a great beat to it, and the pictures are perfect. The recipe in the back of the book for Bee-bim Bop is also in regular rotation for dinner at our house, so be sure to give that a try too!

Have you discovered any new favorites this month? If you're looking for more books on South Korea, Sheila from the Deliberate Reader did a list a few months ago too.

If you joined in with us this month, please link up below! Any post linked up here will also appear on the blogs of the co-hosts, Sheila (Deliberate Reader) and Jessica (Quirky Bookworm).

Link Up Guidelines:

1. Share a post about this book or one of the themed picture books. Entries completely unrelated to the theme or to your homepage may be deleted.
2. Link back to one of the host's posts.
3. Link up will be open until the end of the month.
4. Please visit the person who linked up directly before you and leave a comment on their post.
5. By linking up you're granting us permission to use and/or repost comments or photographs from your post.

An InLinkz Link-up

Korea Linkup!

2016-03-28T17:01:00.002-05:00

The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park was our book this month. It tells the story of two brothers, their love of kite flying and how they struggled to fulfill the expectations of oldest and youngest sons. We started reading this aloud at night, but it didn't hold my boys interest as much as I'd hoped. I think they are just a bit too young for it, and a setting so far back in time was a little tough for them to relate to. I finished it on my own, and I really enjoyed it. Park created a great window into this point in Korean history.

If you've been reading along with us, now is the time to link your blog posts up with Jessica, Sheila and myself. Add your link below and it will be linked to from all three of our sites.

In the comments, I'd love to hear if you have been reading along this month, or if you are planning to join us in April for When My Name was Keoko!

Link-up Guidelines:

1. Share a post about reading this book or one of the themed picture books. Entries completely unrelated to this theme or linked to your homepage may be deleted.

2. Link back to one of the host's posts.

3. The linkup will be open until the end of the month.

4. Please visit the person's blog who linked up directly before you and leave them a comment.

5. By linking up, you're granting us permission to use and/or repost photographs or comments from your linked post.

An InLinkz Link-up

Explore Korea with the RTFEBC

2016-03-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

If you read my post from a few weeks ago, you know that the next area of the world we are exploring in the Reading Together Family Exploration Book Club is Korea. Throughout March and April, we'll be reading a picture book, and two chapter books-one aimed at elementary aged readers, and the other for a tween/teen audience. I'm thrilled to be co-hosting the discussion for the next two months with Sheila of The Deliberate Reader and Jessica of Quirky Bookworm.

As many of you know, Korea holds a special place in our family. Both our children were adopted from South Korea and we were able to travel to Seoul to pick up our youngest child. It's important to us that we weave the Korean culture into our family traditions, and one of the biggest ways we do that is through books. I'm a big supporter of the We Need Diverse Books movement, and I try to be sure that we have many books around the house with characters my children can identify with, both as Koreans and as Adoptees.

Jessica and Sheila picked some great books for discussion this month, and I will be sharing other favorite books about Korea as well if you'd like to explore further!

Our picture book pick is The Firekeeper's Son by Linda Sue Park. The story centers around Sang-hee, who is the son of the man responsible for keeping the village signal fire lit. When his father can't light the fire one night, Sang-hee must take his place. The discussion for the picture book will start this week, so jump in whenever you get the chance to read it.

The elementary aged chapter book is The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park. This story follows two brothers who share a passion for flying kites, only one of whom can represent the family at the New Year's Kite Competition in front of the king. We'll start discussing this one on Monday March 15th.

The final chapter book will be When My Name Was Keoko (also) by Linda Sue Park. This story takes place during the Japanese occupation of Korea before WWII, when much of Korean culture was forbidden. We'll start discussing this one on April 11th.

Remember, all the discussion will take place on the RTFEBC Facebook group. Feel free to jump in as we go along. There will also be a blog linkup the last Monday of each month, so if you are a blogger we'd love for you to join in!

February Reading Roundup

2016-02-18T14:00:00.000-06:00

My reading habits took a real nosedive in December, and it took me a much longer time than usual to get back in gear. Weirdly I was reading the 3rd Cormoran Strike mystery when this happened, and last year I had a very similar experience after reading the 2nd. It isn't exactly a book hangover, where the book was so.good. and I can't bear to start anything new...it's almost as if the world Galbraith/Rowling creates draws me in completely, but is just a little too gritty for me and I need some recovery time. I will have to pay attention to what happens when book 4 comes out!

Now on to the highlights of what I've been reading since December:

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

Aside from my odd reaction after finishing it, this is a very good mystery. Much of the story is character driven, and I loved seeing more of the story from Robin's perspective. It's gritty, but not as gory as the 2nd in the series. (And you should absolutely listen to Rowling's interview on NPR too!)

The Fellowship of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

While I've read the Hobbit and seen the movies multiple times, I realiezed I had never read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I kept getting stuck on all that singing. I started this as something to read before bed, but it didn't take long before I was staying up for "just one more chapter" which is always a sign that I'm hooked! I'm working my way through The Two Towers now.

A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

The second in the Inspector Gamache novels. If you are someone who stays away from mystery series with the idea that they are very one-dimensional, Penny's series is the one to change your mind. Gamache is a Montreal based Police Inspector who gets called out to the tiny village of Three Pines to solve another murder. In contrast to the first book, no one mourns this victim. There is so much depth of character in these books-even for the bit players.

Lovable Livable Home by Sherry and John Petersik

The couple behind Young House Love is back with their second book (and even a few recent blog posts). This one is less DIY projects, and more inspiration on making your home work with kids, pets, etc. I like that they used a variety of families and houses to illustrate their themes, which did make it feel a little more relate-able than other design books, but it also isn't as memorable as some others I've read.

Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante by Susan Elia MacNeal

Maggie Hope is back, and in America for the first time since the WWII began. I enjoyed this one, particularly the contrast of England and America in 1941. I do feel that this book does a lot more wrapping up certain plot points to make way for future books, so it doesn't work as a stand-alone. However, MacNeal has found her writing groove in the series and several more characters are coming to life the way the core group did in the early books. I'm very curious to see what Maggie gets up to next...

The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill

For the Reading Together Family Exploration Book Club, this is a great read-aloud chapter book. It tells the tale of a small village in Alaska that is trying to keep the one-room school afloat. Told from the perspective of one of the students, the whole town changes (in a good way) when a new teacher arrives. It's a sweet story with some great meat for discussions.

The Father Christmas Letters by JRR Tolkien

Each year while his children were young, Tolkien wrote them a letter from Father Christmas. The letters tell stories about his life at the North Pole and are beautifully illustrated. The edition I got at the library was less than 100 pages, but I've since realized there is a longer edition around. The short version was so charming that I'm going to need to get the other one before the holidays roll around this year.

Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy for Quick Lit. Check it out for more book recommendations!

Some of these links are affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Hearth and Homefront.

Reading Together: A Family Exploration Book Club

2016-02-17T13:37:00.002-06:00

This year two of my favorite book bloggers, Jessica from Quirky Bookworm and Sheila from The Deliberate Reader started a joint online book club. Every two months, the group will explore a different part of the world through children's literature with a book aimed at each reading level from picture books to young adult. It was perfect timing for me, since as the boys have become such strong independent readers, I found that I wasn't reading aloud to them as much as we had before.

January and February are all about the Arctic and it has been so much fun to talk about a whole new part of the world with the kids. The picture book was In Arctic Waters by Laura Crawford and Ben Hudson, which was adorable. The elementary aged chapter book The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill was really fun to read aloud. The YA book is Julie of Wolves by Jean Craighead George. Short chapters told from a child's perspective sparked so many great questions from the boys. We looked Alaska up on our globe, talked about the roles of men and women in the past (they were both very happy that girls can wear pants now...can you tell we read that during a particularly cold part of February? Ha!) and talked about what it would feel like to go to a one-room schoolhouse. Not only did I get my snuggly read aloud time back, but the level of discussion between the three of us was new and really cool for me.

Discussion as a group is centered on the book club's Facebook page (join here!) and there is a blog linkup once a month on Sheila, Jessica and the guest host's blogs (the Arctic has been guest hosted by Carrie from The Lion is a Bookworm). The hosts try to post a question a few times a week on the Facebook group, so feel free to jump in where you are.

And for March and April, that guest host is ME! We'll be reading books set in South Korea-which is such a perfect fit. For newer readers of this blog, both my children are adopted from South Korea, and so we do as much as we can to incorporate and learn about their culture. Books have always been one of our favorite ways to do this, but I'll also blog a bit about things like holidays...and of course food!

Later this week I'll share the books we'll be reading over the course of my guest hosting and once March gets rolling I'll share more of my favorite books in each category.

In the meantime, join us in the Facebook group and use the hashtag #rtfebc on social media!

New on the Stack (December)

2015-11-30T20:00:00.000-06:00

This will be the first time in several years that I will not be hitting my Goodreads goal for number of books for the year. Between a slightly ambitious number and a major reading slump this fall, I have made my peace with not reaching my goal.

This is actually rather freeing, because now I'm not going to be feverishly tearing through books when I'd rather be savoring them by the fireside.

Today, a glimpse of what I'm (hoping) to read in December. I'm linking up with Sheila at The Deliberate Reader, so pop over there to see more recommendations!

The Winter Laird by Nancy Scanlon

How did I get it: This is sitting on my Kindle as we speak.
Why did I get it: Nancy is a dear friend from college and I've been waiting very impatiently for her debut novel to come out! She's always been a fantastic writer and I'm so proud of her. Time travel, romance and men in kilts? I can't wait!

The Adventuress by Tasha Alexander

How did I get it: Found it on the library new releases shelf.
Why did I get it: I've been a fan of Alexander's Lady Emily mystery series since the beginning, and they are always a fun bet.

Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

How did I get it:
Why did I get it: My 7 year old just finished the Lightning Thief (the first in the Percy Jackson series) and he likes to alternate between reading it himself, and reading it aloud. I loved the books the first time around, but this is even more fun for me.

Still Life by Louise Penny
How did I get it: Audible
Why did I get it: I've been hearing about this series for ages, and I've found that using up an Audible credit on something I've been meaning to read is a great way to find new series...and it makes my commute fly by, which is always a good thing!

The Nesting Place: It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful by Myquillen Smith

How did I get it: I picked this up when it was on mega sale for the Kindle a few months back, and I've never gotten to it.
Why did I get it: I love down to earth decorating books that inspire rather than make me envious. Since we are about to be stuck inside our house for the winter, it's time to get some more work done on it!

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

How did I get it: It's already on my bookshelf.
Why did I get it: I read this every December.

The Martian by Andy Weir
How did I get it: It's on my kindle.
Why did I get it: My husband bought it this summer, loved it, raved about it, and I just never got around to reading it. I've got a bunch of time off between Christmas and New Years, so I'm thinking that's the perfect time to read a book guaranteed to keep me up late to finish it. I'm also the last person on the planet who hasn't read it...

Three more titles I'm hoping to read if my library holds come in (or if Santa is extra nice to me!)

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Why? I didn't have a lot of interest in this one until I heard her interview on The Lively Show (one of my favorite podcasts).

Mrs. Roosevelt's Confidante by Susan Elia MacNeal
Why? Hands down one of my favorite mystery series out there right now. Maggie Hope rises from the secretary pool at 10 Downing Street during WWII to a military special intelligence agent. In this latest book, Maggie accompanies Churchill to America.

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
Why? Loved the first two in this series, and if I wasn't already looking forward to it, the NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour interview with JK Rowling sealed the deal. I'm still at #36 on the holds list, so there's a good chance this one will be waiting until January.

What are you looking forward to reading this month?

Some of these links are affiliate links. Thanks for supporting H&H!

Falling off the NaNoWriMo Wagon

2015-11-29T18:41:00.005-06:00

This month, writers across the world are participating in National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo). The goal is 50,000 words of fiction in November, which amounts to around 3/4 of a typical length fiction novel. It's been something I had been saying I wanted to participate in for years, but I never pulled the trigger. There was always a good reason not to do it.

Too busy, too stressed, too whatever.

This year I decided enough was enough and I was going to try. I had a few ideas floating around for a mystery novel and even though I hadn't even had the creative oomph to write here on the blog for ages...it was time I stopped saying "someday".

So I wrote. And those words were exhausting, creatively and physically. But I wrote.

The first week or so I sat down to write everyday. Some days I managed barely 150 words and one magical day I hit 1000. The second week I got in a few days.

But then life hit me and...nothing. Not one word.

November was suddenly a survival mode month, and survival mode included multiple work events, solo parenting, teacher conferences and extended family health scares, but not my novel. Work was nuts, the kids were nuts, I was nuts.

Things have calmed down and I've had a few days to catch my breath, which has been lovely. I was reminded of the truth of this quote from Isak Dineson during a quick trip to the coast to meet up with family. I got lots of dog and kid snuggle time. My husband and I hunkered down to watch the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings.

And somehow, I still felt like a mess.

Stepping back, I can see where I went wrong. Survival mode does not mean I get to give up self-care. You have to put your own oxygen mask on first after all. Writing was my oxygen mask during the first part of November, and giving it up did not make my life easier by having one less thing to do. It made it harder by never recharging my batteries.

This is a hard-won lesson for me, one I'm probably going to have to learn over and over again.

Last February, in the midst of polar vortex, Anne wrote a post called "What's Saving My Life Right Now", made up of the little things that got her through each day in the bleak midwinter. Her list included things like a daily park visit, an americano and Beverly Cleary. The always fabulous readers of Modern Mrs. Darcy responded in a link-up with their town lists. It's great reading now, as the days get shorter and long winter season looms. (Katie's post was one of my favorites at the time, and she returned to the theme over the course of this year as well.)

So what's saving my life right now? A return to writing for one. A little here on the blog, a little on the novel. Since I need a little accountability to keep me on track (I am an obliger, after all) I'm going to be here at least weekly, sharing something that is saving my life right now. A quick preview: cozy mysteries, a new hobby, twinkle lights, and of course, Tolkien.

I'd love to hear how you feed your soul when you are in survival mode-what is saving your life right now?

Book Review: Better than Before

2015-07-28T17:00:00.000-05:00

Better Than Before is the latest from Gretchen Rubin (The Happiness Project, Happier at Home). This title takes aim at our habits: how our personalities affect the formation of habits, what challenges we run into in keeping habits, and how our willpower and desires fit into all of it.

Rubin starts by outlining the "Four Tendencies", or the four different types of reactions to habits based on personalities. Upholders respond to all expectations, outer and inner. Questioners question all of them. Obligers respond well to outer expectations but have trouble with inner ones. Rebels resist everything.

While I typically don't "see" myself instantly in reading a book like this, it is incredibly clear to me that I am an obliger. I think being able to read the rest of the book through this lens of my own personality made it MUCH more useful for me. Rubin herself is an Upholder, which she points out is very rare. Most of the population fall into the Questioner or Obliger categories. I'm pretty sure my husband is a Questioner...and one of my kids is probably a Rebel (but that may just be all 5 year olds!)

Rubin follows the same format as her earlier books, mixing personal anecdotes from her life with the research she's done on the topic. It felt a touch more stilted in this book than in the others, and I think she may have struggled with finding the right tone to describe the way she "experimented" on her friends and family. Trying to get someone to form a habit can sound very much like nagging, and Rubin does her best to not come off that way.

Initially I thought about rating this book a 3.5, but after a week of finding myself bringing it up in conversation, and experiencing almost the exact habit forming problems she described in my attempt to start exercising again, I have to give it at least a 4. It may not be as flashy as happiness, but habits have such a concrete effect on our lives that I see myself going back to this book again and again.

Right after I make my husband read it!

I received a copy of this title from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review, but all opinions my own. Some links are affiliate links, thanks for supporting Hearth and Homefront.

Book Review: Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas

2015-07-27T16:26:00.004-05:00

I've always enjoyed books that feature a real person as the sleuth. The Jane Austen mysteries by Stephanie Barron has always skillfully blended Jane Austen's real life with her imagined role as an amateur detective. The first book begins the night that Jane turns down Harris Bigg-Wither's proposal of marriage, and for all intents and purposes sets her role of spinster in stone. The series continued for many years on a typical book a year schedule, but it has slowed down in the last 4 or 5 years and so I had forgotten to keep looking for new additions.

I was thrilled when I realized a new one came out last fall. When I finally started reading it, well past the holidays (Christmas in July? That's a thing, right?) I devoured it in about two days.

In Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas, Jane travels with her mother and sister Cassandra to stay with her brother James and his family for Christmas and Twelfth Night. When they arrive they are invited to a local estate, The Vyne, for dinner and a short stay. That short stay is extended first by a snowstorm and then a murder. What follows next is a traditional English Country House mystery. The murder at first appears to be an accident, but Jane and another guest, Raphael West (son of the famous painter of the era Benjamin West) discover that all is not as it seems. Without knowing if West is completely trustworthy, Jane rushes to solve the murder and recover a stolen item that new peace in Europe rests upon.

West reminded me of a character from earlier in the series who was Jane's occasional partner in solving mysteries and I think the chemistry between them added a spark of life that the last few books in this series were missing. Jane is at her best when she is working with an intellectual equal (and someone who sees her as such) and West fills this role nicely. I hope that Barron brings him back in future books.

I will certainly be paying better attention so I don't miss any more in this series!

If you are interested in this series, start with Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor. For a full list of the series check out Stephanie Barron's webpage.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Some links are affiliate links, thanks for supporting Hearth and Homefront!

Summer Reading Roundup

2015-07-14T15:35:00.003-05:00

Catching up on some long overdue book reviews. Today I'm sharing short reviews and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy for Quick Lit. For the rest of July I'll be sharing a few more books that call for a more in-depth treatment in a longer review.

Having the boys home on summer break has only slightly diminished my reading time, mainly because I switched from podcasts to audiobooks for my commute to work. I have complicated feelings on audiobooks-am I the only one?! I love them for non-fiction or lighter fiction, but if I hit a scene that is a little intense, then I can't skim through it the way I would reading the book myself. I'm still convinced that is why I couldn't get through Eleanor and Park last year. (I know, I know, I'll read one of Rainbow Rowell's books eventually!)

This month I read mostly mysteries and I don't think that is at all coincidence. They are what I grew up reading and are still comfort reading to me. Nothing makes me happier than discovering a new mystery series with a whole backlist to devour in row! I'm always looking for new ones-any suggestions?

The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood

I listened to this one and I'm convinced this series is perfect for audiobooks. The narration is fantastic and clear (so you can listen at 1.25 speed), the mysteries are just complex enough to be interesting, but not so much that you will get lost if you miss something and Phryne Fisher is FUN. She's an unconventional lady detective in 1920's Melbourne, Australia. She has a charming band of characters as her helpers, is smart as a whip and occasionally risqué, but always delightful. In this book, Phryne finds a link between the murder of dancing contest contestant and the new lives soldiers who came home shellshocked from the Great War must build for themselves. (The books have also been made into a FANTASTIC tv series in Australia, and the first two seasons are on Netflix right now. I'm anxiously waiting for the 3rd series to show up on Acorn TV!)

Sidney Chambers and the Problem of Evil by James Runcie

The 3rd book in this series of short stories was less satisfying than the previous entries. Sidney is married now, and several of my favorite characters are not in the stories as much, but I'm not sure if that is quite the reason. The stories felt darker and more disjointed and I think perhaps the larger story arc that connects through all the short stories wasn't as strong as usual. If you love the series, you'll still like it. The first in the series is still the best (another series that inspired a great tv series, Grantchester on PBS, starring James Norton as a very dishy version of Sidney.)

Medal for Murder by Frances Brody

Another audiobook mystery. This one is the second in the Kate Shackleton series about a woman between the wars in England (sensing a theme here?) who has turned her search for missing people into a private detective business. In this, her investigation of a pawn shop robbery is unexpectedly connected to the murder of a fellow theater-goer. Kate is becoming more confident in her abilities and her identity as a woman rather than another war widow.

Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood

Another Phryne Fisher. In this one her search for a missing female journalist touches on the conditions of the women working in the Church-run laundries and the dangers faced by women of the lower classes who could be exploited in any number of ways. Despite the underlying serious issues it covers, the book is still fun and would be considered a "cozy" mystery.

Design Mom: A Room by Room Guide to Living Well with Kids by Gabrielle Stanley Blair

This book is singlehandedly responsible for me getting back to work on the house. I was gung-ho when we first moved in and then winter killed all my motivation. This book is full of pictures and practical advice, but is so inspiring. She insists that you can have a house that is beautiful and functional with kids and makes it feel attainable. This is not a design book that shows family homes that no real family could live in. Definitely one to pick up!

Murphy's Law by Rhys Bowen

I love all of Rhys Bowen's other mystery series (Her Royal Spyness and Evan Evans) but for whatever reason never picked up this one. Molly Murphy is a outspoken young woman in Ireland who finds herself on the run after an incident with the landowner's son. She ends up in unusual circumstances on a boat to New York and must create a life for herself in a city where she knows nobody. Nobody that is, except for the handsome police officer who thinks she is hiding something after a murder on Ellis Island! I ordered the second book for my Kindle before I was finished with this audiobook, and I'm tearing through it as we speak.

What's up next?
The Nesting Place by Myquillen Smith
Death of Riley by Rhys Bowen
Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin
The Happy Hour Choir by Sally Kilpatrick (who is pretty awesome on Twitter too)

What have you been reading lately? What should I add to my out-of-control To Be Read pile?

Some of these links are affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Hearth and Homefront!

Summer Bucket Lists

2015-06-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago our oldest came home talking about the summer bucket lists. Turns out they had a big art project to create one that will come home on the last day of school. After a few minutes of talking with both boys, I realized that for the first time they really had opinions about what kind of things they wanted to do this summer.

Or at least, that they were ready to tell us those opinions.

This was a minor epiphany for me. For years, we've been doing what my husband and I thought the kids would like to do, but it's only been recently that they started expressing their opinions about these choices. From clothing to what we pack in their lunch-they are ready to tell us what matters to them.

So this summer the kids get to help us decide how we spend our days.

We talked and we wrote and came up with a big list of things to do as a family this summer. Some of these are straight from the boys and some are things that the adults chose. This will be our first full summer in New England, and there are things we've just never been able to do with the boys before because of where we lived. It's all fun stuff on this list because I didn't want to clutter it up with the *shoulds*. We should paint the guest room. I should transplant some hosts.

Those have their own list in my Google Docs. They have no place on the fun list that now sits in our living room. I wrote all our plans out on our oversized chalkboard in colorful chalk. We look at it every day and the boys are thrilled to be thinking ahead about our weekend plans. Frankly, it helps the grownups have something to look forward to as well!

One thing I didn't write on the actual list, but is my grownup summer goal:

GET IN THE PICTURES.

We all read that article a few summers back about the mom who was never in the picture. I swore I would do better, and with the advent of the "selfie" I have gotten a little better. I realized that I also need to be better about pictures of other grownups. Pictures of all four of us. Pictures of the kids and the grandparents, but also my husband and I with our parents and siblings. Pictures of us with our friends, not just the kids with their friends.

I never change the profile picture on my social media accounts, because it's only once every year or two that I like a picture of myself enough to put it up there. For goodness sakes, my hair is a different color and twice as long now as it is in the picture on this very blog! (Ahem, Laura…I'm going to need you again!)

In case you need a little inspiration, here's our list for this summer. The picture above, by the way, is from this past weekend when we crossed off not one, but TWO items from this list.

Cheers to summer 2015!

Go to the Beach
Get Ice Cream
See Dinosaur Footprints
Visit both sets of Grandparents
Check out the Pratt Center
Visit our best friends from Oklahoma in their new house
Go fishing
Visit the Butterfly Farm
Ride on a carousel
Strawberry picking
Blueberry picking
Go to a carnival
Find a waterfall
Visit a farm
Go to the Dr. Seuss Garden
Visit a museum
Catch fireflies
Make s'mores
watch a movie outside
See Fireworks
Play in the sprinkler
Have a picnic
Go to the zoo and aquarium
Make homemade snowcones
Star gaze
Have a water balloon fight
Go to the lake
See a movie in the theater
Mini golf
Make a sandcastle
Go on a surprise trip

What are your plans for the summer?

Quick Lit (June 2015)

2015-06-15T06:40:00.001-05:00

Popping in to post a few book reviews that have been languishing in note form for ages.

This is just a highlight of what I've been reading since my last book review post. In fact 3 of these books came out in April just before my birthday and I ran right out to buy them on release day. Happily, they were all as good as I expected.

You can always find me on Goodreads if you'd like to see everything I've been reading lately. And I promise to be around here a little more often as well :)

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

The long anticipated sequel to Garden Spells, Allen brings us back to the Waverly sisters 10 years later. The always unusual Waverley family is even more unusual during the lead up to the first frost of the season and this year is no different. Claire wrestles with a new kitchen venture, Sidney is balancing her own worries while watching her daughter navigate high school as a Waverley. Allen weaves a gorgeous blend of magic and small town life, and this is a worthy sequel to the original tale. If you haven't read Garden Spells though, start with that one before this as it truly is a sequel. (I won a copy of this through a Goodreads giveaway, but my review is my own. I would definately purchased my own copy if I hadn't won that one.)

Other Side of Midnight by Simone St. James

St. James is one of my favorite authors right now, perhaps because the books she writes are like nothing else I've read. All her books are set just after World War I in England and are a blend of ghost story and mystery. Ellie Winter, the heroine of The Other Side of Midnight is a pyschic who is thrown back into a world she thought she left behind when her former best friend and rival, Gloria Sutter, is murdered. Feeling both a duty to the dead and a fear that she might be next, Ellie searches for the killer.
The reader is transported to 1920s London by St. James' amazing sense of place (rivaled only by the first few Maisie Dobbs books I would argue) and the supernatural elements never feel ridiculous or jarring to the story. The interplay between skeptics and believers within the book itself add a grounding touch. If you are interested in the time period or historical mysteries this is one to check out-even if you don't think you like "ghost" stories.

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
This would be my hands down recommendation for a summer beach read. Bex is an American exchange student at Oxford University where she quickly gets pulled in to the social circle of Prince Nicolas. It's William and Kate re-imagined, but it is never silly. Funny, moving, thought provoking (you will have ALL THE FEELINGS about paparazzi after reading it). I will be shocked if I make it through the summer with out re-reading this one.

Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley

This was the book I HAD to have on release day! This is a time slip novel, where there is action in both the present day and 17th century France, with two romantic storylines to resolve. The connection between the two is a diary that is written by Mary Dundas, the historical heroine and is decoded by Sara, the modern day one. The historical story covers another aspect of the Jacobite rebellion that Kearsley had not written about before, and she slips several Easter Eggs in for long-time readers of her books. An interesting twist to the modern story was that Sara had Asperger's. I felt like Kearsley did a good job of showing it as an aspect of Sara's character but not feeling like that's all her character was.

So what's am I reading now? I'm almost done with Sidney Chambers and the Problem of Evil by James Runcie and I'm listening to the audiobook of Medal for Murder by Frances Brody on my commute to work.

Now it's your turn-what are you reading? If you need inspiration check out the rest of the Quick Lit posts at MMD.

March Reading Challenge

2015-02-28T08:24:00.004-06:00

Every Saturday this year the boys and I have gone to the library together. I often pop over there during the week by myself to pick up a hold, or browse the stacks without small, sticky hands pulling on my sleeve, but the weekend visit is for all of us.

We stock up on books and movies to get us through the never ending snow days. I pick up a new mystery or try something from the new arrivals shelf.

Today I was preparing my list of books from my giant to-read list on Goodreads and I realized something. I already have a TON of these books, most of them sitting on my Kindle. I'm in the habit of snagging something I've been wanting to read when it goes on megasale, or adding a book when I order dog food or some other necessity from Amazon.

Then a due date nears and I turn back to my big stack of library books.

Today is the last day of February. I am almost finished with the only library book I have left at home, and there are no holds likely to come in soon.

This March I'm going to challenge myself. I am only going to read books that are already in my house or on my Kindle. Frankly, I think I really need to focus solely on my Kindle! (I did something similar last year but couldn't quite give up my library books). Next week I'll share the books I'm starting with.

Tell me I'm not the only one with this problem! Anyone want to join in?

February Reading Roundup

2015-02-24T09:18:00.004-06:00

Being stuck inside with all this snow has at least been good for my reading. I'm even a few books ahead on my goal for the year on Goodreads! It might also have something to do with the fact that all my library holds came in at once. I think I need to spend March playing catchup on the stacks of books in my house and on my kindle that I've been ignoring because of looming due dates. Tell me I'm not the only one who does that!

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

A group of my dear friends from our last assignment are doing a long-distance book club and this was our first selection. It was perfect for discussion, for both plot and literary devices. The book follows multiple stories from the 1960s Italian set of Cleopatra to a present day Hollywood production office, and eventually winds them all together. I loved seeing the way everything interconnected in the end.

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

The Princess Bride is one of my all-time favorite movies and this charming book was a love letter to the movie and all those who made it. Elwes tells the tale of how the film came to be, filming and it's eventual cult status. He interviews other cast and crew members, shares fun tidbits of filming that you can see when you watch the movie and more. I guarantee you will immediately want to go re-watch the movie as soon as you finish! (We did, and now I send me boys off to school every morning with "Have fun storming the castle!")

Cut to the Quick by Kate Ross

I've been hearing about the Julian Kestrel mysteries from several of my favorite writers for years now, and I'm so glad I picked this up. The first novel finds Julian a guest at a very awkward engagement party at a country house, where pride and arrogance war with the truth when a murder takes place. He has to unravel the family secrets before he can find the murderer. Kestrel is a regency dandy on the surface, but so much more below and he makes for a unique take on a regency sleuth. The writing felt like a smart, updated version of Georgette Heyer. Great start to a series (though sadly the author passed away a few years ago, and there are only 4 Kestrel novels).

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

I was craving Allen's sweet southern magic when the weather turned really cold this month, and picked this up from the library. Gentle as always with a happy ending of course, but not as engaging as the other Allen books I have read. Kate needs a place to recover after the death of her husband, and a chance postcard leads her and her daughter to Lost Lake, a resort run by her great aunt Eby. Here Eby helps them heal, and they help remind Eby of just what she (and Lost Lake) mean to the community.

Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver

Possibly my favorite book this year (so far) and it was a chance find at the library- I picked it up solely because of the cover! Set between the wars in England, Amory Ames is tired of her marriage to playboy Milo and when her former fiancé Gil shows up asking for help, she says yes. A trip to the seaside turns deadly and she must work with Milo to clear Gil's name. In doing so, they must also figure out what's happened to their marriage. The writing is sparkling, the mystery was just right and I'm so glad that a second in the series is coming out this fall. And it turns out that Ashely Weaver is a librarian-what more could I ask for?

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

This book is everywhere lately. I first read about it a few months ago, and patiently worked my way up the very long library waiting list. While interesting, I won't say this was life changing for me. Some aspects were really practical and I can easily see myself putting into practice (new ways to fold clothes and storing all like items together rather than spread around the house) but others I'll never agree with-her take on books for example! The idea is that you only keep what brings you joy and that you need to go through everything once and get rid of everything that doesn't. Some of it is a little loopy to be honest though I suspect part of that is the translation and the cultural differences between Japan and the US. On the other hand…it does make me want to clean out my kitchen cabinets. Who else has read this? I'm dying to discuss it!

What have you been reading lately?

Some of these links are affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Hearth and Homefront!

Weekend Reading

2015-02-22T08:53:00.001-06:00

We're digging out from yet another storm, but February is almost over. Just the fact that March is that much closer to spring gives me hope for next month, despite the fact the March weather is really still messy and unpredictable. I'm clinging to signs of green wherever I can find them, and indulging in books set in warm places. (Currently reading the Vish Puri mystery by Tarquin Hall-set in India. I can almost feel the sunshine!)

What I think we all really need is a breather and a chance to remember a time when our lives didn't revolve quite so heavily around the weather forecast!

Here are some of the articles that pulled me out of my snowy bubble this week:

I don't think I managed to see any of the nominated films, but I'm still excited to watch the Oscars tonight.

With my husband traveling quite a lot this month, cooking has been pretty basic for me and the boys. These Middle Eastern Spiced Turkey Sliders from Pink Parsley look perfect for shaking up our routine.

Why I bring my Boys to the Ballet: This post from The Mom Edit strikes right to the heart of my hopes and worries as the mother of boys.

Simple but genius menu planning from Breanne at A Vintage Moment. (She is also running a giveaway for a copy of Brown Eggs and Jam Jars, once of the cookbooks I am most looking forward to reading this year!)

On Burnout. Anne from Modern Mrs Darcy shares what keeps her from going over the edge of burnout. Good stuff in the comments too!

Photos from my instagram feed (you can find me there @hearthandhomefront)

Quick Lit (January 2015)

2015-01-14T21:02:00.001-06:00

Between snow days and a whirlwind trip without kids (two flights worth of uninterrupted reading time!) January is off to a great start, book wise. Today I'm sharing short reviews of my latest reads and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy's Quick Lit (formerly known as Twitterature). Pop over to her site for more suggestions! You can also check out what I'm reading or adding to my enormous to-read list over on Goodreads, and say hello while you're there!

Garden Spells-Sarah Addison Allen

Allen weaves magic into all of her stories, but it is the kind of gentle, believable magic that we all can connect with. In Garden Spells, Claire Waverley has her very structured world turned upside when her rebellious sister Sydney returns home with a daughter of her own. The three learn to trust and support each other, and make peace with their special gifts. This is one of those books that I started reading, and the next thing I knew I was 100 pages in! There's a sequel coming out soon too…

Dying in the Wool by Frances Brody

Kate Shackleton takes on her first professional case as a private investigator when a friend from her days as a nurse in WWI asks her to find her missing father. As she goes deeper into the mystery, Kate struggles to create an identity for herself, rather than just her husband's widow. While the tone is very different, Brody's England post WWI is just as evocative as the one Jacqueline Winspear creates in her Maisie Dobbs mysteries. It's the first in a series, and I'm looking forward to reading more.

Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen

Her Royal Spyness is back! In this outing, Lady Georgiana (35th in line to the throne!) heads to America with her mother. A typical 1930's English country house murder mystery transplanted to Hollywood, with a nice blend of humor and romance. A solid mystery (I didn't figure it out too early) and always fun.

Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night by James Runcie

The second book in the series, this is another set of short stories. This time covering a wider time period, but it moves Sidney's sleuthing further into the Cold War, which is an interesting side note to his growing romance with a German widow. The Masterpiece Mystery series called Grantchester premieres this weekend and is based on the series, so I'm very curious to see how it is adapted for tv.

Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley

This was originally published years ago under a different name, but Kearsley's new American publisher re-released it this past year. In the early 1900's an actress named Celia Sands disappears on the night she is to premiere a play written for her by her famous playwright lover in Italy. In the modern day, another actress named Celia Sands is asked to star when the playwrights grandson revives the infamous play. There are mysteries in the present and the past, as well as romance and like every other book I've read by Susanna Kearsley, I couldn't put it down and was totally bereft when I finished.

Beauty by Robin McKinley

I don't know how I missed reading this when I was growing up! A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I read this one for the Young Adult Book and Movie Club with Jessica from Quirky Bookworm (you should join in!) It was lovely and such a fun escape-I'm so glad I finally found it.

Next up…Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter! I'm only about half way, but loving it so far.

What are you reading right now?

Making the little moments special

2015-01-09T08:41:00.001-06:00

This week isn't just the start of the new year for our family, but a whole new direction for us. My husband left the active duty Air Force at the end of the last year. While he will still be flying with a National Guard unit part time he will be spending most of his time now as an airline pilot.

This means new airplanes, trips to training and a whole new batch of acronyms for all of us to learn.

We spent the last year focused on getting to the end goals of new house and new jobs, forgetting to look back at how much we accomplished in the meantime.

Rather than make resolutions, I just hope to be kinder to myself in the New Year, and a big part of that this year needs to be celebrating the little milestones and moments, even the teeny tiney ones. I'm a list maker. The thrill of crossing something off is always there for me, and is a good chunk of my motivation some days. Stopping for just a few moments beyond the time it takes to cross something off the to-do list acknowledges the effort it took to get there, and I don't do that nearly enough. It's cross something off and move on to the next thing in almost the same breath.

So in that vein, this week the boys and I have been celebrating. We picked up cupcakes to celebrate the first day of school in 2015 on Monday. Today we had hot chocolate with breakfast because it's an unexpected snow day.

Neither the hot chocolate nor the cupcakes are that unusual to be honest. We often have them as a treat after school or when we randomly need a pick-me-up.

Stopping for just a moment and assigning them a reason though, no matter how tiny, gives us all a moment to breathe and smile. Who can argue with an excuse to smile more often?

How do you celebrate the little moments?

Tallying Up and Moving Forward

2015-01-01T15:46:00.004-06:00

Everywhere I look the changing of the year reckoning has begun. "Best of" lists abound (even I couldn't resist!), goals are being reviewed and new ones set.

I realized pretty early in the year that the intentions I originally set for 2014 did not stand a chance of completion. Looking back our family accomplished an awful lot despite the chaos. Maybe even because of the chaos. Reading is my happy place, and I think the stats below show that this was a year of comfort books!

Nerd out with me for a moment :)

This year's book stats:

68 books total

30 mysteries

16 non-fiction

3 different continents as settings (North America, Australia and Asia)

14 (!) books set in the 1920s alone, and only 2 fiction books were set in the present day

33 female protagonists, 11 male, 10 with multiple viewpoints

12 re-reads

6 Young Adult (this surprised me-I thought I read more YA this year)

So where does that leave me? 65 books was my goal this year, and I felt pretty comfortable with that. I had hoped to read more of the books that have been languishing unread for years around the house, but considering the circumstances (and the fact that those books were in boxes for several months!) I'm not beating myself up over it.

Now on to 2015!

Read 70 books.

Review them on the blog (in a timely manner-ha!)

Read at least 3/4 of the books for the Young Adult Book and Movie Club (YABMC) hosted by Jessica of Quirky Bookworm. It's a great list this year so this should be an easy goal!

Find a book club locally. I really miss the monthly connection with my bookish friends.

Try to read books set in places or times that I don't normally gravitate towards…so less Victorian England basically.

And a repeat from 2014-Try to read a few of the books that are sitting unread on my bookshelves.

Do you set reading goals? What are you hoping to read in 2015?

My favorite books of 2014

2014-12-30T09:36:00.003-06:00

Hello strangers!

2014 has been one long, crazy year that pushed my family miles beyond our comfort zone, sapped my creativity and ended stronger and a bit more melancholy than we ever expected last New Years Eve.

About a month ago, I started to miss writing. I began scribbling in my journal in the quiet hours in the margins of the day. Nothing earth shattering. Nothing worth sharing. But writing nonetheless.

Now I'm quietly back to Hearth and Homefront. I've missed you all, though it's been so long I'm not sure if anyone is still out there.

I'm figuring out what this space will look like in 2015. My life is very different than it was a year ago and things need to change to better reflect who I am now.

There will still be food, cute kids and dogs…and always books. THAT is one thing that will never change :)

In that spirit, I'm going to round up my favorite books of 2014. Later this week I'll pop back in to chat about my reading goals and book totals, maybe even throwing in nerdy stats or charts (totally inspired by The Quirky Bookworm's reading stats!)

Without further ado and in no particular order, here are my favorites!

Bread and Wine by Shauna Neiquist

This book made everyone's "Best Of" lists last year, and I snagged it on sale for the kindle. Moving, comforting, and heartbreaking in turn, this is a book that will come back to again and again in the next few years. I read this with friends, and discussed it while devouring several of the recipes in the book. Perfection!

The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley

I stumbled onto Kearsley late last year and tore through her whole back catalog. This was by far my favorite. It's a gentle romance set at an archaeological dig in Scotland. They are searching for the lost Roman Legion (the 9th Hispana) and they have only the ghost of a lone centurion to go on.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

I adore Bryson. I read this as we moved cross-country and it was the perfect silly but occasionally serious foil to the craziness of our life this summer. My new commute to work crosses over the Appalachian Trail at one point, and every morning I giggle about Bryson's plan to fight a bear off with toenail clippers.

Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie

Stumbled on this mystery series about a vicar in post-war (WWII) Cambridge, trying to reconcile his involvement with solving mysteries and his duties to his parish through Katie's blog. Sometimes a little slow, but the overall effect is lovely. Each book has interconnected short stories, and I'm currently savoring the second in the series.

The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

My first time reading one of the Tommy and Tuppence mysteries and I think they might just beat out Miss Marple for my favorite sleuths. Set in the 1920s, these are light and witty and follow the adventures of this young couple who discover a talent for solving mysteries.

Inquiry into Love and Death by Simone St. James

I'm a wimp when it comes to scary books, but St. James has the knack for writing ghost stories that are just the right amount of spooky. A young girl must sort out her ghost hunting uncle's belongings after his death, and stumbles into his final case. I also read Silence for the Dead by St. James this year, and that one is excellent as well. She does such a fantastic job portraying England at the end of WWI.

A few others that I really enjoyed but didn't quite make the list are The Silkworm, The Blood of Olympus, Where'd You Go Bernadette? and Dying in the Wool.

What were YOUR favorites this year?

I'm linking up at Modern Mrs Darcy-go take a look at more recommendations there. Your to-be-read list will explode :)

Some of these links are affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Hearth and Homefront.

Weekday Reading

2014-09-08T08:18:00.002-05:00

As I've gotten back into the routine of life with the boys in school and the boxes (somewhat) unpacked, I've been catching up on my saved blog posts and Twitter favorites.

Here are some of my favorites from the last few weeks, in case you missed them!

1. Friday Night Meatballs. This reminded me so much of the way all our friends came together over food in Oklahoma, and how I can't wait to do the same with new friends here in Connecticut.

2. On Writing (nearly) everyday. Katie spent the month of August writing by hand. Makes me wonder how getting back to basics might affect my own creativity.

3. Would you use a room color consultant? With all the paint samples I have taped up around the house, we could sure use one!

4. Fabulous school lunch ideas from Pink Parsley.

5. This is my dream writer's conference. Someday!

6. I'm dying to try this Somali Spiced Coffee from Journey Mercies.

7. Bathroom inspiration from Copy Cat Chic. The boys bathroom is the same one our guests will use in the new house…and does it ever need updating! I love this sophisticated but somewhat masculine space.

8. The history of London through maps. What I wouldn't do to see those maps in person!

9. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote an autobiography in the 30s but it was never published…but the South Dakota Historical Society Press is publishing the annotated version now. You can get a copy here.

10. Today is my contributor day over on Life with the Crust Cut Off. Go check out the perfect side for a quick fall dinner.

11. Prince George is getting a sibling!! The #RoyalBaby hashtag has already taken over Twitter. Nice to see happy news stories for a change.

Happy Monday!!

Boxes and Boxes of Books #bookwormproblems

2014-09-05T21:35:00.002-05:00

Last weekend I hit my limit for looking at piles of moving boxes. We were at that annoying part of the unpacking process when I had found almost all the necessities, but I haven't figured out where to put all the stuff that's left to unpack. Let's face it, I'm not hanging pictures until we get rid of the crazy yellow walls, and I'm not unpacking our serving dishes until we make friends to invite over. Right?

That left all the boxes of books. So. Many. Boxes. What's pictured above is not even half of them.

My executive decision? I'd rather look at piles of books in my living room than piles of boxes any day! I unpacked them all and divided them up into fiction and non-fiction piles and saved the big organizing for another day.

It instantly felt more like home! Of course, unpacking them led to a second #bookwormproblem…I needed to read/re-read every single one right away :)

Stay tuned…I'll post some pictures of the finished/organized shelves this week!

Joining in with Jessica at the Quirky Bookworm for her #bookwormproblems linkup. (It's also a fun twitter hashtag to follow!)

Courage, dear heart

2014-09-02T01:00:00.000-05:00

I succumbed to a fit of the mopes this weekend.

I'm tired. Tired of boxes, tired of living in survival mode, tired of our self-imposed family separation.

Tired, tired, tired.

In frustration, I made a cup of tea, and turned to my books. I never fail to find comfort or courage in the pages of my favorites.

In the end, it was unassuming Bilbo Baggins stuck in the goblin caves, who spoke the most to me.

"Go back?" he thought. "No good at all!

Go sideways? Impossible!

Go forward? Only thing to do!

On we go!

So up he got and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him, and one hand on the wall, his heart all of a pitter and a patter."

Going forward-it's the only thing to do. Reminders of your path, like courage, can be found in the most unlikely places.

I'd love to know what words bring you comfort and courage. Please share!

And if you are looking for a few more of my favorites (including the CS Lewis quote I used in my post title) you can find them on my "quotables" Pinterest board.

Hello there!

2014-08-21T02:00:00.000-05:00

I'm very excited that today is my day as a featured blogger over at the SITS Girls! For those of you who haven't heard of it, SITS Girls is an awesome community of women bloggers. They have forums, a fabulous Facebook page, and TONS of great articles and resources on their website. I have learned so much and met some really great bloggers too :)

Now that you're here, I want to say hello and introduce myself properly!

Hi there! I'm Moira :)

I hope you get a chance to look around my little corner of the internet. You'll find yummy things to eat, great books, and the occasional musing on motherhood.

My family and I just moved back to New England (Connecticut, to be precise) from Oklahoma so my posting schedule is a little off while I unpack boxes and get organized. I can't wait to share more pictures of our new house, and really get cooking in my new kitchen!

Usually you can find me posting on Monday, Wednesday and Friday on the blog. Sometimes these cuties even make an appearance!

I love to connect with readers and bloggers on social media too. You can find me here:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest
Goodreads
Google Plus

Thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you again soon :)

And a special thanks to my regular readers too-I'm so glad you're here! You make me smile every day!

Settling In

2014-08-19T14:27:00.001-05:00

The Rose of Sharon tree in our new backyard

We made it! The boys and I are in the new house, our moving truck is en route, and school starts next week.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind, and the next few look to be the same. I have to keep reminding myself that we are in survival mode. It's tough on all of us, grownups and children alike.

This is a time to savor the good moments and gloss over the bad. Time to cut myself some slack when all I want to do at the end of the day is have a glass of wine and a dish of ice cream and zone out to old Inspector Morse episodes on Hulu.

I'm wading back into my writing, and in the meantime I want to share some sneak peeks of the new house!

The fireplace and built-ins…soon to be repainted!

One of my favorite details: a door knocker perfect for dog lovers!

My dream stove. I'm still catching myself staring at it randomly :)

Secret Lives of the Tsars (book review)

2014-08-08T06:56:00.000-05:00

Michael Farquhar is known for his rollicking histories of royalty at its most...well, let's just say its most human. His latest book, Secret Lives of the Tsars, tackles the history of the Romanov dynasty in Imperial Russia. He begins with Ivan V and Peter I in the 1680s, and proceeds ruler by ruler all the way to the family's doomed end during World War One.

I always enjoy Farquhar's books, and this one was no exception. While the writing style at first appears almost gossipy, there is strong history and research underneath. Extensive footnotes and bibliographies make this an excellent jumping off place for the history of the Russian rulers. Russian history is not of of the subjects I typically read about, though of course I was familiar with the brutal outcome of Nicholas II and Alexandra and their 5 children in the Bolshevik Revolution. Farquhar writes in the way you wish history textbooks were written.

Yes, there is a lot of sex, violence and general bad behavior. In between the lightly treated episodes of debauchery though, is an excellent overview of the struggles this dynasty went though to stay on the throne. Alexander III faced seven assassination attempts and could bend metal with his bare hands. Peter the Great raised a commoner to be his wife (Catherine I) who ruled after his death on her own. These are the kind of details that often get lost in a serious history, but those are the things that people respond to and remember.

There was far more to the end of the Romanov dynasty than just the Bolsheviks, and Farquhar covers the reign of Nicolas II in great detail. Sadly, his time on the throne had very few lighthearted moments, and despite knowing the details of the family's cruel fate, it was heart wrenching to read all the same. It was a tough to have to end the book in such a sad and emotional way, that I almost wished he could have rearranged the chapters.

The best history books are the ones that make you anxious to read more, and Farquhar never disappoints in that respect. I'm working my way through the bibliography as we speak.

An ARC of this title was provided through NetGalley for review, but all thoughts and opinions are my own. Some links are affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Hearth and Homefront!