Sara Reads Things

  Hello Monday! We managed to survive Thanksgiving, although it was a bit small this year. Some of my siblings decided to spend Thanksgiving with other families this years since our family is so large, just to cut down on the amount of people that got together. Although, that's fine with me, I still do miss them. This weeks book is Where The World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean. This is another book on my Scotland challenge and I'm excited to find out what it's all about.   Since there are no holidays this week, I'm back to having a full menu. It's going to be delicious, so enjoy!  WEEKLY MENU   Monday Leftover Turkey and Rice Casserole   Tuesday Taco Tuesday   Wednesday Cajun Chicken Pasta   Thursday Instant Pot Beef Tips   Friday (Kid’s night) Corn Dogs Instant Pot Mac and Cheese   Saturday Spaghetti Night   Sunday Leftovers Night

  Hello Sunday! This year is dwindling away, and to tell you the truth, I'm ok with that. Although this year has brought many great and wonderful things for my family, it has also been very challenging and exhausting. Its almost as if the powers that be gave me a 50/50 year. I guess I will take it. It could be worse. With all the changes, my reading has lessened, but I'm still trying to fit it in where ever I can. With that being said, lets recap the wonderful books that have been highlighted on the blog this last week.  Sunday Confessions #71 ~ Book Review: Gentleman Jim by Mini Matthews ~ Weekly Menu #379 And The Book Of The Week ~ Book Review: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer ~ Book Review: The Gentleman and the Thief by Sarah M.Eden Weekly Menu #380 And The Book Of The Week ~ Book Review: A Summer to Remember by Erika Montgomery ~ Movie Review: Emma ~ Sunday Confessions #73 22/196 in my Star Wars Legends challenge ~ 13/20 in my Scotland challenge ~ 42/341 Gilmore Girls challe...

  Title: The Gentleman and the Thief By: Sarah M. Eden Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance Pages: 368 Release Date: November 3rd, 2020 Publisher: Shadow Mountain Rating: ★★★☆☆   Summary from Goodreads: A gentleman scribes penny dreadful novels by night and falls in love with a woman who is a music teacher by day—and a thief at night. LONDON 1865 From the moment Hollis Darby meets Ana Newport, he’s smitten. Even though he’s from a wealthy, established family and she isn’t, he wishes he could have a life with her by his side. But Hollis has a secret: the deep coffers that have kept his family afloat for generations are bare, so he supports himself by writing penny dreadfuls under a pseudonym. If not for the income from his novels, he would be broke. Ana Newport also has a secret. Though she once had a place in society thanks to her father’s successful business, bankruptcy and scandal reduced his fortune to nothing more than a crumbling town house. So Ana teaches music during the d...

  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

  Title: Into the Wild By: Jon Krakauer Genre: Non-Fiction Pages: 207 Release Date: January 20th, 1997 Publisher: Anchor Books Rating: ★★★☆☆   Summary from Goodreads: In April, 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, a party of moose hunters found his decomposed body. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of  Into the Wild . Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Sup...

  Hello Monday. This is the week we've all been waiting for. The start of holiday season... Well, at least it is for me. I don't like to start celebrating the holidays until Thanksgiving. I find that I get tired of all the Christmas stuff long before I should if I give in any sooner.  What is your holiday schedule like? Do you hold off like me until the last minute so you can feel the full joy of Christmas?  This weeks book is Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin. I really loved the previous book in this series, Serpent & Dove, so I can't wait to slip beneath the cover of this beauty and finding out what happens to Lou and Reid.  The menu is going to be a little different this week since Thanksgiving is smack dab in the middle of the week. You are going to have to figure that day out on your own, but I think you can handle it. I will be posting the side dishes that I've been asked to bring to my small family gatherings. I hope you all stay safe out there this week...

  Hello Sunday. I had a wonderful week, I hope you did as well. The weather here in the Pacific Northwest is wet finally. I've been waiting for the usual rain, and it seems to have come a little late this year. Typical 2020. Lets take a look at what's been happening on the blog this week.  Sunday Confessions #70 ~ Weekly Menu #378 And The Book Of The Week ~ Book Review: The Camelot Betrayal by Kierstine White ~ Book Review: Open Book by Jessica Simpson ~ Book Review: Gentleman Jim by Mini Matthews Weekly Menu #379 And The Book Of The Week ~ Book Review: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer ~ Book Review: The Gentleman and the Thief ~ Sunday Confessions #72 22/196 in my Star Wars Legends challenge ~ 13/20 in my Scotland challenge ~ 41/341 Gilmore Girls challenge ~ 41/100 in my 100 books before you die challenge On to another week of books.

Title: Gentleman Jim By: Mimi Matthews Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance Pages: 376 Release Date: November 10th, 2020 Publisher: Perfectly Proper Press Rating: ★★★★☆   Summary from Goodreads: A swashbuckling, second chance Regency romance, inspired by the author's love of Georgette Heyer romances, and of Henry Fielding's eighteenth century novel  Tom Jones . She couldn’t forget… Wealthy squire’s daughter Margaret Honeywell was always meant to marry her neighbor, Frederick Burton-Smythe, but it’s bastard-born Nicholas Seaton who has her heart. Raised alongside her on her father’s estate, Nick is the rumored son of notorious highwayman Gentleman Jim. When Fred frames him for theft, Nick escapes into the night, vowing to find his legendary sire. But Nick never returns. A decade later, he’s long been presumed dead. He wouldn’t forgive… After years spent on the continent, John Beresford, Viscount St. Clare has finally come home to England. Tall, blond, and dangerous, he’s on a miss...

  Title: Open Book By: Jessica Simpson Genre: Memoir Pages: 416 Release Date: February 4th, 2020 Publisher: Dey Street Books Rating: ★★★★☆   Summary from Goodreads: Jessica tells of growing up in 1980s Texas where she was sexually abused by the daughter of a family friend, and of unsuccessfully auditioning for the Mickey Mouse Club at age 13 with Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling before going on to sign a record deal with Columbia and marrying 98 Degrees member Nick Lachey. Along the way, she details the struggles in her life, such as the pressure to support her family as a teenager, divorcing Lachey, enduring what she describes as an emotionally abusive relationship with musician John Mayer, being body-shamed in an overly appearance-centered industry, and going through bouts of heavy drinking. But Simpson ends on a positive note, discussing her billion-dollar apparel line and marriage with professional football star Eric Johnson, with whom she has three children.   ...