Category: For Fun (Page 2 of 5)

MY FAVORITE 5 BOOKS SINCE I STARTED THIS BLOG 3 YEARS AGO

July 10, 2019 /

Three summers — and 185 posts ago — ago I started “Leslie’s Bookcase” with this post about old books. I had been working on my graduate degree in English literature for several years and was reading mostly older books. This blog was going to (and has) filled the void of reading and discussing books after earning my degree.

After blogging for one year and realizing, however, that readers (including me) prefer reading about new books, I celebrated my first blogoversary by writing about how I loved new books.

This year I am celebrating by choosing my FAVORITE 5 BOOKS since starting this blog. At the end of every year I name my five favorites published that year; the “published in this year” keeps my selection process defined from year to year. So many older books I have discovered or even read a year later weren’t eligible for my annual post. But for this post I am considering ALL THE BOOKS I have blogged about.

So here they are, MY FAVORITE 5 BOOKS SINCE STARTING THIS BLOG:

PAULA MCLAIN BOOK EVENT

May 29, 2019 /

Tonight I had the wonderful opportunity to hear bestselling author Paula McLain speak. She is best known for The Paris Wife, historical fiction from the perspective of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife Hadley. McLain is now promoting her newest novel, Love and Ruin, which I have already read and included in my favorite books of 2018.

Following my usual rules for attending a book event I arrived early, sat in the back, and was therefore the very first person to get my book signed; this certainly capped off my amazing experience (more on this later).

‘THE UNHONEYMOONERS’

May 22, 2019 /

When I put together my seasonal reading lists I try to include some variety beyond the historical fiction I tend to gravitate towards. (Most recently these books have had a heiress in an fancy dress on the cover but before that it was WWII fiction.)

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren with its cheery cover looked like a lighter, fun read and was getting a lot of buzz so I decided to give it a try.

‘THE DOLLHOUSE’ & MY MARDI GRAS PARTY

March 9, 2019 /

I don’t have a book club, but I do have a Downton Abbey group…a group of 4 women who connected over this show years ago.

Once or twice we tried to read this same book but we were forgetting to talk about it until the end of our “meetings” so we gave that idea up, and now we just “meet.”

At the past meeting I hosted I had to laugh because they all walked in with a pile of books, and the first 20 mins of the gathering consisted of them passing books around to each other, returning books to each other, and recommending books.

A GUIDE TO THE 2019 OSCAR AWARDS – How & where to see all the movies before the awards show

January 27, 2019 /

The 91st Academy Awards will be televised on Sunday, February 24. This gives us a few weeks to watch the movies that will be honored.

Keep reading to find out how to see all the nominees for best picture.

Unless you go to the movie theater regularly, seeing all the films nominated for “best picture” can be a challenge. By the time the nominees are announced, some movies are already out of theaters and may have entered a blackout period where they are not yet available through other providers.

Luckily, this year with some careful planning we can have access to all the movies in time for the awards show. Not many are available for rent yet so you will have to purchase some of them, but keep in mind that $15 is still cheaper than two people going to the theater!

Although the list of nominations is by no means a complete list of all the movies worth seeing from the year, I have found this project a good way to see a diverse group of movies, many of which I would not have seen otherwise.

Below is my guide for how you can see all the movies before Feb. 24. I will be filling in my thoughts about all as I work through the list myself.

I READ ‘BIRD BOX’

January 7, 2019 /

I had been hearing so much about ‘Bird Box’ (a movie on Netflix) that I was ready to give in and watch it too, but then I happened across a copy of the book at a used book store. I honestly didn’t realize this movie was based on a book until I saw it for sale:

Bird Box: A Novel

MY FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2018

December 26, 2018 /

This is my third year of blogging on “Leslie’s Bookcase” and my year-end tradition is to announce my favorite five books of the year. To keep this process consistent from year to year, I only consider books published within the past year. And I can’t read ALL the books so this honor is obviously limited to the books I have read and posted about.

And here are my favorite books of 2018:

One of the books my husband has enjoyed.

THREE BOOKS THAT GOT MY HUSBAND EXCITED TO READ AGAIN

November 24, 2018 /

When I met my husband 13+ years ago, he had a ton of books, including lots of Stephen King and other mysteries and thrillers, mostly paperback. Apparently he used to read a lot! But over the years I have known him he hasn’t read books too often, and more recently (like since I started this blog) he doesn’t seem to understand why I’m SO into reading. So I made it my goal to find books that would get him excited about reading again.

I succeeded by putting these three books in his hands:
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Beautiful Jackson Square on a Saturday morning.

NEW ORLEANS WITH KIDS (AND MY HUSBAND’S GHOST PHOTO)

November 8, 2018 /

You’re taking your kids to New Orleans???

That is a question I got when I announced our fall travel plans.

Yes, yes we did, and it was awesome. There’s a ton of stuff to do in New Orleans as a family while still having good time as adults.

Of course it is a different experience than when I went there 4 times in my college era, but at this point in my life that is OK!! I would not likely take them in the spring closer to Mardi Gras.

THE RED SPARROW TRILOGY!!!

September 19, 2018 /

I previously posted on how much I loved reading Red Sparrow.

Read my post on Red Sparrow here.

And after reading the next two books in this trilogy by Jason Matthews, I have to tell you more about this series; it has been one of my favorite reading experiences ever!! The final installment, The Kremlin’s Candidate: A Novel (The Red Sparrow Trilogy)was published earlier this year.

These Sparrow books are not my usual genre, and I hadn’t even planned to read them this summer, but they honestly have been my favorite books so far this year considering pure entertainment value.
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Category: For Fun (Page 2 of 5)

MY FAVORITE 5 BOOKS SINCE I STARTED THIS BLOG 3 YEARS AGO

PAULA MCLAIN BOOK EVENT

‘THE UNHONEYMOONERS’

‘THE DOLLHOUSE’ & MY MARDI GRAS PARTY

A GUIDE TO THE 2019 OSCAR AWARDS – How & where to see all the movies before the awards show

I READ ‘BIRD BOX’

MY FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2018

THREE BOOKS THAT GOT MY HUSBAND EXCITED TO READ AGAIN

NEW ORLEANS WITH KIDS (AND MY HUSBAND’S GHOST PHOTO)

THE RED SPARROW TRILOGY!!!

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