Milestones

 I started this blog in 2014.  Back then I was going to school to become a library technician - I graduated and worked as a library technician at one of the local schools for a few years.   I also had a goal to start reviewing books for my local newspaper - I sent them my very first blog post and they published it shortly after.  Since then I've worked for my local public library and Indigo (Canadian Bookstore). 

Recently I've hit a milestone of over 50,000 readers - I'm actually almost at 60,000 readers today.  Each month I get almost 2,000 hits on my blog and that's without even posting anything new.  

I've written over 200 book reviews.  My most read book reviews are:

Girl Wash Your Face  by Rachel Hollis

Sleeper by Eric Walters

Kay's Lucky Coin Variety by Ann Y K Choi

And Then it Happened by M & L Wade

Bookish People by Susan Coll

I'm pretty proud of my little blog.  It's been a great hobby and I enjoy writing my blog posts.  One time I got an email from the Huffington Post.  An editor there read my blog and asked if I would write an article on Bill Cosby.

So if you've been here reading my blog posts since 2014 - thank you.  I hope you've found something you've been inspired to read.

To Sicily with Love by Jennifer Probst

 

To Sicily with Love is the fourth book in the Meet me in Italy series.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize it was a series until after I finished book three, A Wedding in Lake Como.  But I promise you are fine to read them out of order.  If you love dreaming of vacations in Italy and reading about beautiful landscapes and delicious food you are going to want to read them all.

Aurora has a very structured life and everything is perfectly in order.  She's got a business working as a life coach and she's at the top of her game.  Her weight is perfect after a few years of struggling with it and her boyfriend owns a couple gyms which perfectly compliments her life.  They also swap clients back and forth which is very convenient.

Aurora's mom doesn't think her boyfriend is right for her.  She's not happy that Aurora won't eat the nice meals her mom makes.  Unfortunately, her mom suddenly passes away and their last conversation is a fight.  Now Aurora is struggling because both her parents are gone and was her mom right about things?  If only she could talk to her one more time.

A surprising twist has Aurora flying to Sicily to meet long lost relatives that she didn't know existed.  She didn't even know her mom was from Italy!  Now she's gone from no family left in the world to a large family of cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.  

To Sicily With Love is a wonderfully written novel and I intend to go back and read book one and two in the series and looking for other books by Jennifer Probst.  Also, I googled it so you don't have to - the author is no relation to Jeff Probst the Survivor host.

Beach Vibes by Susan Mallery

 

Susan Mallery is a great author with lots of light reading books.  Beach Vibes is her latest novel and I really enjoyed it.  Lots of twists and turns and definitely not predictable.

Beth has recently gone through a divorce.  She's not sad the relationship is over but she lost some friends in the divorce and she needs to find new ways to keep herself busy.  She needs to find some ways to make new friends and maybe find love again.  At least Beth is happy with her career.  She's been the owner of Surf Sandwiches since her Aunt and Uncle wanted to retire.  She bought them out and they agreed to help her brother through college to become a doctor.  He's always been the ones with the brains and she's not college material - at least that's what her brother always said.  

While volunteering at the food bank Beth meets Jana.  She's a single mom trying to work part time at the medical centre, go to school and take care of her daughter.  It's a lot of work but she lives with her single dad brother and his best friend helps out a lot too.  Beth and Jana bond over their food bank shifts and start having quick dinner together after volunteering.

Unbeknownst to the other Jana works at the same office as Beth's brother and he's been asking her out for a while now.  When Beth meets Jana's brother it feels like love at first sight.  But can Jana and Beth's friendship withstand them dating each other's brothers.  Both girls fiercely love their brothers and this could go great or very bad.

This whole love square (???) takes place in a beach town with many scenes at the beach watching the surfers.  Beth's sandwiches sound amazing and might inspire some new ideas for dinner.