Turning the Page on May 2017

It was a bit of a hectic month here, mostly due to Jarrod having some crazy ridiculous hours at work, leaving me to entertain a 5-month-old very energetic puppy on my own. Not a lot got done around the house, I'll say that much!

Luckily things finally settled down, and on the very last day of May I made it to the beach for the first time in months! It was warm and peaceful and lovely, and I simply must get back into going every week or two like I did pre-puppy!

Books read: 9

"A Conjuring of Light" by V.E Schwab (4.5 stars)

"Saga" vol. 7 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (4 stars)

"Umentionable: A Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners" by Therese Oneill (3 stars)

"Maisie Dobbs" by Jacqueline Winspear (4 stars)

"The Lost City of Z" by David Grann (4 stars)

"Waking Gods" by Sylvain Neuvel (4 stars)

"American War" by Omar El Akkad (4 stars)

"The Stranger in the Woods" by Michael Finkel (3.5 stars)
"Into the Water" by Paula Hawkins (3.5 stars)

Currently reading: "A Twist in Time" by Julie McElwain (book 2 in the Kendra Donovan historical mystery/time travel series).

Favorite book: Definitely "A Conjuring of Light." What a fantastic ending to the Shades of Magic trilogy! If you haven't yet met Kell and Delia, I highly recommend this fun fantasy series. (The first book is called "A Darker Shade of Magic.")

Biggest let-down: "Unmentionable" wasn't horrible, and I did learn a few things about Victorian life, but the author's sarcastic, snarky tone started to wear on me pretty quickly.

June release I'm most excited about: "The Essex Serpent" by Sarah Perry.

Book I'm most excited to read in June: So many! June is going to be a month devoted to reading backlist and books I already own -- something that's been sorely lacking this year. I've read almost entirely new releases, and that's probably why I've yet to award any book 5 stars.

Books added to to-read list: 10 (not bad!)

Most intriguing TBR addition: "Artemis" by Andy Weir. I'm so excited to finally read another book by the author of "The Martian"!

Here's part of the Goodreads blurb: "Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent. Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself -- and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first."

Favorite bookstagram: This picture has some of my favorite things: historical fiction, a cup of tea, flowers, and a yummy dessert (apple cake!). Find me on Instagram @knittinglindsay.

I actually did a little bit of knitting this month! My best friend at work is getting ready to move from Hawaii to Virginia (that's the way the military goes -- you make a friend and one of you moves away!) so I whipped up a hat for her as a going-away gift. I used the Slouchy Copycat Hat pattern, which I used once before to make a hat for my Bookish Secret Santa swap partner, and it came through for me a second time. I think this hat looks good on everyone!

I also splurged and ordered a kit of absolutely gorgeous hand-dyed merino wool from Tanis Fiber Arts to knit the So Faded sweater, which I'm hoping to cast on soon!

Favorite post: 10 Beautiful Night Sky Book Covers. I love book covers, and it was so fun looking back through my Goodreads lists to compile the post.

Book reviews:
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
The Lost City of Z by David Grann
Unmentionable by Therese Oneill

Monday Musings

My week: Jarrod started new hours at work (noon to midnight 5 days the first week, 2 days the second week), so Alohi and I spent a lot of quality time together. I admit a small part of me thinks about how much reading, knitting, DVR watching, cleaning and organizing I could be getting done during all those nights when Jarrod's at work if it weren't for a certain puppy needing constant attention, but I wouldn't give my crazy, sweet girl up for anything. On one of Jarrod's two days off we took Alohi to the dog park for the first time and she had a blast!

At work I got to do something new this week. We had a group of 52 first-graders come in as part of a field trip. Their teachers had chosen a book for us to read to them ("Waiting" by Kevin Henkes), then we asked them some questions, did a couple activities and gave them a library tour. It was organized chaos most of the time, but I was so impressed with how intelligent, imaginative and well-behaved these kids were! I got to be the book reader, which was so much fun. I love kids' picture books and part of me thinks I'd enjoy being a children's librarian. I've never been "in charge" of a group of kids before, so I was a bit nervous, but I think it went pretty well!

Reading: I finished "A Conjuring of Light," the finale to V.E. Schwab's wonderful Shades of Magic series, and loved it! It was long, at over 600 pages, but it's the best book I've read this year, hands down. (Although it's been a pretty rough reading year for me, so, sadly, it hasn't had much competition.)

Then I read the latest volume of "Saga," and now I've just started a fun non-fiction book called "Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage and Manners" by Therese ONeill, as well as "Maisie Dobbs" by Jacqueline Winspear. I've been wanting to start this historical mystery series forever and I was so excited to finally dive into book one.

Watching: I'm continuing to work my way through "This Is Us" on the DVR and I'm just loving it more and more. Only a few episodes left to go! As for movies, we watched "Sing" this week and thought it was super cute.

Listening to: "Sign of the Times" by Harry Styles. I was decidedly not a One Direction fan so I never would've sought this song out, but it popped up on my Spotify and I'm glad it did!

Eating: I baked a yummy recipe my mom shared with me from Pinterest called apple fritter bread. I thought it was more reminiscent of a coffee cake than a bread, but either way it was delicious! (I skipped the glaze because I didn't have powdered sugar on hand, but I thought it was plenty sweet without it.)

Blogging:
Monday Musings
10 Beautiful Night Sky Book Covers
I Judge Books By Their Covers: Shades of Magic Series

Looking forward to: Maybe, possibly, perhaps going to see "Guardians of the Galaxy 2." We never made it to "Beauty and the Beast" and I feel like it's been forever since we've seen a movie at the theater! Also, my Roomba gets here tomorrow!

Can't have a Monday Musings post without a puppy picture!

*I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Monday Musings

Lily says she's not sure how she feels about this "puppy" thing that's about to join our family!

My week: It was a pretty quiet week here. I've been low on energy so I did a lot of sitting around doing nothing at all productive when I wasn't at work or running errands. (P.S. Can you believe January is almost over? Where the heck did it go?!)

Reading: I finished up "The Mothers" (meh... I wanted to love it like everyone else did, but I found it to range from just-ok to downright irritating), then I read an advance-read copy of "The Young Widower's Handbook" (out February 7). It's about a 29-year-old guy whose wife dies unexpectedly; totally adrift, he takes her ashes on an epic road trip across America. It started out strong, but the second half fell a bit flat for me.

Now I'm reading another ARC (soooo many ARCs -- why did I do this to myself?!), "The Lonely Hearts Hotel" by Heather O'Neill. It's been compared to "The Night Circus" and I've enjoyed the little bit I've read so far. The story definitely has an eerie, magical quality to it. Right now our two protagonists are quirky children in the same early-20th-century orphanage (not a very nice place).

Knitting: I finally started the Newt Scamander Hufflepuff scarf my friend asked for back in November. Hooray!

Watching: I watched the first two episodes of "Victoria" on Masterpiece and I'm in love!

Listening to: "Weak" by AJR.

Blogging:
Monday Musings
12 Good Reads Under 300 Pages
Yarn Along: Newt Scamander Scarf and Library Haul
Upcoming Book Release: All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai
Kauai: October 2016
Turning the Page on January 2017

Looking forward to: Our trip to the Big Island! I can't wait to see lava up close and personal!

Turning the Page on January 2017

*The most exciting part of January was picking out a boxer puppy! She'll be coming home with us next week and we're so excited! Isn't she just darling?

*With getting adjusted to my new job, I hardly went to the beach at all in December, but I think I rectified that pretty well in January.

*I made a fun Valentine's-themed staff picks display at work. And since one of my co-workers just left I get to take over the giant wall display in the kids' section. I'm enjoying getting to be crafty at work!

*It wasn't the healthiest month for my family. On New Year's Day, Jarrod stepped on a chunk of glass at the beach while he was heading out to surf and sliced his foot open. It was deep, it was gory, and anyone else but my husband would've gone to the E.R. to get stitches. My mom broke her foot and is in a walking boot. I spent two weeks hacking and snotting because of the excess vog (volcanic haze) that blew up to Oahu from the Big Island. And my grandma was just discovered to have an aortic aneurysm and has to have immediate surgery. Hopefully this just means we got all the health problems out of the way at the beginning of the year and the rest of 2017 will be smooth sailing.

*At the beginning of the month we binge-watched season 5 of "Homeland" in advance of the new season. Since then we've been catching up on episodes of "Elementary" on the DVR and I started watching "Victoria" on Masterpiece. We also finally got to see "The Secret Life of Pets" (adorable!). And I watched "Bridget Jones's Baby," which was ok... I just can't understand why they decided to deviate completely from the third book ("Mad About the Boy"), which I really liked!

*Songs on repeat: "Waiting For A Girl Like You" by Foreigner (from "Stranger Things" -- it put me on an '80s music kick), "Paris" by the Chainsmokers, "Give Me Love" and "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran.

Books read: 8

Currently reading: "The Lonely Hearts Hotel" by Heather O'Neill and "Lab Girl" by Hope Jahren

Favorite book: "The Fire by Night" by Teresa Messineo, a dual narrative WWII story. I also really enjoyed "All Our Wrong Todays." And I know the memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" will stick with me for a long, long time. And of course there's "Saga"!

Biggest let-down: "The Mothers." Pretty much everyone else loved it and I was expecting it be a a favorite of mine too, but it just didn't do it for me.

February release I'm most excited about: "Swimming Lessons" by Claire Fuller. I really enjoyed her first book, "Our Endless Numbered Days."

Book I'm most looking forward to reading in February: "The Chemist" by Stephenie Meyer; I've got it checked out from the library, but I have to get through a few advance-read books before I can pick it up.

Books won: "Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk" by and "The Mother's Promise" by Sally Hepworth, both from Goodreads giveaways. (Yay!)

Books added to my to-read list: 16

Most intriguing TBR addition: "Exit West" by Mohsin Hamid. From Goodreads: "In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet—sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors—doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through."

Favorite bookstagram: Definitely not the most interesting book-themed picture I took this month, but I really like it. Maybe it's the muted colors, the hint of Hufflepuff scarf, and the dog and the acorn. ;) 

I didn't do a ton of knitting in January; I whipped up a baby hat for our new niece who's due to greet the world any day now (that yarn is from a little shop on Kauai and it makes me think of sunsets and plumeria flowers). I also made a little owl puff as a thank-you for my wonderful Broke and Bookish Secret Santa. Now I'm working on a Newt Scamander Hufflepuff scarf from "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" for a friend. It's slow going, though -- I way overdid it with early-winter advance-read books so most of my free time has been devoted to reading.

Favorite post: Kauai: October 2016. I enjoyed looking back through the photos of the gorgeous trip we took there when my mom was out for a visit in October. It's Jarrod's and my favorite Hawaiian island and I feel so rejuvenated every time we go. The vibe there is a lot more mellow than Oahu, and the natural beauty of the island is breathtaking.

Favorite link-up post: So Many Books, So Little Time: 2016 Releases I Didn't Get To (But Will Soon -- Right?!). It's always fun looking back at the year's releases and remembering which ones I really wanted to read! (And -- success! -- I read two books from the list in January!)

Book reviews:
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (4 stars)
The River at Night by Erica Ferencik (3.5 stars)
The Second Mrs. Hockaday by Susan Rivers (3.5 stars)

The Fire by Night by Teresa Messineo (4.5 stars)

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (4 stars)

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai (4 stars)

10 Things I'm Thankful For

In honor of the upcoming holiday, this week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is about what we're thankful for. I made just such a list in 2013 and last November I wrote about book-related things I'm grateful for; since not much has changed I had intended to do something totally different (bookish goodies to give as Christmas gifts). But I dilly-dallied, and then yesterday afternoon when I planned to work on it we went to see "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" (it was so good!), so I'm just gonna throw this together! For more well thought-out lists, see the two mentioned above. Happy Thanksgiving, all!

1. My family.
Plus my awesome husband, Jarrod, who's missing from this picture. I'm so grateful I got to spend SIX WHOLE WEEKS with my parents this spring during our move from Ohio to Hawaii while Jarrod was taking a class. And I got to see my brother graduate from college. Many people get to spend time with their families whenever they want, but I'm lucky to see them once a year. And a month and a half was such a wonderful treat!

2. Our crazy kitty.
Lily Green Eyes. (And yes, she is crazy.)

3. My five senses.
Reading "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr this year made me really imagine what it would be like to be blind -- or without any one of my wonderful senses. I'm so thankful to be able to see, smell, hear, taste and touch this world of ours.

4. Libraries.
I'm so very grateful for free access to books -- as well as for the time I've spent working at libraries. (I sure do miss the one below!)

5. Books that make me think.
I learn something from nearly every book I read, fiction or non-fiction, but it's a special book that really makes me stop and think about the world and my views on it.

6. Books that take me away.
Another magical thing about books is that they take readers on adventures -- sometimes even to completely new worlds, like the three below. I love a little escapism from time to time!

7. The ability and finances to travel.
Travel is one of my passions and I feel so lucky that we've been able to do quite a bit of it -- and that I have a husband who's willing to accompany me wherever I want to go. The picture below is from our trip to Niagara Falls last year.

8. Snail mail.
I love sending and receiving letters and postcards. I love washi tape and rubber stamps and stickers. I love penpals and Postcrossing. It's such a joy to find a real, actual letter in my mailbox!

9. E-mail.
As much as I adore snail mail, I'm also incredibly grateful for e-mail (and technology in general) because it allows me to keep in touch with friends and family as the Air Force moves us all over the place. I e-mail my mom and my grandma every single day, and I love starting each day by reading their e-mails to me over breakfast.

10. To be a woman in the 21st century.
I've read enough historical fiction and non-fiction to know just how lucky I am to be living today. Sure, it's fun to romanticize past times (who doesn't think being a '20s flapper or a 17th century princess sounds kinda fun?) but the truth is that things pretty much sucked for women until the last several decades. I'd love to travel back to Victorian England for a week or two, but I'm so grateful to live in a time where women and men are valued equally and we're not treated as fragile, simpleminded, hysterical, childbearing property. Oh yeah, and a little thing called indoor plumbing doesn't hurt either.

Turning the Page on September 2016

*It was a bit of a weird month for us. Jarrod's schedule flip-flopped so many times and I felt like I was constantly adjusting my routine. He was on regular-person hours, then noon to 8 p.m., then 2 a.m. to 2 p.m., then 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and now 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. -- and of course, he never actually gets to leave right when his shift ends. (The joys of the Air Force: 14-hour days!) There was a stretch of about 10 days when, between work and sleep, I only saw him for about an hour a day. Luckily October should be more normal, and Jarrod mentioned possibly taking off the entire week of my mom's upcoming visit, which would be wonderful!

*We went to the beach 4 or 5 times and I'm slowly beginning to lose the ghost-white paleness I cultivated during our three years Ohio! Being un-tan here marks you immediately as a tourist, and Hawaii is a place where it helps if you look like you belong. Anyway, I did lots of reading on the beach while Jarrod surfed.

*I made cinnamon rolls for the first time ever and they came out pretty darn well, if I do say so myself. I used this recipe from Bakerella for pumpkin pecan cinnamon rolls with maple frosting. I love to bake and I love cinnamon rolls, and I can't believe I've never tried my hand at them until now. That's probably 'cause yeast and I don't always get along, but we luckily we remained amicable this time. I also made orange-lemon poppyseed muffins (recipe) this month and they turned out pretty well, too!

*While Jarrod was working all those crazy hours, I watched the first season of the BBC period drama-ish "Lark Rise to Candleford," which is just so utterly charming and I quickly fell in love with the characters. I also -- for once -- chose the right new shows to try out this fall. I'm loving "This is Us" and "Designated Survivor"!

*I was having a shitty day the week before last so I decided to splurge and buy the most perfect mug from Etsy that I'd been eyeing for months. I love foxes and I say "for fuck's sake" a lot, and my new mug makes me smile. (Here's the Etsy shop.)

Books read: 10
"The Hike" by Drew Magary (2 stars)
"Sirius: The Little Dog Who Almost Changed History" by Jonathan Crown (3 stars)
"The Magicians" by Lev Grossman (3.5 stars)
"Fist Comes Love" by Emily Giffin (4 stars)
"All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr (5 stars)
"The Other Einstein" by Marie Benedict (4 stars)
"Curious Minds" by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton (3 stars)
"Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch (5 stars)
"The Royal We" by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (4.5 stars)
"American Housewife: Stories" by Helen Ellis (3 stars)

Currently reading: "His Majesty's Dragon" by Naomi Novik (book 1 in the Temeraire series)

Favorite book: Well, seeing as I awarded it the honor of the best WWII book I've ever read, I'm gonna have to go with "All the Light We Cannot See." Beautiful writing, dynamic characters, unique story... I loved it!

Biggest let-down: Ugh, "The Hike." I started it in July, put it down for a while, finished it and was left utterly disappointed. I have to applaud anyone who can get a book published, but this one just struck me as so amateur. (Case in point, at its very core, "Dark Matter," which I also read this month, is about a similar topic, but it is infinitely better in every possible way.)

October release(s) I'm most excited about: "The Comet Seekers" by Helen Sedgwick. I've been looking forward to this novel, which is set in Antarctica, for months! And I'm always happy to read the latest installment in Tasha Alexander's Lady Emily historical mysteries -- one of the few series I actually manage to keep up with -- and the eleventh book, "A Terrible Beauty," comes out in a couple weeks.

Book I'm most excited to read in October: "Rebecca" by Daphne DuMaurier. I've been planning to read it for years, and for some reason I've always had it in my head that I wanted to read it in October. Well, the October has finally arrived!

Books added to my to-read list: 10 (could be worse!)

Books added to my maybe-to-read list: 11

Most intriguing TBR addition(s): Both non-fiction books with telling subtitles, but on two polar-opposite topics: "What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains and Ourselves" by Benjamin K. Bergen, and "Hillbilly Elegy: a Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis" by J.D. Vance.

Books read from my summer reading list: 2 ("The Royal We" and "American Housewife")

Books read from my must-read-in-2016 list: 2 ("All the Light We Cannot See" and "The Magicians")

Favorite bookstagram: I like everything about this picture! I have a huge appreciation for books that include maps, I love my little fox mug (apparently I have a thing for fox mugs!) and those poppyseed muffins were so tasty! (That's the flyleaf of "The Magicians," by the way.)

I spent most of September working on my beautiful Earnest cardigan but hit disaster when I discovered my gauge was off (I think because of the yarn I was using) and it was coming out way too small. I realized this when it should've been down to the bottom of my waist and was still up at my bust. And I shed my first ever knitting-related tear (mostly for all those wasted hours of work) and shoved the whole thing in a coffee table drawer.

Luckily a diversion came last week when a friend from my library job in Ohio asked if I'd knit her a little stuffed hummingbird pattern she came across in a library book, and it was just the project I needed. I had fun deciding on yarn -- in the end I used two different yarns held together to better replicate the shimmer of hummingbird feathers -- and it was a quick and fun little knit to work up. Isn't he adorable? I've had requests to make a few more, so that's what I'm busy with at the moment.

Favorite post: My Fall 2016 Reading List. I love putting together these quarterly to-read lists. It's fun to look back through the loooong list of books I want to read, as well as new and upcoming releases. I used to throw these lists together and then not look at them again, but I now I put a lot of thought into them and really make an effort to read the books I've put on the list.

Book reviews:
"I Let You Go" by Clare Mackintosh
"The Things We Keep" by Sally Hepworth
"Sleeping Giants" by Sylvain Neuvel
"First Comes Love" by Emily Giffin
"The Magicians" by Lev Grossman
"The Hike" by Drew Magary
"Curious Minds" by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton
"All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Monday Musings

My week: It was kind of a dull, blah, grumpy week here, where a bunch of little things started piling up and up and up and eventually it just seemed like the world was out to make my life miserable. To enhance the black cloud over my little corner of the planet, I just so happened to be reading the most depressing book ever, "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara.

I know from last time we were stationed in Hawaii that it can be very hard for a military spouse to find work here, but I think I really need to buckle down on the job search -- I'm starting to go a bit stir crazy (and, obviously, get a bit grouchy) spending so much time at home with only the cat for company!

Reading: I finished two books last week and started a third. Talk about a book hangover: I finished the 720-page saga "A Little Life" on Thursday and I'm still digesting it. I loved it, I hated it, I was horrified and disgusted, my heart was both warmed and ripped the hell out. I actually watched an hour-long interview with the author in an attempt to better understand her purpose in writing such an emotionally slaughtering book -- and to divine my feelings about it. So far I'm undecided on a rating and don't even know where to start on a review.

Then, since I needed a pick-me-up after the ridiculous heaviness of "A Little Life," I read "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." As I wrote on Instagram: I read "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" on Friday evening, and overall I was a bit disappointed. I didn't love the script format (I missed all those descriptive details that come with a real novel, and it was SO short), and I thought the plot was flimsy. And there was one part in particular that made me say, "WHAT?!? That would never happen!" I also didn't appreciate the portrayal of poor Ron as a dopey idiot. Still, though, it was a fun little read and I did love Scorpius. I'm sure "The Cursed Child" would be MUCH better in it's intended format -- a play, not "the eighth book."

And now I'm reading a highly rated crime thriller by John Hart called "Redemption Road," which is set in North Carolina. I'm definitely intrigued, though I'm only just learning the various storylines. I saw it described as a gritty Southern mystery somewhere, and I'm feeling like that's accurate so far. (P.S. The cover is so pretty in real life! The paper feels like a paint canvas and the artwork has a watercolor look to it.)

Knitting: Nothing last week, but I'm about to cast on for a new cardigan, the Earnest pattern by Joji Locatelli. This week is the start of her Fall Knit-Along and I'm excited to participate!

Working on: The blog! I finally started the loooong-overdue process of adding my recent-ish reviews to the book reviews page on the blog (I hadn't done it in over a year; I don't know how I got so behind!). I also finally made a Facebook page for my blog. If you'd like to follow Lindsay's Library on Facebook, you can find the page here!

Watching: We've mostly been watching the Olympics, but on Saturday night we put in a DVD of "Trumbo." It stars Bryan Cranston as a well-known Hollywood script writer and communist who's been blacklisted during the McCarthy-era witch hunts, sent to prison and then unable to find a job. The way he copes, and the way he helps affect change, are amazing. The acting (from Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Elle Fanning and more) was wonderful, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well the (true!) story kept my interest.

Listening to: "Closer" by The Chainsmokers and Halsey. (I do admit that part of the reason I love this song is the mention of Boulder. I'm obsessed with anything related to my home state of Colorado -- even though Boulder is the home of my alma mater's arch-nemesis.)

Eating: We tried two new recipes this week, both from a food blog I recently discovered called Carlsbad Cravings. I'll make a few slight modifications next time, but both the Smothered Baked Chicken Burritos and the Chicken in Coconut Mango Verde Sauce were keepers!

Buying: We've gradually been making our new backyard and patio more hospitable (at least we now have grass) and a couple weekends ago Jarrod built the structure for a raised flower bed. Saturday we picked up a truckload of top soil from a small local landscaping company tucked away on the far west side of the island. It was a typical wacky Hawaii experience: it was the epitome of a laid-back operation, and the owner seemed both delighted and annoyed by our desire to purchase his dirt. He also basically insisted we pay with cash instead of card so he could have some beer money. Yesterday we picked some veggies to plant in our new garden (peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, okra), so now we'll cross our fingers and hope it flourishes after all our (well, mostly Jarrod's) hard work!

Looking forward to: This week my mom bought plane tickets for a visit to Hawaii in October! I'm hoping to take her to Kauai, our favorite island, this time.

I'm linking up with Kathryn of Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

A Look Back: June 2016

The Month:

*It's been a fairly quiet month here in Hawaii. We arrived May 25 and spent three weeks living in a hotel on base while we were house-hunting (a stressful and grouchy time, but we won't go into that!) and then we moved into our new home two weeks ago today. And today, the moving company is finally delivering our stuff! (For some crazy reason, they were backed up enough that they needed four weeks to deliver, so we've been making do with the little bit of loaner stuff available from the Air Force. I have never been so excited to sleep in my own bed -- or to vacuum!) After living for two weeks in an almost completely empty house, I am so looking forward to making this place feel warm and homey! And to have some patio furniture so I can sit outside!

*On June 15, the day we got the keys to our house, Jarrod and I celebrated our 8-year wedding anniversary by picking up and hauling in our new washer and dryer, then eating at our favorite burger place (we're super-fancy around here!).

*Our kitty cat, Lily, joined us in Hawaii last Friday! We had to delay bringing her out because we couldn't find any decent cat-friendly lodging while we were house-hunting, so she spent an extra couple weeks with her grandparents in Colorado. She's already found her new favorite perch, the living room windowsill where she can watch the birds and our occasional mongoose visitor.

*We had several days between moving in and DirecTV hooking up our cable, so we binge-watched season 1 of "Mr. Robot" on Amazon Prime; perfect timing because the new season starts in a couple weeks. It's a unique thriller about a cyber security expert/hacker/schizophrenic and we both enjoyed it. And now that we have our cable hooked up, we've been taking advantage of our three months of free movie channels to catch up on this season's "Game of Thrones" on OnDemand.

*I finally had my first Moscow mule cocktail! It was delicious and I totally want to learn how to make them myself. Maybe I'll even buy some cute (faux)copper mugs!

*We had an unpleasant surprise last weekend when we encountered a scorpion crawling across our master bedroom floor. YIKES!

The Books:

Books finished: 6

Favorite book: "The Wolf Road" by Beth Lewis... but "Written in Red" was so good too (in a completely different way)!

Biggest let-down: none this month! :)

Most excited about reading in July: "Sleeping Giants" by Sylvain Neuvel. I have it on hold at the library and I'm hoping it comes in soon; I've been dying to read it since before it came out, but the timing was all wrong with our move and being able to get it from the library.
Books added to to-read list: 17 (I actually added a couple more since I started writing this post, but I'm too ashamed to count and add them!)

Books added to maybe-to-read list: 27 (Houston, we have a problem!)
Most intriguing TBR addition: "The Last Days of Night" by Graham Moore, out in September. From Goodreads: From Graham Moore, the Academy Award–winning screenwriter of "The Imitation Game"...comes a riveting historical thriller about the "War of the Currents," the famous race for glory and riches between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse.
Books read from my summer reading list: 0
Books read from my must-read-in-2016 list: 1 ("Written in Red")

Favorite Bookstagram: (below) I just love the cover of "Lily and the Octopus" and it was fun turning it into an Instagram photo. I seldom read e-books until I started requesting advance-reading copies from NetGalley recently, and it's been interesting taking photos of my iPad (and battling that glare!). Follow me on Instagram @knittinglindsay!

The Knits:

I've made some good progress on my Cap Sleeve Lattice Top (pattern from Purl Soho) this month! It should be done shortly; I just have to finish the stockinette body and bottom ribbing on the front, then it'll be time to seam the sides together! It's been a fun and easy knit, and I'm excited to have a handmade sweater that I can actually wear in Hawaii without getting heat stroke! I've been scouring Ravelry for more short-sleeve sweater patterns and I'm sure I'll start another one soon!

The Blog:

Favorite post: 10 Things I Love About Harry Potter  I put this post together at the last minute and it turned out to be such fun! I really enjoyed looking back through the photos from our February trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (one of these days I'll write up a whole post). It also made crave a Harry Potter movie marathon, so maybe that's what I'll do this next week in between unpacking.

Favorite link-up post: 25 Gorgeous Bookish Art Prints to Add to Your Wishlist  So much for Top Ten Tuesday, we've got Top 25 Tuesday! Looking at this post just makes me happy... so many pretties!

Book reviews:

"June" by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (4.5 stars)

"Lily and the Octopus" by Steven Rowley (4 stars)

"The Wolf Road" by Beth Lewis (5 stars)

"Age of Myth" by Michael J. Sullivan (4 stars)