Daily Joys – 33
Love taking on new fun projects and the idea of this is bringing.me a lot of joy right now.
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 Daily Joys – 32
The joy of today was getting to take a small time off in the middle of the day and spending it with my wonderful husband. Unexpected, kind and caring and really joyful.  I might be able to go back to weekly updates but I am not sure yet so in the meantime, I thought it would be interesting and worthwhile to make a reflection around what I want to look forward to in February and some of my goals and plans. This months intention is to List the Joys: See what’s bringing you joy this month. Make lists. Pay attention. See if you can find patterns. I like this idea. I’ve been posting daily on my joys anyway so maybe i can take a moment to reflect in February and see if I see patterns. Paying attention is never a bad thing. Here are some goals for February
This is my list for now. February, I am ready for you. Let it be full of joy.  Well, an unexpected foray into covid definitely threw a wrench into January plans and definitely into Nourish plans. So I will recap January and we will see if I can reset for February. Mind+Soul:
Body:
Joy:
I did some and didn’t do others in January but I still feel good about it. Onward to February. Nourish is a year-long project for 2022. You can read more about my projects for 2022 here.  Daily Joys – 31 Rainbows for the win. It is not getting old. Still brings me deep deep joy.  January did not go as expected this year. My goals at the beginning of the month/year were as they often are:
While I did do many of these, many others also fell by the wayside. I had a positive covid test about halfway through the month and that meant that I spent the next two weeks isolated in my room, managing both family and work from there. I am grateful that no one else in my family got sick, that I recovered pretty quickly and experienced very few symptoms. But it still threw a bit wrench into my January plans, of course. Though it also came with a lot of reflection around life, priorities, what matters most, etc. Always good to have a solid perspective on those. I still feel pretty good about January and feel deeply grateful for my life. I’ve been practicing noticing joy and do daily work to release, step into ease and create space in my life. I definitely can lean more into both space and possibility. And I wish I’d made time for art and journaling. Here’s to hoping February is full of joy.  Daily Joys – 30
This was our cake to celebrate the end of these tough two weeks after and when I finally managed to get a negative test. Let’s hope that’s the end of this at least for a while.
I read this after I finished Clark’s new book coming in 2022. This book had so many rave reviews that I had to try and it did not disappoint. Another story with complex female characters. Especially Eva. I did see some of the twists coming but I still enjoyed this well-done mystery and read it all in one sitting.
Light and breezy sweet romance that also talked about mental health. I enjoyed the time I spent with this one.
There’s a lot going on in this book. Maybe a bit too much. This is the story of Olga, a wedding planner to the rich and powerful and her brother, a politician. Both of the characters are complex and well-built. The writing was good and there are so many relevant themes explored in this novel. Abandonment, politics, immigration, disasters, feminism/sexism, homosexuality, and so much more. I found myself connected to the book the whole time I was reading it. I liked Olga’s voice and cared about her. But I did also think it was a lot of different issues piled on top of each other in one book.
4.5 stars. I had never heard of Julie Clark but the plot of this story looked compelling and many, many people raved about her previous book so I decided to give it a chance and I am so glad I did. This is the story of Meg Williams who has been on the run and a con artist for more than a decade and Kat Roberts who has been trying to find her and expose her for equally long. Both of the women are well-developed, complex characters. As a reader, it’s hard not to root for both of them. Unlike the latest trends with unreliable narrators or drunk women, both of these women are strong, complex and flawed but real. The pacing of the story is just right, giving you enough hints along the way but not so obvious that you want to roll your eyes. I find it hard to find smart, engaging and enjoyable mystery novels lately and this one stands out. I highly recommend it. In fact, I loved it so much that the minute I finished it, I went back and read her previous book, which was also as good as everyone said it was! with gratitude to Sourcebooks Landmark and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
When I read the first Finlay Donovan book, I adored it. I laughed and laughed and laughed. I hadn’t heard much about it so it was a wonderful surprise and when I saw the sequel coming, I knew I wanted to get my hands on it as quickly as I could. It did not disappoint. In this story the mystery is about a listing Finlay sees on the online forum (disguised as a mom’s forum but we all know it’s a place you go when you want to get rid of people) about someone posting to get rid of her ex-husband. So, of course, Finlay feels compelled to figure out who wants her ex gone and she jumps with both feet in. As with the first book, havoc ensues. Everything about these books are funny and light and joyful. It’s not possible to laugh at the characters and to also root for them the whole time. These books are fantastic on audio and a really great read when you want something light and joyful. I hope there will be more. with gratitude to Macmillan Audio and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review |
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