Book On My Winter Reading List

All Furniture and Bedding c/o Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Outfit c/o La Vie En Rose

I never was a reader growing up. Battling dyslexia was hard. I would somehow add extra letters to words and the sentences just wouldn't make sense until I had read them a few times. Reading a novel would take days if not weeks longer than the rest of the class and I would hate every minute of it. Needless to say, I never read anything outside of schoolwork.That was until I had graduated from college. My sister Hollie had just finished reading the first two newly released Shopaholic series novels and had my mom mail them to me in one of her famous monthly care packages. I didn't really think anything of them. But, one night I decided to try a chapter of the first novel. Next thing I know, it's 7 am and I had stayed up all night reading the book from cover to cover. I was hooked.After that, I fell in love with reading and my skills slowly got better. I started reading a book a month, and throughout the summer, it was more like a book a week. Then, I had Aubrey. I bought a book by the same author as the shopaholic series, Sophie Kinsella, to....you know, read when I was bored with a newborn.......um that never happened. Next thing you know, Aubrey is 4, I now have Poppy and the book has about 2 chapters read.I really missed reading the written word. Not only did it inspire me to write this blog but it also helps me with the way I write. After starting my new bedtime routine, I finally finished that book and started to stock up on some more. I definitely have a type, being drawn to the type of books that I can picture myself in, fictional, comical books, usually by British Authors writing about 25-35-year-olds living their life nowadays with tons of hilarious drama. But I am also trying to break from that. So here is my reading list for this winter.

My Reading List For Winter:

My Husbands Wife by Jane Corry

Murder mystery-When young lawyer Lily marries Ed, she’s determined to make a fresh start. To leave the secrets of the past behind. But then she takes on her first murder case and meets Joe. A convicted murderer whom Lily is strangely drawn to. For whom she will soon be willing to risk almost anything.But Lily is not the only one with secrets. Her next-door neighbor Carla may be only nine, but she has already learned that secrets are powerful things. That they can get her whatever she wants.When Lily finds Carla on her doorstep sixteen years later, a chain of events is set in motion that can end only one way.

My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella

Fiction-Everywhere Katie Brenner looks, someone else is living the life she longs for, particularly her boss, Demeter Farlowe. Demeter is brilliant and creative, lives with her perfect family in a posh townhouse, and wears the coolest clothes. Katie’s life, meanwhile, is a daily struggle—from her dismal rental to her oddball flatmates to the tense office politics she’s trying to negotiate. No wonder Katie takes refuge in not-quite-true Instagram posts, especially as she's desperate to make her dad proud.Then, just as she’s finding her feet—not to mention a possible new romance—the worst happens. Demeter fires Katie. Shattered but determined to stay positive, Katie retreats to her family’s farm in Somerset to help them set up a vacation business. London has never seemed so far away—until Demeter unexpectedly turns up as a guest. Secrets are spilled and relationships rejiggered, and as the stakes for Katie’s future get higher, she must question her own assumptions about what makes for a truly meaningful life.Sophie Kinsella is celebrated for her vibrant, relatable characters and her great storytelling gifts. Now she returns with all of the wit, warmth, and wisdom that are the hallmarks of her bestsellers to spin this fresh, modern story about presenting the perfect life when the reality is far from the truth.

Shopaholic To The Rescue By Sophie Kinsella

Fiction-Becky is on a major rescue mission through the American West to Las Vegas! Her father has vanished from Los Angeles on a mysterious quest with the husband of Becky’s best friend, Suze. Becky’s mum is hysterical; Suze is flat-out desperate. Worse, Becky must tolerate an enemy along for the ride, who she’s convinced is up to no good.Determined to get to the bottom of why her dad has disappeared, help Suze, contain the dreaded Alicia, and reunite her fractured family, Becky knows that she must marshal all her trademark ingenuity. The result: her most outrageous and daring plan yet!But just when her family needs her more than ever, can Becky pull it off?

The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines

Biography-These famous words are now synonymous with the dynamic husband-and-wife team Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of HGTV’s Fixer Upper. As this question fills the airwaves with anticipation, their legions of fans continue to multiply and ask a different series of questions, like—Who are these people?What’s the secret to their success? And is Chip actually that funny in real life? By renovating homes in Waco, Texas, and changing lives in such a winsome and engaging way, Chip and Joanna have become more than just the stars of Fixer Upper, they have become America’s new best friends.The Magnolia Story is the first book from Chip and Joanna, offering their fans a detailed look at their life together. From the very first renovation project they ever tackled together, to the project that nearly cost them everything; from the childhood memories that shaped them, to the twists and turns that led them to the life they share on the farm today.They both attended Baylor University in Waco. However, their paths did not cross until Chip checked his car into the local Firestone tire shop where Joanna worked behind the counter. Even back then Chip was a serial entrepreneur who, among other things, ran a lawn care company, sold fireworks, and flipped houses. Soon they were married and living in their first fixer upper. Four children and countless renovations later, Joanna garners the attention of a television producer who notices her work on a blog one day.In The Magnolia Story fans will finally get to join the Gaines behind the scenes and discover:

• The time Chip ran to the grocery store and forgot to take their new, sleeping baby
• Joanna’s agonizing decision to close her dream business to focus on raising their children
• When Chip buys a houseboat, sight-unseen, and it turns out to be a leaky wreck
• Joanna’s breakthrough moment of discovering the secret to creating a beautiful home
• Harrowing stories of the financial ups and downs as an entrepreneurial couple
• Memories and photos from Chip and Jo’s wedding
• The significance of the word magnolia and why it permeates everything they do
• The way the couple pays the popularity of Fixer Upper forward, sharing the success with others, and bolstering the city of Waco along the way

And yet there is still one lingering question for fans of the show: Is Chip really that funny? “Oh yeah,” says Joanna. “He was, and still is, my first fixer upper.”