April 2021: Recap + On My Shelves
I say this every month, but April passed in a blur. It was a busy month but filled with so much excitement – a new baby, my bestie's visit, and more. And that's why I barely got any of the things done that I planned!
1. Celebrating Easter – We kicked off the month with a few Easter celebrations. My big boy has been doing virtual preschool this year, but his teacher hosted an in-person Easter egg hunt just for virtual students. He loved getting to participate! Then, we went to my parents' for Easter lunch and visited Nick's parents later that afternoon. After everything was canceled last year, it was so nice to experience a much-needed return to normalcy.
2. Welcoming a New Nephew – At the beginning of April, my younger brother had his first baby. He's the first of my siblings to have a baby, and I teared up seeing him holding his son in his arms. It was so precious and unexpectedly emotional! We've prayed for this baby for years and are so happy that he's finally here. My big boy loved becoming a big brother last year, so he's thrilled there will be a new baby at family events. He's already in love!
3. Kelly in Georgia – The biggest highlight was Kelly's long overdue visit to Georgia. She was last here in November 2019, and we both assumed she'd next visit spring 2020. As you know, the world had other plans. It's felt like the longest wait, but our reunion couldn't have been better! She stayed for a week, and I loved every minute of it. Our favorite adventure? Going to Barnes & Noble with my sister and each buying 7 books. It was epic!
4. Family Photo Session – With my first baby, we had photos taken when he was a newborn and when he turned one. I had to do the same for my second, who turned one in February, but decided to wait a little longer so they could be outdoors rather than in a studio. I'm so glad I made that decision and love how they turned out! From the outfits to the location, everything came together beautifully. I know they're something I'll cherish forever.
Read 20 Books | Favorites:
Love on Lexington Avenue by Lauren Layne
The Best Cook in the World by Rick Bragg
A Rogue on One's Own by Evie Dunmore
Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley
“Grief runs through the whole of life and leaves nothing untouched.
A voice on the car radio, a knife in the kitchen drawer, each carries a thought of the dead.”
Austen Years by Rachel Cohen
“Is that your subtle way of asking if I’m seeing anyone?”
“Whatever gave you the impression that I’m subtle?”
Passion on Park Avenue by Lauren Layne
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize when I hired you that you
were also available for unsolicited advice on my life.”
Love on Lexington Avenue by Lauren Layne
“The past is where we go when we are helpless; the past, no matter what the psychiatrists say,
can’t really hurt you much more than it already has, not like the future,
which comes at you like a train around a blind curve.”
The Best Cook in the World by Rick Bragg
“Have you perchance considered becoming a little more likable?”
A Rogue of One's Own by Evie Dunmore
“Every mother screws up her children one way or another. It's up to you whether you stay that way.”
What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins
“We name our villains and then treat them in such a way that they prove us prophets.”
What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins
“It feels like love, like truth, which are just different ways of saying the same thing.”
What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins
“‘No one ever said that good writing was easy....
Falling in love again and again? Spilling your heart all over the page?’ She sighed.
‘But if you’re really meant to be a writer, you’ll tell the truth as you know it. Every time.’”
The Next Great Jane by K.L. Going
“Just remember to pack light. Dreams tend to shatter if you're
carrying other people's hopes around with you.”
Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin
“We are none of us perfect, and no one expects perfection.
But when you have hurt people, you must allow them their anger.
Otherwise it will only become another thing you have tried to take away.”
Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
“You will make yourself unworthy by considering yourself unworthy.
We become what we are afraid we will be.”
Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare
“I think he might love me, too—though, being a man, I expect he’s too dense to realize it.”
To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters
“It is the worries that plague us the most that cut the deepest when other people call them to the surface.”
Free from Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey
“I had been holding on to the past so hard that I couldn’t even imagine the future.”
Under the Southern Sky by Kristy Woodson Harvey
If I thought I didn't meet my blogging goals in March, what is there to say about April? I tanked even harder! I only posted three times. The first two – my March 2021 recap and April 2021 goals – are the monthly staples I didn't miss. And then I posted my sister's favorite reads in Tales & Tiger Lily: March 2021. At least one of us is somewhat on top of book reviews! I'm so behind, and I've got to get caught up. Fingers crossed that I'll find my mojo in May.
Favorite Song #1: "Way Less Sad" by AJR
I didn't listen to much music in April, so this was one of my only new finds.
Pretty sure I have Spotify's Discover playlist to thank for it.
Favorite Song #2: "High You Are" by What So Not + Branchez
I think my sister played this song for me on one of our adventures,
and I've been obsessed with it ever since! So fun for a solo drive.
I Care a Lot (2020) starring Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Dianne Wiest – When Kelly and I decided to have a movie night, we each came prepared with a suggestion. This one was mine because I'd been intrigued ever since I saw the trailer. And while it started off strong, it got stranger and more ridiculous the longer it went on. I wasn't rooting for anyone, the premise felt realistic but not the way it was executed, and an unsatisfying ending. Boo.
Promising Young Woman (2020) starring Carey Mulligan – After my movie pick was a flop, I was nervous going into Kelly's. But I shouldn't have been because this was fantastic! Based on the trailer, I expected a dark and possibly campy revenge story. That isn't what I got, but I loved it more for subverting my expectations. This was one that I finished and wanted to discuss the casting, message, styling, and ending. Likely a 2021 favorite for me!
Book of the Month: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala, and What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins
Target: Dial A for Aunties by Jesse G. Sutanto and Northern Spy by Flynn Berry
Barnes & Noble: Brood by Jackie Polzin, Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price, Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny, The Next Great Jane by K.L. Going, A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus, Bloom by Nicola Skinner, The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, The Widow Queen by Elżbieta Cherezińska, Under the Southern Sky by Kristy Woodson Harvey, Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle, Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin, The Duke Undone by Joanna Lowell, Eliza Starts a Rumor by Jane L. Rosen, and Much Ado About You by Samantha Young
Amazon: Pride and Prejudice by Katherine Woodfine, Love on Lexington Avenue by Lauren Layne, To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters, Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund, and Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Book Depository: Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane
Used Bookstore: Devil's Daughter by Lisa Kleypas, Marry in Scarlet by Anne Gracie, The Dating Plan by Sara Desai, and The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister
From My Mama: Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson, Freely & Lightly by Emily Lex, and Book Nerd by Holly Maguire
Audible: Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins, and Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley
Kindle: The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
Congrats on the new nephew! I also had a great-niece born but due to restrictions here, I have yet to meet her. Happy May!
ReplyDeleteOh I love that you mentioned a quote of mine from Under The Southern Sky-thank you!
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