Let's Look - February 2026

I am a big fan of linkups and always enjoy finding new ones. I don't remember how I stumbled across this one, but it looks (pun intended) like a fun one to join!

This month, the Let's Look Linkup is talking about Ways We've Turned Into Our Parents and oh boy, this is a good one!

My mom and I talk daily and hang out on Friday nights during my daughter's gymnastics class and afterwards. Since my husband works Friday nights, that has become our time to watch TV and decompress from the week. At least one time on those nights, my mom and I will say the exact same thing at the exact same time! It's usually something pretty random too! We don't just do that on the Friday nights either; it happens pretty frequently!

I've noticed that I've started singing along with music in the grocery store. My mom did that when I was growing up, and it usually embarrassed me! Now that the grocery stores are playing music from my high school and college days, even though there's no possible way that music is considered "classic," I completely understand why she sings along with it!

Even though my dad has been gone almost five years, I've noticed a big way I'm turning into him - my love of Crocs! We used to make fun of him because he wore them all of the time, but the man was onto something! They're comfortable!

I'm sure as soon as I publish this, I will think of another 50 ways I'm turning into my parents! 

Linking up with Erika and Shay!

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 02.11.26

I haven't done a Wednesday Hodgepodge since November 2024, so I thought I'd finally rejoin!

1. What's something recent that had you 'tickled pink'? 

We had snow and ice a couple of weeks ago, and we got an extra, unexpected day off of work/school. I love when we get those random days off, especially since I'm so burned out from my job and will take all the time I can!

2. A bed of roses, everything's coming up roses, every rose has it's thorn, stop and smell the roses, rose-colored glasses, a rose among thorns...which rosy expression might currently be applied to your life in some way? 

The one I need to apply to my life is "stop and smell the roses." Things feel so busy right now, and I feel really frazzled. I don't know if I'm trying to do too much or what, but I need to slow down and do intentional things to help me recharge. I'm guilty of too much scrolling, staying up too late, etc., which I know doesn't help the feelings of being frazzled and overwhelmed, so it's time to make some changes!

3. What makes you feel loved and appreciated? 

I like random surprises, but they don't have to be big or expensive. My husband got me a coffee drink for work recently just because he knew it would make me happy. Things like that to show me someone is thinking of me make me feel so loved and appreciated!

4. A box of chocolates or a bouquet of fresh flowers-what's your pleasure? Any special plans for Valentine's Day? 

Since I kill flowers, and I'm a chocoholic, I have to go with a box of chocolates on this one! Valentine's Day is the 15th(!) anniversary of the first date my husband and I went on. He has to work that day, so I think he and I may go to dinner another night. On Valentine's Day, my mom, brother, and daughter are talking about taking a day trip since we have a long weekend!

5. Share a favorite quote, scripture, or song lyric relating to love. 

I'm not the best at this. My husband fusses at me a lot for negative self-talk and not taking good care of myself. There are a lot of things I can improve in this area. I think I'm going to print out the graphic below and put it somewhere I'll see it regularly!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Thank you for taking the time to read! I appreciate the love! 😍

Linking up with Joyce!

What's Up Wednesday : July 2025

 

It's the last Wednesday of the month, so I'm linking up with Sheaffer and Shay and sharing what has been going on with us lately! 

What we're eating this week

I went back to work this week, and Charli starts school Friday, so I'm in panic mode because I've realized what I haven't accomplished this summer! So, this week will be full of leftovers, easy food, and whatever we can throw together! We will go to Burger King after her school Open House tomorrow night because that has become our tradition!

What I'm reminiscing about

The beginning of summer and how much time it seemed like we had! It has flown by!!

What I'm loving

These dresses from Walmart! They're comfortable and long (but not too long for my short self) and so easy to throw on for work or errands. Three of us at work have the black one, and I'm sure there will be a day that we all wear it!

What we've been up to

Enjoying the last bits of summer break, including a short trip to Jellystone Park in East Tenneseee. It was so much fun! They had a ton of free activities, plus a small water park. I think we're going to go back next summer!

What I'm dreading

Honestly, I'm dreading the school year. Summer is so relaxed, and the school year just goes at breakneck speed. We already have something planned for every Saturday in August! Also, I don't love my job, and I didn't get any of the jobs I applied for over the summer, so I'm really, really, really dreading it. I've only been back one day so far, and I am already over it!!

What I'm working on

A new career path, obviously! I'm also starting the process of getting ready for fall consignment sales. We have one right after Labor Day, so I need to work on cleaning out Charli's clothes, shoes, and toys so we can declutter and make some money! I'm also working on the remnants of yard work that I didn't finish over summer break; we have a lot of brush that I have either burned or bagged, but there's still a bit more that I need to work on and want to finish soon so we can move on to the next (not) fun yard project.

What I'm excited about

I've got a couple of Saturday lunch and dinner dates scheduled that should be fun! I'm also excited for one of our Girl Scout events because it's cave exploring, which we haven't done before. 

What I'm watching/reading

My mom, Charli, and I watch a few shows on Friday nights after gymnastics - our current lineup is America's Got Talent, The 1% Club, and Wife Swap (older but entertaining!). Will and I watched the first Happy Gilmore movie because I hadn't seen it, so now we're ready for the second one.

I've got a stack of ebooks checked out from the library, including Cher's biography and Better Than Before about habit building. I plan to do a recap of what I read in July in the next couple of weeks.

What I'm listening to

I set a goal to listen to 25 new to me albums this year, and I haven't listened to any yet. Oops! I've started  a list, but I'll take any suggestions that anyone has - any genre is fine!

What I'm wearing

The dresses that I talked about earlier in this post, along with the rubber two strap sandals that a ton of stores sell. I've got a couple of other dresses in the rotation also. Dresses and sandals are so easy when it's this hot!

What I'm doing this weekend

Will works weekends, so Mom, Charli, and I have plans to go check out a dance studio open house where she's interested in taking classes. We also have to return things to a couple of stores, and of course, Friday night gymnastics and shows! I plan on prepping for the first full week of school too - clothes out for Charli and me, making some protein muffins, lunch prep, etc.

What I'm looking forward to next month

As much as I have complained about my job in this post (oops!), I am glad to be back at work to start earning money again since I don't get paid over the summer! I won't get a check until the end of August, but that'll be here before we know it! I have a free pumpkin spice latte towards the end of August, so I'm looking forward to enjoying that!

What else is new

I'm going to work hard on posting more regularly this month; I've even made a posting schedule. I'm also working on routines, so I'm curious to see how those changes help our household as we ramp up into a busier season!

Wednesday Hodgepodge : November 2024

Hello again! This is a fun linkup that I've seen a few people join but hadn't joined before now. It reminds me of survey questions we used to post on Myspace, so it makes me feel young again to join this one! 

 

1. What was your favorite part about growing up in your hometown?

This is a hard one because I still live in my hometown area, and there have been so many changes - both positive and negative - that it's tough for me to remember what growing up here was like! I guess one thing that stands out is that I used to live next door to my best friend, and we used to spend a ton of time at each other's houses. That's not really hometown specific, but it is a great memory from growing up!

2. Do you prefer 'material' gifts or 'experience' gifts? If you answered experience, tell us about one you've received and truly enjoyed.

As I get older, I definitely enjoy experience gifts more since material gifts usually either don't last long or I tend to like the idea of the gift more than the actual gift! One of my favorite experience gifts I got was tickets to a concert from my parents several years ago. I was so excited to receive them, then I looked forward to the concert for months, and I had a great time that night! Now I can't remember the last concert I even went to!

3. Is brown a color featured prominently in your home decor? Your wardrobe? What's a favorite brown thing you own? Of the brown foods listed here, which one is your favorite and/or most often consumed...brown sugar, brown rice, pretzels, coffee, dates, cloves, German chocolate cake, whole wheat bread?

We don't have a lot of brown in our house. Our color is millennial gray, of course! 😉I have a few brown/tan things in my wardrobe, but I tend to skew towards black and gray. 

A favorite brown thing that we own is our brown, brindle dog, of course! Such a handsome pup!

My favorite brown food out of all of those is definitely coffee! I have to have my coffee daily!

4. Which 'Charlie Brown' character do you relate to most? 

I took a quiz because I wasn't sure, and I got Marcie. I didn't really know much about her personality beyond that she's one who follows around Peppermint Patty and says "yes sir" to her a lot, but reading the quiz results have me thinking that I could be her!

You're Marcie, an introvert.

You're unassuming, sweet, and intelligent. A bookworm, you're super insightful, and you're usually the voice of reason within your friend group. Sure, you love your solitude, but you're not afraid to step up to the plate when it comes to helping your friends and family.

5. What's a favorite item you've purchased this year?

This is a tough question because I can't remember most of what I've bought this year, which shows me I need to quit buying so much! Ha! I think one of my favorite items I've gotten recently were the yoga pants I talked about in my Prime Purchases post. They've been so comfortable! 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I've been feeling kind of blah lately. I think it's primarily because of work, and then when I get home, I'm wiped out because of work, so I don't get anything done. I'm working on figuring out my next career move because I think that's going to make a difference in my mood and attitude!

Linking up with Joyce!

Currently : November 2024

I used to love joining another Currently linkup each month, but I discovered after I stopped blogging for a while that the one I used to join doesn't happen anymore. I was excited to find a new Currently linkup to join! 

Loving : The attempts at cooler weather. I'm a summer girl, and I love warm weather, but at a certain point, temperatures in the 80s get a little old, especially when you're sweating on Halloween because you wanted to wear the cute thin sweatshirt you got before you pack away your Halloween clothes for another year. I'm ready for crisp weather, but this week, we're still having highs in the mid-70s, so I guess I'll love and appreciate the cooler-ish weather and the much-needed rain we're supposed to have. 

Looking forward to : Thanksgiving Break! Listen, these kids at work have been wound up since the Tuesday before Halloween. I know this happens every year, but I'm feeling it extra hard this year for some reason and am so ready for a week off!

Smelling : Pumpkin stuff...for just a little bit longer. I have a very weird and specific schedule when it comes to pumpkin flavored and pumpkin scented items. I'm usually ready to flip the switch to Peppermint and Peppermint Mocha by November 1, but this year since I have some pumpkin scented items left that I want to use up, I'll smell that pumpkin-y fresh smell just a little bit longer than usual. 

Preparing for : Christmas shopping by trying to tighten up our budget and Christmas decorating by cleaning and decluttering. It's a coin toss for which one I'll be more successful at! 

Thankful for : My family! I'm always so thankful for how supportive and loving they are, especially when I come home crabby from work or am not myself. 

Linking up with Jenn! 

Top Ten Tuesday : Books with Election Day/Voting elements on the cover

Hello and happy Tuesday! I'm joining the Top Ten Tuesday linkup because I like the different book-related prompts each week and hope it'll push me to read even more!Today, the prompt is the Top Ten book covers with an item of my choice on them. Since today is Election Day, I thought I would share ten books with Election Day or voting elements on the cover. I haven't read any of these and am 1,000% judging the books by their covers so I'd love feedback from anyone who's read them! Also, all of these are geared towards younger readers, but I still think they would be interesting and informative, plus a little more fun to read than political books for adults!

 

Just a heads up - the product links are affiliate links, so if you purchase anything, I'll earn a small commission...that I'll probably spend on books! 😉

1. Duck For President

2. Grace For President

3. One Vote, Two Votes, I Vote, You Vote

4. I Voted

5. If I Ran for President

6. The Little Book of Presidential Elections

7. My First Election Day

8. What Is a Presidential Election?

9. Leo's First Vote

10. V is for Voting

 

Linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl!

Prime Purchases : November 2024

Happy Monday! I'm joining the Prime Purchases linkup today because I love to share the cool things - and the duds - that I've purchased, plus I like looking at what other bloggers have bought and enjoyed, especially as we head into the holiday season and I need gift ideas (for myself and others!). 

Just a heads up - the product links are affiliate links, so if you purchase anything, I'll earn a small commission...that I'll probably spend on more Prime Purchases! 😉

Yoga Pants

I'm always looking for comfortable clothes to wear on the weekends, so when I discovered these yoga pants with the cool leg detail, I decided to give them a try. I really like how these fit, plus the way the legs are designed make them look a little more put together than just plain sweats. I got these in black, but I think I want some dark gray ones too!

Smile Graphic Novel

Guts Graphic Novel

Our daughter has gotten into graphic novels lately, and as a librarian, I love that she found a book format that she enjoys and wants to read! She got Sisters from her book fair back in September and read Smile and Guts from both of our school libraries. She's read them all multiple times, so we decided to order them for her so she'd have them to read anytime she wanted to. 

USB Charging Port

I'm trying to set up a device charging station on the narrow table behind one side of our sectional couch. I've got a little wooden box with dividers that I've been using, but the plug situation isn't great. I got this smaller USB charging port plug in hopes that it would solve the issues that I had with the charging station. I haven't set it up yet because I haven't taken the time to do it, so we'll see how it actually works once I make myself do it!

Chipboard Sheets

This is 100% a purchase for my husband! He plays Warhammer and watches Warhammer terrain creators online. A couple of them suggested using these chipboard sheets to build various terrain items, so he wanted to test it out. I'm curious to see what he'll end up building with these!

I Am Wednesday (Little Golden Book)

Our daughter had book character dress up day at school on Halloween. She wanted to wear her Wednesday costume, so we ordered this I Am Wednesday book for her to have since she wasn't wearing a "traditional" book character costume. Turns out, there were a couple of other Wednesdays that day, including her teacher's daughter, so she never even got this out of her backpack! It's a short, cute book, plus it helped me get a book toward this month's goal of reading 8 or more books!

Boho Hexagon Earrings

I love earrings. I won't talk about how many pairs I have, but it's my biggest collection! This is the first of three earring orders from Amazon this month (plus a couple from a fall festival). These boho hexagon earrings are so small and pretty! I like all of the colors on them because they can go with a lot of different things. Plus, they're lightweight, which my ears appreciate!

Birthday Candle Earrings

Earring order number two was this set of fun birthday candle earrings! Even though my birthday isn't until July, I saw these while browsing, and they were a decent price, so I decided to order them and give them a try! I like how it includes multiples of some numbers, although I think I'll be out of luck when I turn 66, but I guess I can order another 6 sometime in the next 25 years...

Tiny Screw Back Earrings

Our daughter got her ears pierced about a year ago, and my mom got a couple of spots in her cartilage pierced about a month after that. Because of that, we get free earring coupons once a month. We discovered that we like flat back earrings, especially for cartilage and for wearing all of the time. Unfortunately, the store we get the coupons from has a limited flat back selection, so I decided to find some flat back earrings online and came across these tiny screw back earrings. There are a lot in this package, but I wanted to wear them in my bottom three earlobe piercings, and I wanted my mom to have some for her cartilage piercings. The backs of these are hard to screw on, but once I got it, they've been so comfortable and haven't moved! 

Mermaid Gymnastics Leotard

Our daughter's gymnastics gym has a night near Halloween when they encourage the students to wear costumes or themed leotards. I didn't want to get her a Halloween specific leotard since I knew she'd only wear it a couple of times at the most, so we browsed until we found this mermaid gymnastics leotard. It still had a costume vibe, but it's something she'll wear over and over again until she outgrows it.

Platform Snow Boots

My final purchase of the month was these platform snow boots. They just arrived, so I haven't tried them on or worn them yet, but they looked so comfortable and cozy that I wanted to give them a try. Of course, it's going to be in the 70s for the next week here, so I don't know when I'll get to wear them. I guess I'll miss this weather in January and February...

Linking up with Tanya!

What's Up Wednesday : August 2022

I've seen a few other bloggers participating in the What's Up Wednesday monthly linkup, and it looks fun, so I'm joining in this month!   

1. What We're Eating This Week: Pizza tonight for spirit night at Charli's school. Beyond that...who knows? I'm so bad about meal planning!

2. What I'm Reminiscing About: Taking Charli to the fair with my parents when she was little - maybe around 1.5 years old? Since Mom and I took her to the fair a couple of weeks ago, we were talking about it and how we had to change her diaper in a historical building while she was screaming. Fun times! This was also the first time any of us have been to the fair since we lost dad, and since he loved it, we talked about him too. 

3. What I'm Loving: Charli's independence! Although sometimes it's tough when she gets frustrated doing certain things, I'm seeing this independence more and more each day, and it's so cool to see her work through things on her own!

4. What We've Been Up To: Decluttering and cleaning thanks to help from my aunt and grandma, going to the fair, first grade math homework (ugh), gymnastics and Girl Scouts for Charli - August has been busy!!

5. What I'm Dreading: I can't think of anything I'm dreading right now!

6. What I'm Working On: Finishing tagging items for an upcoming consignment sale (I always procrastinate!!), the never-ending process of decluttering and cleaning, finding and sticking to side hustles

7. What I'm Excited About: Life changes! =)

8. What I'm Watching/Reading: I need to catch up on all of the episodes of America's Got Talent that I have recorded. I'm sure the season has probably ended or is about to at this point, so at least I can get through all of it at once! I also need to start on my Marvel list too! I'm reading books on my Erin 17.0 book challenge list, plus children's books for a potential side project I've been mulling over. 

9. What I'm Listening To: "Top Hits" on Spotify in an attempt to know at least a little bit of music from this decade. 

10. What I'm Wearing: Lounge clothes or old comfy dresses whenever I can!!

11. What I'm Doing This Weekend: Going to Charli's Girl Scouts event, swimming, working to implement some routines, decluttering, making a few things on the ol' Cricut, cleaning, and enjoying an extra day thanks to Labor Day

12. What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month: Football and (maybe) cooler weather! Although in Tennessee, fall usually takes its sweet time to get here and stick around! 

13. Favorite Amazon Product Of The Month: Since I've been in consignment tagging mode, it's gotta be the 100 pack of hangers that I'm quickly using up! FYI - that is an affiliate link, so if you click on it and purchase hangers or something way more fun on Amazon, I'll make a few pennies from your purchase, which I will then use to save towards more hangers for the next consignment sale...    

What's up with you? How has your August been? It's felt like it's only been about 15 minutes long here...

Linking up with Sheaffer and Shea

Currently : July 2022

It's my birthday month! This one will be a semi-big one too since I'll be turning 39! I can't believe it because mentally I feel like I'm about 12! Stay tuned for my before 40 goals that I've been brainstorming...

Enjoying : Charli's summer sleep schedule! She seems to take after me with her night owl ways, which I love right now, but in a few weeks, I will not enjoy at all!!

Having : Trouble keeping up with everything happening in this country and in life. Between the big events and news stories and just life stuff, I'm worn out. It's a lot. We are not made to live in this chronic state of stress and fear and shock, and I'm worried about what's going to happen when we all hit our collective wall. Okay, onto something lighter...

Hoping : Our flowers and pumpkins bloom! I don't really have a green thumb, so my track record with flowers/plants isn't the best. So far they look good, but we'll see! 

Picking : Books for the Erin 17.0 book challenge that started on July 1. I'm just fashionably late to this one.

Using : Things in our house. That's a little vague, so let me clarify. I had a thought a few months ago that I constantly buy things and then wait for the "perfect" opportunity to use them, and I don't know why. If it's something I really like, I can buy another one if I use it up, wear it out, etc. If it's something I don't like, then I can give it away or throw it out, and I'll know not to buy it anymore. I have a tendency to act like things are precious or made of gold, when in reality, 99.9% of what I own can be easily replaced/repurchased by doing a couple of Internet searches (or close duplicates of those items, at the very least). So, I'm not saving craft supplies like I'm waiting for some craft apocalypse where nothing is sold anywhere ever again. I'm coloring in the coloring book that Will bought me in March 2020 when he ventured into a store at the beginning of the pandemic. And, if it's something that I'm on the fence about, I'm putting it in a consignment sale, on marketplace, or in a donation bag. If it sells, then it's off to a better home. If I don't miss it when it's in the donation bag, then it's off to a better home. I have a long way to go, but this is helping my decluttering process also. Obviously, I have stronger feelings about this than I realized since I wrote a novella about it...

What are you currently up to? Use these prompts or tell me what's going on in your life right now!

Linking up with Anne

Sentence A Day : June 2022

Time for my monthly recap in one sentence per day. I like capturing the big and small moments each month and being able to look back on these posts. Also, I've linked the posts I published on each day, just in case you missed them this month. 😉

1 - Mom took Charli to her best friend's birthday party, and Charli had so much fun! [Currently : June 2022]

2 - Charli decided she was going to have a sleepover at Gran's, which seems to be her favorite thing to do this summer!

3 - Took the remote working thing literally when Will and I took Charli to Chick Fil A this afternoon so she could play while I finished my Friday.

4 - Mom, Charli, and I went to my cousin's wedding; he is one of Charli's favorite people ever, and it was so sweet to see him talking to her after his wedding!

5 - Charli's first pool party, and I got to swim too; can't wait for Mom's pool liner to get replaced so we can have some water time!

6 - Charli had an appointment with a dental specialist today (nothing bad - just related to her cleft lip at birth), and she, Mom, and I explored Nashville a little bit, including having some fantastic doughnuts!

7 - Mom took Charli to see a magician at the library, and she got to go on stage for one of the tricks! [Sentence a Day : May 2022]

8 - Why does America's Got Talent make me cry every time I watch it??

9 - Charli has been at Mom's house since Monday and said she doesn't think she misses us - harsh!!

10 - Will and I went grocery shopping tonight while Charli was at Mom's house for yet another night, and we agreed that we don't like going inside the store anymore - online ordering for the win!

11 - Charli, Mom, and I went to see a free Nashville Symphony concert; the music was wonderful, even if Charli was more interested in the chalk art station and the snow cone truck!

12 - Charli, Mom, and I went bowling today, and Charli kicked our butts; Mom and I want gutter guards next time!

13 - Tennessee decided it was officially summertime, and it's going to be close to 100 degrees every day this week...yuck! [10 on the 10th : June 2022]

14 - We had three deer in our front yard tonight, and they looked so peaceful...until Koopa decided to whine and bark at them and scared them off! [Amber Can Read : May 2022 edition]

15 - Went into the office today and got great job-related news!

16 - Home today after being out in the world yesterday.

17 - Another day at home and hooray for Friday!

18 - Charli took a trial gymnastics class today and absolutely loved it!

19 - Celebrated Father's Day by taking Will to get Dutch Bros before he had to go to work!

20 - We are going to have a rough time getting back on a school year sleep schedule...

21 - Charli suckered us into getting her some pizza and ice cream tonight to "celebrate" the likes she got on a TikTok video I posted of her dancing...that child! 

22 - Charli and I were in a photo/video shoot for my work, which was fun, but it was an hour away! 

23 - It was nice to be home today after driving so much yesterday!

24 - Didn't feel well today, so I was glad to be off work!

25 - Felt so blah again today - took lots of naps but still exhausted!

26 - Another day at home but feeling a lot better today!

27 - Whenever Will's work schedule is different, I get so confused!

28 - Ordering ahead on an app and then waiting extra time for your items can be annoying! 

29 - On-camera meetings at work always zap my energy; how did we ever work in-person 5 days a week?!?

30 - Stayed up way too late tonight prepping for July! 

Linking up with Leslie!

Amber Can Read : May 2022 Edition

Once upon a time (pun totally intended), I used to read...a lot. Instead of spending hours scrolling through social media or attempting to organize the thousands of tabs I have open on my phone and computers, I would read. I stayed up late reading. I read during lunch breaks. I read during other meals. I enjoyed making to-read lists and reading about upcoming books. 

But, somewhere along the way over the last couple of years, I've lost that joy of reading. I love reading with Charli on the nights we don't stay up too late, and when I start a fiction book, I usually devour it, but overall I've just lost my spark for reading. 

(If I stop and think about it, I've kind of lost my spark for a lot of things, but that's an entirely different post for an entirely different day...). 

I want to get back into reading, and I noticed that when I posted about reading, I was much more likely to read more. Funny how that works. So, I'm restarting my monthly reading recaps in hopes of starting to reclaim a part of myself that I miss. Here we go!

Disclaimer: If you click on the picture of the book, then it will take you to an Amazon purchase link. If you choose to buy the book from that link, I will earn a few pennies from it. It won't cost you anything extra, so it's a win-win situation! 😉 If you click on the title of the book, it will take you to a Goodreads link for the book. Last thing - if you want to be friends on Goodreads, add me! 

Books read in May - 3

Books read in 2022 - 17 (wow, I've read even less this year than I realized!)

1. Women and Power by Mary Beard

I don't remember where I initially saw or heard about this book, but it's one of several that has been off and on my library holds shelf for a few months now. I have a tendency to reserve the limit of electronic books, and then, surprise, surprise, they all become available at the same time, and I have to use the "Deliver Later" feature to delay some of them. When I finally decided to read this one, I saw that it was pretty short - I guess my old English major brain didn't connect the word "manifesto" in the title to it being a short essay. 

This wasn't my favorite, but I kind of skated through it just to finish it and finally get it out of the deliver later cycle. I believe this was initially a speech she gave, and I think it would've been more enjoyable in that format. It was a little dry to read, and I found myself doing a lot of skimming in order to finish it quickly. 

Recommended for : academically-minded readers who want a brief overview of feminism

2. One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

Bea is a plus-sized fashion blogger who writes a ranting post about how Main Squeeze, a reality show that totally isn't based on The Bachelorette/Bachelor franchise, never has any plus-sized representation, and the post goes so viral that she is chosen to be on the next season of the show. But, she has a lot of trouble believing that the men on the show are actually interested in her...a fat woman. 

Between this book, one I finished yesterday (that will be in next month's post), and If the Shoe Fits, which I read in April and found several similarities to this one (but it was better because it's a modern-day retelling of Cinderella and is written by Julie Murphy, who has yet to steer me wrong!), I've seen a trend in books of fat women not believing that they are worthy of love or happiness in life. As a fat woman who is happily married and enjoys most parts of her life (I could use a new hairstyle, a pay raise, and a lot of organizing in our house), I don't understand these books. Maybe it's because the main characters are younger than me or because I try to follow a lot of body positive or body neutral creators. Maybe it's because I married a wonderful man who supports and loves me no matter which weight loss scheme I'm trying or if I'm saying the heck with it and asking for ice cream after work.  Maybe it's one of a million reasons, but the point is, I'm over this trope. Yes, I want to lose some weight to feel more like I used to, but I don't believe that my life has to be on hold or that I'm not worthy of love or happiness until that happens, and no one reading this should feel that way either! 

Okay, I'm finished ranting about this one. Luckily the book I mentioned above that I'll talk about next month has more depth than this one, so it hopefully won't cause another wall of words!

Recommended for : fans of cheesy reality shows and rom-com novels that are predictable even when they're trying to have a big twist, also for people who can overlook the "poor, pitiful, fat me" stereotype

3. Organizing Solutions for People With ADHD by Susan Pinsky

I knew this book probably wasn't going to be super helpful when she mentioned that people buy too many things, and if you run out of toilet paper before you go to the store again, that means you purchased what you needed and you could just use a napkin or paper towel. Listen, I know that I can sometimes be guilty of stocking up on too many things, but I don't mess around with toilet paper! In my opinion, you can't overbuy toilet paper (sorry to everyone who may be having 2020 flashbacks to the empty toilet paper aisles). I found this book preachy and long-winded, two things that are really helpful to neurodiverse people who want to organize their spaces...

Recommended for : people who don't have issues with cleaning and organizing since the tips in this book kind of sucked

This month's favorite book : None of them were great, but I guess I would go with One to Watch since it was the least worst out of the three!

This month's least favorite book : Definitely the Organizing Solutions book. It just didn't resonate with me!

Read anything good lately? Let me know in the comments!

Linking up with Steph and Jana for the last time! Hopefully I can find another reading link up to participate in because I love seeing suggestions for new books to read!