Skip to content
  • HOME
  • THE DREAMER
    • CONTACT
  • DISCLOSURES
  • HOME
  • custom-logo
  • THE DREAMER
    • CONTACT
  • DISCLOSURES
Books

Winter 2014 Book Challenge // Second Check-In

February 10, 2015May 26, 2019 Crystal // Dreams, etc. Post a comment
Winter 2014 Book Challenge // Second Check-In

I’ve been looking forward to sharing this post because I have some books that I’m excited to talk about! But first, I’m going to do a little switching around. After I put up my last post in December I realized that I put a book in one category and should have put it in another. I put The Selection by Kiera Cass in the freebie category, but it should have been in the following category:

15 points: Read the first book in a series that is new to you (so no rereads for this one!).

My total number of points at the end of the last post was 45. Taking away the 5 points for the freebie category adding the 15 points for the series category puts me at 55 points at the end of the last post.

And now, for my latest books to add.

25 points: Read a book with a song lyric in the title. Be sure to tell us the song name and artist as well.

(The song is The Girl You Left Behind by Pixie Lott.) The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes (369 pages) tells the story of Sophie Lefevre, who lives in France in 1916. When the Germans take over her town, they choose her family’s hotel to feed them each evening. During these dinners the new Kommandant sees a portrait of Sophie painted by her husband, who is off fighting in WWI, and develops an obsession with the work of art. In present day, Liv Halston loves the painted portrait of a woman that was given to her as a wedding present from her husband before he died suddenly, but a chance encounter is about to put the ownership of her beloved painting in jeopardy.

I loved this book! To be honest, I wasn’t sure about it at first, but I think I was interested in something a little more lighthearted than a book that partly takes place during a war. However, as I got into the story I soon got over that, because I needed to know what was going to happen. I have a fascination with art and almost went to school for art history and criminology so the art focus of this book was something that already caught my attention immediately. And the story Moyes created was engaging. I really connected with both Sophie and Liv. I’ve read a lot of WWII fiction, so it was interesting to read a book that takes place during WWI. I liked the art aspect of it, too, because I always think of lost art during a world war as going back to WWII, so it was interesting to read about a work of art that was traced back to WWI. I listened to this on audiobook and enjoyed the narration, although I found the narrator for Sophie a little hard to hear sometimes. She really acted out the part and her voice dropped to a whisper sometimes.

25 points: Read a book from a genre you don’t usually read.

Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman (298 pages) is the inspiration behind the Netflix show. Since I’ve watched all of the seasons that have been released, I thought it would be interesting to go back and read the source material. If you don’t know much about Orange is the New Black, it’s the true story of Kerman’s time in prison. While traveling when she was younger, she fell in love with a woman who worked in a drug smuggling ring and carried a suitcase of drug money across a border. Awhile later, she was sent to prison for the offense.

Because I watched the show, I think I enjoyed this book more than I would have if I hadn’t. It was cool to read about each of the characters that we’ve spent some time getting to know and to see how the show changed different situations. I also enjoyed* reading more about the time period in which Kerman was actually incarcerated, because it was during the Martha Stewart thing and Danbury was one of the prisons that Stewart looked at. It was a different perspective to see what people who were in prison thought of the whole situation. One thing I’ve always liked about the show and missed in the book is that you learn about each of the characters and what their life was like before they went to prison. I’m sure Kerman didn’t know as much about the people that she was in prison as the show came up with for the characters, so this isn’t really a critique of the book, I just like that aspect of the show and missed it in the book.

* It doesn’t seem right to use words like “enjoyed” about a prison narrative, but I was always told that “interesting” is a meaningless word and “fascinating” is probably right up there and I use both of those enough. 🙂

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that fits the general rules.

Confessions: The Paris Mysteries, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (320 pages) is the third book in the Confessions series about a Tandy Angel, a teen sleuth whose family has just moved to Paris. While there, Tandy is reunited with her lost love–but finds him growing distant–and she starts to ask more questions about the death of her sister.

I expected to be disappointed by this novel, because I think it’s actually a bit shorter than the others, but I ended up really enjoying it. It felt like the authors switched things up, but in a good way, since they changed the location and the type of mystery that Tandy looked into. As always, I loved Tandy and her family and really enjoyed spending time with them.

Previous Total: 55 points
This Month’s Total: 55 points
Current Total: 110 points

I’m not sure if I’ll end up finishing the challenge this time. I have a list of books that I’d like to read and are capturing my interest more than the books that fit this challenge, so it may not happen. We’ll see.

What have you been reading?

// The Winter 2014 Book Challenge is hosted by Megan.

>> Follow me on: Bloglovin’ // Instagram // Twitter // Pinterest // Facebook

About Crystal

About Crystal

Hi! I'm Crystal, a millennial learning how to live slowly and sustainably, while still seeking adventure and following my dreams, etc.

Post navigation

Books I Love // Week of Love
Book Review // The Swimmer by Joakim Zander

Share Your Thoughts! Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

hi!

I'm Crystal, the storyteller behind Dreams, etc. I'm all about learning how to live slowly & sustainably, while also seeking adventure as we follow our dreams, etc.

May 2023. Savannah, Georgia. Lots of Mina. Lots of May 2023. Savannah, Georgia. Lots of Mina. Lots of new growth on plants.
The other day I realized that there is no Savannah The other day I realized that there is no Savannah on my feed and…well, Savannah is beautiful and needs to be there. These were taken in Lafayette Square on my second day in Georgia.
Picture it. It’s the day after Thanksgiving. I d Picture it. It’s the day after Thanksgiving. I didn’t go on my weekly dam walk earlier in the week when I was excited about it. On this day I was tired after a long week and my least favorite holiday. My bed was oh so comfortable. I forced myself to roll out of bed and journey to the dam. It was filled with people and I was pokey…taking my time to get there and even journeying down one of the other paths to avoid walking across the dam. (Which isn’t long.) I finally joined the crowd and walked across. And then came back, happy to have made my weekly journey. This is when the top layer of the water started to freeze.
From March: an old mini vlog from a bagpipe rock c From March: an old mini vlog from a bagpipe rock concert, which is mostly me trying the say bagpipe rock. Some word combinations are hard! 😂 There was a sign asking us not to film, which is why there’s no concert footage.
Some of my weekly dam walks have been therapeutic Some of my weekly dam walks have been therapeutic and while the walks haven’t fixed the problems, they’ve help me breathe and connect with the world and relieve stress. 💕
April 2023. We got more snow, but it also melted. April 2023. We got more snow, but it also melted. The dam was almost overflowing. The animals are beginning to emerge. Spring is here!
Happy Independent Bookstore Day! After a coffee st Happy Independent Bookstore Day! After a coffee stop (of course) a friend and I checks out two indie bookstores that we have never been to before. I definitely want to go back to Uncle Hugo’s and Uncle Edgar’s! Did you do anything for #independentbookstoreday

#indiebookstore #indiebookshop
After watching some shopping ASMR videos I had to After watching some shopping ASMR videos I had to try it.

#asmr #groceryshopping #groceryshop  #asmrvideos
I’m a little behind in weekly dam walk reels. Le I’m a little behind in weekly dam walk reels. Let’s go back to the third week in November when there was just a little snow on the ground and the footprints in the snow seemed notable.
See More Follow on Instagram

RECENT POSTS

  • Saying Goodbye to Crystal the Writer
  • The Day the Sorcerers Visited Baby Jesus
  • Thoughts on Hope
  • Christmas Playlist // 2022
  • Life Under Construction

CATEGORIES

  • Adventures (52)
  • Beauty (16)
  • Books (147)
  • Creativity (57)
  • Entertainment (18)
  • Life (224)
  • Uncategorized (539)
  • Wellness (8)

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?

Follow
  • Book Review Policy
  • BOOKS
  • Contact
  • DISCLOSURES
  • Insta Links
  • Seint Links
  • THE DREAMER
Copyright © 2023 | All Rights Reserved | © 2023. All text and photos belong to Crystal Brutlag, unless otherwise stated. Theme designed by Little Theme Shop: https://littlethemeshop.com

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Dreams, etc. // Minneapolis Lifestyle Blog
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.