Stones for Bread

"Liesl McNamara’s life can be described in one word: bread. From her earliest memory, her mother and grandmother passed down the mystery of baking and the importance of this deceptively simple food. And now, as the owner of Wild Rise bake house, Liesl spends every day up to her elbows in dough, nourishing and perfecting her craft."

I'm not sure what attracted me to this book, maybe the cover more than anything. I'm not much of a bread baker so a book revolving around that seemed a strange attraction to me but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book by Christina Parrish.

The writing was eloquent, much like poetry. The descriptions made me feel what the main character was describing. I even have a better understanding of the art of bread and it made me wish we had a bakery nearby like Wild Rise.

The characters in the bakery drew me in and I fell in love with them all. Unfortunately, I didn't feel the same way with the little girl or her dad in this story - I wish that they would have become "real" to me as they were an important part of the story and they just did not have any depth to them. That's my only complaint.

Christina's writing style is excellent and I look forward to reading her other books.

Disclaimer: This book was given to me by BookSneeze in exchange for my honest review.
 

November PopSugar Must Have Box Review and Code

I finally received my November PopSugar Must Have box! For some reason I always get my box way after other people.

This month the theme was "With the holidays kicking into high gear very soon, we wanted to make your life easier with practical but swoon-worthy pieces". It was a random mixture of useful items.

*Michael Stars Wrap ($42). I hated the design at first but think it is growing on me. The wrap is a lovely soft material and nice and thick. I can't decide if I'm keeping this or if I should put it in the "gift" pile.

*Canvaspop $30 gift card

*The Soap & Paper Factory Roland Pine Shea Butter Soap ($8)  This is a great pine scent and will be put next to the sink in December for some festive hand washing.

*Absolute! Nail Polish Remover Pads ($1.99) These will come in handy with all the nail polish I have received in boxes!

*Lands' End Single Canvas Wine Tote ($14.50) I don't carry bottles of wine with me but this with a bottle of wine would make a good gift.

*Illume Candle ($15.75) I received the Naughty candle which has a spicy wooded scent. Others have received the Nice candle which is a sweet vanilla scent. I love candles and will be burning this in December.

*Maison De Monaco Strawberry & Blackcurrant Cream Preserves ($6) I can't wait to try this on toast or biscuits.

*Barefruit Crunchy Sea Salt Caramel Apple Chips ($1) A yummy snack!

The total value of the box was $119. This was not my favorite box but it was fun and some items will go for gifts. I can't wait to see the December box! The price of each box has risen to $39.95. Use code REFER5 for $5 off your first box.

Disclaimer: Referral links included in this post  

Silent Sunday

 

This Week

*I think I may losing my mind. This cold, dreary weather can not be good for people's mental states. How do people in Alaska deal with so much darkness half the year? Does anyone else have SAD in the cold winter months? 

*I'm reevaluating our budget. I looked over my previous budget posts from years back and gulp from all the spending that has been going on recently. A lot can't be helped - bills pour in when you have a sick child and then a funeral to pay for. But I need to get back on track with the grocery budget and our "extras" each month. I remember when I could feed us on $75 a week; lately it has been double that, if not more. How much is your weekly grocery allowance?

*Amy is crawling and getting into everything now. At only 7 months old she is constantly moving and wanting attention. She can entertain us for hours with her shenanigans!

*How did I live without a divided hamper (or is it called a sorting hamper?) for so long? Seeing a pile of whites, or kids clothes, or my husband's work clothing makes me know when they need to be done (no more having my husband get ready for work only to realize there is no clean work pants - oops!). Joe now has the job of rounding up dirty clothes though out the house and organizing them in the hamper. He thinks it's fun and it makes it so easy for me. $10 well spent (yes, I went for the cheapest hamper!).

*Halloween was hard. Can I just skip all the rest of the holidays this year?

 

She's Crawling!

What Once Was Lost

I like historical fiction, especially when it is based in the 1800's. A book about a "poor farm" interested me. I was quite taken in with the story line. While it was easy to see where the story would go there were a lot of twists and turns throughout the book that kept me entertained.

One thing that annoyed me was not once, not twice, not three times, but rather on four separate occasions a character in the book was interrupted while right in the middle of spitting out something very important, which in turn brought added drama to the story. It seemed a little too much but I have seen this style in other books so it is not just this particular author/story that it's bothered me.

It wasn't as sappy, nor as cheesy, as a lot of Christian fiction can be. I liked the characters and got attached to the little blind boy especially.

Disclaimer: I was given this book by Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

If the Shoe Fits

I love Chick-Lit books so was excited to read If the Shoe Fits; A Contemporary Fairy Tale by Sandra D. Bricker. I was wanting to see what a Christian Chick-Lit would turn out like.

It ended up being an easy read. Quite predictable, as most chick-lit books are. The Christian aspect was nice (no one night stands included in this book!) but a bit over the top at times (inviting a date to Bible Study just a few moments into the first date?). I can't really knock the book based on that as most Christian fiction seems to be a bit pushy or not flow right with real life.

All in all it was a great book to read on a rainy weekend. It is basically like all other Chick-Lit books (easy read, predictable, the main female character is quite clueless, mixed signals, etc.) but I liked the fact that some morals were included in the story.

Disclaimer: This book was given to me by Moody Publishers in exchange for my honest review.