Fall Books 2016 - Sequel Squeals and a Picture Book

The very best thing about Fall is the arrival of a ton of new books that keep me up far past my bedtime and have me daydreaming about what will happen all day long! I'm such a book nerd.

Here's my annual roundup of books I've been eagerly anticipating ...

My very-favorite book of 2015 was Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I can't gush enough about how totally blown away I was by the storytelling and characters. Six distinct characters pull off an impossible heist in a fictional world with a cliffhanger that nearly killed me ... INEJ!! At the end of September comes the sequel Crooked Kingdom and OHMYGOD I've been waiting long enough to find out the disastrous results of their heist and what will become of Kaz and his crew.

I picked up Ember in the Ashes audiobook last year and it was so intense I was stressed about listening to it for a whole week. But I couldn't stop. That sequel, A Torch Against the Night, is coming out on August 30 and I've been saving up my Audible credit to make that purchase. I'm both petrified to find out what happens next and excited to see if love blooms between the two characters or -- if one of them gets their head chopped off. Both are equally possible, which illustrates just the severity of this book.

Furthermore by Tehereh Mafi is a magical, fantasy book that might be a great bedtime read-aloud to my the girls. Also, the main character's name is Alice, so this makes the story ten-times more attractive to my Alice. It's getting lots of rave reviews and, well, the cover looks pretty amazing.

Bright Smoke, Cold File is the latest from Rosamund Hodge. I listened to her last two books Cruel Beauty and Crimson Bound (not a series) as audiobooks and became a fan of her textured, sensuous style. Even though this one is a Romeo and Juliet re-telling, which doesn't thrill me all that much (you can't top the original), I will be grabbing this audiobook for my commutes.

One of my favorite historical romance writers, Sarah MacLean, has a new book coming called A Scot in the Dark (extra points for the pun-y title). It's the second in her Scandal and Scoundrel series and the first was delightful. Romance fiction has a bad reputation but I'm telling you there are so many good books in this genre! A few bad apples shouldn't dissuade you. (I'll write a post about my favorite romance novels soon.)

If you've read Rosie Revere, Engineer and Iggy Peck, Architect to your kids, you know how exciting and subtly inspiring they are. Follow your dreams! Don't let the haters hate, etc. The writer/illustrator team of Andrea Beaty and David Roberts are releasing a third ... Ada Twist, Scientist. I'm so ready to update our (enormous) picture book library with this one.

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Behold! Everard Blue!

Here's the After picture of our master bedroom now that the walls are a dark and moody blue. Maybe the best part is I was at work while the painters were here, so I walked in and found -- as if by magic -- the room no longer minty green but a bold blue. That's pretty awesome. They also painted the trim an eye-popping white, which I just love against this blue. And the angle is a dark beige-y, tan color that I hope goes with the headboard. I spent the evening cleaning and re-hanging the drapes, and moving the furniture back into position. It will be a while before I dare hang anything in here. I'm too in love with the walls to put too many holes in them right now. So, just in case I'm looking for this information later: The walls are "Everard Blue" by Benjamin Moore . And the tray is "Curly Willow" by Behr . Now, does that furniture look too dark against the walls or is it just me? And wouldn't a lighter wood or white look fabulous agains...

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France and the Third Baby

Odd fact of the day .... The French government pays for a mother’s tummy tuck after the birth of her third child (you do have to have at least 3 babies to qualify). Found on this blog about raising kids in Southern France. Yes, I'm day-dreaming again. Related posts: All the fancy quotes My love of France runs deep, people

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So Long, Hanukkah Part Two

And just as quickly it started (in New Jersey, on the night of Thanksgiving, no less), Hanukkah is over. Our eight nights were full of fun and squealing! And lighting many candles, of course. We missed one night because we were in a hotel room after spending the whole day driving home from New Jersey -- and I just didn't have the wherewithall to pull out the menorah. Speaking of menorah, we've replaced our old, wax-filled menorah with this lovely silver beauty given to us by David's mother. It belonged to her mother and sat in the dining room for years. Isn't it pretty?! And, the wax cleans off it much easier, so we're sure to hang on to this one for many Hanukkahs to come. I'm a sucker for traditions. Here's some photos of the last two nights: Leah Lighting the Candles - in an Eli Manning Jersey, No Less Alice Lighting in a Top She Calls her Genie Shirt David Constructing the Cardboard Pirate Ship The Last BIG Gift? A Pirate...

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