Book Review: Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins

I read Can’t Hurt Me as part of the 12 Months of Reading Goodness challenge. February is the month to let a loved one pick a book for you to read and so I asked my husband to do that. When you ask a self-help book junkie to pick your next read, chances are you’ll be reading a self-help book, which is what happened to me. I designed the challenge to help people get out of their reading comfort zone, and this is certainly something I wouldn’t have chosen for myself, so it worked in that respect. Continue reading

Book Review: Educated by Tara Westover

This is a book that lived up to its hype. Educated has graced numerous bestseller lists, was a finalist for several awards, and made the rounds through endless book clubs and it’s easy to see why. Tara Westover’s memoir about her childhood as a Mormon survivalist would probably be gripping enough as its own story. But the second chapter of her life, in which the self-educated author attends both Cambridge and Harvard, is equally astounding. Continue reading

Book Review: The Secret of Santa Vittoria by Robert Crichton

The Secret of Santa Vittoria takes place in a small village in the mountains of Italy during WWII. It is a brilliant commentary about human nature, relying on deadpan and sometimes dark humor to cover topics like love, honor, power, community dynamics and prejudices. Robert Crichton cleverly weaves a parable that pits Italian peasants against German soldiers in a cat and mouse game involving the wine that serves as the lifeblood of the little village. Continue reading

6 Books-to-Screen I Might Actually Watch in 2019

 

 

There are a bunch of movies and TV series being released in 2019 that are based on best-selling books. I’m not much of a movie person. For some reason, I can spend 4 hours reading a book, but after just an hour watching a movie, I start to get restless. But there are a handful of upcoming movies (and TV series) I think I can easily muster up the attention span to watch – three of them are based on books I’ve blogged about and three are based on books on my TBR list. Continue reading