A brief Summary

I can’t believe that my last post here was written more than one year ago!

For those of you who are interested here it’s a brief summary of my 2011:

* in february I moved back to Milan and for a while we had been renting a VERY little place in Milan;

* in may I had a baby, her name is Carola and she is almost six month old, here it’s a picture of us on vacation:

I had a natural childbirth because by the time I arrived to the hospital it was too late for an epidural, it was better & faster than expected…would I do it again? Next time I’ll make sure to be on time for my epidural 🙂

* I read a TON of books about babies (The baby whisperer by Tracy Hogg, a book by William and Marta Sears, Your Baby and Child by Penelope Leach and many others) , currently I am exclusively breastfeeding but weaning will be staring soon.  I am lucky because my little Caro is a very sweet baby who sleeps  through the night and sometimes takes a long nap in the early afternoon;

* during the summer we moved again (this time it’s our place, no more renting!) and we are currently decorating, we bought paint & stencils on-line, it’s hard work but great fun:

Right now I am on maternity leave but I don’t really have too much time for reading and reviewing,  here are a few books that I recently read:

Jane by April Lindner, Angie was right, I really enjoyed this retelling of Jane Eyre, although I am not crazy about the original one

You don’t have to say you love me by Sarra Manning, surprisingly I did not love this one, Neve and Max sort of got on my nerves but I must admit that I still haven’t come across a book by Sarra Manning that isn’t utterly compelling and somehow juicy

Pug Hill by Alison Pace, not my kind of story… I was bored from the beginning to the end

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, I completely agree with a few reviews that I found on Goodreads: THIS BOOK IS LIKE CRACK

The Help by Kathryn Stockett, a keeper! Now I understand what all the fuss was about, I loved it

My one and only by Kristin Higgins, I regard myself as a very picky reader when it comes to contemporary romance… I love the concept but actual books often disappoint me, this was not the case with My one and only, it’s really really fun

Ciao

Em

If it wasn’t for books I would be back to reality

I have been on holidays for two weeks but I feel like I have been away for two months, this morning when I opened  my e-mail at work I had something like 600 hundreds unread e-mails (isn’t it a bit ridiculous the way people write an e-mail for everything nowadays? I feel a bit overwhelmed) so I thought If it wasn’t for books I would be back to reality but I am one of the lucky ones,  I like reading.

Vacation was great and Greece always amazes me, I like eating a lot, those  enchanting restaurants had everything I like most: handmade food, chilled white wine and lots of character

Here it’s me exploring ruins in ancient Thira (Santorini)

Sea and beaches are simply amazing (not really  in Santorini but not too far we found the perfect island).

Last but not least I love reading and I love book shops, isn’t this the loveliest bookshelf?

Books that I read, loved and will be reviewing soon:

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert (chosen based on this review I read on Persnickety Snark)

One Day by David Nicholls

The Blue sword by Robin McKinley (chosen based on this review I read on Chacic’s Book Nook)

A certain slant of light by Laura Whitcomb (encouraged by this review I read on Angieville, it’s been on my bookshelf for a while)

The elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, one of those books that either you love or hate, I fell under a spell, to me it’s  a true masterpiece

Disappointments:

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick,  I honestly think that the only good thing about this book is the cover

To catch an heiress by Julia Queen, it was nothing like The Viscount who loved me

The Boys next Door by Jennifer Echols, I loved Going too far and The ex games but I found this one lacking of that something that keeps my attention on the page

While I was on holidays I won a contest organized by The Book Scoop (thanks Rowena!)it was really unexpected as it’s very unusual for me to win anything.

I can now chose three books and I will surely go for something that has been published in US but not in Europe. I am always willing to pay for books but sometimes buying it’s not an option and so there is nothing to do but being patient,  not my strongest quality.

Right now the book I can’t wait to read is Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Em