Book Review - Landline

Landline is the newest book by Rainbow Rowell.  I'm a big fan of hers, as I've mentioned before (here, here and here).  For her previous books, she's done the release and book signing in Omaha, so I hadn't read the book before going to the event.  But this time, she's a bit more famous, so she did her release party in NYC, and had the Omaha signing event about a month later.  So I had already read this book before the signing.  I don't know if that is relevant, but I just share potentially pointless facts sometimes.  It's my way!  Another random fact is that I read the ebook on my iphone kindle app while John was driving us home after our summer trip to Indy.  I have previously not been able to read in the car, but for Rainbow Rowell's new book, I tried and succeeded!

Anyway, this is my least favorite of her books.  But that's kind of like saying Snickerdoodles are my least favorite cookie.  I still really like them.  It's just that I really loved Rowell's other books, and this one wasn't quite as magical for me.  Which is weird, because there is literally a magic phone in it.

Basically, a woman (Georgie) who is having problems with her husband ends up finding a magic phone and can call the past to talk to him.  And she wonders what she should do with this great opportunity and what changes it might make in their lives.

I love Rowell's writing style and she just makes me laugh.  I think my problem with this book was that I just didn't like the characters as much as I wanted to.  And maybe a reader doesn't have to like the characters, but for this book, I wanted to be rooting for them.  I honestly didn't care that much if they ended up getting back together or if her meddling in the past would erase her present (a la Back to the Future).

In conclusion, I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars, so you know, it's not like I hated it.  If you've liked Rowell's other books, you'll probably like this one.  If you haven't read her books - I'd recommend picking up one of the others first.  I think Attachments is my favorite, but it's a very close race.

A Little Bit Country

Something about a tied shirt just makes me feel like a country girl.  I'm actually the opposite.  But I did read a lot of books when I was a kid about growing up on the prairie, so I am pretty good at playing Little House with my nieces.  It's just like when I was a kid - they make me be Pa, because I'm the tallest.  Totally unfair.  And it's pretty boring until tigers attack, and then things get crazy.  Imagination games are dangerous business.

Anyway, I'm linking up with Laura for Confident Twosday!

Top: F21 (similar)
Skirt: Macy's (exact)
Shoes: Old Navy (option, option)

So Nice, I Bought it Twice

Meet another new skirt.  I loved this style at Gap Factory so much, I had to buy it in both color/pattern options.  Plus, they ended up being $12 each during friends and family weekend, so I couldn't resist.  I should have taken a close up picture, but the stripes are chevron -  blue and a coral/orange/pink color.  Basically, the stripes will look like they go with most colors of tops.  But I went with the easy option of my trusty chambray popover.  Again, I like it so much that I bought a second one in the exact same color/style.

For the record, I only bought these sandals in navy, although I was very tempted to buy mint or black as well.  And it might still happen if they get even cheaper at Target.

Top: J.Crew Factory (exact)
Skirt: Gap factory
Sandals: Target (similar)

Something New

Well, after finishing the 30x30, I was pretty much just going to wear all new things.  Here's an outfit made almost entirely up of new purchases.  The outlet mall was good to me.  Or rather, I was good to it.  

This outfit doesn't follow the Like+Love+Bling formula.  It's more like Love+Love+Love and then put on some shoes.  I think it works.  

Also, if you haven't yet, please take my blog survey!   I'm going to call it finished on Sunday, and post about the results next week.  Spoiler alert - there are no big surprises.  

Cardigan: J.Crew factory (exact)

Tee: Loft outlet (similar)

Skirt: Gap factory (similar, similar)

Shoes: Seychelles (similar)

Currently

Today I'm jumping in on the "Currently" linkup with Anne.  So here's what I'm currently:

Writing:  pretty much just blog posts.

Anticipating: October is birthday month for both me and John, and this is a big year for me as I will hit the big 3-0.

Missing: family that lives far away!  After spending the weekend with my parents, sister and nieces, I just wish I could see them more often.  And of course, I wish I had been able to see my other siblings and nieces/nephews.  (And I wish there was a word to describe all of my siblings' children, without having to say "nieces and nephews" all the time).    

Wearing:  All my summery clothes that will be unwearable in a month or so.  I'm in the end of summer panic where I want to wear shorts, sandals and sleeveless things as much as possible!  

Craving:  A relaxing vacation, preferably to the beach.  I've traveled quite a bit over the last few months, but it's all been pretty busy travel.  I'm ready for another lazy vacation!

Necklace: Old Navy (similar)
Dress: Banana Republic outlet
Sandals: Target (similar)

Book Review - Pandemonium

image via goodreads

In the world of dystopian YA novels with a female lead, it's getting hard to keep track of what is what.  Someone told me to read Delirium, which I did last fall.  I thought it was pretty good, and figured I'd pick up the rest of the trilogy at some point.  When I decided to drive to Indy for Labor Day weekend, I searched the library for audiobooks and found Pandemonium was available.  It seemed like a good option to make a long drive more bearable.

So, here's the thing - I don't know how to review this book without completely spoiling the first book.  You've been warned.  If you haven't read Delirium and you think you might want to, stop reading now!  I'll even add a jump so it's easy for you to move along.

Summer 30x30 Recap

Well, wasn't that fun?  Here's my big 30x30 finale post.  My thoughts are very similar to last time.  A few new thoughts:

• I thought summer would be more difficult, since I wouldn't have as many layering options.  I'd say it was about the same level of easiness.
• The weather was pretty much just hot every day, so I didn't have to modify my outfits as much based on temps.  That was tricky in January, because we could have pretty big swings from one day to the next, and of course, snow.  This time it was more a question of whether I could manage sleeves on a given day.  And we had a cooler than usual August, so I was able to wear sleeves pretty often.  
• The hardest part this time was my more casual outfits.  On the weekends, I didn't like only having 2 pairs of shorts to choose from.  Oh, and thinking of something to write every single day!  That was tough. 

Here's my visual of all the items and how many times they were each worn.  I feel like I did a pretty good job of wearing things somewhat evenly.  I wore everything at least twice, which is better than I did last time!

No surprise that my navy flats and brown sandals were the all stars.

So now for the best and worst of the outfits.  The good news is that I really liked most of the outfits a lot.  It was hard to narrow down my favorites.  Here's my top 6, in order of when I wore them: 

I didn't have too many contenders for the worst.  I don't hate these 3, but they just stood out to me as my least favorites.  If I do a "2014 Hall of Shame," I don't even think these would make the cut. 

 I guess that means I was pretty happy with the 30x30 outfits I put together.     

So in conclusion... I don't really know what.  I learned again that having fewer options makes it easier to put outfits together.  There seems to be a trend lately towards minimalism and capsule wardrobes.  I don't think I'm quite ready to make a complete switch, but I am much more open to a bigger closet clean-out.  So I'm hoping to do that soon!  And maybe an updated inventory?  Maybe with smaller numbers?