Ten Incredible Books

Life lately has been work, work, and more work. Sigh. 

But in between I have managed to read some really good books!! 

What's On My Nightstand

When life gets stressful, as it has been for me lately, I need to be more conscious of what I do in the evenings to wind down before bed. 

I shared some of my evening routine with you in this post. 

Spring Reading

I love to read. It's one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon....when I have time to do so. 

A good book, a cup of tea, a roaring fire, a pup on my lap. Perfect winter's afternoon. 

Rainy Day Reading

It's a miserable, cold, windy, rainy, blustery day in the  mountains today. Not a pick of sunshine, just damp, dreary and downright chills you to the bone.

It's the perfect day for two things: making soup and reading a really good book.

I started my day by putting on a big crockpot of broth. It won't be ready until tomorrow afternoon, unfortunately, but when it's done I'm going to make a nice batch of potato soup.

Russet potatoes were on sale at the market this week - buy one bag, get one free. I had potato soup on my mind right away!

I started my broth out with the carcasses of 2 chickens - one I had saved in the freezer and one from Monday night's dinner. 

I added the following to the crockpot for this batch of broth:

1/2 bag baby carrots

4 stalks of celery, leaves included

1 head of garlic, unpeeled, cut in half

1 large sweet onion, unpeeled, cut in half

a handful of mushroom stems and pieces from the freezer

a couple of rinds of hard cheese from the freezer

1/4 cup peppercorns, whole

1/4 cup chopped dried parsley

4 bay leaves

1 tsp of Vermont Country Seasoning

Fill to the top with water, and cook on low for a minimum of 24 hours. I will actually cook this for about 30+ hours, until I come home from work tomorrow evening.

It's the perfect thing to make on such a miserable day.

I also have a perfect book for you to read on a day like this. I just finished this book and I am not lying when I say I could not put it down!

I absolutely love a book that grabs my attention like that! It brings me back to my childhood when I used to get so involved in a book that my mom says she could have a whole conversation with me and I wouldn't hear one word. I could tune everything and anything out!

This is that kind of book. The kind that reminds me how very much I love to read. 

The Forgotten Garden

I'm sure many of you have read it already....if you haven't, please pick up a copy asap! You will not regret it!

This is absolutely not a sponsored post, and no affiliate links. I just adored this book!

The story grabbed my attention from page one and every spare second I had found me going back to pick it up and read more, more, MORE!

One more page....one more chapter....one more hour...!

I've now downloaded samples of 3 of Kate Morton's other books and I can't wait to dig wholeheartedly into the next one.  I have just started The House At Riverton....I'll let you know what I think when I'm all done but I have high hopes for it after The Forgotten Garden. 

Do you have any books that you have read recently that moved you to the point of thinking about them constantly? If so, please share - I'm always on the lookout for a new favorite book!