Friday, June 25, 2021

Off the Shelf: The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

 



Happy Friday! 

This week's book is probably my favorite book I've read so far this year. When I saw this book on the "Upcoming Releases" list, I was intrigued because it's loosely based on the case of the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers (which both Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime and the podcase Lore have fantastic episodes about). 

While the actual case remains unsolved, The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex explores what could have happened. Told on two timelines, one in 1972 and one in 1992, this story weaves the last days of the men guarding the lighthouse with later interviews of their wives and girlfriends as they speculate on what really went down that fateful night. 

Fantastically written, such an atmospheric and eerie read! It kept me up well past my bedtime trying to figure out all the plot twists. :) 

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Friday, April 23, 2021

Off the Shelf: Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty



Happy Friday! 

I haven't done an Off the Shelf post in a while, but this book was just too good to not share! 

Having read a lot of self-help books about the power of positivity and the benefits of meditation, I wasn't sure if this book would feel like a regurgitation of information I'd previously encountered. The author did a fantastic job of using his personal experience (he spent three years living as a monk in India) to highlight how he obtained his knowledge of the monk mindset, and how we can weave this mindset into our modern-day life. While the author is Buddhist, the principles provided can be applied to any religion (ex. I come from a Christian background, but nothing contradicted my personal beliefs/ religious practice). 

This is a lovely and thought-provoking book! I loved the story of Jay Shetty giving up his traditional and secure life to become a monk, then share the valuable lessons he learned with the world. After finishing this book, I can't wait to start listening to his podcast, On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means a small portion of the proceeds go to support Pines and Peaches, at no additional cost to you. Read my disclosure policy here

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Monday, March 29, 2021

Monday Motivation-March 29, 2021


 Happy Monday!

Stay true to who you are this week. 

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Monday, March 22, 2021

Monday Motivation- March 22, 2021

 


Happy Monday! 

Remember to enjoy the journey this week. 

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Tuesday, March 02, 2021

Books 2 Watch: March 2021




Good Morning, 

It's the first Tuesday of the month, which means new books! I'm super pumped about the lineup for March! Here are ten new and upcoming releases I can't wait to read. :) 


Cassandra Clare
Release Date: March 2nd


Cordelia Carstairs seems to have everything she ever wanted. She’s engaged to marry James Herondale, the boy she has loved since childhood. She has a new life in London with her best friend Lucie Herondale and James’s charming companions, the Merry Thieves. She is about to be reunited with her beloved father. And she bears the sword Cortana, a legendary hero’s blade.

But the truth is far grimmer. James and Cordelia’s marriage is a lie, arranged to save Cordelia’s reputation. James is in love with the mysterious Grace Blackthorn whose brother, Jesse, died years ago in a terrible accident. Cortana burns Cordelia’s hand when she touches it, while her father has grown bitter and angry. And a serial murderer is targeting the Shadowhunters of London, killing under cover of darkness, then vanishing without a trace.

Together with the Merry Thieves, Cordelia, James, and Lucie must follow the trail of the knife-wielding killer through the city’s most dangerous streets. All the while, each is keeping a shocking secret: Lucie, that she plans to raise Jesse from the dead; Cordelia, that she has sworn a dangerous oath of loyalty to a mysterious power; and James, that he is being drawn further each night into the dark web of his grandfather, the arch-demon Belial. And that he himself may be the killer they seek.

Dr. Daniel G. Amen
Release Date: March 2nd




New York Times bestselling author Dr. Daniel Amen equips you with powerful weapons to battle the inner dragons that are breathing fire on your brain, driving unhealthy behaviors, and robbing you of joy and contentment.
Your brain is always listening and responding to these hidden influences and unless you recognize and deal with them, they can steal your happiness, spoil your relationships, and sabotage your health. This book will teach you to tame the:

1. Dragons from the Past that ignite your most painful emotions;
2. Negative Thought Dragons that attack you, fueling anxiety and depression;
3. They and Them Dragons, people in your life whose own dragons do battle with yours;
4. Bad Habit Dragons that increase the chances you’ll be overweight, overwhelmed, and an underachiever;
5. Addicted Dragons that make you lose control of your health, wealth, and relationships;
6. Scheming Dragons, advertisers and social media sites that steal your attention.

In Your Brain Is Always Listening, Dr. Daniel Amen shows you how to recognize harmful dragons and gives you the weapons to vanquish them. With these practical tools, you can stop feeling sad, mad, nervous, or out of control and start being happier, calmer, and more in control of your own destiny.


Sarah Penner
Release Date: March 2nd


Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.

With crackling suspense, unforgettable characters and searing insight, The Lost Apothecary is a subversive and intoxicating debut novel of secrets, vengeance and the remarkable ways women can save each other despite the barrier of time.


By Kate Quinn
Release Date: March 9th




1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything—beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses—but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Imperious self-made Mab, product of east-end London poverty, works the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential in local village spinster Beth, whose shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and soon Beth spreads her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. But war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the three apart.

1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, three friends-turned-enemies are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter--the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now Osla, Mab, and Beth must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger--and their true enemy--closer...



Walter Isaacson
Release Date: March 9th 




The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a gripping account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies.

When Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade, she came home one day to find that her dad had left a paperback titled The Double Helix on her bed. She put it aside, thinking it was one of those detective tales she loved. When she read it on a rainy Saturday, she discovered she was right, in a way. As she sped through the pages, she became enthralled by the intense drama behind the competition to discover the code of life. Even though her high school counselor told her girls didn’t become scientists, she decided she would.

Driven by a passion to understand how nature works and to turn discoveries into inventions, she would help to make what the book’s author, James Watson, told her was the most important biological advance since his co-discovery of the structure of DNA. She and her collaborators turned ​a curiosity ​of nature into an invention that will transform the human race: an easy-to-use tool that can edit DNA. Known as CRISPR, it opened a brave new world of medical miracles and moral questions.

The development of CRISPR and the race to create vaccines for coronavirus will hasten our transition to the next great innovation revolution. The past half-century has been a digital age, based on the microchip, computer, and internet. Now we are entering a life-science revolution. Children who study digital coding will be joined by those who study genetic code.

Should we use our new evolution-hacking powers to make us less susceptible to viruses? What a wonderful boon that would be! And what about preventing depression? Hmmm…Should we allow parents, if they can afford it, to enhance the height or muscles or IQ of their kids?

After helping to discover CRISPR, Doudna became a leader in wrestling with these moral issues and, with her collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, won the Nobel Prize in 2020. Her story is a thrilling detective tale that involves the most profound wonders of nature, from the origins of life to the future of our species.


Angeline Boulley
Release Date: March 16th


In Firekeeper's Daughter, debut author Angeline Boulley crafts a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community, for readers of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange.

Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team.

Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.

Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. At the same time, she grows concerned with an investigation that seems more focused on punishing the offenders than protecting the victims.

Now, as the deceptions―and deaths―keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.


Emma Stonex
Release Date: March 16th




What strange fate befell these doomed men? The heavy sea whispers their names. Black rocks roll beneath the surface, drowning ghosts. And out of the swell like a finger of light, the salt-scratched tower stands lonely and magnificent.

It's New Year's Eve, 1972, when a boat pulls up to the Maiden Rock lighthouse with relief for the keepers. But no one greets them. When the entrance door, locked from the inside, is battered down, rescuers find an empty tower. A table is laid for a meal not eaten. The Principal Keeper's weather log describes a storm raging round the tower, but the skies have been clear all week. And the clocks have all stopped at 8:45.

Two decades later, the wives who were left behind are visited by a writer who is determined to find the truth about the men's disappearance. Moving between the women's stories and the men's last weeks together in the lighthouse, long-held secrets surface and truths twist into lies as we piece together what happened, why, and who to believe.

In her riveting and suspenseful novel, Emma Stonex writes a story of isolation and obsession, of reality and illusion, and of what it takes to keep the light burning when all else is swallowed by dark.

Nedra Glover Tawwab
Release Date: March 16th




End the struggle, speak up for what you need, and experience the freedom of being truly yourself.

Healthy boundaries. We all know we should have them--in order to achieve work/life balance, cope with toxic people, and enjoy rewarding relationships with partners, friends, and family. But what do "healthy boundaries" really mean--and how can we successfully express our needs, say "no," and be assertive without offending others?

Licensed counselor, sought-after relationship expert, and one of the most influential therapists on Instagram Nedra Glover Tawwab demystifies this complex topic for today's world. In a relatable and inclusive tone, Set Boundaries, Find Peace presents simple-yet-powerful ways to establish healthy boundaries in all aspects of life. Rooted in the latest research and best practices used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), these techniques help us identify and express our needs clearly and without apology--and unravel a root problem behind codependency, power struggles, anxiety, depression, burnout, and more.


Aiden Thomas
Release Date: March 23rd




When children start to go missing in the local woods, a teen girl must face her fears and a past she can't remember to rescue them in this atmospheric YA novel, Lost in the Never Woods from the author of Cemetery Boys.

It’s been five years since Wendy and her two brothers went missing in the woods, but when the town’s children start to disappear, the questions surrounding her brothers’ mysterious circumstances are brought back into the light. Attempting to flee her past, Wendy almost runs over an unconscious boy lying in the middle of the road...

Peter, a boy she thought lived only in her stories, asks for Wendy’s help to rescue the missing kids. But, in order to find them, Wendy must confront what’s waiting for her in the woods.


Leigh Bardugo
Release Date: March 30th



The wolves are circling and a young king will face his greatest challenge in the explosive finale of the instant #1 New York Times–bestselling King of Scars Duology.

The Demon King. As Fjerda’s massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm―and even the monster within―to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king’s gift for the impossible.

The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.

The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.

King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall.


Happy Reading!


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Friday, February 12, 2021

Off the Shelf: The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone


The 10x Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure by Grant Cardone

Pages: 256

While this is more business-oriented than my normal self-help picks, this book can apply to life as well as work. Mr. Cardone presents the 10X rule, which basically states that in order to be a success, you must invest 10x more effort than the average person does. While this seems like a simple concept, as you read the book and realize how few of us really go that extra step (or ten) it changes the way you view all your goals, whether career or personal. 


The chapter on fear was an eye-opener for me. As a somewhat over-cautious person, I realized that more of my decisions are based on avoiding a negative outcome than on pursuing a positive one. The author brilliantly explains why this mindset will hinder and even prevent you from reaching your true potential. The world-changers don’t play it safe, they go all in! Even though it is marketed as a business book (it's particularly geared for people working in sales), the principles in this book can be applied in many areas of life.


Have you read this book? If so, did you apply to 10x Rule in your life or business? Feel free to leave a comment!


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Monday, January 25, 2021

Monday Motivation: January 25, 2021




Happy Monday! 

Wishing you all a week of inner peace and serenity. 

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Friday, January 15, 2021

Off the Shelf: Atomic Habits by James Clear

Title: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

Author: James Clear

Pages: 307

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

I thought I'd start this year of blogging off with a self-help book, and I hit the jackpot with this one. Using psychology hacks to explain why good habits are so hard to stick with and why bad habits are so hard to break, James Clear goes on to give numerous examples of ways we can outwit our nature and stick to our habits this time! I loved this book so much, I also bought the audiobook to listen to on my way back and forth to work. 

I can't wait to put the tactics discussed in this book to use, and have already got my habit tracker journal ready to go! Has anyone else read and tried the exercises? Leave a comment and let me know how it worked out for you. 

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