New Year - New bullet journal spread

Hello bibliophiles, 

I know, once again I haven't posted in a while and I am hearing from you all. Thank you again for reading and I really hate to disappoint you. I will not make excuses, but (I know right totally disregarding what I just said) I have been super busy with Christmas and my classes. So I may not be posting as often, but I will attempt to post more. 

Since this blog is supposed to be a little piece of me, I thought I would share with you my new set up for my Bullet Journal. If you are not familiar with the Bullet Journal they are ALL THE RAGE right now. I've been trying it out for almost a year and am LOVING it. Check out Ryder Caroll's original Bullet Journal on his website here. Most people have adapted it for their own use and are making it much prettier. I will say this, making it "prettier" takes up a lot of time, but it's fun and it brings out my creative/organized side. When bullet-ing my hubby likes to loving refer to me as "Monica" like from Friends. Since I get a little bit carried away. Now I will also say that I am a bit of a magpie, I Pinterest and Google for ideas. I compile them and turn it into my own. So some of the pages do take inspiration from other Bullet Journal-ers. 

Here is the journal that I am using. It is the Leuchtturm 1917 with the grid inside. 

I have left all my weekly layouts and blank so this is why I thought I would show it you now. Before I fill it in with all my personal information. The above is my 2016 review. 

Above is my spread for my 2017 goals. I suggest you take a look at Boho Berry. Her goals and level 10 life spreads will get you wanting to journal your self!

Here is my 3 year plan spread that I will be filling out. It will help me keep on track for my goals and where I want my career to head. 

Above is the future log so I can see the next seven months and add any upcoming events or important dates I do not want to forget. 

Here is my overview for January. I list my goals for the month any Birthdays or Anniversaries to remember as well as a list of the days where I can oversee the events/tasks/appointments for the whole month. 

Finally, here are is my brand new spread. I used to do a whole week, and now I am attempting to do a daily and weekly spread. The weekly spread is much smaller. Simly an overview of the chores and events for the week. Then the daily has a much larger area for health tracking as well as a gratitude section. As well as a nice big space for my to dos. 

As I've said, I am a bit of a magpie and take what I like from other people's spreads. I don't claim to be the creator of these spreads or ideas. Simply Google bullet journal and you will see all these things for yourself. 

I hope you enjoyed taking a look into my journal, and are wanting to get organized for the new year. 

See you next time.

- Elyse

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules

Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg

Harper Collins Publishers, 2014

Genre: Comedy, Fiction, Adventure

1^st in the Little Old Lady Series

Martha Andersson is 79 and today she has decided she is going to rob a bank. On her way she thinks of her friends and their substandard living environment at the retirement home. Their home, Diamond house was just bought by a new owner, and they want costs to be cut. So lately the food has become flavourless, they get less coffee, they don’t get any sweets, and they must go to bed earlier. So in order to get her and her friends out of the home, they need money. Martha intends to get better conditions, even if it means going to prison.

This book was very funny and quirky. You have to love the lengths the “League of Pensioners” go to, to get their money. I loved each and every one of the characters, they each had their qualities to make you laugh. Following their interactions as they just try to get the most out of their final years was extremely enjoyable. Even though parts of the plot were far-fetched I think that you will be able to suspend reality and get into this book.

To me this book made me think. Do we really appreciate our elderly? Or do we just assume they are losing it a little and patronize them. Yes it was done through humour but I walked away thinking that it is possible to live a daring and adventurous life even from the home. You should never stop, no matter what life looks like. If you can laugh while you’re at it, all the better.

I will say that the writing was a bit immature. I think that it was meant to be funny and silly. The words goofy and caper come to mind. So it wasn’t a serious dramatic piece of writing. If you are expecting this to read like a serious drama then you shouldn’t be picking up this book. I think that if you go into this book with the right mindset you will find that you’ll laugh along with the “League of Pensioners”

My Verdict: You’ll enjoy the laugh

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Did you read these books, what did you think? Did you get a giggle or two in?

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If you liked this, try:

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

The Little Old Lady Strikes again

Cuckoos Calling

Cuckoos Calling

Robert Galbraith

Sphere Books (Little, Brown & Co) 2013
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime

Book 1 in the Cormoran Strike Series

Cormoran Strike a private detective, has just broken up with his girlfriend, is sleeping in his office, lost his leg in Afghanistan, is down to his last client, but has some very nice creditors knocking on his door. He is sure he can’t keep the new temp receptionist he’s hired, Robin. But she is very efficient and bright, so he wishes he could. This is when John Bristow walks into his office, asking for Strike’s help. His sister, Lula Landry, is the famous super model whose face is splashed all over the news due to her recent death. It has been reported that she committed suicide, by jumping off her balcony. But John doesn’t believe it. He wants Strike to investigate the death, and find the truth of who killed his sister.

Well hello again interwebs. I took a bit of a break as I had classes and then it snowballed from there. However, I would justify it to myself saying that, it doesn't matter anyway because no one really reads except for a few friends and family. Apparently, that is not the case. Thank you to everyone who has asked me what happened to the blog, and when it would be back up. I really appreciate you reading. I would like to say though...that if you don't say anything, how do I know you are reading it. I mean really people...show the love! So with the many comments I've received lately here is the blog again. 

The reason I picked up this book, was because who wrote it. Now I know what I said up there, Robert Galbraith, but that is just a pseudonym. It was all over the internet, and I read the truth before I saw the book. I wish the pseudonym route worked for her, but it didn’t, it was leaked and that was it, it was a best seller. Is the suspense killing you? Are you dying to know? The actual Author of this series is J.K. Rowling. I know! The Hogwarts master herself. I was really excited to read these books after I heard that she wrote them. I wish I could say that I was impartial. I wish I could say that I found out about it after I read the book, but I didn’t I was tainted. So I can’t say to you I loved this book, before I found out who wrote it. All I can say to you is that I loved this book.

I really loved the depth in the characters here. Cormoran was the lovable tough guy, that looks gnarly and haggard but really is a good man. Robin who has tenacity, and strength she didn’t know she had. Lula who suffers and yet has more privilege and experience than most will ever have. It is Galbraith’s familiar attention to detail and the world that is described to you that makes the characters and these stories so vivid. These characters had a familiar pull and I liked it. The character depth, I think, is her talent. All her books are so well developed as is the world they are in. It's not just one character that she is writing about, it's all of them, and what they are doing to move towards the conclusion of the story.

This was a good ol’ fashioned mystery and I loved it. It was reminiscent of the old private eye television shows or radio shows and it made me happy. If these types of stories aren’t your thing, then what is wrong with you? I read that some people felt it wasn’t smooth or it felt choppy. I think that is due to the perspective. You follow Cormoran around, but you don’t know where he’s headed, how else would you be kept in the dark?

My Verdict: I know you’re going to read it!

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Did you read this one before you know who wrote it? What gave her away? Will you read the next two books in the series?

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If you liked this, try:
The Silkworm

The Yard

Moriarty

The house of Silk

House of Silk

House of Silk

Anthony Horowitz

Little, Brown & Company, November 2011

Genre: Crime, mystery, adventure, action

Dr. Watson is at the end of his life. His nurses enjoy his stories and he finds he has only one left to tell. One that his readers weren’t ready for. One that he feels is too gory even now. When he is done writing he will put it away in a safety deposit box and he hopes when it is released the world will be able to read it without causing too much of a stir. He recalls Holmes had just finished a case where he starved himself. Mary was off to visit the family she was a governess for, as their son was ill. Watson takes this time to visit his dear friend and see for himself that Holmes is on the mend. As he arrives, so does a tall distinguished man claiming that he is being followed and fears for his life. This case crashes into another that leads Holmes and Watson into a dark place they have never been before…

I read this one after I read Moriarty, and I have to say that if you haven’t read either, read this one first. Moriarty was better in my opinion. Check out my review (Here). I didn’t see the end or Moriarty at all. This one didn’t have that same OMPH. But it was still good none the less.

I enjoyed this Sherlock novel, it was like greeting old friends. You might even get a glimpse of a certain evil criminal master mind, whom I love and adore. Horowitz writes these novels very well. They fit like a puzzle piece snuggly into the original Doyle stories. If you love Sherlock Holmes, then you will enjoy this one as well as Moriarty.

I have to say, that after LOVING Moriarty so much, I thought this one was a bit of a letdown. I was expecting twists and turns, just like before and was disappointed. However, if you find that the confusing twists and turns of Sherlock Holmes’ mind is enough for you, then have at it. Don’t let me dissuade you from reading this, but as I said before, just read this one first and that way you can build up to Moriarty first.

My Verdict: Read it, unless you have to pick either House of Silk or Moriarty… read Moriarty

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Did you read both books? Which did you like best? What did you think of this one?

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If you liked this, try:

Moriarty

The Yard

Museum of Extraordinary Things: A Novel

Museum of Extraordinary Things: A Novel

Alice Hoffman

Scribner 2014

Genre: Adventure, Fiction

The Museum of Extraordinary Things is a Coney Island boardwalk attraction run by “Professor Sardie”. He lives above the museum with his daughter Coralie. Coralie has always wanted to see the museum, but her father won’t let her go down until she is ten. She was born with a very unusual feature webbed fingers. She has to wear white cotton gloves outside. Her father makes her take cold baths and practice swimming every day. She holds her breath for a very long time. On her tenth birthday she finally gets to go down and see the museum. She marvels at all of the sights, and looks at all of the attractions. When she reaches the end she sees a huge glass tank filled with water. She understands that this is for her, and she will be an attraction. She becomes the human mermaid with a bamboo tail covered with silk.  As she grows older she swims every night in the river, she is so fast and can stay under for so long just like a fish. People start to think there is a monster in the river. On one of her night swims, she sees a young man and her life is changed forever.

I suggested this one for my short lived book club, and a few people felt that it looked scary. Let me say that the only thing scary in this book were the evils of man. The “freaks” were not scary. I ended up finding these were the stars of the story. You loved them and were rooting for them in the end.

This was such a beautifully written book. Beautiful words, beautiful characters, it was a sad beauty too. I really love mermaids. I was a water baby (What my mom would say) or a water rat (what other swimmers would say) so when I was a little girl I wanted to be a mermaid. So perhaps it was attractive to just me. Seeing this girl be as close to a mermaid as you can be.

This didn’t feel like a very romantic love story. It was darker. Almost like a tragic love story. An old fashioned one. When I read up on this book the word fairy-tale was thrown around a lot. I understand why because it was like one of the old fairy-tales. Not the new ones, the sad ones where the princess throws herself into the sea with grief. WOAH! Hold your horses. That was NOT a spoiler. It was just an example. CALM DOWN – SHEESH. In the end I really liked it and I think you will too.

My Verdict: Read it

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Who was your favorite attraction? What did you think of this book?

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If you liked this, try:

While beauty slept
Storied life of AJ Fikry
The Light Between Oceans

Crafty - Baby Gifts

Hello my fellow book worms,

I hope you all had a great long weekend. I did my best to get out and enjoy it!

One of my dearest friends and my cousin got married and they had a little baby boy. I was so excited for them, and I couldn't wait to meet the sweet little lad. However, this meant that I could also shower them with gifts that I got to sew! I love to sew, and combined with my love of Pinterest I had SO MANY baby things to make. I went a little bit overboard and made so many gifts. I would like to say that none of these patterns are my own. I merely sewed them. I found the ideas on Pinterest, many of them came with Tutorials and patterns that you can print out. I do not claim these ideas as my own. I am only showing that I made these for the newest baby addition. If you want to make them get on Pinterest and search!

Above are most of the items I made. A football blanket, a swaddle blanket, a wet bag, a nursing cover, a portable change table, and a portable high chair. They made his room nautical themed so I carried that theme through with the presents.

I also made these (above) Diaper wipes container to match his room. And a little carry all bag that holds the small diaper wipes container and diapers. One of my other dearest friends is a graphic designer and she helped me make the personal labels for the projects. They are so cute, and I highly recommend that you make some for yourself. It gives your project a professional feel.

Above is the portable high chair. Not having any children, and the fact that the cat wouldn't cooperate I had to use this teddy bear as a model. I asked my sister in law what the one thing that she wasn't given but found the most helpful and she said this fabric seat. You put the baby in and tie them into the chair when it is time to eat (obviously for when the child is older). This way they don't need a high chair, but can use whatever chair you have. Great at restaurants or a friend's house who doesn't have any little ones. This is what my dear friend asked me to make. I used my sister in laws as a template and made this one.

Hopefully you too have found some inspiration from this post. I have no idea what to sew now.  I can hear my husband groaning from here. Chat to you next week.

Love
Elyse

The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train

By Paula Hawkins

Riverhead Books/Doubleday January 2015

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction

Rachel is recovering from a terrible divorce, unemployed, and she turns to alcohol to help her through her pain. She drinks so much that she blacks out, and can’t remember where she was, who she saw or what she has done. She rides the train to London every day, she stares out the window and watches the world go by. At her old stop, Rachel can see her old house where her ex-husband Tom still lives with his new wife Anna and their new baby. It’s too painful to look at so Rachel watches a house close to her old one and imagines the life the people inside lead. She names them Jason and Jess and imagines they have a happy fulfilling marriage and have a glamorous life together. One day on her usual ride Rachel sees “Jess” with another man, and not long after that Rachel discovers the woman she knows as “jess” is really Megan, and she is missing.

Ok let’s start with what I liked about this one. It was well written in that I found it compelling, I had to know for sure “who dunnit”. The story is told from the perspective of all three women Rachel, Megan and Anna, and that did not bother me at all. It did sometimes feel a little bit jumpy but not so much that it was distracting from the story. It made the events unfold logically and you can understand more where everyone’s heads are.

What bothered me the most about this book were the women themselves. While reading this one I couldn’t help but sit there and go “WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU?” I could hardly stand Anna, the fact that she was almost proud for ruining a marriage irritated me. The fact that she blamed Rachel for all the issues between Tom and Rachel was shocking. Whenever the chapter started in her head I would groan internally, here comes homewrecker. She was the most paranoid of them all, and she was an idiot. Rachel I could not get behind at all. Did I feel bad for her? Absolutely, so much pain and suffering in her marriage. I understand giving into the pain, but you have to see you are ruining your life and pull out of it. Megan was selfish. I really didn’t like her either. Yes we all have experiences in our life that shape us but she was so busy covering up all her secrets that she came off as self-absorbed.

All these women were so CRAZY over men, and having babies. I am sorry, isn’t there more to life? There was sabotage, and being catty to each other over men. This pissed me off. The fact that the relationships between them were so awful made me mad. Couldn’t they just TRY to be good people? Perhaps that is naïve of me, but I don’t think that I would behave that way. I know that none of the women I look up to would behave that way.

Why did I pick this book up is what you are asking yourself? Well everyone said it was better than Gone Girl, so I thought I would give it a try. I didn’t really like Gone Girl, so I was ready for something better. I was ready for a very exciting thriller, a page turner. I did not feel that is what I got. I had my guesses at the very beginning of the novel about what was going on. Let me say that I was right, not on all the details or anything but what happened, oh yes, I was right. The only reason I felt compelled to finish was to confirm that I was right. I didn’t feel that it was a big mystery and I kept waiting for an amazing plot twist that I didn’t expect. I reached the end, it felt anti-climactic, and fell flat for me.

In the end, I just couldn’t get into the characters. That was a huge obstacle for me. Also I didn’t feel that it was that big of a mystery. Rachel was always making horrible mistakes and doing such silly things and it bothered me through the whole book.

My Verdict: You may enjoy it, lots of others did

If you liked this one try:

Gone Girl

2015 Christmas Activities Advent

Hello my book friends,

I know what you are thinking, "Elyse, we JUST had Christmas? What are you doing? Please tell me you aren't one of those Christmas nuts.." Well let me tell you that you are way off base and that yes, perhaps I am tiny bit of a Christmas nut. I do LOVE Christmas, but my tree doesn't go up in October or anything, so clam down. Now that you have calmed yourself down let me tell you the story.

Just after last Christmas (2014) my darling husband told me that he hadn't felt the Christmas joy the way he had in previous years. He was disappointed that all we did was buy gifts and run around all over the city visiting family to give them the gifts and that was it. There was no quality time, no sitting and enjoying the season. I can't tell you how much it broke my heart. I love Christmas so much and once you're an adult Christmas looses a little something. I understood exactly how he felt. But you have to find it other ways. I knew that I had to help my hubby find a new kind of Christmas joy. So I thought about it for a long time. I came up with a plan. I was going to give him a "25 days of Christmas countdown"

Everyone is so busy at Christmas time, I knew that I couldn't try and pack it all in December so I started in November and every few days we did something Christmas-sy together. I had it all planned out so that he couldn't say no. It was done, all we had to do was show up. I bought tickets in advance. I planned it out on the calendar It was great. Let me also say that Christmas can be a tight time financially, I didn't want to break the bank. So some activities were at home, others were free events in our city, and some we spent money on.

I made a list of everything that was fun to do at Christmas. Then I looked up various Christmas events in our city. For example: The German Christmas market, ice skating, building a gingerbread house, donating toys and food, driving around and seeing the lights in our neighbourhood and the caroling trolley. I even had a few nights were I wrote down my favorite Christmas memory (so far) of the two of us, and we just talked about that time and laughed. It was a great plan

I wrote each event down on a calendar I printed off. I made sure that the events were spaced out, and that there weren't too many crammed together that cost money. There were a lot of them, but when you actually thought it out some were quick and others took time. I was so excited. I printed out each day on a card with the activity on it, and I wrapped each card up and put them in a box. I wrote a little poem explaining what it was, and then I waited.

Waiting is NOT my strong suit, but I knew I couldn't give it to him too early. I was dying inside "Will he like it? Will he think I'm crazy?" FINALLY, the day arrived where I could give it to him. I can say that when I brought out a Christmas box to him in the middle of November he was pretty confused. Once he read the poem and opened the box and saw all the little wrapped up cards he was grinning from ear to ear. "Can I open them now?" No I explained that he got to open it up that day only. He was so excited (and I was relieved) midnight on day 1 he eagerly asked me if he could open it now, and the happiness carried us right to Christmas day.

For those of you that follow on Instagram and Facebook, you have already seen the pictures of us out and about. So you know how happy Kyle was and how much fun we had. He kept telling me that he had no idea how he was going to top this next year. I told him that wasn't the point. The point was finding his Christmas joy - mission accomplished. I suggested that he pick his favorite 5 things and set them up for me this year. That way we can reflect on this Christmas countdown and make them our future Christmas traditions.

If you are finding that you have trouble finding your Christmas joy. May I recommend something like this for you. Just getting out and seeing the lights and the crisp air really made us feel like just cuddling up with a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket to enjoy the season.

Love
Elyse

The Book Thief

The Book Thief
By Markus Zusak
Knopf, March 2006
Genre: Historical Fiction, Action

During the Second World War death is very busy constantly ferrying souls. But death has a story to tell, that of Liesel Meminger; death dubs her “the Book Thief”. Liesel is taken to Himmel Street to live with Hans and Rosa Huberman after her mother abandons her. Hans plays the accordion down at the local pub for money in the evenings. It is the accordion that brings a young man to the Huberman’s doorstep. A man who had to leave his family, traveling in secret with false papers asking Hans for help.

I can’t even. I just can’t. This book made me ball my eyes out. I was reading and my husband was in another room. He came out looking totally bewildered and asked me what was wrong. I would tell you my response, but that would give too much away. This book was so heartbreaking and lovely at the same time. I can’t even say how much my heart wanted to explode for little Liesel, it’s not fair all she had to deal with. But her strength was amazing and we could all take a page from Liesel’s book (HAHAHA GET IT!) Except for the stealing thing, let’s not do that folks. Let’s purchase or borrow our books like good little people.   

I loved all the characters in this book, every single one of them spoke to me. I have to say that I really enjoy reading about characters that did their best in a time when it could get you killed. I would like to think that I would always do what I think is the right thing no matter what is happening. They were beautiful characters and they felt so real.

I have to discuss that the book is narrated by death. WHAT!? Who does that, it’s awesome. I loved it! It was so beautiful. Death was exhausted constantly looking at all these poor people who died so tragically. I can’t recall another novel that I have read that is similar in this way. This felt very original, and I loved it. Perhaps there are many books that are done this way, but I haven’t read them so it felt new to me. The writing style was lovely. The colours, and the descriptions it was all beautiful. I just loved it all. 

My Verdict: DEAR GOD READ IT! - but have the tissues ready

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What did you think of this book? Did you cry too? If not, what’s wrong with you? 

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If you liked this, try:

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

All the Light We Cannot See

Sarah's Key

2016 Reading Challenge

Hello fellow bookies,

Oooooh, that did not sound the way I meant it to. Unless this blog is taking an unexpected turn to gambling. Which it is not, unless you want to bet on it....5 to 1 it will stay a book blog. Any takers? No, well fine then moving on.

Happy New Year! I know you are all sitting there, pondering your resolutions and thinking to yourself "I didn't set enough book related resolutions for the new year". Fear not my friends, I have the answer for you! ...... What? You didn't set book goals - WELL now you will!

Have you seen the reading challenges online? I always read through them and think that they sound like such a good idea, but I never do them. Some of them seem a little bit silly. I think that we could make our own book challenge. This would then help you with your book resolutions. What do you think? If I make one, will you do it too? One a month does that sound do-able? I take your silence as a yes! Let's DO IT!

I will make a list of 12 challenges, one for every month of the year. Your mission...should you choose to accept it (and your silence indicates your acceptance) pick a book that matches that description, and you read that book. This transmission will now explode in 3....2....1..... well that was anticlimactic.

I would then love to hear what book you read to meet the challenge. You could just let me know in the comments or if you follow the blog on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook you could let me know there! Do you think that you can do that with me fellow book lovers? Let's make it happen.


A Little Piece of Elyse 2016 Reading Challenge

1. Read a book reviewed by A little Piece of Elyse (You have 19 to choose from right now)
2. Read a book released in 2016
3. Read a book from a genre you wouldn't normally choose
4. Read a book that will be made into a movie
5. Read a book you started but never finished
6. Read a classic
7. Read a Pulitzer Prize winning book
8. Read a non fiction book 
9. Read a book you have always wanted to read
10. Read a book by an author you've never read before
11. Read a book that was "banned"
12. Read a book that you picked because of the cover - Go on, be a rebel

So that is the list folks, does that sound good to you? You can do it in whatever order you want. Is reading 12 books this year a lot, or not very many for you? Clearly... that is A TON for me! I can see that face your making over there!

There are 3 months done for you right here on this blog! You can pick any book and meet challenge #1. The goldfinch is a Pulitzer Prize winner. Finally, Miss. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will be made into a movie this year.

I will let you know which one met the challenge in that month's post. I look forward to reading throughout the year with you interwebs!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Love
Elyse