Rainy Days With Amanda

I found this book when I was looking through a table set at Barnes & Nobles with a sign that read something along the lines of "Translated Japanese Novels." Of course, I had to take a look. This one caught my attention not by the cover, but by the title. It intrigued my interests, so I put it on my list of books to read and I was happy to be able to find a copy at one of my local bookstores. Here's a little bit about All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami . About the Author Meiko Kawakami is a Japanese writer and poet from Osaka. Her work has won prestigious Japanese literary awards in several genres including the 138th Akutagawa Prize for Chichi to Ran (Breasts and Eggs), the 2103 Tanizaki Prize for Ai no yum to ka (Dreams of Love, etc.), and so much more.  Kawakami published All the Lovers in the Night in 2011. In 2022 is when it was translated into English by Sam Bett and David Boyd.  About the Book Fuyuko Irie is a freelance copy editor in her mid-thirtie...

  PORTER & MIDGE: PAWS AND PLAYTIME by Jennie Chen and Giselle Nevada Children's Picture Book / Pet Care / Dog Training Series: Porter and Midge series Publisher: Raise the Woof Press LLC Page Count: 32 pages Publication date: December 12, 2023 Scroll down for Giveaway! Discover the enchanting world of Porter and Midge: Paws and Playtime - a rhyming children's book that follows the heartwarming bond between two furry friends, Mastiff Porter and Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Midge, and their devoted companions, CJ and Lora. On a sunny day, CJ's thoughtful idea sets the stage for a joyful exploration of new ways to make Porter and Midge's days even brighter. Through rhythmic verses, follow their journey as they uncover imaginative games, canine enrichment activities, and thrilling dog sports, all while strengthening their unbreakable connection. Click to purchase! Watch on YouTube Giselle Nevada has owned several mastiffs, acquired both from reputable breeders and ...

  SWEET COMFORT Comfort and Joy Trilogy, #1 by KIMBERLY FISH Women's Fiction / Later-In-Life Romance Second-Chance Romance /  Cozy Mystery Publisher: Fish Tales Page Count: 359 pages Publication Date: January 21, 2023 Scroll down for a giveaway! Welcome to the hometown everyone wants to call their own. Gloria Bachman, a retired bank executive, has eight weeks to flip a location on Comfort’s High Street into a boutique chocolate shop. Defying expectations for “women of a certain age,” Gloria rediscovers talents and a sharpening of skills. If only she could read people as well as she does a spreadsheet. Even with the renovation in good hands, the subsequent struggle to name the shop brings Gloria and her business partner into conflict with a shady citizen. While Gloria is capable of remaining in her retirement rut while opening a business, two competing social groups try to lure her into their networks, causing Gloria to wonder if she ever knew Comfort at all. A murder rocks th...

THE KEY TO EVERYTHING by Valerie Fraser Luesse Contemporary Christian Romance Publisher: Revell Date of Publication: June 2, 2020 Number of Pages: 352 Scroll down for the giveaway! Based on a true story, Valerie Fraser Luesse’s new novel takes readers on an incredible journey of self-discovery. The poignant prose, enchanting characters, and captivating settings in The Key to Everything make this a moving story that readers won’t soon forget. Peyton Cabot’s fifteenth year will be a painful and transformative one. His father, the reluctant head of a moneyed Savannah family, has come home from WWII a troubled vet, drowning his demons in bourbon, and distancing himself from his son. When a tragic accident separates Peyton from his parents, and the girl of his dreams seems out of reach, he struggles to cope with a young life upended. Pushed to his limit, Peyton makes a daring decision: he will retrace a slice of the jou...

You guys, it has been 8 weeks since I started quarantine(ing) and I am measuring my quarantine by when I started working from home, so that has been a full 8 weeks. It's crazy. Week 8. It has me writing letters to friends and doing renditions of Broadway musicals. For those of you who don't know, I took theatre from middle school to high school and even took a class in college. That was actually going to be my major in college until I came to the realization that if I can't sing, I was not going to make it. So here I am, making my poor furbabies and husband endure my performances. Quarantine also has me feeling accomplished. I have done quite a lot, and purchased quite a lot, for stuff I've been needing to do and get for the house but just didn't have time or was using the money for something else. But now, I don't have any excuses. My husband and I also have this great cleaning schedule going on and I'm definitely going to miss that once we go back to w...

 Hello all you beautiful people in the world! I've actually finished this book in June, but hadn't had the actual time to sit down do a whole review on this due to other book review commitments, but I'm really excited to tell you all about this book! It's one that I don't have any negative things to say about it, so read on if you are curious to learn more about the novel,  Pachinko  by Min Jin Lee. A Little Bit About The Author She was born in Seoul, South Korea and immigrated to Queens, New York with her family in 1976 when she was seven years old. Lee is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science and was inducted into the Bronx Science Hall of Fame. At Yale College, she majored in History and was awarded the Henry Wright Prize for Nonfiction and the James Ashmun Veech Prize for Fiction. She attended law school at Georgetown University and worked as a lawyer for several years in New York prior to writing full time. From 2007 to 2011, Lee lived in Toky...

So, things in life are happening, so we'll see if this month I'll get back on my usual schedule. But until then, I have a new book review just for you! (and you, and you, and you!). As some of you may or may not know, I am currently writing my book. Actually, it's almost done. I just ordered my draft copy last week, so we'll see how that goes. If you would like to keep up with that new or like to see pictures of cats, quotes, nature and some of the weird and pretty things I find, then subscribe to my author page ! So, have any of you ever thought of writing a book? Well, I can tell you reading a book about writing a book was not my first reading choice, but it was a good choice and I'm glad my friend gifted it to me for my birthday. Here is my review of What's Your Story? A Young Person's Guide to Writing Fiction by Marion Baurer . A Little Bit of Background  Let's take a quick look at author Marion Bauer. Bauer has been writing since the high s...

I didn't even realize I forgot to do a Rainy Thoughts in January! I've been crazy busy and that may be because I hold down multiple jobs and I'm planning my wedding and I might be moving soon and I'm  editing my book and I try to maintain my blog and do some marketing for it and give my fiance and cat some attention they need. Yep, my life is pretty crazy, but it's never boring. An Array of Mastery It was never my intention to be doing multiple things at once. Usually, people don't think about having multiple jobs in their future. They think of one and stick to that. I started out normal, with one job. Then I got an opportunity here and another there and another and every position is different and I wanted to do all three. So that's just what I'm doing. At the end of the day, I would enjoy having one job, but multiple jobs give me multiple things to do.  Doing multiple jobs means you are strengthening your skills in knowledge in an array...