Summer Reads: Mermaids in the Basement (+ Raindrops on Roses!)

Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West

Book number five for the month of June is finished! And just in time, right? I was doing so well for the first part of the month, and then this last book took me forever and a day to read. I really wanted to like it, but things just moved so. slowly. and looking back, I'm not sure if anything actually happened. I enjoyed the characters, and they were quirky in the way Southern lit characters usually are. I loved the descriptions and the little details that made the environment and the atmosphere come alive. That was fantastic. But really the main character, Renata, wasn't my favorite, and I got a little tired of hearing about the various short-comings of her parents relationship. The point of view changes chapter by chapter, so make sure you check the chapter titles before you begin, or else you might get a little bit confused. (Guilty! I kept getting lost.) So this book was okay, but not my favorite. I gave it a 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads but when I looked at the reviews from other people most of them gave it 4 or 5 stars. Who knows!

Books for July:

This is the tentative list for July (depending on library availability!)

1. Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett 
2. Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach
3. Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott
4. Letters from New Orleans by Rob Walker

Have you read any of these books? What are you reading right now? I'm always looking for more books to add to my pile!

Also, thank you so much for the sweet comments on the post about my 5k! There are a few more races (closer to home) coming up soon, so hopefully I'll be able to do one or two of those in the coming month or so. And I think it's about time I get back into lifting weights at the gym, so I'm really looking forward to that.

And finally...I mentioned a few posts ago that I won a giveaway! I wanted to share this with you all because I'm a really big fan of the collection and the meaning behind the pieces, and I think some of them might resonate with you guys too.

Jess from Makeunder My Life and Jess LC Jewelry hosted a 9 piece giveaway a few weeks ago on 9 different blogs (including her own). The necklaces were from the Soc Chic collection, which is really unique! Each necklace has a different meaning behind it, and they're all linked to different non-profits. So if you buy one of the necklaces a piece of the profit is donated to the attached organization! I love anything like this - I get something cute, and someone else gets help with a cause. 

And here it is, the raindrops on roses necklace!

This benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

And I absolutely love it! Sometimes it really is the simplest pleasures that make life beautiful! I put this on when I received it last Friday and I haven't taken it off since. 

If you haven't visited Makeunder My Life I definitely recommend it, I love reading about the ins and outs of running a business and she has some awesome posts about living a life full of intention so you can do what you love. And all of her jewelry is gorgeous.

I think that's it! I had my 2nd photography class this morning and even though I've been doing a lot of reading and research on my own this past week, it was great to have someone explain the same concepts in person so we could all ask questions. I took all of the above pictures in manual mode! (Which could explain why they look a little funky.) I'm loving what I've learned so far.