• Home
  • about
  • blog
  • contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

The Regular Folks

  • Shop
    • shop my posts
    • amazon finds
    • style favorites
    • home favorites
    • etsy finds
  • Food
  • Home
    • travel bucket list
  • Life
    • Favorite Things
  • wellness
    • 75 Medium
  • Style
    • style favorites
    • shop my posts
    • Amazon Hauls
  • Books
    • Book Posts
  • Travel

July 20, 2021 · Leave a Comment

8 Books I’ve Read So Far This Year

Books

I have made it my goal to read more this year and I have been relatively successful so far! When I was younger, I used to LOVE to read, but when I went to college, I stopped reading for fun almost all together, and for the past 5 years or so I was only reading about 2-3 books per year.

With the pandemic and everything, I have gotten so jaded by television and have finally gotten back into reading. I would love to read even more than I currently am– maybe next year I’ll make a reading goal! But I wanted to share with you guys what books I have read so far this year, in the order that I read them. Not every single one of them is a hit in my opinion, but I still finished them so that must count for something right?

Whenever I finish a book, I rate it over on my Instagram Stories, so make sure you’re following me there to keep up with what I’m reading next!

What do you think, should we create a Regular Folks book club? 😉

1. Normal People by Sally Rooney

★★★★★★★★

Just a good novel about a dysfunctional couple. I love a novel where the characters that feel so real and raw that they are borderline unlikable at times. Sally Rooney is a phenomenal writer.

2. We Were Liars by E. Lockhark

★★★★★★★

To level with y’all, this one has slight YA novel vibes, but it’s still really good, I couldn’t put it down, and the ENDING??!?!!! Holy cow.

3. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

★★★★★★★★

This book made me cry. Sweet story, I tore through this book and really recommend it.

4. The Boy From the Woods by Harlan Coben

★★★★★

Meh. There were so many plot points to this story that were irrelevant. Just felt like a bunch of different stories that were weirdly compiled together. This had potential to be SO good, but for some reason it fell kind of flat for me.

5. 11/22/63 by Stephen King

★★★★★★

First of all, this was the first Stephen King book I’ve ever read. Secondly, this was probably the longest book I’ve ever read.

Here’s my bad syopsis: a man travels back in time to save JFK because a fry-cook told him to

Pros: immersive, clearly well-researched, I just like time-travel stories

Cons: why is it 900 pages??? I was also not a fan of the ending

6. Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson

★★★★★★

I picked up this book in a little bookstore in the Outer Banks, NC because of the cover art LOL do any of y’all do that too? The synopsis of the book sounded interesting, sure, but the cover really drew me in hahaha

I just thought that this book was such an interesting concept: a psychologist is doing an experiment with 10 families who all live together for 10 years and raise their children together as a unit without revealing to the children who their biological parents are. I just thought it was such an interesting, different idea for a story, that I was very intrigued. It was a little slow in some parts and the ending was a little lack-luster in my opinion, but I still really enjoyed it.

7. Conviction by Denise Mina

★★★★★

This one was hard for me to rate, because I felt like it had a lot of potential, but it was a little bit hard for me to get into in the beginning, the middle had me gripped, and the ending was just kind of…. weird? I still finished it so that counts for something, right?

8. Recursion by Blake Crouch

★★★★★★★★★

One of the best books I have read in a while. The author, Blake Crouch, also wrote Dark Matter which is one of my favorite books ever, so I was super excited to finally read another one of his books.

Gripping and a super interesting concept, you HAVE to read this if you enjoy a little bit of sci-fi 🙂

« Easy Cast Iron Pizza
Crate and Barrel Lounge Petite Sectional Review »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hey there!

I’m Sara Ann and am a big fan of fresh flowers, traveling, and eating a pint of Ben & Jerry’s in one sitting. I share my life, loves, ideas, and everything in between with the hope to inspire and help make the lives of regular folks (maybe like you!) simpler, happier, and healthier.

Looking for Something?

Follow me on instagram

saraannsutton

let’s create a suburban fairytale!! 📚🧚🌷
projects + yapping + mom life w/ a dash of whimsy✨
💌 saraann@theregularfolks.com

With any leftover candy from handing out candy, or With any leftover candy from handing out candy, or if my toddler has a HUGE excess, we love making monster cookies every year! They’re always fun to make with my toddler and he’s always happy to contribute his candy for cookies!!! Goes without saying, but sticking to chocolatey candy works best!

HALLOWEEN CANDY MONSTER COOKIES 🍪 
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
assorted Halloween candy, chopped

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

* Cream the butter and sugars together well—at least 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.

* Add peanut butter and mix well. Add egg and vanilla and mix.

* In a separate mixing bowl stir together the flour, oats, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

* Add to the wet mixture and mix to combine. Stir in chopped Halloween candy

* Scoop into 1 inch balls onto a parchment paper or silicone lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes

* Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool completely on the pan

#monstercookies #halloween #toddlermom #holidaytraditions
Oh you thought?… #hercules #halloween #halloweenco Oh you thought?… #hercules #halloween #halloweencostume #pregnancyhumor @disneyanimation
Catch me putting @fairlife chocolate milk in every Catch me putting @fairlife chocolate milk in every recipe while pregnant 🙂‍↕️

Without toppings, this clocks in at about 7 grams fiber, 12 grams protein, and 16 grams carbs, so it was a perfect bedtime snack for me when I had gestational diabetes!

3-INGREDIENT CHIA SEED PUDDING
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 cup Fairlife chocolate milk
(optional) 2 tablespoons low-carb vanilla Greek yogurt (such as Two Good)

1. Mix the chia seeds and milk together well— cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
2. Remove from fridge and stir well, taking care to break up any clumps
3. Stir in yogurt and, if desired, top with whatever toppings you want (I love fresh raspberries and chocolate chips, granola, mashed cherries, etc) #fibermax #carbconscious #highproteinlowcarb #hyperfixation #pregnancy
me reading A Court of Splintered Harmony rn #acota me reading A Court of Splintered Harmony rn #acotar #acosh #fantasybookseries
Sorry y’all maybe next year 💕😘🪽 #pregnancyhumor #3 Sorry y’all maybe next year 💕😘🪽 #pregnancyhumor #3rdtrimester #toddlermom
BABYMOON IN NYC: DAY 3 🏙️🌙 And final day! We had s BABYMOON IN NYC: DAY 3 🏙️🌙
And final day! We had so much fun on this trip but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to be home lol my feet HURT 🫩

Highlights of the day:
📍Grand Bazaar Flea: I believe this is only on Sundays but they had so much cool vintage clothing and fun things being sold!
📍Deluxe Green Bo: scallion pancakes YUM
📍Mei Lai Wah: the pineapple pork bun is worth all the hype
📍Jin Mei Dumpling: I think we paid $5 for 15 chive and pork dumplings— so good
📍Comedy Cellar: we actually went to the smaller location next door, but they share a lot of the same comedians for the night! @godfreycomic dropped in at ours which was such a fun surprise!! #nyceats #babymoon #travelvlog #nycvlog
I mean a margarita sounds nice but I’m much more e I mean a margarita sounds nice but I’m much more excited for a cold sub sandwich from @jerseymikes #pregnancy #pregnancyhumor #3rdtrimester
BABYMOON IN NYC: DAY 2 🌙🏙️ The lesson of the day: BABYMOON IN NYC: DAY 2 🌙🏙️
The lesson of the day: drink lots of water when touristing around NY or else you might nearly pass out on the subway which will give you a big fright when pregnant 🤪

Some highlights of the day:
📍Win Son Bakery: the scallion pancake BEC is *chefs kiss*
📍Feste: super cute gift store in SoHo 
📍Central Park and The Met: duh
📍& Sons Steakeasy: before 7 pm they have an “adult happy meal” deal with a burger, the tastiest shoestring fries, and a martini— I got their French dip which was SO good
📍Pasticceria Rocco: the tiramisu and cheesecake were ok, but the cannoli was worth stopping for!

#babymoon #nyceats #pregnancy #travelvlog
BABYMOON IN NYC: DAY 1 🌙🏙️🍕 Some highlights of th BABYMOON IN NYC: DAY 1 🌙🏙️🍕

Some highlights of the day:
📍Ole & Steen: a danish bakery with a few locations; their cinnamon social pastry was really tasty and their turkey sausage, egg, and cheese on a focaccia roll was honestly so good!
📍Met Cloisters: depending on where you are staying, this may be a hike to get to, but it wasn’t nearly as crowded and overwhelming as the Met in UES and the gardens were so beautiful 
📍Casey Rubber Stamps: old-school rubber stamps with a huge catalogue to choose from— or you can order a custom stamp!!
📍Veniero’s Pastry: this cannoli was so good— wish I had tried more things because the cheesecake looked phenomenal 
📍MoMA Gift Shop: you don’t have to go through the museum and have a ticket to go in— they have a lot of unique gifts and souvenirs worth checking out!
📍Pasta de Pasta: fast casual homemade pasta tossed in a cheese wheel— only around $9-15 per serving 

#babymoon #nyceats #travelvlog
#OlayPartner to make my nighttime routine as luxur #OlayPartner to make my nighttime routine as luxurious as possible, I add ambient lighting, light a candle, make myself a nighttime beverage, and use @olay Super Serum body wash 🫧🚿🌙 
It is formulated with powerful skincare ingredients, including Niacinamide, BHA, Collagen Peptide,
Vitamin C, and Shea Butter. Olay Super Serum Body Wash is going to help reveal luminous, glowing skin after just one use. If you want to upgrade your nighttime routine, grab Olay Super Serum Body Wash and reveal your glow ✨ #olay #nighttimeroutine #showerroutine
I get my most creative with meals when I’m going o I get my most creative with meals when I’m going out of town and trying to use up everything in the fridge and freezer to avoid buying more food 🙂‍↕️ I think there’s something there with the crockpot beef and broccoli!! I was winging it but maybe I need to work on a recipe 👀

Breakfast: lavash breakfast wrap with egg, @jonesdairyfarm chicken sausage, avocado, tomato, salsa, and hot sauce
Snack: no-bake energy balls with oats, PB, honey, chia seeds, flax seeds, m&m’s 
Lunch: baked potato soup
Snack 2: apple and PB
Dinner: crockpot pot roast turned into “beef and broccoli” (kind of) with noodles and @traderjoes scallion pancakes
Bedtime snack: @fairlife chocolate milk always
My husband and I were in NYC for a long weekend an My husband and I were in NYC for a long weekend and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to leave without trying the scallion pancake BEC at @winsonbakery 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️
📍Win Son Bakery (East Village)
We both got the BEC which had the CRISPIEST bacon, egg, and havarti cheese and it came with their ginger deluxe sauce. I NEED to figure out the recipe to recreate the sauce because it was amazing 🥲 
I also got their 5 spice latte which was so tasty and I loved that it wasn’t super sweet! #pregnancy #pregnancycraving #nyc
Follow on Instagram

Blog

About

Contact

Policies

Browse by category

you look lost. follow me!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

TikTok Feed