Friday Finds - January 3, 2020

Friday Finds – January 3, 2020

Can you believe it’s time for the first Friday Finds of 2020? It sure flies when you’re having fun. I’ll talk more about wrapping up 2019 and moving on to 2020 in an upcoming post. I recently asked all of you what you wanted in your Friday Finds. The replies ranged from receiving one every two weeks to wanting twice a week newsletters. I think I’ll stick with once a week to keep the most people happy. Readers requested more recipes, more book recommendations, more Indie authors, as well as current best-sellers, and not so much crafting/DIY. So, I guess I’ll stick with the usual for now. My holiday hiatus on blogging and reviews is at an end. I expect to go back to posting at least a couple of times a week soon.

If you are a blog follower, but not on the email list, you are missing the weekly bonus material available exclusively to email list subscribers. I strive to make both valuable to you, the reader.

*There are affiliate links within this post. If you click through and make a purchase, at no additional cost to you, I may receive a small referral fee.*

To view the books on Amazon, please click the picture, title link, or there are shop now buttons at the bottom of the post. Thank you!

Friday Finds – January 3, 2020 – Books

New Adult/Sisters/College Humorous Fiction

The Most Fun We Ever Had: A Novel by Claire Lombardo

When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that’s to come. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest: Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator-turned-stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety, and self-doubt when the darkest part of her past resurfaces; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she’s not sure she wants by a man she’s not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. Above it all, the daughters share the lingering fear that they will never find a love quite like their parents’.

As the novel moves through the tumultuous year following the arrival of Jonah Bendt–given up by one of the daughters in a closed adoption fifteen years before–we are shown the rich and varied tapestry of the Sorenson’s’ past: years marred by adolescence, infidelity, and resentment, but also the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.

Spanning nearly half a century, and set against the quintessential American backdrop of Chicago and its prospering suburbs, Lombardo’s debut explores the triumphs and burdens of love, the fraught tethers of parenthood and sisterhood, and the baffling mixture of affection, abhorrence, resistance, and submission we feel for those closest to us. In painting this luminous portrait of a family’s becoming, Lombardo joins the ranks of writers such as Celeste Ng, Elizabeth Strout, and Jonathan Franzen as visionary chroniclers of our modern lives.

Literary Fiction

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store’s security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.

But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix’s desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix’s past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other.

With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone “family,” and the complicated reality of being a grown-up. It is a searing debut for our times.

Indie Fiction – Time Travel

Traveller Inceptio by Rob Shackleford

f you were sent 1000 years into the past, would you survive? Traveller Inceptio describes how the Transporter is accidentally invented and becomes public knowledge when it sends a subject 1000 years into the past. A Special Forces team of Travellers is then selected and trained with the intent to send them to Saxon England to explore what could be a very dangerous period of history. From the beaches of Australia to the forests of Saxon England, Traveller Inceptio reveals how Travellers discover they need a lot more than technology to survive the trials of early 11th-century life.

An English-born Australian, Rob Shackleford, has lived in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, with a varied career that has included customs officer, scuba instructor, college teacher and roles in too many places. With degrees in arts and business, he is mad keen on travel, scuba diving, family history, martial arts, astronomy and playing djembe and congas. Rob is a father of two and lives on the Gold Coast.

Children’s

The Bad Seed by Jory John

A New York Times bestseller!

Amazon Prime‘s Most Read Title of 2019!

An Amazon Best Children’s Book of the Month from the New York Times bestselling author of the Goodnight Already! series

This is a book about a bad seed. A baaaaaaaaaad seed. How bad? Do you really want to know?

He has a bad temper, bad manners, and a bad attitude. He’s been bad since he can remember! This seed cuts in line every time, stares at everybody and never listens. But what happens when one mischievous little seed changes his mind about himself and decides that he wants to be—happy?

With Jory John’s charming and endearing text and bold expressive illustrations by Pete Oswald, here is The Bad Seed: a funny yet touching tale that reminds us of the remarkably transformative power of will, acceptance, and just being you. Perfect for readers young and old, The Bad Seed proves that positive change is possible for each and every one of us.

Teen/Young Adult Action-Adventure – Audiobook

The Ocean Road Audible Audiobook – Unabridged by Sonny Collins, Andrew McDermott (Narrator)

When the magical WoodRock is stolen from the Land of Elyk, a wizard must find six volunteers to go with him on a dangerous journey to the Land of Nodnarb in the hope of retrieving the stone before something evil can take over the world. Along the way, these adventurers will face many obstacles, as well as their own mistrust of one another.

On the Ocean Road, teens will be forced to become adults as they battle goblins, wicked trolls, and the fiercest creature of them all – the Gothmur.

Friday Finds – January 3, 2020 – Recipes

Since this is the season for starting new eating plans, I’m including a couple of cookbooks in with the recipe section. Did you notice I avoided the four-letter D word?

First, is a Whole30 Skillet Chicken Piccata brought to you by The Defined Dish.

Friday Finds - January 3, 2020 Skillet Chicken Piccata — Photo Credit: The Defined Dish – Alex Snodgrass

The recipe is just one of many included in the new #1 bestseller, The Defined Dish: Whole30 Endorsed, Healthy and Wholesome Weeknight Recipes by Alex Snodgrass.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you recently get an Instant Pot and want to tackle all the healthy ways to use it? You’re sure to find what you need in this all-inclusive cookbook. It’s the most comprehensive collection of Instant Pot recipes I have come across.

The Ultimate Instant Pot Cookbook: Foolproof, Quick & Easy 800 Instant Pot Recipes for Beginners and Advanced Users by Simon Rush

#86 – Garbanzo Bean & Mixed Vegetable Stew is sure to blend healthy & tasty into a delicious dish. He even includes an Instant Pot hard-cooked egg recipe similar to mine found here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can’t go wrong with a great chicken noodle soup recipe. Mommy Cooking swears by her Crack Chicken Noodle Soup.

Friday Finds - January 3, 2020 Crack Chicken Noodle Soup — Photo Credit: Mommy Cooking

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We can’t finish the recipes without a healthy dessert. Smiling Notes Greek Yogurt Chocolate Mousse looks too divine to be healthy.

Friday Finds – January 3, 2020 – DIY

Do you need a special and unique gift for a friend or family member? There is a romantic holiday coming up soon. This Crystal jewelry making kit is sure to be a hit. You can make it yourself to give as a gift, or give the kit and let them make their own. Mine & Shine has a fabulous selection of kits.