A whole new world

A brand new thing happened in my life today: I presented research at an academic conference.

The sounds of my high heels on the hall floors of the conference building gave me a great sense of authority, which is always a plus on days like these. Of course, my heels also presented a problem I hadn’t foreseen, which is that there is a considerable amount of snow on the ground here on the Indiana/Michigan border. Suede stilettos + lots of snows = cold, wet feet and a whole new view on walking in heels.

Of course, though, there was a lot more to my day than just my shoes. There was the actual paper, which was a labor of both love and hatred, and the other presenters I had the opportunity to learn from, engage with, and speak to. My classmate, who also presented, myself, and our professor enjoyed a fancy dinner at a local hot spot, and I’m currently reclining in a King sized bed that is all mine. Did you catch that? The whole bed, just for me. Honestly, friends, this entire day has pretty much felt like I was living the good life. I have so many more thoughts that I’m sure at some point I will be able to string into sentences, but for now, I’m so caught up in the midst of how cool this whole thing is that I think I’ll put a rain check on the summary.

One more thing about the conference before I move onto the Goodwill books, and I promise this applies: they sell books for 40-50 percent off at conferences.

You can bet your bottom dollar I’m purchasing some books! (I may have already bought one tonight that I have been drooling over since I first saw it…)

Goodwill book Finds

These are books I’ve purchased at Goodwill in the last week, and let me just say, I am PUMPED!

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe | C.S Lewis

Why I’m excited to read: I read “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” in third grade and then went to see the movie in theatres with my class. I will never forget that experience! From a classmate sobbing about her parents not allowing her to watch “those kind” of movies (of course, her parents had signed a permission slip) to the magic of the series, I look so forward to digging back into the series! I attempted to read them beginning to end in middle school and had a hard time getting into the books, but I bet I would think differently now.

The Devil Wears Prada | Lauren Weisberger

Why I’m excited to read: I love the movie adaptation of this book, and I imagine I will enjoy the book thoroughly. It’ll offer a nice reprieve from the kind of reading I have to do for classes. For what it’s worth, this book is next on my list to read. I brought it with me to the conference, and once I’m finished writing this post, I plan to snuggle down and read until I fall asleep.

The Help | Kathryn Stockett

Why I’m excited to read: I’ll be honest, I mostly bought this book to give it to my mom. That said, I think I’ll give it a try before I send it home to her. Just a few weeks ago, the movie was on television and I asked my mom to change the channel. When I first saw the movie, I really liked it. Now, though, I find myself groaning a little any time it’s playing. I want to like it more, so I’m going to give the book a fair chance.

Anna Karenina | Leo Tolstoy

Why I’m excited to read: I want to read some classics this year, and “Anna Karenina” certainly fits the bill. Additionally, I’ve tried to read the book on an e-reader app before and found it entirely impossible to get into when reading on a screen. It’s simply too lengthy for that! A huge shout out to the Goodwill employee who spoiled the ending of this book when she was bagging my items. On the plus side, I already knew a fair amount of what she said. Spoilers happen.

Safe Haven | Nicholas Sparks

Why I’m excited to read: The last Nicholas Sparks book I read was awful. I know his writing is meant to be simple and easy to follow, but really, the last one was truly horrendous. But “Safe Haven” was a good movie with a more complex storyline than a lot of Sparks’ recent books. That’s the problem with becoming a best-seller; the quality is sometimes sacrificed for the sake of instant success. I hope that “Safe Haven” as a book will be enjoyable. I don’t expect it to be groundbreaking, but I do have expectations.

And finally,

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | J.K. Rowling

Why I’m excited to read: If you read my post about the first four books I read this year, then you’ll know the answer to this already. I ended 2017 and began 2018 by rereading this series, and I’ve been on the hunt for my own copies of the books since then. In the last two weeks alone, I have acquired 1, 2, 3, and 6 all for less than $3! I am contemplating whether I’ll let myself reread the series again this year or if I’ll have to draw the line and not allow myself to count them toward my goal. I’m really not sure I’ll be able to make it the rest of the year without reading it again, so maybe I should just resign myself to not counting them toward my total…Well, books 4-7, that is.

That’s all for now! I have another post coming soon, since I’ve already finished book #6, and we’ll see where we go from there!

Nikki