Happy New Year! I traveled to Cancun for 10 days at the end of December and will post about that later in the week but first I wanted to share the books I read while on vacation.
Written by a well known Turkish author, this book spins an epic tale during the Ottoman Empire. In 1540, twelve-year-old Jahan arrives in Istanbul as an animal tamer in the sultan’s menagerie as he looks after the white elephant Chota and befriends  the sultan’s daughter Princess Mihrimah. A palace education leads Jahan to Mimar Sinan, the empire’s chief architect, who takes Jahan under his wing as they construct (with Chota’s help) some of the most magnificent buildings in history. Yet even as they build Sinan’s triumphant masterpieces—the incredible Suleymaniye and Selimiye mosques—dangerous undercurrents begin to emerge, with jealousy erupting among Sinan’s four apprentices. Jahan is a fictional character, however Sinan was the most famous and iconic architects's in the ottoman era.

As the year comes to a close, I always enjoy recapping my year. Today I’m sharing the most popular posts of 2015, as determined by the most page views during the year. It’s always interesting to see what ends up on this list and I enjoy looking back at my past year of blogging. My Succulent Terrarium has grown so much since I took this photo!


       DIY Glitter Champagne Bottles      My Succulent Terrarium         San Francisco

I'm obsessed with skin care products and makeup techniques, even though I may not post about it much. I'm always checking magazines for the latest and greatest products. Right now I'm really into natural skincare and will post about that soon. Some of my beauty posts had the most hits this year.

                Winter Skin Savers                    MAC Cosmetics Haul          MAC Flat Out Fabulous
                 Matcha Green Tea Mask        June Beauty Faves          How to stop makeup flashback

                   An Organized Entry           Folding Clothes Vertically         Reorganizing my Kitchen


I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing it. I love reading comments from my readers! The easiest way to keep up with your favorite blogs is to use Bloglovin. It's like pinterest but for blogs! You'll get a daily email with a summary of all the new posts from the blogs that you follow so you never miss anything! Bloglovin makes reading blogs fun and easy! It's takes 30 seconds to sign up, it's easy, no ads, there's no catch. There's even a free App for iphones. So be sure to subscribe to my blog so you never miss a post!

I set a reading challenge goal of 35 books for the year since I read 26 books last year. Well this year  I read 53 books! I kept track of this on goodreads, I absolutely love that site, it's a great way to find new books and keep track of the books you've read. It will transfer over any purchases you've ever made from amazon. I also get book ideas from my bookclubs - which was one of my post popular posts of the year along with my Audible review.

You wonder where I found the time? I could say in my spare time but really who has spare time right? I love to cook, I go to the gym most evenings and do have a very active social life. My reading was done mostly in bed at night on my kindle, on vacation, or during my lunch break at work where I went to the gym and sat on the bike to read for 45 minutes, my supplemental workout. I always bring my lunch to work so I need something to do during my lunch break. When it's nice outside I will go for a walk, but that's only spring and fall when it's not raining.

My favorite reading genres are historical fiction and memoirs. Historical fiction is a literary genre where the author is writing about a particular time in history so the information about the time period must be accurate. thus the authors has researched the time period thoroughly. I was a history major in college and love to travel so it's fascinating for me to read a story that took place in another country in a past year. All of my book reviews are here.

Historical Fiction


The Nightingdale - won 2015 goodreads choice awards for historical fiction and remains in amazon's top books
The Architect Apprentice
All the Light We Cannot See - still in amazon's top 10 books and NY Times top 5 books
The Miniaturist
The Light Between the Oceans - the movie is currently being filmed
The Signature of All Things - by the author of Eat Pray Love
The Piano Teacher
Orphan Train - will be made into a movie
The Paris Winter
Zookeepers wife - the movie is currently being filmed

Memoirs











 
Leah Remini
Mindy Kaling
Chelsea Handler
Holly Madison
Hope Solo
Amy Purdy
Misty Copeland
Amy Poehler
Drew Barrymore

I hope your Christmas sparkles with happiness and joy! With the true meaning of Christmas be sure to fill your heart with generosity to others and appreciate your blessings. Here’s to a loving family, laughter, and sweet treats during this Christmas season! Merry Christmas! Here are my favorite Christmas songs and Winter Bucket List.