What We Read in December

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Katie:

• Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
• Defending Jacob by William Landay
• The Healer's Keep by Victoria Hanley
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson

Made it to 50 books! Only half-way to the original goal of 100, but still probably twice as many as last year. I enjoyed all of this month's books to varying degrees. Till We Have Faces was, as I've previously stated, my favorite book I've read this year. Unsurprisingly, I also loved A Christmas Carol. I will probably re-attempt the 100 books goal in 2017.

Sarah:

This is Katie, writing on behalf of Sarah. She wasn't able to finish any books this month. While I had December off of school, Sarah did not. In fact, she started taking an online course through our local community college, meaning she even had more schoolwork than usual. She will be setting a reading goal for 2017, though! Hopefully she'll join me in trying again to reach the elusive 100.

God's blessings to you all in 2017!

Sunday Book Talk: Top 5

What follows are our favorite books we read this year. We restricted ourselves to stand-alone works of fiction that were first-time reads. (Okay, technically A Wrinkle in Time and Code Name Verity are the beginnings of series, but both books also work as stand-alone novels.) These titles are listed in the order in which they were read.

Katie:

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - This macabre children's book tells the story of Nobody Owens, a boy whose family is murdered when he is very young. By chance, he escapes and ends up in a graveyard, where he is raised by ghosts.
• A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd - We talked about this book last week.
• O Pioneers! by Willa Cather - Willa Cather uses beautiful, descriptive writing to tell a story of the frontier and the people who settled it. Protagonist Alexandra Bergson is a pioneer girl who grows up on a Nebraska farm. Her tenacity and devotion to the land shape the course of her life.
• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein - Set during World War II, this piece of historical fiction is told from the perspectives of two young British women, a spy and a pilot, who end up behind enemy lines. The author did her research, and the story felt real on both a factual and emotional level.
• Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis - This book is a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. It's highly allegorical and has an entirely different purpose and focus from the original myth. Narrated from the perspective of Psyche's older sister Orual, Till We Have Faces is a tale of moral development, self-sacrifice, and love.

Sarah:

• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis - Originally aired as radio broadcasts, this book masterfully presents the fundamentals of the Christian faith to believer and non-believer alike. Lewis phrases complex doctrine with an ease and fluency that I have never heard from anyone else.
• A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd - We talked about this book last week.
• Countdown by Deborah Wiles - Set in Washington D.C. during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, this children's book tackles tough issues while keeping a sense of optimism and hope. The 12-year-old heroine, Franny Chapman, is an endearing character for readers of any age.
• Othello by William Shakespeare - The main themes of this intriguing tragedy are the dangers of jealousy and misplaced trust.
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle - This marvelous sci-fi read follows an adolescent girl who sets out on a journey through time and space to find her father. The story rings with tasteful whimsy, an offbeat sense of humor, and syntax that is elegant and expressive.

Granted, the year isn't over and we might read something else that is worthy of a "Top 5" list. We'll let you know at the end of the month!

Also, we realized that Christmas falls on a Sunday, so there will not be a post next week as we will be taking a break from blogging for the holiday. See you on the 31st.

Sunday Book Talk: A Snicker of Magic

This year, we both read A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd. This middle-grade book is the story of Felicity Pickle, her family, and Midnight Gulch, a town rumored to have once had magic. 

Felicity's mother has a wandering heart, but when they arrive in Midnight Gulch, Felicity dares to hope that perhaps they've finally found a home. With her word-collecting abilities, a new friend, and just a snicker of magic, maybe she can break the curse on the town and convince her mother to stay.

Sarah: The reason for my initial interest in A Snicker of Magic was the cover art. I decided to read it on a whim, and my first impressions did not disappoint. The story and writing style were quaint, and just a little bit quirky. I especially liked the small town setting, and the Southern speech patterns were lots of fun. As someone who has always loved poetic things, I appreciated the beautiful words and the descriptions, which were romantic without being too flowery. The book explores deep themes in a gentle sort of way without talking down to the audience - a feat that many middle-grade authors fail to accomplish. It's always a wonderful surprise when you stumble upon a children's book that can be enjoyed by anyone, and A Snicker of Magic is most certainly one of those rarities. 

Katie: Sarah recommended A Snicker of Magic to me after reading it herself. I checked it out from the library as an audiobook and listened to it on my way to and from school every day. (At that point in the year, I didn't have a car yet. The commute on the city bus was where I got a lot of my reading, writing and daydreaming time in.) I was quickly captivated by this story, its quirky characters, the setting of Midnight Gulch, and the magic woven throughout. The year of 2016 has left me a bit discouraged and a touch more cynical, and this book ended up being one of those "It came to me just when I needed it" scenarios. A Snicker of Magic acknowledges life's difficulties, but it doesn't wallow in them. Rather, it retains a sense of sweetness, optimism, and innocence, culminating in a happy ending. We all need a happy ending once in a while. The reader for the audiobook also deserves a mention, as I really enjoyed listening to her and thought that she did justice to the narration of protagonist Felicity Pickle. I heartily recommend this "spindiddly" story to anyone who enjoys a good middle-grade read.

Let us know if there are any specific books we've read this year that you would like us to cover in a future post! We're considering carrying "Book Talk" into the new year.

Sunday Book Talk - Intro

December is upon us, and it's high time to finally make good on our promise of discussing some of the books we've read this year in a little more depth. For now, we're just going to briefly talk about the last books we finished, but next week we will dive into some more lengthy discussion.

Katie: I just finished C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces, and it might be my favorite book I've read this year. It's a retelling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche. I recommend reading anything by C.S. Lewis, but this book is particularly good. It is a quick read and I found the story captivating. It's also very allegorical and prompts a lot of discussion. I'll have to mull it over and then talk about it more in a post later this month.

Sarah: I haven't done much in the way of reading recently, but the last book I finished was Lois Lowry's The Willoughbys. It's dark humor, which I usually love. The idea was fantastic, but I didn't think it was carried off well. The story felt rushed and the characters had no time to develop. There were some very cleverly written passages, and I really enjoyed the book references scattered throughout, but other than that, it wasn't anything special. If you want some great dark humor, read Lemony Snicket's books.

We'll see you next Sunday!

What We Read in November

Still valiantly plodding forward.

Katie:

• The Seer and the Sword by Victoria Hanley
• The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
• Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

I'm currently reading three different books (though I'm focusing mostly on one, which is what usually happens when I try to read multiple books at once). I'm mainly reading Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, but I'm also reading This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin, and listening to the audiobook of Ron Chernow's biography of George Washington, entitled Washington: A Life.

Sarah:

• The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

Currently, I am reading The Tao of Pooh, which Katie mentioned above, as well as The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis.

And in NaNoWriMo news... 
As we said in the last post, Sarah ended up deciding to not even attempt NaNo. She felt it would be too discouraging, as she knew her schedule wouldn't allow her to get very far. The same was true for me (Katie), but I decided to see how far I could get anyway. Knowing that you have no chance of winning proved quite discouraging, however. I made it to 2,628 words when in all honesty I probably could have gotten a lot further. Still, it's a start. Both Sarah and I love writing and love NaNoWriMo, so both of these things will continue to be a big part of our lives, as well as topics for future blog posts.

We'll see you on Sunday for our first post of December, 2016!

Sunday Writing Prompt Number 4

Hello fellow writers!

November is quickly turning to December, and guess what? Due to looming deadlines and mounting stress levels, our word counts amount to... not much. Sarah wrote a grand total of zero words - well, unless you count a research paper, that is. Katie did only slightly better, and will announce her final word count at the end of the month.

But hey, congratulations to all of you who are still out there striving for 50k! We salute you. Anyways, here's our final writing prompt for November 2016: Write a quick character sketch at three different ages. First, write your character as a child, a teen, and then an adult. If you're feeling especially ambitious, you can add a fourth sketch and write your character at a later age in life. The aim here is to look at a character from all angles and observe their growth in the big picture.

We'd like to wish a late happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and we hope you enjoy this final writing prompt!

Sunday Writing Prompt Number 3

The month is flying by! After this, there's only one more Sunday Writing Prompt. If you have feedback for us - on the writing prompts, on what we should do next, etc. - please let us know! We love to hear from you guys.

Today's writing prompt is this: Take one of your existing characters - preferably one that is at least somewhat developed in your mind, but that you're still getting to know - and drop them into a scene or setting in which they do not belong.

For example, you could take that dragon-slayer from your fantasy novel and drop her into the real world. Or take the contemporary teen from New York and drop him into Renaissance-era Italy. You could also drop your character into a specific scene from another story, such as the scene where Mercutio fights Tybalt in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. How does your character respond to the unfamiliar surroundings, and to the events playing out in those surroundings? How does he or she interact with the people there?

The point of this exercise is to help you get to know your character better by writing something that will never appear in your story, because it couldn't happen in the world of your story. This means you can get as carried away as you want!

Sunday Writing Prompt Number 2

Today we bring you five writing prompts of the "Character Bank" variety. Each prompt describes a character for you to write into a scene/short story/poem/etc. (We have compiled these prompts from internet searches and Pinterest pins. We did not come up with them ourselves.) Take your pick, or combine all the characters into one fun and crazy piece of writing. Please feel free to share your results with us in the comments, or by emailing us at sisterprojects.ks@gmail.com.

Sunday Writing Prompt

You know how we said we were going to post a writing prompt (or other writing thing) every Friday in November? Well, after some further thought, we decided to switch to Sundays.

Anyway, here's the writing prompt for the day. We're going to give you a list of six words - two adjectives, two nouns, and two verbs. Your job is to incorporate all of these words into a scene, short story, or poem. (For the verbs, you can use whatever verb tense suits your purposes. For nouns, you can use the plural or singular.)

Adjectives:
rough
fizzy

Nouns:
gift
cloud

Verbs
search
tackle

If you'd like to share whatever you come up with, please do so in the comments below, or e-mail us at sisterprojects.ks@gmail.com. Happy writing!

Back on Track

This late-night post comes to you in 2 parts.

First: Goal-setting
As you may have noticed, we haven't been keeping up with our regular posting schedule for a few months now. Right now, we're going to lay out a new schedule for the remainder of 2016. Here's the plan for November and December:

• We will continue our monthly reading recaps.
• For the month of November, we plan to post a writing prompt or other writing-related thing every Friday.
• In December, we will continue the weekly Friday posts, but with a new theme that has yet to be determined.
• On either December 31st or January 1st, we will publish a post laying out our blogging goals for 2017.

Second: NaNoWriMo
Yes, we are doing NaNoWriMo. Because of our busy schedules, neither one of us is going in with a lot of confidence this year, but writing some words is better than writing no words. Let us know in the comments if you're participating, too!

Thanks for sticking with us! Happy November!

What We Read in October

Happy November! (It's NaNoWriMo, guys. We're about to lose what little is left of our minds.)

Katie:

• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
• The Stranger by Albert Camus
• Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

The book I read this month that I most want to recommend to others is Code Name Verity. I was about halfway through before I realized just how much I liked it, but it's stuck with me. I'm currently reading The Seer and the Sword by Victoria Hanlely.


Sarah:

• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

When I started A Wrinkle in Time, I wasn't expecting too much of it, probably due in part to the unfavorable reviews I'd heard from family members. However, I ended up enjoying it so much that I think it is one of my favorite books I've read this year. I'm currently reading The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis and The Willoughbys Lois Lowry.

We'll have another post coming late tonight to set some new blogging goals!

What we read in September

Hey, y'all! We continue to fall behind in our reading goals, but we keep pushing onwards. The funny thing is, we actually read a ton, but so much of it nowadays is textbooks, class handouts, news articles, blogs, etc., none of which can be counted towards the 100 books goal. C'est la vie. 

Katie:

• As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

As You Wish was really fun and interesting, and I would recommend it to any Princess Bride fans. The audiobook is great, because you get to hear the stories from Cary himself, since he narrates with the help of other Princess Bride cast and crew members, including director Rob Reiner. I'm now reading Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, and I'm almost finished with it.
Sarah:

• The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
• Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

I'm currently reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Life continues to be too busy. In fact, it seems like it just gets worse instead of better. Even so, we miss blogging and want to get back to doing it on a regular basis. We're going to figure out what some realistic goals are at this point in time, and then share those goals with you by the end of October at the latest. 

What We Read in August

Hi, friends! Life continues to be crazy, but as we get into the rhythm of our fall schedules, we're hoping to set some new goals in regards to this blog. We'll be sharing those goals with you sometime in the near future. Thanks for bearing with us these past few months.

Katie:

• The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor's Journey Into Christian Faith by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Secret Thoughts was a really great book. It made me think in new ways, and it also was very convicting at times. I highly recommend it. I'm still sorting out my feelings about Alice in Wonderland, but I'll save that for another time. Sarah and I are hopefully going to dedicate an entire post to discussing that book. 

I started The Plague by Albert Camus at the beginning of August, but I'll be starting it again in September because I got sidetracked by finals for my summer class. I'm currently reading Swift by R.J. Anderson. I've barely started, but I hope to get through it quickly as I have with the other R.J. Anderson books I've read.

Sarah:

• Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

I am currently reading The Horse and His Boy, which depending on who you talk to, is the 3rd installment in The Chronicles of Narnia.
Sorry this post is up a day late. The day may come when we achieve true, consistent organization, but it is not this day. (High five if you get the reference.) 

Have a good weekend!

What We Read in July

Hi, friends! Summer has been crazy, July perhaps even more so than June. Still, we managed to get some reading done.

Katie:

• The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
• O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
• Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
• Destroy Me by Tahereh Mafi
• Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

As always, C.S. Lewis and Willa Cather are wonderful. Shatter Me didn't click with me. Destroy Me was an interesting sidestory, but unless I really like the next book, I probably won't go any further in the series. Not totally sure how I feel about Waiting for Godot. I'm going to restart Terry Pratchett's The Color of Magic at some point - hopefully this month. I had started it at the end of last month, but got distracted by other things. Also in regards to last month, I forgot to include the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams in my list of June reads. Currently, I'm a little over halfway through The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor's Journey Into Christian Faith by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield.

Sarah:

• Revolution by Deborah Wiles
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• 700 Sundays by Billy Crystal
• Volumes 1-6 of Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki

I also read one last month that I forgot to list: The Crown by Kiera Cass. It's a pretty girly read, and also pretty cheesy and fluffy. Maybe it's made out of fluffy cheese. I don't know. It was a fun read, though. I'm currently reading Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, as well as lots more volumes of Rurouni Kenshin. 

As you may have noticed, we've been having a bit of trouble sticking to our posting schedule of late. We also still haven't managed to begin our more detailed posts about the books we've been reading (we promise we'll get there at some point). Because of these difficulties, we've decided to mix things up a bit in August before going back to our regular schedule in September. We won't be doing our regular first-and-third-Friday-of-the-month posts, but we will be fulfilling a challenge for which a friend and fellow blogger nominated us that involves posting three days in a row.

Thanks for reading! See you soon!

Book Notes

We both love the idea of sticking notes in books for strangers to find. Today, we made a trip to the library armed with post-its and colored pens to do just that. It's good fun, and we'll probably do it again. Here are some of the notes we wrote:

Dear reader,
     You are currently holding a book that I read many times while growing up. I hope you're enjoying your time in the pages of Mossflower as much as I always did. Have a lovely day! Be brave like Martin and carefree like Gonff.
          Sincerely,
          The Library Fairy
(left by Katie in "Mossflower" by Brian Jacques)

Dear reader,
     If you enjoy this book, I highly recommend that you read The Chronicles of Prydain. It is a wonderful fantasy series written by the very same author of the book you now hold. Keep reading! It is one of the best adventures you can have.
          Love,
          The Library Fairy
(left by Sarah in the pages of "The Iron Ring" by Lloyd Alexander)

Dear reader,
     This book is spindiddly! I hope you're enjoying it. I'd like to challenge you to do your own Beedle-style good deed once you finish reading. Then treat yourself to some ice cream!
          The Beedle
(left by both of us in the pages of "A Snicker of Magic" by Natalie Lloyd)

Hey there,
     If you want some Poe-related silliness in your life, go on YouTube and look up "A Telltale Vlog." You won't regret it... probably. Either way, enjoy this book. 
          -The Library Ghost
(left by Katie in the pages of a collection of short stories and poems by Edgar Allan Poe)

Have you ever left notes for strangers to find, either in a book or somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments!

What We Read in June

Keeping this brief, because life.

Katie:

• Nemesis by Agatha Christie
• Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
• A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
• Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
• Animal Farm by George Orwell

I'm currently reading The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett and The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis.

Sarah:

• Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
• Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary

I'm currently reading Revolution by Deborah Wiles. Hopefully I'll read more in July than I did in June. =P

Since Sarah got back into town a little later than we anticipated, we've now decided to move our first-Friday-of-the-month post to tomorrow, so that we don't feel rushed. Thanks for bearing with us!

Quick Update

Hey all, it's Katie. I just wanted to let you know that we'll be doing our "What We Read in June" post a day late, because Sarah is currently out of town and we forgot to plan ahead for that fact. So... watch out for two posts tomorrow, I guess, since it also happens to be the first Friday of the month.

Also, we decided to do our bonus posts - the ones that delve into some of the books we've read so far - in July rather than June, but I don't think we ever announced that decision on the blog, so I'm announcing it now. 

And with that, I'll bid you goodnight!

--Katie

Quote compilation

"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing." - Abraham Lincoln

"It's too big a world to be in competition with everybody else; the only guy I have to get better than is who I am right now." Colonel Potter (M*A*S*H)

"Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

"Maturing is realizing how many things don't require your comment." - Rachel Wolchin

"Keep reading. It's one of the most marvelous adventures that anyone can have." - Lloyd Alexander

"Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it." - Rafiki (The Lion King)

"It's not what the world holds for you, it's what you bring to it." - Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables)

"Family is often born of blood, but it doesn't depend on blood. Nor is it exclusive of friendship. Family members can be your best friends, you know. And best friends, whether or not they are related to you, can be your family." - Mr. Benedict (The Mysterious Benedict Society)

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." - Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)

"No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally - and often far more - worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond." - C.S. Lewis

"Be who you are and say how you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

"I don't want to be heard. I want to be listened to." - Twenty One Pilots

We both collect quotes, and today we decided to share some with you. We selected them together from our Pinterest boards, and we've linked to those in case you want to see more. Happy Friday!

Katie's Pinterest board of quotes: https://www.pinterest.com/sunstar1314/words/ 
Sarah's Pinterest board of quotes: https://www.pinterest.com/saranwrap1011/quotes/ 

Movie Review: Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"

We aren't horror movie people, but psychological thrillers are another matter. We'd watched a few Hitchcock movies together before, but were especially intrigued to see "The Birds" because it's the Hitchcock movie that made our mom swear off Hitchcock movies.

Going into this movie, we both had a bit of a skeptical mindset as to how realistic and frightening it would be. We're here to tell you now, it's intense. Yes, there are moments when you can easily detect fabrication and manipulation. But there are also shots that are pretty darn convincing. Way more real birds were used than we expected. Sound effects were put to good use, and the actors' terror felt very realistic. 

Because we're nerds, we watched a DVD extra about the making of the movie that was over an hour in length. It was super interesting and served to give us greater appreciation for the ingenuity and hard work that went into the making of the film.

A couple things to be prepared for as a viewer:

• People die. There are some disconcerting close-up shots.
• The movie ends rather unexpectedly. When the credits started rolling, we both looked at each other in disbelief.

We both liked this movie and would recommend it to people who like Hitchcock films and/or thrillers. It's definitely not for everyone, though.

What We Read in May

We're still behind, but we did a little better this month!

Katie:

• Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
• Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
• The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

I enjoyed all my books this month. Douglas Adams is always good fun. I plan to read the final book in the Dirk Gently series in June. I'm also hoping to read the second Ransom Riggs book soon - I'm just waiting to get it from the library.

Sarah:

• Hamlet by William Shakespeare
• Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary
• Othello by William Shakespeare
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit
• The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill

I enjoyed both of the Shakespeare tragedies very much. Othello is now in my top three favorites. Tuck Everlasting was also a very good read. I particularly liked Natalie Babbit's descriptive writing style. I am currently reading Around the World in 80 Days.

During the month of June, we plan to put out bonus posts going into more detail on some of the books we've read so far this year.

Fun Plans

Hey all! We are excited for break, and as usual, there are lots of things we want to do. It has been a crazy semester/quarter, and spending time together is something we want to prioritize. Our plans are often very vague, so we are trying to fix that by making a short, precise list:

• Go out for ice cream
• Watch episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Take a picnic to the park
• Get bookshelf set up
• Go to the zoo
• Have a game night
• Go for walks

What are you all planning to do to celebrate the coming of summer? 

P.S. Apologies for the very brief post. Katie is sick, and we've had lots of obligations to attend to. 

Picking Up the Pieces

Our trains have gone off the tracks. Our lives feel like whirling vortexes of chaos.

Okay, that's a tad dramatic. But things have been hectic, as evidenced by last month's missed posts. That's why we are taking steps to get back on track. 

First, we've made charts for daily tasks that often get neglected when things are this hectic. These charts will be edited as necessary going forward. Here they are in their current forms.

We're trying to coin the term "bi-daily". #jointhemovement

Next, we're laying out some new ground rules concerning screen use and sleep schedules. These apply 24/7 for the foreseeable future.

1.  No more solo watching of TV or movies, unless directly related to school. (Sarah might make exceptions for this on designated days, because she hasn't developed screen addictions at the level Katie has.) No spontaneous group TV or movie watching, either - just stuff that has been planned in advance.
2. Computer use for any purpose not directly related to work/school is limited to 20 minutes per day. (This does not count using the computer to listen to music, nor to watch shows and movies; the former is not a problem and the latter has already been accounted for by the previous rule.) If recreational computer use goes over the allotted 20 minutes per day, the overage is subtracted from the next day's time.
3. Be in bed with lights out no later than 10:30 pm (Sarah) / 11 pm (Katie). Wake up no later than 6:30 am (both of us).

Next, we want to be continuously focused on these important things:

1. Doing justice to our obligations (e.g. work, school, dance, blogging, etc.)
2. Maintaining relationships with family and friends
3. Being creatively fulfilled

And finally, we will be holding each other accountable. There might be yelling and screaming (not really), but we will make each other abide by these new goals and rules so that our lives can regain some semblance of order.

If your life is falling apart too, maybe some of this will be helpful. Let us know in the comments if you share our struggle, or if you have advice for us. Thanks for your patience with us as we try to get back on top of things. 

What We Read in April

Guys, it's been rough. We haven't posted this month, and we haven't made much progress with our reading challenge, either. Life is always busy, but sometimes things come in especially fast and furious, and this spring thus far has been one of those times for both of us. We're sorry for the lack of posts this month, but we're going to make it up to you in the coming months by doing extra stuff here and there. And now, on to what we read this month:
Katie:

• Arrow by R.J. Anderson
• The BFG by Roald Dahl
• How Rembrandt Reveals Your Beautiful Imperfect Self by Roger Housden

I enjoyed the entire trilogy by R.J. Anderson, and plan to read more by her. Somehow, I'd never read The BFG before, despite being a big Roald Dahl fan. I figured I better remedy that before the movie came out. That third book on my list has a long and cheesy title, but it was a pretty good overview/analysis of Rembrandt's life and work. Now I'm reading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams.

Sarah:

• The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon
• The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary.

Currently, I'm reading Hamlet and Runaway Ralph - one for when I can actually focus, and one for when I need light reading.

If you've read anything good of late, share some titles with us in the comments!

What We Read in March

The first Friday of the month fell on the first of April and we didn't put a post up as scheduled. April Fools... that was totally planned, you guys... *laughs nervously*

And we also forgot to put up the month's reading list on March 31st! We wrote it the day before and never published it. We apologize for the confusion, and we'll be back on schedule as of now. Share what you've been reading in the comments!


Katie:

• Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
• A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
• Knife by RJ Anderson
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
• The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
• Rebel by RJ Anderson

I'm now reading Arrow by RJ Anderson, the last book in the trilogy. I've enjoyed that series so far, and I also enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes books I read. Cat's Cradle was interesting, but I didn't love it. The Bluest Eye is incredibly disturbing and depressing, so I don't particularly recommend that book either, especially not for younger readers.

Sarah:

• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
• Rumors by Neil Simon (Okay, it's technically a play, not a book. But I'm saying it counts.)
• Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

Currently, I am reading The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon. 
Things Fall Apart is a perfectly good, well-written book, but just know that it is not an uplifting read. At all. But that's probably obvious from the title. Rumors is a hilarious play, but I feel the need to give the disclaimer that there is a lot of swearing in it. Echo is another wonderful children's book. If you enjoy that sort of thing, I would recommend checking it out.

Blogiversary!

It's the one-year anniversary of Sister Projects! It's hard to believe that we've already been doing this for a year. Thank you so much to every single one of you who has taken the time to read our posts. We've enjoyed blogging immensely, and we hope you've enjoyed the results.

Nutella for Easter

Yesterday, we made these Nutella Cream Eggs for Easter. The process is similar to the Peanut Butter Hearts we made last month, but these were much more frustrating to dip because they didn't set up as firmly as the peanut butter mixture. That said, they still turned out fairly well - or at least the ones we're showing here did. ;) Plus they have nutella (or Hyvee hazelnut spread as the case may be), so we're not complaining. Since the dipping process proved difficult, Katie eventually opted to drizzle the melted almond bark over the remaining candies, which for the most part produced better-looking results. 

Yes, that's all off-brand stuff. We're cheap that way.

Ready for dipping (a.k.a. the worst part of candy-making)

Finished product - flowers, eggs, and a sheep!

Happy Easter! We'll see you at the end of the month with a reading challenge update.

Upcoming Posts

Greetings, lovely readers! Please accept our humble apologies for putting this post up late. We watched Wreck-It-Ralph last night and intended to put the post up right after, but I (Katie) fell asleep on the living room floor as the end credits were rolling and Sarah was unable to wake me despite her best efforts.

For this week's post, we thought we'd list a few of the ideas we're considering for upcoming blog posts so that you know what to expect for the next few months and also have an opportunity to give feedback on our ideas and suggest ideas of your own.

• Journal making - Katie recently learned how to do this, and we thought it would be a fun thing to work on together. We'd include pictures of the process to show you how to make your own, of course.
• Pop song / Book genre matching - A good friend of Sarah's suggested this idea to us after having some fun with it herself one day. Basically, we'd come up with pop songs that fit different genres of books and you guys would be able to add to that list in the comments.
• Experimental Easter egg dyeing - There are several different methods of egg dyeing that we've never tried. (We have a few pinned on Pinterest.) We'd pick one or more and try them out, then share the results here, including pictures.
• Writing prompts and exercises - We would come with our own for you guys to do and/or find some of ones we've come across in the past, do them ourselves, then share the results.

Let us know which ideas interest you the most, and please feel free to suggest new ideas to add to our list. We love hearing from you.

Have a great weekend!

Bonus Post - What We Read in February

Katie:

Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery
Emily's Quest by L.M. Montgomery
The Only Pirate at the Party by Lindsey Stirling and Brooke S. Passey
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

February was a bit of a rough month for me because of school projects, so as you can see I didn't get a whole lot of reading done. But as of now, I'm on break for a little over a week and I'm hoping to read a lot during that time. I'm currently working on Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

Sarah:

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
Countdown by Deborah Wiles

Both of the above titles were very enjoyable for me. I would recommend Countdown; it was a very good read. I've gotten really behind this month, but hopefully during March I can make a comeback. Right now I am reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. 

Origami Butterflies

Sarah got a book of origami paper for Christmas one year and she hasn't used much of it yet, so we decided to make origami butterflies with a tutorial we found on Pinterest.

Here's a link! The instructions are in German, but the pictures are sufficiently helpful on their own.

We each made a couple regular-sized ones, and then Katie, in her love for tiny things, suggested dividing a couple sheets of paper into fourths to make itty-bitty butterflies. Here are the results:

Regular Butterfly 

Tiny Butterflies

Now we're off to watch Anne of Green Gables. Happy Friday! We'll be back at the end of the month to give you an update on our reading.

Sweets and Netflix

It's been a very long week. We realized last night that we had a blog post due today, and originally it seemed like just another obligation. But when Katie got home from Friday classes (finally) and we were able to get started on this post, it ended up being just what was needed to wind down.

We decided to make a treat and watch some Gilmore Girls, because all the news on the forthcoming revival has left us with the need for a Gilmore Girls fix. So we whipped up these chocolate-covered peanut butter hearts, which are quick, easy, fit with the month's theme of Valentine's day, and are a no-bake recipe (essential, since our oven isn't working). Plus, chocolate and peanut butter is a winning combo, as we all know.

These Reese's-esque treats use just seven ingredients:

• peanut butter
• powdered sugar
• vanilla
• butter
• milk
• chocolate
• shortening

So now we're going to eat a couple of these lovely little things and watch an episode or two on Netflix. Let us know in the comments if you too are excited about four new mini-series style episodes of Gilmore Girls! You can also share your Valentine's day plans with us, if you so choose. We plan to have a sister day - eat some pizza and chocolate, watch a movie (probably a Disney one), and play some games. See you in two weeks!