November 2020 – Pen and Page Gals

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November 24, 2020

Season 2 Giveaway!

BY SOPHIA Wow, Jensine & I absolutely cannot believe that we have officially been podcasting Pen & Page Gals for a full year now. To celebrate our anniversary and the start of Season 2 of PPG, we are hosting a GIVEAWAY! *Cue all the clapping emojis* WHAT YOU'LL WIN: $50 Amazon gift card (need help deciding how to spend it? Peruse our gift guides!)Custom Pen & Page Gals bookmark (one of a kind!)Bragging rights for winning the first ever Pen & Page Gals giveaway ;) TO ENTER: Follow @penandpagegals on IGFollow @jensane on IGFollow[...]

Books

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November 24, 2020

November Book Club Recap: In a Holidaze

BY JENSINE Happy Thanksgiving, PPG friends... And happy birthday to us! We're so grateful for this past year of podcasts, and on this month's episode we chat Thanksgiving plans and Sophia shares her first holiday debacle in true 2020 fashion. Our November book club book was In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren, our favorite pair of romance writers. But sadly this latest installment was a bit of a let down... read on or listen in to find out why. Overall rating 2.5-3/5 What we liked: Perfectly set in a winter wonderland cabin, this book definitely[...]

Books

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November 23, 2020

2020 Holiday Gift Guide: Kids’ Books

Boy or girl, young or old, we’ve got you covered with book gift recommendations for all the kids in your life! GIRLS The Babysitters Club Graphic Novels / 90s kids will remember the original The Babysitters Club book series but did you know they’ve been invented as graphic novels? Inspire your kids to dig into the world of Kristy, Mary-Anne, Claudia, Stacey, Dawn & Mallory as they set off on their babysitting adventures! Available as a box set or individually. Click/Act/Camp Series by Kayla Miller / I was introduced to this series and author[...]

Books

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November 22, 2020

2020 Holiday Gift Guide: Faith Based Books

Whether you’re shopping for yourself or for a special woman in your life, these faith-based book recommendations will be sure delight and edify! ESV Illuminated Bible / Gorgeous, heirloom quality ESV Bibles in the ESV featuring over 500 elegantly hand-lettered gold ink illustrations. ESV Illuminated Scripture Journal Set / Similar to the ESV Illuminated Bible, these beautiful scripture journals come in individually bound books for every book of the Bible. Equipped with the same hand-lettered gold ink illustrations as the full Bible, the scripture jou[...]

Uncategorized

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November 20, 2020

Meet Jensine

Hey friends, I'm Jensine, and I'm so glad and grateful you're here... because if you're not one of our husbands or friends obligated to stop by, you must be a book lover like me! I'm a mom of 2, Bay Area native, 6w5, and all around creative type gal. I love exploring and figuring out the ways words work together, how light and color and real life reflect, and how to hack or DIY anything from home projects to travel on miles and points. I have an uncanny knack for knowing and memorizing song lyrics, which will explain my many emo, esoteric captions.. I coul[...]

Books, Episodes

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November 20, 2020

October Book Club Recap: The Happily Ever After Playlist

BY JENSINE Source: Latest Book Crush The Happily Ever After Playlist is a sort of sequel to the fun and fabulous book, The Friend Zone, which we both loved by new author Abby Jimenez. It follows Sloane, the best friend who suffers a tragic loss in the first installment, and Jason, a musician trying to make it in the industry and also into Sloane's heart. It is hilarious and heartwarming and has an actually bumping playlist to boot. OVERALL RATING: 4.5/5 WHAT WE LIKED: Both Sophia and I really liked this story (and Jaxon lol). We raced through it be[...]

Books

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November 19, 2020

Review: The Heir Affair

BY SOPHIA Source: @jackiesbookshelf Oh boy, guys. If you listened to our last podcast episode, then you’ll know that I have been struggling to finish The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan. Both Jensine and I felt like the start of the book was slow and while Jensine is smart and has no qualms about ditching a mediocre book partway through, I happen to be a glutton for punishment and MUST finish any book I start before I can read another one. I pride myself on being a pretty fast reader ... like, put a GOOD book in my hands and dependin[...]

Books, Episodes

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November 19, 2020

September Book Club Recap: Midnight Sun

BY SOPHIA In our first inaugural episode of PPG Book Club, we read and discussed Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer. For those who are unfamiliar, Stephenie Meyer wrote the hit Twilight book series (that later were turned into a super successful movie franchise!) and her latest book, Midnight Sun, is a retelling of the first book of the Twilight series except retold from the perspective of the main male protagonist, Edward. We also spent some time girl-chatting about birthdays as September is my birthday month! On the podcast, we discuss all things birthda[...]

Uncategorized

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November 19, 2020

Meet Sophia

Hey guys, I’m Sophia! I’m a wife, mom to 3, special needs parent, and -obviously- a book lover. I was born and raised in the Bay Area, CA so I’m a California girl through and through. I have always loved books for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a really strict household and while it seemed like my parents had rules & restrictions for everything in my life, books were the one area where I was really given freedom to do whatever I wanted. Want to go to a friend’s after school? Eh ... Want to go buy books at the bookstore by yourself? Off yo[...]

Books, Lifestyle, Travel

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November 18, 2020

Favorite Travel Reads

Like Cabo and spring break, resorts and margaritas, travel and reading go hand in hand for me. I'm always looking forward to getting away and getting lost in a new world. My husband used to bemoan how heavy our bags were because I would overestimate how much reading I'd get done. Now with kids, I've had to cut the extra weight, but I still try to sneak in chapters in between pool time and exploring. I personally like reading on my phone so I have one less thing to carry around besides an extra battery charge for some all day pool lounging. However I do like h[...]