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The Lost Vintage
The Lost Vintage: A Novel | Ann Mah
67 posts | 56 read | 83 to read
Sweetbitter meets The Nightingale in this page-turning novel about a woman who returns to her familys ancestral vineyard in Burgundy and unexpectedly uncovers a lost diary, an unknown relative, and a secret her family has been keeping since World War II. To become one of only a few hundred certified wine experts in the world, Kate must pass the notoriously difficult Master of Wine examination. Shes failed twice before; her third attempt will be her last chance. Suddenly finding herself without a job and with the test a few months away, she travels to Burgundy to spend the fall at the vineyard estate that has belonged to her family for generations. There she can bolster her shaky knowledge of Burgundian vintages and reconnect with her cousin Nico and his wife, Heather, who now oversee day-to-day management of the grapes. The one person Kate hopes to avoid is Jean-Luc, a talented young winemaker and her first love. At the vineyard house, Kate is eager to help her cousin clean out the enormous basement that is filled with generations of discarded and forgotten belongings. Deep inside the cellar, behind a large armoire, she discovers a hidden room containing a cot, some Resistance pamphlets, and an enormous cache of valuable wine. Piqued by the secret space, Kate begins to dig into her familys historya search that takes her back to the dark days of World War II and introduces her to a relative she never knew existed, a greathalf aunt who was a teenager during the Nazi occupation. As she learns more about her family, the line between resistance and collaboration blurs, driving Kate to find the answers to two crucial questions: Who, exactly, did her family aid during the difficult years of the war? And what happened to six valuable bottles of wine that seem to be missing from the cellars collection?
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suvata
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Pickpick

3.5 Stars • "The Lost Vintage" by Ann Mah follows Kate Elliott, a sommelier studying for the Master of Wine test, who returns to her family's vineyard in Burgundy. While there, she uncovers a hidden cellar containing a cache of wine, along with belongings of an aunt she never knew existed, Hélène Marie Charpin, who was a teenager during the Nazi occupation. ⬇️

suvata The novel delves into the secrets of Kate's family history, the realities of life during World War II, and the choices people, especially women, had to make. It offers an intimate look into the wine-making process, French culture, and the impact of the past on the present. 5mo
38 likes1 comment
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DebinHawaii
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#LuckyInLove

Two #Wine titles from my stacks. The tagged one I read a few years ago & the other is in my TBR. The similarity in the covers always makes me laugh.😆

JenReadsAlot I loved These Tangled Vines! 9mo
DebinHawaii @JenReadsAlot Good to know! Hopefully I can get to it one of these days! 9mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Beautiful 😍 🍷 9mo
Eggs Gorgeous 💜💖🧡 9mo
51 likes4 comments
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TheHeartlandBookFairy
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Pickpick

A lost diary, a lost vintage, a lost love. And unknown relative and an unknown hidden seller; both discovered. Beautifully descriptive and seamlessly woven between present characters and time, and the past with Helene's diary. Past and present, mystery, family drama, love, and history. All come together for a rich and delicious story.

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AmyK1
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Pickpick

When Kate goes back to France to help her cousin & his wife with their vineyard she discovers a hidden room in their cellar filled with bottles of vintage wine & resistance papers from WWII, along with the belongings of an aunt no one knew existed.

This started slow but did eventually pick up. The bit of mystery was engaging too. My #doublespin for April @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2y
44 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Danay
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21 # 70 a bit behind in posting

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Crinoline_Laphroaig
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Pickpick

Litsy Catchup Day. One last week of as much Summer Idleness as possible. Sep is going to be much busier.

Quite the climb up #mounttbr has been made. Often sidetracked by #Bookstagram. Recommendations like tagged. Beautifully written story of Wine & WW2 Mystery. Also a Historical Lesson on “Horizontal Collaboration”.

Hopefully I will mange to finish a couple more off the original #summerstack stack by Labor Day. 😎📖📚

#summerreading2021

robinb 💜 💜 💜 3y
43 likes1 comment
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SanjanaGhosh
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Pickpick

🍷

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kspenmoll
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Pickpick

Set in Burgundy vineyards for the most part,this novel travels between 2015 & WWII via narrative,journal excerpts.Kate,while helping her cousins harvest grapes,discovers a hidden room with a cache of old wine, resistance pamphlets,a suitcase of belongings of an aunt they had never heard of-Was this aunt a collaborator or a member of the resistance?Initially Kate ‘s character is quite immature & shallow,not much depth.Some others more caricatures.

SheReadsAndWrites I love this book! 4y
sblbooks I love your table. 4y
kspenmoll @SheReadsAndWrites Although Kate did annoy me at times, & the evil Louise seemed a caricature at times, I did enjoy the book. 4y
kspenmoll @sblbooks Thank you!!! 4y
83 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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kspenmoll
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Which of these books should I start today???? #TBR #moodpick

Have You Seen Louis Velez? #buddyread #OverBookedClub
The Lost Vintage
Accidental Corpse

Cinfhen Great photo!! Enjoy 😊 4y
JanuarieTimewalker13 Gorgeous cup and platter!! Never read any of them, sorry!! 4y
CoffeeNBooks I loved The Lost Vintage! 4y
See All 6 Comments
kspenmoll @CoffeeNBooks that is the book I decided to go with! Thanks for your encouragement! 4y
kspenmoll @JanuarieTimewalker13 Thats ok! Thank you!!! 4y
CoffeeNBooks @kspenmoll I hope you like it as much as I did! 4y
60 likes6 comments
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Singout
Lost Vintage | Ann Mah
Pickpick

My #WineorWhine book for #Booked2020. A fun pageturner with some interesting historical content but not as much depth as I usually like. The main (American) character returns to her family's historic vineyard in Burgundy to complete her Master of Wine exam, and uncovers family history about involvements with the Nazi occupiers and French Resistance during World War II. I found the history engaging and thoughtful, the main storyline less so.

Cinfhen A few people read this for the same prompt and they shared your thoughts. The premise does sound good. 4y
Singout Yes, it did keep me engaged. I just wish the characters had a bit more depth and the “Americans find something in a French cellar the owners didn't know was there“ line wasn't so schlocky, and that I'd learned more about the resistance history. 4y
8 likes3 comments
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sprainedbrain
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Mehso-so

My #WineOrWhine book for #Booked2020 🍷

A dual timeline book, with modern-day Kate visiting her family‘s vineyards in Burgundy from her wine-focused California life and uncovering the secret story of her ancestor Helene during the German occupation in WWII.

The book is fast-paced, and I really enjoyed the historical storyline. The modern-day story was less interesting, with much less character development, and Kate was a bit annoying. 😳

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cinfhen Premise sounded good! 🍷 4y
BarbaraTheBibliophage This has been a popular pick—in quantity if not glowing reviews—for this prompt. Good job! 👊🏻📚♥️ 4y
87 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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OriginalCyn620
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Pickpick

I liked the dual timelines - in 2015, Kate travels to her family‘s vineyard in France to study for the Master of Wine exam. Cleaning out a cellar, she finds a secret cave full of valuable wines, and the notebooks of a relative, Hélène, that she never knew existed. During WWII, 18-year-old Hélène keeps a diary of the Occupation and her involvement in the Resistance. When Kate finds Hélène‘s diary, will she uncover a horrible family secret?

Cinfhen Pretty photo\ book sounds good 4y
43 likes1 stack add2 comments
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CoffeeNBooks
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OriginalCyn620 Sounds good! 🍷 4y
BookishMe On my TBR ;D 4y
65 likes1 stack add2 comments
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CrowCAH
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Had #BookAndBottle #BookDiscussion at #MichiganByTheBottle; around 30 people and we had a range of topics to discuss!!!

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BookladyOnTheMove

Recommended by #bookriot The 7 Best Books to Inspire Your Next Vacation

1 like1 stack add
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CrowCAH
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Pickpick

I met my #GoodReads reading challenge goal! 🎉

Happy New Year, Littens!

Let‘s make 2020 another year of great reads! 📚

suvata Good for you! 5y
Butterfinger You too! 5y
Chrissyreadit 🙌🎉🥳 5y
See All 14 Comments
sprainedbrain Hooray! Happy new year to you! 🥳 5y
Redwritinghood Happy New Year! 5y
CrowCAH @suvata thanks 😊 5y
CrowCAH @Butterfinger have a great year ahead! 5y
CrowCAH @Chrissyreadit 🥰🍾🎉 5y
CrowCAH @sprainedbrain thank you; have a positive new year! 5y
CrowCAH @Redwritinghood same to you! 🍾 5y
erzascarletbookgasm Arrr! Happy New Year! 5y
CrowCAH @erzascarletbookgasm aye! May the new year treat you well! 5y
Bookzombie Happy New Year! 5y
CrowCAH @Bookzombie woohoo we made it! Happy New Year! 5y
61 likes1 stack add14 comments
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CrowCAH
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Started this #audiobook today; it‘s for book club next month!

CoffeeNBooks I really liked this one! 5y
CrowCAH @CoffeeNBooks so far, I‘m enjoying it. I like the history and the family mystery. Makes me want to drink wine 🍷, which is a little difficult at work, where I‘m listening to the book. 5y
CoffeeNBooks @CrowCAH Lol! I read a few books about wine after I read this one! 5y
43 likes3 comments
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BookNAround
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A woman returns to the family vineyard in France while she studies for her Master of Wine certification and uncovers long held family secrets as well as some amazing wine history. Two of he three plot lines are quite compelling and while the third fades in and out, the book over all was a good read. Full review at https://booknaround.blogspot.com/2019/08/review-lost-vintage-by-ann-mah.html

47 likes1 stack add
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intothehallofbooks
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Pickpick

A riveting historical fiction book that made me learn new things about the WW2 era while also entertaining me. The epistolary 1940‘s storyline was intense and emotional. The present-day storyline had some mystery as Kate, with family and friends, worked to learn more info about a just-found secret stash of rare wine in the basement and a journal written by a previously-unknown aunt. I could taste and smell all of the French cuisine!! So fantastic.

43 likes2 stack adds
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margreads
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I got a bit of a surprise when i started listening to the audio version of this book. It's got the same narrator as The Alice Network which i only finished recently
#currentlisten #audio

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Margot0817
Panpan

I gotta be honest, I only finished this book because at the time I was in a book club with a friend and she picked this book. I thought it was boring and left out details that were needed and highlighted things that weren't a big deal. I don't want to tell you not to read it because my friend thought it was good but for me it was just "Eh, alright."

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Lexicon1982
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Pickpick

What‘s not to like about wine, a family vineyard in France, World War II secrets, and a woman who discovers her true self...absolutely absorbing tale! A page turner...you can‘t stop reading..gotta find out the secret...keep you up till wee hours...holy moly it‘s time get up for work...but I wanna know... that kind of book! Loved the story within a story concept. Highly recommend especially as a travel read!
4 out of 5 stars!

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readinginthedark
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Started reading this one some time back with my mom and sister, but I had trouble getting into it for some reason. Trying again on audio this time while I do a little housework. 2 1/2 hours!
#24B4Monday #audiocleaning
@TheReadingMermaid @Andrew65

Andrew65 A good start. 😊👍 (edited) 6y
56 likes1 comment
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Sharpeipup
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A book is the best in-flight entertainment.
#planereads ✈️

CoffeeNBooks I loved this book!! 6y
30 likes1 stack add1 comment
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catreadsbooks
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“I had spent enough time in France to know that the words ‘chez moi‘ meant something a thousand times more profound than one‘s current home. ‘Chez moi‘ was the place your parents came from, or maybe even the region of your parents‘ parents. The food you ate at Christmas, your favorite kind of cheese, your best childhood memories of summer vacation- all of these derived from ‘chez moi.‘”

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SheReadsAndWrites
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Pickpick

This. Book. Is. Amazing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The characters. The story. The way she connects history with current time. The wine. I can't say enough about it. Read this. But give yourself time to get lost in it and not come out until you've read the last word.

CoverToCoverGirl Adding! 😊 6y
SheReadsAndWrites It's so good! @CoverToCoverGirl I cried 😢 6y
29 likes1 stack add2 comments
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SheReadsAndWrites
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What do you mean I can't read all morning? 🐶❤️🤓

JennyM Gawwww 🐶 6y
19 likes1 comment
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CoffeeNBooks
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I like wine and drink wine, but thanks to The Lost Vintage, I now want to thoroughly understand wine. 🍷

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CoffeeNBooks
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Pickpick

I finished this today, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It's part historical fiction about WWII and part quest to find out the truth about her ancestors, with just a little romance mixed in. It was a great read, and it made me want to learn more about wine, so I now have 3 wine books on hold at the library. 🍷

tammysue Yay!! This is one of my favorites this year - So glad you enjoyed it!! 6y
87 likes1 comment
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CoffeeNBooks
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Saturday morning coffee and books! ☕: I can taste the maple, not so much the bacon, but still a good cup of coffee.

100 likes2 comments
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SheReadsAndWrites
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I'm wearing slippers today. This is a big deal, people. I LOVE cold weather and I live where it can be over 100 degrees in the summer. After days of working my butt off on school, I am curled up with my dogs under a blanket, slippers on my feet and I am READING all day. No one can stop me. 🤓 #bookday #lovethefall #lovethecold #Readingforever

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julia-gulia
Pickpick

This is the book if you LOVE wine and history.. I loved this book. I loved the history of the wine vintage...of you love mystery, good glass of vino and history, READ THIS BOOK

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SheReadsAndWrites
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I've been in a reading rut. This is helping me get out of it. So good!!! #readingagain #greatread

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SheReadsAndWrites
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Only about a chapter in so far, but really enjoying it...

KarouBlue Can‘t wait to read this one! 6y
CoffeeNBooks I just started this one tonight, and read the first 4 chapters. I like it so far! 6y
SheReadsAndWrites I'll let you know more as I get going... @MellieAntoinete @CoffeeNBooks 6y
Crazeedi On my tbr list, it looks very interesting 6y
25 likes4 comments
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SheReadsAndWrites
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Bookstore booty. Gonna dove into The Lost Vintage ASAP. #bookstore #bookstorebooty

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Sassy_Steph
Pickpick

This book was good, found some of it was just too predictable and I didn‘t really believe the feelings of guilt would be so strong for something someone‘s ancestors had done!!

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REPollock
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Started this ebook last night, so far so good... 🍷

14 likes1 stack add
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Bloomingjen
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I really want to finish my book but I can‘t reach it and this girl is snoring away beside me

Laura317 Looks like a couple of snuggle buddies! Sweet! 6y
DGRachel So cute! 6y
Reecaspieces 😍😍😍 6y
Mdargusch Cozy! 6y
36 likes4 comments
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Rosewinter
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Pickpick

One of the best novels I've read in a long time! Setting wine country, France. Kate comes to learn more about the Burgundy vintages and to help with les vendanges. She has many discoveries a secret room, WW II resistance info, a hidden stash of wine, and a long lost aunt who was either part of the resistance or a Nazi collaborator. She discovers so many secrets and discovers where she truly belongs! Gobbled this right up!

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tammysue
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Pickpick

5☆ What a compelling backstory of the life Hélène lived during the Nazi occupation of France. Truly gripping + heartbreaking.
Present day, Kate visits her ancestral vineyard in Burgundy finding a hidden cellar with priceless wine, Resistance pamphlets + journals of a girl written during WWll. She sleuths uncovering what may be that of her family having a dark history + shameful past during the war??! Loved it! I highly recommend!

sprainedbrain This sounds right up my alley. Stacked! 6y
tammysue @sprainedbrain It‘s excellent, and the writing is superb! I can‘t wait to see what you think! 6y
71 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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LouLouLane
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Cheers!

12 likes1 stack add
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RealLifeReading
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Pickpick

An enjoyable book, best enjoyed with a glass of wine. I enjoyed the dual narratives - one contemporary, with a young woman studying for her Masters of Wine exam and visiting family in Burgundy to learn more about French wines, and one set during the Nazi occupation of France, the diary of a family member that no one seems to know very much about. Or maybe it‘s more like they don‘t want to know about her?
A moving, riveting read.

RealLifeReading I‘m using this as my #beachread for #booked2018. A less than usual pick I suppose, as there is a WWII narrative, but for me a beach read is something that makes me keep turning the pages and one that I can‘t put down and that‘s how this book was for me 6y
RadicalReader @RealLifeReading absolutely instability gorgeous cover for a book if I ever saw one 6y
tammysue Glad to see you enjoyed it so much! 😁 My library hold came in for this, can‘t wait. 6y
Cinfhen New to me book but sounds fabulous #stacked 💕 6y
140 likes4 stack adds5 comments
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jbhops
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This book was amazing, but torture to read since I can't drink wine while reading!!

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jbhops
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And just like that, the book gets good. On to Part 2....

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jbhops
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I'm reading. Little one is listening to Magic Treehouse. We're both waiting for the pretzel dough to rise....

DivineDiana Pretzel dough!!! 😀 6y
37 likes1 comment
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Purrfectpages
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Not directly book related, but true! #quotsy #quotsyaug18 #vintage