Iowa Indie Bookstore Crawl:
📕Prologue Books & Wine in Charles City, IA
📘Three Bells Books in Mason City, IA
📗The Nook in Cedar Falls, IA

Today was so much fun! Three Bells Books was amazing! An excellent mixture of books and bookish things, I blew past my budget there 😅😂 First two shops had beer and wine available but we got to them before lunch. We‘ll plan better for next time 👍

#5JoysFriday on Saturday! 😄 @DebinHawaii

1. I finally got 4 birds to use my bird feeder at the same time AND I got a picture! I love this cardinal who frequently visits
2. Coffee
3. Spending time with friends on Thursday night
4. Spending this weekend with my family in Iowa, and we‘re planning on visiting 2 indie bookstores!!
5. This amazing community is such a joy and a bright side in these dark times. Thank you all so much!

🚨🚨🚨🚨 Reach out to your senators to stop this stupid act from passing. We have safeguards in place already! Click here for more info and to email your senator: https://www.voteriders.org/stop-save/?emci=37f2a6e4-1116-f011-8b3d-0022482a9fb7&...

This book… words cannot articulate how much I love Vera and her ragtag, found family. I told myself to pace myself with this book and what do I do? Pause all other activities to sit and finish it 😂 You try saying, “No” to Vera 🤣 Highly recommend for a feel-good story that holds your attention from beginning to end, with some giggles along the way. I hope there are more Vera adventures!!!

I am so excited that not only is there a new locally owned cafe & bakery near me, IT‘S WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF MY LIBRARY!!! Guys. I have found my new favorite third place 😍🥰♥️ Today‘s lunch was a turkey & havarti cheese sandwich on fresh made focaccia bread (and it had sliced green apples on it, my favorite!!!) along witht an iced lavender latte. The vibes were 10/10, I can‘t wait to become a “regular” here 🤩🤩🤩

Themes: Extremely Dysfunctional Family, Deliciously, Awful Characters, The Rich Getting their Comeuppance

This book was a riot! Every single character is terrible and awful, but in an addicting, entertaining way. This will not be everyone‘s cup of tea for sure, it is dark but funny and I thought extremely well done. I will definitely be looking out for more of Bella‘s books when I need a dark, comedic read 👍

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. Cory Booker‘s incredible 25 hours & 5 minute speech
2. Susan Crawford‘s win in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election (suck it, Elon!)
3. Watching the speaker of the house Mike Johnson‘s temper tantrum after the House proxy vote failed
4. Seeing all the big, beautiful memes come out following the Insane Cheeto‘s tariffs announcement
5. The joy of feeling optimism regarding politics for the first time since Nov. 6th 💙💙

#TopReads2025 continues with my March pick 🥁🥁🥁 “Expect Great Things!” was an interesting read! I‘ve heard of the Katharine Gibbs School from pretty much every book I‘ve read that takes place in NYC during the early to mid century and to learn more about it was fascinating!! Plus, Katharine grew up in Galena, IL which is about a 2.5 hour drive from me. I love visiting it, it‘s such a charming town. So it did get some bonus points for that 😉👍

Today is the last day in March, which in the USA is Women‘s History month. I was fortunate to read 4 amazing books during this month with strong female voices. The two non-fiction books (right side) left me thinking, “Hellz yeah, women can do ANYTHING!”. The two historical fiction books (left side) are based on true women & events, and the ‘Author Note‘ in both books are riveting and shouldn‘t be missed. I highly recommend them all ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My husband hung up my newly framed prints along with the Pride & Prejudice poster that was my “design inspiration” for my home office/library 🥰 (Please don‘t look too closely at how level they are. Our house is older and the walls are not square, we did our best 😆)

My Friday night plans: The Office (my comfort show, I‘ve seen every episode hundreds of times but I still love it!), a glass (or two) of red wine, my current read, and a face mask (not pictured, you‘re welcome 😆). Hello, weekend!!

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. I finished an amazing book (“Daring Daughter”) and started another amazing book (cover in my picture) that I found it at Dollar Tree for $1.25 🙌
2. This stupid week is almost over 🤪
3. Coffee & Wine, not at the same time though 😂
4. Family members that feel more like best friends 🥰
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Themes: Easily digestible Non-Fiction, Women kicking a$$ and taking names, Hollywood History

I love Mallory O‘Meara‘s books so much!! I recently told a friend that this is a non-fiction book but told in a “Can you believe it?!” sort of way. O‘Meara‘s voice is that perfect combination of fact and sass. I highly recommend this, even if stuntwomen or Hollywood isn‘t your jam, you‘ll learn so much without even realizing it!

Hubby is having a guy‘s video game night in our living room, so I‘m enjoying some Antiques Roadshow and a great book upstairs!

I have no idea how or where I stumbled upon this book but I‘m so glad I did! Fans of “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” and Garrison Keillor will appreciate the themes and the storytelling. Reading the descriptions of Trevanian‘s other books, I‘m not sure if I‘ll continue reading his stuff but this one was a good read. Full disclosure though, I did just skim the chapter “Love on Pearl Street”, and got the gist on what 11 year old Jean-Luc got up to 🤭🙄

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. I‘m on a roll of reading great books! No DNFers!! 😆
2. Had a great bookclub meeting on Sunday with excellent discussions about the tagged book.
3. Went to my first ever Silent Book Club “meeting” with my sister in law on Tuesday. It was so much fun!! Definitely check your area for a group! The pic above is all the books that people were reading.
4. Coffee.
5. I have a low-key weekend ahead 😮‍💨

Another day, another petition to sign so this backwards, asinine, utterly embarrassing administration hears our voices! #ReadersAssemble

https://action.everylibrary.org/emaileo2025?recruiter_id=910315

I wish you guys could hear the pouring rain in my picture, it‘s just perfect reading weather! A rainy night with no plans, a good book, and a Guinness leftover from Monday 🍀🍺 -Logs off-

I am on a ‘non-fiction, women kicking butt‘ kick right now (hmm, I wonder why? 😒) and I am LOVING IT! My latest book mail arrived today and I hope to get to this one soon!!

Another day and another way to tell your reps to stand up for libraries & museums #ReadersAssemble 👇 https://app.oneclickpolitics.com/campaign-page?cid=9CyapZUB9sorxFLO4J0c&lang=en

Had to start this one today for obvious reasons lol 💚🇮🇪🍀

If you only read 1 Non-Fiction book this month, read this one! March is ‘Women‘s History Month‘ and this one packs a ton of amazing stories about kick-ass women into very readable chapters. Krefft‘s voice throughout the book is knowledgeable and genuine, being a history nerd is not required (but if you are, you‘ll doubly love this book!). Read it. Loved it. 100% Recommending it!!

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

Ugh, this week has been A WEEK! And Mercury turns retrograde starting tonight and that always bums me out 😖 My joys are tiny this week, but I found some:

1. Finished 1 great book and started another GREAT one
2. Didn‘t have to scrape ice off my windshield to drive to work
3. Coffee
4. A cardinal came to visit my bird feeder
5. Getting excited to see my family in IA in a few weeks for a 4-day weekend 🤩

This book was SO GOOD! I love reading a historical fiction book that makes me fall down a rabbit hole of needing to find out more. And nobody writes a multiple POV plot quite like Brianna Labuskes, in my opinion. We‘re introduced to Millie, Alice and Colette and how these brave, complicated women impacted not just their community BUT the whole state of Montana!

The world is still a roaring dumpster fire, but for the next 45 minutes, I‘m going to unwind in the sunshine with a great book and a summery drink ☀️🍋‍🟩📖

Of course I checked to see if my library hold was available before taking my lunch, and it wasn‘t. I check now (with no time left to go get it because I‘m my own worst enemy) and yep, now it‘s available
🤪🫠 Hurry up, 5:00!!!

Is it possible to get whiplash from a book? I went in thinking (based solely on the cover and summary) that this was going to be a fluffy, “behind the scenes of Hollywood” type book. And while it was the latter, it is most definitely not fluffy. There is real, raw emotion with all of the characters, and they‘re so well formed that I was trying to match them to a real celebrity. I‘m looking forward to my bookclub‘s discussion on this.

Had to share this from Instagram 😂 I will stop reading when this happens and move on #InstantDNF

📸: https://www.instagram.com/bookstrofficial?igsh=aTkwaHRhamozY2Fp

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. I got 4 boxes of my favorite Girl Scout cookies this week! AND I haven‘t eaten them all yet 😂
2. I am on Day 5 of staying off Facebook. I realized that app doesn‘t bring me any joy anymore so, bye-bye 👋
3. I‘m seeing my favorite Aunt tomorrow for breakfast & thrifting! She‘s actually my husband‘s Aunt, but I‘ve claimed her as my own 🥰
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This was such a creative, fun read! There were a few passages that transitioned kinda rough; I‘m not sure if that‘s a result of it being translated or if that was intentional. All in all, a fun read and I can‘t wait for Book 2 to publish later this spring!! ***CORRECTED AFTER POSTING*** Pictured here are some of the main characters: Othello, Miss Maple, the flock consisting of Heather, Maude, Zora, and finally Mopple the Whale.

#TopReads2025 continues with my February pick 🥁🥁🥁 ‘Tartufo‘ 🙌 I didn‘t have any expectations going in besides the author of ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures‘ recommended it on her Instagram stories and gave a cover blurb. It was very quirky and fun and had some real heartwarming moments too. Don‘t read it if your hungry though, her descriptions of pasta will make your mouth water 🤤🍝

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. My Canadian Forest track on my BetterSleep app. My jaw immediately unclenches when I turn it on 😆
2. Started a very funny, quirky mystery called “Three Bags Full” 🐑💚🐏
3. Warmer weather this week, opened all the windows in the house to air out 🌬️
4. Successfully transferred my old iPhone 11 data to my new iPhone 16 💪 No crying or stress!! Woo!
5. -See Below-

The first of my haul from the Barnes & Noble preorder sale arrived today #Bookmail #PerfectTiming
🤩🥳🙌

Based on what @TEArificbooks said in their review, I went into this with low expectations. I was just looking for a fluffy, non-challenging read, and I still bailed 😑 I agree with Melanie 100%, the trivia bits were fun but there wasn‘t a single character I cared about. I love this premise, but I feel like Clare Pooley or Freya Sampson could‘ve done it better. Definitely check out their books for great characters and a fun plot! #Hailthebail 🚀

This book comes out in May ‘25 and if you‘ve enjoyed the other two books in this series, you‘ll enjoy this one too! Just as an fyi, there is a note at the beginning stating that this is a stand-alone novel BUT the solution to ‘Magpie Murders‘ (Book 1) is revealed. I really appreciated not having to re-read the previous 2 books, Horowitz provides background on everything so no recap is needed 👍 You can just dive in!

LOL! I love when you read a book and you find a little bread crumb from a recently read book 😂 I get this reference now, but definitely wouldn‘t have a month ago #christiecapers @Librarybelle

I‘ve finally set up my new bookshelf 🙌 Still moving in, but we allllll know that‘s a work in progress forever 🤪 I had to laugh when my husband said, “Well, just make sure this room doesn‘t get too cluttered” and I replied, “Oh, we passed that about 50 books ago” 🤣

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. Spent the past weekend with family in IA and got to hang out with my cat sister, Millie
2. Finished 1 amazing book (‘Tartufo‘) and started another great book (‘Marble Hall Murders‘)
3. Warm weather is on its way (highs in the 30s - 40s F)
4. Went to bar trivia with my hubby 2 times this week and we didn‘t come in last both nights
👇👇👇👇

Themes: Family, Food, Fungi

“What does one do upon finding the world‘s biggest epicurean diamond?” This story was a delight from beginning to end! I loved all the characters, their zany personalities and the beautiful setting of the rural medieval village of Lazzarini Boscarino. Definitely a five star read, the cover is just as beautiful as the story inside
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I LOVED this book! After finishing it I immediately added the rest of the series to my library TBR list 👍 I can‘t wait to discuss it @Librarybelle #christiecapers

I visited the local indie bookstore by my parents‘ house this afternoon. I didn‘t need another book (I mean, I was extremely tempted!) but I still wanted to support them. This springy book sleeve just hopped in my hands 🤩😇

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1. Hubby and I are going to visit my family in IA for the long weekend
2. I bought myself another bookshelf AND I haven‘t filled it up yet!
3. The snow we got on Wed wasn‘t as bad as they were predicting (forecast was for 3-5” and we got 2.5”)
4. A problem project at work actually ended up being fixed with our “best case scenario” which never happens 😂
5. The joy of knowing that 48.4% of voters did not vote for 🍑🤡

I am LOVING this book @Librarybelle #christiecapers I didn‘t know I wanted an Agatha Christie meets PG Wodehouse book, but here we are and I LOVE IT! I‘m going to add the rest this series to my TBR 🙌

My best friend saw this book as an Amazon Prime First Reads and she told me about it, which I‘m glad she did because sadly, I don‘t think this would‘ve crossed my radar - it pub‘d 2/1 and I have yet to see anything about it on my usual channels 😔. It intrigued me so I bought a copy and I enjoyed it so much!! I don‘t want to say too much because I‘ll end up spoiling something, all I‘ll say is if my themes below interest you, READ THIS BOOK! 🤐

1. The B&N.com preorder sale finally happened!! Yay!! Love having #bookmail to look forward to 🥰
2. I found an ARC of Anthony Horowitz‘s upcoming “Marble Hall Murders” and I can‘t wait to devour it!!
3. The houseplants that I divided and repotted last week are all still alive!
4. Looking forward to a low-key weekend that‘s not jam-packed with stuff to do
5. IT‘S FRIDAY!

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
Consider yourself tagged if you‘d like to share!

Themes: Oceans 11 meets Downton Abbey, Early 20th century London, Women settling scores

I read Alex‘s debut work in 2023 (“The Housekeepers”) and enjoyed it enough to be excited for his next book. As soon as I could I put a hold at my library for this and… -sad trombone- 🫠 It wasn‘t bad, I didn‘t consider bailing on it, but it wasn‘t amazing.

Yay!! So stoked for some upcoming #bookmail 🥳🙌 25% off preorders today through 2/7 at Barnes & Noble (online only!!!)

It is TIME!! -Kermit flailing arms- 🏃🏼‍♀️-Runs to get all the Barnes & Noble giftcards I‘ve been hoarding since Christmas for this exact purpose- 📚📚📚

#TopReads2025 kicks off with my first five star read of the year 🥁🥁🥁 ‘Death in the Downline‘ 🙌 It was fun and an unexpectedly gripping read - I couldn‘t put it down once I started. Highly recommend for a fast-paced read that‘ll leave you thinking about it after you finish it, check this one out 👍

Love a little ‘lunch hour library hold pick-up‘ date 🥰🤩