#BookReport

Finished some really interesting books this week!

Look what arrived just in time for Christmas?! 😁 #OokBOokClub

While ruminating on the grief of losing her mother to cancer, Jennifer Love Hewitt shares her tips for bringing magic into her life.

I‘m glad I got declined for the ebook of this, because it does feel a little hokey. But Hewitt‘s grief for her mother, the joy & love she finds in her children & husband are so sincere, that I found myself smiling along w/ her as she talked about creating Moon Water & decorating for every holiday she can.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

Life is tough for Ben, returning to Salt Lake City, after a divorce & leaving his teaching position, to help his father run their board game shop. Things only get trickier when a shady game collector ends up dead on their doorstep.

This was cute, but what I liked most about it was my love for all the real locations, (also the BYU shade😅). The pace felt too slow, & Ben was not an engaging narrator. I did like the 2ndary characters!🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

Reading this book on Christmas Eve has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. My dad would read it to me when I was a kid.

It‘s a beautiful little story, and I love it, and the movie adaptation. 🩵

#SundayFunday Have a wonderful day, and don‘t forget to tag me!

I am so sorry, Mercedes. But it‘s me, not you.

I‘ve been picking this up every night for almost two weeks, and I make it five or ten pages before getting bored.

Okay, so it‘s a little bit you, but I think I‘m going to have to file this as a #NotRightNow and try again later. 😅

@Princess-Kingofkings it has arrived! It‘s going immediately under the tree!

Thanks again @bookish_wookish for such a delightful swap!

Sat down with a blanket and a book, and the cat immediately jumped up. 💖 #Lucygirl #CatsOfLitsy

This one was my favorite! So many new cookies to seek out and try! Except the coconut ones. 😅 thanks for the tag @OriginalCyn620 !

1. Chocolate chip cookies
2. Peanut butter cup cookies
3. Pinwheel cookies (I make them with peppermint and dye them green and red for Christmas ❤️💚)

#TLT #ThreeListThursday @dabbe

Huzzah! It is completed! It‘s a little shorter than I thought it was going to be, but it‘s very comfy and it comes with a footstool!

I can‘t wait to curl up with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate after dinner. 💖

I kept getting distracted during the chair assembly listening to my current audiobook, so I had to switch to some Christmas music. 😅

Behold! The chair has arrived! Tomorrow begins the great assembly!

Got my last two swap packages in the mail!

@Born.A.Reader I am so sorry your #Jolabokaflod package is going out so late. Hopefully, it should be there on Monday. 🤞🏻🤞🏻

@CloakNQuill Your #LittleChristmasSwap is on the way!

An anthology of poetry from 60 writers all over the world published to benefit Palestine.

At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this is a moving call for peace and an end to the genocide in Palestine. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

All proceeds from sales will be donated to The Sameer Project and mutual aids on Gaza Funds.

My #Jolabokaflod swap package is here! I‘m so excited!

@MaleficentBookDragon @Jadams89

Congrats on finishing a 2nd week of #Adventathon ! Today, I‘d like you to share a line that has moved you. Something that made you laugh or cry.

From Something Extraordinary, this exchange made me laugh out loud while I was at work.

“I would flee with you.”
“Not to undermine your display of devotion, but that would be absolutely the least you could fucking do after inciting me to shoot our friend who is literally a duke.”

#WeeklyForecast

I am so ready to start The Wizard of Oz! 💛💛💛

#BookReport

Had some really fun reads this week!

My #WinterGames2024 point total for team #HolidayBookDragons is 9,225 points!

Shout out to Custodians of Wonder for giving me 163 instances of the word Tradition 😅😅😅

Onwards and upwards!

Opened up my #SSS package to a veritable treasure trove! Beautiful candles, a fun book sleeve, an adorable ornament, CHOCOLATE, and so many delightful books!

Thank you so very much @TheAromaofBooks ! And the keychain! I immediately sent a picture of it to my mother, and she thinks it‘s the cutest thing ever. 💖

@Avanders #StuffedStockingSwap

Torte‘s annual staff Christmas party is interrupted when the new owner of the local, historic inn is found murdered at the bottom of the staircase. W/ vandalism, sabotage, & poisonings, Jules has her work cut out for her to catch a killer.

As always, I really love the descriptions of food, & the community within Torte, & the Christmas setting was charming. But the conclusion felt too rushed & summarized to me, & didn‘t feel set up well.🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

I love recommending this book for science fiction! Even though it‘s really heavy on the science side, Mark Wayne is such a funny, charming narrator, that it feels easy to understand.

And I love the story of hope in the face of insurmountable odds, and a community coming together to rescue him.

#SundayFunday Hope you‘re all having a great day, and don‘t forget to tag me!

I made Christmas muddy buddies! Some peppermint flavoring and some Christmas M&Ms, and we‘re good to go!

#WinterGames2024 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks

In order to solve her problems, Belle decides to kidnap her friend & elope w/ him on the eve of his wedding. Remarkably, after creating a lot of new problems, it actually works.

This was fucking ridiculous & I loved it. W/ an aromantic lead & a focus on queer platonic relationships, this was everything I didn‘t know I wanted. Millennial humor, in a smutty regency novel, & I would read 50,000 more words about Belle & Rufus‘s domesticity.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

I triumph!

Next step is the chair. I‘ve ordered one off of Amazon, so hopefully it‘ll get here in the next few days!

#DinnerByTheBook

The cup is not indicative of how I‘m feeling halfway through taking that desk apart. Not at all. 😅😅

Finding places for the stacks of books took up most of the time! But it‘s cleared!

Now! To take it apart with my bare hands. And probably a screwdriver. 🤣

A group of friends decides that an abandoned haunted manor, full of the ghosts of women buried alive, is the perfect place for a wedding party. The house agrees.

I really wanted more out of this. At the end of every chapter, I felt like it needed to be twice as long. I needed more set up of the friends, more set up for the climax. The descriptions were visceral & unsettling, & would have been better suited for a more gradual horror.🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

Okay! So! Part of my incentive to get my NetGalley ratio up was that once I got it to 80%, I would make myself a reading nook.

This desk has only served as a place to pile things, so I‘m getting rid of it! This is about halfway cleaned off, so my goal for my weekend is to get it all the way cleaned off and disassembled! 🤞🏻

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView !

1. Right now, it‘s 20 degrees, so I am feeling much more inclined towards Christmas on the beach. 😅
2. Tagged!

#Two4Tuesday

I found a new book podcast! Genna interviews people about formative books from their past.

This was a delightful discussion, and I can‘t wait to see what books come up next. #BookPodcasts

An intriguing collection of Gay‘s personal essays ranging in topics across feminism, talking about race, sexuality, reproductive rights, sexual violence, & police brutality.

Such an intense read, that I had to take in small chunks, especially the section Gender & Sexuality. I found myself highlighting a lot. It‘s fascinating to see how feminism has evolved in the last 10 years, & yet how we are still fighting the same goddamned fights. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

An absolutely delightful exploration of 10 endangered practices around the world, and the people working to keep the traditions alive.

This was marvelous! From a lace like pasta in Italy to a tree full of lovelorn letters in Germany, this was a wonderful read. I loved the focus on the people who are working to pass on these traditions, & and the variety of what humans want to protect. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

I guess Trixie Belden is getting republished?!? I wonder if the books are getting updated like the Nancy Drew books were.

#BobWhiteBuddies #NetGalley #ARC

At the same time that William de Worde & his crew of dwarves invent the 1st newspaper on the Disc, Lord Vetinari gets imprisoned for attempted murder.

Every time I read this 1, it goes up on my list of faves. This satirical look at both newspapers, what the truth is, & who gets to tell it remains alarmingly relevant, & William‘s confrontation w/ his father was amazing. I would have loved more of the dwarves! & Otto!🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

#WeeklyForecast

If everything goes as smoothly as humanly possible, I should be able to finish all my currently reading books today! 🤞🏻🤞🏻

#BookReport

This has been a bad week for finishing books. 🤣 But also I was all ready to finish The Truth at work today, only to realize that SOMEHOW iTunes had refused to sync the last 2 hours. 😅

So I (hopefully) should be finishing up all three books tomorrow!

We are one week into #Adventathon and it has been a delight to see everyone‘s reads!

So introduce us to a character that you‘ve met in the last week that has made you smile or laugh out loud.

William de Worde in Terry Pratchett‘s The Truth is my favorite right now. I just finished listening to the part where William talks to Vimes & Angua, & I was giggling at work.

I always start with a list of two or three titles that I‘m looking for, but I inevitably end up browsing for more, getting tempted by pretty covers. 😁

#SundayFunday I hope you‘re all staying safe and warm this Sunday, and don‘t forget to tag me in your post!

My #StuffedStockingSwap is here! I had to immediately put it under the tree! #SSS @TheAromaofBooks @Avanders

I am so thrilled to see this list from @shortsarahrose , with the first two books being titles I absolutely loved, and not one, not two, but five books already on my TBR!

We‘re going to get along splendidly. 💖

#AuldLangSpine @monalyisha I don‘t have enough words to tell you how much I love this project! Thank you again for all the work you put into it!

I just sent off the first of my packages for Christmas swaps and I am so excited for what‘s coming up. To see my packages get unwrapped, and hopefully enjoyed. Here‘s to the little joys we can create for ourselves. 💖

#WeirdWordWednesday #WeirdWords @CBee

The story of the many tragedies and triumphs of the Rothschild women, and their roles across Europe. Faced with antisemitism & misogyny, these women worked to raise their family to greater heights.

A fascinating book, but would have worked better in print, rather than listening to the audiobook while working. It‘s very dense and dry, with a lot of dates & names that became difficult to keep track of. Did like learning about these women!🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

#SSS #StuffedStockingSwap is on its way!

@Avanders Thank you for hosting such a wonderful swap!

Finally starting to feel better so I put together my #BingoBoard for December!

#BookSpin Stars Uncharted, #DoubleSpin Nothing but Blackened Teeth

#Roll100 Calamity Jane, Bad Feminist, The Oathbound

#OokBOokClub Monstrous Regiment

#BeyondTheYellowBrickRoad The Wizard of Oz

#LitsySciFiBookClub Stars Uncharted

#QueerBC Nothing but Blackened Teeth

#SeasonalCozies A Cup of Holiday Fear

November‘s #MonthlyRoundup is here! So many good books this last month!

AAAAAHHHH!

I DID IT! Holy crap, I did it! I got my feedback ratio to 80%! #NetGalley

🎉🎉🎉🎉

Hwyfar of Avillion, discarded first betrothed of Arthur Pendragon, returns home to a mad father & a blighted kingdom. When Sir Gawain comes on the scene, Hwyfar‘s quest becomes more perilous &

This sequel was mostly everything I wanted! The new characters were deep & engaging, the pacing kept me on the edge of my seat, & so many little references to Arthurian lore! The romance happened a little fast for me, but by the end I was all in.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts! And happy stay in bed with books and a heating pad day! 😅

I had a truly awful day at work. It‘s the beginning of the peak season for the post office, all the equipment was breaking, and on top of all that, I had an ovarian cyst rupture while I was at work.

To come home to this on my porch, I burst into tears. What an incredibly thoughtful package @Bookzombie ! I did not have this book, and I am so excited to read it! I hope things are going well for you, and that you have a wonderful holiday season. 💖