Friends, I truly do not know how we got to Friday so quickly, but here we are. I‘ll be heading off to Hilo tomorrow for a board meeting but there will be joy.💛💛💛

Make your #5JoysFriday post with those 5 things big or small that brought you joy this week. Tag me in your post & you can tags others too to share the joy.

Tagging a few friends to get the ball rolling & all are welcome to join in! 🤗

Thanks @Eggs for the #WondrousWednesday tag. 🤗 I‘m a little late as usual.

1️⃣ The tagged book wrecked me emotionally as it hit too close to home & felt so real.😱 The Frozen River was a favorite & I keep thinking about it. The Feather Thief was just so interesting, I‘ve recommended it to several people.

2️⃣ I haven‘t DNFed so far this year! So far so good.

I‘m late so if you haven‘t played & want to, consider yourself tagged. 🤗

#DynamicDs

Some of the #Dessert titled cookbooks in my collection.
🍪🍰🧁🍦🍩🥧🍧

I think desserts in jars was a bit of a “thing” for a while. 😆

#DynamicDs

The third book in The Naturals series is set mostly in Las Vegas. The older cover features poker chips but this one has #Dice on it.

This looks suspiciously like one of my predawn airport pictures last week but life is on repeat lately. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Anyway, headed to Hilo for business review meetings so caffeine, breakfast & a few chapters. I‘m about 1/3 of the way through this one & enjoying it so far.

#Two4Tuesday

1️⃣ Hah! Close—I did them this weekend because procrastination is my name. 🤦🏻‍♀️

2️⃣ Folklore 🌺

If you want to join in, consider yourself tagged. 🤗

#DynamicDs

The second book in a cozy paranormal series in my Kindle TBR has #Denial in the title. Showing & tagging (below) the first book, which I also have not read yet. 📚📚📚🤷🏻‍♀️📚📚📚

#MentalHealthMonday

1️⃣ Well, it‘s 7PM & I just shut down my computer for the day & have a slamming headache. It was definitely a MONDAY.😵‍💫🤕🥴

2️⃣ I don‘t use affirmations much but think they can be helpful to remember when you need them. When I‘m doubting myself in general, I will say or write down, “I am enough.” When it‘s a bad day at work & I‘ve messed up, I remind myself that “I am growing and learning every day.” Sometimes it helps ⬇️

#DynamicDs

Truly a wonderful #Discovery in my mind. 🍫🤎

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

My #HyggeHour tonite is with Encyclopedia Brown for #EBBR & if I have some time, I‘ll read more in one of my other books. Drinking tea & having chocolate. 🍫

Mood is sleepy & not ready for another busy work week of meetings & 2 more Hilo trips. 🥱😵‍💫😴

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished last Sunday for #NancyDrewBR but still digesting those exploding oranges! 🍊💥🙄 This one was just a bit over the top in the villains & their evil plans (soft spoilers): we had exploding oranges, a mansion with a secret laser “beamer” in a lab to shoot down a NASA rocket, wild animals to keep people away & a steaming swimming pool full of boiling water because you should always have “a special (spa?) treatment⬇️

#Read2025

Finished earlier in the week. Sometimes the soul needs a little Ross Gay poem or essay to ground it again. 💛🧡💚

#DynamicDs

Three #Diamond titles languishing in my Kindle TBR 💎

#DynamicDs

For #Deceit — this one is in my Kindle TBR
The cover is just gorgeous.💙👑

My late #5JoysFriday list:

1-3. Loot from last week‘s makers mart & artist vendors. Post cards by Sara, who I‘m trading books with next month. I 💛them & the little bags/envelopes she makes from leftover paper. Favorite new print/card from Becky (it‘s so peaceful) who gives me free cards & positive vibes each time I see her. The cyanotype earrings I got from a new vendor, they are mother fern & beautiful. Joy from supporting local artists!
⬇️

My #Chatterday Saturday vibe is recovery. Another insane week at work with 2 Hilo trips & big meetings & next week is the same, so trying to catch up with myself, reading (this one is due back in 2 days) & snail mail for #LitsyLove & other returns. Also I need to post some reviews & my delinquent #5JoysFriday 💛 from yesterday as I crashed as soon as I got home from the airport last night. 😵‍💫😴

Hope you all are having a good weekend! 🤗

#DynamicDs

Since I‘m a day behind, I‘m catching up with both the #Dog & #Dance prompts today. I haven‘t read this book but I did see he movie years ago. 😢

At the airport, heading to Hilo for the day. Breakfast & a few chapters of this one for #RiseUpReads

Glad it‘s Friday! 😵‍💫😴🥱

I‘m running a bit on fumes this week & I‘ll be up before the crack of dawn for my second trip to Hilo this week. Still, there‘s gotta be some joys for #5JoysFriday 💛

Make & post your list of the 5 things big or small that brought you joy this week. Use the #5JoysFriday tag & tag me in your post. You can tag others to join in & use the background as you see fit or make your own.

Tagging a few to get the Joy party started & all are welcome! 🤗

#DynamicDs

I got behind so here‘s yesterday‘s #Dream prompt. I often dream of food so these 5 books on my shelves are either foodie novels or cookbooks. 🍽️

#DynamicDs

Since I missed yesterday‘s prompt, I‘m going for double Ds today! (Okay, that sounded better in my head!) 😆 Out Of My Brain is about a #DifferentlyAbled girl & told through #Diary entries. The follow-up (tagged) is still in my TBR.

Off to Hilo for meetings today & tomorrow. A little early morning airport breakfast & coffee. I‘m excited to start this one! It‘s one of my #Roll100 books this month.

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

Spending my #HyggeHour tonight with Nancy Drew for #NancyDrewBR with tropical herbal tea & some pineapple peelerz gummy candy.🍍💛

My mood is a little tired & I am headed out early tomorrow for Hilo—doing an overnight for meetings. It will be a busy week.😵‍💫

#Read2025

Finished last week, this book was sweet & cute & exactly what I needed for a crazy week at work & the insanity of the world. It was a good mood enhancer in between some tougher books too. I love the escape of cozy fantasy where good prevails. Caz & Meep were adorable & it made me crave tea with bread and jam. A hug in book form. 💚💚💚

Here‘s my March recap. It was a great reading month & I finished 23 books! (Including 5 audiobooks, 19 fiction, 4 NF, many genres, several children‘s & classics)

I read for #SundayBuddyRead #NancyDrewBR #BobWhiteBuddies #EBBR #AuthorAMonth #ChildrensClassicRead2025 #SheSaid #RiseUpReads #JaneAustenThenAndNow #BookedInTime #FoodAndLit #Roll100 #ThematicCozies #FictionalTraveler #MonthlyNonFiction #SeriesLove2025 & #AuldLangSpine #SeriesLove2025 ⬇️

#DynamicDs

Each of the main characters in this second book of the Part of Your World series is a #Doctor 🩺🩻💉

The first Saturday #Chatterday of the month means the local makers market by my house where I spent a while this morning spending money supporting local artists. (BTW you know you have become a vendor regular when she tells you to pick out 3 more cards, free, for the “Deb Discount” 😆) Maybe I‘ll share my haul, later.

Now I‘m at the coffee shop relaxing from the week & self-soothing with my new magazines & a little Ross Gay balm for the soul. 💛

#DynamicDs

A childhood favorite, Spot is a polka- #Dot leopard who can change his colors & wants to be in the zoo.

Even without traveling to Hilo, it was a long busy week & there was joy,💛so here‘s my #5JoysFriday list:

1. I just finished this book that was like a sweet hug. Cozy fantasy brings me joy & soothes my soul.📚

2. This poke bowl I grabbed at lunch yesterday brought me lots of mouth joy.🐟

3. I left a little early today & got my hair cut & went to Barnes & Noble where I got 2 favorite joyful magazines.

4. Candy joy with a new peeling gummy ⬇️

#DynamicDs

When thinking about book covers with a #Dock on them, Cathy Lamb‘s books came to mind. When I went to see the ones I‘d read I found four!

I can‘t believe Friday is again upon us! I haven‘t even been around to all of last week‘s #5JoysFriday posts🤦🏻‍♀️Still it‘s time to list the 5 things big or small that brought you joy this week.

Use the #5JoysFriday hashtag & tag me in your post as well as others if you want to help spread the joy. You can use the background graphic as you like or use your own.

Tagging a few to help get us started, but as always, anyone is welcome to join in!

Okay, I think this is mostly my April TBR. I‘m still considering a couple other readalongs/challenges but haven‘t made up my mind yet.🤷🏻‍♀️

Currently I‘m reading with #SundayBuddyRead #SheSaid #NancyDrewBR #BobWhiteBuddies #EBBR #LiteraryCrew #AuthorAMonth #ChildrensClassicRead2025 #RiseUpReads #Roll100 #FictionalTraveler #ThematicCozies #MonthlyNonFiction #JaneAustenThenAndNow #LSFBC #NaturalLitsy & 2 from my #AuldLangSpine list & a few more.

#DynamicDs

This #Doorway title has been in my Kindle TBR for a while now. 🚪

#DynamicDs

DD #DoubleLetterTitle cozy mysteries I‘ve read over the past few years.

Thanks for the #Two4Tuesday tag @TheSpineView

1️⃣ After grade school I was hit or miss. If liked the subject (English, writing, History) I was good but if I wasn‘t interested (Math) I didn‘t apply myself & was not great!

2️⃣ I loved the Finishing School series & Mademoiselle Geraldine‘s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality seems like a fun school to learn useful skills like espionage, poisoning & proper curtsies.

Tag—you‘re it!🤗

This one, stories set in Hawaii, is my pick for #FictionalTraveler April #Island & it‘s one of my April #Roll100 picks (#24 Any stories or essays ).

It‘s good incentive since it‘s been in my TBR since I bought a signed copy from a local book store when it was released.

#DynamicDs

Growing up, I wanted to be a #Detective & solve crimes like my heroes. Since it didn‘t happen, I spend a little part of each month getting nostalgic with Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, & Encyclopedia Brown. Here‘s the April books for #NancyDrewBR #BobWhiteBuddies & #EBBR

#Read2026

I‘ve been meandering through this book & reading the chapters that correspond with that month from September to March. I appreciate May‘s gentle writing style on the transformative power of rest and retreat during challenging times & these are certainly challenging times! I know I needed & still need time to heal & like the parallels she draws between the natural world during winter & her (& our own) experiences of healing. Beautiful.

#Read2025 #MonthlyNonFiction

Pulled it out at the last minute & finished this one for #RiseUpReads Torn between So-So & Pick, I‘m going with a pick because while I grew up in Northern California & Oregon & was taught the history of the states, so much of it was white-washed & little was taught about women & the roles they played. This book isn‘t perfect—it slogs (I skimmed some chapters) & the focus is mostly on the white experience but there ⬇️

#Read2025

For #Pemberlittens #JaneAustenThenAndNow

1. Reread, I‘m not sure how many times as I read it at least every 2 years, often every year… maybe 30? Format: started with the purple beauty, read mostly on my Kindle & finished with the Classics Reimagined version this weekend. I don‘t think my viewpoint has changed too much except for more sympathy for Mary over the years.

2. Elizabeth of course! 💜 Darcy by the end.😉

3. Elizabeth ⬇️

#Read2025

I finished this one last night for #ChildrensClassicRead2025 & it‘s a soft pick for nostalgia for the author. I found it too long & disjointed with it being separate stories really rather than cohesive chapters. It could be because I waited for the end of the month & was hurrying a bit but I had a hard time keeping track of all of the family & other characters. It did have some charming moments though.

#Read2025

Finished this weekend for #BookedInTime & #FoodAndLit #Ireland This book is set in 1847 against the backdrop of the Irish famine where a ship of many souls (over 450 with steerage, First Class & crew) sets out from Ireland to New York trying to escape the Great Famine & survive. There are lots of secrets revealed & a murder that take place on the month-long voyage. This was tough to read due to the subject matter & many characters ⬇️

#Read2025

Finished this weekend for #BookedInTime & #FoodAndLit #Ireland This book is set in 1847 against the backdrop of the Irish famine where a ship of many souls (over 450 with steerage, First Class & crew) sets out from Ireland to New York trying to escape the Great Famine & survive. There are lots of secrets revealed & a murder that take place on the month-long voyage. This was tough to read due to the subject matter & many characters ⬇️

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

My 3rd & final March #ThematicCozies pick #Hobby almost didn‘t happen because when I started the audiobook the narration seemed to have almost no inflection & that bugged me. Since it was 4:30 AM & I was on my way to the airport & wanted it for my commutes last week, I sped it up to 1.5 & that was better. I was able to get into the story of Katie Bonner who becomes the manager of Artisan‘s Alley when her business ⬇️

#CoverStories

Kicking it old school for today‘s #Prison prompt.

I was thinking about this book the other day. A coworker wanted me to read it with her after I moved to Hawaii. I always laugh because other coworkers wanted to join our impromptu book club but voted on the next book being Dead Until Dark (the first Sookie Stackhouse book) & then after a few of those, we read the newly released Twilight. We never made it back to the classics! 🤣

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

Tonight‘s #HyggeHour is being spent with Marigold. Trying to finish this one for #ChildrensClassicRead2025 March. My drink is coconut tea & my snack is a haupia (coconut) cupcake. (Which is yum!) 😋

My mood is a little tired & wishing the weekend was longer as it will be another busy work week ahead.

#Read2025

Finished today for #SheSaid March & it‘s one of those books you can‘t really like because it‘s so damn frustrating especially in our current world but it also an important read. I missed Manne‘s previous book Down Girl but I understand that this book builds & expands on it & focuses on male entitlement & how patriarchy “punishes women for not giving men the moral goods to which they are, by the terms of our social contract entitled.”⬇️

#Read2025

So in high school I absolutely did not like The Great Gatsby & thus over the years never picked up more Fitzgerald, content in my dislike. We had two #SundayBuddyRead books that put the author in a more favorable, sympathetic light & I decided it was time to go back again & reread TGG after a (cough) few decades of life 😉 & picked it as my #FictionalTraveler March pick for #BigCity. Surprise! I quite enjoyed the book this time. ⬇️

#Read2025

This book get big bonus points for the descriptive writing about the food, fashion & especially design & decor. It also gave a good look at the fascinating history of the Greenbrier Resort & the work of designer Dorothy Draper. Why the so-so rating? The author tried too hard for a romance & HEA for Draper that just wasn‘t needed & required too many fictional liberties that took away from the rest. Also, much of pleasure I took from ⬇️

My picks for #ThematicCozies April: #Sports

The tagged book features river rafting & other outdoor adventures in Colorado. Geared for the Grave (I‘ll be listening to the free audiobook on Audible), is centered around a bike store on Mackinac Island. Both are first in series.