* seeing purple rain during a sunset
* going to the bookmobile and farmers market with my mom
* root beer floats
* going to the movies with my family
* my kids

Soft pick. there were so many characters and character perspectives and time lines it was a bit confusing at time. Slow burn as well.

Ate Turkish food for #foodandlit, Top middle is lahmacun (flat bread with mince meat), top right is Turkish meatballs kofte, bottom right is chicken Adana, plus below meatballs is sigara boregi (cheese sticks). It came with side salads and extra veggies, haydari dip, and the bread. My boys loved everything and wants to try more Turkish. @Texreader @Catsandbooks

There is a new book mobile in town and I braved the 100 degree heat at 8 in the morning to go to the farmers market it was set up at. I will definitely go again. She had mostly new releases, all fiction, plus lots of bookmarks, pens, tote bags etc. felt like a book fair! I didn‘t get a picture of the truck because it was crowded.

@Leftcoastzen I got you beat 😂 it has been brutal even for leaving near Death Valley. Had our hottest June ever, Hottest day on record for my town, longest number of days in a row above 115. It may be a dry heat but you can get heat stroke and third degree sunburns just driving to the store. My neighbor fell outside, stood right back up, but his had third degree burns from the ground, everyone in burn unit had same experience.

White Lotus meets Murder Mystery. Great cozy mystery to read in July. You‘ll want to go to Italy, eat all things pasta and lemon. The author breaks the fourth wall. I liked the MC was a cozy mystery author. Very light breezy read, perfect for the beach. Definitely will be getting the next book in the series. #seasonalcozies @julieclair

Quicker read than I was expecting, short chapters and mostly dialogue. Read it in one sitting yesterday. Read for #camplitsy. Don‘t have anything to add to the discussions. @Megabooks

Read for my irl book club.

My picks this month. Wasn‘t overall pleased with the main picks again, but wanted all the add ons. Was surprised there were even more add ons since they already announced four of them. I went with my autobuy authors for the add ons, but was interested in a few more.

My set up for #hyggehour tonight. My son has a D&D campaign going, usually I hang out with the other moms but they all bailed. So it is just me at the mall food court for three hours with my book. Not the most comfortable set up but there are pretzels. #naturalitsy

My favorite was The Frozen River but honorable mentions to All the Sinners Bleed and Eruption.

Lunch break

Great beach read, action packed thriller. A lot easier to read than I was expecting, less science big words. Would make another amazing movie. It reminded me a bit of TJ Newman‘s style. If you like disaster movies, you will like this book.

I think this book is going to be a favorite historical fiction of the year. Based on a real midwife in the 1700s that never lost a mother even with attending thousand plus births. I think this will be my go to book when someone asks for a historical fiction recommendation. If you like Call the Midwife you will like this book.

* celebrated Father‘s Day by going to the movies
* celebrated the summer solstice with a bonfire and sun tea
* found and tried the seven Scoops Ahoy flavors from stranger things
* cool weather in the morning meant I got to sit outside and read for a few hours
* had a book club meeting

BOTM announced three more add ons for July, including the #camplitsy pick for August. @squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB @Megabooks

Tea review - this is a peach sunflower citrus herbal and green tea inspired by the summer solstice. I really liked it. It has subtle flavors yet they are bold at the same time. No need to add anything but maybe a pinch of sugar. It made a great iced tea but equally good hot. A perfect tea for litha and to celebrate the sun.

Thank you for wonderful #naturalitsymidsummerswap package @BookwormAHN I love everything. I can‘t wait to try to try the tea. How did you know I have a thing for lemons? And I already started burning the incense. @jenniferw88 @Chrissyreadit @TheBookHippie @AllDebooks

Went to B&N to get four new releases but walked out with four entirely different books and my free membership tote bag.

@BookwormAHN @TheBookHippie @Chrissyreadit @jenniferw88 @AllDebooks my #naturalitsymidsummerswap box arrived, looks like it had a rough go of it

Another good twisty thriller from the author. I am definitely going to add all his books to my tbr since this is the third book of his I read and liked.

* celebrated my wedding anniversary with our traditional pizza meal
* went to the beach, my happy place
* celebrated my son‘s birthday at Disneyland
* ate our way through Disneyland - blue milk is wonderful, drank at the Star Wars bar, lunch at pizza planet, breakfast at Belle‘s and churros and more
* made lots of memories

Solid beach read

Mailed my #naturalitsysummerswap package. It should be there Friday @BookwormAHN @AllDebooks @TheBookHippie @Chrissyreadit @jenniferw88

My most ambitious walk was this past week when we took my kids to Disneyland. It was a birthday/Father‘s Day request. Keep in mind I‘m disabled and a walk around Target can make me bedridden for days. In 12 hrs I walked 9 miles and more than 20,000 steps. Quite the feat for me since I couldn‘t feel my left foot or leg the whole day. There were lots of ducks and ducklings. But definitely my favorite walk ever.

I read the tagged book a few months ago and it is one of my top reads if the year so far. There is a chapter about American date species going extinct and they talk about how some farmers started selling Date Milkshakes to help with sales. Today, on my road trip a few hours away from the farms, I found a pit stop that sells them, so I had to try them. They are very good, more of a nutty flavor to them than a fruity flavor that I was expecting. 👍

Road trip reading. Stuck on the highway because of a car accident means an extra hour of reading.

Beach reading is the best. Love a stormy beach.

I liked the setting and the characters. I didn‘t figure out the “who done it”. The ending felt too abrupt and the prose was lack luster. I‘ve read better cozy mysteries. Not good enough to continue to the series. #seasonalcozies

This one made me laugh as every book in the series has. Loved that both Gramma Mazur and Gramma Bella got to ride along for captures.

A new Hunger Games is coming out. It follows the 50th Hunger games, the second quarter quill. I believe this is the one they doubled the tributes and sent 48 kids to their deaths and Haymitch won.

And it has already been picked up to be a movie.

Another well written book by the author. The subject matter is hard to stomach and had to take lots of breaks. But that is also a testament to the prose. If you like Criminal Minds you might like this one. #authoramonth @Soubhiville

#hyggehourreadathon #naturalitsy #litsolace here is my reading set for the evening. It is only 95 F thanks to the clouds. Might be my last night being able to sit outside before dark. @jenniferw88 @AllDebooks @Chrissyreadit @TheBookHippie

My favorite fiction of May was Clear.

Tea review- All Chai‘s Up by The Chai Box. I think I got it in a Reece Witherspoon book box. It is a strong black tea. Best served for breakfast. Kinda bitter so if you like coffee I think you will like this tea. I added lots of sugar and honey. I‘ve had better chai so not going to order a restock.

A bit disappointed in the five books (but I have read and liked Peter Swanson) but I loved the add ons. I wanted two more add ons.

Very atmospheric read. Nice short chapters makes it a one sitting read. Glad I read it for #camplitsy

Good cozy. Good enough to continue with the series. I didn‘t figure out the killer. More of a slow burn than most cozies. The author definitively has a love affair with Seattle.

Me: I need more bookshelves
My mom: you need to get rid of some of your books
My hubby: let me move two desks and a storage cabinet and build you more billy ikea shelves on my one day off work.

He‘s a keeper. Nothing sexier than a man that enables my book buying habit and can carry 25 book of the month books at one time to help you organize the shelves.

* new pair of slippers
* having three camp fires with s‘mores
* finally finding a good chicken salad recipe that everyone loves and asked for more and no leftovers
* spring cleaned my spice drawer and restocked at my favorite spice shop small business
* the flower moon

@DebinHawaii

Tea review - Desert Spring. This is a green tea with rooibos. Has Jasmine and other floral tones with fruity undertones. Very subtle flavors. I added a bunch of sugar to make it sweet and balance out the grassiness of the green tea. I got it as a free sample, I don‘t think I will buy it but it is nice change of pass and refreshing served as an iced tea in a hot day.

Book haul for the week so far. My kids said he needed a new sketch book I said that is a good reason to go to the bookstore. I needed to get the July #camplitsy selections.

Read with a box of tissues. Favorite quote “Love is stronger than death”.

Spanish food for #foodandlit. Chocolate tres leches cake was a hit. Chicken paella, the kids loved the chicken more than the rice. @Texreader @Catsandbooks

Good book. I wish to hear more about their trips though. Kinda reminded me of National Lampoons Vacation, a road trip where everything that can go wrong did go wrong, a calamity. Wanted to here more about the expeditions.

Finished this one by the campfire and started it by a campfire a few days ago. This is another good one in the series, always a lighter read for a cozy. I liked how the murder wasn‘t solved right away and the red herrings. And I like Officer Sally, we should see more of her teaming up with Lucy.

My favorite fiction of the month was Daughter of Mine

My picks this month. I needed more genres for the badge and debuts and chunksters.

Read for #naturalitsy. I loved this book, very interesting and well researched. This grizzly lives a zoo we visited last month. it was rescued with its two siblings after their mother died in the wild.

Tried some Venezuelan candy and cookies for #foodandlit. There was lots of chocolate snacks and I liked most of them better than their American counterparts. For example, they had a “crunch” bar and a “Hershey” bar that was better. The hands down favorite was the strawberry bubble gum lollipop and the coconut wafer cookie. @Texreader @Catsandbooks