The writing for this was pretty good, and it was easy to read. But I can‘t say I really enjoyed it?
I didn‘t like Elio or Oliver. It was the obsession, shame, and very weird “intimacy” that seemed to be the over-riding theme throughout. I‘m not sure I would say it was romance between them…

Also much prefer when books have regular natural stopping points like chapters rather than parts or continual flow 🤣

This was my #FoodAndLit pick for #Italy

First read of December was my #DoubleSpin

I enjoyed this addition to the dream harbour series. We got to see a lot of the characters thanks to the wedding, find out what happened between Annie and Mac, and meet the characters who will be the MC‘s in book 6.

This one wasn‘t as spicy as the others, but it was a decent second chance romance (though the reasons for the years of animosity seemed a bit OTT 🤣)

My December #BookSpinBingo

My #BookSpin book is The Black Falcon‘s Christmas
My #DoubleSpin book is The Gingerbread Bakery

Lemon and ricotta cookies with a lemon icing glaze for #FoodAndLit #Italy

I wasn‘t sure they would work when I was attempting to roll them into balls. But actually they have turned out quite nice 👌🏻

These books are some well needed relief between other harder reads. The characters are all likeable, you know you will get a happy ever after (even though the author insists on a dramatic gap in the romance), and you see previous characters in each novel.

This book focuses on out of his depth single dad Archer, who moves to the town to take care of the daughter he didn‘t know he had, and Iris who he hires as her nanny. A super cute read.

Tonight‘s meal courtesy of #FoodAndLit #Algeria is an Algerian lentil soup.
We had this with some warm crusty bread.

It was very fresh tasting, but quite mild. Like a vegetable soup ☺️

This was my #FoodAndLit pick for #Algeria

It sounded interesting, and parts of it were like the history of the bookshop and the French colonisation. But the timelines made it disjointed and hard to follow. It just wasn‘t really for me this one!

This was also my #DoubleSpin

As an audible original, this isn‘t in the Litsy database. It was a fun read, a low pick for me.

After being sent to prison for an insurance fraud scam and being screwed over by her husband, Jessica makes plans for revenge. As soon as she is released from prison, she sets her plans in motion. Overzealous press and probationary terms aren‘t going to stop her from finding Jimmy, and ruining him.

Sorry for the late post @OutsmartYourShelf the first notification didn‘t pop up.

I read books for 5 prompts:
• Hunters - Dracula
• Colt (The) - Frankenstein
• Changing Channels - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
• Crossroads - Mata Oti
• Driver Picks the Music - Haunted Ever After

#SPNBookBingo2025

Tonight we had food for October‘s #FoodAndLit #Samoa
It‘s Samoan Chicken (Moa Fa‘Asaina) with Coconut Rice.

It was pretty tasty. The sauce should have been thicker, but I had trouble thickening with the recipe I used. So much liquid 🤣

My November #BookSpinBingo board

My #BookSpin is Watermoon
My #DoubleSpin is A Bookshop in Algiers

My October #BookSpinBingo wrap up.

Finished 6 books:
• Dracula (audio)
• Frankenstein
• Haunted Ever After
• Dead Witch on a Bridge (DoubleSpin)
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
• Mata Oti (FoodAndLit)

Started:
• The Smart Girl‘s Guide to Revenge

My final points total for #HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew is 2733 points.

It has been a fun month :)

Day 13 of the Spooky Calendar is Cherrified.
Caffeine free and spooky red. The main flavours are cherry and hibiscus.
Saved it for the evening to have with our Scream Tea!

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

Day 12 of the Spooky Calendar. The penultimate tea!
Today was a toffee apple matcha. Tasted quite apple-y but I couldn‘t really taste the toffee. I did enjoy this one though ☺️

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

Took these babies pumpkin picking today. They seemed to have fun but didn‘t want pictures 🤷🏼‍♀️

#DogsOfLitsy #HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

Day 11 of the Spooky Calendar was a cookie flavoured Hojicha. Made like a matcha, it was a pretty good latte. Though I didn‘t think it was super cookie like, it was still a nice nutty flavour.

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

This was such a good book!
It is a typical zombie book, outbreak turns into zombies, turns into survival. But it was still a page turner. And as expected the humans are often worse than the monsters in an apocalypse 🙄

#FoodAndLit #Samoa #HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew #OneSnackToRuleThemAll #TeamPumpkinSpice

Day 10 of the Spooky Calendar is Bonfire Toffee Tree. Smoky black tea with apple and caramel tones. This one was okay but I could only really taste the smokiness. So not really something I could drink often!

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

Day 9 of the Spooky Calendar is Rose and Cardamom Chai. I steeped it in a small amount of water to make into a latte. Very tasty

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

And another day, another spooky countdown tea! Day 8 is a Spiced Pumpkin Pie Matcha, which I made into a latte with a bit of vanilla syrup.

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

It has been a while since I have read Frankenstein and it was as good as I remembered. Victor is an idiot… but it is hard to make good choices when you are constantly swooning with trauma induced fevers 🤷🏼‍♀️😂

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew #OneSnackToRuleThemAll #TeamPumpkinSpice

Started this one for #FoodAndLit #Samoa today.
I am really enjoying it so far. A pandemic, some kind of lab experiment, a zombie outbreak on an island… perfect for October!

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

Spooky calendar day 7 was Baby Spice. A caffeine free pumpkin spice (to have without milk apparently). So a nice evening tea.

As I was in town getting my hair done today, I also stopped in the shop and had a Rose and Cardamom Chai Latte, and got some Apple Strudel caffeine free tea as well

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

Day 6 of the spooky countdown calendar is a new type of tea for me. This is a Maca Hot Chocolate Tea Powder. Low caffeine as it is Maca, raw cacao and Ashwagandha. It‘s a powder that you make up like Matcha, whisking it with a bamboo whisk and then topping it up.

This was a really nice tea!

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

I listened to this on audio and it was pretty good!
I forgot how hungry Ichabod seems to be… maybe it is just more obvious in audio 🤣

One of my coworkers based in Texas brought some candy corn over, and some pumpkin spice m&ms. I didn‘t mind the candy corn but am definitely still #TeamPumpkinSpice

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew #OneSnackToRuleThemAll

Day 5 of the spooky countdown is a special black version of the perfect matcha spoon.
This is a 1/2 tsp for making matcha or hojicha. For tea powders and loose tea it‘s a perfect spoon that is 1 tsp.
I already have some perfect spoons but this one is pretty 😍

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

Day 4 of the spooky calendar was a toasted marshmallow matcha. I made mine into a latte. It was pretty nice. Will probably use more matcha next time to increase the flavour as it is quite a subtle one!

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

Day 3 of the spooky countdown calendar was this mini bamboo whisk!

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

This was a great narration of the classic Dracula.
I would like to say the men in this are very dramatic, but this is also true for Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray etc… maybe everyone really did talk/think this flamboyantly? 🤔

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew #OneSnackToRuleThemAll #TeamPumpkinSpice

Day 2 of the spooky countdown calendar is Spiced Pumpkin Pie. A black tea with all those good pumpkin spice flavours.

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

This was a fun mystery.
Alma‘s ex, the protector of Silverpool, has been killed. A powerful magical relic has been stolen. And the magical authorities think she knows more than she is telling them.
Alma needs to work out who really killed them, and who stole the relic to clear her name, and so she isn‘t killed in the process.

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew #Witchathon #OneSnackToRuleThemAll #TeamPumpkinSpice #DoubleSpin

Day 1 of the spooky countdown tea calendar is Campfires and Vampires. A green tea with cinnamon, rose, and cloves.
I have had this tea before, and while it isn‘t one I would reach for often, it is a very cosy tea! ☕️

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

My midpoint check in for #HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

I have 1906 points so far :)

Ghosts are a part of life in Boneyard Keys, but new resident Cassie didn‘t sign up for a ghostly roommate! Nick on the other hand grew up there and is very comfortable with his ghost, who bosses him around via text and has very strong opinions about his banana bread!

This was a fun cosy romance with a sprinkling of ghosts.

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew #DriverPicksTheMusic #SPNBookBingo2025 #OneSnackToRuleThemAll #TeamPumpkinSpice #BonfireToffee

Just one more week until I can start my spooky countdown tea calendar 🫖☕️

#HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

Still haven‘t started my book for September #FoodAndLit yet, but we had food for #Nicaragua tonight.
Gallo Pinto with cream and cheese.

It was very tasty, especially when paired with corn tortillas 🤭

My October #BookSpinBingo board

My #BookSpin is The Baby Dragon Cafe
My #DoubleSpin is Dead Witch on a Bridge

My September #BookSpinBingo wrap up.

Only managed 3 books, and not my Bookspin (which was food and lit). I will get to you in November maybe!
I finished:
• The First Fossil Hunters (audio)
• The Woman in Black (audio)
• In a World without Coffee (ebook)

From the blurb I thought I would enjoy this alternate world romance. But it was only so-so for me.

When Snaia is killed, Jill (a nurse with a coffee addiction) materialises in her place, and is captured by a demon called Vin.
I really didn‘t like the main characters, and the story does very much feel like a set up for the next one, rather than a story in itself. I don‘t think I will continue with the series.

#DoubleSpin

My spooky book recommendation is Devolution.

Told over interviews, book excerpts etc (like with world war z) it tells the tale of a community cut off after a volcanic eruption. While trying to survive without technology, they find themselves stalked by a group of Sasquatch.

#HauntedShelf #LetsGoPoints #BlackCatCrew

My rough #TBR for October and #HauntedShelf
I am most excited for the tagged book!
We will see what I end up reading though 🤣

These and a couple more books will make up my Bookspin bingo as well as a food and lit book (and probably need to finish this months food and lit book too!)

#LetsGoPoints #BlackCatCrew

I really enjoyed the audible audio for this book.
I had seen the film and was looking forward to the book, but they made it even more engaging and tense than I anticipated.

The house on the marshes cut away from the quaint farmers town by the tides is a perfect setting for a ghost story. And while there is no over the top ghostly activity it is all the more chilling for it. Especially once we learn the true consequences of the haunting.

I listened to this on audio so I missed out on some interesting pictures. But this was an interesting read!
It is about how myths and philosophy texts from Ancient Greeks and Romans might show evidence of fossil finds in antiquity. The theory being that fossils reinforced the ideas of giants and monsters that feed mythology.
My favourite chapter was the last one though, about hoaxes 🤣

My September #BookSpinBingo board

My BookSpin: The Scroll of Seduction (also my food and lit book for the month)
My DoubleSpin: In a World Without Coffee

I am very ready for the heatwaves to end, and autumn to begin! Hoping to bring the cooler weather with the background 🤣

My August #BookSpinBingo roundup.

It was a good reading month. And while I was close to a line, I didn‘t quite make one 🤣

10 books read in total:
• Hooked (Jul doublespin, started in July)
• A Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking (started in July)
• Fruits Basket Another Volume 1 - 4
• The Pumpkin Spice Cafe
• The Cinnamon Bun Book Store
• The Good Knight (Bookspin)
• Woven in Moonlight (Food and Lit Bolivia)

Hazel is worried she is going to turn 30 without ever having done anything adventurous, so when clues start turning up in the romance section of her bookshop, she turns to Noah to help her with the clues and to have a fun summer. But is one summer of fun enough?

My favourite of these so far (read the first 3 now). I think because it was a bit less instalove than the others 🤣

I listened to this on audio for #FoodAndLit #Bolivia

The MC the Condesa‘s decoy, captive among enemies, looking for a way to beat the false king and win her friend the throne. But as she gets to know the people around her, she realises maybe they aren‘t so different and there might be a better way to remove the king and restore peace.
A story of compassion, woven animals, enemies to friends (+), betrayal, and politics. It was an enjoyable read!

The final chapter in fruits basket another (followed by lots of bonus content from when the newer fruits basket anime was released - which I still need to watch. The original never had any conclusion!)

Shiki-kun and Sawa-San start to deal with the complicated feelings they have towards their mothers and family. I will miss hanging out with the Sohma‘s (although I am pretty sure they would be too much for me in reality!)