Hi Friends and Happy Easter! How have you been? I’m sorry for my very sporadic posts. I don’t know what to tell you other than I feel like I can’t get back into a regular routine of blogging. Overall, this month I’ve been struggling a bit with a lack of motivation whether it’s for blogging, exercise or anything else. But spring is here and so hopefully I get my mojo back soon. My reading this month has included several books but I’ve only finished two: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng and The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane. Both authors I’ve read before but these books were not on par w ..read more

It’s a bit late but we’re still in March so  time here’s a quick roundup on some new advance review copies that I’ve received.  Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for these: Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk; translated by Heather Cleary. Across two different time periods, two women confront fear, loneliness, mortality, and a haunting yearning that will not let them rest. A breakout, genre-blurring novel from one of the most exciting new voices of Latin America’s feminist Gothic. And, yes, vampires are involved! On sale 3/5/2024. Finding Sophie by Imran Mahmood. For the last seventeen ..read more

It has been quite a while since I went to the library. Last time was in December and I was dropping off some magazines for the magazine exchange program but I didn’t even look at the new books shelf! I do use the library frequently but basically for Audiobooks through the Libby App. However, I needed a book for my upcoming mystery book group and as I’ve been trying to curb my book buying a bit as my shelves are overflowing then I thought it’s time to visit the library! I was happy to see a display for Women’s History Month although I was hoping it would have a bit more nonfiction but maybe tho ..read more

I’m back from five days in Maui! Yes, it really was a work trip but there was quite a bit of downtime and it was wonderful to relax in such a beautiful place. Despite the devastation of the wildfires last year, you can feel the spirit of coming together to rebuild the community. We had great meals and my favorites being the seafood and fruit. Of course some delicious desserts were also savored at every meal. We went on a whale watching tour and before you think it was all fun, we did some volunteering at Kipuka Olowalu. It was fascinating to learn about native plants and their traditional uses ..read more

Well, hello there! I know it’s been a bit since I popped in here but we’ve just been so busy. The last few days were a bit stressful as I had to take my mom for some routine appointments and she was anxious which I understand as I get a lot of the white coat anxiety myself, but it’s hard when you’re trying to be strong for two people! All  is good though so I’m grateful for that. We haven’t had a lot of free time on the weekends either as my husband has had several personal projects going on and weekends are when I try to get caught up on my crafty homework for my Wanderlust class. All of ..read more

How is it the end of January already? Although January always does feel like a very long month doesn’t it? I was doing so well with my reading coming into the new year but I think as I usually take a couple of days off around the holidays, I feel like I will always have that extra time and have big plans and then reality hits. Haha… So even though it’s a long month, my reading has been very slow going. I’ve been quite busy with work but I’m also really carving out time for my crafty/creative practice. So that means that I am reading every day but maybe not as much. That means that in January I ..read more

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you’ve all been staying warm during this winter. It was very cold here last week but thankfully no repeat of the 2022 winter storm. Anyway, thank you to Deb at Readerbuzz for hosting this chat. What I’m reading: For my commute I started a new audiobook, Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. It starts with the dramatic sentence that, “Lydia is dead. But they don’t know it yet.” Lydia being a teenager in 1970s Ohio. I’m on chapter four and am really hooked. What I’m watching: We love crime dramas and recently discovered Gangs of Oslo. Two childhood friends are ..read more

As you probably already know, I’m big on journals. I think currently I have about 7 in progress. I keep several going on at the same time because each one has a different focus. Some I write in almost daily and there are others that I may write in once a month so that’s why there are so many. In the past I’ve tried keeping reading notes but usually without much success and most of the notes were scattered around on post-its, catch-all journals, word doc, etc. But late in 2022 or so I started seeing YouTube videos and Instagram posts on reading journals/planners. There is so much creativity ou ..read more

Well here we are just a couple of weeks into the new year and I’m already two books behind on my GoodReads reading goal! haha… I love to set a number and think about the different genres I want to read over the year but it’s basically ideas. If I meet these goals or not, what matters is that I’m enjoying my reading and here’s what I’m reading lately. Winter Solstice by Rosamund Pilcher. This was my first book of the year and it’s such a good and engrossing story but I had to put it aside to focus on a book for my upcoming book group. The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton. The protagonist is a youn ..read more

A new year and lots of new books are hitting the shelves. As usual, I’m grateful for the opportunity for the advance review copes from Netgalley and the publishers. I’ve got a bit of everything here so let me tell you what’s on my radar: Split by Alida Bremer. It’s 1936. The seaside-resort village of Split on the Adriatic coast bustles with tourists and émigrés. But as war in Europe looms, Split is also a nest of spies, fascists, and smugglers. Then one summer morning it becomes the scene of a murder investigation when a corpse is found entangled in fishing nets in the port. On sale 1/1/2024 ..read more