#serieslove24

I‘ve read many cozies over the years but Jenn Mckinlay was the first cozy author that I ever read and her two series, Book Lovers and Cupcake series are the only 2 series I keep up with. I‘ve been reading these for years so they are always warm, comforting, and the characters feel like old friends. In this book it‘s Halloween time and librarian Lindsey discovers the skeletal remains of a woman from a 30 year old cold case.

#hyggehourreadathon

Slowly working my way through this stack of books this evening while admiring the cute mug my niece and nephew gave me for Mother‘s Day. Their sweet words on the card made me laugh and cry. Hope everyone‘s day was filled with peace and love.

#NancyDrewBR #SeriesLove24

Another fun adventure for Nancy and her besties. This time there is a mysterious fire and a crooked business man that is stealing the ideas of others. Happy to finally have Ned in this one and looking forward to seeing more of him.

#hyggehourreadathon

Had an impromptu family get together yesterday so I missed out on hygge hour but made up for it today. Tried out Uncle Fluffy Japanese cheesecakes for lunch today. I know. Cheesecake for lunch is not ideal but that is the beauty of being a grown up, I can do what I want. Overall, I enjoyed it. Very light and fluffy but the cheesecake flavor was very mild.

Call me intrigued. I‘ve never read Dracula before so I‘m going to give this a whirl. Hope I can keep up with it. So far I‘m enjoying the emails.

I read a chapter this morning and now I‘m ahead of the game by actually starting my May #bookspin pick. Now fingers crossed I finish it!

April #SeriesLove2024 wrap up

Doing great with my middle grade series thus far but need to pick up more adult series.

May #BookSpin

I‘ve been failing miserably at bookspin this year. Let‘s hope that May is a good month and that I actually complete this months pick!

Growing up I was a Trixie Belden girl & not a Nancy Drew girl. So for the first time as an adult I‘m reading Nancy Drew with the buddy read & I did my first adult reread of Trixie. I enjoyed it very much and I can now positively confirm that I‘m still a Trixie girl as I liked this so much better. I felt the characters & plot were more detailed & fleshed out. I still enjoy Nancy, she is a great mc but Trixie definitely has better storytelling.

I did actually participate in Independent book store day on Saturday and not just on Sunday. I went to my neighborhood indie and picked up these two titles and one sticker book. Never Whistle at Night was highly recommended by Linda the wonderful proprietor of this store. Can‘t wait to dig into these titles!

My loot from ABC. Art‘s Delicatessen was a couple stores over where I had lunch and of course I ordered an egg cream.

#hyggehourreadathon

I tried tagging Annabelles Bookclub LA but the store wasn‘t listed in the database. Anyway, an unexpected work trip brought me out to the valley yesterday and it put me in proximity to Annabells so I had to pop in. Cute store, very well curated and if you didn‘t know, Annabell opened her store at the age of 17. I spent my hygge hour last night photographing my loot.

Reading and flipping between the Dodgers and the Rangers games this afternoon with a favorite little treat. Having an early #hyggehourreadathon as I‘ll be driving home later this evening from a weekend of pup sitting.

#childrensclassicread2024

This zany red head was a childhood favorite and she stands the test of time of time. Still a fun read. Now I have a hankering to watch the movies. Pippi on the run is my favorite.

#NancyDrewBR #SeriesLove2024

Another fun installment of Nancy Drew. This time she encounters a cult and a crime syndicate. I missed having Hannah in this one but we had more Carson Drew. Glad to have George and Bess around but annoyed we had no mention of Ned.

After a long day yesterday I was too tired for #hyggehourreadathon but made up for it today by taking an extended walk and stopping to smell the flowers. Sadie enjoyed the springtime flowers as well.

#hyggehourreadathon

I had my hygge hour this afternoon as I puppy sat my aunts new dog. I enjoyed reading Crumbs and Pippi with gorgeous views of the ocean before my drive home this evening.

#childrensclassicread2024

Rereading a childhood favorite. On the left was what my original copy of Pippi looked like. I wish it had survived childhood. On the right is the replacement copy I purchased in the late 90‘s.

March #bookspin #childrensclassicread2024

Hard to believe I went this long in life without reading this gem. Such beautiful descriptions of nature, and a heartwarming tale that made me miss my grandparents. So glad I read it and so glad I purchased the book.

April #bookspin pick! Looks like a perfect book to start gearing up for summer.

#MiddleGradeMarch

Only got four books in for #MiddleGradeMarch and I didn‘t even get to my Jason Reynolds book but as always it was a joy to participate. Heidi was my favorite.

March #wrapup

A good reading month. Graphic novels have been a big help in getting me out of a little slump. Stand outs of the month are Heidi and Swans of Fifth Avenue. Now for next month, hoping to read more novels.

#sadiescarlett

Happy Easter! 🐇🐣🐰 An old but cute picture.

#hyggehourreadathon

Finishing up Heidi in my peaceful hotel room in LA. Just finished a delicious room service breakfast. Happy to not be cooking or hosting today. Heading to a Dodger game this afternoon with family for Easter. ⚾️🐣 Go Blue!

#middlegrademarch

I knew the subject matter going in but really wasn‘t expecting this to be so heartbreaking and tough to read. This novel in verse tells the story of Betita and her family‘s experience as cranes, people who migrate, for various reasons. Her family is torn apart due to cruel immigration policies in the US. I‘ll never understand how people can treat other people so inhumanly. Our systems are so broken.

March #serieslove2024 wrap up

No more books in a series will be read by Sunday so posting my monthly wrap up. I completed the truly devious trilogy, I‘m keeping current on the Click and Heartstopper series, and I‘m continuing on with the Nancy Drew series.

April #bookspin

Proud of myself for not waiting until the last minute!

This is for all you Litsy crafters and letter writers. Found this cute washi book tape with quotes from Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, and The Secret Garden at Barbes & Noble. They had another style of washi tape of banned book quotes.

#serieslove2024 #middlegrademarch

In this installment we see Olive reluctantly spend spring break with her father, whom she hasn‘t seeing in a long time, and learn the balance between social media and living in the moment. Book 6 in the fun mg graphic novel Click series.

#hyggehourreadathon

Wearing my warm cozy wrap and catching up on Heidi, which I‘m loving, and my book club book which is dragging. I did some baking today and made a carrot cake from scratch with homemade cream cheese frosting.

#hyggehourreadathon

Totally forgot to post a pic from last night! I‘ve really been enjoying hygge hour as it‘s helping me get through my current stack of books. Just finished watching Feud, Capote and the Swans so I had to dive in further and find out more. Even though this is a fiction title it follows the show pretty closely.

#serieslove2024

Caught up and current on the Heartstopper series. Such a sweet series filled with lots of great characters. In this volume Nick contemplates which University he wants to attend and Charlie learns that he doesn‘t need Nick to be brave, that he can be brave on his own.

#serieslove2024 #middlegrademarch

Once again thanks to hygge hour I‘m making progress on my reads. Finished this one and I was so happy to finally meet George and Bess. More of the same formulaic plot filled with phantoms and secret passages but this time at a ranch in Arizona.

#hyggehourreadathon

Reading some mg titles tonight and Heartstopper on my iPad. My usual mug of tea, a favorite seasonal candy and I don‘t have this candle by Bath and Body Works but I saw it in the store and I‘m quite curious.

#serieslove2024

Thanks to hygge hour last night I was able to finish the last book in the Truly Devious trilogy. As a whole I did enjoy the series. Great mysterious murder plot but it really could have all been done in one book and in the end the big reveal felt anticlimactic. The tagged book just dragged as I waited and waited for Stevie to divulge who the killer was. Glad to have this series finally completed.

#hyggehourreadathon

Spent most the day doing laundry and chores so it was extra relaxing this evening to don my favorite pair of cozy socks, have tea in one of my favorite mugs and lather my hands with a favorite scent of vanilla and lavender while reading the pictured books.

February #serieslove2024 wrap up. Squeezed in two series titles this month.

I just need to pick up this months Nancy Drew read from the library and my #MiddleGradeMarch stack is good to go. My current favorite mg author is Jason Reynolds and I‘ve read nearly all of his mg titles except the tagged title.

March #bookspin pick is also March #childrensclassicread2024 Love it when that happens!

February #wrapup

Favorite book of the month is tagged but Stories on Rye is a favorite too. Still struggling a bit with a slump, it‘s been hard for me to focus on anything other than a graphic novel or a very short book. Hope this feeling ends soon, my books are pulling up.

March #bookspin

Joining in on #MiddleGradeMarch again so my list is full of mg titles.

In my Japanese fiction era. Haven‘t read most of these but recently completed The Kamogawa Food Detectives and I really enjoyed it!

#hyggehourreadathon

Ended the week and weekend with a nice glass of Malbec and my bookspin pick.

Snaps of Canters and the signed book illustrated by the granddaughter of its founder, Gina Canter. My usual meal I order vanilla egg cream potato pancakes and not pictured pastrami on rye. Afterwards I hit up the bakery counter for cookies and hamantaschen all of which I failed to get pictures of before they were devoured.

Tonight‘s #hyggehourreadathon was enjoying this book I bought yesterday from one of my all time favorite eateries. It‘s the only place I know of in LA that comes close to NYC deli & it‘s delish. Not only is it good eating but it‘s a storied restaurant that started in the 1930‘s & is still going strong.

Lastly, our loot.. books, stickers and bookmarks.

The Ripped Bodice from the inside of the store, very cute and instagram-able. Hope to make it to the Brooklyn store one day.

Finally took the drive to LA and went to the Ripped Bodice bookstore with my niece. We had a great day of shopping and eating. Gonna spam your feed with lots of pics of our day. 🤗

I failed miserably at keeping up with the chapter a day read a long but I did make it to the halfway mark. I‘ve contemplated DNF‘ ing but I feel it‘s such an important work that I must continue and finish. So for now I‘m going to continue on and I hope to finish no matter how long it takes me.