#BFC week two was a weird one. The kids finally went back to school and I was slammed at work making up for a week of snow days and getting ready for a trip to visit my in-laws in Florida. Then a day of almost no movement because we were driving. Finally we‘re in Florida and spending as much time as possible outside with huge step totals to prove it.

I‘ve read almost nothing in a week and a half. I‘m hoping my reading brain restores itself 🤞

I picked this book based on the cover alone, and I‘m happy to say it worked out! It was told in three timelines but all centered around one English garden. It‘s so super cold here this week I enjoyed reading about a garden in bloom.

This year I‘m working on getting the the books I‘ve had on my TBR the longest. I really wanted to read this in 2014 but 2022 me says it‘s just okay. The story was up and down and there were way too many coincidences.

I love traveling in Michigan, and have spent many happy days along the Great Lakes.

Some books I‘ve read that take place at least in part in Michigan:
Station Eleven - a favorite of all time
Finding Mrs. Ford
Mrs. Everything
Beach Read
#RoadTripUSA2022

Great question from @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Here are five that come to mind:
1) Louise Penny‘s Inspector Gamache series
2) A Piece of the World
3) A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
4) Stephen King‘s Dark Tower series
5) Devotions by Mary Oliver

#SundaySoapbox

It‘s cold and rainy and this book was perfect for reading under a blanket. This was a solid four star book of poetry for me. I especially loved How to Lose That Stubborn Weight and How to be Hopeful. The poem about her mother‘s death punched me in the gut. #AuthorAMonth

#BFC 2022 update week 1

This was a wild week. It started with hiking in shorts and was followed by a destructive snow storm. Then a Covid diagnosis for my son, a leaky sink, and a little more snow. 🤷‍♀️ 2022

But I did make progress on my goals. I hit my step count and spent 30 minutes outside each day except for 1. When I got the Covid news I did some contact tracing then curled up in a ball.

Listened to 2 audiobooks while active.

This was a mixed bag for me. I liked the modern day story of Nour and her family, but was bored by the ancient timeline. I did learn about the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta which I had never heard of before.

I read this for my work book club but it would also work for #FoodandLit Egypt and #ReadingAfrica2022

It‘s been about 25 years since I first started reading this series, and now that it‘s over I thought I would start again. I enjoyed this trip down memory lane, and it was interesting to meet the series regulars before they became regulars.

Caught a glimpse of my bookshelf in the winter sun today and it made me smile.

Thank you so much @KatieDid927 I am so excited to have my own copy of this, and the snacks are great!

Just got mail for the first time in five days and this was in it. Perfect timing @BeckyWithTheGoodBooks

#12booksof21 #12booksof2021 December

In a crazy month this book tickled my reading muscles in a way not much else has in a while.

Thank you @Andrew65 for hosting this. It has been a fun look back.

Thanks for the tag @Catsandbooks

1) I love it until it gets all gross and slushy!

2) I love taking pictures of the snow and ice.

#Two4Tuesday

#12booksof21 #12booksof2021 @Andrew65

Mary Oliver‘s books of poetry are usually at the top of my lists and November was no different!

Great idea @megnews

The tagged book gives a great look at Ohio when it was considered the frontier. I have also pictured some of my favorite Ohio reads.

I visit Ohio quite often. My favorite places are Cuyahoga National Park, Lake Erie, and baseball games at Progressive Field. Ohio is also a great place to get a good meal!

#RoadTripUSA2022

I made Egyptian Fava Bean Stew from the tagged cookbook today. It was perfect for a snowy day! #FoodAndLit

A lot has been said about this book so I won‘t add my clumsy synopsis, but I will say that I really loved it. I put off reading it for so long because I didn‘t think it would hold up to Homegoing. It was different but still just as heart wrenching in all the best ways.

#ReadingAfrica Ghana

#12booksof21 #12booksof2021 October

This modern day version of Austen‘s Persuasion set in Tobago worked so well. It was great on audio!

Feeling a little too scatterbrained to read much tonight so I worked on my #BookspinBingo board tonight. Like I say every month- this is my month I know it!

Book goal- attempt a #BookspinBingo blackout every month
Physical goal - 10,000 steps a day
Nutritional goal- eat more vegetables and commit to less food waste (I‘m sometimes better at buying veggies than using them)
Mental goal- 30 minutes outside per day
Spiritual goal- Write in my gratitude journal each day

#BFC @wanderinglynn

Another week of hiking over reading, but managed to get a few books read. Week 5 total was 2,539 and my grand total was 17,854.

Thanks so much @Clwojick and fellow #MistletoeManiacs This was a lot of fun. #WinterGames

#12booksof21 #12booksof2021 September

I really loved the characters in this book. I‘ll have to re-read this one in a year or two to see if it holds up to the five star rating I gave it last September.

Reading on audio this time #PemberLittens

Once again a very messy #BookspinBingo list 😄

Starting to wrap it up for #WinterGames #MistletoeManiacs

This was a busy week working and having guests in town. I listened to a few podcasts though, and saw Spiderman which ended with a Christmas scene.

I was one away from a blackout in #BookspinBingo #AVeryMerryBingo and #RoaringWolf and made a dent in #LittenListen

I might still finish one book today so I‘ll post my final totals tomorrow.

I really enjoyed this short book about Christmas in 1941 and the history behind two popular Christmas carols. #WinterGames #MistletoeManiacs

I love, love, love my #Bestof2021Swap package. Thank you so much @ncsufoxes

I haven‘t read either of the books, but they are just what I love. And as it looks more and more like we will be going back to virtual school after the break the chocolate, puzzle, and tea will come in handy! Oh and I love Dove chocolate too!

Thanks for hosting this amazing swap @candority

#12booksof21 #12booksof2021 August

This was a tough call, but this treasure hunt memoir eventually won out because I happened to listen to it with my family while driving around Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah.

First and last reads of 2021- not a great year in general, but a really good reading year. So glad for good books.

When I first read this book I was annoyed by the detour into Roland‘s past. On this read through I liked it a lot more. It had kind of a people are confused 2021 vibe.

#20in4 book 3 of 4

My last book of2021 with a very fitting title for this year (unless I finish my audiobook.)

A melancholy book about a young woman trying to make her way in Brooklyn. It‘s very well written but kind of a bummer.

#WinterCosy #VeryMerryReadathon #WrapItUpReadathon #ChristmasMyWay #BookspinBingo #WinterGames #MistletoeManiacs #20in4 Book 2 of 4

This is the second Diffenbaugh book I‘ve read and I really like what she does with her characters. I read this story about a struggling family in Washington state all in one day.

#20in4 book 1 of 4 #WinterCosy #AVeryMerryReadathon #WrapItUpReadathon #ChristmasMyWay #WinterGames #MistletoeManiacs

#Bestof21 #Bestof2021 July

I‘m a sucker for armchair hiking, and this is one of the better ones.

Last read of 2021. I bought it to read last Christmas 🤷‍♀️

My house guests left and the laundry is started. It‘s time to settle in with this stack for #20in4 #NewYearSpecial with @Andrew65

#12booksof21 #12booksof2021 June

Another book I would have never read if it weren‘t for #FoodAndLit

The life of Svetlana Alliluyeva (aka Stalin‘s daughter) was bizarre and tumultuous, and this doorstop of a book flew by.

#12booksof21 #12booksof2021

May:
I‘ll always remember this book as the one I read while waiting for my post vaccination fevers to go away. This one just took me away to another world.

#12booksof2021 #12booksof21

My best read of April. I am still worried about this fictional family!

The weather this week was more suitable for spring hikes than winter reading, but I managed 4,625 points for 15,321 total so far. #WinterGames #MistletoeManiacs

#12booksof2021 #12booksof21

March was the month where, thanks to #FoodAndLit , I fell in love with Ethiopia in general and this book specifically.

These last few days have been a blur of family time, cooking, creeping on my neighbor‘s decorations, attempting crafts, movies, and podcasts. #WinterGames #MistletoeManiacs

#12booksof2021

When I read this in February I was reminded that the chunksters are usually worth it.

This is an every year listen for me. I love to hear Jim Dale read it although I am considering listening to Hugh Grant or Tim Curry next year after reading everyone else‘s reviews.

#WinterCosy #BlackwellsBookshelfReadathon #AVeryMerryReadathon #LittenListen #HolidayHorrorsReadathon #WrapItUpReadathon #ChristmasMyWay #WinterGames #MistletoeManiacs

I‘m beginning to really like this series. They‘re lightheaded and funny, and feature all sorts of delicious sounding baked goods. In this one our sleuths must come to the rescue when Santa is found stabbed by a candy cane at the village‘s tree lighting ceremony.

#wintercosy #Verymerryreadathon #Cloakanddaggerchristmas #holidayhorrorsreadathon #wrapitupreadathon #christmasmyway #bookspinbingo #wintergames #mistletoemaniacs

I‘m a big re-reader so I wanted to do a #Top21of21 for books that weren‘t new to me. Many of these are old friends, and some I returned to just to see if they would hold up. This is actually only 20 because that‘s what would fit in the collage, but I told myself I‘m saving space for whatever I read next week 😁

Hear me out: a Litten crew of personal shoppers for friends and relatives of other Littens who always hear they are hard to buy for or already have all the books. I‘ve done a million swaps and no Litten has ever told me that, but I hear it in real life all the time 😂🤪💡

#12booksof2021 January

This was my favorite new to me read book in January and also one of my top audiobook listens of the year.

Christmas Eve is the only night of the year that I like to stay up late. Everyone else has been asleep for hours and I‘m finally winding down with this version read by Jim Dale.

It took me nearly half the book to get into this, but once I did I liked it a lot. Three troubled people work together to hide a body after a random encounter. It wasn‘t as gruesome as it sounds, and I really ended up liking the characters.

#AuthorAMonth