The house is quiet, and I‘ve got a book, a cat, a Christmas movie, and nowhere to go tomorrow. I think I‘ll stay up a little longer.

#jolabokaflod swap and #wintercardswap envelopes are out.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

This week flew!

1) snow flurries at the metro yesterday
2) cats doing weird things like wearing glasses and sitting in the shower and refusing to move
3) this ornament that @Cuilin sent last year looks gorgeous in the sun
4) winter sunsets
5) cookies for breakfast

Happy Friday everyone!

Getting down to the wire for #192025 so I listened to this short book from 1964 today.

A sweet memoir of the life of a child growing up on a farm in Iowa during the depression. I first read this in 2008. Seemed like it was time again. #ReadingUSA

This was a wild ride! I will never scroll through Instagram in the same way again.

I pulled out the Dutch oven and made white beans and tomatoes for dinner tonight. It was easy and delicious with bread and salad. #FoodAndLit #Italy

https://bellieskitchen.com/cheesy-white-bean-tomato-bake/?utm_source=pinterest&u...

Got the tree up now settling in for #hyggehour

I got a big chunk of my to do list crossed off this weekend, and some missing packages magically appeared so I‘m feeling pretty ready for the week ahead. I‘m tired though so I‘m going to use this hour to clear my mind and read a mystery.

This fun little book convinced me to stay in bed for an extra hour this morning. I like this series about Queen Elizabeth solving crimes in the most proper way, and I‘m glad the author found a way to keep it going.

Breakfast and a book before a busy day.

I‘m catching up on #JaneAustenThenAndNow

This version of Emma set in NYC was pleasant enough. Reader beware if you don‘t like open door it starts off very PG but the last quarter was fairly X 😂 A whole other side of Knightley.

#Chatterday @AllDebooks

The highlight of the year and the thing that brought me the most joy was watching my teens become adults. I just love talking to them (most of the time looking at you 6 7) and hearing them form their thoughts about the world. I was forced into self care this year thanks to my neck issues, but it really did teach me that it makes a difference. And this weekend I‘m hoping to make cookies. Everyone feel free to join!

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) Christmas tree is up and cats are interested
2) the moon has been majestic this week
3) Daughter came back from France with a taste for interesting cheese
4) snow!
5) cats sleeping in the sun

This is a well loved little book of short stories by Truman Capote- two stories about Christmas and one about Thanksgiving all semi (?) autobiographical from Capote‘s childhood. They‘re magical and wistful. An every year read for me- I finished this year‘s read at my kitchen table last night and it was definitely fruit cake weather.

This book was very strange, but it worked. How would history have changed if Hillary never married Bill? Sittenfeld pulled it off. #ReadingUSA #Arkansas

#SnowyDecemberReadathon Day 3

Thanks to insomnia last night I got a few chapters read in A Death In Diamonds. Almost done with Rodham and Capote.

Day two of #SnowyDecemberReadathon

I listened to a good chunk of Rodham today, and I‘m closing it out with Capote‘s A Christmas Memory.

Read 23 books in November and not a single Bingo. I still have high hopes of finishing all my November books, all my December books, and finishing all my unfinished challenges 😂🤣😂🤣

It‘s #hyggehour time. I‘m starting the new Louise Penny. No snacks tonight after overdosing on pie this weekend. Just not in the mood. A little bit ready to go back to work tomorrow, but not really. It‘s our busiest time of the year so I‘m bracing myself for chaos. Enjoy the hour everyone.

#TodayILearned Truman Capote was fired from the New Yorker in the early 40‘s for inadvertently offending Robert Frost 😂 It happens.

Thanks to everyone who joined in this month for #NFN

I‘ve been reading this a chapter a week with my book club, and it has been very enjoyable. Magnetic North is a travel log from a woman in the Arctic, and this edition had an afterword ten years later after climate change had really started to take hold. #NonFictionNovember

I liked that this book looked at climate change from more of a non-western point of view that I usually see. I also appreciated the comparison between Pope Francis‘ Laudato si‘ and the Paris Climate Accord. #Naturalitsy @AllDebooks #NonfictionNovember

It took me all month to read this just because I knew the ending, and it‘s so easy to judge in hindsight. I‘m glad I persevered though because the afterword was excellent. #NonfictionNovember

This was a sweet book that touched on serious topics (cancer, fraud, PTSD, alcoholism.) I enjoyed it- perfect for this time of year since pie was frequently mentioned.

I got my reading porch set up for December. It‘s too cold to read outside most days but every once in a while we get a sunny afternoon.

#TodayILearned Wayne Newton is still alive. Good for him. Googled while watching National Lampoons Vegas Vacation. That‘s all I got today 😂

The idea for Frankenstein came to Shelley during a ghost story competition with her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Polidori during the cold summer of 1816. #TodayILearned #NFN

I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would once I got past the whole sentient blob thing. The MC, Vi, was unlikable but also kind of relatable. I‘m glad I gave it a try.

@hooked_on_books @barbarabb @chelsea.Poole @squirrelbrain @sarahbarnes @ChaoticMissAdventures

#tob26

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) bogo Chipotle bowls on Thanksgiving eve with my son was unexpectedly a ton of fun
2) running into Not My Cat while walking
3) pics from my daughter in Paris
4) mini pie pans
5) gorgeous sunset last night

Happy Friday all!

I completely re-did my December #BookspinBingo list once I saw the 2026 #TOBLonglist

I think I have it now. Books tagged in the comments.

@TheAromaofBooks after a busy fall you head up to the lake for a quiet weekend away. You throw everything in the car before you can even check the weather. Before you know it you are #SnowedIn

Early morning commute reading- I spy Christmas lights up in Old Town! Yay!

It‘s so dark out I thought it was time for #hyggehour but actually it was 6:15. I guess I am supersizing my hygge time tonight! I‘m looking at some cookbooks and am going to catch up on #NFN and my bookclub reading. I‘m feeling confident about my ability to fit 5 days of work into 2 days this week.

Whew, this book. I loved it. Found families, stories we tell ourselves and others, caregiving, and work are all things I love in a book. #TournamentofBooks2026 long list #ReadingUSA Connecticut

My library stack for December 🍪🍪🍪

The perfect comfort listen this week. I always forget how much I love this book. #Pemberlittens #JaneAustenThenAndNow

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) The green tomatoes I picked before it got cold are starting to ripen
2) Just got a text from my daughter that she landed safely in France
3) Going through my son‘s baby pictures this week for his senior yearbook
4) Thanksgiving decorations
5) Lights starting to appear in my neighborhood make for festive walks

Hang in there everyone!

Lichens take nutrients from the air and so absorb many times more radioactive isotopes than other plants. #TodayILearned #NFN

@TheBookHippie our comfort food dinner for tonight. We use bbq sauce on the meatballs.

Sorry not book related but a coincidence after your post earlier.

It's here! https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/the-year-in-fiction-2025

I've read at least 5 😂

I was worried about this short story/essay collection after Go Set A Watchman, but I actually quite liked it. Some of these have previously been published, but they were all new to me. My favorite was Lee‘s recollection of the time when her friends gave her a year‘s salary so she could take the year off to write.

I‘ve been meaning to read this forever- since the summer I lived in Asheville and his house burned down. I finally got to it this month, and while I‘m glad I read it I wasn‘t really wowed. Some passages though ripped my heart out. So it‘s a low pick. #192025 1929 @Librarybelle

This book was readable but the cheese factor was not for me right now. Blame the news. #ReadingUSA #Kansas

AITAH?

I Bess (18 f) went on a trip to New Orleans with my friend Nancy (18 f, titan hair.) I wanted to see the sights and sample the local food, but Nancy wanted to work and eat sensible meals the entire time. AITAH?

I enjoyed this #NancyDrewBR - it had quicksand so how could I not? Thanks for leading us @Librarybelle

It‘s another supersized #hyggehour because I have to get my book club book read by tomorrow. I‘m snacking on some cranberry apple bread that did not want to come out of the pan but is delicious anyway. These last few weeks have been incredibly over scheduled, and this coming week is no different. However Thanksgiving week is the week after so there is an end in sight. Then I am going to read all the books.

Another Saturday another field hockey tournament. At least I get little reading breaks between games. This work bookclub book is due Monday. Hoping I can read enough to at least say something in the discussion.

Like anyone who has spent any time on the Great Lakes I knew about the Edmund Fitzgerald, but it was interesting to hear the whole story. I liked that the author went in depth about the lives of the men onboard and about the Gordon Lightfoot song. #NFN

#5JoysFridsy @DebinHawaii

1) it‘s been a lovely fall
2) necco wafers aren‘t the same as they used to be but still make me smile
3) early Christmas decorations hit the spot this year
4) winter flowers
5) read leaves with pink skies

Happy Friday everyone!

#TodayILearned that taconite is low-grade sedimentary rock containing iron-bearing minerals mixed with other materials like quartz. #NFN

The Edmund Fitzgerald was overloaded by more than 1,000 tons so they could break a record. #TodayILearned #NFN