It's been busy with my seasonal job kicking off this month so I didn't do a bookspin. I'm good at reading while Rick drives, though and a late night here and there meant I could rent and finish The Indranan War series by K.B. Wagers. It's a space opera, with a reluctant gunrunner-turned-Empress fighting to take back her throne and get revenge on the man who destroyed her family. It was really good and am now on series 2, The Farian War trilogy.

I'm truly interested in books, Ma, and the fact that there's a jar of cat treats two shelves above is mere coincidence 😄

This practically read itself in a day. It really grabbed me right away with the mystery then kept me engrossed with the fame/social media/puzzles/political aspects of it all. Nice ending, can't wait for the next one! A good choice for sci-fi/alien fans that are looking for a quick, easy read.

New #bookhaul from the thrift store today 😍 I can't wait to start going through these although it's been kindly pointed out that I'm running out of space on my bookshelves

This is the 3rd of the All Souls Trilogy which honestly I struggled to complete. The whole thing is boggy. Descriptions can run on and on. The vampires aren't very scary and the main character is way overpowered. And the entire premise of the story conflict - keeping creatures secret from humans - gets blown up in an unbelievable way where all the humans are totally fine with all the creatures in their midst.

When your husband goes to Staples for printer ink and brings you home a new notebook ? in his words "It was really pretty and I thought you'd like a new one". It IS pretty!

Been sick with omnicron and/or a kind of end-of-winter depression. You'd think spring would be better but for me this is a time where I miss a lot of people and start unfortunately looking at the past and focusing on the losses vs the wins. So to snap out of it I've started going on walks again and generally making healthier choices, but it's definitely gonna be a long haul here. (Literally, I can barely walk a block feeling like i can't breathe)

I haven't posted in forever but here's my April #bookspin list

My book haul. There were SO MANY books to wade through. Shelves full of them and boxes and boxes just stacked on top of each other in the back. Hardcovers 2.00/softcover 1.00/antiques individually priced. I'll have to go back in the summer!

My Valentine's Day present ❤❤

I've been thinking a lot about the concepts of strength, resilience and fortitude lately and how to improve those. So today's #thinkpositivebepositive quote is along those lines 💚

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks thanks for the reminder to be positive today!

I got some holds that arrived all at the same time on Libby, but I'm especially excited for this graphic novel about the 2017 California wildfires.

How my February is going so far 😂

Slipped in the snowbank on my way to the bathroom. After my husband fished me out (I was arse over teakettle and he was LAUGHING, instant divorce!) I made it all the way to the outhouse only to find it WAS LOCKED. 😮‍💨 who locks an outhouse? I ended up doing my business in the bush like a real Canadian fisherwoman but ew, gross, thank God I have sanitizer everywhere.

Doctor said it was badly sprained.

My #bookspin for February 2022 @TheAromaofBooks #bookspinbingo #bookspin2022

Christmas book haul! (In addition to Xmen: Dofp)

I've read Dune before as an ebook but somehow Rick found a used SET of books. They're all from the 60s-80s and all appear to be in good shape. I can't stress enough how excited I was for those. Actually I'm excited for all these books! 😄 here's to a great next year of reading!

Currently reading this (Christmas present from my husband) in bed. We are both sick from what the doctor figured was covid, but somehow we don't have to test for it, just isolate for 10 days (we're on day 4). Between this and the constant snow and freezing rain I haven't gone grocery shopping in a week and a half and we're holding on thx to my pantry stocking abilities ☺. Soup and stews are in the foreseeable future!

I took this yesterday. It's my back deck. It's about 2 ft snow overall (I haven't shoveled the deck since November and I'm kind of nervous to now lol) and yes that is frost on the window. Frost on the front door too, I had to yank it hard to open it.

Tomorrow's forecast shows a beautiful 0 degrees which will be time to shovel out the drive and walkway and clear off my car finally

So it's been like -40 for most of the week and snowing... which is not weather that I like to walk to the mailbox in. But tonight we went out because it's warming up and I got to check the mailbox and it was FULL of awesome mail. Thank you all so much! I'll be doing replies here throughout the week but just wanted to post my blessing here and say thank you all so much!

Thank you @melissajayne for this wonderful #littlechristmasswap gift!! I LOVE red licorice and opening this was heaven sent 🥰

#thinkpositivebepostive quote for the week is from the lovely introvertdoodles over on IG. I'm a big time introvert and make no bones about it!

Book 19 on my #bookspin bingo is Grave War, the last of the Alex Craft novels by Kalayna Price. If you like urban fantasy crossed with detectives then I recommend this series about a death-magic reality-shifting private detective. Lots of interesting characters and plot threads, the romance is good, and I'm sorry it's all over and I read them so fast 😭 thanks library for getting the entire collection in over the holidays! 😊

It's crazy to think that "all" I've read is 56 books yet that is a lot for me! It's also 4 books past my goal of 52 ?

That is IT I'm staying inside huddled up with the cats 😭

What I'm doing with the stickers (so far) is decorating the inside front cover.

I got a present over Christmas from Granny Lowey (my dad's mom) who has been having what we hope is a lovely alternate heavenly vacation with Grandpa since 2018. It was a pair of scarves that belonged to her, and because they were vacuumed sealed they smelled very strongly of her. Instant tears and memories of watching Judge Judy and TWD with her 💕

And also new happy mail today is this adorable Christmas card featuring a holiday doggo and some beautiful vellum stickers from @BookwormAHN

Thank you so much 💖💖💖

I'll be sending out letters next week as I want to take time to read and visit with my inlaws, we're doing a Christmas-New Years Eve combo tomorrow 😊

Happy Birthday mail I got today from @Lovesbooks87

Thank you so much Jessica!! It's greatly appreciated 😊

Best gift my husband gave me this year was a new #bulletjournal 💖 to help me write out my goals and thoughts and stuff.

I've never really done it before - it's hard to stick with it - but I'm going to try really hard to set aside time every day to keep up with it.

My January #bookspin card (are we using #bookspin or #bookspin22 as the hastag?)

Weather: -24 C and snowing
Mood: feeling productive
Drinking: iced coffee
Working On: my 2022 bujo planner

And here is my lineup for the #newyearspecial #20in4 #treasurehunt challenge:

🌺 Goal: 20 chapters in days
🌿 Ultimate Challenge: finish all 4 books
🍁 Additional Bonus Points: find all the words for the treasure hunt

Here's to a great rest of 2021!

1) My greatest achievement this year was crossing my bucket list item of "suspension bridge walk" which I did back in July during our 2nd anniversary. My greatest challenges this year have been trying to improve my A1C, dealing with IBS and also dealing with my mom's cancer diagnosis and and family drama fallout from that.

2) Left-handed Booksellers of London was my favourite book for 2021

3) I hope that 2022 brings better health for me.

This month being cold (whitecourt is #14 on the coldest places in the world today at a balmy -37 C but easily feels like -45 with the wind) I've managed to get some reading in. Reviews in comments but I'm pretty pleased with my progress this month 🥰

#20in4 Reading Challenge for the end of the year!

I was tagged by @kspenmoll but anyone can join in, comment and let me know what y'all are reading 📚 💚

If you like some piano music give this album a try, it's all dreamy tones and wistfulness.

Everyone who sent me a birthday or Christmas card - know that they have been received and I am replying - but I put them all up here and they made me really happy. I definitely have been struggling lately with family drama and medical stuff but these have helped me a lot. All is not grimdark all the time. 😭

Lord if we could stop with the snow that would be great 😭 it's up to my mid shins and still coming down like rain

This month I was involved in a big (for me) Christmas Baking Exchange! I made the chocolate peppermint crinkles in the bottom left corner. I've never baked such a large batch in my life 😅 I loved the rectangular cookies which had a peanut-coconut filling, reminiscent of Amish Church Spread.

Just in time for Christmas 🎄 ☺

My bingo card for December #bookspin and #bookspinbingo 🌸🌺

The new floors are almost all done, they need to cure then tomorrow they'll get finished. But this is how it looks. That hexagonal vinyl in the kitchen is so beautiful and I love the grey tones overall. That's me dishwasher in the living room, the stove and fridge are behind it but I could only plug in one appliance so obviously I chose the perishables 😆 I can't wait to be DONE done and start decorating

December's #bookspinbingo list. This time I'm writing the books right on the grid and I'll write the numbers over top and I'll pin it to the wall so I don't lost it in the moving like I did with November's list.

A horror story about vampires and the Amish sounded interesting to me, and while it delivered on gore and spookiness I was left really annoyed with some character's choices and the way the tale unfolded. There's no resolution to some of the conflicts (perhaps in the sequel, but this one I probably will pass on).

This one was interesting and a good contrast to The Hallowed Ones. Both are books with a horror bent and both have religious-as-oppression overtones. This one though I enjoyed slightly more, the characters are a little more likeable in their search for hope and redemption and in the end Agnes's leadership is actually inspiring and what I would hope would happen in a worldwide apocalypse.

West is the sequel to East, both were really good. It is YA fantasy, set in a pretty well thought out world with various mythologies influencing the story. I really like the wind-magic system, and I also enjoy the "hero in need of rescuing" flip, usually it's the damsel in distress but not with these books! I would love to see these be made into a movie ?

The Night Weaver by Monique Syman was an interesting YA novel. Good for people wanting a different take on faeries with a little creepiness and romance mixed in. WHAT I DID NOT LIKE WAS THE CONSTANT USE OF PRESENT TENSE.

There, I said it. It's all in present tense which was jarring occasionally, but I got over it enough to read the next in this series and I'll likely read the third (if there is one) to finish the story, so to speak.

🥳🥳🥳

On the good note I woke up and had 2 holds come in:

🌸 Agnes At The End of the World by Kelly McWilliams
🌸 West by Edith Pattou (this is a sequel to East)

Perhaps the most annoying thing about being sick right now is that I was scheduled to get my shot yesterday and had to back out. I was willing but apparently my sinusitis is bad enough that the recommendation came back as a no. The good news though is that my pharmacist said as soon as I'm healthier he will get me in so that's at least something positive. I'm headed back to bed, I was up all night.

So.... this week I've been down with a nasty sinus infection (I get them every year at this time, like an unfriendly reminder of my mortalit- okay, I'll stop being dramatic 😅) and committed the cardinal sin of binging Shadow & Bone on Netflix without having read any of the books (I did this with the Witcher, too,although I'd played the games before). Now I've just finished this one, and onto the next, and I kind of like the TV one better. 🤷‍♀️

Feeling this today 💕

Try stuffing that chicken with apples and lemon and serve with sweet potato, carrots, potatoes and apples for an impressive fall dinner. Serve with smaunt fat slash creamy gravy and light some candles to make it all fancy 😋