Santa is finished and has joined his crew. I‘m laughing at Jeremy trying to escape the hospital before he is actually able to

#ohcanada #9 in the Inspector Gamache series - I‘m extra happy cuz it‘s set in December ❤️❤️ so it‘s a seasonal read too ( winning my personal game on all the levels 😆😆) just lazing in bed reading for as long as I can get away with is my main goal today

Ladies and Gentleman, the weekend #happyfridayreadinghour to all who celebrate 🙏🏻 loving being back in Three Pines world but it‘s more like the Upside Down World cuz things are not right 😢😢😢

Santa has arms and hands (bag #4) JR talks about how the breathing lessons he learned going to Lamaze classes with his mom when she was pregnant with his younger sister ( his dad had left ) kept him alive waiting for help after his snow cat accident - he had to force himself to inhale and exhale because of all the damage to his torso, his body wouldn‘t breath without conscious effort

Hanging out at Starbucks before I go into school for the afternoon. This was a delightful sweet romance with Scotland as a major character ❤️❤️❤️

So sad to hear Sophie Kinsella has passed away from the same awful kind of brain cancer as Gord Downie

Next on audio ( it‘s okay - he‘s repetitive with his phrasing) and Santa has legs

This story held me in its grip the whole time!!!! I guessed a few of the twists and turns but not the whys, what a rollercoaster ( Santa bag #2 is done)

My youngest is sick (he‘ll be fine), my oldest has been dumped (he‘ll be fine), my in laws are a pain in the ass ( there is no cure) and my husband is stressed about all of it ( holidays will get here eventually). I‘m just going to be here for the next while

The Botanical Garden is finished so now it‘s time for Santa

Almost done the Botanical Gardens 🎉 Frozen River is soooo good! Thank god for feisty women!

#sundaybuddyread

#happyfridayreadinghour praise be for the weekend! I hope everyone finds some peace and quiet with a book this weekend (with a tasty treat and beverage 😉)

All the stars ⭐️ for this amazing historical story with a fantastical twist! To think I doubted my ability to inhale this 22 hour addictive audio books set in Oxford in the 1800‘s 😆😆! Amateur

Getting my holiday reading started

#finishwhatyoustarted I started this in the summer of 2023, it was a gift from friends who live in Denmark. The author was/is a celebrated new author. This is a slow moving, reflective, poetically written reflection of life and grief and the endings we live through in a long life. It is not really my jam

Enjoying a day at home and knocking off some stuff from the To Do list including Santa making an appearance 🎅🏼I do wonder if Christmas would come if I wasn‘t here ? This book is amazing

#sundaybuddyread unite over their disdain of Picasso

I can‘t get enough of this story! I love how it‘s based on reality with this plausible fantastical twist

It was a good month ❤️ reading with this community makes my heart happy

31% and I am entranced - decorations are out and lights are on the tree but now I have to make dinner 😡 and deal with laundry and put sheets on my bed and go to work tomorrow. 1 air pod is dead and the second will die soon 😆

Christmasizing has begun. I am LOVING this story and loving it so much on audio. I hope I can get it done before Libby claws it back - I‘ve been working away for over an hour and I‘m only at 10% 😬

The Christmas tree has been procurred and set up. So that means my usual reading spot in the window is gone until after Epiphany. This book is just crammed with information; Picasso‘s artistic process, his relationships with women, fellow artists, his caustic, narcissistic gas lighting. I loved getting a glimpse of the artistic process, the artists P interacted with but I can‘t say I like Picasso at all #sundaybuddyread

Making a list and heading to my favourite independent book store to shop for gifts today

Let‘s see how this goes #fridayhappyreadinghour

#finishwhatyoustarted here we go - I was halfway through and now I‘m going to get her done. It is so poetically written, you have to slow down and savour the words which I‘m not good at. I‘m an inhaler of words. And biscuits

I love this book ❤️ being human is so hard but when we connect with someone or some someones it‘s the best

I love Rocky and her family so much. It feels like she has more time in her day ( and more grace) than I do. I hope we get another book

#5joysfriday 1. On Monday the van wouldn‘t start ( not a joy) but our neighbours came immediately to boost us - they are a joy! 2. Annual tradition of going to the Swedish fair in Toronto to have lunch & pick up the fancy foods - that‘s pickled herring 😆😆 I‘m holding 3. I did art on Monday with grade 4s & it was a great day 4. My Lego botanical garden continues to thrive 5. I organized my TBR cart with library books on top & a mishmash below

A very sweet romance with no spice, a grumpy man, an evil assistant/manager and Taylor Swift vibes ( imo) #littensloveromance

I organized the death tower today while listening to this audio book - its giving me Ali Smith vibes and I love it so much

Still plugging away on the Botanical Garden Lego set. I love Ali Smith so much ❤️ I loved Autumn more than this season ( in real life too 🤣🤣) I swear the people are real in these stories

Sunday soccer breakfast and starting a new book. I‘m so happy to be back with Rocky and crew

Yesterday we drove to Toronto to go to the Swedish Fair (largest in North America, who knew?!) to pick up the food my husband ordered ( he‘s half Swedish) and watch the Lucia‘s parade and sing ❤️❤️ and then it was so nice out we sat on the chairs at Sugar Beach and I finished my book. Beach reading in November ✅✅ I liked this 2nd Dream Harbor story better than Pumkin Spice Café, feels spicier too. A book scavenger hunt is my jam

#littenslovesjm I just needed to be done this giant tome 😆 soon it will be time to put the Christmas tree up and that means my reading spot goes kaput - I can not believe all the happened in this book 🤯 and that I remembered nothing beyond witches and that‘s only in the vaguest sense. The next book I haven‘t read so I‘m really looking forward to it

It‘s been 52 days of joy reading this lovely book, reliving artists I already know, meeting some new ones, reconnecting with 3 amazing museums that I visited on trips to Paris and cementing a life long love affair I have had with art and the power it has to inform, move, sooth and challenge. #europacollective

Ch 52: Pierre Soulages Black is a colour. That black is the absence of all colour in art & science is ALWAYS a hurdle to believe. The Dr meets with Mona & Camille a final time, he‘s leaving his practice. He explains that Mona‘s subconscious has attached sight to her shell pendant & every time she removed it she lost her sight. He implored her to remember she has exceptional sight & not be fooled. Last trip to Beaubourg ( upper right) cont‘d

TGIF #fridayreadinghappyhour is officially launched 🍷I really wish there was a potato chip emoji 😢 Cheers to everyone surviving the week 😘 I don‘t know how we do it sometimes

#5joysfriday it has been forever since I‘ve done one of these, life gets in the way of socials time 😆 1. Monday I made bolognese sauce from scratch and used amazing new to me pasta brand 2. Scotland qualified for World Cup in a SPECTACULAR second half 3. I bought all the greenery for my urns but I‘m only ever home in the dark so maybe next week will have the finished product 4. I saw Wicked 2 last night 🩷💚 cont‘d

Ch 51: Christian Boltanski Archive yourself. Paul is going to sell the store and Mona is afraid that Mamie‘s archive will be lost ( she is quite rude to her mother). She begs Dadé to store the archive and write about their lives. Perfect pairing with CB‘s ‘The Impossible Life of C. B.‘ ( all three images ) when I looked at the photo on the dust jacket I thought I was looking at panels with quilt-like metallic pieces on them cont‘d

Ch 50: Marina Abramović Separation is an opportunity to seize. Mona‘s word in French class is euthanasia, the class is riveted & the teacher thinks she had help. Mamie was an advocate for dying with dignity right from the beginning. Dadé takes Mona to see MA‘s ‘Boat Emptying, Stream Entering, White Dragon: Standing, Red Dragon: Sitting, Green Dragon: Lying‘ ( upper right) an interactive art piece that you use your whole body to experience cont‘d

The story seriously is one damned thing after another! What a wild ride of time travel and history and collateral damages

Ch 49: Louise Bourgeois Know how to say no. Mona is still mad at her mom but realizes Camille was looking for the Drs report on her sight when she stumbled upon the journal. So Mona summarizes the report for her parents and Camille knows it‘s time to tell the truth about Mamie. Dadé also realizes that Mona has internalized Mamie‘s last message to her “Forget the negative….keep the light forever inside you” cont‘d

I was saving this until it is actually Winter but does it get more winter? Since my to do list is unending I‘m going to audio book all day and hopefully make some headway

Despite further proof that we are fucked, I loved this #nonfictionnovember

Ch 48: Jean-Michael Basquiat Come out of the shadows. The secret is out! Camille reads Mona‘s diary and learns she has not been going to therapy but to look at art with Dadé. Mona is overwhelmed with rage at this betrayal of privacy. So Dadé takes her to see Basquiat‘s Untitled ( upper right and a close up of faces lower right) Basquiat is the most popular artist in the world, with art in every major museum, and images on products cont‘d

I. Did. It. #finishwhatyoustarted #nonfictionnovember #allergictochunksters 11 years ago my brother in law gifted this to me, it was an absolute favourite of his and it makes sense to me how it resonated with him. As a woman, I feel the lack of female representation in this gigantic tome of a book appalling. It starts with son and ends with father which is a beautiful full circle for him as a gay man but leaves out 50% of the population

Ch 47: Anna-Eva Bergman Keep starting from scratch again. Mona is struggling with the French teacher, he‘s cruel and coping/preparing for him is detrimental to her learning. She memorizes Baudelaire (upper left) for him and purposely fails to gain back power for herself. The missing stanza is “Far from this place! too late! never perhaps!
Neither one knowing where the other goes,
O you I might have loved, as well you know!” cont‘d

Ch 46: Hans Hartung Go like lightning. Mona and Camille go back to the dr, mom is mad! It‘s been a year and she wants answers. Cryptically the dr says he thinks the source of blindness is psychotraumatic and it appears Mona knows it too. Mona and Dadé go to see Mamie‘s favourite painting ‘T 1964-H45‘ ( right) HH, who was significantly hurt in WW2 adapted his painting style using paint spray guns, like with auto painting, cont‘d

#fridayhappyreadinghour Cheers Litsy Peeps! I hope this weekend brings you all the reading time you need ❤️ this #littensloveromance is delightful and hard to not inhale in a single sitting