I read a lot of great books last year but honestly it wasn’t difficult to narrow down my favorites. The long list had just 14 titles and it was even easier to cut out four more. The order below just happens to start with the most recent read and the links are either to my review on SQ or the Amazon listing when my review isn’t available.1. A Million Junes. A great magical realism read.2. A Treacherous Curse. The third…
Last November we took a day trip to Whidbey Island. It was a rainy day but since we spent most of it driving it didn’t bother us too much, plus rain seemed to stop for us when we did happen to leave the car for a quick walk somewhere. We took the ferry at Mukilto (right by where we got married) and drove north, stopping at Fort Casey, Christopher’s on Whidbey, Deception Pass State Park, and the Deception Pass Bridge….
Bonjour and happy Wednesday! For this WW I am happy to be a part of the blog tour for Brooklyn in Love, the latest book by Amy Thomas. I followed Amy’s blog, God I Love Paris, while she was working there for a few years and I enjoyed reading her first book, Paris, My Sweet. Her blog posts from her time there were short but thoughtful and Paris, My Sweet gave readers a deeper background into her stay in the…
Bonjour! Happy Wednesday and Happy (belated) New Year. With how busy the holidays were I have not put much active thought into the Wednesday Whimsy posts. Now everything is so slow that I’m looking forward a little too much to making a quiche later in the week. Though honestly I’d look forward to that on a busy week too. Book T.V. Show I recently finished the Netflix show Call My Agent (Dix pour cent in France). I kept coming across it…
I cannot say that I am a fan of the fantasy genre but when Kevin Hearne announced this series I knew I had to give it a shot. I really love The Iron Druid Chronicles; there are eight books out right now (ninth and final is coming out this year) and each book is such a strong contribution to the series, which is unusual to have every book be great when you get above four or five books. A Plague of…
A Million Junes is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It was as unique as you can’t imagine and features romantic, family, and platonic love. It is about processing your family history and your personal future. It is about figuring out what you want from life and deciding how to live it. It is about making the best and hardest decisions rather than the easy ones. If you like magical realism and feeling things when you read books,…
I liked a lot of things about Flame in the Dark. The main story arc is good, always moves forward, and captures your attention. I have two main issues with this book: there’s a lot of rambling in the middle of narration and big problems aren’t addressed in a timely manner. I’ve noticed both of these issues is the more recent Faith Hunter books, both this and the Jane Yellowrock series. I think I got hooked on the latter before…
I really love this series. It might be my second favorite of all time (the top spot goes to the Parasol Protectorate series (also at the time of posting this the entire series in Kindle format is $16.99- a STEAL), of course). This is the third book in the Veronica Speedwell Mysteries and I seem to love each book more and more. I laughed all through this book and kept a running list of new sophisticated Victorian words to learn. As…
Like the rest of New England, Boston really surprised me. It is such a beautiful, clean, walkable city. We only had one day there but I feel like we really did as much as we possibly could. I barely made it back to the apartment because we had walked so much. Highlights include: dinner at Mamma Maria, walking the Freedom Trail, the Granary Burying Ground, visiting the USS Constitution, and walking along Newbury Street. Thankfully Joe likes Boston and New…
Oh, New England! I had no idea of the charms and wonders that were waiting for me here. It’s a lot like the South but… nicer? Okay okay, I didn’t see nearly as much of New England as I’ve seen of the South. If it weren’t for those awful winters I’d be sending Joe job listings. It was unseasonably warm (I’m not complaining, for once) so there wasn’t the flood of fall leaf colors we were thinking we’d see.Food highlights…