Vacation #BookHaul Recap:
Schuler Books: “Glitz, Glam and a Damn Good Time” by Jennifer Wright and “10 Marchfield Square” by Nicola Whyte

Cellar Bird Books: “Starter Villain” by John Scalzi

Black Dog Books & Records: “The Dolls‘ Room” by Llorenç Villalonga and “Up In the Old Hotel” by Joseph Mitchell

Ugh. Now onto the laundry ????

Themes: Translated Murder Mystery, Seniors Sleuthing Around, Darkly Funny

This was a perfect read to read while on vacation, I love Agnes and her crew of senior sleuths 😁 I‘m glad my holiday is less stressful than Agnes‘ however 😬 I can‘t wait for the next book!!

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

Vacation Edition 😎☀️⛱️
1️⃣ Catching a ballgame on Sunday 🌊💙 2️⃣ Indie Bookstores! 3️⃣ Visting a gardens & sculpture park on a whim 🦋 4️⃣ Beach Day!! 5️⃣ Going to a fancy restaurant to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary and getting my favorite dish: Beef Wellington 😍😋🤤

Play along if you had joys (big or small) this week!

Beach day in Holland, MI today. Couldn‘t ask for better weather; sunny, low 80°F with just a light breeze ???

Tried to visit this coffee shop yesterday, but they‘re closed on Monday‘s 😂 The trouble with vacations, you lose track of the days 🤣 Well worth coming back today!

Success! The cup holder is just riiiiiiiiiiiight for a glass of wine with my current read (“The Eights” by Joanna Miller) 😍🤩😎

Vacation Mode: Activated 😎🥰 Can‘t wait to test out this cup holder with a glass of wine later!!

#FridayHappyReadingHour is here 🥳 I‘m reading the tagged book (I was expecting a history of NYC and Cheesecake and instead I‘m getting fiction. No complaints but not what I was expecting at all 🤣) along with an Orange Cream Poppi drink. We‘re going to a minor league baseball game later so I‘m saving my “adult beverage” for a beer at the game. Cheers!! 🍻

@kspenmoll
@tamara
@mcctrish
@thebookhippie
@BarbaraBB

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1️⃣ Lunch out with my BBF 🍷🍔 2️⃣ Used book sale at the library 3️⃣ Baseball game on a gorgeous Labor Day 4️⃣ Family came in for a visit over the weekend 😍🥰 5️⃣ Tomorrow Mr. Aims42 and I leave for vacation to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary 🥂🎉🥳

Play along if you had joys (big or small) this week!

#WeDoNotCareWednesday #WDNCW

Day late but I don‘t care (see what I did there? 😆) Ahem. I do not care about your trivial, unimportant, insignificant emails regarding work for the remainder of this week. I‘m off on vacation next week and wish for you to respect the fact that entitles me to being mentally on vacation this week. Thank you for your attention regarding this matter.

Themes: Book about Books & Bookstores, Translated Work, Very Literary

This would be a great bookclub read, I‘ve already talked my husband‘s ear off about it 😆 Some parts are great and I loved them, whereas other parts annoyed the bejesus out of me 🙄 All in all, I‘m glad I read it and I would definitely recommend it, especially if someone was looking for something different and “Novel” to read 👍

#TopReads2025 for August goes to “Alfa Romeo 1300 and Other Miracles” by Fabio Bartolomei. This was just such a fun, quirky read that I loved so much! I don‘t usually like translated books but this made me a believer that they can be good!

My library used book sale haul from this morning 🤪 So much for trying to stick to a very restricted buying criteria 🤦‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️ Several of these I‘ve had on my Goodreads ‘To Read‘ list for years. So, now that I have a physical copy on my Mt. TBR pile there‘s no excuse to not get to them now 😏😜LOL yeah, right - watch me 🤣

#FridayHappyReadingHour is here after a very busy day 🤪 I‘m still sipping my Coke from 3pm that I got on my home from a lunch & thrifting date with my BFF and needed a caffeine jolt. It did the trick! Pictured are my IRL bookclub pick (Monte Cristo) and my fun reading book (A Novel Bookstore). Happy Weekend & Happy Bonus Monday off for Labor Day if you‘re in the US 🤩🥳🙌 Cheers!!

@kspenmoll
@tamara
@mcctrish
@thebookhippie
@BarbaraBB

My view from earlier tonight at my husband‘s softball game 😆😎 My book, my snack, my water ✅✅✅

I DID IT! I finally found a BOTM pick that I‘m kinda, sorta intrigued by (the bar has drastically been lowered since the last book I ordered was forever ago). My reminder is set to cancel my membership before my card gets charged for next month. It‘s been fun BOTM, but the time has come to say good-bye 👋👋👋👋👋👋

I read the summary on this and knew I had to read it ASAP! I‘m totally one of the people who watch what groceries people are buying, and wonder if my cashier can guess my dinners for the week 😆 I loved allllll the characters in this book, I was expecting “Schitt‘s Creek” level of humor, but it was much more dry and subtle, not a bad thing, just letting others know 😊 Definitely a “pick”!

#FridayHappyReadingHour is here in my house 🥳🥂🙌 Drinking Chateau Ste. Michelle ‘Light‘ Chardonnay & eating some Wheat Thins. I gotta say, Book 5 in the Brighton Series from Elly Griffiths might just be my favorite (tagged). I feel like she found her groove with the characters. Tag yourself with what you‘re drinking, snacking on, and reading to welcome the weekend. Cheers, friends!!🥂🍻🍾
@kspenmoll
@tamara
@mcctrish
@thebookhippie
@BarbaraBB

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1️⃣ Spent a lovely weekend visiting my family for my Mom‘s 70th birthday! 🥳🎂🍾🥂 2️⃣ Enjoyed a fun Sunday afternoon at the pool, got there early enough for the shaded loungers😎 3️⃣ My parents‘ sweet kitty, Millie 🍤♥️ 4️⃣ Silent Book Club meeting 🍷📖 (that‘s me smiling next to my SIL in the blue sweatshirt 😁) 5️⃣ 16 days until my vacation!!

Play along if you had joys (big or small) this week!

I‘m making progress in my IRL bookclub‘s September pick, and it‘s actually pretty good! Definitely not one I would‘ve picked up otherwise 😊 I did have to print off a character list since names are just thrown out all Willy-Nilly 🤣 (Green tabs on top are for quotes, the tabs down the side are my reading chunks so I don‘t get overwhelmed 😆)

No #SundayScaries here 🤩😌 One more day with my parents and then back home to reality tomorrow. I‘m enjoying this book (tagged here) but more so as a snacky “Cheeze-It” read. Nothing fancy, not mind blowing, but a good read 😊

I‘m visiting my parents in Iowa this weekend. We‘re home from dinner and a trip to Menards (yes, the home improvement store 🤪) and now they‘re watching the Indiana Fever WNBA game and I‘m sipping from my wine that my very heavy handed Mom poured 😂 Glad there‘s no early morning plans tomorrow #FridayHappyReadingHour
@kspenmoll
@tamara
@mcctrish

#FridayHappyReadingHour is here! Cheers to the weekend everyone! Use the hashtag to share what you‘re reading and what you‘re sipping to welcome the weekend 🍺🍷🍸🍹🥃☕️🧉🥛🧃🧋

I‘m visiting my folks in Iowa so I hope to enjoy a little something something a bit later 😊
@kspenmoll
@tamara
@mcctrish

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1️⃣ Sunday I went with my hubby and his family to a Milwaukee Brewers Game AND IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! 2️⃣ I had an amazing Old Fashioned along with my hot dog & French fry lunch at the game 3️⃣ Our seats were amazing! 4️⃣ Coffee (always lol) 5️⃣ This amazing community, thanks for being the light in these dark times 🕯️♥️

Play along if you had joys (big or small) this week!

#TLT

1. Scholastic book fairs and the book flyers - I‘m still searching for the high these two things gave me 😂
2. The smell and feel of new school supplies. Each folder and notebook was color coordinated and the “ugly” colors were always my math ones 🤣
3. New clothes for the school year! Omg! Is there a better feeling than feeling 100% confident in your first day of school outfit?!

This was a fun trip down memory lane @dabbe Thank you 😁

This book was a total #BlameItOnPangoBooks purchase; I loved the cover and the summary sounded right up my alley. It was a hoot! I love Mrs Pollifax, she‘s like a feistier version of Jessica Fletcher from ‘Murder, She Wrote‘. I also appreciated this being a quick read, only 233 pages - no lull in the action. I don‘t necessarily need to binge the entire series right now, but I‘ll definitely keep it mind when I need a fun palate cleanser.

Themes: Italy setting, Neighbors, Humorous but not everyone‘s humor

For me, the humor in this book bounced between “general audience” funny and crude South Park/Family Guy sense of humor. I don‘t personally enjoy the latter style so more of a “soft pick” from me, but I still found it an entertaining read. The premise is funny and I loved the dual POVs. I don‘t know who I would recommend this book to; it‘s bonkers, very quirky and unique.

The recipes in my current read (tagged here) are disgusting 🤢 I haven‘t begun skimming them yet, but I‘m not exactly giving them my full attention. The rest of the book is good, but the recipes, YIKES! Keeping my snack simple and my drink is a non-alcoholic seltzer since hubby‘s not home yet and I‘m hoping we‘re going out for dinner 😏
#FridayNightReadingHour @mcctrish

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1️⃣ Coffee2️⃣ Homegrown tomatoes are coming in H🔥T 3️⃣ I‘m joyful that I‘ve kept my lavender plant and their container buddy, Petunia alive 😅 4️⃣ My new Kindle case that I splurged on (pictured) 5️⃣ Coworkers in other depts who are helpful and don‘t make my job harder

Play along if you had joys (big or small) this week!

Okay, where‘s the petition to bring these stamps to USPS??

Article Link: https://apnews.com/article/britain-monty-python-stamps-royal-mail-d3f6f873f2ac30...

I haven‘t LOL‘d while reading a book in a while. I‘m sure my neighbors loved the peace & quiet in their backyard and then my random “Pffft! BWAHAHAHA!!” 🤷🏼‍♀️ #OhWell The minute these characters were described, I immediately thought of who I would cast in the movie 😆 Enjoy! And go read this book for a good time and some good laughs!!
Claudio: Stephen Merchant
Fausto: Dave Bautista
Diego: Ron Livingston
Abu: Don Cheadle
Sergio: Kristofer Hivju

My work week is done and in the books 🏃🏼‍♀️ Now to grab my book, wine, and snackies and “un-wine” 🤪 Tag yourself if you‘d like, and let‘s raise a toast to #FridayHappyReadingHour

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1️⃣ Noticed these sweet birdies hanging outside my bedroom window and they made me smile 2️⃣ Loving my current read, I‘ve been laughing out loud reading it 🤣 3️⃣ Won 2nd place at bar trivia! 🏆 4️⃣ Able to enjoy some morning coffee & reading time on my patio 5️⃣ Cooler weather finally!

Play along if you had joys (big or small) this week!

#TopReads2025 for July (WTH?! How??? When????) goes to “The Listeners” by Maggie Stiefvater. This was such an atmospheric read that once I started it, I couldn‘t put it down. It was one of those reads that I didn‘t want to finish because I didn‘t want it to end, but I just HAD to finish it so I knew how it ended 🥰😍😌

I first learned that Monopoly board games were used in WWII from, “The Ways We Hide” by Kristina McMorris. Her book was good and I‘d recommend it, but I wanted more of the Monopoly story. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this book 🤩 If you‘re looking for a fascinating, less than 300 page non-fiction read, THIS IS IT! I want to tell everyone I meet now about this amazing, almost lost forever, story from WWII.

#WeDoNotCareWednesday #WDNCW @dabbe

Ohhhh, I do not care for this today, tomorrow, next week, EVER! Hard pass on this anti-vaccine, anti-science administration getting their hands on my health data. Nope. Nope. Nope.

https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-7-30-2025?link_source=ta_threa...

When hubby is having his friends over to play video games (I swear he‘s an adult, but definitely an ‘elder millennial‘ 🤣) but it‘s too hot to read outside, we improvise by reading in our bedroom by the window and 2 fans blowing on us 🤣🤗👍

When your relaxing hobby takes your right back to reality 🧊🧊🧊🧊 -Sigh- #FDT #8647

Channeling @mcctrish for my “FINALLY FRIDAY after work wine down time” 🤩👍 Started this book during my lunch and so far it‘s good!! #HelloWeekend #FridayHappyReadingHour

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1️⃣Pics of earrings and keychain I made with my Aunt on Sat (she has a XTool Laser Cutter) 2️⃣Bookclub on Sun 3️⃣Took a personal day off work on Tues, and honestly, I really needed that. Even on Mon during work, I was feeling a bit recharged knowing I was off the next day 😌 4️⃣Attended 2 Silent Bookclub Meetings 5️⃣I won a Goodreads giveaway for “The Antidote” by Karen Russell 🤩

Play along if you had joys this week!

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
Now this is the kind of email I enjoy opening!!

Eeeeeek!! This is not a drill!!! Anyone who has read the Bainbridge & Sparks series - Book 8 is coming Jan. 6, 2026!!!

Themes: Epistolary Format, “Looking back, while still looking ahead”, Never too old to fight

This was the perfect book for my somewhat melancholy mood this past weekend. I found myself at times loving the MC (Sybil) and then other times internally shouting, “What are you doing?!” and because of this, I was committed to reading her correspondence 😆 This debut is worth all the praise and accolades it‘s receiving 🧡

Sunday‘s are better with bookclub meetings (and delicious seltzers)!! 🤓🤩

Thought this was cool as another way to support PBS, they have an affiliate link on Bookshop.org so part of your purchase will go back to PBS Books 🙌 #SupportPBS

https://bookshop.org/shop/pbsbooks

This week has been poopy and then the news of PBS and NPR getting defunded has just been the bird poop on top of a crap sundae. A new book and a pleasant day to read outside (low 80‘s and zero humidity) is very much appreciated universe.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1️⃣A Bookstore & Lunch date today with my BFF and her 2.5 year old 2️⃣ 3 bookish events next week that I‘m looking forward to 3️⃣ Didn‘t kill my in-laws plants (or them either @mcctrish 😉😆) that I took care of while they were on vaca 😮‍💨 4️⃣ A crafting day with my favorite Aunt tomorrow! 5️⃣ This amazing community 💛🧡🩷 Seeing your posts and pics really brings light to these dark times. Thank you!

Themes: Time travel (but no physics degree required to understand it 😆), A quick read, Book 1 in a new series (Book 2 is announced!!)

Elly Griffiths is an auto-buy author and this book just furthers solidifies that for me 😆 I loved Ali and Terry! I‘m so excited Book 2 was announced because I‘m not ready to say good bye to these characters. If you‘ve enjoyed Elly‘s other books or are new to Elly, definitely give this one a go 👍

#WDNCW Corporate Edition: We don‘t care that it‘s Q3 (3rd Quarter), I‘m tired. It feels like it has been a decade and it‘s only been 7 months. Please respect my wishes to go take a 3 hour nap after lunch 🥱😴

Love this hashtag and all the posts, thanks @dabbe for some midweek fun! 🤩🤪 I tweaked your background because I‘m cheap and don‘t want to pay for no watermarks on Pic•Collage 😜

FINALLY! After 2 weeks of either +90°F temps and 99.9% humidity or just flat out rain, I am finally back outside enjoying some Outdoor Sunday Reading Time ????? Counting this as my #HyggeHourReadathon because I also have a glass of Blueberry Watermelon sparkling water which is delicious ? @TheBookHippie @Chrissyreadit @AllDebooks