My March #BookSpinBingo card

Bookspin is A Gathering of Shadows
DoubleSpin is Snowflake

My Feb roundup.

Not a lot of reading done this month.
I finished 3 books:
• Fledgling (audio started in Jan)
• A Fair Account of the Traitors Snow White and Rose Red (started in Jan)
• Yak Girl (Feb food and lit finished at the last possible moment 🤣)

I also started:
• Somewhere Beyond the Sea (audio, 4 hrs left)
• Sleeping Beauty (34% through)

And still going with The Terror, though I didn‘t touch it this month 🤭

#BookSpinBingo

This book is about the early life of the author in a remote village in Dolpo in the mountains. Most of this is set in the Dolpo region with Dorje growing up and herding her animals. The last part of the book about some of her family going to Kathmandu to try and find medical help for her brother and ending with her staying and moving to America for surgery. It was interesting and I‘m glad there was a family update at the end!

#FoodAndLit #Nepal

Tonight was Dal Bhat for #Nepal #FoodAndLit
It was slightly spicy and very delicious ☺️

This one isn‘t in the database yet, but I read “A Fair Account of the Traitors Snow White and Rose Red” for #FairytaleRetellingChallenge

This is a mix of Snow White, and of Snow White and Rose Red. It was pretty good! I enjoyed the story, but in 300+ pages, the characters weren‘t fleshed out very much.

I found the overall idea interesting - MC wakes up with no memory of what has happened, begins to find out who and what she is. I found some parts of the relationships between Ina and humans interesting. There were lots of tough topics covered here.
BUT
When I put it down, I found it hard to pick back up again. It just didn‘t grip me. And I don‘t like the constant references to adults who are attracted to or sleeping with the MC who looks 10/11

My Feb #BookSpinBingo board

My #BookSpin is Sleeping Beauty
My #DoubleSpin is Cry Wolf

So, it doesn‘t look like much 😂
But this is zuurkool stamppot for #Netherlands #FoodAndLit

It‘s basically mash potato with sauerkraut and apple, served with smoked sausage.
It was very quick to make, and very tasty. But jeez it was a big portion for some serious comfort food 🤣

This was a reread for me before trying to finish the trilogy this year. I knew I enjoyed the story before, which is good, as I would probably have given up with the audio if I hadn‘t! There wasn‘t anything specifically wrong with the narrator. I just didn‘t like it (or his voices for dialogue) 🤷🏼‍♀️

This was great to revisit, and I am looking forward to the next ones.

#BookSpin

Yeongju leaves her old life behind and opens a bookshop in Hyunam-Dong. She learns how to navigate her dreams along with reality and societal expectation, makes a group of friends, and everyone helps each other think about where they are in life and where they want to be.
I have to say that some bits felt particularly poignant as I am a bit fed up with work at the moment. So it definitely left me with some things to think about!

#DoubleSpin

This was my #Netherlands #FoodAndLit pick, and first read of the year.

It was very atmospheric, and creepy. But most of the scary parts didn‘t come from the evil witch, but from what people are willing to do if they feel threatened, even if the threat isn‘t real. (And yes I looked up the Dutch ending and it sounds pretty similar. I didn‘t mind the ending 🤣)

My January #BookSpinBingo

My #BookSpin is A Darker Shade of Magic
My #DoubleSpin is Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop

Final check in for #WinterGames2024

I have a total of 17,875 points for team #ChristmasChapterChasers
Thanks for a fun festive season all! ☺️

#WinterGames #XmasChaCha

Both versions of the book bracket have Gideon the Ninth as my top read for 2024

My first trip to Dream Harbour (I got the others but wanted to read the Christmassy one first) and it was pretty good! A nice small town, romance tropes, Christmas activities etc. I certainly liked the MCs more than in some other similar hallmarky Xmas books 😂

This had 497 wordsearch words :)

#WinterGames2024 #WinterGames #ChristmasChapterChasers #XmasChaCha

Merry Christmas Everyone!

This was my #FoodAndLit pick for #Finland

I liked the way the story was set out, where you learn more about Trolls as the story progresses, through snippets of stories, web searches, a vet, and as Angel discovers things by living with a troll he rescued by his apartment block.

The characters are all awful by the way 😂 but I still enjoyed the read!

#WinterGames2024 #WinterGames #ChristmasChapterChasers #XmasChaCha

I enjoyed this one. Beautiful settings (both Prague and Wales), snow, sightseeing, second chance love, and a historical love story that brings all the characters together.

This also has a whopping 508 wordsearch words!

#WinterGames2024 #WinterGames #ChristmasChapterChasers #XmasChaCha #DoubleSpin

I was a bit dubious about this audiobook as I am not a HUGE Hugh Grant fan (don‘t get me wrong though I will watch his films 😂). But this was actually pretty good!

This Christmas classic also has 152 wordsearch words in it 😉

#WinterGames2024 #WinterGames #ChristmasChapterChasers #XmasChaCha

A short listen about the origins of Christmas traditions and how they have changed over time.

#WinterGames2024 #WinterGames #ChristmasChapterChasers #XmasChaCha

Also made some Finnish Christmas cookies (Joulupiparit) and had to freeze half the dough because damn that‘s a lot of cookies 😂

#Finland #FoodAndLit

They kinda lost their shape (and some filling) during the cooking process 😂
But this is my attempt at cinnamon rolls for #Finland #FoodAndLit (korvapuusti)

They may not look pretty but they are tasty 😋

First check in for #WinterGames2024
3195 points so far :)

#WinterGames #ChristmasChapterChasers #XmasChaCha

Thanks @Yuki_Onna for the tag

Physical (though I do like a digital and audio read too!)
Stay home
Christmas Eve
Watch D&D
Gift giver (but of course both)
Hot chocolate
Cake
Shower
Morning read

#ThisOrThat #WinterGames #WinterGames2024 #ChristmasChapterChasers #XmasChaCha

This was a great cosy mystery and the audio version was amazing!

Holly moves back to her hometown of mistletoe after her engagement is broken off. She throws herself into helping on her parent‘s christmas tree farm and the 12 days of games for Christmas season. But when one of the locals is murdered on the farm, Holly finds herself as the next potential target.

#WinterGames #WinterGames2024 #ChristmasChapterChasers #XmasChaCha #BookSpin

My first time getting a real Christmas tree this year!
Needed a few more baubles and lights since it‘s much bigger than our old artificial tree 🤣
I think we did a decent job decorating though :)

#WinterGames #WinterGames2024 #ChristmasChapterChasers #XmasChaCha

This was my #Canada #FoodAndLit read from November, and my November #DoubleSpin

It follows two Cree, an aunt and her nephew who goes to war with his friend.
It was such a good read but hard going! I enjoyed it though :)

#WinterGames #WinterGames2024 #XmasChaCha #ChristmasChapterChasers

A bit late posting, but here is my December #BookSpinBingo card

My #BookSpin is Twelve Slays of Christmas
And my #DoubleSpin is A Christmas in Prague

This is only available on audible and fairly new so not on the database yet.

This hit the holiday hallmark level of cheese I was looking for. Snowy Christmas setting, MC that makes Christmas ornaments and another that has a cherry orchard, fake relationships, wanting to move from a big city job to a small home town, misunderstandings, and on top of that two dogs in love 🥲

#WinterGames #WinterGames2024 #XmasChaCha #ChristmasChapterChasers

This or that

#WinterGames #WinterGames2024 #ChristmasChapterChasers #XmasChaCha

Some of the books on my #TBR for #WinterGames
Focusing mainly on Christmassy/wintery reads.

#XmasChaCha #ChristmasChapterChasers #WinterGames2024

Another great read!
However I do wish they wouldn‘t end on such complicated cliff hangers. It wasn‘t so bad when I had the next book to keep going with, but now it‘s a waiting game for book 4 😂

An attempt was made at poutine for #FoodAndLit #Canada

And my husband did most of the heavy lifting here as I got stuck in traffic on my commute home 😂

Starfield library in Suwon.
Stunning 🤩

This was a cute book with a little bit more action than the first. Really enjoyed reading these :)

I am currently in Seoul, so here is a picture from the older #StarfieldLibrary in Gangnam.
Hoping to get to the new one next week ☺️

My November #BookSpinBingo board

#BookSpin is The Boy on the Bridge
#DoubleSpin is Three Day Road

Took my first trip to a Tim Hortons for #Canada #FoodAndLit

We took a coffee and a doughnut home after 😉
They aren‘t super common in the UK so it was nice to find one near by!

This was exactly what I expected from a book described as high fantasy, low stakes.
The book is cosy and the friendships sweet.
And I would very much like to visit this coffee shop and eat all the pastries!

Final tally for my #HauntedShelf #SkeletonCrew points.

I had a great time :)

This was my #FoodAndLit pick for #Botswana

It was interesting to read about Mark and Delia‘s experiences living in the Kalahari desert and the relationships they made with the animals living there.
Even as a reader you become invested in the livelihood of the animals.

Today we made seswaa and sautéed spinach for #Botswana #FoodAndLit and then had it with mash as I didn‘t fancy trying the cornmeal porridge ?

This was an okay read.
The murder mystery was good, but I hate it when the amateur sleuth solves the murder because an entire police force is incompetent (they missed not 1 but 3 key pieces of evidence). And gosh the Halloween hayride, coffee, and Halloween doughnuts were mentioned every couple of pages!
The side plot of which of my 2 boyfriends should I do a couples costume with was also annoying 😂

#HauntedShelf #SkeletonCrew #PSReadathon

Like Gideon the Ninth, this is probably one of those love it or hate it books. But I am still firmly in the love it camp! 🏕️

This one follows Harrow, now on a haunted space station with the necrolord prime, with the revenant spirit of a murdered planet on its way to kill them. This book is a hot mess and I loved every second. Moira Quirk‘s narration was amazing as always.

#HauntedShelf #SkeletonCrew

My points for #HauntedShelf #SkeletonCrew so far are 2001 points ☠️

This was a short fluffy read I picked for the #CozyReads #Readathon

Shelly runs a dating agency, and someone who thinks he is a vampire has applied. Only he really is a vampire, and there are even more supernaturals in this town.

While I liked the premise, I don‘t think I liked a single character 😂 so this is only a so-so from me! It did cross off another couple of wordsearch words and some bingo squares though 🎃

#HauntedShelf #SkeletonCrew

And since it is the weekend, here is a pic of my handsome dog who kept me company while I read, and binge watched Ludwig with my husband.

The show is excellent by the way ☺️

#CatsAndDogs #SkeletonCrew #HauntedShelf

A good cosy mystery ?‍⬛

Mads has moved home after leaving her job. Her friend Adele offers to sell her the paranormal museum, which is part of the building she is renovating into a tearoom. But a woman (who Adele‘s ex-fiancé cheated with) is found dead in the building, and someone keeps trying to get back in…

I got the pic online, which is of an exhibit from The Warrens occult museum (now closed)

#CatsAndDogs #SkeletonCrew #HauntedShelf

Belated cooking for #Malaysia #FoodAndLit

We made Nasi Lemak with sambal, and beef rendang.
I wasn‘t a huge fan of the beef, just because the beef was a bit chewy for me, but the rest was delicious :)

I am planning to read this during the #CatsAndDogs mini readathon this weekend, since it includes a cat on the cover and in the book. It is a ghost detecting cat that lives in the museum 👻🐈‍⬛

For the first 1/4 of the book, I did wonder what I had got myself into. Where is the promised sweet/cosy romance? Is this just going to be chapters and chapters of “milking” Minotaurs? I knew it was meant to be spicy, but is this it?

But once the romance bit kicked in, and the MC started exploring the town, I got more invested 😂

Overall it was a good (and spicy) read.
FYI the c word features a decent amount in the latter half of this book!