#Read2025

Catching up on reviews. I had planned to read a couple of #OctaviaButler books for #AuthorAMonth October but ran out of time. I did relisten to Kindred which I first listened to back in 2017. The lapse in time between readings did not lessen the power of Butler‘s story & its weight on my soul. Not an easy listen, it is very intense & haunting with more than its share of triggers; slavery, violence, sexual assault, etc. but excellent.

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I remain behind with life & haikus as usual. Today‘s is inspired by the 4:00 PM meeting I had with our Finance Team to discuss the budget forecast. Yes, it‘s that fun time of year! I hate late afternoon meetings enough already… 😵‍💫🤑🤕

Late-day money talk
Budget doom at 4 p.m
Zero stars! Hard pass!

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

Tonight‘s #HyggeHour is being spent with this one from #ChildrensClassicRead2025 I‘m trying to capture a fall vibe with apple cider (cold) & this cinnamony pear cheesecake I got at a craft market this weekend. Listening to an instrumental mix called Witchy & Woodsy on Spotify: https://spotify.link/HzoCirVDNXb 🍂🧡🍁

Mood is not ready for Monday & a busy work week but what‘s new?! 🤷🏻‍♀️

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished during the week for #Roll100 October #72 Any Retelling. This is a fun (hopefully start to a new series) featuring Caroline Bingley who jumps in to help Georgiana Darcy when she leaves Pemberley after her maid disappears to London. There‘s a murder & Caroline is determined to solve it. A good cozy mystery & while Caroline is still Caroline, she grows as she investigates & becomes quite likable (while Georgiana ⬇️

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

I finished this one last Sunday for #EBBR & as usual, pretty much forgot all the cases already & which ones I solved. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I really do need to review them right after I read them or take notes. I do remember that (***Spoiler***) I didn‘t realize that ALL of the animal facts in the one story weren‘t true so I guess I solved it with the🦘but not completely as I thought I was done.🤔Anyway, they remain fun quick reads.

#HaikuADay

Very behind on my haikus so taking a cue from @dabbe & some of my other #HaikuHive friends & using my annual rewatch of Rosemary‘s Baby today for inspiration. (It‘s one of my all-time favorite horror books & movies.)

Husband From Hell 🔥👿

Of all the witches,
Satanists and evil ones,
Guy is still the worst

#Rosemarydeservedbetter

Honestly, it was kind of a crap week & I‘ve just been in avoidance of much this weekend so I‘m a couple days late on my #5JoysFriday post & most life stuff. There was some joy this week though so here goes:

1. Bag of rambutan I‘ve been enjoying this week.😋
2. Went out to dinner with an old work colleague & a new one she wanted to connect me with. The paella🥘& dip spread were delicious & joyful.
3. Lilikoi breakfast bowl was fresh & joyful.💛
⬇️

I looked up from my work desk & Friday was almost here again! Time to make your lists of the 5 things big or small that brought you joy this week. 💛

Make your post & tag it with #5JoysFriday then tag me & anyone else you want to share joy with. Everyone is welcome to join in! 🤗

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

Reading the Oct Encyclopedia Brown for #EBBR during #HyggeHour tonight & with my extra time, more of Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Investigator (which is quite charming & fun so far).

Listening to this soundtrack: pov: you‘re Meg Ryan: (for the fall & pretending you are in a 90‘s romcom) that I‘ll link ⬇️

Snacks are this iced tisane (it‘s still hot & humid here) & fall popcorn. Mood: not ready for Monday!

#Read2025

I enjoyed Bunny 4 years ago even though I wasn‘t sure what I read & thought that “the book might be mocking me for not being as smart as it.” (I don‘t know, that‘s what I wrote.🤷🏻‍♀️) Anyway, I thought I‘d like this prequel/sequel, but I really didn‘t. I felt like what seemed effortlessly quirky in Bunny seemed like trying too hard to be quirky here. Also why did it need to be so long?! Anyway, I finished & it was a pan for me.🐰🪓⬇️

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished last week for #BobWhiteBuddies it is good timing as the book is set in Fall so it made for a good #HyggeHour last week. I didn‘t remember this one all that well so I guess I didn‘t reread it much during childhood.🤷🏻‍♀️ It takes place in Sleepyside & involves the disappearance of “Hoppy” the grasshopper weathervane on top of City Hall & the side mystery of missing coins & a new teacher‘s aide at school who ⬇️

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Another haiku to catch up on my dailies. This one is inspired by my sushi breakfast. I picked it up for dinner last night but snacked on popcorn instead & wasn‘t hungry so I ate it this morning. I can happily eat sushi or poke any time of day. 🍣💙🍱😋

You like your pancakes
For dinner and I like my
Sushi for breakfast 🍣

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I‘m pretty behind on my daily haikus so I will try to post some to catch up today. This one is inspired by the bag of rambutan I picked up from the grocery store yesterday. I love their soft hairy spikes & the sweet/floral tart flavors of this juicy tropical fruit.

Wild-haired rambutan
Sweet surprise beneath the spikes
Island candy joy

A day late on my #5JoysFriday post but the work week was crazy & I had 3 days of peopling ending in a large 1.5 days HR conference. Last night I just crashed & slept, so here we go.

1-2. Fall themed snacks not involving pumpkin spice bring me joy. Both the Brown Butter Sage & Stuffing Popcorn from Target are joyfully addicting & apple cider & Starbucks apple crisp oatmilk latte make me happy.

2. I used Barnes & Noble GC & rewards points to ⬇️

Hi Friends! I‘ve been out-of-pocket this week. Work has been crazy & I was at a half-day pre-conference session & I‘ll be at the conference all day tomorrow… which is FRIDAY! 💛🎊💛

Time to make your post with the 5 things big or small that brought you some joy this week. Tag your post with #5JoysFriday & tag me & anyone else you want to share the joy with. 💛

EVERYONE is welcome! 🤗

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku is inspired by the dichotomy of how time moves on a busy work Monday—both creeping by & zooming forward.

How do the clock‘s hands
Travel so quickly, yet so
Slowly on Monday? ⏱️🕰️⏰⏳🕔

Thank you @Eggs for the #majicmonday tag! 🤗 I love the nature & the beauty, in my neighborhood, community, on my island (Oahu) & all of the islands in the state. You are seldom very far from a beautiful ocean or mountain view here. 🏝️🌊💙

If you want to join in & talk about your town/city/region, consider yourself tagged! 😊

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHoyrReadathon #JustOneMoreChapter

For HyggeHour I‘m camped on the couch with Trixie & the Bob-Whites for #BobWhiteBuddies (Book #18)

I am desperately trying to create a fall vibe with this stuffing popcorn that I may need to get more of 😋& (cold) apple cider 🍎 because it‘s 77 degrees F. here at 8 PM & I want it to be colder & feel like fall. 🍂

My mood is resigned (if still melancholy) to it being Monday tomorrow.😵‍💫

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

It was lovely having four days off but I am dreading Monday & another crazy workweek & that anxiety has inspired today‘s haiku.

Sunday Scaries

Four days not working
Gone in a blink, and with them
Ease and peace of mind

Thank you @Eggs for the #SundayFunday tag! 🤗

I have lots of favorite witches but I think I‘ll go with the characters that Sangu Mandanna writes, specifically Mika Moon in the tagged book & Sera Swan in A Witch‘s Guide to Magical Innkeeping, although all of the witchy secondary characters in these books are a delight too. I like my witches quirky, witty & funny & her characters are good examples of all of those attributes. 💚💚💚

Play along! 🤗

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished this one on Thursday, it‘s my first #Roll100 read for October #47 Any Library Book. Being back with the Thursday Murder Club is always a treat. In this one, it‘s been almost a year since the events of the fourth book & the friends are regrouping around a wedding which brings forth a new murder to get involved in. While not the best of the series, I‘ve grown to love these characters so much & Osman keeps the ⬇️

#Read2025

Finished in one sitting Thursday night at Silent Book Club & have to give it a pick although it was more satire & gleeful gore than creepy horror. Governess Winifred Notty is quite a character & the title becomes more than apt when she starts working for the Pounds family. Not for the squeamish, the gyro I picked up for my dinner sat untouched once I got into the story. 😱 I liked the twist & turns & very dark humor of this quick read.

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished this one last weekend for #NancyDrewBR & it was for lack of a better word, fine. I vaguely remember some of it from childhood but not a lot of the details. We had purse snatching, old dolls & a search for the missing father of a young girl who is a talented musician & a good “gypsy” unlike most of the others in the book who are busy stealing & marrying off child brides—yep, it‘s pretty racist. ***#NNK counter⬇️

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku is inspired by the #JustOneMoreChapter readathon hosted by @TheAromaofBooks this weekend. I was up too late reading last night. 🤗

Just one more chapter
She said, nine chapters ago
Sleep can wait tonight

These are the books I am focusing on this weekend, 📚📚📚

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Yesterday‘s haiku was inspired by my lunch at a favorite Indian restaurant. Garlicky lamb bhunas, garlic nan, rice, raita & a creamy cooling mango lassi which hit perfectly on a hot humid day.🥭💛

Garlic and spices
Dance gracefully in the air
Cold mango lassi

While I was not excited about a certain birthday this week, I did find joy, especially in the past 2 days which I took off & outside a trip to the DMV to renew my license I just did only things I wanted to do which involved food, books & reading books while eating food.

1. These moth earring I got last weekend at the monthly makers market are joyful.🩶

2. A birthday poke bowl lunch

3. After the DMV I treated myself to breakfast & finished ⬇️

We‘ve nearly made it to Friday, so it‘s time to share those 5 things big or small that brought you joy this week!💛 I had a “me” day today which involved lots of reading & my third foray with Silent Book Club tonight. It will all be on my #5JoysFriday post tomorrow.

To join, make your post & tag it with the #5JoysFriday hashtag. Tag me & anyone you want to share joy with.🤗 Use the background how you like.

EVERYONE is welcome to join in! 💛🤗💛

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

A much needed day off, I took myself to breakfast & was struck by the way the glass looked when I finished my butterfly pea iced tea. I took a pic to preserve the icy purple beauty & it inspired today‘s haiku.

Purple Ice 💜🦋

On a humid day
Butterfly tea cools the glass
Icy oasis

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I had to run to the pharmacy after work & I decided I wanted Raising Cane‘s lemonade (& chicken strips but mainly the lemonade). There were 2 geckos🦎🦎frolicking on the menu sign in the evening darkness. Watching them made me smile & inspired today‘s kind of silly haiku.

Drive-Thru Companions

I guess geckos are
Tiny fans of chicken strips
Me too, little friends!

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku is a bit late because I was trying to think of something peppier but honestly this birthday is bumming me out. I truly appreciate all of the well-wishes of friends & family & I know I am lucky & blessed to be here, but I‘m just not excited about adding another year to my age & this year in particular. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Birthday rolls around
Counting years with heavy sighs
Blues beneath the cake

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku was inspired by this postcard I got at the local maker‘s market on Saturday. Something about the serenity in the waves pulls me in & gives me peace.

Watercolor shore
Soft clouds drift on golden sands
Waves of peace roll in 🌊

My #Roll100 picks for October:

#72 Any Retelling: Miss Caroline Bingley, Private Investigator
#47 Any Library Book: The Impossible Fortune
#38 Any Nonfiction: Hags (Also for #SheSaid)

I‘m excited about all of these & have already started two of them. 🤗

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

Spending my #HyggeHour with Nancy & her entourage for #NancyDrewBR This is book number 24 & I can‘t believe we have been reading a Nancy Drew book a month for 2 years now! 🤯

Drinking a cold mango drink because it‘s still humid & munching on these Peelerz in zombie & brain shapes.

Mood is as usual, sorry that the weekend is over but I am taking Thursday & Friday off this week so I have that to look forward to.

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Yesterday I took myself to lunch & for dessert I tried a cute ice cream place next door to the cafe that opened this summer. I had scoops of Dutch Apple Pie & Banana Pudding & sat & read my book.🍦😋 Their pink neon sign inspired this haiku.

Neon Promise

Sweet, cold, creamy bites
Fixer of all maladies
Cure for weary souls 🍨

I‘m going to read the tagged book for #ThematicCozies October theme #Paranormal & hopefully the other one pictured too. They are numbers 6 &7 in the Sonoma Witches series that I haven‘t visited in a while. Magic 🪄✨

I‘ve decided that this cozy mystery that‘s been in my Kindle TBR for ages for the #FictionalTraveler October #Trees theme.

Catching up with my September recap. I read less than August due to a really busy work month with less captured reading time on flights but still managed to complete 11 books + 2 Vonnegut stories & 2.5 chapters of Women Who Run With the Wolves.

I finished books for #SundayBuddyRead #NancyDrewBR #BobWhiteBuddies #EBBR #SheSaid #MonthlyNonFiction #ThematicCozies #FictionalTraveler #Roll100 (3) & AuthorAMonth & ongoing read #WildWomenReading

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Thank you for the #SundayFunday tag @Eggs 🤗 I‘m looking forward to reading these 2 spooky books this month! Hopefully the tagged book & my #BOTM box arrive early, I love Kelley Armstrong. 🖤🧡🖤

Anyone else want to join in & share a spooky book that you are looking forward to? 👻

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku is inspired by tonight‘s evening on the couch in pajamas with gyoza (& fried rice) reading a current read with Pride and Prejudice on in the background (1995 BBC). Self care by relaxation.🥟💛 Excuse the bad lighting.

Weekend Evening In

Couch, Saturday night
Gyoza, book, movie‘s glow
Perfect evening spent

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Catching up from yesterday, this haiku is inspired by the exuberantly golden sunset I saw driving home one evening this week. 🌅

Golden Respite

In a burst of gold
The sun takes its daily rest
Ready for nightfall

A bit late with my #5JoysFriday post 💛 but yesterday went really long for me & I crashed early last night, so here we go:

1. The cutest little ghost earrings with 🌺 It gives me joy to buy from local crafters.💛

2. Went to a conference & dessert was warm cinnamon-banana bread pudding. Mouth joy! 😋💛

3. Treated myself to joyful new fall magazines.🍂🧡

4. Mango-Kumquat tea with mango bursting boba.😋🧋💛

5. I tagged myself to be notified ⬇️

Our first Friday in October & it‘s time to share those 5 things big or small that brought you joy this week! 💛💛💛

Make your post & tag it with the #5JoysFriday hashtag. Tag me & anyone you want to share joy with. 🤗 Use the background if/how you like. 💛

EVERYONE is welcome to join in! 💛🤗💛

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

Today‘s haiku is inspired by one of my sheroes, Dame Jane Goodall who passed away yesterday at the age of 91. What a woman & champion of the world, animals, food sustainability & conservation. My heart is sad. 😢

Champion for earth,
A voice for all living things
Rest in peace, dear Jane

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I wasn‘t familiar with the term Pluviophile when I ran across it on TikTok, but I am one. I love a good rainy day & find peace & joy in them. While it was just a couple of small showers this morning, it inspired today‘s haiku. It also works for #WeirdWordWednesday

Morning drizzle falls
Not enough rain to fill my
Pluviophile soul

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

I finished this book tonight, my second #ThematicCozies September pick for #Books
This one is the 3rd in the Book Retreat Mystery Series & has Jane hosting a wedding & a group of Medieval herbalists at Storyton, her family‘s book-themed resort. I think this one is a good addition to the series. It still has some improbable elements to it regarding family legacy & secrets that make me shake my head a bit but I like the⬇️

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I hear the mynah‘s almost every morning but it‘s even more fun when they end up as my Merlin Bird of the day. 🐦‍⬛🖤

It‘s My(nah) Bird!

Most mornings I hear
Their loud trills at my window
Today, they‘re my bird

#Read2025

Listened to for #AuthorAMonth September #KurtVonnegut Overall, I enjoyed this college commencement speeches, although they do get repetitive, especially toward the end. With the two stories read & listened to previously, I feel like I have read enough for now. Would I try one of his better known novels at some point? Maybe.🤷🏻‍♀️

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

I won‘t tell you how much my Monday sucked because I‘m sure you‘re tired of hearing it. What didn‘t suck? My Chicken Katsu plate lunch ordered from Zippy‘s. It hit the spot & inspired today‘s haiku.

A Chicken Katsu Kind of Day

Golden panko crunch
Crispy chicken, tangy sauce
Katsu saves the day

#Naturalitsy #HyggeHourReadathon

Settling in on the couch for #HyggeHour with this third book in the Book Retreat Mystery Series, my second pick for #ThematicCozies September #Books. I‘m eating an oatmeal raisin cookie & drinking lemonade because it‘s humid & I‘m sweaty.

Tomorrow is Monday which is a bit annoying because where did the weekend go?

#Read2025 #SeriesLove2025

Finished a few weeks ago for #EBBR & as usual I returned my library book before doing a review.🤷🏻‍♀️I have to go with the others who think this one was a bit “meh.” I didn‘t find any of the mysteries that great or memorable except for Smelly Nellie which I did get correct, not because I know much about whales but because I caught a detail in the reading. I missed the ones about space & the axe handle but got the rest.