It feels like Sunday imo so I‘m having a little #hyggehour while my steak pie cooks ( after the last EH Winter book I‘m sure this title forebodes more turbulance for the Quinn family 😫)

Starting my first 2025 #sundaybuddyread today and loving being back in the south of France #pretendholiday

I loved Winter Street (#1 in winter series) so much that I put the next 3 on hold at the library! Luckily they all came in at once so I can binge before school starts again ❤️ this one ripped my heart out though! The Quinn family is a train wreck in #2 I‘ve been crying in my coffee as I finish this before I get on with my day. Thank god I have the next one 🤣🤣🤦🏻‍♀️ but I‘m not sure how I‘m getting anything done

I want to thank #foodandlit2024 for encouraging me to choose a book from Finland. One of my best friends growing up had a Finnish dad and a Swedish mum and I was exposed to all of the best things from each culture and continue to love Scandi style above all others. This novel is a love letter to summer and Finland told in short vignettes that flip back and forth through the main character‘s , Sophia, childhood summers with her grandma and father.

This was just the perfect Christmas story ( I read about it on a best holiday romance list) it‘s all the feels, I was laughing out loud and crying. It‘s about loss and heartbreak, found families, friendship and love. It‘s about being brave enough for all of the above. It would make a wonderful holiday movie ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Being naughty with eggnog in my coffee and avoiding all the things on my list

I‘ve struggled to get into a few audio books since I finished my last, probably because I just haven‘t had enough consecutive listening time. This one sucked me right in - I‘m ahead of myself for #literarycrew maybe that will be my vibe for 2025? 🤣🤣

#foodandlit for December is Finland not sweden 🤦🏻‍♀️ and I‘ve started this to close out the year with because I knew that when I went looking for books to read! my husband‘s family is from Sweden and we go to a Swedish fair in Toronto every year to stock up in Swedish treats for Christmas- these Polly candies were new to us. They taste like a cross between a rum ball and a milk dud. I will do better with food choices going forward

Read with #littensloveromance and it was just the BEST Christmas caper, light, funny, suspenseful with a little bit of ❤️❤️ I‘d have inhaled it if life hadn‘t been so crazy

I really love Elizabeth Strout and how she writes stories that feel like they are about real people. This book, bringing back all her Crosby, Maine characters, centres on them telling each other stories of people they know and people they don‘t, not as gossip but more bearing witness to lives lived with struggle, pain, grace and love.

This book is supposedly beloved, AR raised the bar for gothic romance when she wrote this tale about Emily, who is orphaned, imprisoned, separated from the man she loves etc….
What actually happens is crying. So much crying, weeping, sobbing. And fainting. There are no mysteries . I am grateful for #hashtagbrigade for supporting and entertaining me during this read 🤣😘

Merry Lit-mas to all who celebrate 📚📚❤️❤️

I finished this today moving my youngest home from Uni. This is the tidy storage unit holding his stuff until his next adventure. My house is not tidy 😩 I liked this audio book but I didn‘t love it

#iykyk #hashtagbrigade

#5joysfridays it‘s been a week 🤣🤣 1. I found my favourite pretzel crackers at Costco again after a too long for me hiatus 2. We move our youngest home from Uni this weekend and I have rented a storage unit and gone through multiple bins here and resorted stuff and this pile is ready to load in the car to pack him up 3. I‘m loving the #littensloveromance read this month 4. My iced peppermint mocha cold brew is life 5. I baked 1/5 cookie recipes

The holidays are almost here and I am not really ready. So I‘m hiding in a book

YA snowmageddon ‘love, actually‘ influenced story with multiple couples getting back together or finding each other in the storm of the century. Would make a great movie I think. I enjoyed some of the minor characters‘ stories much more than the main one #sundaybuddyread

This has started off with a bang ❤️❤️❤️ I love it already and I‘m going to want to inhale it #littensloveromance

Oh I loved this “book that feels like a hug” story about a children‘s book author who writes magical books about kids brave enough to make wishes. Fast forward he writes another book and turns its release into a contest that might be able to grant the wishes of grown up kids who loved his books ❤️❤️❤️

#saturdaychatterday I haven‘t had coffee yet 🤣 I‘m still lazing in bed scrolling on my phone, planning my day/weekend. I am going to bake this weekend; empire cookies, gingerbread and chocolate crackle cookies for sure. We are going to see 🎶The Sound of Music 🎶 with John‘s parents tonight. And reading 📖 what are you all up to as we get closer to Christmas and holidays ?

#5joysfridays 1. The tree was up but I finally decorated it last weekend 2. We got a lot of snow ands it‘s already almost all gone 🤦🏻‍♀️ 3. I continue to get joy from the list of books I found that feel like a hug - The Wishing Game is from that list 4. I did more art with some grade 2s and 3s that was so much fun 5. Our Honda Pilot died after 18 yrs of service - we experienced a lot of joy with it, our kids grew up while we drove it

It‘s been a Monday and a half

My take away from this book is no pill, surgery will fix your mindset about food only therapy will. If you use food to soothe/hide behind/self medicate the pill/surgery won‘t cure you. If you can‘t eat because of surgery or pills you will substitute ‘medicating‘ with another addiction. And my Lego poinsettia is officially complete

A delightful cozy Christmas romance light on the spice and heavy on the Scotland ❤️

Bags #4 and 5 of the poinsettia. I got sidetracked with tree decorating and errands. This book is quite interesting but I‘m looking forward to it being finished so I can just listen to Christmas music and escape reality

#5joysfriday 1. Cardinal art with grade 2s based on Charley Harper 2. Tree art with grade 2/3s 3. I got my nails done 4. My Santas are all out inside and out 5. Not my phone updating and this app is screwed up and I don‘t know how to add my picture

#tlt #threelistthursday some of the newer movies I‘ve never heard of and I need to make a list to watch them ( instead of football which is on now against my will) my three are 2 I watch every year; Die Hard and love actually and 1 I think should be on the list; Rent 🎶and it‘s beginning to snow 🎶

EH books are so easy to read. I devoured this on a snow day and I feel warm and fuzzy now

I‘m basically rage reading at this point. The mystery is WHY?!

It‘s a SNOW DAY 🎉🎉 Christmas has come early 🤣🤣 so it‘s hygge all day long and getting ahead of my #sundaybuddyread

Booked off today so I could sleep in and fight the good fight against all the germs at school. A lot of listening to this book while loads of laundry were done, kitchen tidying, nails were painted and a turkey breast was roasted for a Wednesday night dinner. I‘d like the holidays to be here now

This was on a list of books that feel like a hug and it really is the loveliest story of friendship and found families and finding joy in all your moments. All the stars ⭐️

It‘s 5:30 and it feels like 8:30 so my #hyggehour starts now ❤️I‘m so behind on my #sundaybuddyread 🤦🏻‍♀️

Friday night and I‘m enjoying my favourite reading spot one last time. Tomorrow we get the tree 🌲 and it sits right here until Epiphany. So for now, I‘m just chilling in my favourite indoor reading spot ( besides my bed) with my favourite cocktail ( French blonde ) and the sweetest book that I know will break my heart

#5joysfriday I had another full week of teaching so it feels like I did nothing but put one foot in front of the other 1. last Saturday we drove to Toronto to see Beckett and go to the Swedish Fair and had lunch ( I love liver wurst ❤️) 2. We saw where the Eras Tour was going to be that night 😢 without me 3. My poinsettia is coming along 4. Last night I went to a magical holiday sale event 5. Today I‘m going shoe shopping with my sister & niece

Bag #3 of the poinsettia and starting a new audio book. I read about this somewhere and now I have it. I don‘t remember knowing this was about Ozempic 🤷🏻‍♀️

6 months later my hold comes in 👵🏻

Bag #2 of the poinsettia and I have finished this crazy book! It really was a GREAT audio book read by one of my favourite actresses, Nicola Walker ❤️❤️❤️ I miss Unforgiven with her and Annika, hopefully I find her in another show sooner than later

My next Lego set #audiolegoing

The wreath is finished and hanging up. I keep thinking about this book and it‘s title and what is happening 🤯

I did bag #8 late last night when we got home from driving to Toronto. Taylor Swift has been in Toronto for the last 2 weeks so hotels are premium priced and booked up so we didn‘t/couldn‘t stay over 😢 we had a quick visit with Beckett, saw his latest big project for one of his last 2 classes before he‘s done his degree and went to the Swedish Fair for lunch and to pick up our order of foodstuffs for Christmas ( John‘s dad‘s family is Swedish)

A gorgeous coming of age novel set in Colorado in the 60‘s. A first novel for SR that is stellar, a tale of first love, loss, strength, racism, friendship and forgiveness ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

1. I went for my mammogram this week so I treated my self to 2. A new mug to help me get over the fact I won‘t get to go to the Eras Tour 3. I taught a lot this week and I got to teach art ❤️❤️❤️ I did torn paper owls with grade 2s and we painted BIG fall leaves in grade 1 4. I fancied up my front urns for Christmas and 5. My Lego wreath brings me joy ( so much I ordered the big botanical garden for myself for Christmas 😆) #5joysfriday

Bag #7 still no idea what‘s going on in this although Josie can‘t be sane ( her mom is a narcissist, her husband is ancient, both girls have some issues that aren‘t discussed forever but it‘s more than diagnosis?)

Why does it feel like I have been reading this FOREVER?! And how am I not even halfway through?! WT actual F

Bag #6 of the Lego wreath and I continue to wonder what the heck is going on in this book 😱

Bag #5 of the Lego wreath and a new audio book. This story is CREEPY

New mug cuz why not #supportlocal I can‘t get tickets to the #erastour so I am making my own. This book was easy to get right into

Bags 1-4 are done and attached - so repetitive 🙄 this book was so interesting. The end of the book breaks down the asteroid strike and a step by step description of what would have happened after it hit the Yucatan Peninsula. And all the people who scoffed at the asteroid hypothesis 🤣🤣

This novella was on a book list of books that feel like a hug and part of a big library hold list I registered. I usually feel like November is a tough slog, between the time change and weather it kind of sucks the joy out of you. This is a bittersweet book about dementia, generations of family, and love.