Last week I forgot to post, so this week I‘m doing my #hyggehourreadathon a little early. I‘m tucked away in a corner of the cafe at a little local shopping area. I just had a yummy chicken and avocado sandwich, and I‘m nursing a raspberry mocha latte. There‘s Christmas music softly playing. And across the cafe a family is conversing in what I think is Italian. I just have one more gift to buy before I go home to wrap. But first, latte and book!
I started the year intending to #readordonate these 21 books in the top picture. I ended up donating 15 of them plus many more from the rest of my books on other shelves. The tagged book is the only LFL book that I didn‘t donate…yet.
I also donated a piece of furniture from my bedroom and completely reorganized my bookshelves. Bottom picture is the same bookstand thingy in its revised location, and it now holds books that I don‘t plan to donate.
1. After Libby said it would be two more weeks, I got a notification that I could check out the tagged book.
2. The Crime Writers of Color podcast is back after a long hiatus.
3. I got together with a friend for dinner and a movie.
4. We enjoyed War of the Rohirrim!
5. I bought a new wet-dry floor cleaner.
#5joysfriday
Decisions, decisions! I could be happy with nothing but chocolate chip cookies for the rest of my life, but I also like…
1. Peanut butter cookies (love the fork marks)
2. Walnut snowball cookies
3. Snickerdoodles
Plus I want to TRY pistachio cookies, cinnamon palmiers, red velvet whoopie pies…..
My score is 37/75
#TLT
I was scrolling through some old pictures on my phone and found this #wreath my coworker made for our office door in 2011. #Christmascheer
1. Sitting quietly in the morning with a cup of coffee and a book on my phone makes my day. Today that was a little delayed thanks to a power outage, but it‘s all sorted now.
2. The MC of this book is showing, just like in the first book, that she can be compassionate and caring to those in need but won‘t take any 💩from pompous people who try to tell her how to live her life.
#two4tuesday
Here are the last three of my monthly necklaces. You may notice that the October necklace is earrings! I have some ideas and materials for a Halloween necklace, but I haven‘t put it together yet. For November‘s necklace I used a pendant my sister gave me. I couldn‘t find a suitable chain for it, so I made one! #litsycrafters2024
I heard an interview with the owner of this bookstore. When asked how she came up with the name, she said it was based on her two favorite literary characters: Francie Nolan (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) and Scout Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird). What would you name your bookstore using your favorite characters? Mine would be Millhone & Gamgee. Or maybe Kinsey & Sam.
1. Kathy Mattea in concert
2. Scottish Walk Christmas Parade
3. Butter chicken pizza at the Indian Italian restaurant
4. Cute holiday card from the library
5. Much needed rain
#5joysfriday
#TLT
I had a post all ready to go, and it disappeared! 🤦🏻♀️
Anyway, I‘m not sure how accurate it is, but my score is 73/100. Here are a few of my favorites.
1. O Come All Ye Faithful (Nat King Cole)
2. Santa Claus Is Comin‘ to Town (Bruce Springsteen)
3. Anything by Pentatonix
And here are a couple albums/artists that aren‘t on the list:
https://pinkmartini.com/discography/joy-to-the-world/
https://kathymattea.bandcamp.com/album/good-news
This was an interesting family drama/mystery/legal thriller that I read for one of my book clubs. There are twists, of course, but they‘re not the whole point of the story. Characters are all annoying. I liked it but didn‘t love it.
I‘m making my way through my #Adventathon goals. Next up: The Black Loch. It‘s been riding around in the back of my car for a few days!
I‘m not sure if this is even my most recent #serieslove2024 grid, but it‘s the one I found in my collection! Anyway, this was a charming book and a lovely companion to Legends & Lattes. If there‘s more to the series, I‘ll be delighted, but if not I feel satisfied with how everything transpired.
Meanwhile, I bailed on Children of God. It was leaning too much into Vatican intrigue & I lost the thread. I plan to do 2025 series a little differently.
My sister lives in Alexandria VA, which has a sister-city relationship with Aberdeen, Scotland. This is reflected in the annual Scottish Walk Christmas Parade, usually held the first Saturday in December. While the “real” #Santa appeared at the end of the parade, I kinda preferred this guy. #Christmascheer
I needed another Kindle book to keep my reading streak going, so I downloaded this from Libby. I was going to read it slowly, just a couple chapters a day, but you know how that goes!
It‘s cozier than the “twisty domestic noir” that I was reading earlier for book club.
#hyggehourreadathon
1. I met my Goodreads goal by completing the tagged book. It made me laugh and cry.
2. The pool was a little cold for my aquatics class Monday, so we warmed up with cross pool exercises to disco music.
3. South Korea stopping an attempted coup!
4. I spent all day yesterday going places and getting stuff done.
5. One stop was at a library branch I don‘t visit much. Since my last visit they have installed solar panels in the parking.
#5joysfriday
It was bound to happen…
https://wrat.com/2024/12/03/grandma-run-over-by-a-reindeer/
#reindeer #ChristmasCheer
I‘ve seen 21 of these movies. If I could count each viewing of my favorites, it would probably add up to at least 100! Anyway, here are a few that I haven‘t seen but want to see.
-Joyeux Noel
-Best Man Christmas
-Bad Santa
-Christmas in Connecticut
#TLT
Rotten Tomatoes“ 100 Best Holiday Movies
Here‘s the link to take the survey: https://www.listchallenges.com/litsy-100-holiday-movies
Books as #decorations at the Library of Congress! No books were harmed in the making of this #Christmascheer
PS - when you‘re done at LoC head down the hill to the botanical gardens. No admission fee at either place! (At least not for now…)
1. Several years ago I developed a personal holiday tradition. On the way home from Christmas Eve service, I take a different route so I can see a historic bridge that‘s decorated with lights. I like to park across the street and sit quietly in my car for a few moments of calm and peace.
2. I‘m looking forward to reading the tagged book once I finish December book club selections.
#two4tuesday
November was A LOT. I kind of lost the thread on my reading challenges, except for magazine back issues and Goodreads. I‘m two books away from the number goal I set for myself, and I conveniently have two book club selections to finish in the next two weeks (right side). I also have two more books checked out from the library (bottom) for a little lagniappe by the end of the year. #Adventathon
When a true crime podcaster comes to Little Valley, New York, to look into an unsettling cold case the week before Christmas…it‘s not exactly a cozy story! Meanwhile on my TV, football is taking place in the snow about an hour away from Little Valley. I want a cup of tea, but I‘m too lazy to get off the couch. #hyggehourreadathon
When the #Elf on the shelf comes out, so does this meme (even if I‘ve shared it before)! #ChristmasCheer
Turkey Trot joys:
1. Walking through a nice neighborhood with charming houses.
2. A woman running with her Dalmatian, dressed as a Dalmatian (complete with tail and ears), carrying a 101 Dalmatians backpack. I hope she won the best costume contest!
3. A free cup of coffee from a local coffee house, in a pretty earthenware mug.
4. Listening to an interview with Louise Penny on the way there and back.
5. A hot shower when I got home.
#5joysfriday
I finished another October Real Simple issue this month and made the pile slightly smaller. In the process of cleaning up some paperwork, I found a few AARP magazines from THIS YEAR that I‘ll work on for the rest of the month.
Unfortunately, I bailed on Horse. Long story short, in this case it was a bad idea to go to book club without finishing the book. Off to the donation box it goes.
#monthlymagazineblitz #readordonate
1. It changes! At the moment it‘s The Change by Garth Brooks.
2. One of the people profiled in this book is Katharine Lee Bates, who wrote the poem that became America the Beautiful. All four verses. She made $5 for the original submission and subsequently gave away copies for free.
#two4tuesday
I‘m apparently not the audience for the “best” books of the year. I‘ve read a whopping three off the NYT list and five off the NPR list.
There‘s some overlap between the lists and some interesting divergence. Camp Litsy is well represented! (Actual picks and some of the “bridesmaids.”)
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/26/books/notable-books.html?rsrc=flt...
https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=list&year=2024
This was a long and winding road but a fun ride. More a magical caper with a few murders than a mystery with a little magic. Can be read as a standalone but also a nice companion to the earlier books.
I‘ve kind of lost the thread on various reading challenges, but I‘m doing well on my Goodreads goal with a little over five (!) weeks left in the year.
#tenbeforetheend #serieslove2024
I nearly forgot about #hyggehourreadathon tonight!
This afternoon my book club had its periodic social meeting at a brewpub. It was a fun time but lasted much longer than expected due to staggered arrival times. So I got home late and still had to do some household administrivia before settling in for the evening.
Now I‘m alternately watching football, playing on social media, reading the tagged book, and trading eye blinks with the cat.
1. Tagged book that I picked up from someone in my free cycle group.
2. I stumbled on a series of Hamilton reaction videos. Very thorough and insightful.
3. Tom and Lorenzo‘s podcast gives me joy most weeks, especially the last episode.
4. 2025 author a month list.
5. Vietnamese coffee, where have you been all my life?
#5joysfriday
My in-laws from Baltimore are asking: Where‘s the sauerkraut, hon? For proper pronunciation, you‘ll have to catch me in person. 😉
I‘ve had 49/73 items that are actually on the list. Here are some of my favorites.
1. Mashed potatoes
2. Roasted acorn squash
3. Glazed carrots
No thank you to giblets!
Here‘s the link if you want to take the survey: https://shorturl.at/RSOqi
#TLT
1. I‘m a planner, but definitely not to the last degree.
2. In the tagged book, Kinsey ends up going undercover in an auto insurance fraud ring. She‘s all set to meet with her contact and get all the inside information, but that meeting never happens. Instead she gets thrown into the situation prematurely and has to “wing it” not just to succeed but to survive.
#two4tuesday
I like to read a mix of both. Like @BookmarkTavern I don‘t especially like cliffhangers.
I like books that are part of a series but can also be read on their own. The tagged book is an example. It‘s part of an entertaining series, but the action skipped forward from the 1870s to the 1930s. You don‘t need to know all the details of the earlier books to enjoy this one.
#sundayfunday #hyggehourreadathon
1. Soup season
2. Dinner with ballpark friends
3. Good day at Antietam capped off by a screening of the new visitors center movie
4. MD-06 and VA-07 stayed blue
5. Fiddling around with Bluesky
#5joysFriday
pickI‘m not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn‘t it. Still, I liked it and was happy to read it at last for #authoramonth after having it on my TBR for a while. Interesting family story with a bit of magical realism.
I was tagged again, so here are some more favorites. Because I‘m such a hobbit! There were probably not bananas in the Shire, but they would love it if they tried banana bread! These are ones they‘d more likely make:
1. Cherry pie
2. Carrot cake
3. Peach cobbler
#TLT take two
Desserts! I did much better with this topic! 68/100
My favorites from this list:
1 churros
2 key lime pie
3 Waldorf salad (which will always remind me of Fawlty Towers)
#TLT
I would love to try cranberry sorbet but NOT sweet potato ice cream.
Here‘s the link if you want to take the survey: https://www.listchallenges.com/thanksgiving-dessert-table
To say my reading has fallen off the past several days would be an accurate statement. 😳
Be that as it may, I‘m pivoting to Horse today ahead of tonight‘s book club meeting. It‘s good so far!
I bailed on Starling House. It just wasn‘t working for me. With seven weeks left in the year, I do expect to finish the rest of these plus some others. My Goodreads goal is 80 and I‘ve read 74 to date.
#TenBeforeTheEnd
1. Stripes. I should wear them more I think.
2. I don‘t have any physical books from the library at the moment, but I have the tagged book and a couple others from Libby.
#two4Tuesday on Wednesday
Thanks for the tag
Professional organizers will tell you not to keep single socks. I learned the hard way that as soon as you throw out a mateless sock, you will find the missing mate. I also like to make pairs #oddsocks if they‘re a similar weight. #daysdevotedto
I‘m not feeling especially hygge right now, but I‘m eating spaghetti and reading the tagged book. Meanwhile, I also have the football game on the TV. Those eye searing red uniforms aren‘t very hygge either. #hyggehourreadathon
May it be an evening star shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls your heart will be true…
https://youtu.be/nt3Ggo1CE3g
Even if the part of the movie that includes this song is actually part of the next book 😉
#sundayfunday
This was fun and a nice distraction from … all this.
Little by little I‘m working through #serieslove2024 and #tenbeforetheend while I figure out what to read for the rest of the year.
![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png){kind=icon}
