3 Stars. I adored Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares, the first book in this series. Dash was just enough of a curmudgeon and Lily was a delight. They were quirky together, they had funny friends, and seeing their relationship develop against the backdrop of Christmas in New York was the stuff that holiday rom-coms […]
Weekly Update for December 22, 2024
Welcome to my weekly update for December 22, 2024! As a reminder, sign-ups are open for my 2025 Books in Translation Challenge and my Southern Literature Reading Challenge. These can be as easy or as difficult as you’d like, with the levels starting at just one book for a successfully completed […]
Christmas Bliss by Mary Kay Andrews: Book Review
4 Stars. It’s been quite a while since I read any books in this series because I somehow missed that a fourth one existed! I can’t say that there was a whole lot going on here, plot-wise. There were a few things but they felt and largely turned out to be low-stakes. Mostly I just enjoyed re-visiting Weezie […]
Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan: Book Review
4 Stars. I’m not a huge romance reader and even less of a young adult romance reader but I’ve watched my share of rom-coms and this is a rom-com with the cutest of meet cutes. I adored it. And what reader could resist its charms? Dash and Lily’s paths cross when Lily leaves a red notebook with a dare hidden […]
American Christmas Stories, edited by Connie Willis: Book Review
4 Stars. I listened to Connie Willis’s collection of her own Christmas stories (A Lot Like Christmas) last year and went searching for more of her work. I stumbled on this anthology that she edited and decided to give it a try. The quality of the stories was remarkably consistent! The stories are arranged […]
Weekly Update for December 15, 2024
Welcome to my weekly update for December 15, 2024! Since we had recovered from our Thanksgiving colds, my husband and I decided to drive from Phoenix up to Sedona last weekend and spend a few days. This was our first visit and we fell in love. It’s gorgeous with all the towering red rocks but […]
Weekly Update for December 8, 2024
Welcome to my weekly update for December 8, 2024! My husband and I picked up lingering colds the week of Thanksgiving so we’ve been taking it easy for a couple of weeks. We’re planning to start exploring again this weekend. There’s so much to see around Arizona! One of our first excursions when we arrived […]
2025 Books in Translation Reading Challenge
Welcome to the 2025 Books in Translation Reading Challenge! It’s pretty self-explanatory, right? Nevertheless, here are the rules, details, and linkies. You can read a book that’s been translated from any language into the language of your choosing. The challenge is not limited to translations to or […]
2025 Southern Literature Reading Challenge
Welcome to the 2025 Southern Literature Reading Challenge! We’ll focus on books and authors from the southeastern region of the United States. Read books by Southern authors set largely in the South You can read any genre, including fiction or nonfiction, classics, or contemporary works You can read […]
Weekly Update for December 1, 2024
Welcome to my weekly update for December 1, 2024! I hope that all of you who celebrate had a happy Thanksgiving! Since my last update on September 15, my husband and I wrapped up his work assignment in Schenectady, NY; went on vacation to the Azores (Islands practically in the middle of the […]
Ten Characters Who Redeemed Themselves
Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share ten characters who redeemed themselves this week (Topic suggested by Deanna at A Novel Glimpse). I am an absolute sucker for a good redemption story but I may find this to be a difficult topic because my memory for book details is not that great […]