All I Want is You by Falon Ballard

Title: All I Want is You

Author: Falon Ballard

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2024

Genre: Holiday Romance

Pages: 256

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads RC

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Meter: 5

Exes. Professional rivals. Just one bed. What could go wrong?

All Jessica has ever wanted is her own happily ever after. But until that happens, she spends her days as a small-time romance writer, penning satisfying Happily Ever Afters to soothe the heartache left by her ex-boyfriend Nick—also a romance writer and now her biggest rival—who has found success writing love stories without happy endings. It’s what he’s good at, after all . . .

So when their professional obligations bring them to a remote inn a few days before Christmas, they’re a little more than peeved, especially when they get trapped sharing a room in a snowstorm. But what’s more fitting for two romantic writers in a slump? Realizing the friction between them might be the only cure for their writer’s block, they decide to turn their frustration into fiction . . . and the pages start flying. But will Jess’s heart soar, too? Nick is the last guy on earth she should love . . . but what if he is really all she wants for Christmas?

This one started out well and then we get to the end and I really dislike it. My main issue with this story is that, even at the end, Nick still blames Jess for part of their breakup. His entire defense that emotions are hard and that he was doing it for her was bullshit. I was still so mad at him at the end of the book. Just because she had some doubts that he overheard, he expects her to take part of the blame when he just straight up walked out. Um no. She wasn’t even given a chance to talk about any of those issues. I really really dislike the “I’m doing this for you” trope in romance. Blergh. Let the characters make their own decisions please. This book is probably fine for other readers, but did not work for me. Thankfully it was a quick read.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen

Title: The Kingdom of Sweets

Author: Erika Johansen

Publisher: Dutton 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 354

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project; Fairytale Retellings; Spooky Season - J

Where I Got It: Unread Shelf

Twin sisters, divided by envy and magic, set against one another on a fateful Christmas Eve

Light and dark—this is the cursed birthright placed upon Clara and Natasha by their godfather, Drosselmeyer, whose power and greed hold an entire city in his sway. Charming Clara, the favorite, grows into a life of beauty and ease, while ignored and unloved Natasha is relegated to her sister’s shadow.
 
But the opportunity for revenge announces itself one Christmas Eve, when Drosselmeyer arrives at their family gala with the Nutcracker, an enchanted gift that offers entry into an alternate world: the Kingdom of Sweets.
 
Following Clara into the glittering land of snow and sugar, Natasha discovers a source of power far greater than Drosselmeyer: the Sugar Plum Fairy, who offers her own wondrous gifts . . . and deadly bargains. But as Natasha unspools the truth about a dark destiny crafted long before her birth, she must reckon with forces both earthly and magical, human and diabolical, and decide to which world she truly belongs.

A bit of a mess of a book. I was very intrigued by the Nutcracker retelling and loved the first act. We set the stage and add in a mystery twin to Clara. Act 2 was even a lot of fun twisting around the idea of the Kingdom of Sweets. But then the book started to lose me. Clara and Natasha are both terrible. Their entire families are terrible. Conrad is a wet blanket. Why should I care about any of these people? The person I cared the most about was Anastasia the cook. She at least seemed like a real person. The rest were caricatures; all black and white without the gray that real people have. I was ready for the Sugar Plum Fairy to take them all. Overall, the book really lost me after the second section and the ending was downright confusing.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch by Julia McKay

Title: The Holiday Honeymoon Switch

Author: Julia McKay

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2024

Genre: Romance

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 4 (couple of explicit scenes, but short and easy to skip)

Holly Beech and Ivy Casey are bury-the-body besties. They’re so in sync, they even look alike. When Holly’s fiancé jilts her, leaving her in shock and with a nonrefundable honeymoon, Holly convinces Ivy to switch places. Ivy will go on the Hawaiian honeymoon her best friend can’t bear to take alone, while Holly escapes to Ivy’s rented Hudson Valley cabin to binge-watch holiday movies and heal.
But Holly’s wallowing is interrupted when her rugged Airbnb host turns out to be her high school academic rival who’s had a major glow-up. Meanwhile, Ivy’s (now Hawaiian) annual solo art retreat is upended when Holly’s ex-fiancé checks into the honeymoon suite—with a new woman. Raging and bed-less, the last thing Ivy expects is for the hot hotel bartender to come to her rescue. Against all odds, this Christmas might prove the most magical yet.

Decent little holiday themed romance to kick off my month. I wanted something fairly easy and breezy and that’s exactly what I got. Holly and Ivy are those super annoying best friends who are complete ride or die for each other. Thankfully, we don’t have to suffer through too many scenes of them together. Mostly we get to see how each friends deals with their issues across the country from each other. I loved Ivy’s of facing her fears and finally pursuing her dreams all while getting to know the hot bartender. I felt like Ivy was the story that exhibited all the character growth and change. Meanwhile, Holly is just there and coincidentally finds her person that also happens to have been the one person from high school. Pretty cliched! Thankfully Aiden helps overcome the super cheese to round out the story. Nothing too life-changing, but a fun holiday romance.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Fame on Fire "Nightmare"

The local radio station keeps playing this song. I finally really paid attention.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Christmas Bucket List

Another year, another Christmas bucket list! This season I’m still embracing the mantra of “Take it easy.” As such, I’m filling our bucket list with all my favorite things and not reaching too far.

1. Go see Santa!

2. Decorate the mini tree

3. Decorate the house

4. See the Christmas tree at the Durham Museum

5. Visit the Holiday display at Lauritzen Gardens

6. See A Christmas Story @ The Rose

7. See The Nutcracker @ The Orpheum

8. Listen to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

9. Make Christmas cookies

10. Drive through the Santa Rock n Lights

11. Visit the reindeers Dancer and Dasher

12. Watch 10 Christmas Movies

13. Go to Zoolightful at the zoo

14. Go to Fantasy of Lights at Franke Park

15. Dinner at Coney Island and see the Santa lights

16. Read 10 Christmas books

17. Make paper snowflakes

18. Make Christmas cocktails

19. Hot Chocolate tasting

20. Finish a Christmas puzzle

21. Find a new Christmas album

22. Make a Christmas craft

23. Decorate a gingerbread house

24. Take a photo of all four boys together

25. Finish 2024’s December Daily album

Next up on the TBR pile:

December 2024 Life Goals

Let’s check in on November’s goals and my progress.

• Read 18 Books - Just made it! ✓

• Take It Easy ✓

December Goals:

• Read 18 Books

• Complete Our Christmas Bucket List

• Layout Our 2025 Calendar

• Plan Our February Great Wolf Lodge Trip

• Start Planning the Retreat

Next up o the TBR pile:

November 2024 Wrap-up

November TBR Pile (18/19):

1. Bookworms BC: To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose ✓

2. Friend BC: Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn ✓

3. Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: Dark Eden by Chris Beckett

4. Kid Book Club: A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga ✓

5. Kid Read Aloud: The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum ✓

6. Kid Read Aloud: The Goblin’s Puzzle by Andrew Chilton ✓

7. Fantasy: A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan ✓

8. Fantasy: The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke ✓

9. Romance: Tangled Up in You by Christina Lauren ✓

10. Romance: Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton ✓

11. Romance: Desperate Measures by Katee Robert ✓

12. Romance: Illicit Temptations by Katee Robert ✓

13. Romance: A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne ✓

14. Romance: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins ✓

15. Romance: The Gargoyle’s Captive by Katee Robert ✓

16. Romance: A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sarah Hawley ✓

17. Horror: The Nighthouse Keeper by Lora Senf ✓

18. Horror: The Loneliest Place by Lora Senf ✓

19. Comic: Alice in Borderland Vol. 1 ✓

1,000,000 Page Goal:

Monthly Total: 6199 pages
Pages Remaining: 196,764 pages

Current Read - The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Books Bought/Received (0)

UnRead Shelf Progress

• Starting Number: 306

• Books Read: 1

• Books Acquired: 0

• Books Unshelved: 0

• Finishing Number: 305

December TBR Pile: The rest of my December TBR pile is filled with holiday romances.

1. Bookworms BC: NONE (Christmas exchange)

2. Friend BC: Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

3. Nerdy Bookish Friends BC: NONE (Lit Society month)

4. Kid Book Club: Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones

5. Kid Read Aloud: Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

6. Kid Read Aloud: Gregor the Overland by Suzanne Collins

7. Kid Read Aloud: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

8. Fantasy: The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen

Movies Watched

• The Wild Robot

• The Jackpot

TV Shows Watched

• All the Dropout shows per usual

• What We Do in the Shadows S6

• Lower Decks

• Nobody Wants This S1 (finished!)

• The Great British Bake-Off S15

• Dimension 20 S1

• Only Murders in the Building S4

Comments - A much slower month overall. And that’s a good thing! After the crazy pace of September and October, it was nice to slow down a bit this month and just be. I didn’t read a ton of amazing books, but it was overall pretty decent. We watched a few television shows, but didn’t go too crazy.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Demon's Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sarah Hawley

Title: A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch (Glimmer Falls #2)

Author: Sarah Hawley

Publisher: Berkley 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 432

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - Enemies; Spooky Reading Season - D

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Meter: 5

Calladia Cunnington knows she’s rough around the edges, despite being the heir to one of small-town Glimmer Falls’ founding witch families. While her gym obsession is a great outlet for her anxieties and anger, her hot temper still gets the best of her and manifests in bar brawls. When Calladia saves someone from a demon attack one night, though, she’s happy to put her magic and rage to good use . . . until she realizes the man she saved is none other than Astaroth, the ruthless demon who orchestrated a soul bargain on her best friend.

Astaroth is a legendary soul bargainer and one of the nine members of the demon high council—except he can’t remember any of this. Suffering from amnesia after being banished to the mortal plane, Astaroth doesn’t know why a demon named Moloch is after him, nor why the muscular, angry, hot-in-a-terrifying-way witch who saved him hates him so much.

Unable to leave anyone in such a vulnerable state—even the most despicable demon—Calladia grudgingly decides to help him. (Besides, punching an amnesiac would be in poor taste.) The two set out on an uneasy road trip to find the witch who might be able to restore Astaroth’s memory so they can learn how to defeat Moloch. Calladia vows that once Astaroth is cured, she’ll kick his ass, but the more time she spends with the snarky yet utterly charming demon, the more she realizes she likes this new, improved Astaroth . . . and maybe she doesn’t want him to recover his memories, after all.

I adored the first book in this series and liked this one. My main problem with the book is Calladia. She’s a tough one to love and I just never got over her prickly exterior. I loved seeing Astaroth in a different light and watch him grow and change throughout the book. Calladia just seemed to blindly punch her way through the storyline until the very end. It was a bit frustrating. Add in the extremely shortened timeline of this plot and it just wasn’t my favorite. I am very intrigued to read book three about Ben the werewolf.

Gimmer Falls

• #1 A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon

• #2 A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch

• #3 A Werewolf’s Guide to Seducing a Vampire

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Gargoyle's Captive by Katee Robert

Title: The Gargoyle’s Captive (A Deal with a Demon #3)

Author: Katee Robert

Publisher: Trinkets & Tales LLC 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 185

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Where It Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 8

Grace is a monster hunter who went into her demon deal with eyes wide open. Years ago, her mother made the same choice and was never seen again, and the answers Grace seeks can only be found in the demon realm.

She doesn’t care that she’s auctioned off to a gargoyle. She doesn’t plan to stay with him longer than strictly necessary.

Unfortunately, she didn’t read the small print of her contract.

Every time she tries to escape, Bram catches her and brings her back…to his bed. Where things get heated very quickly in unexpected ways. Grace doesn’t mean to give in, to stop fighting. But the moment she does, she starts to forget what brought her to this place and what her goals are. After a life starved of pleasure, she’s all willing to let Bram seduce her again and again…

At least until the past comes calling.

Another hard romance book dealing with dubious consent and past traumas. This entire series is really about past traumas and confronting them. These aren’t my favorite Katee Robert books, but I do enjoy these slim books as explorations of romance. In this one, Grace was a really hard person to relate to, but I was rooting for her the entire time. Bram was a much more interesting character to me and I wanted to learn more and more as the pages unfolded. The big twist was pretty well foreshadowed, and yet, I still found it very appropriate to the storyline.

A Deal with a Demon

• #1 The Dragon’s Bride

• #2 The Kraken’s Sacrifice

• #3 The Gargoyle’s Captive

• #4 The Succubus’s Prize

• #5 The Demon’s Bargain

• #6 The Demon’s Queen

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Loneliest Place by Lora Senf

Title: The Clackity (Blight Harbor #3)

Author: Lora Senf

Publisher: Atheneum 2024

Genre: MG Horror

Pages: 368

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Where I Got It: Library

As summer comes to an end, Evie Von Rathe is determined to begin the search for her parents in earnest. Armed with her knowledge of the otherworldly, her mom’s violet glasses, and a pendant full of doors, Evie begins to piece together clues. When she realizes her mother’s bedtime story might be a roadmap to finding them, Evie follows it back to the Dark Sun Side.

But stories are funny things, and they change from one teller to the next.

The black nothing of the Radix is waiting, and it knows more than it’s ever let on. Evie will need every bit of courage she has for what’s coming. With Bird at her side, and maybe even a reluctant Lark as well, Evie has what she hopes is her last adventure under a purple sky.

A beautiful end to this trilogy. We get another great quest, along with appearances by all our favorite previous characters. I especially loved the scenes with the Story Thief, such an interesting character. Evie is on a mission to defeat The Clackity and rescue her parents. Will she make it? I bet you can guess the ending, but thankfully it’s the journey that’s the interesting part. Weaving the quest around the storybook added a fun element to the book. I really loved this entire trilogy. Apparently I dig middle grade horror.

Blight Harbor

• #1 The Clackity

• #2 The Nighthouse Keeper

• #3 The Loneliest Place

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W13: Lots of Schoolwork and Sickness

What We Studied

A flex week and a regular week all rolled into one post. I took to heart my November goal of Take It Easy. We have continued our activities, but I lessened the frequency of a few to slow everything down. It has definitely helped in the wake of world events this past few weeks. And an extra bonus: when the boys got sick during last week, we didn’t have too much that we had to cancel. We ended up getting ahead in our schoolwork allowing us to take off the entirety of Thanksgiving week.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur is primarily using Hearth and Story G5 for his language arts this year. We finished our current read aloud and moved onto the next one. This book is actually our coop book club selection for November. We needed to finish it by the first week of December, so I switched around our books to accommodate. We also covered more grammar and extra language arts assignments.

• Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

• The Goblin’s Puzzle by Andrew Chilton

• A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga

Quentin is primarily using Blossom & Root G1 for his language arts this year. We will pull some elements from Build Your Library Level 2 and random books that we have around the house. We continued with our classic read finishing it at the end of the week. Perfect for a break for Thanksgiving.

• Poetry: The Alligator's Smile and Other Poems by Jane Yolen

• Poetry: Dinosaur Dinner (with a Slice of Alligator Pie) by Dennis Lee

• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

• Zoey and Sassafras: Gnomes and Sneeze by Asia Citro (Q independent read)

• Write Shop B

• Eggasaurus by Jennifer Wagh

• If Dinosaurs Had Hair by Dan Marvin

• The Long Lost Secret Diary of the World's Worst Dinosaur Hunter by Tim Collins (Q independent read)

Math

Arthur is using Singapore’s Math in Focus Course 1. Effectively this is Singapore’s 6th grade math text. Arthur finished a chapter on percents. We only have one more chapter of 1A left.

• Math in Focus Course 1 Book A

Quentin is using Singapore’s Primary Mathematics Common Core edition 2B and 3A. He started with the lessons in 2B. He finished the entirety of 2B last week. We switched over to our Financial Literacy G2 book. We should finish that book the week after Thanksgiving.

• Primarily Logic

• Singapore Primary Common Core 2B

• EM Financial Literacy G2

Social Studies

Arthur is using Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 this year. Arthur learned about Britain and Ireland focusing on the Glorious Revolution and the Act of Union. We also covered a Culture Corner about John Locke which dovetailed nicely into our co-op civics study. Because we suddenly had more home time because of sickness, we moved onto the next few sections of history. We covered a section about the Ottoman Empire and Russia (focusing on Peter the Great), a section about West Africa and slavery, and a section about the Caribbean including pirates.

• Curiosity Chronicles Early Modern History Vol. 1

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• A Pot O’ Gold: A Treasury of Irish Stories, Poetry, Folklore, and (of Course) Blarney by Kathleen Krull

• Lives of the Scientists: Experiments, Explosions (and What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull

• The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Marianna Mayer

• Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock, by Eric A. Kimmel

• Anansi and the Talking Melon, by Eric A. Kimmel

• Anansi and the Magic Stick, by Eric A. Kimmel

• Anansi Goes Fishing, by Eric A. Kimmel

• Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott

• I Lay My Stitches Down: Poems of American Slavery by Cynthia Grady

• If You Lived When There Was Slavery in America, by Anne Kamma

• Blackbeard the Pirate King, by J. Patrick Lewis

• A Pirate’s Life for She: Swashbuckling Women Through the Ages by Laura Sook Duncombe

• Sea Queens: Women Pirates Around the World by Jane Yolen

• Lives of Pirates: Swashbucklers, Scoundrels (Neighbors Beware!) by Kathleen Krull

• The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found by Martin W. Sandler

• The Golden Age of Pirates: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose: History) by Bob Temple

• Pirate by Gail Gibbons

• How to Live Like a Caribbean Pirate by John Farndon

Quentin is using History Quest Middle Times with Build Your Library Level 2 as his main history curriculum. This week we covered a chapter about Great Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

• History Quest Middle Times

• DK When on Earth?

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• DK A Child Through Time

• Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World

• DK Explorers

• Great African Kingdoms by Sean Sheehan

• Ancient West African Kingdoms by Mary Quigley

• Great Zimbabwe by Mark Bessire

Science

Arthur is using RSO Biology 1 this year has the main science text. Our academic coop will also be using RSO Biology 1 as a basis for the fall semester course, so we will be just supplementing at home. We will also be doing some of Blossom & Root’s Book Seeds and various other small units in between. Arthur covered the digestive and excretory systems in co-op. Last week had to miss co-op because of sickness. Instead of learning more biology, we caught back up with our Story of Science chapters. We supplemented with some extra materials at home. We also caught back up in our Story of Science, covering multiple chapters about physics and chemistry. And we watched a documentary about Einstein and Quantum Theory.

• RSO Biology 1

• Story of Science Vol. 3 by Joy Hakim

Quentin is using RSO Earth & Environment and RSO Astronomy 1 as a base. Of course, we have a ton of extra science resources laying around the house. And I will be hosting some one-off science exploration days that align with the units. We switched gears slightly to tackle Blossom and Root’s Prehistory Unit. we covered the first couple of eras and epochs of Earth’s history and did a big picture overview of Big Time. We ended up getting through all the wonder stories the end of the Paleozoic Era. Thus, we dove back into Eons and covered a lot of videos during our documentary time. We also watched a NOVA episode about volcanoes.

• RSO Earth and Environment

• DK First Earth Encyclopedia

• Older Than the Stars by Karen C. Fox

• One Million Oysters on Top of the Mountain by Alex Nogues

• Out of the Blue: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas by Elizabeth Shreeve

• Fossil by Bill Thomson

• Stones and Bones: Fossils and the Stories They Tell by Rob Wilshaw

• Fossils by Cynthia Light Brown & Grace Brown

• Fossils by Ann O. Squire

• DK My Book of Fossils

• Fossil Type Sort

• DK Eyewitness: Fossil

• Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story by Lisa Westberg Peters

• Grandmother Fish: A Child's First Book of Evolution by Jonathan Tweet

• Annabelle and Aiden in The Story of Life by J.R. Becke

• The Story of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott

• Life: The First Four Billions Years by Martin Jenkins

• Stones and Bones: Fossils and the Stories They Tell by Rob Wilshaw

• When the Whales Walked by Dougal Dixon

Academic Co-op

For math, Arthur covered perimeter and area, creating a entire city. In biology, they covered the digestive and excretory systems. In civics, we finished the election project with presentations and a discussion about candidate evaluations.

Art and Music

Art will be very sporadic this year, but we do have some fun excursions planned. And I will incorporate art projects into a lot of other subjects and unit studies. We had our monthly Joslyn Art Museum visit and focused on light and shadow. We covered a Harbor + Sprout module about World Art.

For music, we are using Music Lab: We Rock! as our spine. Each week we will be learning about a different rock musician and focus on a particular song. I have also created Spotify playlists so we can listen on the go. We covered Pink Floyd (a house favorite), Black Sabbath, Yes, and Cream. Lots of music these past two weeks.

• Music Lab: We Rock!

• DK Music and How it Works

• DK The Arts

Field Trip/Activities

Not a field trip, but we did get in a nature hike at Platte River. I didn’t want to go, but it really did us good to be out in the fresh air and hang out with friends for a few hours.

High

Q and I have been butting heads a bit over basic language arts and math skills. I decided to try a different tactic and signed him up for IXL. He’s engaging with the lessons as supplementary class time, but it’s been going really well. We’re going to continue through the winter and see where it takes us.

Low

The boys both caught a cold (it’s been going around all our friends) and we had to cancel plans this past week including missing the Homeschool Dance. The boys look forward to the dances and I was looking forward to getting a drink with J while they were at the dance. But alas, we ended up staying home to rest and get better.

Next Week - We got so far ahead on school that I decided we would take the entirety of Thanksgiving week off school.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Franz Ferdinand "Audacious"

Takes me back to college…

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #29

On my bedside table: I have a few more non-holiday reads left in my library pile. Up next is The Gargoyle’s Captive by Katee Robert.

On my tv this week: Continuing our usual shows like Umm Actually, Only Murders in the Building, and Last Week Tonight. We also watched a really forgetful movie with The Jackpot.

Listening to: It’s been a big week for podcast listening. I listened to a ton of Magic Tavern, Nothing is Real, 99PI, You’re Wrong About, and Cabinet of Curiosities.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Hummus Bowls with Spiced Beef

• Tuesday - Cider Braised Chicken Thighs

• Wednesday - BLT Pasta

• Thursday - Thanksgiving! By ourselves this year, but we’re eating all the usual goodies.

• Friday - Leftovers

• Saturday - Honey Lime Tilapia

• Sunday - Beef and Barley Stew

On my to do list: Mostly we are taking it easy this week, so not a lot on my list. Mostly I’m making all the lists and planning our projects.

Happening this week:

• Monday - Home Day

• Tuesday - Co-op Meet and Greet at Westroads; Bookworms Book Club

• Wednesday - Home Day

• Thursday -Thanksgiving

• Friday - Home Day

• Saturday - Home Day

• Sunday - Home Day

What I am creating: Lots of lists. Specifically I was focusing on our Christmas bucket list and Christmas advent for this year. But I also made lots of other lists.

My simple pleasures: Hot tea, jigsaw puzzles, cozy mornings

Looking around the house: Meh. We’ve been home a lot this week due to sickness, but surprisingly the house is in decent condition.

From the camera: Beautiful fungus on a tree at Platte River… I didn’t take any photos this week.

The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke

Title: The Wood at Midwinter

Author: Susanna Clarke

Publisher: Bloomsbury 2024

Genre: Fantasy Short Story

Pages: 64

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Where I Got It: Library

A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They're the same thing really.'

Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scot is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees-and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods.

One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst-and the path of her life is changed forever.

Featuring gorgeous illustrations truly worthy of the magic of this story and an afterword by Susanna Clarke explaining how she came to write it, this is a mesmerizing, must-have addition to any fantasy reader's bookshelf.

Beautifully illustrated and constructed book, that ultimately didn’t give me enough of anything to get more than 3 stars. This is a short, and I mean short, story about an unusual woman in the woods at Midwinter. It got the fairy tale like quality of the story. I even got the Christian allusions and allegories (even if I didn’t like them). What I didn’t get was the entire point. The author’s note at the back shed some light on that conundrum, but not enough to make up for the lack of story. (Or it’s possible that I just don’t love short stories at all…)

Next up on the TBR pile:

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Title: Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss #2)

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Dutton 2014

Genre: YA Romance

Pages: 339

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - YA Romance; In Case You Missed It - 2014

Where I Got It: Library

From the glittering streets of Manhattan to the moonlit rooftops of Paris, falling in love is easy for hopeless dreamer Isla and introspective artist Josh. But as they begin their senior year in France, Isla and Josh are quickly forced to confront the heartbreaking reality that happily-ever-afters aren't always forever. Their romantic journey is skillfully intertwined with those of beloved couples Anna and Étienne and Lola and Cricket, whose paths are destined to collide in a sweeping finale certain to please fans old and new.

And that was pretty much trash… I had mostly enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy even if they were young adult. I am a completionism and dove into this book hoping for some more yearning glances across a courtyard and sweet young love. Instead, we get a depiction of a pretty toxic relationship. All the things that the main characters think are sweet and amazing as in fact very toxic behaviors. The amount of mistrust and jealously all over these pages was immediately off-putting. Through in the absolutely refusal to see the world from anything beyond their own perspective, and I hated it. Added to all that, the sex scenes were super cringe and not just because it was two 18 year olds. They were just very badly described. That book was pretty much a waste of my time.

Anna and the French Kiss

• #1 Anna and the French Kiss

• #2 Lola and the Boy Next Door

• #3 Isla and the Happily Ever After

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne

Title: A Soul to Keep (Dustwalker Brides #1)

Author: Opal Reyne

Publisher: Opal Reyne 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 534

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 8

All Reia ever wanted was freedom.

Known as a harbinger of bad omens and blamed for Demons eating her family, Reia is shunned by her entire village. When the next offering is due and the monstrous Duskwalker is seen heading their way, her village offers her an impossible choice – be thrown into the prison cells or allow herself to be sacrificed to a faceless monster.

However, he is not what he seems. His skull face and glowing eyes are ethereal, and she finds herself unwittingly enchanted by him.

All Orpheus ever wanted was a companion.

Each decade, in exchange for a protection ward from the Demons that terrorise the world, Orpheus takes a human offering to the Veil – the place he lives and the home of Demons. The brief companionship does little to ease his loneliness, and their lives were always, unfortunately, cut short.

He'd thought it was a hopeless endeavour, until he met her. She’s not afraid of him, and his insatiable desire deepens
within every moment of her presence.

But will Orpheus be able to convince Reia to stay before she’s lost to him forever?

CW: Death, explicit sex with tentacles

This is another super explicit romance book that I stumbled upon and ultimately enjoyed. At the core, this series is clearly exploring trauma and its affects. Reia has been neglected her entire life after surviving a horrific event. Orpheus is suffering from confusion and fighting against his nature to find a companion. These two unlikely creatures are forced together and begin to peal back the layers. The book itself moves pretty slowly for the first 200 pages. We get a lot of inner monologue from Reia and a lot of world building. I do wish that some of the monologue was trimmed as it become very repetitive later on in the book. The chapters from Orpheus’s perspective were much more interesting. And then we get to the sex scenes. They are not for the faint of heart, nor are they for people who are not open to the weird. Those scenes are extremely explicit earning my highest spice meter rating of 8. Be forewarned. The ending was very rushed and somewhat confusing. There’s a lot of exposition and information dump towards the end that I don’t think I completely understood all. But, I’m willing to keep learning and keep reading this series.

Duskwalker Brides

• #1 A Soul to Keep

• #2 A Soul to Heal

• #3 A Soul to Touch

• #4 A Soul to Guide

• #5 A Soul to Revive

• #6 A Soul to Steal

• #7 A Soul to Protect

• #8 A Soul to Embrace

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

Title: A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir of Lady Trent (Memoirs of Lady Trent #1)

Author: Marie Brennan

Publisher: Tor Books 2013

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 334

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Relating to “Wild”

Where I Got It: Library

You, dear reader, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart―no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon's presence, even for the briefest of moments―even at the risk of one's life―is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten. . . .

All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day.

Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.

I finally got around to the beginning of this series and it was very enjoyable. Written as a scientific memoir, we follow Lady Trent on her first adventure concerning dragons. Along the way, we are treated to a study of Vystrana and its people. At times, this book is fairly slow. The style is definitely of 19th century prose. Lady Trent adds in a ton of asides and explanations of theories and actions as the book progresses. And yet, was very intrigued and wanted to see where the story went. This book reminded me greatly of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (which I loved), but slightly slower and duller. Emily Wilde was a much more exciting narrator. And yet, I did ultimately enjoy this book and plan to continue the series in the future.

Memoirs of Lady Trent

• #1 A Natural History of Dragons

• #2 The Tropic of Serpents

• #3 The Voyage of the Basilisk

• #4 In the Labyrinth of Drakes

• #5 Within the Sanctuary of Wings

• #6 Turning Darkness into Light

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Weathers "Wasn't Gonna Go Out"

Emo-pop? Um yes! I need some right now.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #28

Right now I am: Enjoying my coffee before needing to go pick up Arthur from his first sleepover.

On my bedside table: Hmmm… there’s a ton of random library books sitting on my floor. So I guess I’ll pick something from there.

On my tv this week: We’ve been continuing all of our Dropout shows.

Listening to: I jumped back into podcasts with a ton of 99PI, Magic Tavern, and You’re Wrong About. I’m also about halfway through an audiobook.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Pot Roast

• Tuesday - Snack Dinner

• Wednesday - Leftovers

• Thursday - Cod with Hoisin Sauce

• Friday - Hawaiian Pork Nachos

• Saturday - Pomegranate Chicken

• Sunday - Vegetable Beef Soup

On my to do list: Um… I have no idea. I’m sure that I have a ton of random tasks, but I’m just shoving my list to the side right now.

Happening this week:

• Monday - Home Day

• Tuesday - Sketchbook Hang; Co-op Happy Hour

• Wednesday - Home Day

• Thursday -Academic Co-op; Fall Homeschool Dance

• Friday - Fontenelle Forest Hike

• Saturday - Home Day

• Sunday - Breakfast Club

What I am creating: Nothing much. I’m really in a lull right now.

My simple pleasures: Chocolate cake, video game time

Looking around the house: I should do a big pickup and clear some piles.

From the camera: Always love to visit the waterfall at Platte River SP

Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn

Title: Mistress of Rome (Empress of Rome #1)

Author: Kate Quinn

Publisher: Berkley 2010

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 470

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf

Where I Got It: Unread Shelf

First-century Rome: A ruthless emperor watches over all—and fixes his gaze on one young woman...

Thea is a slave girl from Judaea, purchased as a toy for the spiteful heiress Lepida Pollia. Now she has infuriated her mistress by capturing the attention of Rome’s newest and most savage gladiator—and though his love brings Thea the first happiness of her life, their affair ends quickly when a jealous Lepida tears them apart.

Remaking herself as a singer for Rome’s aristocrats, Thea unwittingly attracts another admirer: the charismatic Emperor of Rome. But the passions of an all-powerful man come with a heavy price, and Thea finds herself fighting for both her soul and her sanity. Many have tried to destroy the Emperor: a vengeful gladiator, an upright senator, a tormented soldier, a Vestal Virgin. But in the end, the life of Domitian lies in the hands of one woman: the Emperor’s mistress.

I cannot tell you how many years this book has sat on my Unread Shelf. I know that I got it before we moved back from California, so at least 6 years. I’ve read many of Kate Quinn’s later books, but never this series. We picked it for our November book club selection and I finally dove in. Overall, I really enjoyed this look at Ancient Rome. The first 150 pages are fairly slow, but once we get past those, the story really gets going. We have to establish our world and our characters before we get to the meat of the story. Thea was a great outsider character left to navigate the treacherous and unjust world of Rome. I was rooting for her right from the beginning. Marcus was fascinating and I really wanted to see more of him that we got. Lepida was horrid and I really wished she has faced a more terrible end, but at least she did face her end. I liked the interplay of the storylines and the different levels of Roman society depicted. We got a little of everything, even a few real historical people. I just wish it had been about 100 pages shorter with some extra slow and long sections trimmed down. Still, I have the rest of the series and will put them in my TBR short pile.

Empress of Rome

• #1 Mistress of Rome

• #2 Daughters of Rome

• #3 Empress of the Seven Hills

• #4 Lady of the Eternal City

Next up on the TBR pile: