Hi Friends ~ 👋😄♥️ I certainly didn’t mean to disappear for so long, but life keeps rolling along. The holiday season has already begun for our large family and so I will be popping in when I can currently, not having a super reliable writing schedule. I thought it be fun to check in occasionally during this busy season in the areas that I’m enjoying or engaging in the most…

Nonfiction November ~ a thing over on Booktube that has trickled into my Novembers unofficially. I’ve continued to be in a slight nonfiction mood since reading so many great things in the summer! I decided to tackle a few of my many unread magazines. I LOVE newspapers and magazines, I wanted to be a print journalist (albeit, I had a very romanticized view of what that was 🫣😅😉) as a young person. I really enjoyed both of these magazines! The BTS one was wonderful as it wasn’t just old info, but went up through their current album Arirang! I think I bought this one in a trip? this summer with my hubby at Barnes ‘n Noble Bookstore. I’m not quite in a Christmas mood yet, but I really LOVED this Pioneer Woman issue minus the big alcoholic drink article since we are teetotalers 🤣 over here. We are definitely trying some of her recipes this (American) Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Barefoot in the Grass: The Story of Grandma Moses by William H. Armstrong was a complete surprise and delight! Just the beautiful home-making, creative, cozy type read I needed!

I had grabbed this at our local library book sale a few years ago, because I was vaguely familiar with Grandma Moses’ art and really loved looking at it! Her life was so inspiring! I didn’t realize till later that this is the author of Sounder, which I’ve heard wonderful things about, but haven’t read. 🫣 I’d love to get my hands on his biography about Abraham Lincoln after LOVING this one.

Snuck away for a little bit one day last week and tried to read by lake, but it was too cold! 🥶 Nature and reading are my absolute two favorite refreshers. What are yours? ☺️

I’ve really been feeling the itch to revive my nonexistent fiction writing. 😍♥️😻 I’ve always wanted to write stories especially for children/young adults! I’m diving back into to my old notebooks etc. it’s exciting!

My fiction reading mood at the beginning of November was lighter historical fiction, but that recently just switched off and then on into children’s literature! 😍♥️

I’d love to finish these three above this month! I really enjoyed Anna Rose Johnson’s The Star That Always Stays earlier this year, so I wanted to try her others!

The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry was everything I wanted story and atmosphere wise, but, unfortunately, the main character Lucy really annoyed me. 🫣😅 Thankfully, she grows towards the end of the story, but I wish it had happened sooner! I also wanted the parents in the story fleshed out a bit more! I absolutely looooved the big family aspect of this story! Overall, I definitely will continue on to Johnson’s other two books! I absolutely love the author’s blog, too.

I’m almost finished with The October Country audiobook from Ray Bradbury. He has long been cemented as one of my favorite writers ever! He understands human emotions and desires so well and asks big questions throughout his unique and creepy stories. Wow. I wouldn’t say I loved all of these stories 😬😱, but I adore his writing style and wordsmithing. I actually may listen to more Bradbury if I can get them from library!

My local mom’s friend bookclub finished my pick and the next book my friend picked is Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth. I think it’s a fictionalization of true events? I only watched a little of the show years ago as it got a bit too dark and political for me. I need to get started on this soon! 😍

Working on my December reading journal pages while listening to Kate Howe’s Patreon videos yesterday afternoon brought me so much joy! 🤩 ♥️

Kate has some lovely gentle prompts for our December reading and so I made a little spread for them. 🎄

How are you doing? Anything exciting coming ‘across’ your desk lately? ♥️