Cabin in the City

Books, cats and midwestern charm.

Lisa

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30 Days of Thanks 2022 // Week 2

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I’m back with another week of things to be thankful for. Take some time to count your blessings this month along with me.

Day 5: Creativity

When I first reflected on this year, I thought I hadn’t done as much creative work as I have in the past. But you know what, I still did a lot! I had a great craft show this spring and I have really kind neighbors that think of me for their creative projects like the one above.

I’m glad and grateful that my creativity can make others happy. And I’m very thankful that even in a tough year, I was able to make some space for making.

Day 6: Weather

After a few 70ºF days this week, the weather is finally turning truly autumnal. I love this time of year. And, thanks to Karolina Zebrowska, I’m appreciating Novembers more than ever.

Today it’s cool and breezy. That, my friends, is perfect sewing weather. I love and appreciate having days like this.

Day 7: Adventure

Three years ago, my mom and I visited Maine for the first time. We loved it. Before my mom had brain surgery, I promised her I’d take her back when she was up to it.

This October, we returned to Portland and Kennebunkport. I am so beyond grateful that I was able to go on this adventure with my mom.

Day 8: Words

After explaining my feelings of burnout to my therapist, she asked me, “so what are you doing for yourself?” At that time, the answer was not much beyond the basics.

So after my appointment, I walked over to Black Twig Bakery and bought myself (and Michael) some cookies. It’s now become a ritual after my sessions and it’s really been great! In sum: I’m so grateful for the kind and measured words of my therapist. Going on a regular basis has been amazing.

Day 9: Connection

I’ve taken a step back from a lot since my mom became ill. I feel like it’s the right thing for me and my family. But I am still so incredibly thankful for kind friends that reach out to check on me and ask how the fam is doing. Thank you for keeping these connections alive when I am not able to give them my all.

Day 10: Wonder

When I saw that I could walk out to Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse in Portland, Maine, I couldn’t contain my glee. As I leaped from rock to rock on the breakwater, I was filled with awe and wonder. I got to be on the waters of Casco Bay and see really stunning sights. I also was fortunate enough to have the breakwater to myself to take it all in. It was one of the highlights of this trip and I’m so grateful I got to enjoy it.

Day 11: Feelings

I think it’s important to take note of the times you find yourself unexpectedly smiling. These unplanned yet marked moments of joy are what make life so wonderful.

A few times I found myself smiling or laughing without realizing it: managing a tricky stretch in a yoga class, seeing a litter of kittens up for adoption at the pet supply store, winning at darts in a dive bar, watching any episode of Lego Masters and playing Night in the Woods for the first time.

I’ll be keeping up with this series for the rest of the month. Stay tuned and please join in if you’re so inclined! You can use #gratitude30 on Instagram (where this challenge is really taking place).

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30 Days of Thanks 2022 // Week 1

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The past few years, I’ve followed this Instagram prompt by @positivelypresent. It’s a great way to reflect on the year and focus on what’s going well.

2022 has been a rough one (I know, I said this last year, too), but I do find that taking time to be grateful really does help keep some feelings of anxiety away. It also sets you up to express love and gratitude to the people you care about. That’s all good!

Day 1: Comfort

Much of this year has been about seeking comfort wherever and however I could. I’m really grateful to have a home that brings me a lot of joy and is always a cozy place to come rest.

No, it’s not a showplace or very fancy, but it’s warm and inviting to me. Plus, it’s always full of good snacks and cats—two of life’s greatest comforts.

Day 2: Nature

This summer, Michael and I returned to Bayfield to celebrate our seventh anniversary. While we were there, we kayaked along the shores of Lake Superior and even got to explore a few small sea caves.

Getting to experience nature in a new way was awe-inspiring. It gave us both a new appreciation of the beauty and the power of this Great Lake.

We also had the privilege of kayaking with some really knowledgeable local guides, some of whom are members of the Ojibwe tribe. Thank you for sharing some of your experiences and beliefs with us!

Day 3: Wisdom

For the longest time, I lived by the motto “better out than in!” when it came to emotions, stories—pretty much anything. But over the years, I’ve picked up a bit of wisdom from my sweet husband. Not everyone needs to know everything. Not everything needs to be said the second it comes to mind. It took me a decade to pick up on this, but it’s something I take to heart.

Day 4: Love

Back in March, I had to say goodbye to my sweet girl Zara. It was incredibly hard. Adopting a new kitten was also challenging. I wondered if I could grow to like her.

Well, Little Miss Ember is no Zara (and I wouldn’t want her to be!), but my heart has made so much room for her. Seeing her and Mukki together is so darling. I love these two beasts and I am so grateful to wake up to them each morning.

I’ll be keeping up with this series all November long. Stay tuned and please join in if you’re so inclined! You can use #gratitude30 on Instagram (where this challenge is really taking place).

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What I Read // September + October 2022

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via Goodreads

I’m not sure why, but seasonal reading never struck me as an idea until a few years back. Now that I’m into it, I’m into it. This fall I read a lot spine-tingling and witchy books (and I still have a few more in progress).

The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling • ★★★☆☆

I’m realizing that I love nothing more than a seasonal rom-com. The Kiss Curse is the follow-up to The Ex Hex, which I listened to last October.

I mean who doesn’t love some friendly competition between witches running their own magical shops? And, oh no, they have to ally themselves when one’s magic starts to disappear! I loved it. It’s a fun listen.

A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox • ★★☆☆☆

I thought that I’d been fooled by Hester Fox once, but looking back, I realized I’ve read two of her books (The Witch of Willow Hall and The Widow of Pale Harbor). A Lullaby for Witches will be my last. Spoilers ahead!

In this Hester Fox outing, Augusta makes some big changes in her life: she gets a new job at a small museum, dumps her boyfriend, moves in with her mom, starts dating a new guy and sort of becomes possessed by a spirit all within a few months. I mean, I could be into that in a general sense.

But when it came down to it, ugh. Augusta was such a bland character. And the author kept weaving in these tidbits about her trying to eat less and avoiding desserts. It’s a detail that didn’t make the character interesting or play into the plot. Spoiler: I don’t want to hear about any diet plan IRL or otherwise. Besides that aggravating fixation, Augusta was just very bland. How many times can I read about her taking notes on the condition of some old furniture? How often does that need to be done?

And, yes, I know that books with paranormal elements ask you to suspend belief. I can do that! I am all about believing that someone could be possessed by a vengeful half-witch from the past. But I also want people in these books to react to these outrageous situations in realistic ways. If your new girlfriend said, “I think a spirit is speaking with me and giving me visions,” your immediate response wouldn’t likely be Wow! Makes sense to me! I mean, sure you could get on board but not without some serious reckoning first.

One more thing: The author makes it seem like Augusta and Margaret, the witch from the past, have some really profound familial connection. It’s more like Margaret was her great-grandma’s niece. That doesn’t seem like quite enough. Who was my great-grandma’s niece? I DO NOT KNOW.

AND ANOTHER THING: Augusta’s mom is really reluctant to talk to Augusta about her late father. It turns out it’s because he was physically abusive. Instead of being sympathetic to her mother, Augusta is all Oh, well sometimes our memories of people are good and bad. What’s important is that we keep people’s memories alive and cherish the good times. Ummm… Not when that person is an abjectly terrible man. PASS.

Maybe this should be one star…

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas • ★★★★☆

The Goodreads synopsis of this book had me at the first sentence: Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca.

Beatriz is Rodolfo’s second wife. She spends her time at the family hacienda while he works in the capital. When he leaves, she’s plagued by visions and ghosts. Who is this ghost? What’s up with the sister-in-law? Can the local priest help? Is he more than a priest?

I wouldn’t necessarily categorize The Hacienda as a Halloween read, but it definitely had some unsettling gothic elements that feel right at home this time of year.

The It Girl by Ruth Ware • ★★★★☆

Ruth Ware is back! Who doesn’t love to read a book set at an elite college during back-to-school season? Especially when there’s a mystery afoot.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw • ★★☆☆☆

I’m not sure why I bought this book in retrospect; the reviews were not great! And here comes my review—also not great.

In Nothing But Blackened Teeth, a group of five friends stays overnight in a supposedly haunted Japanese mansion. The legends say that a bride was buried alive in the walls of the home after her husband-to-be died on the way to the wedding that was to be held there. This is fine. This is a good haunted house setup!

What wasn’t great were all of the characters. These five were friends but there was absolutely no evidence of that. Everyone had serious beef with one another. Why would they agree to vacation together? To attend one another’s weddings? Maybe if any of the characters were more than half-baked, I’d have understood.

In sum: Come for the terrifying cover, leave the second you crack this one open.

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson • ★★☆☆☆

I was very into A Dowry of Blood, the first in a series about Dracula’s different partners for the first bit. It’s written in the style of a confession by Constanta, once a peasant girl then a vampire who sought to drain only those who deserved it. Spoliers coming up!

That is what sounds interesting, right? A vampire whose first kill was the army that slayed her family, who went on to kill abusive husbands and corrupt politicians. This idea could make for a very good book.

But within about 40 pages, Constanta is no longer a powerful warrior. Instead, she’s taken to tending to her husband, along with a second wife) in what seems to be a pretty psychologically abusive relationship. I went along with this, even though it can be hard to read, because I expected a really satisfying plot and payoff. Instead, the author just keeps hammering on this point—sometimes in Prague, sometimes in Verona, sometimes in St. Petersburg and later in Paris—over and over again. When the revenge came, it wasn’t sweet; it just seemed long overdue.

Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist • ★★★★☆

The instant I see a new release with the subheading A Gothic Novel, you know I have to check it out. Gothic novels are my favorite novels!

And I really did enjoy Tripping Arcadia. Here Lena, a med school dropout, gets a job assisting a family’s private doctor. Her job is primarily to attend to the family’s ailing twenty-something son, but soon finds herself thrown into a world of parties and excess—but not in the way you’d think.

I don’t want to go in too deep, because this is one that deserves a read or listen. Think of it like The Secret Garden meats Girl in the Rearview Mirror.

I Walk in Dread by Lisa Rowe Fraustino • ★★★☆☆

I brought this Dear America book to Salem three years ago. Three. While I didn’t visit Salem on my latest trip to New England, I still decided to commit to this book this time around. Is this a book for middle schoolers? Yes. Did I still enjoy it? Yes.

As always, you can follow along with my progress and see what I’ve read over on Goodreads! Also, if you’re an audiobook fan, I encourage you to try Libro.fm—you can support your favorite small bookstore while downloading your next listen.

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What I Read // August 2022

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via Goodreads

I haven’t done six books in a month in a long time, but ’tis the season! August is always my best reading month of the year. This month’s reads were a mixed bag. Two flops and a few really good reads. Let’s get into it!

Bath Haus by P.J. Veron • ★★★★☆

You know I love a good domestic thriller, and oooh was this a twisty one!

I don’t want to give you too much up front, but here are the basics, Oliver lives with his partner, a successful doctor, in D.C. He should be happy, but isn’t quite. So he visits a gay bath house one evening and barely escapes. What he hopes is the end of that encounter, of course, is just the beginning.

Dead Lake by Darcy Coates • ★★☆☆☆

I’m not sure how I fell into the trap of reading another Darcy Coates book, but much like The Carrow Haunt which I read in 2020, I was simultaneously engaged and irritated.

I’ve had this book on my Kindle for years and finally dove in after seeing this advertised as the perfect book to read by the campfire at a bookstore. I mean, I love campfire stories, so this could be good!

And in the end, this is pretty much a campfire story and shouldn’t have gone further than that. Like the last Darcy Coates book I read, this book lacked so much detail and overlooked so many small errors. How you ask? Let me tell you!

In Dead Lake, Sam visits her uncle’s cabin to work on paintings for an upcoming art show. She’s got a week to put together a collection of oils for this major show and hasn’t started anything. Not a single thing. And it’s oils—paints that take literal weeks to dry.

Some other issues I had: Her uncle is friendly with the city council so he got to build a cabin in the middle of a park just for fun. Presumably a national park or at the very least a state park based on context, but we don’t know! In this cabin, there’s no running water, just a pump (that’s fine!), but the bathtub is upstairs. Ummm… No one in their right mind would build a cabin that way. No one wants to lug water upstairs. Also, it’s set in the US but she keeps calling flashlights torches. This was the same in The Carrow Haunt. It’s not a big deal, but it’s such an easy edit! Also, if you want the stories to be set in the UK, that’s fine! They are so vaguely written that she could easily set them in the US, the UK, Slovakia, Indonesia, New Zealand—wherever.

In summation: Anything that was scary about this book was made lame by the vague writing.

The Family Plot by Megan Collins • ★★☆☆☆

Maybe I would have liked this book better if I had read it versus listening to the audiobook. I was not a fan of the voice actor’s rendition. And maybe I wasn’t into the execution of this book either.

It sounds promising from the Goodreads synopsis: “[Dahlia was] raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she has spent the last several years living on her own, but unable to move beyond her past—especially the disappearance of her twin brother Andy when they were sixteen.” Right?

But it was just so flat and implausible. A bunch of murders happened on this small island and during their childhood and no one was worried? Everyone still found it to be normal to be obsessed with true crime instead of, you know, concerned for their safety? I’m not buying it. And I didn’t find it to be chilling or scary, which was the whole point.

The Retreat by Sarah Pearse • ★★★☆☆

I’m not much of a series reader, but I really enjoyed Sarah Pearse’s The Sanatorium. When the next volume came out in what is now a detective series (a specific type of series I’m not really super interested in), I figured I should pick it up.

And it’s a good read (and no, you really don’t need to have read the first in the series to jump in). Detective Elin Warner heads to a remote island to investigate the death of a resort guest. The island has a spooky history, both criminal and paranormal. Sounds good to me!

I think if you’re into detective books, this would be a four-star read, even five, but police work isn’t something I’m really keen on.

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam • ★★★★☆

I rented this audiobook on a whim after I saw it made Barack Obama’s summer reading list. I’m glad I did! This book was a thinker but also one that kept me listening whenever I could squeeze in a few minutes.

Let’s just say what I thought this book didn’t go where I was expecting it. I mean, it went there but then way, way beyond.

Depending on the type of person you are, it’s the perfect read for vacation or the worst read because you know that the family vacationing in this book doesn’t end up with the trip they expected.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry • ★★★★☆

Gosh am I a sucker for an Emily Henry book! Beach Read remains one of my favorite rom-coms of all time. Book Lovers is a worthy follow-up (People We Meet on Vacation was also good, but comes in third in my ranking).

Anyways, I love how this book leans into the rom com tropes, turns them on their head and then turns them over again. It’s very clever and sweet.

Oh you want detail? Literary agent Nora thinks of herself as the cold city lady that every rom-com leading man leaves behind for a new woman in a small town—and she is! She has several exes that have left and married the type of women featured in Hallmark movies. But here’s the thing: Her sister loves these sorts of stories and insists they live a rom-com-style life when they go on a trip. Is there a handsome man in town? You bet! A tiny bookshop? Obviously! Quirky locals? Duh!

But Book Lovers is about more than romance, it’s also about sisters and family and how to choose the life you want to live. Gosh, it was a good one.

As always, you can follow along with my progress and see what I’ve read over on Goodreads! Also, if you’re an audiobook fan, I encourage you to try Libro.fm—you can support your favorite small bookstore while downloading your next listen.

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Introducing… Ember!

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A little over a month ago, Michael and I added a new member to the family: a tiny black kitten named Ember.

We adopted Ember from MADACC, the county animal shelter. The first few days home were a struggle, first in picking a name and then introducing her to Mukki, but after a few weeks, we all got in the groove. All of us are so happy she’s here!

So, What’s She Like?

She is squirmy and silly! When she’s not running around after her favorite sloth toys, she’s flopped on one of our laps or snoozing on her scratching post.

She also spends a lot of time with our other cat Mukki. She gives him a run for his money! Ember tackles him, leapfrogs him and is generally a pest. She also likes to snuggle by his side and clean his head. It warms my heart to see it.

Why We Picked a Kitten

I volunteered at the Wisconsin Humane Society for five years, so I understand the advantages of adopting an older cat. Older cats are sweet! They’ve grown out of the bounce-off-the-walls stage and into their personalities.

But in the end, I selfishly wanted a kitten. I hadn’t had a kitten since I brought Zara home 16 years ago. Also, it’s been a very hard year. I figured we deserved a kitten as an extra dose of fun. I also rationalized that introducing a tiny kitten to Mukki would be easier than getting two grown cats to adjust to one another again (it was very challenging).

It turns out that this was the right move, not only because we love Ember, but because our vet said this was smart thinking. According to Dr. Paul over at Harwood Veterinary Hospital, older cats tend to respond to kittens better. Kittens aren’t that threatening to older cats, and kittens adjust pretty easily to most surroundings. It doesn’t mean that two fully grown cats won’t get along, but the getting-to-know-you process can be more challenging.

What’s It Like Introducing an Adult Cat to a Kitten?

I think introducing cats is incredibly hard. In all honesty, it’s what I was most nervous about before getting married. Would our cats get along?

This being said, introducing a kitten to an older cat went much more easily than getting two adults to adjust to one another. So how did we do it? Irresponsibly! Most experts would recommend, letting the kitten have their own space before bringing in the existing cat. But Mukki loves other cats, so we let him see her pretty much the second we got home. It wasn’t so bad! They sniffed, had a little hiss, played and that was it. We only let him visit with her for about 10 minutes at a time. There were squabbles and growls, but nothing serious.

We did keep Ember in her own room exclusively for about five days. We’d spend time with her and let Mukki in occasionally, but she stayed in her habitat for a while before we released her into the rest of the house. And even then we still had her sleep in her room at night just in case.

After two weeks, we let Ember have the run of the house full time, and things went well! I mean, yes, she does feel the need to get into trouble every night around 11:00, yes, she wakes me up in the morning biting my nose and yes, she collects every cobweb she can find in the basement, but in the end, all of us are happy she’s here.

In the words of my dear friend Amanda (a newer cat lady), “two cats is the perfect amount.”

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What I Read // June + July 2022

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via Goodreads

Guess I’m writing bi-monthly book roundups now! That’s OK! Besides reading (and listening) to books, I’ve started unwinding with a Nintendo Switch. It might seem blasphemous to bookworms, but I really love it. And I still get some reading in! Here are the books that have filled my summer (so far).

The Club by Ellery Lloyd • ★★★★☆

I’ve had this title on hold at the library since last summer. I couldn’t wait any longer and finally downloaded it from Libro.fm. It was worth it.

The Club is set at the newest branch of a super exclusive private resort. But what goes on there isn’t all champagne and caviar. Throughout the book, what’s going on behind the scenes for the staff, the founders and the members is revealed, and oooo it’s a doozy!

I’ll Be You by Janelle Brown • ★★★☆☆

I’ll Be You features two Mary Kate and Ashley types. Sam and Elli experienced a lot of fame as children and teens but as they grew up, they took different paths. Sam is in recovery and working at a café while Elli has flower business and just adopted a child.

Bit Elli disappears on a retreat and Sam has to return home to help care for her daughter and track down her sister who seems like she’s in a cult.

Twin swapping will always be alluring (1998’s The Parent Trap is a masterpiece), and a thrill-tinged take was sort of a nice way to dress up this trope.

Call Me Elizabeth Lark by Melissa Colasanti • ★★★☆☆

This was a totally fine domestic thriller to me. It had some really exciting moments. How could it not? A young woman rolls up to a roadside motel and, uh oh, she looks just like the motel owners’ long-lost daughter. But is she? Does it matter?

This was a good listen for afternoon walks and would make a nice read if you’re sitting by the pool.

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall • ★★★★☆

I am a sucker for adorable British rom com (see Red, White & Royal Blue, Get a Life, Chloe Brown and A Season for Second Chances just as a start). Boyfriend Material gets its start with the fake dating trope which is great if you love that! It’s even great if you don’t quite get it (it’s totally inexplicable to me!).

So what’s the deal here? Luc, a nonprofit employee with a world-famous dad, needs to shore up his reputation for the sake of his organization. Enter Oliver, a straight-laced guy in his social sphere that needs a date to his parents’ 40th-anniversary party. They’re both in it for the appearances and, uh oh, they catch feels.

I read this while planning my parents’ 40th-anniversary shindig so that was sort of sweet! And the story was sweet as well.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova • ★★★★☆

I don’t think anyone is immune to vampire stories—certainly not me. That’s why I eagerly dove into The Historian. It all starts with Paul finding a mysterious book on his desk in the library. From there, the story flashes between Paul’s time and his daughter’s. The providence of the book is revealed along with how Vlad Dracula may not have ended his reign back in 1467.

Be prepared: This is a long one clocking in at 704 pages. But it was a really great read to get into. It’s the sort of story that sort of envelops you in the world it creates from the get-go. I felt this way with A Gentleman in Moscow (one of my all-time favorites). This being said, The Historian could be about 200 pages shorter and the story still would have been great. Enjoy this one when you’ve got some time.

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey • ★★★★☆

This book was not what I expected based on the blurb I read online; it’s much stranger.

There are a lot of complicated themes in Just Like Home. Vera returns to her childhood home to care for her dying mother. It’s the home she grew up in, the home her father built—oh and her father was a serial killer. Despite this, Vera loved her dad. So that’s just the foundation for this whole situation. Layer in an artist living in the backyard looking to dig into the home’s history, a town full of people that hate Vera’s family and a mother that just can’t seem to stand her. Oh, and is the place haunted? It’s a lot!

As always, you can follow along with my progress and see what I’ve read over on Goodreads! Also, if you’re an audiobook fan, I encourage you to try Libro.fm—you can support your favorite small bookstore while downloading your next listen.

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What I Read // April + May 2022

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I’m reading a little slower than normal lately; my Goodreads Challenge says I’m two books behind and I am concerned! But I managed to read a handful of terrific books—including a five-star one—these past few months.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune • ★★★★☆

Talk about a pleasant surprise! A friend gifted me The House in the Cerulean Sea via Libro.fm (a nice surprise on its own) and I was really wowed by how much I loved this book. Do I nudge it to five stars?

At any rate, this was exactly the right book at the right time. This is a mood lifter of a listen.

Oh you wanted any details at all about this book? OK: Linus is a caseworker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth where he inspects orphanages and schools for magical beings. One day he’s assigned to a particularly remote and classified location. THAT’S ALL YOU’RE GETTING FROM ME.

The Gown by Jennifer Robson • ★★★★☆

I’ve had this book floating around on my Kindle for a long while now, and I never really felt particularly drawn to it. After last month’s The Duchess, I was sort of over Windsor history (at least for a bit).

But this book won me over almost instantly. It was clear from the start that Elizabeth and the rest of the royals weren’t going to feature prominently in the book. Instead, The Gown centers around two coworkers turned friends, Ann and Miriam, who work on Elizabeth’s wedding dress. Ann’s granddaughter Heather also figures in here; she is pleasant but not particularly interesting.

What was so interesting to me, though, was the fact that Ann and Miriam were embroiderers! A BOOK ABOUT EMBROIDERY ARTISTS! I was instantly won over.

Not only were the descriptions of the work terrifically accurate and detailed, but the characters themselves were also tremendous joys.

The Hunger by Alma Katsu • ★★★★☆

I love what Alma Katsu does: She takes historical events and weaves in supernatural elements. I really enjoyed The Deep, a spookier take on the sinking of the Titanic, and figured that The Hunger would scratch the same itch.

So essentially The Hunger is Katsu’s take on what happened to the Donner party on their journey West. Despite the subject matter, this novel wasn’t overly gruesome, but it was definitely intriguing!

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert • ★★★★★

Why did I resist such a charming book for so long? City of Girls has been on my to-read list for a while but I kept pushing it off because I feel like WWII-era fiction is everywhere and I am not in the mood. But I was definitely in the mood for this one.

Here, a 19-year-old Vivian gets kicked out of college and is sent to live with her eccentric aunt in New York City (what a punishment!). Her aunt, Peg, runs a small theater company and Vivian dives right into this new lifestyle of showgirls and late nights and costuming and really just wonderful hijinks.

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson • ★★★☆☆

I had such high hopes for this book! I wanted it to be a People We Meet on Vacation or A Season for Second Chances, but it fell a little flat for me.

But the setup is great: Nora is an editorial assistant at a publishing house. Here pay’s been cut but her employer is dangling a promotion in front of her nose if she can land an important author. This author is, of course, very charming.

The work strife here was maybe too close to home in some ways and that prevented me from enjoying this one fully. And maybe it lacked a little pep and levity?

The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones • ★★★☆☆

Domestic thrillers are a must for any plane trip or vacation if you ask me. So I snagged The Guilt Trip, a British domestic thriller (the best kind) for a work trip to Sonoma. The gist here: six people go on a trip together and only five come home.

Sounds great, right? But for some reason, I had a hard time getting into this one. I kept confusing the characters (three couples). And there’s one character that everyone else seems to dislike because she’s… trying hard to be liked by her spouse-to-be’s friends? Seems flimsy to me!

As always, you can follow along with my progress and see what I’ve read over on Goodreads!

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What I Read // February + March 2022

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Combining two months of reading here. I spent a lot of time the last few months getting into a new hobby (surprise), listening to Maintenance Phase (SO GOOD) and spending time with my mom. But there are some good reads in here!

The Secret History of Home Economics by Danielle Dreilinger • ★★★★★

Hot on the heels of January’s The Romanov Sisters, I downloaded another non-fiction audiobook.

I love learning about the history of home ec because this field of study wasn’t always about sewing pillowcases and flipping pancakes. Stuff You Missed in History Class has a great podcast about the Bureau of Home Economics if you don’t want to buckle up for a whole book.

There is so much good information in this book, but here are some of my favorite bits:

  • Housework is work. Home economists figured this out right away. They calculated that the average woman put 50+ hours a week into domestic activities like cleaning, personal finance and cooking. And if you layer on child care, it was much more.
  • Home economics is about efficiency. At its advent, home economists were looking for ways to make domestic work easier and less time-consuming. They weren’t advocating for everyone to become professional bakers, chefs, cleaners, etc. They wanted average people to find efficient ways of taking care of life’s everyday tasks. If that meant sending your laundry to the cleaner instead of slogging through it at home or picking up a birthday cake at the bakery instead of taking a lot of time in the kitchen, they were all for it! Don’t feel like you have to master everything!
  • It’s more than cooking and sewing. You know those tweets and memes you often see saying “oh gosh, high school, thanks for teaching me calculus instead of how to do my taxes.” Um, you all know that these practical skills are taught in school and many of them fall under the home ec/FACE umbrella. Want to learn how to do your taxes, make a budget, cook healthy meals and fix a hole in your jacket? Take home ec.

Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper • ★★★★☆

Yes, this book has spooky season written all over it, but you cannot control when library holds become available. But reading a book set during my favorite time of year during my least favorite time of year was actually a very nice way to plow through the doldrums of February.

Anyhow, the basics here: Emma returns home for a family witchy ceremony after spending years away. When she gets back, she discovers a few things: 1) her powers are growing stronger, 2) she’s not quite over her ex-boyfriend, and 3) there’s something about the town’s most mysterious and charming witch.

Devil House by John Darnielle • ★★★★☆

Before I even get into this book, let me start by saying that the audiobook version is the way to go. I have the distinct feeling that if I was reading Devil House, I might have had a hard time getting through it. But listening to John Darnielle reading his work was super compelling. I stayed up late listening quite a few nights.

This book is hard to describe, but I’ll give you the gist of part of it: A true-crime author moves into a home where a gruesome murder once took place at the height of the ’80s satanic panic. I think that’s all I want to give you!

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley • ★★★☆☆

I’m a big fan of Lucy Foley’s thrillers. The Hunting Party and The Guest List were absolute page-turners for me. Plus they had terrific settings: rural Scotland and a remote Irish island respectively. The Paris Apartment also has a compelling setting, but I didn’t find the story to be quite as engaging.

Here, Jess travels to Paris to meet her half-brother. (Why are writers so obsessed with half-siblings? I have five and they truly feel like regular siblings to me, not some strange hybrid creature.) When she arrives, he’s not at his apartment. The rest of the book trades perspectives from Jess to other residents in the apartment building.

This book is more than decent. It’s compelling and twisty, but just not as good as Foley’s other endeavors. I’d say this is the perfect airport or beach read. It’ll keep you going, but it’s nothing you’ll want to pick up again.

Madam by Phoebe Wynne • ★★☆☆☆

At first glance, this book was made for me: Rose, a young teacher gets recruited to teach Classics at an elite boarding school in Scotland. Soon she discovers not all is as it seems.

Sign me up, right? Wrong. Also, here come the spoilers (though not the entire plot).

So Rose gets to Caldenbrae and the girls are just not that into academics; instead, the school really emphasizes comportment and manners and breeding. Rose tries to dig into why that is, what happened to the last Latin teacher and why one girl was removed from her class.

She discovers that Caldenbrae isn’t a regular snobby boarding school for the elite, it’s pretty much a wife factory. Girls are matched with men and then educated accordingly. And, while I was hoping it wouldn’t come to it I also knew it was coming, that means sexually as well. The scene is brief but still absolutely stomach-churning and totally unnecessary.

My issue with this book is that it could have had a lot of the spooky plot points about the missing teacher, deaths on campus and unseemly history without the really gross stuff.

So why two stars? Maybe because I’ve read worse? Because the ending was satisfying?

The Duchess by Wendy Holden • ★★★☆☆

About halfway through this book, I remembered that Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor were Nazi sympathizers. That’s about the time I stopped really caring about the characters. This being said, there’s lots of historical fiction out there about equally awful people, so it’s not like this is really that unique. Like was Henry VIII a good guy? No. But I also watched all of The Tudors. Whatever.

At any rate, this book was fine. It definitely painted Wallis as being a bit more passive, even hesitant, about her relationship with the Duke of Windsor. From what I understood about her from podcasts, books and documentaries, that wasn’t really the case, but who really knows.

As always, you can follow along with my progress and see what I’ve read over on Goodreads!

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Getting Ready to Say Goodbye

Filed Under: Life Tagged With:

Back in the fall, I found out my cat had a tumor the size of an egg in her abdomen. I cried because my options were a painful, risky surgery or to let her live out her days knowing this tumor would kill her.

I opted for the latter not wanting to put my 15-year-old tabby through an arduous operation. The thought of her dying on the operating table or being in severe pain post-surgery was too much to bear.

Now, she is in her final days and it is hard. So hard. I knew it would be, but this is a loss layered on top of so many this past year, including the heartbreaking loss of my mother-in-law. Knowing that yet another blow is coming is gutwrenching.

But there’s no way to stop what is ahead. Zara is slowing down. We knew this was coming, but for so many months, she was doing well. Her attitude and habits were pretty much unchanged since the fall. She sat with me as I quarantined with COVID. She comforted us both after the loss of my mother-in-law. She squawked at the door to go on the patio. She grumbled when we woke her up in her cat bed. She’d growl if our other cat got within an 18-inch radius.

She’s not doing these classic Zara things anymore, and we’ve had to have some really challenging conversations. Bless Michael for his softness and sense. After a chat with the vet (a call I could not bear), he sat me down and we talked about what was to come.

We had to discuss what our ideal situation would be for her last moments and what would happen after. It’s not pleasant, but I know that having this talk now is best.

For now, I am spending as much time with my sweet Zara as I can. While she can’t do her favorite things like go outside or climb her cat tree, I can still try to make her days as pleasant as possible. This means lots of wet food, treats, fluffy blankets and naps. It means appreciating her purrs when she has the energy and her meows when she’s excited for food.

She’s not the Zara she used to be but she is no less loved or cared for.

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What I Read // January 2022

Filed Under: Books Tagged With:

via goodreads.com

This year, I’m setting a goal to read/listen to 50 books. If the rest of the year is anything like January, I’m sure I’ll get there in no time!

A Season for Second Chances by Jenny Bayliss • ★★★☆☆

Last year, I listened to Jenny Bayliss’s The Twelve Dates of Christmas. It was seasonal rom-com perfection. Her second book didn’t capture the seasonal magic the same way but was still a good read.

After all, who doesn’t want to imagine escaping to the English seaside to start a book club, open a cafe and become a beloved part of the community? Because that’s what happens here and I really enjoyed it. Maybe I should bump it up to four stars?

The House of Whispers by Laura Purcell • ★★★☆☆

Every time I open a Laura Purcell book, I know it’s going to be a good time. The atmosphere is going to be ominous, the characters strange and something slightly paranormal or otherworldly imbues the whole thing. It’s terrific.

This one seemed to miss a few tricks when it came to really creeping me out, but was still a fast read.

The Quickening by Rhiannon Ward • ★★★☆☆

This book has all the basics of a satisfying read. An old estate in the English countryside going to run, a photographer, ghosts and secrets.

In The Quickening, Louisa gets invited to some Downton Abbey-esque home to photograph it for auction. While she’s there, the owners are planning a seance to replicate a seriously eerie one that was held there years ago.

Spooky stuff happens. It was good. Not great, but good.

The Second Life of Mirielle West by Amanda Skenandore • ★★★★☆

This wasn’t the book I was expecting, but that turned out to be a wonderful thing.

The Life of Mirielle West follows fictional Mirielle, married to one of Hollywood’s leading men. She’s used to soirees, cocktails and evening gowns. Then she gets diagnosed with leprosy and sent to a leper colony in Louisiana.

There Mirielle struggles to come to terms with the disease, her confinement and living a smaller life before learning how to find her place.

This story played out beautifully and was really moving.

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry • ★★★★☆

I read Beach Read this past fall while on vacation and it was truly the perfect rom com. With that in mind, I had to grab another Emily Henry book.

I really enjoyed this one and the characters felt very real and funny to me (if not too good to be true, but everyone in romances is a little too pretty and a little too charming and a little too lucky). Anyways, in People We Meet on Vacation, friends Alex and Poppy reunite for a vacation to see if they can rekindle their friendship.

We all know how this one will end from the jump, but it doesn’t make getting there less fun.

The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rapapport • ★★★★☆

I bookmarked this title eons ago when a Bustle listicle suggested picking this title up if you read the Dear America series as a kid. I, of course, did. I also was obsessed with the animated movie Anastasia.

While it took me a while to grab this book (OK, download the audiobook from the library), I’m thrilled that I did. I’ve read and watched a lot about the Romanovs over the years, so I wasn’t expecting any major revelations here, but I learned so much in The Romanov Sisters.

A lot of documentaries focus on the very end of Romanov rule—like the last year or two—but Helen Rapapport dives in from the time that Nikolas and Alexandra wed and gives a lot of detail about each of the grand duchesses (and not just everyone’s favorite, Anastasia) from early childhood until their death.

This book had me thinking about the family in a very different way. Perhaps they weren’t suited for the lifestyle they were born to. If they weren’t royals, they would have been a very lovely, tight-knit family. But ultimately their insular nature and indecisiveness did them no favors.

While picking up a hefty nonfiction book might seem like a bit of a lift (and not as joyful as something like People We Meet on Vacation), I recommend listening to nonfiction. It’s sort of like a super long-form podcast with no commercials and a talented voice actor.

As always, you can follow along with my progress and see what I’ve read over on Goodreads!