We saw The Beths in concert. After seeing The Beths twice in 2023, we’ve had tickets to two other concerts that we didn’t make it to because of complications with our kids. This year, the perfect storm was created with The Beths playing on my husband, Jerrod,’s birthday right in our own county. We didn’t even have to drive to Los Angeles! For merch, we both got Straight Line Was a Lie t-shirts, and I got a tote bag and sticker!
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Tides of Fortune is the sequel to Heir of Storms by Lauryn Hamilton Murray. It was a perfect YA fantasy. A quest-vibed adventure, medium-level stakes, plenty of lore and great romantic tension. Exciting and unputdownable, but also lots of cozy scenes.
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Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler was a wonderful fast and funny romantic comedy. I loved the characters. There is a broccoli festival. It also has a bonus historical romance in it. The main character is a redheaded former child star.
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The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner is a historical fantasy, more toward historical than fantasy. It’s not really a romance, but contains love stories. It has multiple timelines and points of view.
[Read More]This year, I joined the choir at a small, local Presbyterian church. I sing Soprano 2! I grew up singing, but haven’t had a choir to sing in for years.
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The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst was a delightful cozy fantasy. I’ve had the beautiful FairyLoot edition sitting on my shelf, but I’m glad I saved it for summertime. The inn was welcoming and cozy, but filled with things to explore and discover. A respite from the rest of the world.
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The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden was a beautiful book. It starts off leaning more historical with court/political drama than fantasy, and gradually moves into a story of enchanting legend. It grows to be a magical and romantic story. The writing style is lovely.
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Coldwire by Chloe Gong was fantastic. It felt properly sci-fi. It was fairly fast-paced with riveting mysteries. It deals with serious situations and has reasonably high stakes, but doesn’t feel at all dark.
[Read More]I sing in a Presbyterian church choir(Soprano 2), and I wanted to share our performance of this anthem that I loved, United in Purpose. It has lyrics from the writings of Maya Angelou and music by Rollo Dilworth.
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Heir of Storms by Lauryn Hamilton Murray was a great fast-paced YA fantasy/romantasy. Magical powers! Court drama! Other lore! Good romantic tension. It’s the first book in the Storm Weaver series.
[Read More]My kids are on spring break, and I’ve just finished all three novellas in the Chaotic Orbits series by Beth Revis.
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I met Louis Sachar at Barnes & Noble in Huntington Beach, at a signing for his first adult book, The Magician of Tiger Castle. Louis Sachar is also the author of Holes. It was a delight to meet him, and hear him discuss his new book.
[Read More]Make and do things for your own enjoyment. Do it for the joy it brings you.
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I got to see Sarah Beth Durst and Sangu Mandanna at The Ripped Bodice bookstore in LA. Their newest books came out on the same day! It was a delight to see them in conversation together as they talked about their books and writing process for cozy fantasy and romance.
[Read More]After a busy last couple weeks, I’m excited that today is the first day of Summer Break for the kids. Not waking up early to get kids ready for school this morning was pleasant.
Are you looking for something to read this summer? This list is a mix of old and new books that I can happily recommend. Not only do they all exist1, but I have read them. They’re not all explicitly summer-themed, but I think they would be good for reading in the summer.