I am linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz,  Kathryn at Book Date, and  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Hello everyone! I hope that you all had a good week last week, full of books and movies and nature walks or whatever it is that makes you smile! We had a pretty ok week – Friday we even took a little road trip to the largest pet store in Michigan, which was amazing. I needed a little break and it was the perfect antidote.

Books:

Last week I read these two. I had no idea what I was going to read this time last week, and I plucked this one off the shelf where it has been sitting since October. I was immediately sucked in! Sleepy Hollow meets a summer camp vibe, with a family mystery and scandal too. I loved this book. I think it was a good example of the perfect book at the perfect time.

The Kindle Magic and Mystery series is out! I had been waiting for it because there are quite a few authors that I love who have short stories in this collection. I started of course with Sarah Beth Durst’s story, The Wednesday Witches Book Club. I loved it, and I really hope she uses this to start a new series with this premise. This story took about 20 minutes to read, it is just a shortie as I am sure they all are.

This week I have two I am thinking about.

And yeah, they look totally crazy right next to each other. They are both NetGalley reads and I am determined to do better this time around!! I even found my Kindle and dusted it all off and charged it and everything. Lol. I am also reading this one.

Screens:

Billy and I had been watching The Artful Dodger, but then season 2 wasn’t as good as season 1, so we switched over to Murdoch. Sometimes you just need some Murdoch in your life. I am sure we will finish The Artful Dodger but we needed a break.

We are also watching nostalgic 80s/90s movies with Wyatt this summer and last week we watched Camp Nowhere, which is a funny little movie! I am not sure what we are watching tonight yet but I had better pick one because Wyatt has been asking all weekend. Lol.

I also posted a few times last week.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Cape Cod

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Mini Book Reviews: A Cozy Mystery Series, The Haunting of Ashburn House and Sad Cypress

July Wrap Up

And remember, I am cohosts with Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and Cat at Cat’s Wire, of the linkup A Good Book and a Cup of Tea for all things books -not just books read or reviews, but bookstore visits or author visits or whatever else bookish you can think of! You can find the link up for August here!

In-Betweens:

Wyatt starts an online art camp this week, called Camp Cryptid. He is pretty excited about it, as the little art and spooky things lover that he is. Tomorrow is our first day, and the project is about the Loch Ness Monster. Today I need to make sure I have all of our supplies together for the week, and double check the details. We have never participated in anything like this before! They do have replays available too, which I like just in case anything comes up during the time it is supposed to happen. It also has a story element to it as well. I will keep you all posted!

And that is for me today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Hello everyone! I hope you are doing well. We are continuing our simple summer over here, although I am beginning to look ahead to the fall and specifically, our next homeschool year. It’s time to get organized and ready, so I have been working on plans here and there this past week. I have our history mapped out until December, and purchased the curriculum for science, nature, and art. Next week I will have my husband print all 714 pages out at work (he works for an industrial printer) and then I will dive in, reading it all over and seeing what I need to collect. Anyway, let us get to the wrap up!

The Books:

The Breakdown: I read six books and one short story. We were inside for a few weeks this month, due to weather warnings and air quality warnings, so I managed to read more than usual. I read a mix of cozy mysteries, classic mystery, horror, and cozy fantasy. July is summerween season, so I leaned into the scarier side of summer. I have also been in a place mentally where it is hard to read cozy gentle books. When I am feeling upset or anxious, I need books that are as jagged as my thoughts. The book settings took me a few places – a tourist town in Michigan next to Lake Michigan, upstate NY along Lake Ontario, England, and Long Island. Unfortunately, no nonfiction or translated fiction this month, so I didn’t add to my challenge numbers.

My favorite of the bunch ended up being The Haunting in Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong, which I enjoyed way more than I thought I would! I got this one back in October from Book of the Month, and felt sort of ambivalent about it when I got it. Now though? Loved it!! It was the perfect summer creepy read though. A cabin by the lake, a family mystery, and Sleepy Hollow vibes? I am so glad that I read it in the summer, it just made it all the better.

The Screens:

This summer we have been introducing Wyatt to old nostalgic favorites from the 80s and 90s, and this month his favorite was The Goonies. Of course. Although he did really enjoy The Great Outdoors as well! Billy and I revisited I Know What You Did Last Summer and dang that was still a good scary movie!

As for television, Billy and I watched Only Murders in the Building, The Artful Dodger, and Murdoch Mysteries. The Artful Dodger season 1 was awesome, season 2 is not as good, but it is like they forgot the show is about Jack! Jack Dawkins was like a minor character almost and it just wasn’t as good. I will still watch a season 3 though if there is one, and I will hope that it gets back on track!

A Good Book and a Cup of Tea favorites:

I am cohosts with Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and Cat at Cat’s Wire, of the linkup A Good Book and a Cup of Tea for all things books -not just books read or reviews, but bookstore visits or author visits or whatever else bookish you can think of! You can find the link up for August here!

We have decided we will be featuring our favorite posts from the month here. I do read all the posts even if I don’t comment. I only like to comment from my actual laptop and not from my phone, which is a problem sometimes when I read the post on my phone. ( I am working on more time to read and comment though. )

My favorites this month:

From My Children’s Book Cabinet by Cat – she always has the coolest old books in that cabinet! I feel like it would be magical to look through

Recommendations Across Genres by Lisa Notes – I am a big fan of reading alllll the genres

Book Recommendations: Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson by Lisa – I have seen this book everywhere lately and I loved this review. Lisa is always so thorough!

And for some non-book related faves this month….

Moments with my mom, even if most of them are sad I am treasuring them

kites

seeing the Freedom Plane exhibit

long lazy days of reading

ice cream with friends

painting tutorials by Andrea Nelson

iced matcha lattes with vanilla and oatmilk

Wyatt doing so much walking with his gait trainer

art and books in general

And that is it from me today. Peace and love to all of you.

Hello everyone! It is a sunny morning here today and there is literally nothing on our agenda. Yay!

Last week we kept pretty busy! On Wednesday last week, Billy took the day off. I had tickets for the three of us for the Freedom Plane tour, which is a traveling exhibition by the National Archives. They did have a plane that carried the items between locations, but of course that was at the airport. It had stops at eight locations around the United States, and one of the stops was The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, near us. On display were nine of the original founding era documents, which was really cool. Wyatt loves history as much as Billy and I do, and he loved George Washington and Ben Franklin (and for some reason, their wigs). So it was neat to be able to take him so easily to see these documents!

Afterwards we went to lunch and walked around downtown. Our walk took us past The Whitney, which is a fancy pants restaurant and said to be haunted. The sign always cracks me up too.

It was a nice day out for all of us. Thursday I ended up going out for a few hours with my brother and my cousin Melissa, and that was a good time as well. I am pretty close with all of my cousins, but we don’t always get together often enough. Friday was another low key day, that ended with ice cream with friends. I was so happy to see Wyatt so interactive with them. Usually he is more quiet but on Friday he was all about talking and laughing with them. It was so good to see!

In the top two photos, one was taken in June 2025 (the first one), and the other last Friday. It is crazy to me how much Wyatt and Z. on the other end have grown! We also had a bit of drama. A. had hurt her leg at the playground before joining us for ice cream, and despite the band-aid kept bleeding. As a group of concerned moms, we of course had to devise a plan to get her home the easiest and quickest way. They had all walked up to the ice cream place since they lived closer than us, so Billy drove A. and her mom Nicole home, and I walked back with Shawnna and her son Z. Shawnna and Nicole live right down the street from each other, something they learned when they joined our Blackbirds group. A. and her leg were ok, but it was better to keep her off of it and not ride her bike home.

Saturday morning we took a family trip to Ikea first thing in the morning, and picked up a few things. I got new plates because I am obsessed with switching them out all of the time, a ridiculous mushroom stool top cover that I love, just little things like that. And chocolate. And Ligonberry jam. After Ikea we chilled out, then my brother and his daughters came over for pizza and to play. It was nice.

This week we have taken it easy for the most part, with the exception of yesterday but that was for an appointment. Wyatt had an appointment with his epileptologist first thing in the morning in Ann Arbor, so we had to get up really early and drive out there. I felt like I was tired all day! Lol. However, it was a really good appointment so that makes it all worth it. When we came home he just played and did Wyatt things all day and I worked on homeschool plans for next school year, which is something I will be doing for a while now.

And I think that is it for today! I hope that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile!

Also, some random photos!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl

Today’s Prompt: I went rogue!

So, today’s prompt was about what books we absolutely had to have when they first came out but that we still haven’t read. However, I don’t buy books like that anymore, and sometimes the wait from the library can be long! So I pivoted, and started thinking about memorable summer vacations I have had, and one trip was to New England when I was in my early teens. I had such a great time, and I have never forgotten it. I hope to go back one day with Wyatt and Billy! (I have whale watching on my bucket list!)

My Own Cape Cod by Gladys Taber || Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau || Cape Code by William Martin

I have My Own Cape Cod on my dresser, waiting to be read right now. Maybe I will pick it up tonight, as I am feeling the pull of Cape Cod and New England.

I used to read and re-read Henry David Thoreau like crazy, mostly Walden but also Cape Cod. I have some very meaningfully marked up copies of both of them.

Cape Cod by William Martin is another one I used to read all the time – every fourth of July, actually. I love this book, although I haven’t read it for years. I can’t tell you if it is problematic or not anymore, but it is a story of two families whose histories are intertwined since the Mayflower to present day at the time of the book (the 90s I believe). I absolutely loved it but it is a chunker!

Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman || Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver || Sandwich by Catherine Newman

I own two out of three of these books, Blackbird House and Why I Wake Early. I don’t remember too much about Blackbird House, but I do remember it is another multi-generational story told through time and flashes of who lived in the house.

Mary Oliver doesn’t need an explanation. She is just wonderful and I love her work so much. She was very inspired by the beauty of Cape Cod and it is reflected in this book of her poetry.

Sandwich is the only book of these three I haven’t read, but I am picking it up from the library tomorrow. I don’t know if I am emotionally ready to read it! I have read so many good things about it though.

Elementary, She Read by Vicki Delany || The House of Now and Then by Edward Underhill || Murder on Cape Cod by Maddie Day

I am on a bit of a cozy mystery binge right now, and these two by Day and Delaney are on my radar for next month. I actually have Murder on Cape Cod on my dresser, right next to that Gladys Taber!

The House of Now and Then sounds fantastic. It has some magical realism and full of thoughtfulness. Has anyone read it?

And finally, a book that has been on my TBR for a very long time it seems like.

The House on Nauset Marsh by Wyman Richardson. I love nature writing and this just sounds beautiful. Maybe I will make August a month of books set in Cape Cod. I feel like I have talked myself into it with this post! Lol.

And with that, I am off to see what you all posted about.

I am linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz,  Kathryn at Book Date, and  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well! I had a crazy week last week and I think I want to use today to recover. It was just busy. Luckily, it might rain today and if it rains I am definitely declaring today a relax day.

Books:

I’ve been having a hard time settling down with a book lately. I tried a few different books last week and nothing was working so I went back to a series that I knew worked.

This series is just a lot of fun. I like Marlee and her feisty demeanor, and I love the setting. This one was also full of messy relationships and drama and I just really enjoyed it. It is the third book in the Berry Basket series.

This week. I have no idea. I have a few I am thinking about, but I might just wander the library tomorrow and pick something out that calls to me.

My ideas:

I am reading The Smallest of Joys already, just a little bit at a time. I am really loving it’s gentleness, which seems funny when juxtaposed next to those other books. I guess I need a little of everything right now.

Screens:

Billy and I are watching The Artful Dodger most nights, and when we don’t feel like like watching that we are catching up on Murdoch. Murdoch is just an easy show to watch, and is usually entertaining. We are still continuing on our quest to show Wyatt the movies we grew up watching, and tonight we are watching Camp Nowhere. I don’t think I have ever watched that one, so it will be new to me as well!

Last week I posted:

Top Ten Tuesday: Books that Live In My Head Rent Free

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Book Recommendations Based on Nostalgic Movies of the 80s and 90s

I am cohosts with Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and Cat at Cat’s Wire, of the linkup A Good Book and a Cup of Tea for all things books -not just books read or reviews, but bookstore visits or author visits or whatever else bookish you can think of!

Here is the link for July’s link up!

In-Betweens:

Yesterday we had a day of small projects, where we worked on some of the little things that we have been intending to do around the house. We worked on the new crested gecko tanks, which are really plant cabinets that Billy is converting to be crested gecko friendly. We have one done converted, one to go! Then we also started our gallery wall in the bedroom, of our artwork and needlework. Max got in on the job too – well, actually all of the jobs!

And that is it from me today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

This summer, Billy and I are introducing Wyatt to the movies we grew up on. Movies that are nostalgic to us, that feel like summer or just fun. And of course, being me, while watching The Goonies the other night (Wyatt’s favorite so far) I started thinking about books that might feel like The Goonies. That feeling of found family and adventure. So I thought I might try to come up with books for all of the movies we have watched so far! I will admit that some of them were tough!

The first movie we watched was Little Shop of Horrors.

So for kids, I went with a less scary book, and more fantasy, and chose Growing Home by Beth Ferry. It does have sentient plants, but these plants are less scary and less bloodthirsty.

For the adult readers, I chose Mexican Gothic. I love this book and feel like it embraces the idea of flora that wants to consume you.

Next up, The Sandlot. Oh I love this movie. But finding books was difficult since I don’t read sports books! However, I think I did find two that sound like they would embody the feel of this movie, just old time baseball and the love of the game.

Three Strike Summer is actually one on my TBR. I want to preview it, as I am considering it for a book accompaniment to our history curriculum. It is about a young girl growing up in the 1930s during the Depression and amidst the Dustbowl, who wants to play on the secret peach farm team – but will they let a girl play? I have read great reviews for this one!

Beyond the Fence is a book I don’t know a thing about besides the Goodreads description, but if it doesn’t conjure of the feel of a small town baseball game, I don’t know what does.

Now we are at Now & Then, which is one I personally love. A movie of friendships and coming of age, of found family. I just love it. And if you have had friendships that stand the test of time, then you know you have been there for each other through all the good times and the hard times too. Sisterhood. Friends that are family, the family we choose.

For YA readers this time, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. These girls are all so different but are there for each other through good and bad. And so are those magical pants.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhoood is another book about friendships, and helping friends to pick up the pieces when things go sideways. It is definitely more intense read but very very good.

Now we road trip and have a comedic summer vacation with The Great Outdoors. This one was surprisingly difficult! I wanted to focus on a vacation full of hijinks on a family trip, and apparently I am not familiar with too many books like this!

For kids, I chose to focus on the crazy humorous shenanigans that can befall a family trip, and went with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway.

And for adults, I focused on family dynamics and chose Sandwich. I actually have not read this, it feels way too close to home for me right now. Lol. It’s been on my list though, and sounds fantastic. One day.

And finally The Goonies!

The Famous Five – Five on a Treasure Island just seemed like a fun fit. A group of kids having adventures, and in this one, looking for a treasure!

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is my pick for adults. I loved this book. It reminds me of The Westing Game, one of my favorite books, but I thought it would work for The Goonies too. 🙂

The other movies we watched already have kid’s books, since they are based on the book itself!

I would love to hear any other recommendations, whether they are for other movies to watch or books to accompany these!

I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl

Today’s Prompt: Books That Live in My Head Rent Free

Hello everyone!! So I am interpreting this prompt as books that live rent free in my head because they caused some stress or worry. Isn’t that what living rent free is, something you are anxious about? Or stressing over? I am Gen-X, sometimes these phrases need to be explained to me. Anyway, these are books that I enjoyed but also found parts of them to be upsetting and disturbing, or really made think about them.

I didn’t however get to ten.

Mexican Gothic is such a fantastic book. I had never read anything really like it before, and it was my first introduction to Moreno-Garcia. I had a hard time deciding between this book and The Bewitching, because I love them both.

The God of the Woods is another one I think about still, or will pop into my head. The atmosphere of this book, the multiple viewpoints, the ending that made me so mad that I made a video about it. Lol.

Chlorine. Dang. This tiny little book blew my mind and I think about it a lot.

Gillian Flynn’s mind is a scary place and this, to me, was the scariest of her stories. However, it also taught me about the plight of dairy farmers in America, and how so many of them commit suicide and how hard their life is. This was not the point of this book really at all, but it was something I learned from it and have never forgotten.

The Mourning Hours. I went through a phase of reading all of Paula Treick DeBoard’s books. I loved them. This however is the one I remember the most. I think because it shocked me so much.

My Sister, the Serial Killer is another book that I think about. It just was so different from other books I have read!

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I think this author is one where most of his books stick with you for a long time, if not forever.

And finally Stephen King. I could probably list all of his books here, honestly, that I have read. Desperation is a big one that I think about though, especially on road trips. It is so good but gross and scary. My brother and I read it at the same time and we like to occasionally lapse into high speech with thankee sai’s and can-taks just to be funny with each other. And because we are super nerds. So that is another reason it has stuck with me, King’s invented language that spans a number of books. And now I feel like I need to re-read the Dark Tower series.

Anyway, that is it from me today! I am excited to see all of these books that you have in your heads!

I am linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz,  Kathryn at Book Date, and  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Hello everyone! It was another weirdo week of summer around here! This week we had the smoke from the wildfires jacking our air quality into astronomic numbers, and so I kept Wyatt and I inside until they came down to more normal levels. To occupy ourselves we read a lot and painted, and I also hit the emergency stash of activity kits in the closet, which produced some DIY build it remote control trucks, and air dry pottery projects. I still have the volcano kit and mosaic kit waiting here in case it continues until next week.

Books:

I read Sad Cypress, then started in on Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop. Sad Cypress was a quick little mystery and I enjoyed it. Beacon Bakeshop is not too bad either, and I like that it takes place in Michigan. So many cozy mysteries seem to take place in my little state!

When I finish that one up, I am going to start a nonfiction book, I think.

If I don’t read this one, the next up would be Paper Ghosts by Sarah Addison Allen, whom I love!

Screens:

Billy and I have been really locked in on The Artful Dodger. We both really are enjoying it, and I had to laugh at a scene the other day, of Jack running and dodging guards on his way to the woman he loved – so very reminiscent of his role in Love Actually when he was a little boy. I swear he even made the same face at the end of his run! It is a very well-acted show, and now I want to read Oliver Twist. I have never ever really wanted to read this book, so I guess thank you to this tv show for inspiring that. Maybe this winter I will tackle it.

We are watching Holes this week with Wyatt as part of our nostalgic movies of the 80s and 90s summer.

I also posted a few times last week.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books by New to Me Authors

Halfway Through Our Frog and Toad Summer

What Wyatt’s Reading: Summer Reading Edition

I am cohosts with Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and Cat at Cat’s Wire, of the linkup A Good Book and a Cup of Tea for all things books -not just books read or reviews, but bookstore visits or author visits or whatever else bookish you can think of!

Here is the link for July’s link up!

In-Betweens:

On Tuesday, Wyatt had a big day! He graduated from physical therapy! We have been going for ten years, and the only time he has had a break has been for medical reasons. But the work doesn’t stop here. The visits to his therapists might be over, but our work at home continues. Stretches and exercises, time in the stander, using the gait trainer to keep his momentum. His knee immobilizers at night, his braces during the day. But we can do it. He can do it.

He has had so many amazing therapists over the years and we learned something from them all. The training wheels are off now and while it feels kind of scary, I have faith.

I am so proud of this kid.

He gets so bashful from attention!

And that is it from me today. I hope that whatever you do, you do something that makes you smile!