I have decided since it is December and my mind is on the holiday season, I would devote today’s post to books that referenced gingerbread, even a little bit, because it is my very favorite Christmas cookie of all.
I am currently reading A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking and I am enjoying it so much. The gingerbread parts are not overwhelming but when they happen they are adorable.
I also have the Helen Oyeyemi book Gingerbread sitting here on my TBR pile next to my bed to be read this month. It sounds so fantastic!
Finally, The Gingerbread Queen, to round out the fantasy section! I have not read it but it sounds really fun!
Next up, the romance area! I have not read any of these, but they all sound like they would be great Christmas reads. If You Give a Jerk a Gingerbread particularly grabs my attention as it has big Bake Off vibes!
I love Amanda Flower books and she has so many that I haven’t read yet, including her entire Amish Candy Shop series of cozy mysteries. I think I may have to try to squeeze this one in this December!
Bee Bakshi and the Gingerbread Sisters just looks so good. It is a middle grade, but that cover and the vibes – super creepy. I am definitely adding this one to my TBR.
Lily Fox and the Gingerbread Cookie. It looks like a very simple picture book about a fox following his nose to find the gingerbread that he can smell, but I just love the cover illustration. And, foxes, we all know I love them.
And finally, my son Wyatt’s contribution to the list today, his favorite gingerbread picture book, Gingerbread Pirates. it was pretty funny, I have to admit!
And that is it from me today! I can’t wait to see what everyone else chose! I also might need to go find a gingerbread latte somewhere…
*This post is also part of the Comfy, Cozy Christmas Link Up for 2024. If you have a Christmas/holiday post you would like to share you can find the link HERE or at the top of the page here on my blog.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hello everyone! I hope you had a great week and weekend! We had a wonderful holiday, and an awesome week of art and reading and baking leading up to Thanksgiving. Saturday we decorated for Christmas, so we are all decked out now and ready.
Read Last Week:
I loved this book! It was just so easy breezy, wholesome, happy, low stakes. It was the perfect book for a week of hygge.
Reading This Week:
Let the light holiday reads commence! It has been cold and snowy and I am excited to begin some fun wintry reads.
We just finished up The Spiderwick Chronicles which we really enjoyed. I am ready to move on tonight to something else though. Something a bit more comfy and cozy – it is after the season for comfy and cozy. Maybe the Bake Off?
We did watch the 1982 version of Annie on Friday night, and I loved it just as much as I did the first time I watched in the Wyandotte theater with my mom when I was 6 years old. I realized that was probably my very first Tim Curry movie! Also, the grandpa from Gilmore Girls is in it – he plays FDR. Billy and I would occasionally sing along; you just can’t help it! I have all the happy feelings just thinking about it.
And today, since it is December 1st, is the day that Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I launch our linkup for Comfy Cozy Christmas but it doesn’t have to be just Christmas, just seasonal from any walk of life, culture, or faith that happens between now and January 7th is welcome. It will have a permanent page on my blog – look for it up top!
Hello everyone! Since I am on a quest to try every hobby out there apparently, I have been really looking at puzzles lately. I never really considered doing them; our house is so small and I was like where in the world would I put it? Then I started seeing all of the puzzle boards with drawers that you can work on your puzzle, store the pieces in the drawers, and then slide it under a sofa or a bed. Perfect! So I started browsing around and wow, are there soooo many puzzles out there!! These are some of my favorites that I have found, and I was also thinking these might make good gifts. I know so many people who like puzzles, and they are so good for your brain health, keeping it all nice and elastic and active, plus they are budget friendly and provide hours of screen free entertainment. And they are like mini works of art! Anyway, here are my favorites!
This post does contain affiliate links. If you were to purchase something I would make a small commission.
For these next six, I really enjoy reading all of the titles, guessing at the books, just all the fun of the book hunt. And the Lore Pemberton puzzle is gorgeous!
I absolutely love this company. If you visit their Amazon store, they have so many puzzles and they all look so cool. Glow in the Dark puzzles, lift the flap puzzles, puzzles for tiny kids, the list goes on and on.
Wyatt had that farm animals one and he loved it when he was a teeny little guy. I think the other puzzles are just neat – I love personalized stuff like that for little kiddos.
I love all of the bookish puzzles honestly. And as the weather here is frigid and snowy this morning, I just may have to order one for us to put together as we stay all comfy in our house.
Good morning everyone! I hope that you all had a good week and that you enjoyed your holiday, if you celebrate. This morning I woke up to snow, which always makes me happy. I have a cup of coffee at my side, a cat next to me, and my guys are spread out over the den, Wyatt on the floor playing, and Billy on the sofa watching reels.
This week was our hygge week here. Wyatt and I had were taking it slow, just reading and doing art projects and baking. Some of that was more slow for Wyatt than me, but we had a very good week together.
Monday was mostly a reading day, which was amazing. I finished my book, A Fellowship of Bakers and Magic, and started a new one. I also finished my embroidery project that I was making for Wyatt. It came in a pack of three that were supposed to be all foxes, but Wyatt and I think it looks more like a wolf, one of his favorite animals.
Tuesday was all art projects.
First though, we had to gather pinecones! We went to a local park and scooted around under trees collecting pinecones that we thought looked perfect for our ornament project that I had planned. Once our pockets were full, we headed back home to get to crafting. Billy had made a quick template for us, then we cut out a few more, then Wyatt painted them in Christmas elf colors. Next he dribbled glitter glue over the pinecones and chose the color antennae. Then it was my turn. I had to wield the hot glue gun to get those pinecones to stay and to glue them sandwiched shut – and I burnt my fingers more than once! Once this was finished and everything was dry, Wyatt added the little happy faces, I turned it into an ornament, and voila! Done. Wyatt made one for each of his cousins, since as a homeschool kid he does not have a Secret Santa shop. I think these are cute and I think the girls will all like them. (he has four girl cousins!)
That wasn’t all though! It was the week of Thanksgiving after all, and he needed to do a classic, traditional type Thanksgiving project, right? So, he painted a mosaic turkey! I laid out the grid of blue painters tape, he painted the shapes, and when it dried we carefully peeled the tape off, added the face, and there was his little turkey. I actually really really love how it turned out.
These literally took all day, but it was a great time and I think he did a great job.
Wednesday Billy took the day off! He has worked like a beast the past two weeks and we have barely seen him, so we loved having him home with us! I had to bake pies for Thanksgiving, but before I got down to baking, we met my cousin and his girls for a little used book store shopping. We found some good deals, and Wyatt and Billy found a fun little reading fort where they shared a cookie.
After browsing and buying, we went home where I began my baking. My goal was three Nantucket Cranberry pies, and Billy had to work on his sourdough bread as well. I got to work, whipped out three pies, and then…noticed they looked weird. And then I tasted one. It tasted weird. Something had gone very wrong! So off to grocery store Billy went for more ingredients so I could start all over again. I finally finished at 9 that night, with much better pies this time around. And the problem with the first ones? I totally forgot the sugar!
Thursday – Thanksgiving! We finished up our food assignments that we were supposed to take with us, and headed to my brother’s house, where we ate way too much food, and talked and played and laughed. I spent a good deal of time with my nieces Mermaid Girl and the Hurricane, before we went to location number two, Billy’s family’s house, for dessert. I also hung out my two nieces there, Penguin and Flamingo. (lol I wish those were there real names! Ok I actually don’t because they have beautiful names but calling them that on here cracks me up).
I didn’t take a single photo yesterday. I was just in the moment and visiting and today? Today I am happy to be sitting here with my little family, snug in our house while the snow falls outside, our animals peaceful, with Miso purring next to me, and it is a perfect ending to this week that we have had.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hello everyone! I hope you are doing well, and that if you celebrate Thanksgiving, you have a good one, no matter what you do.
I haven’t been reading much lately. I don’t know what is going on, but I am in a bit of a slump which stinks because I have so many new books and I love them and I am excited to read them all. I just can’t sit still these days. Maybe after the holiday I will settle down.
I did read one book, just a little one.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to like this one. I am not really a sci-fi person, but if there was a book that was cozy sci-fi, it is this one. I found myself imagining the roads that Sibling Dex and Mosscap were taking, the slow days, the conversations and the tea, and I just fell in love with this book. It was different, it was thought-provoking, it was gentle, and it made me smile.
A few short quotes from a book that I saved so many from:
“No matter what I’m wonderful.”
“We don’t have to fall into the same category to be of equal value.”
This slim book is so filled with goodness. Even if this is not usually your jam, I say give it a whirl.
Reading This Week:
I picked this up over the weekend and immediately fell in love with it. Maybe my slump is over? Wyatt and I are having a whole week of hygge this week – no real school, just reading and art and baking, and this book seemed perfect for those curl up and read moments ahead.
We are all finished with Comfy Cozy Cinema and it feels weird to not have a Sunday movie all ready to go. Besides that, we are watching The Spiderwick Chronicles that star none other than my teenage celebrity crush, Christian Slater. I loved him so much as a teen. Lol. I can still probably quote Heathers and Pump Up the Volume. And, I have to say, as an adult maybe I still have a bit of a crush on adult him.
And that is it from around here! I hope you are all well!
Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and sometimes, chilling) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!! Our link will be live for a whole week after we post about a movie.
And actually, this was our grand finale! It has been a very fun run of movies, from all different genres and decades, and a few other bloggers joining us as well, which was awesome! We even had a comfy cozy care package giveaway that we kept adding and adding to and eventually I needed to get a bigger box to send it all off in. I really have had a fantastic time, and I appreciate everyone who has participated or commented on our posts!
For the last time this year, this week’s movie is Chocolat, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, and of course, Dame Judi Dench.
I thought this would be a fun one to end the season of Comfy Cozy Cinema on. Decadent, dreamy, a happy ending (well sort of?) AND a good excuse to eat chocolate while watching. Not that I need an excuse but it was a good one anyway. We wanted a party like atmosphere, full of camaraderie and chit chat, and even though the only people who came to the watch party were Lisa and I (which is fine, life gets busy!) we had all of these things. So much so that I didn’t watch the movie as carefully as normal. I was too busy sending comments back and forth with Lisa!
Plot summary: “When mysterious Vianne and her child arrive in a tranquil French town in the winter of 1959, no one could have imagined the impact that she and her spirited daughter would have on the community stubbornly rooted in tradition. Within days, she opens an unusual chocolate shop, across the square from the church. Her ability to perceive her customers’ desires and satisfy them with just the right confection, coaxes the villagers to abandon themselves to temptation — just as Lent begins.”
We met on discord at about 6:45, stocked up with our snacks. I had chocolate and popcorn, and a glass of red wine and Lisa had hot chocolate and french fries. I was all bundled up in my bed and for the first 45 minutes or so, it was just me in my bed watching the movie and snacking and chatting. After the first 45 minutes though, my guys decided to watch too.
Lisa and I both agreed that Juliette Binoche’s wardrobe as Vianne was gorgeous.
This is when Vianne had just literally blown into town with her daugher Anouk, on the clever north wind. She sets up her chocolaterie under the watchful eye of the townsfolk, who seem to live their repressed lives under the watchful eye of the Count, or Judgy mustache, as I called him. Judi Dench however, is not as cowed as the rest of the townspeople by the Count, or her daughter or the opinions of her neighbors, and lives like she wants, even if it is very bad for her health. Vianne discovers that Armande (Dench) is estranged from her family, and sets up meetings in her shop between Armande and her grandson Luc. Vianne seems to collect all of the outsiders, including Josephine, a woman who is in an abusive marriage and resorts to stealing things out of her despair. Vianne takes her under her wing and gives her purpose and self-confidence, and a way to get away from her husband. The Count however, tries to take her abusive husband under his wing and reform him.. and you will have to watch to see if he succeeds.
However, the worst transgression she makes of all is befriending Roux, who lives on the river and travels around with his family and friends. His kind are riffraff and not accepted into the very proper and staid town. The Count ups his game and pretty soon the town is boycotting Vianne’s shop – but Armande has an idea to help her out. A dinner party, flowing freely with chocolate. Which honestly, did not sound great to me or Lisa. Neither of us thought meat with chocolate sauce sounded very good. I don’t even like fruit and chocolate together so, meat would be a huge stretch for me. However, the party is very pretty and there is a assortment of characters there, who would probably never share a table otherwise. Everyone though, has a seat at Vianne’s table. Even Roux.
There is of course the moment that things all take a turn for the worse. Tension has been building, and there is a series of events that could be disastrous. The count throws in the towel and gives in to temptation, once and for all.
I was struck by how stark the town was, how visually uninviting. All beautiful stone, everywhere, but no character, no charm, no flowers even! No bits of green, no frivolity, just an overbearing statue in the square. Obviously this was meant to be representative of the townspeople themselves, who had fallen into some sort of cycle of denying oneself anything. The widow Madam Audel lost her husband forty years ago, and that was still too soon for her admirer to try to woo her. (at least before Vianne arrived). They were stuck in time, stuck within themselves, stuck in a rut. I am glad that they all finally allowed themselves to be shook loose.
And that is it! We have reached the end of our journey this year through Comfy Cozy movies! We plan on doing it again next year, starting the first week of September, and hope you will join in. If you have any suggestions for us, I would love to hear them! Thank you again to everyone who participated by commenting or posting!
If you watched the movie and want to link up, here is the linky!
And if you haven’t had enough Comfy Cozy, stick around! We will be hosting Comfy Cozy Christmas beginning December 1 and continuing through Jan. 2.
We will be sharing all of our cozy little holiday posts, about movies and gift guides and baking and books and other surprises we may have in our stockings! We would love for you to join in with us, and share your holiday posts here as well! Please keep them in theme with the holidays/winter (or summer for those in the southern hemisphere!), but it doesn’t have to be just Christmas, just seasonal from any walk of life, culture, or faith that happens between now and January 2nd is welcome! I will have a special dedicated page at the top of my blog with the link available all that month.
Hello all! I am so far behind on book reviews, and now that the weather is turning cool and we are not running around as much, it feels like a good time to get caught up. Not all in one post though, that would be crazy.
Let’s see… let’s start with the most recent book that I read.
Clueless at the Coffee Station is a book that I won in a giveaway on Instagram and I am so happy that I did! I have been in a bit of a reading slump for a few weeks, and I was finally able to settle into a book with this one. It was the perfect book to read right now, as the weather in Michigan begins to change to cooler days and chilly nights. The book is set in Michigan as well, which was a fun little bonus for me as I read.
The book is about barista Betti, a woman who enjoys her simple life serving coffee, even though her sister thinks she should be doing something different with her career. When a theft occurs during Open Mic night while Betti is behind the counter, she finds her job and lifestyle at risk and puts on the best sleuth outfit she can find at the thrift shop and begins to investigate…
I found Betti to be earnest, entertaining, and just as awkward as I am. I did enjoy the little bits and pieces of zen she found in her day, the little glimmer moments, such as the coffee shop before it opens and she has Main Street to herself, and a pot percolating behind her. Or a text from a potential love interest that reads “If you are up for cinnamon tea and midnight donuts, I know a place.” That would be a huge green flag for me. Overall I really enjoyed this book, and can’t wait for the next one!
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden: Ooo this was such a good one! It is a middle grade by the author of The Bear and the Nightingale and I was so excited to see how she writes for kids – and let me tell you, it is just as good as her adult writing! (although of course, at a children’s reading level and interest) I absolutely loved the main character’s father, who is very quirky , artistic, creative, and loves to bake. However, her mother has passed away and Ollie is still dealing with this emotionally, as one would expect. Her mother also sounds like she was a very interesting person, with an adventurous spirit, and Ollie is reeling from her loss.
However, the book takes a very spooky turn soon after Ollie encounters a strange woman at the pond. It actually had parts that made me want to look over my shoulder for creepy smiling faces…
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and I plan on reading the second in the series sometime over the winter.
A Dark and Secret Magic is one of my favorite reads this year. It was the perfect fall read, and had so many cozy elements to it. A small cottage in the woods with a fire, a cat, delicious meals that sounded so good yet so simple, magic, romance, ghosts, pumpkin patches and fall festivals.. I could go on and on but I won’t because there is a lot to this book that I don’t want to give away. I will just say that if you like autumn and witchy reads, then you need to read this book. And when you do, make sure you have set some serious reading time aside because you will not want to put it down!
And that is where I will wrap it up today! I hope you are all reading something good today!
Hello everyone! It is absolutely freezing this morning here! Like seriously frosty. I am letting Wyatt sit in the bed and eat his breakfast while I drink my coffee there as well, all covered up, that kind of cold. And..I love it. I do.
It’s been a few fun weeks around here. I think I last left off with our Halloween and anniversary shenanigans. Since then we have had Scouts, my birthday, and just fun days with family sprinkled in here and there.
We had a fire with my brother and family, went to my dad’s, and my cousin and her daughter were there, as well as my stepsister and her boy (although he is 17 and like 6 foot 5). And we got fun happy snail mail from Deb at Readerbuzz! We were super excited to get her cheerful letter, telling Wyatt what life is like in her part of the world, and to look through the little zine she made as well!
Scouts this past week was really fun as well. We started with going through our Oregon nature box that the pack from Oregon put together for us (we had sent them one from our area as well). The kids and parents loved it. I think one of my favorite parts of Scouts is not only the excitement from the kids, but also seeing the parents involved and excited about the activities. When we did leaf rubbings last month, one of the dads made rubbing after rubbing all by himself at the table, he was just having such a good time. And I love that. It wasn’t an aspect that I had planned for or considered but it has been a cool little extra bonus. This week we all marveled at the neat things that were sent to us – a giant pinecone from a Ponderosa Pine with bits of the puzzle bark as well. The trees have bark that comes off in puzzle like pieces, and it is really cool! They also sent sunstone rocks, which are only found in their area in the condition they are in. Each kid got to take one home too, which was neat. They sent bits of flora from the area, including a rabbitbrush specimen, which they said is everywhere in their area and causes allergies in the fall.
After going through the box, we started on the big activity, which was making ceramics with my mother-in-law. She had made a smattering of little ornaments, penguins and cats and little houses and flames but not traditional “Christmas” type ornaments, as we have some scouts who observe different religious holidays and we wanted to make sure we respected that. Then she also brought in some air dry clay as well, to show the before and after of ceramics. She started with that, having them touch and feel it and push cookie cutters into it to experience that part, then explained that they then go into a big oven called a kiln where they are fired. When they come out, they are hard like the finished ornaments. The kids had so much fun – even though my MIL brought the thing most dreaded by parents everywhere. Glitter. Glitter! Thankfully only two kids left absolutely covered in it. And who were they? The ones related to me. Wyatt and Mermaid Girl. I mean, if you know me and my brother, that tracks.
Wyatt had so much fun, as did all of the kids. I also had my heart completely melt because my littlest niece, Hurricane, immediately wanted me to hold her and carry her around as soon as she spotted me. Then when the meeting really began, I handed her off to her mom and she apparently squirmed free to run after me in her little 18 month old teetering galloping stomp. She sat on my lap and painted two ornaments too. She took it very seriously.
Two days later, it was my birthday! Billy put together the very best, perfectly perfect Erin day. First we went shopping at this store that specializes in Japanese food and other Japanese items. We all had a lot of fun picking stuff out. Pocky in all different flavors, Sake for home sushi nights, and I picked out a bunch of little bowls and plates because I am obsessed with that sort of thing. Bowls with cats, and a bowl with little Shiba Inus, including a little fluffy butt. We also picked up a few things for stocking stuffers and for other kids in our lives for the holidays. Wyatt got little training chopsticks with an owl on them, and dang, if he didn’t learn how to use them in .5 seconds. We practiced with fruit snacks and he just took off with it right away.
Next stop – Barnes and Noble. I had birthday money from different family members, including Billy and Wyatt and my mom for books, and I had a good time picking them out. I was picking books up, considering, deciding if I wanted to buy books for now me, who is in a reading slump and needs something different, or for future me, who knows what she likes to read. I ended up going with a little of each, and then Billy and Wyatt picked out a book for me as well, that is described as being a cross between Princess Bride and Legends and Lattes which is right up my alley. Wyatt of course got a book as well. And then when I got home, I had book mail waiting from a giveaway I had won!
However, the fun wasn’t done for me. We went on a chilly, twilight hike through the woods, which is one of my very favorite things on earth. We saw deer and woodpeckers, spotted mushrooms, and had a little impromptu school lesson, since Wyatt has been learning about the fur trade, voyageurs, and the Anishinaabe, and the nature center sparked a discussion about all of that.
Finally, we finished up with my favorite tacos for dinner and headed home, where we all happily collapsed and were lazy after a very full day.
Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and sometimes, chilling) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!! Our link will be live for a whole week after we post about a movie.
This week’s movie is one that I chose, The Grand Budapest Hotel. I love Wes Anderson, and this one was one that I had seen on a lot of lists of cozy movies suggested for the season. And I hadn’t seen it yet, so bonus!
However, the main actors were.. still a lot. I am going to say Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revelori, Jude Law, F. Murray Abraham, and Adrien Brody. Oh and Willem Dafoe. And Saoirse Ronan. Ok. I think I am done.
The summary is: In the 1930s, the Grand Budapest Hotel is a popular European ski resort, presided over by concierge Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes). Zero, a junior lobby boy, becomes Gustave’s friend and protege. Gustave prides himself on providing first-class service to the hotel’s guests, including satisfying the sexual needs of the many elderly women who stay there. When one of Gustave’s lovers dies mysteriously, Gustave finds himself the recipient of a priceless painting and the chief suspect in her murder. (Rotten Tomatoes)
This movie was not as traditionally cozy. It wasn’t a movie that was all falling leaves and hot chocolate and scenes of fireplaces crackling away. It actually had an air of sadness about it. As well as L’Air de Panache, the cologne that Gustave spritzes himself with before he leaves his room, without fail.
The movie begins with Jude Law, an author living in the Grand Budapest Hotel, years after the main story takes place. The Hotel has lost its grandeur, it is empty, lonely, with the beautiful opulent furnishings changed to a rather austere, industrial style. It no longer buzzes with energy, instead it seems to sulk along, hollow and hallowed. A reminder of days past, as times have changed.
It is a story within a story, as Law’s character meets Zero as an older man (F. Murray Abraham), after he has lived a great deal of his life. Zero begins to share the tale of the Grand Budapest Hotel, Gustave, and himself with Law’s character, known only as the author. And it is quite a tale.
Gustave, played by Ralph Fiennes, is the concierge of the Grand Budapest Hotel, a job that he takes with the utmost seriousness. Everything must be perfect for the guests, first class, and he selects Zero , played by Tony Revolori, as his protege. He takes Zero under his wing, and Zero is in awe of him. And why wouldn’t he be? Gustave is suave and sophisticated and has a power and aura about him, confidence and style. Zero is a young man, with little prospects, and so being so close to someone like Gustave, to have him as a mentor, is a very big deal to Zero.
A series of events transpires – Gustave hears of the death of a favored guest, he inherits a priceless portrait, he gets accused of murder… and there are many other misadventures that follow. Through it all, the friendship that is between Zero and Gustave is strong. They hold each other up, they keep each other going, they are truly like brothers. As men without families, they are family to each other. They are brothers in arms, as they fight to stay one step ahead of the law – and one step ahead of Dmitri and Jopling. (Brody and Dafoe)
Gustave does not ever lose who he is throughout all the trials that befall him. He believes one must maintain civility in all situations, that these manners and trappings and rituals keep the world from becoming too ugly and well, uncivilized. One line stuck with me, as I am guessing that it was supposed to.
“There are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity.”
However, despite some of the darkness that is in this movie’s bones, there are those glimmers of goodness and humor. The Society of the Crossed Keys, almost every part with Ralph Fiennes, who honestly was so well cast. I don’t think any other actor could have pulled that part off with such, well, panache. I literally laughed at loud at some of his lines, just at how he could switch from gentleman to someone less refined, without breaking stride or changing his tone or delivery. And Gustave never lost who he was at the core – I loved his mush delivery scenes in the prison. It was actually a very funny movie, despite how I am making it sound! I think the parts that made me laugh most were when Zero would command Gustave not to flirt with his girl!
There were some scenes I loved because they made me think of Fantastic Mr. Fox. Scenes where Zero and Gustave were running from hotel to hotel and boarding and getting off different modes of transportation and it showed them as silhouettes, moving with that bouncy little sneaky tiptoe. Or on the motorbike together – so very Fantastic Mr. Fox, another Anderson film.
I loved these moments, their friendship, these glimmers of civility. I am reminded of two very different things. First, their relationship reminded me of the friendship between Lev and Kolya in City of Thieves, one of my very favorite books. And second, the glimmers. A year or two ago, people were talking about glimmers, “tiny, seemingly insignificant moments when you feel a sense of joy, pleasure, peace, and gratitude.” Those moments when you are snuggled up in bed, under a blanket, enjoying a movie with a loved one. The wind ruffling your hair. The scent of a pine forest on a winter day. You know what your glimmers are. And that is the coziness of this movie. Friendship, and looking for those little moments of joy.
And, I will end here because I have written a novel! Oh – quickly I want to say that this movie was based upon the writings of Stefan Zweig.
And ok one more thing. Jeez Louise so many things today! I saw this online the other day and it made me laugh. I thought you guys might like it too. Prada’s catwalk of villains – which has some very amazing and talented actors in it. I loved it.
Did you watch? What do you think of this movie? Feel free to comment and link up with us about it! The link is open for a week. You can read Lisa’s thoughts here!
Next up is our very last Comfy Cozy Cinema movie! We are having a watch party for Chocolat. How this works: Join our discord, The Dames, which is where we will chat to each other during the movie. We will gather there, then all press play at the same time – 7pm EST on Sunday November 17th (the day after my birthday!). I am planning on having some good chocolate to nibble on while watching.
And this is not the end of Comfy Cozy over here and at Boondock Ramblings. Just like last year, we will have a month long linky open for all holiday content! We call it Comfy Cozy Christmas, but it is for all comfy cozy anything you do in December. We will take a few weeks off then look for the linky December 1!
Today’s Prompt: Destination Titles (titles with name of places in them. These places can be real or fiction!) (this was a topic Rachel @ Sunny Side came up with for a freebie week last year and has let me steal it!)
I had fun with this one, looking back at books that I have read and enjoyed with destinations in the title. I am a big settings reader, and will often pick up a book just because of where the book is set.
It wouldn’t be one of my lists without some kids fiction. I read The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines because the main character uses a wheelchair and I like to look for books for Wyatt that have this representation. He deserves to see himself in literature, and not just as a character who is there to explain to others what it is like to use a wheelchair. Not all disabled characters need to be there to teach others about their experiences – they can have actual other roles in the book, and even be the main character who has their own adventures.
Miracles on Maple Hill was a wonderful, old fashioned read. I holed up this past winter with these type of wholesome books to make it through to spring and Miracles on Maple Hill was one of my favorites of the whole bunch that I read.
Greenglass House – I just love this world! I love this book, and I plan on reading the next in the series in December.
It also wouldn’t be a list of mine without some anthropomorphic animals. Shady Hollow is my pick for this week! I still haven’t read the second book – maybe I should do that this month. It feels like a good time to read it.
The House on Prytania is set in New Orleans, one of my very favorite cities in the United States. There was a time in my life that I deliberately set out to read every book that took place there. And my first trip there was due to all of my reading and needing to finally walk the streets that I had read so much about.
So, The Cloisters. I actually did not like this book, but I loved the setting. I have always always always wanted to go there.
A friend bought me this book this year, and it is easily one of my favorite reads of the whole year. I love that The Blue Castle is not only a fictional destination for this week’s topic, but also an imaginary one in the book as well. If you all need a pick me up book for whatever reason, I highly suggest this book.
And that my friends is my list for this week! I can’t wait to visit your posts and see what you have chosen!
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 