The upcoming Winter’s Respite of reading is my ticket to paradise

With everything that’s going on everywhere seemingly all at once these days, any sort of vacation is a welcome relief indeed.

Fortunately for us readers, Michelle Miller at Seasons of Reading will start our new year off right with the Winter’s Respite readathon next month. All of February will be reserved for either catching up on books old and new or just revisiting some comfort classics-your choice! 

You can get more details here about it and sign up to join in the fun. As for me, I have a trio of books set aside for this event and yes, one of them happens to be a Christmas romance that I didn’t get to sooner! In the meanwhile, let’s start off a somewhat summery selection:

Problematic Summer Romance:

This Ali Hazelwood novel takes us to a destination wedding in Sicily where 23 year old Maya has more on her mind than her brother’s impending nuptials.

For some time now, she’s been interested in Conor, the best friend of her brother , who feels that he’s much too old for Maya(he’s 38). When the two of them wind up sharing a villa together. Maya hopes to change his mind and he hopes to change hers but both of them might be surprised at what they learn about each other.

While this book is connected to an earlier Hazelwood novel(Not in Love), I believe it can be read as a standalone and I can always backtrack that one later. The age gap trope is tricky but when handled correctly, can be a very reasonable issue for any potential couple to work out and I’m willing to give Hazelwood some leeway here.

Hey, if Jane Austen makes it work for Emma Woodhouse(and her modern day equivalent Cher Horowitz), maybe this could be in that romantic vicinity there:

Witch You Would:

Set in a magic-is-real Miami, Lia Amador’s romcom has a meet cute on a reality show for spell casters that could be the best or worst experience of their lives.

Penelope hopes to change her life for the better by winning Cast Judgement but being paired with celebrity partner Leandro Presto, best known for his viral video prowess, has her in doubt of victory.

Leandro, on the other hand, is thrilled since his real name is Gil Contreras and has been Penelope’s secret pen pal for some time now. They’ve been planning to save his grandfather‘s charity but in order to do that, Gil is keeping up his Presto persona for the show and not telling Penelope who he really is becomes part of that game.

Can the two of the them win the contest and each other’s heart or must one be sacrificed for the ultimate win?

I do like a little witchcraft mixed into my romance and this seems as satisfyingly sweet as a certain peanut butter cup indeed:

Good Spirits:

And we get to the Christmas book and while I did mean to read this in December, my TBR grew unexpectedly during that month(wound up reading four holiday themed titles) and I figured, “Why not save it for February? After all, it is a romance and Valentine’s Day should be suitable enough for this.”

So I am planning to read  Good Spirits by B. K. Borison first, just to start things off with a good catching up. Our couple here is Harriet, who has recently inherited an antique shop and Nolan, a Ghost of Christmas Past who is assigned to help her out.

As they get to know each other better, it becomes clear that Harriet is not the one who needs to make peace with her past-rather, it’s Nolan whose emotional rescue is long overdue. Will they be able to make their season bright with love or be lost in a winter wonderland of the heart for good?

I did enjoy Borison’s First Time Caller last year(and hope that BOTM gets her new book, Back to You, soon!), plus a good hearted ghostly love story seems fitting for any time of year. Christmas does give it an extra boost of coziness though:

The Winter’s Respite readathon begins on February 1 and I do hope that if you’re looking for an opportunity to de-stress from the bone chilling weather, not to mention the equally bone chilling headlines, that you take this bookish retreat opportunity up.

As much as I am crossing my fingers that things will get better sooner rather than later, it’s truly hard to tell which way it is going to go. Let’s keep a good lookout for our friends, neighbors and loved ones and do what we can to help each other.

Part of that calls for giving ourselves a time out every now and then to revive our spirits before heading back into the fray. Curling up with a few good books is great for just that as we head into quite the hazy shade of winter going forward:

 

Working on my reading resolutions

With the growing chaos in our world right now, it’s all too easy to feel completely out of control of things right now.

However, giving yourself an emotional breathing space is important and for me, setting up some reading goals for myself is a good way to do just that.

One of those goals is to continue doing my morning reading duets(read a pair of books that have a direct connection on and off a little bit each day). While I do plan to reread David Copperfield along side Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, I think that I will start off with a reread of The Wizard of Oz with Wicked, since I finally got to watch the movie over the holidays!

Granted, I only saw part one(hopefully it won’t take me as long to see Wicked:For Good) but still, going down both of these versions of the Yellow Brick Road seems to be the best way to begin here:

Another bookish thing that I want to do is Return to Roberts-that I know that I like Nora Roberts’ work, I have fallen behind in reading her books.

Part of my plan to get back onboard is by reading the first two entries in her Lost Bride trilogy, Inheritance  and The Mirror , which I picked up during my last library haul of 2025.

The first book has Sonya MacTavish discovering that her father had a twin brother that he didn’t know existed, that newly found uncle has died and left her a rather mysterious mansion in the bargain.

The house, as warned by estate attorney Trey, appears to be haunted by several spirits, many of whom were meant to be brides of the family in question. One of those brides was Astrid Poole, who was murdered on her wedding night and vowed to stay with her husband Collin despite the “death do they part” clause in their wedding contract.

Sonya becomes more convinced each day that the ghost stories are true and in the second installment, finds the title object that reveals what happened to Astrid all those years ago. Can this magical insight break the curse upon the family or will it draw Sonya in too far to escape its centuries old clutches?

I am still new to Nora, so finding my favored footing with her books is tricky. The Gothic vibes of this trilogy do sound eerily enticing and perhaps engaging enough for me to seek out book three(The Seven Rings) as well as more riveting Roberts fare:

Speaking of library loans, a major resolution that I have this year is to finish all of my library books.

Hate to admit but sometimes, I borrow books that I either don’t finish reading or don’t get to at all. 

I do make sure to return them on time (occasionally stretching the renewal limits) but it is frustrating when I have new authors and stories that I want to try and for one reason or another, just don’t get beyond the first chapters or open up altogether.

Well, I am already making amends in that front by tackling Renee Rosen’s Let’s Call Her Barbie, a novel about the folks who brought the iconic doll to life and how that affected their lives. It’s a solid read that I should be able to finish in reasonable time.

Right after that, my next library read will be Voyage of the Damned by Frances White.  Set in the kingdom of Concordia, a special boating trip for the heirs of the Twelve Provinces that make up the realm is being taken as a celebration of a thousand years of peace among them.

When one of the heirs dies under suspicious circumstances, it falls to the least likely of them to find the killer. Ganymede Piscaro is the only heir to not possess a magical ability( called a Blessing) which lead him to develop a snarky sense of humor. 

That sharp wit is no protection from the menace onboard that is targeting the royal heirs one by one, which Ganymede realizes that the only way to not be next is to outsmart their mutual enemy. Can he trust any one of his fellow passengers or will those Blessings be counted sooner than he thinks?

This does sound fun and since this book is being touted as Agatha Christie style mystery with fantasy flair, I am ready to dive in:

I have a couple of other reading projects in the works (really to catch up with last year’s books!) but this basic three point plan ought to get my bookish motor running there.

While I know that focusing on fiction might seem trivial right now, it’s interesting at how relevant certain works turn out to be.

Last night, I watched the season six premiere of All Creatures Great and Small, which was set in 1945 England. By the end of the episode, WWII had been declared over(known as VE Day, I believe) and even in that small village, joy and relief were abounding.

Two of the characters, the Farnon brothers, were standing in the town square, watching the local celebration and remembering the past. One brother remarked how he had stood in that same spot with a friend when the war had started and that friend had told him that “we should be grateful for what we do have.”

The other nodded in agreement and said “Yes but we have to fight for it. It’s not enough to be grateful, we had to fight.” 

Strangely resilient, that bit of dialogue, to what we’ve been going through at the moment. Being grateful for what we have is a strong motivation to fight for our freedom and whether or not those lines come from the original source material, such a sentiment still rings true even tucked into a literary adaptation.

Anyway, I do also want to shop more from Better World Books and one of my recent finds there is the first book in a Jane Austen themed mystery series. 

Murder in Highbury by Vanessa Kelly has  it’s lead detective in the form of Emma Knightley (formerly Woodhouse) being stunned to find the obnoxious wife of Mr. Elton deceased in her husband’s church and while asked not to interfere with the investigation, feels duty bound when one of the least likely residents of Highbury is targeted as a possible suspect!

The book is a charming tale so far and while Emma is not a favorite Austen heroine of mine, her talents for uncovering social secrets is rather fitting with her original literary incarnation. Having Emma as a Regency Nancy Drew is delightfully fine reading that I resolve to enjoy more often:

 

Counting my bookish blessings

 It has been quite the rough start to the year, to say the least, but the one thing that helps to lift my spirits is having good books to read and talk about.

Just getting access to new reads is a true blessing; by the end of last year, I had won two titles in giveaways and discovered a possible gem in a Little Free Library. So, in interest of sharing my good fortune, let’s take a look at this trio of bookish prizes here:

I, Medusa: This retelling of the classic myth from Ayana Gray has our leading lady destined to be a villain shown in a different light. 

As the daughter of minor deities, Meddy is thrilled to be noticed by the great goddess Athena and granted a place amongst her high priestesses at her temple in Athens. Quickly becoming a favorite, she also gains the attention of another god but with more dire consequences than expected.

Forced into a punishment for a crime that she’s innocent of, Medusa decides to use her monstrous status as a means of striking back against those who inflict their malice carelessly upon others.

Thanks to The First Look Book Club, I was given not only the chance to read this intriguing book but to get such an excellent edition (sprayed edges and all) as well:

Thanks to an author giveaway, I was sent a copy of Ava Morgyn’s most recent novel, The Bane Witch, along with a signed bookplate and a couple of postcards connected to the world of the story!

That story begins with Piers Corbin, a woman fleeing from a terrible marriage who finds refuge with her great aunt in a small mountain town. While rebuilding her life, Piers learns that she is the latest in a long line of “bane witches “-women who can tap into poison magic in order to take down evil men.

As she settles into her new community, a dangerous threat in the form of a serial killer makes their presence known. Soon enough, Piers realizes that her special set of sorcery skills are needed to halt this predator in his tracks but can she do so without revealing who she really is?

This premise sounds awesome and I do like the Poison Ivy vibes that this tale is giving off. I may save it for a future readathon this spring but in the meantime, this poisonous page turner is a welcome addition to my literary garden:

During my last library haul of 2025(that post will be available soon!), I stopped by a Little Free Library nearby and found a book that I have heard nothing but praise for, an extra treat that day.

Sulari Gentill’s The Woman in the Library starts at the Boston Public Library, as a group of strangers using the Reading Room are instant suspects in a murder that took place in that very building at the same time they were all there.

It’s more than your average mystery, however, as this story is being created by Hannah, an Australian writer who is getting the insights on Boston from Leo, a fan of her work who is happy to help via correspondence. His advice is very useful but are his suggestions merely artistic input or something a bit more sinister than that?

To be honest, the books left at this particular LFL can be very hit or miss for the most part( not a complaint, just an observation)so finding this book was very much in the golden ticket category here. Also, I do enjoy the whole book within a book setting along the lines of The Magpie Murders and their sequels, which makes this find all the more of a delight:

So, as I said earlier, this new year has gotten off to a terrible start and the events of yesterday have certainly made things incredibly worse. I share my condolences with the wider world to those directly impacted by such horror and wish them better days to come.

Someone online today wondered aloud why anyone would bother with book content at a time like this and that perspective is totally understandable. Yes, it can feel trivial to focus on art related topics during an ongoing crisis like this and if you want to opt out, I get it.

However, I feel that it’s important to remind ourselves of the better nature of humanity out there in times like these. While it is extremely difficult to do that, it is a necessity to surviving and thriving under such stress.

Art, whether in book, film, television or otherwise, is a reflection of that humanity and while it’s not always pretty, it’s also a powerful incentive for us as a people to do better for not just ourselves but future generations who may face (hopefully not) even worse circumstances than ours in their lives. 

Granted , not all art is intended to do that but inspiration can come from the most unlikely sources and supporting such outbursts of imagination is the first in many steps towards the evolution of a more promising world to come.

So, look forward to a better tomorrow but in the meantime, it is okay to look forward to a new book from your favorite author, that upcoming summer blockbuster or the next great PBS miniseries. Entertainment is a healthy part of a balanced emotional diet, if you ask me:

My Happy Holiday haul of books for the new year!

 Happy new year, folks and hope your holiday season was a good one there. As for me, I decided to make gift gifting easier on my family by using both Book of the Month and Aardvark for their one stop shopping for me.

I must confess that I did get a couple of books early, due to adding Christmas themed titles (one of which I will talk more about later) but the other ones I received fit very nicely under my tree indeed:

Aardvark: The Once and Future Queen

Since I already started reading this one from Aardvark, it makes sense to begin with this debut novel by Paula Lafferty. Our leading lady is Vera, a modern day young woman who tends to feel out of place in the world and can’t quite figure out why.

As it turns out, she’s not truly meant to be here as a visit from the legendary wizard Merlin reveals. Vera is actually Queen Guinevere , sent to this future time as an infant due to a deadly spell that could only restore her by this unusual rebirth.

Now, she has to return to Camelot to help Arthur save their realm but those past memories are locked away, leaving her confused about what needs to be done. Having Lancelot as a ready ally seems to be more hinderance than help yet can his connection with her past self be the key to saving all of their futures?

So far, this is a rather lively and engaging read, intended to be the first in a trilogy. I certainly hope Aardvark keeps up with this twist on the classic tale as it certainly makes for an enchanting story indeed:

My other Aardvark pick was Local Heavens by K.M. Fajardo. Set in  the year 2075, cyberspace diver Nick takes on a corporate espionage job that brings him in the middle of a twisted love triangle among the idle rich that involves body modification, a failing pharmaceutical fortune and class warfare.

Yes, this is a cyberpunk take on The Great Gatsby, a book that I haven’t read in a long time (and will be rereading now) and for a sharp look at the future of corporate greed upon our society, Gatsby is an excellent template for a fresh look at the subject. I am intrigued to check this out, particularly in the special ombré edition that Aardvark had in stock(I think I got the last copy!):

Book of the Month: Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil

V.E. Schwab is a writer that I’ve heard much about but never read before and yet, her latest work has gotten such praise from critics and readers alike that I just had to add this book to my gift pile.

This multi generational journey of three women, from Maria in 16th century Spain to Charlotte in London during the 1900s and then to Alice in 2019 Boston , takes us down the Gothic garden path of love, despair and literal blood lust. Is there a way to find true happiness in this eternal turmoil or is that the price of immortality?

I do like lady vampires and hopefully, this is a good introduction to Schwab’s writing for me. At the very least, I can use this book as an excuse to rewatch The Hunger:

On the lighter side, Violet Thistlewaite is not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz is a cozy fantasy featuring a bench woman seeking redemption and perhaps a bit of romance.

With her former employer having been dispatched, Violet has settled down in a small town as a flower shop owner, hoping to put her times as a wicked botanical witch behind her. Keeping her past(as well as a certain murderous house plant) in check should be easy enough.

Yet, when a new danger threatens her new home as well as her new friendship with local alchemist Nicholas, Violet finds that she may have no other choice but to open up that nasty bag of tricks again to save the day. However, even if she wins, what will she lose?

This does sound like charming fun and I do enjoy seeing a villainess trying to make a comeback in the better sense of the term:

By the way, one of the early holiday books that I got happened to be the last book that I finished in 2025!

Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman is a beautifully bittersweet delight that follows the pair of widowed people of the title into an unexpected friendship aided by watching a number of holiday themed films (and yes, Die Hard is definitely a Christmas movie!).

The story blends heartbreak and humor so skillfully that it’s destined to be a seasonal classic in this genre, if you ask me. As for the other early gift, I will be saving that for a future readathon-watch this space!

Anyway, once again, hope you all had a good start to this new year and I look forward to reading more good books and talking about them . Stay warm, folks and with any luck, this time next year, all of us will be in no doubt of better days ahead: