Books, Booze, + Bajingos: August Book Recommendations

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Those of you that have been around for a while may recall my book club, Books, Booze, + Bajingos. We don’t meet up anymore, at least to talk about books, but I asked the mods to throw up some book recommendations in the GoodReads group.


Sarah J. Maas is one of my favorite authors and this new series does not disappoint. Magic, female protagonist, a bit of romance, lots of action and mystery!

Bound by blood.
Tempted by desire.
Unleashed by destiny.

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.
Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.
As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.


Annie’s Pick: Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat, Pray, Love fame) talks about living creatively, collaborating with your inspiration and all the stuff that goes along with it. It actually has a lot of good advice for how to approach any kind of creativity.

Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Gilbert offers insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.

What are you thankful for?

This week will mark one year since Mr. LL’s mother’s funeral. I was going to write about that but I don’t feel like I should. Not yet, if ever.

Instead I want to share what I’m thankful for during this time of chaos, hormones and reflection.

My husband…

MR. LL WITH A TINY LB (2017)

MR. LL WITH A TINY LB (2017)

He is supportive, loving, kind, generous and fun. I’m thankful every day that I get to spend my life with him and raise our children together.

My kiddo…

sILLY FUN.

sILLY FUN.

LB is so funny and kind. She is caring and growing into such an amazing little person, each and every day.

My job…

I’m so grateful that my job is one that can allow me to work from home and that I haven’t had to worry about being laid off or losing our health insurance or putting myself and my unborn baby at risk by going into the public to work.

Grocery delivery…

Since grocery shopping has been ranked as low-risk, I’m going to try to get back to doing it myself, but I’ve been grateful that we’ve been able to have this service and afford it during these times.

That this is NOT my first pregnancy…

This is a crazy time to be pregnant and I’m glad that I got to experience it during a “normal” time already because I’m sure I’d be freaking out a lot more if this was my first rodeo.


What about you?
What are you thankful for these days?

Culture Creature - Umbrella Academy, Charlaine Harris, Pokemon GO, and Hearthstone

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Here’s my current world of pop culture and media intake.

Culture Creature_Aug2020.jpg

FIVE THINGS:

  1. Umbrella Academy Season 2 - It took me a while to get into Season 1. We tried it out and lost interest on the second episode. We decided to give it another shot and I am so glad we did. Luckily for us, we watched it all just before the new season was released so we didn’t have to wait long to continue our binge-watching!

  2. Umbrella Academy (the comic books) - The Netflix series is is based on a collection of comics and graphic novels created and written by My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way. In the space between finishing Season 1 and waiting for Season 2, I read all three volumes of the comic. It’s fairly different from the show, I’d say.

  3. Shakespeare’s Landlord by Charlaine Harris - I’ve been wanting to read a physical book lately, but I’m not ready to get books from the library just yet (because of the pandemic). However, I didn’t want to buy a book and lose interest in it so I decided a safe bet would be to pick up a Charlaine Harris novel. I haven’t ready the LIly Bard series yet but I know what I’m getting into with Harris’ books and having recently started this, I’m not disappointed.

  4. Hearthstone - I’ve been playing a lot of Hearthstone lately. I mostly play in the Battlegrounds (Beta), with the occasional run in the Tavern Brawls to complete my daily quests. I also enjoy the story line quests when there’s a new one available.

  5. Pokemon GO! - Mr. LL got Lazy Baby into Pokemon GO! on his phone and so I had to also reinstall the app on my phone. Mostly we let her play but I’ve been having fun hopping on here and there.


What are you watching/reading/playing these days?

Leave a comment below!