Reading Update: A Cozy Afternoon with Good Books and Book Mail Delights

As I sat down to record my latest reading update, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and contentment. The warm glow of the afternoon sun streaming through the window seemed to match the cozy atmosphere I was creating in my home office. My favorite mug, adorned with a colorful design, sat on my desk, filled with steaming hot tea that I had carefully brewed earlier. With my reading journal at hand, I was ready to dive into the world of words and share my latest adventures with you.

I started by sharing my thoughts on "The Last One," a book that didn't quite resonate with me. While it wasn't bad, it didn't leave a lasting impression either. I appreciated its unique premise, but ultimately, it fell short of being a truly memorable read. The author's writing style was pleasant enough, but the story itself felt somewhat predictable and lacking in depth. As for the title, "The Last One," I found myself wondering what made this book the last one in a series or standalone novel. Was there something special about it that set it apart from its predecessors? Unfortunately, the answer remained unclear to me.

Moving on to my next read, "Grounded" by Nick Stone, I was delighted to discover that it exceeded my expectations in every way. This charming female-female romance had all the ingredients of a delightful read: witty banter, sweet moments, and a healthy dose of humor. The author's writing was engaging, and the characters were well-developed and relatable. What struck me most about this book was its ability to evoke a sense of warmth and coziness, much like a crackling fire on a chilly winter evening. I devoured it in one sitting, eager to spend more time with the endearing protagonists.

As I closed my reading journal for now, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts on these books. While not all of them resonated with me, each had its own unique charm and contributed to my reading experience. If you're looking for a quick, lighthearted read that will leave you feeling uplifted, I'd certainly recommend "Grounded" as a great starting point.

Now, let's talk about the next chapter in my reading journey: diving into "These Seven Days of Us" by Francesca Hogan. This book caught my attention with its intriguing premise and promise of drama-filled days within a family dynamic. As I settled in to read, I discovered that this was indeed going to be a more complex and emotionally charged story than I initially anticipated. The author's writing is masterful, weaving together themes of love, loss, and family secrets into a rich tapestry that drew me in from the very start.

With my reading journal at hand, I've been documenting my progress on this book, jotting down thoughts, feelings, and impressions as they arise. As I write this update, I'm 50 pages in and eager to see where this story will take me next. Will it be a heartwarming tale of redemption and forgiveness? Or perhaps one of bitter conflict and unresolved tensions? Whatever the outcome, I'm excited to find out and share my experiences with you along the way.

Moving on to book mail delights, I received an exciting package from HarperCollins that included not one, but two surprises. First up was "The Deepest Blue," a sequel to Sarah Beth Durst's award-winning series. Although I'd heard of this book before, I hadn't had the chance to read it until now. With its promise of standalone fantasy and a richly detailed world, I'm eager to dive in and explore the mysteries that lie within.

Next, I unwrapped a delightful surprise from Penguin: a beautifully designed notebook featuring Pantone colors. Who wouldn't love a gorgeous notebook adorned with swatches of every hue imaginable? As an artist at heart, this notebook is already making me feel inspired and creative. I can envision myself using it to jot down notes, sketch out ideas, or even write the occasional poem.

Last but not least, I discovered a new treasure trove of bookish delights within my Penguin box: a limited-edition mug featuring the phrase "Fights Evil Read Books." As someone who adores books and reading above all else, this mug is already making me smile. The design is simple yet striking, and I can almost imagine myself sipping tea from it while curled up with a good book.

As I wrap up my reading update for today, I'm left feeling grateful for the many wonders of book mail and the joy that each new package brings to my doorstep. From beautifully crafted notebooks to delightful mugs adorned with inspiring phrases, every surprise is a testament to the magic of reading and the community that surrounds it. Until next time, when I'll be sharing updates on my progress through "These Seven Days of Us," stay cozy, keep reading, and remember: there's always something new waiting just around the corner!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enmorning happy day one I'll taste the season Athan so today like I said is the first day of tis the season a thought and Here I am bright and freakin early it's like 6:30 in the morning I'm so freaking excited about this read-a-thon it's ridiculous when I never thought it would have this great of a turn up so many of you guys participating and during your TBR's and videos and instagrams and it should it's mind boggling to me how many people are joining in because I didn't think there would be that many people but I am just over the moon excited I'm also excited for all the other rate of thoughts happening um during December I know cozy thoughts running this week which is also amazing because they're run by some amazing people and they're just awesome as well so today is what I'm planning to read for tis the season of thought I know I have my TBR up already but here's just a refresher I have six books picked out do I think I'm gonna get to all of them probably not but I have been working my butt off these past couple weeks to like pre my camera keeps deciding to focus on the Christmas tree I have been working really hard these past couple weeks to try to pre film and try to just get all of my kind of YouTube work caught up so this week I don't have to film anything and I could just breathe just enjoy it but who knows I'm a freaking workaholic so the six books I'm planning to read the first one is one day December by Josie silver then we have our group books no one loved this is by Melissa de la Cruz Nick stone Amy Friedman and Casey West super excited for this one I have seven days of us by Francesca Hornak I have the mistletoe promised by Richard Paul Evans I have one that I was going to read but I decided to change my mind on I was supposed to read I'm supposed to read winter in paradise by Elaine Hildebrand but I'm not I don't think I'm gonna read it because I don't feel like reading kind of a mystery book so instead I might swap that out with the Christmas sisters by Sarah Morgan and the one if I can get to it great if not that's fine too is dashing through the stove by Debbie Macomber so you can see they're all freaking holiday-related and I love that because I love some Christmas themed books and I but I'm looking back on my TBR Zoar when I look back on my Goodreads I haven't read mini-holiday books I need to like remedy that so this is my goal for this week I don't think it's gonna happen but we're gonna try search book I'm going to try to attempt to start is one day in December by Josie silver I want to start this first because I have been wanting to read this for months I've been saving this for a December it sounds like an amazing a chiclet novel now I'm trying to catch up on I'm trying to comment on our race Instagram post and Twitter posts which by the way if I don't come out on yours I apologize I'm really try to comment on everybody's and just reply or love it alike or something like that because I feel like if people are taking time out to do marita the read-a-thon that I helped really create my time and reply back to them because they're taking their time so that make sense but sometimes I can't get overwhelmed with the amount of stuff and it's just hard trying to juggle it all so if I haven't replied back or like tittering like that I apologize I'm gonna get to it I'm doing the best book and but yeah sometimes I get caught up in that and I spend like 30 minutes doing that and I'm like crap I should be reading so yeah right now it's quiet I actually don't have a ton of work to do so I'm gonna go ahead and sit down I'm going to listen I'm gonna pull up on YouTube just a crackling fire place and go ahead and start reading so yeah that's exciting this week is full just regular things but also Christmasy things this is the first week we're able to do that so we have big plans this week to go to a couple places that are very Christmasy so hopefully no one Joey those yeah this vlog just expect everyday life every day mom life where it's kind of boring because that's my life but sorrow and some Christmasy things hope that's ok either right I'm super excited to vlog this journey I'm super excited for that is this season a thought and all the lovely hosts that are helping me and yeah I'm just really excited to everyone here with the little bit of an update I guess not nowadays I'm boxing I have a new yes I have a new one box to try for you guys this is the unplug to book box they reach out to me and asked me if I want to review their box and here we are sorry I look horrible I'm breaking out horribly it's it's a thing so anyway for a little bit more information about the unplug box are a new company or monthly boxes that includes like a seasonal self-care theme I'm looking at the thing right now to tell you about it this must seem a sload home which is good for me because I have been the busiest I ever have been in my whole life these past three months like every weeks been something it's been like in a read-a-thon or like a marathon I've been participating in or like you know uh like other things going on the chaos of life it never ends up - ABS inflows but sometimes it is important to slow down so I'm hoping like after this week I'm just kind of like slowed down a little bit and enjoy so this is a perfect time for this box to come and this is this box is like the first other winter solstice box they said so each box has one new release hardcover young adult or new adult book inside of it they also include six they also include four to six seven goodies that are seasonal and tie-in with this team and also relate to literature so each item is from a small business yeah the first box she came on September so I'm super excited to see what's in it I've never heard anything about them and I always love trying new boxes out because there are so many to choose from I like letting you guys know that way you know maybe it helps you to figure out which one you want slow down I need to I definitely need to look at the beautiful purple this and the star first thing is this thing it's just like a treat as his winter is coming that's from Game of Thrones for sure if you hear anything ask my son just looking at videos in the background this is a shower or steamer yeah I don't know what scent it is it smells quite minty which I like so I am definitely gonna use that the next thing I think this is a candle I love how ready glittery it is hopefully my camera focused look how glittery that is it's beautiful this is from the bookish boutique company um this is audrey Rose Watts worth I had this from stocking Jack the Ripper which is amazing oh look at that look how beautiful that is and this is so Christmassy this smells like it's roses sweet wine and stalker because stalking Jack the Ripper that's hilarious I don't love the sounds a little bit too strong for me but just the freaking like appearance of this candle I'm obsessed with this is really Christmassy and I love it so then I see a box which I don't know what's in the box this mug says some journeys take us far from home some adventurous latest or our destiny by CS Lewis this is Lea Chronicles of Narnia thing which is beautiful this is a beautiful winter mug I love how everything's very wintry in it look how pretty that is did we have like a playlist this is great this is the slow down breathe unplugged book box mixtape I love that they are on Spotify and it gives you like a whole playlist that got straight like Ron I love them that I think that's very unique I've looked them up and follow them on Spotify because I love Spotify next up we have like a little rap yes it's like Christmas up in here all those who wonder our loss this is obviously from The Hobbit and that is beautiful oh there it is Keith's going to focus on my tree it is beautiful I love that a lot I'll definitely display that on my bookshelf honestly this is from the simply bookish company so that is beautiful there's more stuff in here guys that's never-ending I don't know what this is this feels I don't know Oh hot cocoa yeah it's perfect this is classic hot cocoa from moonstruck this is amazing I love hot cocoa I use hot cocoa a lot that is my seasonal drink so I think that's all the goodies and now we're gonna get into the book this book is wrapped like a frickin Christmas present I'm obsessed with that I love that you're like I'm opening gifts I'm sorry beneath the Citadel by destiny tsurara I have not heard of this book this cover looks creepy as heck though but that's okay so inside we have a signed book plate and I think we are gonna have a little bit of a letter from the author yes that is that read look it comes with us read when you finish beneath the Citadel that's I can't open that up for you guys cuz I've read it yet Susanna city governed by prophecies can four powerful friends can four powerful friends rewrite fate citizens of the city ultra road by an ancient divination after last and thoughtful prophecy came to pass growing unrest like the murders and eventually a rebellion that raged on for more than a century and the present day Casa Orford daughter is German to fight back against the High Council I think it's about them with this prophecy and this place ruled by prophecy it says by the time Casa and her friends uncover the mystery of the final prophecy it may be too late to save the city or them sell that is very intriguing it sounds like kind of oh I love that look at that ban beautiful I haven't heard of this book I don't know if it's ye or yes you know John I'm gonna go with why it sounds like kind of a wile so I'll have to look at more information about this but yeah that's awesome so that's all you're getting in the books I liked everything alright thank you so much to unplug the book box for sending me the rocks for review I enjoyed it I think it's great I love how it's very seasonal because you know what I am seized don't know anything seasonal I love it everything too in this box screamed winter to me and like you got a mug yeah hot cocoa you got a shower see because you wanna take a hot shower you get so cold outside you have a like Christmas you looking candle all of it sounds just really Christmassy wintery so I love it so I will leave all their links down below for you to check them out which I highly recommend you do so and yeah that's all for right now reading update is going really strong honestly I am enamored with one day in December I'll say to you later tonight about that but yeah I gotta go work on dinner for the family you say hi what are you get it oh we're gonna we're gonna bake some cookies because it's Christmas time why not if he was helping me bake can you say you show them the cook are you showing them oh you're a great vlogger you have to okay well there's nothing in the box yet for the bull yet can you pour this in here can we open it good yeah then I guess stir coorporate everything in there sorry the lighting is not the best it's the kitchen I don't see a sugar container he's never liked it usually he's very camera shot in the kitchen I'll show you when they're done with a nice and cool we may put frosting on them we may not time hotel can you say bye bye say bye bye you will see some hot mess cookies this is making I would say it's baking what's a toddler but really it's just baking with me like with me and result parent doesn't matter if it tastes good I'm all about it so we're gonna wait a little bit for these to cool down and then we'll be frosting on them but just probably not the best idea to do a little bit before bad for Noah but it's the holidays it's is the season athon why not hello ready frost it pretty yeah we are are six cookies was baking with heather and nella we hope you had a good time um that's my phone oh I will I'm gonna I plan to read just look um I plan to read after he goes to bed tonight for good well I'm honestly like I get distracted a lot with likes my husband watches TV in bed which is totally fine I get strapped a lot so I'm gonna plug my headphones in and just listening to like a crackling fire place and I'm gonna try to like read for at least an hour and I think if I can read for an hour I can either get halfway through like three quarters away through one day in December which I'm liking a lot by the way but it's very problematic because just the love situation of stuff but um yeah I'll did you soon can you say goodbye okay mornings so I was a horrible vlogger last night and didn't update you on my reading progress this is a reading law that didn't really date to yesterday at all about reading I strive to do better guys sorry the sunlight it's like kiddin right there so I ended up last night reading about 250 pages total of one day in December so that's actually really good for me for a day I just kind of read it sporadically during the day and then I read good majority at night after my son went to bed and I'm also reading it fast because it's just one of those books where you just fly through that I'm really enamored with a story and there's always like this drum that's happening so I'm just like what's gonna happen next so it's a very quick read in case you love those type of books that I did wake up pretty early today around like 5 a.m. I know that's I just couldn't go back to sleep and I thought might as well just get up for the day and I like when I do that because my house is never quiet like as you hear now my son is constantly talking or yelling or jumping or just something or musics going on just it's always always noisy so when I do wake up like super early like that I am afforded a couple of hours of just sheer silent like I didn't put music on I didn't put anything on I just sat in silence reading and it was amazing so awesome i watch so you know busy life just there's always noises and stuff you never take time to appreciate the silence till you actually have it so koco5 I did a lot of Instagram work for the season a thon I also ran a few Sprint's on Twitter I caught up on replying to comments it's just a good time for me to like catch up for the day so I don't feel like overwhelmed like I try to reply back to everybody and all that kind of stuff so I just want to start early and I did read like I said a good majority this morning because I ran a few sprint so I had about an hour to read before my son and I'm already now on page like 320 so that's amazing already so this book has about like 400s and like there's no 390 pages so I only have about like 70 pages plus to go I think so I'm gonna try to finish it here like before we go out for the day hey you know sometimes my son will let me read for a one-foot sometimes not but doing some Christmasy things today so I'll probably come back and update you and my reading and then I'll probably put a montage in of just Christmasy things we're doing today and tonight and then hopefully I will update you at the end the night I don't because I look like a hot mess like right now I look decent by the other night it's just like who is the first but I will try my best so it's a little bit later focus up and I just finished one day December by Josie silver and I really liked it it's a book I think that has a lot of problematic things and I'll talk about those but overall I loved the writing style so much it was a story that I just read so quickly and I'm kind of surprised I read I'm so quickly but then I'm not because of the way it was written it just flows throughout the years very well and it goes from character to character and it just flowed really nice list I think that's why I did so much so if you don't know about this book I talked a little bit about it basically in this book we follow a character named Laurie and Laurie is on the way home one night from work on a double-decker bus in London and they stopped at a bus up and she sees a beautiful man at the bus stop and they lock eyes and it's like love at first sight you know and I look at her shut for a little bit and she realizes that she can't get off the bus so there's too many people so he tries to get on the bus but then it gets full and it drives away so for a year she decides to look for him because he isn't the mysterious bus man that she has just fallen in love with and then one night at a Christmas party her best friend and roommate Slyke I can't wait for you to meet my new boyfriend Jack and who is Jack but the guy from the bus stop so Laurie decides not to say anything and they both kind of just become friends and then it just goes throughout the years of them as follow us both Laurie and Jack and I really liked it the problematic theme of it is you're rooting for a relationship should not happen because best friend Sarah is with Jack and you're secretly wanting Laurie and Jack to get together then you're like that's not a good idea also because there's so much drama because with books like these it's the classic if you just want to send something and very early on you wouldn't have had this many problems because there is so much drama within this book but there I mean it wouldn't be like I don't want to say it wouldn't be a good book without that kind of stuff because it wouldn't be much of a buildup and you wouldn't have so much as a amazing end result if they would have just truth at the beginning but overall I really enjoyed it I love the characters they were you know they were kind of just if he's sometimes but I really loved the way this float and ebbed and I thought it was a great Christmas read I wouldn't say it's necessarily Christmas because it the majority of the stories throughout the years really focuses on Christmas because that's when the story begins but you go throughout the entire years like I think this book takes place and in a span of like 9 or 10 years so that's a good while but if I were to give this book a rating how many came in like a 4.25 I maybe four and a half I really liked it I flew through it wasn't expecting to finish it already but I'm glad I did I think it was a great book to start with it was romantic it was kind of steamy in some parts it was about just ill-fated love like meeting the person you love at the worst time a wrong time in your life so I liked it um yeah so I would recommend it honestly I know it's been getting a lot of buzz because spend Reese Witherspoon's um Book of the Month this month but I thought it was great I think it's a great holiday romantic book full of you know love and ill-fated love and all that kind of stuff so I really liked it so I think this is fills the challenge of a book that's warm on fuzzy and it definitely made me feel all of those things so the next book I think I'm going to attempt to start today and probably read a good chunk tonight is our group books know and love so this is for holiday stories and one book hits very short 253 pages I mean that's a sharable Annamayya so I think what I'm going to do is try to read this today it's only 250 pages I think I could knock it out that's my update for now the next probably time you'll the next few scenes will be montages and all that stuff Oh everyone um yeah you know what I am I'm a horrible vlogger that's what I am I don't update you at night because I've been staying up late and getting up early which is really unlike me like the girl enough early is like me but not to staying up late like what's this like hit the certain time I'm like good but I've been saying wait to finish reading so then I'm like I can't really a day - but either way here we are today I was not planning to vlog much today because I had lots of plans I was planning to drop my son off at my in-laws house because he likes to go there for a few hours every week so I can go get some work done like catch up on admin stuff emails comments my photography business another thing I ride that's my time to like catch up on that and then I also take him to speech therapy that didn't happen today because on the way home yesterday in the afternoon my car had a problem it was the bikes again like it was like I think last month yeah when we took our sorry for the focusing um our brakes kind of went out last month - its car stuff you I don't want to bore you with that but either way my car is out of commission for today because it's getting looked at tonight and it could be out of commission for the rest of the week I don't know so that's gonna be interesting so yeah needs to say we're stuck at home so I did finish last night snow in love this is for a short story tell you quickly I'm not gonna tell each stories about because I feel like that would kind of defeat the purpose because they are like 60 to 75 pages so they are really short but I am gonna tell you which ones I liked which ones I didn't like so the first one was by Casey West and it was called snow a mistletoe I gave that one 5 out of 5 I'm not surprised I love Casey West Casey West books I love her writing it was really cute adorable read then we had on working in a winter land by Amy Freeman I gave this one a three and a half out of five I liked it I didn't love it this one kind of had a Chanukah thing on it which I wish it would emphasize more about Hanukkah we had to kind of Hanukkah stories in here but I don't feel like we learn much about Hanukkah which I was kind of rooting for because I feel like Christmas ultimately gets like all the books about it we don't really see Hanukkah story so I wanted a little bit more Hanukkah but needless to say it was cute I found the romance to be just kind of literally came out of nowhere like with short stories I feel like the romance need to be there from the get-go because you have such little time to work with because it is a short story this romance came in right at the end was like hey I'm here what's up but I was like oh no you were invite I don't know what to say I liked it I didn't love it the next story was the magic ice gift by Melissa de la Cruz I give this one a 2 out of 5 and it's magic if you can guess it's from that classic tale I don't know what that's called you know the story when it's like these two people really want to give really bad and they want to give the other person two gifts they sell you know that kind of thing I didn't love it I don't know and the last one was grounded by Nick stone which I gave a four out of five I really enjoyed it it was really cute it was a female female romance which I enjoyed a ton so overall I liked this book it was exactly what expecting just a quick warm and fuzzy read so overall I'll probably give this a 3.75 4 out of 5 I'm glad I read it it was a short read this fills the challenge for just reading the group book I think I don't know oh well captioning out the end which books are for all challenges so I have now started these seven days of us by Francesca for knack I'm like 50 pages in I can tell this is gonna be a much more family dynamic book because this is all about this feeling that's like sequestered for seven days inside and they have a lot of things drama going on some but yeah that's my reading update going good so far I've really finished two books and I have three more that I really want to read so here's to hoping now we have some book mail so it has this first one from HarperCollins I don't know what either of these are by the way so just so you know first one is the deepest blue by Sarah Beth Durst I just a sequel I mean this is standalone fantasy novels set in the award-winning series like it's also it's a standalone fantasy novel I haven't heard of this book read any of ceará deaths oh no I did read it once upon a time I read drink slay love the next one I have is from penguin okay and this is a box there you go just bury I don't know what's in it in the box I have a letter from penguin oh it's from Hanna from penguin whom I love and adore so much so what's in this box is a pistol mug that's interesting oh I got green that's really pretty it's so cold oh my gosh it's cold that's beautiful it's like a color swatch that's pretty I would be more excited about this but I feel so many mugs guys like it I think I'm gonna have like a freaking yard sale dedicated to mugs because that's how many I have like it's like it's good at the point where I tell my husband I got a book pack is it and he's like oh did you get a mug and I'm like no so what's in this is salt to the sea by Rudisill Petty's this is I actually already own this in hardback so there's good chance we'll do a giveaway for this but I had already read this and really enjoyed it this is a young adult historical novel it takes place in 1945 and it's about the ship the Willem Gustav eveing I forget where at and then their ship gets hit and then they sink so it's all about this ship that has never been talked about I really enjoyed it would highly recommend it and then we have some oh well it's like a pension now we have like a Pantone notebook Wow look at that that's actually really cool I don't know probably use that because I'm not a fan of the grids a much more fan of like lines but either way it's really beautiful then I have some paint swatches like these are legit paint swatches which will be great we're really trying to like move in the next year so this is great for like painting our house and I mean it's a cool like fan you can use it for coloring like that's it's very interesting either right that's pretty good and lastly we have a shirt and this shirt says fights evil read books I love this what size are you it's a large I'd asked on fit me but maybe I'll save it for one day I mean I don't know but either way that's what I got from penguin and Harper I love them both I can't wait take photos of them both and yeah that's my date for now it's a long update I think the last you're just you know what we're just gonna cut to a nice montage of what's in my house that's fun so you're gonna get I'm praying for a moment where I'm gonna film some nice close-up shots of my Christmas tree and my decor and candles so like it's about to get cozy hey over here hope you're ready anyway I'm calling at night you're finally doing an update sorry it was not hard anyway I did read two other pages about seven days of us and I lifted you mourn tomorrow about it I'm liking it I'm not loving it yeah progress for todaymorning happy day one I'll taste the season Athan so today like I said is the first day of tis the season a thought and Here I am bright and freakin early it's like 6:30 in the morning I'm so freaking excited about this read-a-thon it's ridiculous when I never thought it would have this great of a turn up so many of you guys participating and during your TBR's and videos and instagrams and it should it's mind boggling to me how many people are joining in because I didn't think there would be that many people but I am just over the moon excited I'm also excited for all the other rate of thoughts happening um during December I know cozy thoughts running this week which is also amazing because they're run by some amazing people and they're just awesome as well so today is what I'm planning to read for tis the season of thought I know I have my TBR up already but here's just a refresher I have six books picked out do I think I'm gonna get to all of them probably not but I have been working my butt off these past couple weeks to like pre my camera keeps deciding to focus on the Christmas tree I have been working really hard these past couple weeks to try to pre film and try to just get all of my kind of YouTube work caught up so this week I don't have to film anything and I could just breathe just enjoy it but who knows I'm a freaking workaholic so the six books I'm planning to read the first one is one day December by Josie silver then we have our group books no one loved this is by Melissa de la Cruz Nick stone Amy Friedman and Casey West super excited for this one I have seven days of us by Francesca Hornak I have the mistletoe promised by Richard Paul Evans I have one that I was going to read but I decided to change my mind on I was supposed to read I'm supposed to read winter in paradise by Elaine Hildebrand but I'm not I don't think I'm gonna read it because I don't feel like reading kind of a mystery book so instead I might swap that out with the Christmas sisters by Sarah Morgan and the one if I can get to it great if not that's fine too is dashing through the stove by Debbie Macomber so you can see they're all freaking holiday-related and I love that because I love some Christmas themed books and I but I'm looking back on my TBR Zoar when I look back on my Goodreads I haven't read mini-holiday books I need to like remedy that so this is my goal for this week I don't think it's gonna happen but we're gonna try search book I'm going to try to attempt to start is one day in December by Josie silver I want to start this first because I have been wanting to read this for months I've been saving this for a December it sounds like an amazing a chiclet novel now I'm trying to catch up on I'm trying to comment on our race Instagram post and Twitter posts which by the way if I don't come out on yours I apologize I'm really try to comment on everybody's and just reply or love it alike or something like that because I feel like if people are taking time out to do marita the read-a-thon that I helped really create my time and reply back to them because they're taking their time so that make sense but sometimes I can't get overwhelmed with the amount of stuff and it's just hard trying to juggle it all so if I haven't replied back or like tittering like that I apologize I'm gonna get to it I'm doing the best book and but yeah sometimes I get caught up in that and I spend like 30 minutes doing that and I'm like crap I should be reading so yeah right now it's quiet I actually don't have a ton of work to do so I'm gonna go ahead and sit down I'm going to listen I'm gonna pull up on YouTube just a crackling fire place and go ahead and start reading so yeah that's exciting this week is full just regular things but also Christmasy things this is the first week we're able to do that so we have big plans this week to go to a couple places that are very Christmasy so hopefully no one Joey those yeah this vlog just expect everyday life every day mom life where it's kind of boring because that's my life but sorrow and some Christmasy things hope that's ok either right I'm super excited to vlog this journey I'm super excited for that is this season a thought and all the lovely hosts that are helping me and yeah I'm just really excited to everyone here with the little bit of an update I guess not nowadays I'm boxing I have a new yes I have a new one box to try for you guys this is the unplug to book box they reach out to me and asked me if I want to review their box and here we are sorry I look horrible I'm breaking out horribly it's it's a thing so anyway for a little bit more information about the unplug box are a new company or monthly boxes that includes like a seasonal self-care theme I'm looking at the thing right now to tell you about it this must seem a sload home which is good for me because I have been the busiest I ever have been in my whole life these past three months like every weeks been something it's been like in a read-a-thon or like a marathon I've been participating in or like you know uh like other things going on the chaos of life it never ends up - ABS inflows but sometimes it is important to slow down so I'm hoping like after this week I'm just kind of like slowed down a little bit and enjoy so this is a perfect time for this box to come and this is this box is like the first other winter solstice box they said so each box has one new release hardcover young adult or new adult book inside of it they also include six they also include four to six seven goodies that are seasonal and tie-in with this team and also relate to literature so each item is from a small business yeah the first box she came on September so I'm super excited to see what's in it I've never heard anything about them and I always love trying new boxes out because there are so many to choose from I like letting you guys know that way you know maybe it helps you to figure out which one you want slow down I need to I definitely need to look at the beautiful purple this and the star first thing is this thing it's just like a treat as his winter is coming that's from Game of Thrones for sure if you hear anything ask my son just looking at videos in the background this is a shower or steamer yeah I don't know what scent it is it smells quite minty which I like so I am definitely gonna use that the next thing I think this is a candle I love how ready glittery it is hopefully my camera focused look how glittery that is it's beautiful this is from the bookish boutique company um this is audrey Rose Watts worth I had this from stocking Jack the Ripper which is amazing oh look at that look how beautiful that is and this is so Christmassy this smells like it's roses sweet wine and stalker because stalking Jack the Ripper that's hilarious I don't love the sounds a little bit too strong for me but just the freaking like appearance of this candle I'm obsessed with this is really Christmassy and I love it so then I see a box which I don't know what's in the box this mug says some journeys take us far from home some adventurous latest or our destiny by CS Lewis this is Lea Chronicles of Narnia thing which is beautiful this is a beautiful winter mug I love how everything's very wintry in it look how pretty that is did we have like a playlist this is great this is the slow down breathe unplugged book box mixtape I love that they are on Spotify and it gives you like a whole playlist that got straight like Ron I love them that I think that's very unique I've looked them up and follow them on Spotify because I love Spotify next up we have like a little rap yes it's like Christmas up in here all those who wonder our loss this is obviously from The Hobbit and that is beautiful oh there it is Keith's going to focus on my tree it is beautiful I love that a lot I'll definitely display that on my bookshelf honestly this is from the simply bookish company so that is beautiful there's more stuff in here guys that's never-ending I don't know what this is this feels I don't know Oh hot cocoa yeah it's perfect this is classic hot cocoa from moonstruck this is amazing I love hot cocoa I use hot cocoa a lot that is my seasonal drink so I think that's all the goodies and now we're gonna get into the book this book is wrapped like a frickin Christmas present I'm obsessed with that I love that you're like I'm opening gifts I'm sorry beneath the Citadel by destiny tsurara I have not heard of this book this cover looks creepy as heck though but that's okay so inside we have a signed book plate and I think we are gonna have a little bit of a letter from the author yes that is that read look it comes with us read when you finish beneath the Citadel that's I can't open that up for you guys cuz I've read it yet Susanna city governed by prophecies can four powerful friends can four powerful friends rewrite fate citizens of the city ultra road by an ancient divination after last and thoughtful prophecy came to pass growing unrest like the murders and eventually a rebellion that raged on for more than a century and the present day Casa Orford daughter is German to fight back against the High Council I think it's about them with this prophecy and this place ruled by prophecy it says by the time Casa and her friends uncover the mystery of the final prophecy it may be too late to save the city or them sell that is very intriguing it sounds like kind of oh I love that look at that ban beautiful I haven't heard of this book I don't know if it's ye or yes you know John I'm gonna go with why it sounds like kind of a wile so I'll have to look at more information about this but yeah that's awesome so that's all you're getting in the books I liked everything alright thank you so much to unplug the book box for sending me the rocks for review I enjoyed it I think it's great I love how it's very seasonal because you know what I am seized don't know anything seasonal I love it everything too in this box screamed winter to me and like you got a mug yeah hot cocoa you got a shower see because you wanna take a hot shower you get so cold outside you have a like Christmas you looking candle all of it sounds just really Christmassy wintery so I love it so I will leave all their links down below for you to check them out which I highly recommend you do so and yeah that's all for right now reading update is going really strong honestly I am enamored with one day in December I'll say to you later tonight about that but yeah I gotta go work on dinner for the family you say hi what are you get it oh we're gonna we're gonna bake some cookies because it's Christmas time why not if he was helping me bake can you say you show them the cook are you showing them oh you're a great vlogger you have to okay well there's nothing in the box yet for the bull yet can you pour this in here can we open it good yeah then I guess stir coorporate everything in there sorry the lighting is not the best it's the kitchen I don't see a sugar container he's never liked it usually he's very camera shot in the kitchen I'll show you when they're done with a nice and cool we may put frosting on them we may not time hotel can you say bye bye say bye bye you will see some hot mess cookies this is making I would say it's baking what's a toddler but really it's just baking with me like with me and result parent doesn't matter if it tastes good I'm all about it so we're gonna wait a little bit for these to cool down and then we'll be frosting on them but just probably not the best idea to do a little bit before bad for Noah but it's the holidays it's is the season athon why not hello ready frost it pretty yeah we are are six cookies was baking with heather and nella we hope you had a good time um that's my phone oh I will I'm gonna I plan to read just look um I plan to read after he goes to bed tonight for good well I'm honestly like I get distracted a lot with likes my husband watches TV in bed which is totally fine I get strapped a lot so I'm gonna plug my headphones in and just listening to like a crackling fire place and I'm gonna try to like read for at least an hour and I think if I can read for an hour I can either get halfway through like three quarters away through one day in December which I'm liking a lot by the way but it's very problematic because just the love situation of stuff but um yeah I'll did you soon can you say goodbye okay mornings so I was a horrible vlogger last night and didn't update you on my reading progress this is a reading law that didn't really date to yesterday at all about reading I strive to do better guys sorry the sunlight it's like kiddin right there so I ended up last night reading about 250 pages total of one day in December so that's actually really good for me for a day I just kind of read it sporadically during the day and then I read good majority at night after my son went to bed and I'm also reading it fast because it's just one of those books where you just fly through that I'm really enamored with a story and there's always like this drum that's happening so I'm just like what's gonna happen next so it's a very quick read in case you love those type of books that I did wake up pretty early today around like 5 a.m. I know that's I just couldn't go back to sleep and I thought might as well just get up for the day and I like when I do that because my house is never quiet like as you hear now my son is constantly talking or yelling or jumping or just something or musics going on just it's always always noisy so when I do wake up like super early like that I am afforded a couple of hours of just sheer silent like I didn't put music on I didn't put anything on I just sat in silence reading and it was amazing so awesome i watch so you know busy life just there's always noises and stuff you never take time to appreciate the silence till you actually have it so koco5 I did a lot of Instagram work for the season a thon I also ran a few Sprint's on Twitter I caught up on replying to comments it's just a good time for me to like catch up for the day so I don't feel like overwhelmed like I try to reply back to everybody and all that kind of stuff so I just want to start early and I did read like I said a good majority this morning because I ran a few sprint so I had about an hour to read before my son and I'm already now on page like 320 so that's amazing already so this book has about like 400s and like there's no 390 pages so I only have about like 70 pages plus to go I think so I'm gonna try to finish it here like before we go out for the day hey you know sometimes my son will let me read for a one-foot sometimes not but doing some Christmasy things today so I'll probably come back and update you and my reading and then I'll probably put a montage in of just Christmasy things we're doing today and tonight and then hopefully I will update you at the end the night I don't because I look like a hot mess like right now I look decent by the other night it's just like who is the first but I will try my best so it's a little bit later focus up and I just finished one day December by Josie silver and I really liked it it's a book I think that has a lot of problematic things and I'll talk about those but overall I loved the writing style so much it was a story that I just read so quickly and I'm kind of surprised I read I'm so quickly but then I'm not because of the way it was written it just flows throughout the years very well and it goes from character to character and it just flowed really nice list I think that's why I did so much so if you don't know about this book I talked a little bit about it basically in this book we follow a character named Laurie and Laurie is on the way home one night from work on a double-decker bus in London and they stopped at a bus up and she sees a beautiful man at the bus stop and they lock eyes and it's like love at first sight you know and I look at her shut for a little bit and she realizes that she can't get off the bus so there's too many people so he tries to get on the bus but then it gets full and it drives away so for a year she decides to look for him because he isn't the mysterious bus man that she has just fallen in love with and then one night at a Christmas party her best friend and roommate Slyke I can't wait for you to meet my new boyfriend Jack and who is Jack but the guy from the bus stop so Laurie decides not to say anything and they both kind of just become friends and then it just goes throughout the years of them as follow us both Laurie and Jack and I really liked it the problematic theme of it is you're rooting for a relationship should not happen because best friend Sarah is with Jack and you're secretly wanting Laurie and Jack to get together then you're like that's not a good idea also because there's so much drama because with books like these it's the classic if you just want to send something and very early on you wouldn't have had this many problems because there is so much drama within this book but there I mean it wouldn't be like I don't want to say it wouldn't be a good book without that kind of stuff because it wouldn't be much of a buildup and you wouldn't have so much as a amazing end result if they would have just truth at the beginning but overall I really enjoyed it I love the characters they were you know they were kind of just if he's sometimes but I really loved the way this float and ebbed and I thought it was a great Christmas read I wouldn't say it's necessarily Christmas because it the majority of the stories throughout the years really focuses on Christmas because that's when the story begins but you go throughout the entire years like I think this book takes place and in a span of like 9 or 10 years so that's a good while but if I were to give this book a rating how many came in like a 4.25 I maybe four and a half I really liked it I flew through it wasn't expecting to finish it already but I'm glad I did I think it was a great book to start with it was romantic it was kind of steamy in some parts it was about just ill-fated love like meeting the person you love at the worst time a wrong time in your life so I liked it um yeah so I would recommend it honestly I know it's been getting a lot of buzz because spend Reese Witherspoon's um Book of the Month this month but I thought it was great I think it's a great holiday romantic book full of you know love and ill-fated love and all that kind of stuff so I really liked it so I think this is fills the challenge of a book that's warm on fuzzy and it definitely made me feel all of those things so the next book I think I'm going to attempt to start today and probably read a good chunk tonight is our group books know and love so this is for holiday stories and one book hits very short 253 pages I mean that's a sharable Annamayya so I think what I'm going to do is try to read this today it's only 250 pages I think I could knock it out that's my update for now the next probably time you'll the next few scenes will be montages and all that stuff Oh everyone um yeah you know what I am I'm a horrible vlogger that's what I am I don't update you at night because I've been staying up late and getting up early which is really unlike me like the girl enough early is like me but not to staying up late like what's this like hit the certain time I'm like good but I've been saying wait to finish reading so then I'm like I can't really a day - but either way here we are today I was not planning to vlog much today because I had lots of plans I was planning to drop my son off at my in-laws house because he likes to go there for a few hours every week so I can go get some work done like catch up on admin stuff emails comments my photography business another thing I ride that's my time to like catch up on that and then I also take him to speech therapy that didn't happen today because on the way home yesterday in the afternoon my car had a problem it was the bikes again like it was like I think last month yeah when we took our sorry for the focusing um our brakes kind of went out last month - its car stuff you I don't want to bore you with that but either way my car is out of commission for today because it's getting looked at tonight and it could be out of commission for the rest of the week I don't know so that's gonna be interesting so yeah needs to say we're stuck at home so I did finish last night snow in love this is for a short story tell you quickly I'm not gonna tell each stories about because I feel like that would kind of defeat the purpose because they are like 60 to 75 pages so they are really short but I am gonna tell you which ones I liked which ones I didn't like so the first one was by Casey West and it was called snow a mistletoe I gave that one 5 out of 5 I'm not surprised I love Casey West Casey West books I love her writing it was really cute adorable read then we had on working in a winter land by Amy Freeman I gave this one a three and a half out of five I liked it I didn't love it this one kind of had a Chanukah thing on it which I wish it would emphasize more about Hanukkah we had to kind of Hanukkah stories in here but I don't feel like we learn much about Hanukkah which I was kind of rooting for because I feel like Christmas ultimately gets like all the books about it we don't really see Hanukkah story so I wanted a little bit more Hanukkah but needless to say it was cute I found the romance to be just kind of literally came out of nowhere like with short stories I feel like the romance need to be there from the get-go because you have such little time to work with because it is a short story this romance came in right at the end was like hey I'm here what's up but I was like oh no you were invite I don't know what to say I liked it I didn't love it the next story was the magic ice gift by Melissa de la Cruz I give this one a 2 out of 5 and it's magic if you can guess it's from that classic tale I don't know what that's called you know the story when it's like these two people really want to give really bad and they want to give the other person two gifts they sell you know that kind of thing I didn't love it I don't know and the last one was grounded by Nick stone which I gave a four out of five I really enjoyed it it was really cute it was a female female romance which I enjoyed a ton so overall I liked this book it was exactly what expecting just a quick warm and fuzzy read so overall I'll probably give this a 3.75 4 out of 5 I'm glad I read it it was a short read this fills the challenge for just reading the group book I think I don't know oh well captioning out the end which books are for all challenges so I have now started these seven days of us by Francesca for knack I'm like 50 pages in I can tell this is gonna be a much more family dynamic book because this is all about this feeling that's like sequestered for seven days inside and they have a lot of things drama going on some but yeah that's my reading update going good so far I've really finished two books and I have three more that I really want to read so here's to hoping now we have some book mail so it has this first one from HarperCollins I don't know what either of these are by the way so just so you know first one is the deepest blue by Sarah Beth Durst I just a sequel I mean this is standalone fantasy novels set in the award-winning series like it's also it's a standalone fantasy novel I haven't heard of this book read any of ceará deaths oh no I did read it once upon a time I read drink slay love the next one I have is from penguin okay and this is a box there you go just bury I don't know what's in it in the box I have a letter from penguin oh it's from Hanna from penguin whom I love and adore so much so what's in this box is a pistol mug that's interesting oh I got green that's really pretty it's so cold oh my gosh it's cold that's beautiful it's like a color swatch that's pretty I would be more excited about this but I feel so many mugs guys like it I think I'm gonna have like a freaking yard sale dedicated to mugs because that's how many I have like it's like it's good at the point where I tell my husband I got a book pack is it and he's like oh did you get a mug and I'm like no so what's in this is salt to the sea by Rudisill Petty's this is I actually already own this in hardback so there's good chance we'll do a giveaway for this but I had already read this and really enjoyed it this is a young adult historical novel it takes place in 1945 and it's about the ship the Willem Gustav eveing I forget where at and then their ship gets hit and then they sink so it's all about this ship that has never been talked about I really enjoyed it would highly recommend it and then we have some oh well it's like a pension now we have like a Pantone notebook Wow look at that that's actually really cool I don't know probably use that because I'm not a fan of the grids a much more fan of like lines but either way it's really beautiful then I have some paint swatches like these are legit paint swatches which will be great we're really trying to like move in the next year so this is great for like painting our house and I mean it's a cool like fan you can use it for coloring like that's it's very interesting either right that's pretty good and lastly we have a shirt and this shirt says fights evil read books I love this what size are you it's a large I'd asked on fit me but maybe I'll save it for one day I mean I don't know but either way that's what I got from penguin and Harper I love them both I can't wait take photos of them both and yeah that's my date for now it's a long update I think the last you're just you know what we're just gonna cut to a nice montage of what's in my house that's fun so you're gonna get I'm praying for a moment where I'm gonna film some nice close-up shots of my Christmas tree and my decor and candles so like it's about to get cozy hey over here hope you're ready anyway I'm calling at night you're finally doing an update sorry it was not hard anyway I did read two other pages about seven days of us and I lifted you mourn tomorrow about it I'm liking it I'm not loving it yeah progress for today\n"