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Anxious People + Pizza Capricciosa

December 1, 2020 by Megan 4 Comments

As I have said time and time again, I really love Fredrik Backman’s storytelling. In the case of Anxious People, his latest novel, not that much happens but you get so caught up in the story that you fall in love with it anyway. Anxious People takes place during a hostage situation in Sweden, and though we have a few flashbacks and several interrogation scenes at the police station afterward, the majority of it takes place in a single apartment.

It is not dissimilar to Bel Canto, which also takes place during a hostage situation (this one in a large mansion in South America) and which I also loved. The key here is that Backman really builds the characters — and they’re mesmerizing. With some, you meet them thinking one thing and leave them realizing you were completely wrong; with others, your initial judgements were apt from the start.

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Magic Lessons + Courage Tea Cookies

November 24, 2020 by Megan 3 Comments

Jump to Recipe

Have you had a piece of technology totally crap out on you lately? It makes you feel so helpless. My laptop completely lost its mind yesterday. First of all, it took forever to finally get it to come on in the morning, and then, it wouldn’t hold a charge. Despite being plugged in constantly (I was afraid to unplug it), it remained at a 1% charge. Oh, and the fan wouldn’t stop blowing — it blew the entire day. Yikes.

All that is to say, sorry this post is late. I had the best intentions of getting it up according to my normal schedule. And now onto the book!

When I found out yet another Practical Magic prequel was on the way, I didn’t hesitate to get my hands on it. Obviously I loved The Rules of Magic when I read and reviewed that a few years ago. (It remains my most popular post… probably because of the recipe, but regardless.) Thankfully, Magic Lessons lived up to my expectations — it was exactly the story I wanted.

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Gifts for Book Lovers: A Bookish Gift Guide

November 14, 2020 by Megan 5 Comments

Though 2020 is unlike any other year, we’re still rolling into my favorite part of the year — the part where I can shop as much as I want and not feel bad about it, because I’m buying gifts for other people! If you’re like me, you probably have some bookish friends you need to shop for, or you may be making your own bookish wish list, or a little bit of both. Hopefully this Bookish Gift Guide helps you on your way...

Gifts for your book club

Despite being in various (and multiple) book clubs for almost a decade now, I’ve never done a gift exchange with my fellow book club members. That changes this year, and I’m SO excited. Here are some fun book club-themed gifts for your favorite reading buddies:

Book Club Cocktail Napkins

Funny and oh-so-true. Perfect for your fellow hosts/hostesses. Buy here

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The Switch + Ooey Gooey Homemade Brownies

November 7, 2020 by Megan Leave a Comment

Could you use a lovely read right now? If so, The Switch is for you. I was supposed to post this on Tuesday, but let’s be honest, I was preoccupied. I still am… and haven’t read anything in the last few days, but I need a distraction, so I’m going to share this relaxing, cozy story with you.

Beth O’Leary’s The Switch seems made for the movies. It’s a rom com where Leena switches places with her grandmother, Eileen — not in a Freaky Friday way, more in a The Holiday way. Leena moves out of her apartment in London and into her grandmother’s house in Yorkshire (the country). Eileen takes up residence with Leena’s roommates and decides to give online dating a go. They switch phones and find ways to busy themselves over the two months they’ve agreed to swap lives.

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Hamnet + British Apple Pie

October 17, 2020 by Megan Leave a Comment

I first heard about Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet on my favorite book recommendation podcast, All the Books, when Liberty Hardy raved about it. The concept sounded intriguing, but I didn’t add it to my TBR. I started seeing it more and more on bookstagram and decided to request a copy from the library, but by then the waitlist was quite long. Then, it won the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Someone I’d been following closely on Instagram had read it and was beyond excited that it won. This someone also happened to live less than a mile from my house. I knew I needed to read it.

So I reached out, asked if I could borrow her copy, and she generously said yes! I dropped by and picked it up off her porch, we chatted out the window for a few minutes, and off I went. If it weren’t for her, I may still be waiting on the library waitlist.

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The Vanishing Half + Lemon Cake with Vanilla Frosting

September 29, 2020 by Megan Leave a Comment

Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half was one of the most highly anticipated novels of 2020 — and not just by me, though I was certainly looking forward to it after reading her debut novel The Mothers a couple of years ago. Sometimes, when I’m really anticipating a book, I’m almost hesitant to actually pick it up. I’m afraid reality won’t meet my expectations (as with The Book of Longings). I am pleased to report The Vanishing Half more than lived up to expectations. In fact, it was almost a 5-star read for me… more on that later.

In Bennett’s second novel, her writing once again shines. She creates complex, interesting characters and vividly draws the world they live in. It’s the story of the Vignes sisters — identical twins — who grow up in a town called Mallard, a community made up entirely of light-skinned Black people. These sisters are so light they could pass for white. And one of them, Stella, decides to do just that. She leaves her twin sister Desiree behind and their lives diverge from there. Stella marries a white man who never knows her family; together they have a daughter named Kennedy. Desiree marries a dark-skinned Black man and gives birth to a daughter, Jude, who is the spitting image of her father. Stella's decision is complicated and its effects are profound.

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