Well hello there, happy Saturday!

If all went as planned, when this publishes I have just headed out on a cross-country literary-themed adventure with my sister and my niece ~ planes, trains, AND automobiles! Saturday - Tuesday and JAM PACKED.

I don’t want to jinx anything by telling you about it yet, so let’s just plan on me filling you in next Saturday. Whether or not things went as scheduled, I guarantee there will be an adventure to share!

Today I have three cozyish recent reads for you and a random assortment of links ~ always eclectic!

Please note: I will not be in your inbox on Tuesday due to it being a holiday week and my travels, but I’ll be back next Saturday! Remember, I travel very low-tech and I still don’t have email on my phone … BEST DECISION EVER.

Recent Cozy Reads

Over the past few weeks I enjoyed three quite delightful cozy reads, all of which I savored at least partially on audio.

Right now I am leaning in heavily to switching between print and audio when I don’t want to leave a story I am immersed in ~ I rely on either Kindle Read & Listen (often through Kindle Unlimited) or a print / ebook combined with jumping in and out of a Spotify audiobook that I access with my Premium plan. It makes it so immersive to experience a story in both formats and helps me stick with books when I’m short on reading time.

Maybe One Day by Catherine Bybee is the fifth book in the D’Angelos series and is just sweet and simple and lovely in both print and audio. This series is about an Italian family in San Diego, their family restaurant, and (of course) their romantic lives. I love that all of Bybee’s books are Read & Listen on Kindle Unlimited!

I owe Michelle Martin a HUGE thank you for convincing me to read The Heartbreak Hotel by Ellen O’Clover ~ I downloaded a galley from Edelweiss months ago, but am so weary of the same-same subpar (dare I say… trite and immature?) romance market right now that I was very unmotivated to actually give it a shot. However, Michelle’s pitch sold me and I devoured the first half via ebook and the second half via audio - I loved both! This is exactly what I want in a romance - warmth and depth and backstory and friendship and a big cozy house and …. that Colorado mountain setting.

I am so delighted to have found Murder at the Wild Haggis Bookshop by Jackie Baldwin because it means now I can dig into MORE by this author! I found this by the most random way too ~ searching for other audiobooks by the narrator of A Witch’s Guide to Magical Inkeeping ~ Samara MacLaren. SUCH a fun way to find new-to-me titles! I’m tempted to use a credit on this one next because 28 HOURS OF MACLAREN’S VOICE!! Anyway, Murder at the Wild Haggis Bookshop is just what the title suggests: a cozy Scottish village and a bookshop and oh shucks, A MURDER!

Some Random Tidbits

• Hell yeah, Garrett Bucks. “What are you actually doing, in real life, and what are you learning from it?” That’s the question. For the pundits, sure, but for all of us.”

• Love to see it ~ someone as grumpy as I am about the current state of the romance publishing marketplace.

• I want this in novel length. (via Links I Would GChat You).

• The piece I texted everyone who tolerates my constant barrage of links (via Links I Would GChat You).

• The Op Ed I cited to my bosses as backup for my assertion that we should block YouTube at school for students. (NYT gift link) Thanks Laura G!

• I make as many 6-7 jokes at school as the kids do. Embrace it, y’all.

• I adore everything about Sew Liberated, but this download makes my heart (and waist!) so happy.

• My niece helped launch this - she inspires me SO MUCH!

• Looking for new holiday album? I love this one!

That’s all for today, my friends! I’ll leave you with some graphic clues to where I’m heading … and I’ll be back in your inbox next Saturday.