Well hello there, happy Saturday!

It’s PERFORMANCE WEEKEND here for my 8th grader (Shrek the Musical) and we’re knee-deep in all things Donkey (her role) ~ there’s a Donkey cake being decorated today, I guess? What a whirlwind of a parenting / driving week.

Please note: if you ever are in a state of despair over the world and find yourself thinking all is lost, I beg you to find a local youth theater performance and attend. KIDS THESE DAYS ARE AMAZING! OUR FUTURE IS BRIGHT!

I am also starting to pack and prepare for our family’s FIRST WHOLE-FAMILY TRIP SINCE 2017!!! We head out next Saturday, six of us in two cars for an almost-20 hour drive, headed SOUTH for a week. I booked our accommodations in August and we have been saving ever since, and this trip was everyone’s main Christmas present. My friends, travel for an entire family (with three dogs needing care) IS a luxury, and we are doing it on a shoestring budget, but damn it, we’re finally doing it. I AM SO EXCITED!!

I can’t wait to tell you about the adventure in the near future ~ no matter what happens, it will surely be memorable.

This week online …

• the best short thing I read

• the best really long, but so important, thing I read (Atlantic gift link)

• the straight-up scariest thing I read (NYT gift link)

• the thing I read that made me instantly order a book

• the most joyful thing I watched

• the story I could have predicted (NYT gift link)

• a quiz you must take (NYT gift link)

An Irish Duo

And now, two books that I loved over the past week ~ both set in IRELAND, which is a coincidence, but so appropriate given the St. Patrick’s Day holiday!

I feel bad doing this to you, but BOTH of these are books in series, so if these series are new to you, you’ll want to go back and start at the beginning. That’s actually good news though, because you’ll be able to get your hands on the first book in each series quickly via the library!

I first started reading Marian Keyes during college in the late 90s and early 00’s, and have been so excited every time she publishes something new. It took me a bit to finally get to this one, but I’m glad I waited for the perfect reading weekend.

My Favorite Mistake is #7 in the Walsh Family series ~ a series that started back in 1995, with this newest installment releasing in 2024 in the UK. WHAT A RUN! I languidly savored Anna’s middle-aged adventures, loving every second of being back in this wacky Irish family; this time in a small seaside Irish village.

I laughed out loud, loved the setting, and most of all, I relished the fact that this story is about a single woman in her late 40s with no children … and it’s funny and lighthearted and so very relatable for all of us in this age bracket. If you want to start the series at the beginning, start with Watermelon!

And then, for a very different Irish story, one of my most anticipated releases of this season ~ The Keeper by Tana French. This is the third and final installment in the Cal Hooper trilogy and I’m so very sad it’s over.

I LOVE this series and I adore French for transporting me to the rural Irish countryside in this retired Chicago detective’s orbit. This series is full of brooding suspense, but also has so much charm and heart, and I just adore Hooper. This was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, but if French ever decides to take us back, I’m more than on board.

If you want to sink in and read straight through, start with The Searcher, move on to The Hunter, and then finish with this one.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and find time to read or listen to something you love! See you on Tuesday …