The Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T.

wk 21/52 - 2025

This week was my birthday week! I started the week with a crick in my neck, which just felt like an omen for aging. I felt loved and appreciated this week, and am just so grateful for my small group of close friends. I received some thoughtful gifts that made me feel incredibly seen and deeply known.

R - Reading

🎧Audio: I finished the last bit of Lights Out by Navessa Allen, a stalker dark romance, on Monday. To be honest, I could have done without the mafia storyline.

I was gifted Pick-Up by Nora Dahlia for a holiday book exchange but I was eager to get around to reading it sooner rather than later. My library recently got an audiobook copy, so I checked out the rom-com described as an “enemies-to-lovers romp whisking us from the stress of city life to lush Caribbean beaches”.

I tried to listen to Daydream by Hannah Grace and could not get into it. The Maple Hills series has been a flop for me so far. I think I’m in the minority with that opinion, though.

📕Kindle: I found my groove with Scotch on the Rocks by Elliot Fletcher after the first couple of chapters and finished it up this week.

Other than continuing with my list of DRCs on NetGalley, I’m not sure what’s up next for me. I’m certain the right book will present itself.

A question for readers⁉️As I move further and further away from sharing on Bookstagram, I’m looking for creative ways to visually share the books we read as a family without having to draft a full issue of a newsletter for Substack. I enjoy sharing our library book hauls, but they require a significant amount of time to pull together. Something that I’ve been mulling over lately is how I’d like to share books I have been gifted by publishers. Usually, these are picture books, although I do receive the occasional physical advance review copy of adult titles. Would you like to see our gifted book mail in this weekly report? In my mind, this would be a fairly casual mention and description, and not include a complete review. I’m open to other suggestions in the comments, or you can reply directly via email.

E - Eating

• frozen lasagna

• tacos

• too many iced coffees

• Olive Garden carry-out for my birthday

• strawberry rhubarb tart and chocolate pie

• veggies and fried rice

P - Playing

O - Obsessing over

My younger sister gifted me the SCOUT Little Big Mouth (Wide Mouth Makeup Bag in Medium) for my birthday and I’m surprised by how much it holds! It holds my everyday makeup with plenty of room for more if I need to travel with it. My favorite feature is that it stays open during use. I’m excited to take it to the beach in a few weeks.

R - Recommending

I loved every word of this interview with Charlee. I can’t recommend it enough.

Issue 122: The Reading Life of... Charlee Brooks

T - Treating myself

I received a gift card to Barnes & Noble for Mother’s Day, so I decided to preorder a few books on my actual birthday. It will be a surprise when they arrive in the mail this fall!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Elsewhere on the Internet: Goodreads / Storygraph / Pinterest

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