Books and Chocolae-July 2022
What more does a girl need than a pile of books and a bowl of chocolate? Let’s talk about what we’ve been reading and feeding our inner chocoholics.
This summer has been months of “Welllll … that wasn’t how we expected that to go.” I’ve lost track of how many times we’ve said that. From a blown out tire on the freeway at 70 mph while on vacation to an unexpected sudden death in the family, we seem to be bouncing from one crisis mode to another.
I don’t know about you, but when that happens, I find I don’t have a lot of brain cells to expend on my reading-for-fun pile. I just crave books that I can get into easily, that don’t eat me up with angst, and leave me feeling warm and fuzzy at the end. I recently discovered fairy tale retellings hit this spot beautifully. Here are two I have recently enjoyed.
Just so you know, links below are Amazon associate links, so if you buy anything through them, I will get a couple of pennies from that.
Enchant
This one is free on Amazon, so there’s no reason not to give it a try!
A retelling of beauty and the beast, which is one of my very favorite fairy tales, this one has all the important elements of the original, a plucky self-sufficient heroine, a beastly prince with a good heart, an enchantment with a ticking clock. The author adds a couple of twists along the way that keep it fresh and worth reading. Definitely a good choice when the world feels a bit out of control.
Dance
This one is a take on Cinderella–rather like a mash-up of Disney’s Mulan and Cinderella really. Our heroine Mai is definitely a bit more take charge than the traditional Cinderella and the setting and set up is Mulan all the way. The mash-up works though and definitely proved entertaining.
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This summer has not gone as-planned for me, either, although my upheavals have been significantly less exciting and upsetting than yours have been! I have been alternating between “serious” reading and, for relaxation and entertainment, re-reading some old series that I greatly enjoyed. If trying to relax for the night, it’s nice to have a book where I already know any exciting part beforehand, so I can close it any time without that “what comes next?!” excitement that can keep one up until 2AM.
Here is hoping the summer gets better. I already own the Beauty and the Beast adaption. I have not read it yet. I will need to do that. Blessings.
Just finished Emily Henry’s “Book Lovers” the other night. Took me a chapter or two to get into it, but it had me laughing out loud in some places, crying in others. I plan to pass my copy to a friend. I’m now reading book #9 in Cate Lawley’s “Vegan Vamp” mystery series. The characters are flawed rather than caricature-perfect, there’s a good mix of silly and serious, and it’s the light fare I wanted right now. I’ve read all of the series, as well as a few “sidebar” short stories.