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In case you are longing to know what’s coming for Virtual Book Club, well, so are we.  We have some ideas, and no decisions, other than it’ll be February, and we’ll have an update early January.  Until then, consider it your book club assignment to read what brings you joy, and slide into our DMs or comments with titles you think would be fun to read together in 2022.  Happy reading, Lovelies!

Ashley IN MEDIAS RES

• Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin
• The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman

Nikki IN MEDIAS RES

• Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors (The Rajes #1) by Sonali Dev
• The Psychology of Money: TImeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness by Morgan Housel
• Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #3) by Leigh Bardugo
• The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman

Ashley FIN

• Exes and Ho Ho Hos by Pippa Grant
• Five Alarm Christmas by Cassie Cole
• Brogan (A Carolina Reapers Novel) by Samantha Whiskey
• The Bachelor on the Shelf (Reindeer Falls #6) by Jana Aston
• Ice Planet Barbarians (Ice Planet Barbarians #1) by Ruby Dixon
• One Night with a Nutcracker (Reindeer Falls #5) by Jana Aston
• Elves with Benefits (Reindeer Falls #4) by Jana Aston
• Isn’t It Bromantic (Bromance Book Club #4) by Lyssa Kay Adams
• The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t, and Get Stuff Done by Kendra Adachi
• The Bronzed Beasts (The Gilded Wolves #3) by Roshani Choski
• The Naughty List by Ellie Mae MacGregor
• A Perilous Undertaking (Veronica Speedwell #2) by Deanna Raybourn
• Portrait of A Scotsman (A League of Extraordinary Women #3) by Evie Dunmore
• The Only Woman in the Room: Knowledge and Inspiration from 20 Women Real Estate Investors by Ashley L. Wilson

Nikki FIN

• The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t, and Get Stuff Done by Kendra Adachi (audio)
• Exes and Ho Ho Hos by Pippa Grant
• An Enchanted Christmas Collection: Regency Romance by Wendy Vella
• Five Alarm Christmas by Cassie Cole
• Her Errant Earl (Wicked Husbands #1) by Scarlett Scott
• Ice Planet Barbarians (Ice Planet Barbarians #1) by Ruby Dixon
• The Reindeer Falls Collection: Volume 2 (Reindeer Falls #4-6) by Jana Aston
• Sutton’s Sins (The Sinful Suttons #2) by Scarlett Scott
• The Moose Shifter’s Fake Wife (Rattlesnake Canyon #1) by Candace Ayers
• Isn’t It Bromantic (Bromance Book Club #4) by Lyssa Kay Adams
• The Bronzed Beasts (The Gilded Wolves #3) by Roshani Choski
• The Naughty List by Ellie Mae MacGregor
• A Perilous Undertaking (Veronica Speedwell #2) by Deanna Raybourn
• Portrait of A Scotsman (A League of Extraordinary Women #3) by Evie Dunmore

Darling readers, when we laid out our plans for this month, we promised you a comfortable month, at least as far as our contributions to your life and this blog, and I hope you think we delivered.  I for one am very pleased with the comforts we’ve brought you this season, even if the last one will pose a challenge for some of us all (don’t @ me because the goal is to learn to be a genius about the things that matter, and lazy about the things that don’t and that feels like a comfortable idea to me).  And looking at this list, it was comfortable.  Would I recommend all the titles I read this month?  Nope, but yes to all the titles we reviewed.  Even the meh titles I read in between books for reviews were comfortable so I’m giving this month a solid five stars because we achieved our goal!  (Check out my Goodreads here, with star ratings for all, and remember, I base my stars on the title meeting expectations and my personal enjoyment of it, and you’re always welcome in my DMs with questions!)

I really enjoyed spending the month focused on the comfort of catching up with old fictional friends, considering Matt Haig’s comfortable musings, and sitting at the knee (figuratively) of my beloved Kendra Adachi (full review on Thursday).  Something about having focused on comfort and joy in one part of my life had me going into the slalom of Christmas week in a decent mood with a relatively good handle on my holiday tasks and plans.  Was it still a lot?  Hundop it was, and I’ve been hiding behind a book (or three, including two nonfiction titles, who am i?) mostly since then.  Did I have my wrapping done before Christmas Eve as planned?  Nope, but it was done before lunch that day, so I’m calling it a win.  And now, before settling in for who knows what dumpster fire the world will bring us next, I’m going to focus on enjoying a few more days with almost no where to be, and much less than normal to do, and do what feels comfortable, mostly, because commitments will be back sooner than I’ll be ready, and the more I rest my body and soul now, the better I’ll feel later.  

What are you doing, and reading, to rest and refresh so you’re ready to tackle 2022?

~Nikki 

I am so grateful for my book buddy and our agreement to focus on Comfort Reads this December. We read comforting titles that caught us up on or finished out some of our favorite book series, a couple nonfiction titles, an excellent mystery for Virtual Book Club, and a generous helping of holiday romance titles (smut, smut, smut). I’ve tried to slow down and enjoy my people the past few days, doing what work I need to do, and preparing for my parents to come for a visit!… and read books. I realized yesterday that I was in a nonfiction mood, so I picked up a revised edition of a book that I had already read, Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin. I’m especially excited to read the changes to the investing chapter. I am at a total of 124 titles for 2021, and I’m more than likely to hit the 126 or 127 mark before Friday, so take a peek at my Goodreads on January 1 to see where I landed!

I’m satisfied with our Reading Life this month, too. Perhaps not considering it a solid 5 star month, but a 4.5 rounded up to 5. I’m satisfied with the way we worked out meeting our goals for diversity, nonfiction, and picking titles from our TBRs (and Nikki’s ever-growing holds list – seeing as how currently I have 2 spaces for new holds on my Overdrive). Lastly, I’m excited about our title for Jane in January, because it’s one that I HAVE NOT read, but Nikki has.

Did you figure out what brings you comfort in your reading life this month? For me, meeting my goals is always a source of comfort.

~Ashley

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