Ashley IN MEDIAS RES

• The Healing Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to Positive Vibes by Amy Leigh Mercree
• Pillars of Wealth: How to Make, Save, and Invest Your Money to Achieve Financial Freedom by David Greene
• The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk*
• Think and Grow Rich for Women: Using Your Power to Create Success and Significance by Sharon L. Lechter * 

*Ashley’s still waiting for these two titles to come back off hold at the library…struggle bus.

Nikki IN MEDIAS RES

• Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley
• Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict
• Life Lessons from Psalms by Max Lucado

Ashley FIN

• Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict
• Extra Witchy (Fix-It Witches #3) by Ann Aguirre
• House Magic: A Handbook to Making Every Home a Sacred Sanctuary by Aurora Kane
• The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe
• HausMagick: Transform Your Home with Witchcraft: A Witchcraft Spellbook by Erica Feldmann
• The House Witch: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy (Book 1) by Delemhach
• Her Majesty’s Royal Coven (#1) by Juno Dawson
• The Glucose Goddess Method: The 4-Week Guide to Cutting Cravings, Getting Your Energy Back, and Feeling Amazing by Jessie Inchauspé

Nikki FIN

• I Didn’t Sign Up for This by Dr. Tracy Dalgleish
• Extra Witchy (Fix-It Witches #3) by Ann Aguirre
• The Sinner’s Tempting Captor Those Kilted Bastards #4) by Caroline Lee
• The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe
• The Rake’s Insatiable Bride (Those Kilted Bastards #3) by Caroline Lee
• Too Scot to Hold (The Hots for Scots #7) by Caroline Lee
• Scots to the Touch (The Hots for Scots #6) by Caroline Lee
• Scot Under the Mistletoe (The Hots for Scots #7) by Caroline Lee
• The House Witch: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy (Book 1) by Delemhach
• Drop It Like It’s Scot (The Hots for Scots #5) by Caroline Lee
• Her Majesty’s Royal Coven (#1) by Juno Dawson

It’s the end of October, and as I am at the end of every October, I am sad that we are saying goodbye to our Witchy theme. I tried to focus in and only read titles about witches, witchcraft, and magic. And sometimes science is like magic, so I am giving myself a pass for The Glucose Goddess Method. Nikki specifically requested that I discuss my choice of non-fiction books this month, and I’m happy to oblige. 

Recently I have been leaning into my witch era, and trying to find some self-care and home rituals that make me feel like myself and for my house to feel like my actual home. I have been realizing that as much as I appreciate my house and my things, I don’t like my house and it doesn’t feel like home for me. It doesn’t feel homey. Maybe I keep ‘thinking’ too much: about how my decorating aesthetic will make the other person in my house annoyed, about how kittens are destructive little shits and we can’t have nice things (especially plants), about how I really want LESS stuff and maybe even less space to put it in, about how I don’t have the proper furniture or storage for the things I do have and need… and these are only some of the thoughts which get wrapped up in feelings. And so I do what I do, and I read an unhealthy amount about a specific topic. And that topic has been House Magic. Yes, all the books talk about cleansing the vibrational energies of your home, using aromatherapy for good feels and spellwork. The Healing Home specifically discusses Feng Shui, Vedic, and Native American traditions that can help us become more in-tune with our spaces. Yes, it’s all a little woo-woo-ey, there’s discussion of crystals and spirit animals, but also flowers and houseplants and little rituals you can do to connect with your space. For example: I hosted an at-home Junior League meeting for a group of 8 women this month. In my flurry of getting the house ready I decided that it would be very important for me to clean my front door so that my guests would feel welcomed and not scared of my haunted house, and I’m not talking about my haunted house front door mat! The 20 minutes it took to wipe down the front and back of my front door made such a difference to the way I felt about my house and perceived how my guests would feel welcomed by a clean door. My front door is also white and hadn’t been cleaned in 3 years so you do the dirty math. I didn’t use a front door cleansing essential oils blend and say some protective mantra. But, I did set my intention for the evening, I wanted my guests to feel welcomed and appreciated and I wanted us to make new connections. I think all of those things were accomplished; most everyone stayed an hour after we adjourned the meeting just talking, and there’s already been talk of having another social gathering!

I am in the home business. I’m a real estate broker; helping buyers find their own house to turn into their sanctuary from the hustle of the outside world is literally my job description. Not feeling a sense of home in my own house seems disingenuous and problematic from an alignment perspective. And I am trying to move in alignment in all aspects of my life, especially between home, work from home, and building a house business/brokerage. [I also help sellers and investors but their needs are not the same as buyers. I help sellers turn their home into a house for buyer consumption and investors provide homes for people who rent.] Doing some focusing on House Magic was a helpful continuation of the witchy theme this October, and it’s definitely given me some ideas for my business as well as getting more comfortable in my own house.

Is there a topic that you’ve followed down the rabbit hole which helped you in multiple life areas?

~Ashley

Darling readers, I love a good rabbit hole.  Ashley fell down a witchy one, and I fell down a romance one.  Specifically, via Caroline Lee and her not-so-accurate, yet really witty, Scottish historical romance series.  This is one of those instances where I need a book to own what it is and live into that in its fullest to have an exceptional reading experience, and all of her titles I’ve read (which are mostly, but not exclusively, in the series mentioned above) have done so!  I need a special shout out for The Hots for Scots series, during which Ashley received many an email via Kindle’s share feature including quotes with “ ‘tis what she said” included because some reading joy cannot be contained!  Yes, this is featured in several, along with “… I don’t even know her” jokes and more.  Lee is not trying to be historically accurate, she’s just trying to show her readers a fun time, and she’s definitely winning at that!  

I also want to mention the one witchy title I read and we didn’t review (formally).  Fix-It Witches by Ann Aguirre is a fun series, and oh how I love the marriage of convenience when it’s not the (female) nanny or secretary, but the guy – and he has struggled to hold down a job and she’s quite ambitious and has everything she needs to get where she wants to go, except a husband to support her image!  Extra Witchy was SO FUN because of the swap from the “traditional” narrative!  Definitely this modern, spicy romance was slightly more serious than Lee’s Scottish romances, but only slightly, and it was just the fun hang I needed after an extra long work week.  

What have you read for you and really enjoyed lately?

~Nikki

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