Woah has it been a busy couple of weeks! I finally heard back from IRB that changes were needed on my dissertation proposal before the university would allow me to start my research. However, there was a deadline attached or I would have to start all over again with the application process which means another two months of waiting. Add to that, my teaching for my STEM in Libraries course was wrapping up which meant a mad dash to get all my grading done by the semester deadline. We took a week off for a mini vacation at my mother in laws…or what I affectionately call “Where Internet Goes to Die”. So nothing was getting done there like I had planned and it was hard for me to unwind knowing what I had waiting for me back home. But that is all behind me now! Everything has been caught up which means I can focus on writing again.

One of my previous posts was about self care and being a librarian I realized I neglected to add something to the list: Reading! In the past three weeks, I have been reading some books due out for publication soon. So I thought I would give a breakdown of what I read and my thoughts. Enjoy!

I admit that I started out slow with this book, but it was interesting. I love retellings and this one was a retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin tale. It was an interesting mix of fairytale and cultural history. Very much reminiscent of The Bear and the Nightingale. However, I found myself wanting more of a buildup between the romance of the characters.

This is the second book in the series about Digby and Zoe. Digby is difficult to describe. I imagine that he would be what Sherlock Holmes would have been like if a teenager and in modern society. He has quirks. Zoe wants nothing more than a normal life, but things get interesting when Digby is around. It picks up months after the first book left off. Digby is still looking for answers on his sister’s disappearance. Questions are answered, but even more are asked. Thankfully, the third book is already out.

I already wrote a post related to Joyful, but it is something I recently read. So it makes it to this list. It was an interesting read. Typically, the books I read on happiness are either from journalists or psychologists, but this one was a different perspective, a designer. It was interesting to read about how color affects our mood. I kept thinking about hygge while reading it. I will also leave you with an earworm… hygge is pronounced hoo-gah…when I started talking to my husband about how I wanted to replace our bedding and curtains, he said I was on my hygge kick again, so I smiled and repeated hygge three times…hygge is about a feeling you get…Do you have it yet? Can you hear the song? Here is a hint, “Ooga” and hygge sound alike…Blue Swede is also a Swedish rock band. Have you made the connection? It was probably easy for us because we tend to play the Guardians of the Galaxy Soundtrack almost as much as we play Queen, Billy Joel, and Journey. I will leave this video here for you in case you need some more prompting: Hooked on a Feeling- Blue Swede

Happy Fall and Happy Reading!