Rachel

A top-down view of an apple pie with a lattice crust.

A side view of a slice of apple pie on a blue plate.

As American as...
(okay I'm not feeling at all patriotic but I really wanted apple pie, and Claire Saffitz's pie crust recipe is absolutely bomb)
#baking #BakeSky #pie

Second week of August #BookSky! I only finished one new book because I got sucked into @taskmaster.tv

👂Happy Place by Emily Henry: a beautifully written story, loved the back-and-forth timelines, but boy golly these people need to learn to effing communicate. Fantastic narration by Julia Whelan.

👂Full Speed to a Crash Landing by @bethrevis.bsky.social: well this was a breath of hilarity! Ada is ridiculous and impulsive in the best way. Looking forward to reading the next one. Very enjoyable narration by Dara Rosenberg and David Bendena.

5/5 #BookSky

Both by Sangu Mandanna:

📖The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches: I can’t overstate how much I enjoyed this. Literally laughed out loud over and over.

📖A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by: Totally different world of magic but just as hilarious, poignant, and engaging.

4/5 #BookSky

Both by Jillian Meadows:

📖Wreck My Plans: a sweet Christman romcom with the usual hijinks, but still quite enjoyable.

👂Give Me Butterflies: STEM and romance and consent?! Be still my heart. I adored this book. Delicious narration by Jason Clarke and Victoria Connolly.

3/5 #BookSky

📖Seven Year Itch by Amy Daws: holy drama, Batman! Never seen characters with such short tempers. I did like the growth in confidence of Dakota over the book, and I do love a cat dad carpenter man.

2/5 #BookSky

A collage of book covers of the following books: - Seven Year Itch by Amy Daws - Wreck My Plans by Jillian Meadows - Give Me Butterflies by Jillian Meadows - The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna - A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna - Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis

Going to do weekly #BookSky recaps since my monthlies are too long. First week of August! My TBR is never-ending, but I will always take more book recs. Read down-thread for reviews.

1/5

👂Not In Love by Ali Hazelwood: Rue was such a fascinating character to be in the head of. Demolished this book so fast, I can't get enough of explicit consent! Awesome duet narration by Jason Clarke and Callie Dalton.

15/15 #BookSky

📖 Deep End by Ali Hazelwood: this is what 50 Shades of Gray wishes it was (why yes, I did despise 50 SoG, how did you know?). Loved the science, as a woman in STEM. Spice is off the chart. I related so much to Scarlett’s neurotic tendencies.

14/15 #BookSky

👂Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady: this was such fun! I also needed a happy breather after the last. A twist on You’ve Got Mail but it still felt fresh, plus so much love for independent bookstores. Wonderful narration by Karissa Vacker and Brandon Francis.

13/15 #BookSky

📖 The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros: yep, this one broke me. I rarely cry while reading a book, but I was sobbing by the end. Yet, I would gladly read this again. Couldn’t put it down: phenomenal, beautiful, heartbreaking, glorious story.

12/15 #BookSky

👂Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry: Loved the world building and plot twists. LOTS of internal monologuing, so the story sometimes dragged. I wish that Odessa had more spine, she was passive with occasional bold moments. Narration by @ms-brentmoor.bsky.social was fantastic.

11/15 #BookSky

📖 The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst: Sometimes you want to retreat into a comforting, cozy read. I’m so glad to get Terlu’s story after reading The Spellshop, and you can’t have enough talking plants. Picked up a copy (+signed of Spellshop!) from my local bookstore.

10/15 #BookSky

👂Hooking Up and👂Making Up, both by Helena Hunting: I liked Hooking Up more (I lean towards mature protagonists) and I wanted Ami’s story after Shacking Up, but I did enjoy both! Excellent narration by Jacob Morgan and Muffy Newtown.

9/15 #BookSky

👂Quicksilver by Callie Hart: this drew me in - wonderful world building. I loved the unique magic of the quicksilver. Phenomenal duet narration by Anthony Palmini + Stella Bloom. Looking forward to the next one!

8/15 #BookSky

👂The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand: ooh the hospitality sector drama! It took me a bit to get used to bouncing between all the characters, but I really loved this book and its twists. Rooting for Grace the whole time! Narration by @theerinbennett.bsky.social was excellent.

7/15 #BookSky

👂American Queen by Sierra Simone: not my jam unfortunately, I only read about halfway. As one can see from my list, I read plenty of spice/BDSM, but in this one, consent felt a lil coerced, like the FMC wasn’t able to make her own decisions, and the degradation was too much for me.

6/15 #BookSky

👂Sinner by Sierra Simone: I read Priest last month so obviously needed the next one in the series. Loved this unusual story, fell hard for the characters. As always, can’t resist narration by Jacob Morgan! Major spice 🌶️

5/15 #BookSky

📖 The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod: a second-chance romance with musicians, with a lot of heartfelt emotions and plenty of band drama! I quite enjoyed this. Best part of my bingo card is finding new-to-me authors: I plan to check out more of Xio’s work.

4/15 #BookSky

👂Summer Romance by Annabell Monaghan: this is a reread for me, but it was my first time with the audiobook. The story is full of dry humor, witty lines, and actual laugh-out-loud moments which were enhanced by narration by Kristin DiMercurio.

3/15 #BookSky

👂Quicksilver/Callie Hart

👂Hooking Up👂Making Up/Helena Hunting

📖 The Enchanted Greenhouse/ @sarahbethdurst.bsky.social

👂Shield of Sparrows/Devney Perry

📖 The Last Letter/Rebecca Yarros

👂Battle of the Bookstores/Ali Brady

📖 Deep End/Ali Hazelwood

👂Not In Love/Ali Hazelwood

2/15 #BookSky

A collage of book covers of the following books: - Summer Romance by Annabell Monaghan - The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod - Sinner by Sierra Simone - American Queen by Sierra Simone - The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand - Quicksilver by Callie Hart - Hooking Up/Helena Hunting - Making Up/Helena Hunting - The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst - Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry - The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros - Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady - Deep End by Ali Hazelwood - Not In Love by Ali Hazelwood

July recap! Here’s my list – read down-thread for reviews.

👂Summer Romance/ Annabell Monaghan

📖 The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes/ @xioaxelrod.bsky.social

👂Sinner/ @thesierrasimone.bsky.social

👂American Queen/ Sierra Simone

👂The Hotel Nantucket/ @elin-hilderbrand.bsky.social

1/15 #BookSky

👂Not In Love by Ali Hazelwood: Rue was such a fascinating character to be in the head of. Demolished this book so fast, I can't get enough of explicit consent! 🌶️ Awesome duet narration by Jason Clarke and Callie Dalton.

15/15 #BookSky

📖 Deep End by Ali Hazelwood: this is what 50 Shades of Gray wishes it was (why yes, I did despise 50 SoG, how did you know?). Loved the science, as a woman in STEM. Spice is off the chart. I related so much to Scarlett’s neurotic tendencies.

14/15 #BookSky

👂Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady: this was such fun! I also needed a happy breather after the last. A twist on You’ve Got Mail but it still felt fresh, plus so much love for independent bookstores. Wonderful narration by Karissa Vacker and Brandon Francis.

13/15 #BookSky

📖 The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros: yep, this one broke me. I rarely cry while reading a book, but I was sobbing by the end. Yet, I would gladly read this again. Couldn’t put it down: phenomenal, beautiful, heartbreaking, glorious story.

12/15 #BookSky

👂Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry: Loved the world building and plot twists. LOTS of internal monologuing, so the story sometimes dragged. I wish that Odessa had more spine, she was passive with occasional bold moments. Narration by @ms-brentmoor.bsky.social was fantastic.

11/15 #BookSky

📖 The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst: Sometimes you want to retreat into a comforting, cozy read. I’m so glad to get Terlu’s story after reading The Spellshop, and you can’t have enough talking plants. I got a signed copy from my local bookstore too!

10/15 #BookSky

👂Hooking Up and👂Making Up, both by Helena Hunting: I liked Hooking Up more (I lean towards mature protagonists) and I wanted Ami’s story after Shacking Up, but I did enjoy both! Excellent narration by Jacob Morgan and Muffy Newtown.

9/15 #BookSky

👂Quicksilver by Callie Hart: this drew me in - wonderful world building. I loved the unique magic of the quicksilver. Phenomenal duet narration by Anthony Palmini + Stella Bloom. Looking forward to the next one!

8/15 #BookSky