Welcome to What podcast. Today we have a fun episode. We're gonna do a quarter, one week 2026 reading recap. We're gonna talk about all the 32 books that I read in 2026 so far. So we're gonna do a little mix of some physical books as well as we're gonna talk some audio and some Kindle Limited. And yeah, let's talk about it. So I have to tell you, the first two weeks of the new year, I read a bunch of cozy mysteries over the holiday break. I was in Puerto Rico with my family and I just decided to binge all things, cozy mysteries. I finished the Bakeshop Mystery, all the way to Book 20. Yes, there are two more books coming out, but I'm listening to them, so they're gonna come out on audio this summer. So I listened to most of them and then I listened to a couple more Cozy mysteries. I tried the Divas series by Krista Davis, which was a lot of fun. Some of them I loved, some of them I did not care for. But that was kinda like a fun little thing. I got the iPad here, and we're gonna do a little bit of a walkthrough of the three stars, four stars, and five stars. I did not have a two star, IDNF most of the books before they even make it to a star rating. But yeah. So let's go to the list. So I did read, try to read a couple other cozy mysteries that are really they didn't care for. They were first in series and I don't think I'm gonna continue. One was Death Al Dente by Leslie Budewitz good. It was about a general store owner someone dies and she's trying to uncover the mystery. I liked it, but I didn't love it. The other one is Rocky Road to Ruin by Mary Allen. This was about ice cream shop. She is the CIA. A librarian and she's moving back home and she's trying to figure out what to do with her life. It was okay. I was fascinated with the idea of being a CIA librarian, but it did not meet the mark the other ones that I did not work. For me, which was a thriller. We were never friends by Kaira Roud. This was a sorority reunion. So a group of friends who were in a sorority together 20 years later, me back into this engagement party of two of their kids who were getting married. All the secrets that they were hiding for the past 20 something years were coming out. Just a little bit of murder, just a little bit of intrigue. It's a little bit rich. People behave badly. Our toxic friendship. It was good, but it needed to flesh out a little bit more. So now we're gonna go to the four stars read. So we have about four cozy mysteries, so I'm gonna sell them. These are all bake shop mystery. Catch me if you candy, the smoking bun sticks and scones and killing mis souffle. For other cozy mysteries, I have The Diva Takes a Cake by Krista Davis. This was one of the diva's book from Krista. They're just fun, just similar vibes. The diva books are set in Alexander, Virginia, and it's about two women who are like Martha Stewart. We're gonna go into the actual thrillers. We have a couple of them. We got the Storm by Rachel Hawkins, which was a perfect book for the summer. It's about multiple hurricanes over time, and it's, a small like coastal town in Alabama. We're trying to uncover three generations of murder. It is. Fun. It is great. The audio production is excellent. So I would just suggest listen to the audio. The other one that I listen to audio was The Anatomy of Alibi by Ashley Elston. This one is about, again, southerner thrillers. There is two women meet, encounter and they realize to have something in common and they were playing each other's alibi trying to avoid potential murder. We're trying to cover. Secrets and lies and many things that were hidden. And this is a bit of rich people be hit badly at the same time. Trying to uncover like just a lot of messy things. This was fun. It goes back and forth with timelines. It goes back into original timeline. So the new timeline, it jumps around, but it was a great one. It's a little bit difficult maybe on audio, but if you read it, maybe it's a little bit easier. I got a couple more cozy mysteries. death of a Country Fried Redneck. And also have Death of the Kitchen Diva by Lee Hollis. I really love the series. This is the Hailey Power Series of Cousin Mysteries. There's that in Maine. Hailey is a single mom who is trying to make ends meet and she gets a column to be Martha Stewart. Cooking lifestyle column, and in the process she has to be solving mysteries murder mysteries. So it is fun. It is great. I really feel it's the same vibe with Leslie Meyers, Lucy Stone series. It has the same vibes and I really enjoy this one. All right, we're gonna go into the romance. We got quite a few romances. We got the Grumpiest Millionaire by Pippa Grant. I really love Pippa Grant. I heard about Pippa Grant thanks to, Erin Nicholas She came on the show Late last year and I really love that book. So much. So yeah, it is basically a billionaire who is trying to get rid of his fortune and is trying to leave everything behind. He leaves everything and goes to a new place, and goes on a road trip and stumbles upon a sell way. Our heroin is trying to get him to donate some money for her nonprofit, and she just gets stuck with him on the road trip because. Yeah, she was a stowaway. It is hilarious. It is ridiculous. They're like giving away money to everyone and the hijinks that happen, it's just fine. So I'm really excited for the next book in the series, which is I, it's another billionaire romance. But it's just gonna be fun. The next one is still into you by Erin Connor. I got this book, I got the audio book from the publisher. As someone who said, you know what? You should definitely check it out. It actually, even to a single point of view, there's actually multi multicast audio because there's institutionals of an interview with multiple characters, multiple male characters. So selling to you is a journal. And a rockstar. The rockstar husband is about to go on a Fairwell tour for his band and the Rockstar and the journalist, and they have been together for a while and she's trying to be trying to make a name for herself. So she loves the Story of the Year, which is actually the Fairwell tour and like this scoop about this band. And they've developed root feelings because they've been two that they were together before and it's very lovely. I finished this book on. Print and it was just as delightful as audio. So that's still un to you. Then I read is then I read It seemed like a good idea by Lauren Blakely. This book is. Vibes, like flower shop buyers. There's quite a few flower shops that I have in this reading recap. But this one is about two couples who are coming together. She has a flower shop, a. Love happens. The audio is excellent. I enjoyed the audio, but I don't remember much. It was a while ago. So then we have In Her Spotlight by, Amy Spalding. This one, I read it on a whim. The author was talking about how this was the Niche Lesbian theater, and I was like, you know what? Sometimes we just need a little bit of different. So it's Demol to Broadway, but it's sat in la. There's a mega star who is coming to be a stunt casting at a new show, and the director gets placed out thanks to me too. So there's a new director who happens to be the big star's ex-girlfriend. But the big star hasn't come out. So they broke out and it's basically second chance romance. It is delightful. It is fun. It is just. So good. It's a great conclusion to add in Hollywood, but it can be read a standalone. Then we have another cottage, core picnics and promises of strawberry fields. By Victoria Walters. This is another one where it's basically she is a runaway bride. She's coming back home and the guy who is actually escaping a breakup, they come together and they are helping a farm to relive. To make its meat. So they're having a flower form and they're having ponies and things to pick fruits over the summer. It is a perfect, spring, summer book to read. Then another cottagecore is the Cherry Crush flower. By Harper Graham. This one is basically she is, he is a veteran and he has her best, they're best friends. And she wants to find a flower. And in the process her mom thinks that they're together, so she puts them up in a contest where they are the couple of the year. So they decide to fake date and find the missing flower. And it's just a lot of fun. Just another flower. Okay. We got another cozy like Millennium, Missouri the Primrose Murder Society by Stacey Hackney. This book is about mother daughter. The mother is getting divorced from her ex-husband who fled the country because he committed healthcare fraud and she has no money, no options. And so she end up helping clean out a hoarder's apartment at the senior resident community. The daughter is mad about the whole situation and she loves murder. She hears about a murder in the building that happened 20 years ago, and they decide to work together to solve the mystery because there's $2 million reward. It is fun. It is definitely, it's perfect for only murders in the building. A little bit of Gilmore Girls with this mother daughter relationship, and it's just delightful. So this one is a great one. I hope that there's more books in the series because I really like This couple. Okay, we're gonna talk about some nonfiction so we have all consuming what we eat, the way we eat. And that's Ruby Tando. This is a book set in England, but it does have reflects, food is similar to all these different things. Food trends are similar to us, so we hear some of the food trends in England from such as Boba tea and ice cream, but we also hear some other food trends that we actually experienced, such as the power key lead doing reviews, neuro Smith doing food from Scratch and we hear from all recipes and how the actual website started, which was fascinating because people were just posting recipes and they were pretty shitty. And so we talk about the power online recipes and sharing and commenting for that. And then we have Parks and Rec by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong This is about a book about parks and recreation. How the show started. It was almost always on the virtual cancellation and how did it get through the space. So it is fun. It is great. Nick Offerman offers the forward and it's just the light bulb. We have a couple more romances. We have mistakes were made by Lucy Score. This is a long book, but it's delightful. It's small town romances. It is just fun. It is just. So good. It is basically a small town romance. She's moved to a small town to help her client, who is also her best friend. And started building a reader community and whatnot. And then she ended up with a lawyer who also is her landlord and who also is just. Delightful and grumpy, and they have an attraction to each other and they work it out together. It is long, but it's a great car book. That's what I can say. Okay, we're gonna go into the five star read. So we have Rachel West and the Fallen Starlet. By Emma Mills. This is a 2008 sad, cozy mystery set in Tablo culture. La Rachel is a Tablo writer and the following C star is a popular up and coming Disney star who is actually have a breakout hit, but she's also a party girl as when does think about Lindsay Lohan. He'll think he loves Liz Han and they become best friends and the starlet falls dies. And so Rachel has to uncover the mystery and how did, actually was able to fix the situation. It is fun. It is very la very TMZ, the Hills we see some of their favorite CoStar scope feature yep. Then we have Too Blessed to Stress by Alli Hoff Kosik. Classic. This book I read actually started last year and then it finished up this year and it's delightful. The audiobook, it features four different cast members, but I ended up reading it physically. Two Blessed to stress is about four Christian influencers who are trying to come together to spread the word of the lore and they're working on their church out a big gala situation and things unravel things, secrets are happening and you're not sure what's going on. This is really great. It's a great commentary for. About the Christian influencing world, but also it's perfect for if you love secret lives or Mormon Wives lives. Okay then we got the air by Sophia Traverse. This book is just so good. So Sophia based it upon historical moments, emerged a convenience for the Lynn situation. It's contemporary, so don't worry if you're not a big historical romance. It's a contemporary book, but it's just. So good. So delightful. There's a marriage, convenience. They have a land, they share a line, and if they only way to get access to the land is if they're married together and they don't like each other. Because there two families are opposing to each other and they have to come together. It is so good. She's coming from the wrong tracks of this stuff. But he's a straight lace hero, and they're. So good. They have feelings, they have a history, and it's just delightful. Then we're gonna talk about Hunter's Treasurer by Olivia Jackson. I went to Thees a few weeks ago and I got this book and I was like, very excited for it. It is a stranded in a private island. But they actually have a bed. They have shampoo, they have toilet paper. The guy who lives in Adam full time, he's trying to find a treasure, a long lost traction from the 15 hundreds. It is fun. There's bad guys. So if you like on the island, but you don't wanna have a problematic, relationship. The hunter stressor is for you. It's a bit action. Rock on. This year for the first time, I read a graphic novel. This is before we Wake with Sophia Glock. This book is two seven, summer of 2003, where Alicia is trying to uncover some dreams that she was having. So she learns how to have lucid dreams, and in the process she unravels a whole lot of mess. It is a bit paranormal in the fact that there's still the drumming, but it is just. Said in reality, it is so good. I read in two innings. You can watch, I can actually see some of the art. It is fun. I, this is my first so graphic novel and it will be 11 last. And then the final book that I wanna talk about, this story will Save Your Life, which by Tiffany Crumb. This is a thriller Gone girl thriller between two podcasters who are married to different be partners, and they are trying to, they're not supposed to be together. And the process the one married couple, goes missing. And the the guy who's left standing. He is accused of murder and they have to uncover what happened and what's going on. It's a big gone girl. There's twist and turns. The audio production is excellent. I would suggest listening to this one because we hear back from not just the main characters, but we hear back from the audience. We also get podcast recordings and we get like a sense of it's an immersive audio, so that's This story will save your life by Tiffany Crum. I did give you an overview of all the books that I read. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you like more episodes like this, let me know in the comments below. Thank you so much for listening.

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