The month of May was incredibly warm. We had some hard days, I certainly dnf-ed more books than I have ever done in a year and I melted into a puddle a few times. But there were for sure some good days with lots of Merijn cuddles. This post is fairly on the large size because of the #wyrdandwonder instagram challenge. But it was too much fun not to share.
The Numbers
# Read 60 Books
Read this month: 15
Total: 88/60
- To Green Angel Tower part 1 (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn 3.1) by Tad Williams – 3,5 stars
- Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli – 4,5 stars
XOut of Time by John Marsdan –DNF - Bones and Bourbon by Dorian Graves – 4 stars
XID-Crisis by Pepper Kay– DNF - The Lost Library (The Lost Library 1) by Kate Baray – 3 stars
- The Burning Maze (Trials of Apollo 3) by Rick Riordan – 4 stars
- Ruthless Magic (Conspiracy of Magic 1) by Megan Crewe – 3 stars
- Into the Mystic volume 3 (anthology) by various authors – 3,5 stars
XSpace Unicorn Blues by T.J Berry– DNF - This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee – 3 stars
- Fawkes by Nadine Brandes – 2,5 stars
- Furthermore (Furthermore 1) by Tahereh Mafi – 3,5 stars
- Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – 4 stars
- The Stone Sky (Broken Earth 3) by N.K. Jemisin – 4 stars
- To Green Angel Tower part 2 (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn 3.2) by Tad Williams – 4 stars
- Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns 1) by Kendare Blake – 3,5 stars
- Queens of Fennbirn (Three Dark Crowns 0.5) by Kendare Blake – 3 stars
I had my first DNF roll of my reading years. The first one was a novella of 125 page too but since I struggled to get to page 30 I figured the rest of the story wasn’t going to be worth it either. The second dnf is a library book I just could not get into and as I have so much to read I figured after 49 pages I’d just leave it. It is a library book so I can just easily return it. Apparently that helps with the DNF factor. But I also dnf-ed a review copy that wasn’t working for me. I’ve never done that before.
The dnfing kind of messed with my reading in the middle of the month and because of that I didn’t hit the amount I’ve been hitting the first four months of the year. Even so, this is still a great amount and on average still better than what I did last year so yeah.
# Unread Books
Total unread books on shelf start of April – 222
Books read in May (that count) – 6 + 2 DNF + 2 Unhaul
Books bought/received in May (no ebooks) – 12
Total unread books on shelf end of May – 224
# Unread Ebooks
Total unread ebooks at the end of April – 18
Ebooks read in May – 6 + 1 DNF
Ebooks bought/Received in May – 11
Total unread ebooks end of May – 22
# Beat the Backlist
Backlist books read in May – 7
Total – 58/80
# Library Love Challenge
Library books read in May – 3
Total – 28/48
⌘ Ha, no voice loss this time!
⌘ I figured out WHY Merijn was such a troublesome toddler last month. He has started his second round of molars! Instead of lots of sleep trouble we now get behaviour troubles. Le sigh. And the next one doesn’t seem to want to come through. Ugh.
⌘ The month started of so hot and we had days with 26 to 32 degrees celsius. We also ended the month super hot. The heat makes me so cranky and Merijn also does not know what to do with himself. He then prefers to hang on mom and be naughty so those were fun days. Not. Even so I did get him a small pool to cool down a bit even if it is just with our feet in it. This was a moderate succes. The second half of the month was also super hot and this is just too hot for me to be honest. We just get a too humid heat.
⌘ For our 4 your wedding anniversary we took Merijn to a orchid park with animals. He loved it.
⌘ You will have seen that I updated the graphics when my blog turned 3. I also updated the pages at the top and expanded the review index. There are also cute headers in this dancing out of post now.
⌘ GDPR! Please also remember to check out my privacy policy which I updated nearing the end of the month, and disclaimer. Unfortunately WordPress only does a DPA for paid users so I am not sure if this will give problems in the future if with the GDPR blogs will be targeted (though I can’t imagine we will be). I also can’t have a cookie wall though I added in the cookie banner, finally. I know I’ve done everything that I could do myself, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t stresful. I just kind of refuse to become a paid user since wp is now using this to get us to pay.
⌘ For Pentecost we went to my parents for the long weekend. We left Saturday afternoon after husband got home from work, took the 3 hour drive and were there by dinner. On Sunday we spend some time playing and Merijn went of this huge big kids slide. And in the afternoon we went to the beach so he could see the ocean and feel the sand. He loved it as expected. After some shopping on Monday morning we left in the afternoon to go back home.
⌘ I’ve been having a lot of back pain. Right now at least once every week for a few days. It is hard with Merijn because I do still have to pick him up for things and to pick up after him or when I have to run after him and such.
⌘ I hit 600 followers on twitter and 800 on the blog. Yeay! Thank you all so much. I also had my 3 year blog anniversary this month and I would really appreciate if you all would fill in the survey that you can find in this blog post.
⌘ I’ve noticed that I am nowhere near where I need to be depression wise. I cope. I function to a point. But I think that is mostly because of the medication. I think if we would take that away, I’d fall pretty far down pretty fast. I didn’t mention that to the doctor just yet but I did say things weren’t going great so we are continuing for another 3 months.
⌘ I ordered these 3 gorgeous ribbon book marks from Letters & Lights.
⌘ On the last day of May we had the last night of the volunteering season. I volunteer with people with intellectual dissabilities. Every 2 weeks we come together on a Thursday evening to play darts or other theme evenings. The last night of the season, the break for the Summer, we always have a bbq. We got lucky. We had terrible rains in the afternoon but just before we started it was dry. It was a fun evening.
Reviews
⌘ The Smoke Thieves (The Smoke Thieves 1) by Sally Green
⌘ Bones and Bourbon by Dorian Graves
⌘ Furyborn (Empirium 1) by Claire Legrand
⌘ The Oddling Prince by Nancy Springer
⌘ Into the Mystic volume 3 (anthology) by various authors
⌘ The Obelisk Gate (Broken Earth 2) by N.K. Jemisin
⌘ The Righteous and the Lost (Chimera 1) by Tyler Ellis
⌘ Reaping Havoc (Reaping Havoc 1) by A.J. Rose
⌘ The Lost Path by Amelie Flechais
⌘ Ruthless Magic (Conspiracy of Magic 1) by Megan Crewe
Top Ten Tuesday
Books I Own With My Favorite Color on the Cover – Surprise, It Is Yellow! / Books I Disliked but I Am Really Glad I Read (for Bragging Rights) / Best Character Names I would Totally Use for a Pet / Bookish Worlds I’d Never Want to Live in
Wyrd and Wonder
Urban Fantasy vs Contemporary Fantasy: Is There a Difference? / Time to Kick Some Non-Human Ass – Non-Human Sidekicks / My Fantasy A to Z / Fantasy Bucket List /
Other Posts
Book Haul #32 – Goodbye April / Dancing out of April 2018 / Three Years A Dance with Books – A Graphic Update and a Blog Survey! / How I Read Multiple Books at the Same Time / Playing the Number Games with My Shelves 2018 / To Challenge One Self for the Summer
⌘ The Mummy 2017 / Movie / DNF
I tried, multiple times. But the movie couldn’t capture me for a minute and I don’t like Tom Cruise. ._.
⌘ Dr. Strange / Movie
I thought this was okay? It just reminded me a bit much of Stark, personality wise, you know. But Stark was actually funny… I am curious to see him interact with everyone else though.
⌘ Agend Carter / Season 2 / Ep 4 – 10 / Finished
I really have to say that I found this season very lacking compared to the first season which was everything I wanted from Captain Carter. And I can kind of see why it was cancelled. I can’t imagine this second season having caught that many people’s interest.
⌘ Agents of Shield / Season 1 / Ep 1 – 9
While I was watching Captain Carter, husband sped through the four seasons of Agents of Shield. I saw some of it here and there and I got curious so here we are. I like it so far!
⌘ Lost / Season 1 / Ep 1
I saw this over 10 years ago and remember so little that it was basically a new watch. Husband wanted to give it a go. But I’m not sure we will continue.
⌘ San Andreas / Movie
This was just a random movie that was on. It was hot, I didn’t feel like doing anything and so I watched this. Could have done without the romance or the dramatic revival at the end there, lol.
⌘ Ant-Man / Movie
We are trying to prepare for Civil War slowly so when it comes out on dvd we can watch it. So this was up next. It was actually better than I expected and I think I liked it better than Dr. Strange
⌘ Rewatched: The Mummy 1999 / The Mummy Returns / Scooby-Doo: Camp Scare!
Best liked
Beat the Backlist Instagram Challenge
#WyrdandWonder Instagram Challenge
Blogs
⌘ Jamie from The Perpetual Page-Turner shares 32 ya books you might have missed. She also shares Riley’s favorite bed time books.
⌘ Kristen from Metaphors and Moonlight talks about the portrayal of supernatural creatures.
⌘ Nicole from Feed Your Fiction Addiction reorganized her book shelves.
⌘ La La in the Library talks about giving mental health advice on (book) blogs and how dangerous that can be.
⌘ Mishma from Chasing Faerytales shares 9 standalone fantasy books. She also created an ultimate guide to ya books with menthal health representation.
⌘ Krysta from Pages Unbound shares why she doesn’t buy on Amazon. It is an interesting read to see why people complain about Amazon and make your own decisions.
⌘ Aentee at Read at Midnight made beautiful designs for The Poppy War.
⌘ Michelle from Life Amongst the Pages shares why she might be following your blog.
⌘ Avery from Red Rocket Panda talks about what Asian American & Pacific Island Month is. For this Avery also shared book recommendations with pasifika authors. Avery also talks about the battle between reading and reviewing. And shared another beautiful list of book recommendations with south east asian authors.
⌘ Sarah from The Illustrated Page shared 10 queer fantasy short stories.
⌘ Holly from Nut Free Nerd shares her Oxford Reading List of a year.
⌘ Cait from Paper Fury announces her second book, The Boy Who Steals Houses.
⌘ Aimal from Bookshelves and Paperbacks talks about villains. Yeay she is back. ❤
⌘ Alicia from A Kernel of Nonsense shares mini-reviews for the books Poet-X and The Fifth Season. Also please remember to check back in with her at the start of June to sign up for the comment challenge for July!
⌘ Kirstie Ellen from Upside-Down Books shares her experience with living (and working) at Disney for 5 months.
⌘ Jackie B. from Death by Tsondoku is back, and talks about how fluffy books are seen as bad sometimes.
⌘ Lucille from A Dragon in Space shares that Robin Hobb let it be known at a recent convention that she is writing a new Realm of the Elderlings novella.
Dutch Blogs
⌘ Sue from Boekenz shares 5 reasons why she thinks audiobooks are great.
⌘ Liesbet from Zwartraafje shared the photos inspired by Harry Potter she shared on #bookstagram or rather #pottergram.
⌘ Audrey from The Confession of a Book Nerd shares her list of Dutch words that Flemish people really hate in translations.
⌘ Emmy from Zon en Maan shared a SPAM your blog post where you could put your blog in the comments.
Booktube
⌘ Zoe from yerabooknerdzoe did a bookshelf tour of over 800 books!
⌘ I don’t know? June 1st Merijn has grandpa day and we have a wedding to go to the weekend thereafter. As we are heading into Summer it is going to be super busy for the husband at work which means I’ll be alone with Merijn even more.
⌘ Tbr wise I will be working on what I listed in my challenges for the Summer. I will also read Grace and Fury, Witchmark and The Book of Unwinding for review. I am also hoping to get to Alice in Wonderland. I think that might be enough for June.
The Sunday post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This is a bit of a recap post of the week (or month) where you can link to the posts you made this week, share news and wrap up your reading. I will also link up with Monthly Wrap up from Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction.
Instagram // Twitter // Goodreads // Facebook // Tumblr
A Dance With Books 
Thanks for linking to my post! Your blog graphics are so nice (totally jealous haha!) I’m amazed at how many books you got to – I was boldly aiming to get ten read and I finished on a half-hearted four but ahhh wellllll. What can you do?!
Good luck with your reading for June!
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You are welcome!
Thank you! Sometimes things just come up throughout the month and things don’t go the way you planned for reading. 😦
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Oooh congrats on reading so many books this month! Also, thanks so much for mentioning my post ❤
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Thank you and you are welcome 🙂
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Sorry to hear about your back pain and depression Annemieke, hope things will get better soon ❤
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I hope so too. ❤
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It was indeed very warm here too. But I enjoyed it 🙂 ah, it’s alright to DNF books. It gives you a sense of freedom too, somehow – I know what it feels like since I also very rarely DNF myself.
I know what you mean about mental health. I’m not on medicine, but I’m pretty much at the same place myself. I always hope summer will make it better, but it rarely does. The good weather sometimes works backwards.
Ooh, the Three Body Problem – one of my favorite books. Looks wonderful in print.
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I had hoped Summer/better weather would make it better but then we get this heat and it is just too warm for me (20C please) and my son. So the days turn into struggles a bit. I hope though we both will feel better this Summer regardless.
I still need to read ._.
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Holy BUCKETS! You can one incredible May, Annemieke! I couldn’t be more impressed. You read a TON, published a TON of blog posts, and completely DOMINATED your Instragram! I bow to your incredible accomplishments.
I firmly believe in DNF’ing. I understand how it can be a bit of an emotional drain, particularly when you have so many in a row! Good job realizing when to let go. It can be challenging. Relatedly– what do you mean by “Books Read in May that count”? What aren’t you counting?
Thanks for the shout out! It feels good to be back. 😀
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My planning ahead works so well for these kinds of months. 😀
I believe in dnf as well but usually I just don’t feel so compelled to leave a book. It always makes me wonder if it is the book or my mood. Still I don’t think I’m missing out with these three books.
With books read in may that count I mean for that challenge books that are on my physical tbr, on my shelves downstairs. I don’t count classics as I didn’t count them into the tbr number since I am in no hurry to read those.
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Back pain and molars aside you had a great month Annemieke!
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This is true. 🙂
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All those pretty pictures to look at 🙂 The weather here has been crazy, I have given up trying to figure it all out.
That little guy looked like he was having a lot of fun! 🙂
I hope you have a wonderful week, Annemieke! Happy Reading!
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Thanks. He sure did have a lot of fun inbetween being naughty haha. 😉 ❤ The weather just keeps going up and down.
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I’m sorry to hear about all the DNF copies – I know how difficult it is since I hate DNFing books. However, you still read fifteen books and that’s a huge number (at least for me, I mean, I only read five books in May).
I haven’t been in a good place regarding mental health lately (there is so much going on that I no longer know how to cope). I’m hoping that a few days away from everything will make everything better. Sending you all my support.
Happy readings! 😉
Tânia @MyLovelySecret
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It is hard. I never really want to say goodbye to a book like that even though I know that dnf-ing is a good thing to do for yourself.
Hugs. I hope that the few days away will help you a bit. Know that my dm’s on twitter/email are always open for venting. ❤
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O-o-O I want Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. I requested but nothing yet. I loved Uprooted; it’s one of my favorites ever on audio. You have lots of good reads there. I hope you have a lovely summer. Anne – Books of My Heart
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Fingers crossed! I quite liked Spinning Silver but I still like Uprooted better.
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Your blog graphics are so cheery. They make me smile. They also don’t look like anyone else’s which you know I love. 💚
You were amazing taking all of those book challenge photos in May and none of them were cop-out “just get it over with” shots either. I bow down to your expertise. 👍
I really want to go to the seashore now after seeing those photos. I’m happy Merijn lived it. The orchid park looked wonderful, too. Didn’t you also go to the book getogether or was that April? 🌅
I love the way you keep adding to your ebook totals. 😂 Pretty soon you’ll be as bad as me! Ha ha. Thanks for the shout out! Here’s to a less stressful and cooler month of June. 💜
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Thanks. I needed cheery 😀
(There actually were just get it over with shots but I am glad it doesn’t show haha)
I think that was April… What is even a memory? Haha. The sea shore is always great and it is funny to see how many people run to the beach at the first rays of sunshine while the sea is sooooooo cold still.
Haha I shall not!
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Thanks for the shoutout! I’m so glad you gave Spinning Silver a positive rating. I’m going back and forth about preordering that one. Did you like it more or less or the same as Uprooted? I’m still trying to decide! Every time I see your edition of Sorcerer to the Crown I want to buy it. Hope you have a really good and rewarding June!
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I liked it less than Uprooted but that was a 5 star read for me. I really loved how she crafted this story but I just didn’t love the characters as much as I did in Uprooted.
Haha it is so pretty *.*
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I do think it is easier to dnf a library book. You can just kind of pretend it didn’t happen. Congrats on your 3rd blogoversary! I do remember the days of cutting teeth. It seems like it is always something with kids. I hope you have a great June!
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This is true. And thank you!
Oh my gosh, yes it is always something with kids. It is a good thing they are cute.
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Sorry about all the DNFs, but it sounds like you had a pretty busy month. You take the best photos. Merijn is adorable, as always. Have a great June!
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Thank you! And yes I guess it was busy. 🙂
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I think it’s great that you DNF’d. It’s such a waste of time to force yourself through something you’re not enjoying. And you still finished 15 books, which is a ton!
It’s been really hot here, too, and I hate the humidity that comes with the summer storms. I know I shouldn’t complain because the humidity would be so much worse back home, but the weather still gave me lots and lots of headaches last month. At the same time, I’m not looking forward to days and days of chilly rain, either.
I love the new design!
I hope your back feels better this month and that it won’t be too stressful to be alone with Merijn even more. 💚
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This is true. And yet I always feel bad for not finishing a book haha.
It should just be 20 degrees with a nice sun, a cloud here and there. That is just great weather that works for both of us I think. ❤ (And I think you are totally allowed to complain when the weather gives you headaches hugs)
Thank you! ❤ One of his molars is half through now. Ugh.
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Don’t feel bad!
That weather sounds great to me!
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Dankjewel voor de link Annemieke! De hitte van de afgelopen weken was echt de moeite hé. Ik heb ben wat dagen gewoon niet buiten gekomen omdat ik er zo slecht tegen kan en die ene keer dat ik het wel deed kwamen de insecten op me af alsof ik Axe-deodorant voor muggen over me heen had gespoten. Blijkbaar zou het morgen ook weer behoorlijk warm worden dus heb ik net een taartbodem gebakken zodat de oven morgen niet voor nog meer hitte zorgt én de aarbeientaart (die het uiteindelijk gaat worden) voor verfrissing. 😉
Nu ik mijn blogfeed-achterstand bijna heb bijgelezen hoop ik weer wat meer boeken te kunnen lezen. Al moet ik eigenlijk eerst nog wat blogposts uitwerken vermits er momenteel zo goed als niets klaar staat. Wel concepten maar die werden niet meer uitgewerkt omdat ik er meestal gewoon de energie niet voor vind. Ach ja, als het niet lukt dan gaat het hier gewoon even wat rustiger zijn op de blog.
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Graag gedaan. 🙂
Ah man poeh. Ik heb ook geprobeerd niet te veel naar buiten te moeten of juist heel vroeg te gaan maar met Merijn moet ik sowieso wel achter buiten komen of regelmatig eventjes het huis verlaten. Want anders worden we gek van elkaar. De thermometer in de zon staat al op 26 graden het is nog niet eens 9 uur. Huilen.
Ach, gezien hoeveel je normaal post mag je ook best wel eens even wat rustiger aan doen aan de blog als je meer behoefte hebt aan lezen of andere dingen. ❤
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A shame to have so many DNFs in one month, but at least you have the strength to admit they’re not right for you. This is something I need to work on!
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That is always the hardest part, isn’t it?
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Happy belated Blogoversary ! I knwo what you mean about the heat, it’s been super warm here too and honestly, though I love sunshine, I prefer slightly cooler temperatures. Sorry to hear about you back pain and depression. Hope things’ll get better in June! ❤
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Thank you. ❤ Right, I like 20 degrees.
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Wow you read a lot of great books as well, I’m impressed 😀
It’s great to DNF, let’s us have more time for the goodies!!
Awww those pictures are really cute! Love the spider-man teeshirt 😉
Thanks for linking to my post ❤
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You are welcome.
That tshirt was just the cutest. I couldn’t resist getting it for him haha.
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I had hopes of a sci fi on the level of Buckaroo Banzai with Space Unicorn Blues. Sometimes you have to give debuting authors a little lead way.
Take this from someone who has been there – if you have concerns, doubts, or uncertainties please tell your doctor. He can’t help if he doesn’t know. Hugs!! Hang in there girl! ♥️
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(I completely missed this comment. I’m so sorry)
This is true. But I can’t force myself either. I do hope that others will really like it, and it certainly hasn’t put me of the author.
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Oh teething is the worst! It’s always so hard because there’s truly not that much you can do to help them and when it interrupts their and your sleep, well the next day is just going to be hard. I’m so sorry and here’s hoping this phase goes by quickly, hugs!
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(I completely missed this comment. I’m so sorry)
Ugh yes, some nights during teething with the crying. The next day is meh and they happily are naughty the whole day haha.
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Fifteen books is amazing! I enjoyed seeing your beach vacation photos as the beach is my happy place. We will be going next week and hopefully to a lighthouse too. When I DNF, I feel like I wasted my precious time. I don’t have much time for reading these days and need to make the most of it.
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The beach is so lovely. But with all the tourists I don’t really go often enough despite having grown up at a town next to the beach. I hope you will have a lot of fun!
I can totally understand that feeling. That is how I felt for a long while.
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