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A lady with a love for literature and shiny things discusses books & bling.

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What I’m reading: Vol. 54.

What I'm reading

Nightstand: Forever Your Earl by Eva Leigh. I love this series.

Coffee table: The Netflix menu. I’ve been siiiiiick all week and I’ve been watching a lot of trashy tv.

Internets:

I get horrible, painful cracked lips in the winter. My magic cures are Palmer’s cocoa butter and (for serious power) Nuxe Rêve de Miel. Here are 16 more recommendations for the best lip balms around, from the New Potato.

The Tiny London Shop Behind Some of the Very Best Libraries.

I don’t know anything about Kacey Musgraves but I love love love loved her Grammys dress.

The jewels belonging to the former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos, are being auctioned. Her impressive collection includes this notable tiara.

Vaccinations are on the rise in CA after a horrific measles outbreak. What’s that you say? Vaccinations have a purpose??

Have Overgrading Lawsuits Become Overkill? – a great overview of something important that’s going on right now in the jewelry industry.

This post contains affiliate links. 

What I’m reading: Vol. 53.

What I'm reading

Nightstand: Bone Gap by Laura Ruby. I’m about 10 pages into this. It’s well-written, but it’s too early to have any other thoughts.

Coffee table: Temptations of a Wallflower by Eva Leigh. This is the third romance I’ve read by this author, and I’m officially a fan. This series follows a group of women in Victorian London who are determined to have careers as writers, despite societal pressure. Oh, and the romance is hot hot hot.

In a blanket nest: Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn. NEW BRIDGERTON BOOKS. I can’t. It’s too exciting.

Internets:

Hair Styles of the Georgian Era.

Nina Simone Talks Fashion, Blackness, and Survival In This ‘Lost’ Interview From 1968.

J.K. Rowling Uplifts Fan Battling Dementors Of Depression.

A great post from my brilliant friend Jewelry Nerd on the symbolism of crowned double heart rings (an item high on my antique jewelry bucket list).

A Reading List for Beyoncé’s Formation. Because it’s amazing and important.

Body Glitter and Slap Bracelets: A Brief History of Claire’s.

Lady Mary wore the most glorious dress in the most recent episode of Downton Abbey. Mild spoilers at the link.

Work, work! A Schuyler Sisters cocktail.

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The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins.

My review of Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins; a fast-paced, completely whackadoo, excellently executed book that is unlike anything I've read before.The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins.

This book is: excellent and strange.
Other elements: God(s), destiny, the true power behind the universe, fate, knowledge, fatherhood, love, lions.
Read it: if you like the idea of a really well-written story that is like nothing you’ve ever read before.
Overall rating: 8.5/10

So, this Library at Mount Char is really good. But it is also BANANAS. I knew going into it that it wasn’t just about a library, but it’s REALLY not just about a library.

My husband kept asking me what I was reading and I had to give answers like “I think it might be sort of about…God? Or people who are almost Gods? I can’t tell yet. But it’s good.”

Goodreads has Library at Mount Char categorized as Fantasy, Horror, Adult Fiction, Science Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy > Paranormal, Thriller, Contemporary, and Science Fiction Fantasy. I think that those are all fairly accurate.

What’s amazing about  Library at Mount Char is that it draws you so completely into this insane story that you don’t even mind that you’re not sure what the rules are. You trust that it’s going to unfold at its own pace, and you want to stay in it and see what happens next. It’s constantly surprising – it’s one of those books where as soon as you feel like you have a handle on what’s going on, the picture shifts slightly and you realize that actually everything has been completely different all along.

It’s a fast-paced, completely whackadoo, excellently executed book that is unlike anything I’ve read before. And I think if a book is unlike any other book – in a good way, like this one is – it’s definitely worth reading.

Warning: not for the squeamish. Violent and dark.

For more reads anytime, check out my Amazon recommended books store. This post contains affiliate links.

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