The Joy of Art – January 20, 2025 at 06:05AM

Practicing my sketching. “All I know is that my life is better when i assume that people are trying their best. It keeps me out of judgement and lets me focus on what’s is and not what should be.”

#sketching #art #urbansketching #watercolorjournal #watercolors
#drawing #illustration #artistsoninstagram #sketchbook #creativity #artwork #inspirationalart

Adventures in Cooking – Quick Gnocchi with Zucchini, Tomato, and White Beans

 

100 Dishes – Dish 3 – Quick Gnocchi with Zucchini, Tomato, and White Beans

Since I cook at night, the photos won’t be awesome but still!

This has a lot of beans. A lot. Good amount of protein and veggies and delicious.

https://ift.tt/8FGqXoE

#HealthyEating #EasyRecipes #VeggieDelight #HomeCooking #QuickMeals #ComfortFood #RecipeOfTheDay
#100Dishes #karenikacooks

Adventures in Cooking – Spinach-Parm Casserole

100 Dishes – Dish 2 – Spinach-Parm Casserole

Since I cook at night, the photos won’t be awesome but still!

Super fast, super easy and quite delicious. Two lbs of spinach, too!!

https://ift.tt/EwbDj4P

#HealthyEating #EasyRecipes #CasseroleLove #VeggieDelight #HomeCooking #QuickMeals #ComfortFood #RecipeOfTheDay
#100Dishes #karenikacooks

Review: The Society of Unknowable Objects

The Society of Unknowable Objects
The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Gareth Brown clearly knows how to write books that I love. I love love loved his previous book so I was so excited to find out that he had a new one coming out. Magical books were awesome, magical objects turned out to be completely awesome, too. And I loved the references back to the first book in a way that was not disruptive to those who never read the first book but felt like an insider’s gift to those who did!

Like his first book, this story is full of imagination, joy, a true joy for your senses, especially visually. Of course all the good must be balanced by evil, so evil is there too. Some very interesting choices for evil in this book. All the characters are unique and jump off the page.

It is clear to me I will forever read anything Brown writes, I just hope he writes fast so I can keep reading more and more of his wonderful stories.

with gratitude to netgalley and William Morrow for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: The Incredible Kindness of Paper

The Incredible Kindness of Paper
The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Skye
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have read every book that Evelyn Skye has written and I am incredibly lucky to call her my friend. So this review might feel biased, but here’s what I am going to tell you: if you haven’t read any books by Syke or even if you have this is the one you want to read. This book is magic.

Each of Skye’s books, while varying widely across genres, has her signature writing style which is visual, painterly and has elements of magic and whimsy. They all have memorable characters. But one, this one is a gift.

You can read the blurb so I won’t repeat the plot but here’s what matters most: this book will make you feel warm and happy and hopeful for the world. You will fall in love with Chloe and her ability to hold on to herself and her optimism in a world that is always trying to change us or improve us. Chloe’s sense of self is strong, unyielding and makes it impossible not to root for her.

Yes, there’s a romance at the root of this story but it’s so much more than that. It restores your faith in humanity. It allows you to travel to a place where people are flawed and struggling and finding their way back home and hanging on to their unyielding belief that we can create good and joy in the world even as we are trying to find our way.

This book will make you feel warm and hopeful and like the wonderful hug you needed. I cannot recommend it enough.

with gratitude to netgalley and Atria for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: The Briar Club

The Briar Club
The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another historical fiction. I loved this one too but I might now need a little break. These books, while fun to read, are soooo long that by the end I feel like I’ve spend way too much time in their world.

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Review: How the Light Gets In

How the Light Gets In
How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh MY. I can spend another six books with these characters. Yes there was a lot of repetition but I truly don’t care. I love this family, I love this story, I love these books so so much.

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Review: The Three Lives of Cate Kay

The Three Lives of Cate Kay
The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars.

This book took forever for me to get into. It was confusing and didn’t come together until the last third of the book when I finally found myself somewhat invested. In the end I liked it but it was so much work.

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Review: The Instrumentalist

The Instrumentalist
The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I know there are mixed reviews on this but I absolutely loved it. I appear to be on a historical fiction kick lately and am enjoying all these stories so much.

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Review: The Summer that Melted Everything

The Summer that Melted Everything
The Summer that Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars.

Heart wrenching. Grief and regret we carry can completely destroy our lives.

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Review: Colored Television

Colored Television
Colored Television by Danzy Senna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I would never have read this if it weren’t for my friend Lauren even though I read and liked Senna’s previous book. The reviews were too mixed. But I liked it quite a lot and enjoyed how LA it was and the tone was just about right for me. I totally didn’t see the twist coming for some reason.

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The Joy of Art – January 19, 2025 at 04:20PM

Practicing my sketching. Quote by the wonderful @andreagibson

#sketching #art #urbansketching #watercolorjournal #watercolors