Christmas 2021 Book Haul

I hope that everyone had the jolliest of holidays and a great New Year’s Eve. May 2022 be WAY better than the last two years.

Between Christmas and New Year, I had the mighty pleasure of meeting Melanie @ Grab the Lapels and her horror movie crafting husband Nick. They came to our neck of the woods and we celebrated over good food and good beer at the local brewery just a few minutes from our house. Unfortunately, they got the displeasure of driving here during a snow storm. Now that’s dedication folks! I’m so glad that they did though because we had a great time out with them. If only it could have been longer! Stupid work, get’s in the way of all the good stuff. D:< Melanie gives fantastic hugs. They make you feel loved and welcome immediately. We’ve semi-planned some future get togethers so that’s exciting. ^_^

You can’t miss the joy on our faces!

Now, onto the Christmas book haul because as both Melanie and I agree, books are important:

The top book, Dead Space, wasn’t a present technically. I won a book from a raffle over at the lovely Books, Bones & Buffy blog. When I couldn’t decide on a book, I asked her to just send me one of her favorite science fiction books and this is what she sent me. It sounds very interesting and I can’t wait to read it.

I’ve already started Paddle Your Own Canoe and it’s inspiring me to do a few things for the new year. Less social media, get back to woodworking when the weather warms up. I crafted zero wood projects last year and that bums me out.

What was your favorite book you received over the holidays?

Chribirmorial Day Book Haul

What the hell is Chribirmorial Day you ask? Well it’s what happens when a pandemic keeps you from seeing your BFF. It’s when you combine many holidays into one and party like you haven’t seen each other in 7 months. It’s Christmas + birthdays + Memorial Day.

We had a cook out at Ms. Moth‘s parents house, who, went above and beyond with the food. There was SO much and it was SO delicious.

We also had a puppy party. My dogs were introduced to her parents dog and it went really well. They’re chums now.

• 

• 

I felt absolutely revitalized after the weekend of fun, great food and fantastic people. Life was great. And then…….hell week at work. I don’t even have words for it. People are monsters.

Guess we’ll just have to plan another cook out.

Until then, I’m staying on my little piece of property. Staring lovingly at my new books Mr. and Mrs. Moth got me.

Coffee & a Chat – From Novels to Textbooks

First book haul of 2021. All from the dollar store. A whopping $3.18 was spent.

I didn’t accomplish much this week aside from working. No new recipes, no book reviews. Hell, I barely even read the current book I’m working on. I’m a bit ‘meh’ on it currently and don’t know if I’ll finish it.

There were a few other things accomplished though;

I received my second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. This time, the side effects kicked my ass. Super sleepy, achy, hot flashes and cold sweats (no fever though) and a minor headache. I felt like an old woman going through menopause. I started feeling super tired the night of the vaccine, didn’t sleep too well and felt like garbage for about 12 hours the next day. The day after that, I felt normal again. 10/10 would do it again though.

As of this morning, I applied to go back to college. There is a recent initiative provided by my state for adults to go back to school to earn a degree where they pay for your tuition fees. Years ago, I went to community college with the intention of getting a degree in small business administration. For a myriad of reasons, I never finished. Now, I’m going back to earn a degree in business administration – associate of arts. The way I see it, it will help the small business that I currently work for and any future enterprise I may start myself. (see last post.)

I should start back to school in May so I’m sure you’ll see a decline in posts then but I’m hoping to be more organized and be able to balance life and school better than I did back in the day.

So that’s it for this week folks, did anyone else get the first or second dose of the Covid vaccine? What were your side effects if anything?

Christmas 2020 Book Haul

Merry after Christmas folks! I hope you all enjoyed whatever holiday you celebrate and did your best to make it memorable.

What did the Cupcakes and Machetes household do? It was just the two of us which was honestly very relaxing. Usually Mr. C&M makes Christmas dinner but we decided this year to have Chinese food instead. We’ve never done that before and I recommend it if you don’t feel like cooking. However, I also recommend that you check which Chinese restaurants are actually open BEFORE the day of. We had to drive to another town since we did not plan properly lol.

Mr. C&M managed to snag a PS5 two weeks after release so I got to be the spoiled one this year. I’m writing this post from my new bomb ass laptop. (The kids still use that phrase right??) It kicks the shit out of my previous one. I look forward to blogging more now.

Mr. C&M also wins Christmas because he bought me the Dune series and they’re all matching editions. I’m flattered that he remembered that that matters to me after some slight mishaps with the Witcher series this past spring. (The right covers, just mismatched sizes. Book diva here.)

Photo also features my super awesome new fuzzy slippers that make me feel like I have fat bear feet.

What present are you most excited about that you received?

Xmas 2.0 Book Haul

New Year’s Eve was spent with our best friends, Ignited Moth and Mr. Moth at a mutual friend’s (from book club!) wedding. We had a nice dinner out, attended the party, celebrated midnight together and then promptly opened presents because we couldn’t wait until the morning. (That was followed by a Mario Kart tournament and us not going to bed until 4 am.) It was a fantastic way to bring in a new year and the Moths truly spoiled us.

Here’s my book/comic haul from the both of them:

I am so pumped about all of these and don’t know where to begin. I did start the new year with a different book from any of these for my first read of the year because I had been planning that for about a month but I’m sure that I’ll hit up one of these beauties next.

Birthday Book Haul – Year 32

Year 32 might seem like an odd addition to the title BUT I get some kind of birthday book haul every year, so for post purposes, we’ve got to distinguish the little guys.

My birthday shenanigans are officially over. It was quite the celebration this past weekend though. Ignited Moth came to visit for both book club and my birthday. (Don’t fret, I already told her she needs to get back to posting. 😛 )

If there is one thing we love besides books, it’s margaritas. We went out to the little mexican restaurant in town that we know has good ones only to find out that they now do MARGARITA FLIGHTS.

That pink one is prickly pear and it is life.

As per usual, Ms. Moth is the gift master supreme. Seriously, trying to out gift her is hard. Here is a peek at just a couple of the things she gave me:

Instant new favorite coffee mug.

We also HAD to adventure to the used bookstore in town. They have both books and cute cats that follow you around begging for pets.

Once I found one that I wanted, I just kept finding more.

It was a fantastic weekend. ❤

Have you read any of these books? On a scale of 1-10, how much do you love margaritas?

Early Christmas Book Haul

Mr. Cupcakes & Machetes isn’t very good at holding out when it comes to giving presents. To be fair though, he had me pick out the books so it’s not like I didn’t already know what I was getting. I’ll consider myself lucky that I don’t have to wait to dig into one of these bad boys if I so choose. Bookoutlet.com was having a 30% off sale on Black Friday and I was drooling in front of the screen so he kindly said, “Buy all the books!”

Book Haul/Bookstagram

A two-for-one deal on this fine Memorial Day. A very special thanks to the ladies and gentleman of the military of whom without their sacrifices, I may be running for my life instead of drooling over the books I picked up this weekend. No amount of national holidays will be enough to thank you.

Every time I get a Barnes and Noble gift card I hold onto it for awhile. I know they tend to get wiped out of good stock after the holidays so I wait. Well this time I received a gift card for my birthday (mid-April), and here it is a month and a half later and I finally decided to spend that bad boy. Of course, not really thinking it through I went on a holiday weekend when they were having pretty good sales and once again, anything I really wanted was gone. #firstworldproblems

I’m pretty excited about the fat book on the bottom. The one of top was kind of a, they-dont-have-anything-else-I-really-want buy. I’ve heard good things and it sounds like it might be fun but my expectations are not very high.

Onto Bookstagram posts from the last couple of weeks:

More dollar store book finds.

Sick again. Brain fogged. Time to stare at some fiesty ladies.

My husband had a comfy reading spot set up for me when I got home. Samus is helping keep my feet warm.

Making mac n’ cheese, reading a zombie book.

New House Book Haul

I penny pinched for seemly forever to get this house, so I splurged a little and bought myself some new books as a house warming present. I still don’t have much time for reading but that should be changing in the next week or two, I may as well have a mighty selection to choose from. Of course, after a weekend of doing things, I’m kind of regretting my splurge, but I cannot undo the past.

On the Kindle:

  

Physical copies:

  

I’m about to finally finish Kings of the Wyld and then I’ll be picking up Red Sister as it’s my Goodreads group’s Book of the Month. Super excited to start it though because I love Mark Lawrence.

Book Haul – Valentine’s Edition

I have been on a strict book buying diet since we’re saving for a house. It can be incredibly frustrating at times but the truth is that I always have roughly 100 books, either physical editions or ebooks, waiting to be read in my house. (Though I’m sure many book wyrms can agree, you always want to read the books you don’t have.) I’ve only been buying ebooks on sale for $0.99 to $1.99 or physical used books for $0.50 at my library. I won’t lie, I’m pretty proud of my self control.

My husband shot that all to shit though when he handed me money and demanded I buy myself books for Valentine’s Day. So while he spent most of Valentine’s Day evening raiding in World of Warcraft, I spent it blissfully selecting books I’ve been wanting for a long time, but never to seem to be in stock at my local B&N.

So sometime between this coming Monday and Friday, I should be receiving the following 5 books:

1. Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop
2. Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien de Castell
3. The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett
4. Tempting Danger by Eileen Weeks
5. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

 

In the mean time, I’m reading short novels to fill the time until my new books arrives. Because as soon as they arrive, I’m diving in.