Bethany's Book Nook

Picked up this book because it’s been on my TBR pile for the longest time and needed a new book for my time at the airport. Ended up being one of those books that I just absolutely devoured in two days. Lately I’ve been obsessed with magics and witches, this book hit all of the marks. Plus being a Latina, I’ve loved having even the smallest amount of representation shown..which is obvious with the names of locations and certain titles of characters/ types of magic wielder. Loved the Brooklyn Brujas as well and just had to see what else Zoraida Córdova had written.This book picks up right in the middle of the story, where the prologue had me wondering if I picked up the sequel by accident, but it’s right in the action which is the absolute best. It follows the usual aspect of magic books; a kingdom that doesn’t want any magic users, rebels that are trying to show they’re not a threat unless reckoned, a giant threat to all magic users, and the enemies to lovers trope. With that being s...

Was fortunate enough to have celebrated Thanksgiving with my younger sibling in Texas. Our family isn’t really known for having non-confrontational holidays, so I thought it best to remove myself from the situation completely. I spent a total of about 5 days and 6 nights with them in the house. Through those few days I managed to: -spend time with my younger sibling and her friends -spend 8 hours at Starbucks sitting and working on schoolwork -watch a ton of murder documentaries on Netflix -watch murder movies on Hulu -went to Barnes and Noble -My first HEB trip where I got some incredible Pink Moscato and chocolate pecan pie -had a phenomenal Thanksgiving -saw a Waterparks concert. Strangely enough, Tyler Posey came out with the opening band and performed with his partner on stage.  -read two books and almost finished a scarf I’m gifting for Christmas. -cuddle up with three cats, who I absolutely adore. -got to cuddle up with my younger sibling who I hadn’t seen in about six month...

             Late in the summer my family and I had tickets to the Hella Mega Tour ft. Weezer, Fall Out Boy, and Green Day. Lucky enough in the times of covid…my mom, brother, and I were able to attend. Being fully vaccinated we weren’t too nervous about the crowds, especially being in the seated area, but we wore our masks the entire time. Just for the extra bit of safety. Weezer being first, and my favorite of the three, played absolutely all of my favorite songs. Honestly, the entire concert was incredible. The parking was less than desirable but I also blame it partly on not wearing the proper shoes for practically hiking.               Making it a whole family affair, the road trip to Hershey Park turned into a weekend getaway in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Of course we were missing my other younger sibling and older brother but the former just moved to Texas and are currently living their best lives....

  Before Christmas I went to my favorite secondhand bookstore, where I also got those vintage postcards from an earlier post. On that trip, I got some books for loved ones as gifts. So I haven’t posted them before just in case someone checked this blog.  Degas by Camille Mauclair  A Beachcombers Botany- Essays and comments by Loren C. Petry & Illustrations and Captions by Marcia G. Norman The Poems of Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak Hiroshima by John Hersey Theater & Revolution: The Culture of the French Stage by Frederick Brown Finding of Jasper Holt by Grace Livingston Hill Second Edition A Journal of Faith and Love: Mother’s Memories to Her Child by Thomas Kinkade Mad About Madeline: The Complete Tales by Ludwig Bemelmans. With an introduction by Anna Quindlen.   The Seven Ages of Frank Lloyd Wright by Donald W. Hoppen Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water: The House and Its History by Donald Hoffmann 116 illustrations. With an introduction by Edgar ...

On Black Friday I took the short leap from Texas to Tennessee to visit some family. As always it was a magical time, especially when it’s so close to Christmas. My mom and I spent some well needed bonding time and I soaked it up as usual. We went shopping, I got a haircut, and then it was Christmas. My aunt surprised us with tickets to a local Christmas lights drive thru. It was absolutely beautiful, and we took my Christmas loving grandma who sang along with every song and enjoyed herself immensely. The next day we visited Dave and Busters. But not just any Dave and Busters, oh no, the one at the Opry Mills Mall. It was fantastic, not as wonderful as the one in Philadelphia, but it’ll have to do! Across the way, if you’re familiar with the area, is the Gaylord Opryland Resort and this time of year it’s simply breathtaking. We ventured over there, having tickets for the Elf: Mission Save Christmas. Mainly because it looked like the Buzz Lightyear ride in Disney world on the advertisem...

Florence Nightingale: The Lady of the Lamp by Basil Miller      This was a very quick read and went into depth about her entire life. The early pages talk heavily how she’s always felt a calling towards nursing and believed that it was God’s plans for her. It’s apparent in her letters she wrote to others but also her demeanor as a child. Even though she had a longing to pursue nursing, she had her doubts about it, and often asked people outside her family their decisions. It was only then that she declared to her parents that she would be studying nursing. During that time almost any woman could become a nurse, it’s said that in the book people in court were often given the choice of going to prison or going to work in the hospital. Therefore her family was against her choice in profession, and tried everything to get the idea out of her mind. Being a determined woman, she decided to pursue it anyway. At 31 she finally began her nursing career, throwing herself completely...

Would have to be listed as my least favorite in the series! Following the loss of one of their own, the entire group is mourning in their own way, but also searching for vengeance. Something has come over Lou, a darkness, which is getting in the way of their journey. Met with characters from previous books they must accomplish what they’ve set out to do, all while finding themselves again and their individual purposes. Hope is a recurring theme in this book. Which is perfect and the only way they’ll be able to rebuild their individual kingdoms and their family. The synopsis for the book is very short because there would be way too many spoilers if I went any deeper in detail. When I reached the middle of the book, I immediately thought that it could have been separated into two books. That the introduction of the major event after the encounter with Morgane on the beach was such an interesting move, but it felt it could have been a cliffhanger that leads into another book. That bei...