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New Year, New Books

Generous, thoughtful people who love me gave me lovely books for Christmas! One to help me feed my body, another to strengthen my spirit, and a third one that supports maintaining hair health and appearance.

[3 books arranged face up: Taste of Home Made from Scratch Home Cooking Made Easy, Beautiful Braids Boutique Workbook Learning to Braid Natural Hair Techniques, Black Firsts 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events 3rd Edition] 

Taste of Home, Made from Scratch Home Cooking Made Easy 

Beautiful photos of the final results with each step-by-step recipe, some with multiple photos to show recipe progression. 


Beautiful Braids Boutique Workbook, Learning to Braid Natural Hair Techniques by Nicole Taylor 

This book offers definitions of terms, tools, supplies, and techniques in addition to detailed text instructions and results photos for braiding beginners. A test, skills drills, and lined pages for note taking at the end encourage practice for further development. Contact information is also included to schedule private and class instruction. It's an appropriate companion read for How to Love Your Afro by Paige Lewin. 
 

[3 upright books - Rocky Start, Very Nice Funerals, The Honey Pot Plot, arranged next to a bookstack of 12 books - Crash Test on top of 11 books showing only their bottom edges] 

Rocky Start series, 3 books: Rocky Start, Very Nice Funerals, The Honey Pot Plot by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer 
contemporary mystery suspense with romance 
Argh Inc., 2024 - 2025 

Vibe mix: We Do Not Care Club, Killers of a Certain Age, multi-generational friction and collaboration, identity crises, crossroads, mystery, romance, suspense romp with lots of laughs, irony, and emotional intimacy; young people middle-aged people, and really seasoned grown folks dealing with assorted personal, professional, and community mayhem 

Rocky Start quickly establishes the key and supporting characters and contextual foundation for the series. 

from Very Nice Funerals chapter 11: 
Books have gotten me through some really bad times in the past, fiction let me live other lives, non-fiction to help me figure out the latest mess I'd gotten myself into. 

from The Honey Pot Plot chapter 11, a brilliant reference to Ms. Beverly Jenkins 


The Honey Plot Pot offers the unexpected, much appreciated bonus of a charming a-hole Russian character who sounds like Ilya Rosanov in my imagination. There's also a cottage. These two elements make me feel like forces in the #hollanov fandom universe are sabotaging my sincere intention of working free of this Heated Rivalry fixation in time to return to being a functional adult again by Monday morning. 

Behind the scenes content, interviews, memes, edits, podcast discussions, analysis of filming techniques and creative choices--so much irresistible temptation makes me think odds are low for high productivity this week, especially since Heated Rivalry and The Long Game are on hold for me at the library. My BAC issues (Book Aquisition Compulsion) continue. #sorrynotsorry


2026 is off to a rocky start in too many ways to count. Please prioritize your medical, mental, and spiritual health. Love on yourself and those around you. 

Always wishing you safety, peace of mind, good health & joy 


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