The Lazy Girl Library
The Lazy Girl Library is a charming book podcast hosted by two best friends. Expect laughter, witty banter, and a generous sprinkle of fun as we dive into the stories that have captured our hearts and minds. So grab your favorite blanket, a cup of tea or coffee, and curl up with us as we embark on a captivating literary adventure.
The Lazy Girl Library
Celebrating a Year of Stories and Holiday Magic!
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Join us in celebrating a year of the Lazy Girl Library podcast as we navigate the whirlwind of holiday preparations and the joy of cherished traditions. We'll share the highs and lows of our festive season, from the frenzy of gift shopping to relishing in precious family moments. In our whimsical take on holiday traditions, we'll brainstorm literary-themed movie plots and reflect on the personal joys of holiday rituals. We'll also exchange ideas for thoughtful bookish gifts, while sharing childhood memories. Share in the spirit of the season with us as we embrace the magic of small gestures, matching pajamas, and everything that makes this timne of year truly special!
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We absolutely love hearing from fellow book lovers, so don’t forget to share your thoughts and your favorite reads with us on our social media. You can find us on Instagram @lazygirllibrary. Also, be sure to check our website, lazygirllibrary.com – your one-stop-shop for all things Lazy Girl!
Welcome to the Lazy Girl Library , the podcast , where reading is a pleasure and captivating adventures happen from the comfort of your couch . I'm your host , darby , and I'm Mikayla , and if you've ever spent more time rearranging your bookshelf than your priorities , then you , my friend , are in the right place .
Speaker 2Happy holidays . Happy holidays , hi Darby , hi Mikayla . Welcome back listeners , episode 15 .
Speaker 1The last one of the year . This is crazy .
Speaker 2we made it a full year of lazy girl library . That's just wild . I'm emotional . We've talked about doing this for so long , so the fact that we already now have a year under our belt it's crazy .
Speaker 1It is crazy and I know it might not seem like a lot to all the podcasters out there , but 15 episodes was a lot for us . It was .
Speaker 2Being newbies and trying to figure this out all on our own . This was big . This was a big checkmark for 2024 for us .
Speaker 1I love it . Super exciting . Can't wait to see what 2025 has in store .
Speaker 2Yes .
Speaker 1But welcome back in for today . Let's do a little life check-in . What's your five star and one star ?
Speaker 2Oh , you know , preparing for this episode I did everything , but think about that . Let's see , I always like to start with the negative . My one star will probably be just the holiday craziness trying to come up with so many gifts , Because I have a small family but Josh comes from a bigger family Not huge but like bigger than mine and so trying to find out Christmas gifts not only for my family but for his family , and then plus they have a lot of December birthdays , so it's like double the gifts that you're trying to think of for these people has been crazy .
Speaker 2Josh and I spent all of the weekend racking our brains , running around everywhere trying to figure out what the heck we're getting everybody . But , I guess the five star would be that we did it , we accomplished it . All Christmas shopping is done . No , last minute Christmas shopping this year .
Speaker 1I wish I could say the same .
Speaker 2So we've done it , it's finished , and now I can just relax a little bit and enjoy the season .
Speaker 1I feel like you are probably always someone that gets their Christmas shopping done early .
Speaker 2I try to have it done by Black Friday .
Speaker 1That's crazy . Just because , like budgeting , I started on Black Friday and was like this is so early and I'm not done yet .
Speaker 2I try to at least have an idea before Black Friday , because obviously Black Friday , cyber Monday , is when I try to do most of my shopping for all the deals and then whatever stragglers I have left . I'll kind of figure out that first second week of December , but really I'm pretty good about getting it done early . This year , however , was not .
Speaker 1Well , you are getting married and doing lots of stuff , so I think that's okay .
Speaker 2Giving myself grace , but we did figure it out . So , yeah , I think that that would be my five star and one star .
Speaker 1What about you , darby ? One star maybe the fact that Christmas is next week and I feel like I haven't even done any like Christmas stuff . Well , I've done some Christmas stuff , but like Justin and I normally go on a Christmas date and we like haven't done that yet , and so I'm just feeling a little rushed , and we like haven't done that yet , and so I'm just feeling a little rushed this year , yeah , and I think too , I'm super busy at work and I'm just like feeling the pressure , yeah , so I think that's adding to it as well , that I'm like , oh , but five star is there's been some good family time . So last week my mom was in town , which was was really nice , especially because she hung out and I was like working from home and she was like folding my laundry and doing the dishes .
Speaker 1So obviously I loved that . Thanks , mom , love you , mama . Well , mom , yes , and we went shopping and like grocery shopping and it was on her . So I'm like racking up on like canned soups and stuff that is like non-perishable , because I'm like she's buying . I feel like I'm preparing for hurricane season , like let's just get stuff , absolutely . So that was really sweet . And then obviously next week with christmas , there's gonna be a lot of good family time too . So that that's probably my five stars it's just .
Speaker 2That's a good one , thanks , yeah , the holiday season I feel like it , just as we get older , it gets crazier and crazier , to where the time like you said , like trying to enjoy the holiday season is so much harder now than it used to be . But it also makes you appreciate that family time so much more when you have it .
Speaker 1Yeah , what you make it . So you have to be intentional about your christmas time and like celebrating and , you know , making sure you turn your christmas lights on or put on whatever it is that you need to feel in that spirit , because when you're a kid , your parents were the ones who were intentional with making that for you . So right now , having to do it for yourself , I think , too , we're still young enough that we're figuring out how to how to do it on our own . Absolutely good insight .
Speaker 1I like that thank you thank you , feeling philosophical love it you fit .
Speaker 2You've been in your philosophical age this year I love this mic and like a new person comes out I love it you truly blossomed thank you . Uh well , speaking of this year , uh , this episode , we're kind of just closing the chapter on 2024 . So this is going to be our last episode for the year . We won't be gone too long . We will be picking back up here in January with our next book topic and we'll announce the book for January then as well .
Speaker 1That's great . No book talk this month or book club this month , but , like Mikaela said , we're going to be picking a new one for next year and we hope that you join us on Fable for that one so excited .
Speaker 2We have two members of our Fable , which is not a lot , but it's neat , don't ? We don't know them . They're strangers . They're complete strangers . So shout out to I'm . I'm so sorry if I mispronounce your name , but merte and carol , they are love you too . There are two members on fable that just joined , complete strangers to us , and we love them dearly . Thank you for joining .
Speaker 1Come join the rest of us joining and participating . Yes , oh , I love it , I loved join .
Speaker 2Love hearing we were all talking about , uh , tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow , which was our last book ? Uh , love hearing everybody's thoughts . Come join us and our friends merti and carol on fable .
Speaker 1The link will be in the description , yeah it's seriously so cool , especially because they are two new friends or people that we don't know , and so it's amazing . This was the best Christmas present ever . Oh , seriously , seriously , in this episode we're going to be having some book and reading related topics that we're talking about in regards to like the holidays and some of our traditions , to help us get into the spirit of the holiday season and recapping our 2024 .
Speaker 2So let's hop right in All right . So looking back on 2024 , what were some standout moments in the literary space for you ? Was it like a certain trend , new book release or like a personal reading achievement ? What stood out All ?
Speaker 1of the above . Well , I feel like , especially with this podcast , I was so much more in the know of like book trends , which was awesome , but it also felt so long because I feel like there were so many things that happened . I would say Sarah J Mass's book release was a big one . That Third Crescent City book Shook the book talk world it really did , and once you read it , mikaela , we can actually talk about it .
Speaker 2I'm sorry . Everybody should note the salt in Darby's tone right there . Yes , I will get to it , I promise .
Speaker 1She's the only person I can talk to about this know , I'm sorry , no it's okay . Um , I would also say something that stood out is the tears that were shed over some of the books I read this year . Um , so shout out to nightingale and addie larue . Yes , uh , you really did one on me .
Speaker 1Uh , I would say something else that stood out to me was the tea with powerless in the red queen series , being that they're so similar , and I even just saw I think the author's name is victoria abegard abegard , something like that . She was like describing her book before she like turned it over and it it was like , if you like xyz and all the were like it's crazy how this is also describing powerless , like they'd be exact same and they're very similar . So I just found that to be interesting , since I had read both of them and I can contribute to that discourse .
Speaker 2I'll be curious to read them because I know that you have highly suggested them . But I saw all the trending too , when this is going out . So I'm yeah , I'm curious to get into it .
Speaker 1And then my final like thing that stood out was that I almost doubled what I read last year , which is insane . You crushed it , thank you . This is the most books I've ever read in a year and I'm really proud of myself . So I read 40 . And I have to say , audiobooks are a huge part of that . I can whip those out , especially because for audiobooks I really only like doing like light-hearted romance books , so it's easy to like digest those and I don't have to pay too much attention to them . But yeah , I'm really proud .
Speaker 2Yes , I am so proud of you .
Speaker 1Last year I think I read like 20 or 24 or something along those lines , which I'm still probably going to set my reading goal to like 24 for next year I'm not sure yet , maybe a little bit higher , but I don't like putting pressure on myself for the reading goal . So like two books a month , I'm like that . If I could do that , that's incredible , and so the fact that I'd like almost doubled that is wild to me , but that was a lot of things that stood out to me in 2024 .
Speaker 1It was a big year . I love it . Tell me about some of the things that stood out for you um .
Speaker 2So I had a harder time thinking of trends , but before we started recording , you did remind me I have my lavender and pine scented candle lit right now .
Speaker 1It smells so good . This is like the most accurate Christmas candle I've ever smelled .
Speaker 2It is really it smells really good . It's from Bath and Body Works , but this kind of went viral towards the beginning Kind of more fall season , I want to say Whenever they came out . Bath and Body Works came out with their Christmas candles but everybody was like , oh my gosh , lavender and and pine that's what rowan from throne of glasses described to be smell as so like this has been dubbed the rowan candle from a book talk , and so of course I had to get it to try it and it smells just like christmas .
Speaker 1It's fantastic it's so good . If this is what rowan likes , then he might like bump up on my list a little bit more for male main characters .
Speaker 2So yeah , that was kind of a cool trend , not really a book trend , but joining Fable this year has been really fun .
Speaker 2Oh , that's a good one , this was a late start but obviously we've already met two new friends , which is so exciting , but even so , just kind of getting to know a new app . I don't necessarily like it more than Goodreads I think Goodreads tracks my books better and like my reading better than Fable does but I appreciate a lot of the aspects that Fable has . Like the shelfy is cute where it takes like your top eight books and creates like a bookshelf with like different trinkets and gives you like a type of reader style that you are based on the books , um , which is cute . Or how it helps you um make instagram stories for like your recap of what you read that month . Yeah , and like those template kind of things . It's really cool . Like some of the aspects of , and obviously the book club part of it is really it's really easy to be collaborative on there .
Speaker 2So I'm really interested to use it more in 2025 . But that was a really cool find here for 2024 . And then some trends that I'm kind of over . I want to say over because I still love book talk , but part of book talk driving me a bit crazy . I'm tired of seeing the same things and specifically all the sarah j mass conspiracy theory tiktoks there's so many . As much as I am a conspiracy theorist myself , I love thinking ahead and trying to figure out what's going on and like making connections throughout books . I get tired of seeing so many and people go down such deep rabbit holes with it that I feel like it if you read too much or watch too much um of them , it can kind of ruin new books that are coming out , because if it doesn't meet the expectation of like what you think is going to happen , or if somebody comes out with a theory you absolutely love , but then what actually happens ?
Speaker 2the book can be like lackluster compared to what other people . I think it just kind of ruins the reading experience for you a little bit yeah , I get what you're saying a fine line you walk , and I think that some people take it too far over the edge , so I'm trying to like cut those out of my for you page a little bit this year ?
Speaker 1well , because , like , the memes are funny . But , yeah , I get what you're saying . When it's like too in depth , yeah , I honestly I don't watch a lot of the like theories .
Speaker 2I'm like Sarah will tell me what's happening , like , eventually , I started with them because it does make you think about certain things , but a lot of them it just got too much . So , yeah , I'm just trying to like kind of cut that out a little bit , but the memes , let's keep them going . Oh , absolutely , the memes are hysterical . Our but the memes , let's keep them going . Oh , absolutely , the memes are hysterical . Our friend sarah is constantly sending us like new meme tiktoks , so she comes across good one not to be confused with our friend slash author sarah j mass right different sarah , that's a great clarification .
Speaker 2um , lastly , a personal uh reading achievement for me this year was I really found my groove with nonfiction audiobooks . I really did not do any audiobooks before 2024 , but this podcast kind of , and you start honestly , you started doing the audiobooks which Trendsetter you are . I tried to do fiction , couldn't do fiction , but I really found my groove with nonfiction and that's helped boost my reading up a little bit , not nearly as much as you , but just truly not a competition .
Speaker 1As long as you enjoyed your reading , yeah that's what matters and I'm so glad that you enjoyed it . Non-fiction thanks .
Speaker 2So yeah , that's been , that's been good and that's kind of like expanded a lot of my like reading horizons too , which has been nice . That is nice . But speaking of books that we've read this year , let's get into top threes . So what were your top uh three books of 2024 and what were your bottom three books of 2024 ?
Speaker 1okay , I will . I I don't know which one I want to do first . I'll do top three . I feel like , if you've listened to this podcast , you've heard me talk about these books a lot anyway , so you're going to be able to know . The Nightingale ripped my heart and soul , threw it on the ground and crushed it , ran it over , and I would do it again 7,000 more times . It was so good . So thank you , kristen Hanna , for coming into my life . The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue that one was just such a neat fantasy concept , and especially because I've just been in the romantic world for so long that it was really nice to be taken out into fiction , fantasy , but also breath of fresh air kind of thing .
Speaker 1Yeah , and like a thinker as well . So that one was really good , also cried . So thank you , miss schwab , for that . And then , finally , funny story by emily henry . So last year I read almost all of the emily henry books and then I finished them at the beginning of this year with funny story , which just came out and gosh , she is like she's my favorite romance girl . Um , abby jimenez talked about her a lot because I read like all her books this year too , but that was to replace emily henry , um , since I'd read all of hers and , yeah , no one does , does it like emily henry ? Yeah , it's so good , it's just I love her . Um , now my bottom three yes , which I've seen mckayla's notes , this is gonna be funny . The first one on my bottom three is tomorrow , tomorrow , tomorrow , it's okay , I understand which will alert this .
Speaker 1may or may not be making this up , but so that's on my bottom three . And then , uh , worstst Best man by Lucy Score and the Housemaid . Worst Best man was just bad , yeah , like not even my taste is different .
Speaker 1Like that was just bad . The Housemaid by Freda McFadden I wouldn't say it was bad , like the story writing was good , but it's just like as much as I try to get into the mystery murder , thriller , that type of genre , I just like can't or it . So far it just hasn't been for me , and this one was a really popular one with a lot of people and it still wasn't for me . So I'll keep trying , you know , for the sake of book club and book talk , but yeah , no , it just did not do it for me I have a good one that I read in 2023 .
Speaker 2That's almost like a fantasy , but it's more truly like mystery that I feel like we should try for 2025 to like see if you really don't like it , then you just truly might not be a mystery girl , but if you do like it might open up a new door for you okay , so sounds like we'll talk in the new year .
Speaker 1Yeah , we did have some of the same bottom threes though yes , not tomorrow , tomorrow , tomorrow . But do you want to share ?
Speaker 2yeah , I'll start with my bottom three . So definitely housemaid and worst best man wearing my bottom three too . Um , the housemaid , I just couldn't get past the writing like the actual style of writing was like nails on a chalkboard for me . I had the dnf it do not finish , um , it just was not it for me . But I do love mystery and I , like I said , if you go back and listen to um our book , talk on that . I do enjoy the concept of it because I do love mystery and thriller .
Speaker 2Like I , am that kind of reader , um , and I see I heard that they're going to be making it into a series , so I am going to watch that and the the actors they picked for it I think are pretty spot on , like I think it's gonna be really good I think so too .
Speaker 2So I and I said even in that podcast I think that it was really meant for that and so I will be watching . I think that it will be really good in that way , but as a book could not get behind it , it just was not for me . Worst , best man we're not even going to go into . That's probably the worst book I read this year . It is the worst book . No offense to Lucy's score , I will be trying you again , I , but that one . And then my other bottom three was agrippina , the most extraordinary woman of the roman empire , by emma southen . Um , this one sounds boring . I really I love history . So I was like , oh , let me get a shot . And it's kind of like written , very modern , like conversational kind of . So I thought it'd be good . But I just got . I barely got into it as an audiobook . It was way too confusing because a lot of historical names have the same names and so trying as an I'm not an audio learner , which is why I struggle with audiobooks .
Speaker 2So with having that , it was just too confusing , I had to dnf it . It just was not not it for me yeah , that sounds tough .
Speaker 1I'm not a big history person in general , so I will not be adding that to my show no , I wouldn't recommend but my top three .
Speaker 2I'll go from the bottom up . So number three was the king of atolia by megan whalen turner . This is the second book in the queen's thief series . This is probably my favorite so far . Um , it would just . No , yes , no , that's the third book , not the second book . Sorry , I misspoke third book in the series . Um , so so well done . This is one of those that's like a top series for me where it's all it's technically fantasy but it's more on like the political side than it is like war and battles kind of thing . Yeah , um , but so well done . So many twists and turns and I never knew what was coming next , which is huge for me . I love that for you so , and they're really short reads , they're not like long epic fantasies , they're like you know , 300 plus pages , so really easy .
Speaker 2She fits a lot of action and things in there , fantastic , uh . My number two was tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by gabrielle zevin this book just hit me in a great way .
Speaker 2I'm not gonna go too much into detail , um , because we just talked about it . Yeah , we did this talk about it in our last book talk . So go check it out if you want my full thoughts , but this was one that just kind of like touched me in a certain way that I'm going to be thinking about for a long time . A lot of great quotes and a lot of good , like lessons or things that are nuggets of truth to think about , kind of thing .
Speaker 1Some great reminders .
Speaker 2Yes , and then my top book was the nightingale by kristen hannah . Nothing can top it . So many tears shed the gasp I gasped when we got to the end . Gosh , we will be revisiting her books .
Speaker 1Oh yes , I really think I could make myself cry if I think about it for long enough . That'll be too , which like well , it's pretty easy to make myself cry , but but oh , it's so good , it was so good , it was so moving , so well done .
Speaker 2Definitely one of those books that , like you think , is like overhyped , but like the hype does , the overhype doesn't even do it justice like it's . It's the overhype is underhyped for this book . Yeah , so phenomenal , absolutely , and we will definitely be reading one of her books again .
Speaker 1Yes , but I'm glad that we've spaced it out because , well one , they're very heavy books emotionally , but also like I don't want to finish them like too fast because her writing is just so solid yes , spot on , absolutely so .
Speaker 2That was a phenomenal one , and those were the top three for 2024 . But speaking of reading , uh , what defines like a great year of reading to you ?
Speaker 1is it like ?
Speaker 2number of books you've read , diversity of genre , memorable , memorable stories or like emotional impact .
Speaker 1Honestly , I think it's just the fact that I get to and have the ability to read , and that I am fortunate enough to always have something to read on hand , or , you know , that I'm able to go get something to read . I have friends that I could share books with . So I think just the fact that I , like I can seek out books and find them and read them , and it's not hard for me to do Just being able to have that privilege , is probably what makes reading great . As well as having time to read , I think that's another like privilege perk that makes reading so great is being able to sit down and just open a book , because it's such an intentional time and it's it's not , like , you know , watching tv .
Speaker 1I can also scroll on my phone . It's very like you just have to be in it , absolutely so . I feel like those are a little more vague , but I think that's what makes reading great . For me . It doesn't necessarily have to be like hitting a number on a goal . The goal actually means nothing to me , like you know . It's just the fact that I get to read , and I do , like , when a story has an emotional impact or um is memorable , but also just the fact that , like I can read right , I know how to read .
Speaker 2That's so good . That's such a like healthy mindset to have about that too . Um , and we truly , it is such a privilege to be able to , like have the ability to read in the time too , because time is so precious nowadays . It is um . For me , the goal does matter not in a bad way . No , not , it is never the number , like I could have 10 be the number , but it's specifically for me like if I'm setting a goal for myself , I have to at least meet it , if not exceed it it's still intentional yes , and that's .
Speaker 2That's not a bad thing yeah , so I always have to be careful about what goals I set for myself because , yeah , it will be .
Speaker 2It will be bad , but truly what I think defines a good year of reading for me would be emotional impact and memorable stories . Um , I also love diversity of genres , but I think that kind of plays into the impact that they have in the stories that matter the most to me , because those are the ones that I'm thinking about constantly . It just like leaves your heart happy and like fulfilled and you're learning things and you have just like good vibes all around , and so it makes it a better year in that regard .
Speaker 1Yeah , I love that . No , I love that . I think that's great . What are some of your favorite bookish gifts that you've received or are on your list for Santa this year ? Do you have any good ideas for listeners looking for a last minute gift ?
Speaker 2year . Do you have any good ideas for listeners looking for a last minute gift ? Um , okay . So one thing that I know kind of goes viral on social media for book people um , that I think is perfectly hyped , is a book embosser . I got this for either christmas or my birthday from josh a couple years ago phenomenal . I love it so much . It's the little things , but as soon as I get new books to bring them home , it's the first thing I do is I stamp them with the like from michaela's library and it just makes me feel like so official yeah , I love it so it's truly like your trophy .
Speaker 2This is no one else's now like this is mine , and like whenever people borrow my books , it's like even more like I own a library because it's stamped , it's from my library .
Speaker 2I don't know , it's just , it's the little things , it's something about it . It just like makes my heart happy . So I love a good embosser . Um , also , my kindle . I did become a kindle girly this year . That is good , so that was been fun and I've been really enjoying my kindle journey .
Speaker 2It will never replace a physical book , but I definitely understand the hype and I think that if you are able , or if you're on the fence about it , like I don't know , I really like physical books , but you can see , like the pros of kindle highly recommend I really do . Um , it makes it lighter to travel with you , have so many books just like at your fingertips without having to carry so many with you , like when you're traveling . Um , I love the be able to highlight feature , because I don't like writing in my books I know a lot of people do , but for me that's like a thing that I just can't . So I like being able to do that in the Kindle , though , and like easier to go back and find those . So Kindle for sure . And then , the one thing on my list this year that my entire family made fun of before but I'm standing by my heels dug in the ground is . I asked for a barcode scanner . What does that mean ?
Speaker 2I saw this tiktok at the beginning of 2024 and I saved it specifically to ask for for christmas , so I've been sitting on this one for a while . It's literally just like what you see at the stores where they have little barcode scanner . It's like a little wireless one , but you can scan the barcodes on your books and you can hook it up to . There's like this website online that like categorizes all of your books like a library system , like a true like library website . For so I can not only have my books embossed for my library , but I can have them categorized too and like be a true librarian , scanning every book after I embossed for my library . But I can have them categorized too and like be a true librarian , scanning every book after I emboss them to add it to like my little library online and like to be able to organize them by like author or genre or like figure out what's next to read . Like it's all just there , um , yes , this is on my list . That is cute .
Speaker 1Is it funny that it's stressing me out thinking about that and this ?
Speaker 2is why we work .
Speaker 1It's giving me anxiety , but I am so glad that I will be able to come check out a book at the Kayla's library .
Speaker 2Thanks , Because I could not do that . Santa , if you're listening , I've been really good , I promise . If you're listening , I've been really good , I promise .
Speaker 1That's so funny .
Speaker 2That totally describes us too . That like this is my dream and you're like this is too much . I'm like let me know when it's done so I can come . So you can come , give me whatever you have , cause I can't do it . That's so funny .
Speaker 1But that describes us perfectly .
Speaker 2That's why we work , I agree , all right . What's on your list , darby ?
Speaker 1Okay , I agree . All right , what's on your list , darby ? Okay , I don't know if this is a hot take , but I'm not a huge bookish gift girl . But I do have this book flower vase that I got that I really like . I think I got it for Christmas last year . It's just a clear base . I just haven't put flowers in it yet . It's on my bookshelf but it's like cool , it is cute . And then Michaela got me a bookmark when she asked me to be a bridesmaid in my bridesmaid proposal , and it's a really cute one . It has , like , my birth flower in it and I don't know if this was meant to be , but it matches my birth color , which is like amethyst , so it's all purple and it's super cute . So I really like that one . I'm so glad it's super cute . So I really like that one so glad . Um , though I'm not into book gifts , really like bookish . Like merch justin got me a personalized stamp which can be a cute gift idea .
Speaker 1I don't actually use it that's okay I do think an embosser would be cooler than a book stamp . It's so thoughtful . I'm very , very grateful for just , but it's just , yeah , yeah that's okay , I think a blind date with a book could be really fun , like a really great gift for people , because for me the best bookish gift is a book . So I'm hoping to get like a Barnes Noble gift card or like same thing . Blind date with a book would be cool .
Speaker 2It's so nice receiving books from people too , because of , like , the personal thought that they put like .
Speaker 1I think you would really enjoy this , yeah I've never had someone like annotate a book and give it to me , but I know that's something that a lot of people like . I don't know if I'd get distracted by the like annotation , but it would be . I don't know like how it could be done .
Speaker 1Yeah , like a notes like with it so like after you finish reading and go back , yeah , or like even like a personal , like book club on fable , like just me and that person like with the book , because yeah , I don't know , but those , those are sweet .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , I like that . That's a good yeah they're fun .
Speaker 1I just like I don't know . I have so many things already that for me and also I'm indecisive , so like I can't be a sticker girl because I can't pick what stickers go on stuff like I used to like try , and then I just would never use the stickers . Even Michaela got me super cute like stickers , yeah , and they're on like a cork board , like I'm not gonna put them on anything like I can't .
Speaker 1It's just I can't commit . Yeah , I guess , so I like that , but yeah , I don't know . Like the , the book merch is too hard for me .
Speaker 2I love book words .
Speaker 1I could do like I have a hoodie that has like books on it and that's cool and casual , but I don't know .
Speaker 2I wish I could but I didn't to each their own . I totally understand it , um , for it saves the money for it , for sure , because lord knows that I've probably spent a little too much on book merch this year . But I live in like all of my hoodies , um , and when I especially when I'm like working from home , so I love having all of my like sergey masks or like I did Harry Potter , so I got my Gryffindor sweatshirt on while I'm reading Harry Potter , I just , I don't know or even my stickers , because I do decorate like my water cups with them . Just bring me a little joy when I see them and like little reminders of , like your favorite things that like spark joy no , it's so cute , I love it so much .
Speaker 1There is this like fourth wing shirt that I saw on the tiktok shop that I might go back and get . That looks like cute because it's like welcome to , uh , what's it called bass ? What's the college name bass ? It's like welcome to the call like it like looks cool , uh-huh .
Speaker 2So I don't know it's the little things that spark true , because I'm just a merch girl in general , like it doesn't have to be books , it can be like disney or taylor , swift or whatever . Yeah , um , I just it's the little things that like spark you have to find the joy in the little things in life , and that's my one thing that brings me joy in the little things , so I love that I love that , um , but speaking of gifts , uh , do you prefer giving or receiving gifts better ?
Speaker 2and then do you have a favorite gift that you've given or received ?
Speaker 1yes , so I like giving gifts better . Um , I feel like there's too much pressure with receiving gifts , but pressure for myself . No one is pressuring me to give a certain reaction or feel a certain way .
Speaker 2Um so , you want to make the other person feel good yeah , because you know they've thought about it .
Speaker 1And also I do think I might be a little hard to shop for . I used to think I wasn't , but lately I think I'm coming to terms with it . That's okay . Hence , like justin's super thoughtful , like stamp book thing , um . But at the same time . So I think that like I'm hard to shop for because I'm particular about things , but then at the same time , like if you were to Well , ok , I'll just skip one of my favorite gifts that I've received , I said , was the massage that you got me . So like if someone got me a massage gift card for the rest of my life , that would be the best gift Every time I experience is girly , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 2So I don't know if I am hard to shop for , or maybe I just haven't found my niche yet . I don't think it's that you're hard to shop for . I think it's just like knowing you and what you like . I think a lot of people nobody knows me . I'm so different , um , but correct me if I'm wrong , but I feel like j Josh is this way . But I feel like if somebody was to give you like an experience like the concert tickets or well , not concert tickets , because you're not a concert girl , but like a date night , or like a date night for , or even like girls date for , like a zip lining date or to like go to I don't know like a trip for the weekend somewhere , I feel like you love doing stuff like yeah , doing things like pottery classes .
Speaker 2I do love to do stuff like that kind of thing versus , or like the massage , you know , like doing stuff versus like the physical gifts yeah , maybe that's it . Those are good not that you don't enjoy those , but like , yeah , easier to like no , I like your thoughts .
Speaker 1I like your thoughts , pinpoint it . I also , um , I have a notes list that I shared with justin and I've had it since , like almost since we started dating or maybe like a year into us dating , because he's always been like I don't know to get you and he's also boys , and I gave him a list . He's never gotten me anything off the list and the list literally says things darby wants but not enough to buy herself .
Speaker 1And there's varying things on there , like from like a slack line to like um , it's like a snowboard , like you know crazy things , so like he could get me anything on the list and he never has , we will be having a talk . Well , it's just like when he's like I don't know what to get you , I'm like there are things on that list that I've forgotten about . That would be a true surprise to me . I've literally written everything down for you , I know . He's so funny .
Speaker 2Men .
Speaker 1But sorry . Back to gifts . So one of my favorite gifts that I've received is the massage that Michaela got me , and my favorite gifts that I've received is the massage that Michaela got me and I am grateful for all gifts and I know I'm definitely blanking on other big gifts that I've gotten . Um , I will say , growing up , my favorite gift that I got as a kid was a trampoline . Love that . I use that thing all the time and the only reason why we got rid of it is because , like , we didn't have a fenced-in backyard and one day someone from the insurance company was walking around and saw the backyard , so they made us . They said you can either put up a fence or get rid of it , and my parents didn't want to get a fence . But I feel like most people I talked to that had a trampoline growing up are like I used in the beginning that just sat there . No , I use this thing every day .
Speaker 1Oh my , my gosh , I loved it . It was so good . And then favorite gift I've given are concert tickets . One of my like best friends in high school I got us tickets to Carrie Underwood , which was actually my first concert , and it was just like so fun and it was so like cute and it was just us Like I don't know . It's a really good memory that I have tied with that gift . And then also um , one of my first big gifts I got justin . It was like with my um , what's it ? What's called in when you get like money back from your taxes after your taxes ? Oh , your tax refund ? Yes , I used my tax refund to buy floor tickets to see um kid with .
Speaker 1Justin , and that was fun too yeah that was cute , that's awesome , yeah , what about you , um .
Speaker 2So this is kind of tough because trying to decide , like , whether what I like more giving or receiving because I love giving gifts and like putting the thought into it- it's so much fun .
Speaker 1It's really .
Speaker 2It's like the big puzzle for me and like figuring out like the niche and reminding things . I have a notes app too of like things people mention . I'll like write it down while I'm thinking about it .
Speaker 1Yeah , makayla is like a top tier gift giver , like , oh my gosh , we recently had like a dual birthday party with two of our friends and I was like texting her and like I like giving , I like giving gifts . But makayela is on another level , like I was running ideas by her because I was like she'll know , I was like she will know and hers were so good .
Speaker 2Thank you so much . I really pride myself on it . I really try . It's so much fun for me . So I will say I think that's probably my favorite is the giving over the receiving , but receiving is my love language . Over the receiving , but receiving is my love language . Yeah , so it's just like the little things , like when josh will bring home , like a snickers bar , when he stops for gas kind of thing for me , or just like the . It's just the like , the little things of like I thought of you that bring me so much joy .
Speaker 1So I do love those are cute I love the little receivings , but I do .
Speaker 2I think that giving is so much fun . It is um my favorite gift that I've given . It's a new tradition that I started last year that I'm continuing this year .
Speaker 2Um is giving personally curated books to my family so mean like I just just finding books for my family that I think that they'll like , but I give it to them all at the same time , because they know that at this point , that they know that it's coming for this year , um , because even my sister made a comment about it . I was like you're not supposed to know , they know , um , so that way they know . Like this is the time I'm giving them books , but it's like each one has a specific book and I'll stand there and I'll explain to them why I picked out that book that's so sweet , and I tried to pick out a book that I'll books , that I'll read with them .
Speaker 2So that way it's like not only am I giving them a book that's personalized to them , that they will like , but or I think that they'll like , but I'm also going to read it so we can talk about it too . So that's like my new favorite thing that I've started and I'm favorite gifts I received as a kid was the weed and similar . No we wii , um , that was one of those gifts that I think everybody kind of went through this phase you're reminding me now .
Speaker 1Yeah , my family also like the day it was like all the kids in the family were playing wheat bowl and we're going crazy . That was . That was the thing .
Speaker 2Yeah , it was huge , and I feel like everybody had like this experience or maybe not everybody , but it's popped up on my tiktok a few times here in the christmas season uh , where that's what everybody wanted for christmas was a wee , and everybody's parents like gaslit them and like I will never buy you that . What are you talking about ? Like we don't need that in the house , you could break something , you're just gonna be annoying , whatever . And then christmas morning , sure enough , santa brings a wee . So you're like my gosh , like this was one of those gifts that prolonged my belief in Santa . Like I was at that age I think it was like fourth grade where , like you're really starting to like kind of age out of it but because my mom was such an amazing actress and truly got me to believe that she would never buy me a Wii and Santa brought a Wii , it prolonged that just a little bit . I'm like , okay , well , maybe , maybe , actually .
Speaker 1Yeah , that's incredible . I don't remember being gaslit , but I also don't remember like yearning for a wee . But I do remember that , like the morning we got it , it was like everyone , we just played it all day .
Speaker 2It was so fun that was like one of my friends had one , so I was playing , always playing , at her house and so I was like I just wanted one , so bad begging , so that was definitely like a core memory gift . And then , as an adult , similar kind of vibe was my iPad .
Speaker 2Josh didn't gaslight me on this one . I just never would have imagined that he'd buy me my iPad . That's sweet . So when he did , I was shocked , Like so sure , that was one that I did not cease to see coming at all . So yeah , those both were complete shocks and both core memories .
Speaker 1I love that . Those are good . I have a question Did you ever used to lay out all your gifts and the bags and post on social media when you're in like middle school or was that just my hometown ? Because I have vivid memories of laying out like the pink bag , the bag , and then like laying out the clothes I got , and I remember seeing other people too like pictures of like their presents and they're like thanks , santa , you know all that stuff .
Speaker 2It definitely was like a thing . I'm not I was never a huge social media girly , so I didn't really participate , but it was definitely not just your hometown .
Speaker 1I do remember like that being a thing , with people posting like on their snapchat stories like what they were getting I feel like same thing with , like easter people put like their easter baskets which that one's kind of random , like christmas , I can see a little bit more . I don't know . It's just really funny , like when you look back and think about it , it's's like all our 12-year-olds were like flexing .
Speaker 2Oh my gosh , we were ahead of the curve because that was the original haul . Yeah , exactly that was .
Speaker 1That's the OG hauls . Yep , there's probably something more OG than that , but for our age .
Speaker 2That's our OG haul .
Speaker 1We started it . Yeah , Okay , Should we get into more holidays like traditions ? Okay , should we get into more holidays like traditions . What are your favorite holiday traditions , like your favorite holiday movies or songs ?
Speaker 2So we have a lot of Christmas traditions . Like Christmas is huge in my household we nickname my mom Mrs Claus because she goes all out always a thing .
Speaker 2But to just like keep it concise , more a few of like the standouts are we always read the night before Christmas and are matching Christmas PJs before bed on Christmas Eve . It's always the thing like we get one present on Christmas Eve and it's always like whatever matching PJs my mom decides . And when I say this , like this has been going on since I was a baby to now being 27 years old .
Speaker 1We still do this we do matching pjs too , yes , but ours didn't start until a couple years ago gotcha .
Speaker 2No , this has always been like my mom's things . We take the pictures and it's always the surprise of what kind of pjs she gets this year . And then my dad will always read the night before christmas before bed . This time , now that we've gotten older , we kind of like turn it into a performance and like take turns and like popcorn , kind of yeah , or like act out a little bit . You do the voices , but yes , so that's one . And then the next day we do absolutely nothing . We open presents , we stay in our christmas pjs all day , um , because we'll typically do uh mass on christmas eve . So then , yeah , christmas Day we're just underpages all day . We do super easy make-your-own-pizzas-for-dinner , so nobody's stressed in the kitchen , we're just having a good time playing games all together .
Speaker 1That's sweet .
Speaker 2Do you ?
Speaker 1guys do like a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve , or just no fancy dinners .
Speaker 2It depends . It's less of a tradition . My mom used to try . My mom fought tooth and nail to try to keep the fancy meals , but for the rest of my family we always had thanksgiving as like the really nice meal . So we're like don't put that pressure on yourself . We'd rather spend that time like together playing a game or watching a movie than like you spending half the day in the kitchen preparing this meal yeah like , let's just keep it easy .
Speaker 2We just did that for thanksgiving . I love that . Thanks , I'm gonna steal it . Yes , it does . It makes it so much nicer and just like less stress about it . Um , and then we'll save the nice meals for easter and for thanksgiving . Um , but rapid fire . Favorite movie is the santa claus . Josh can and my family can attest I know this movie backwards forward inside out like the back of my hand . I quote it as we're watching it and I annoy the crap out of my family . Love the movie . Also a tradition that we watch it every year on Christmas Eve . That's my family's like core holiday movie too .
Speaker 2So , so good . Favorite songs White Christmas , specifically . The like , more upbeat one that's like in Home Alone , that specific version , carol of the Bells , any version I just love pleasing to the ear . And , mary , did you Know the Pentatonix version ? Oh yeah , that's a good one .
Speaker 1So good yeah , that like scratches something on your brain . That one .
Speaker 2It just like moves me every year when I listen to it . Oh , resonates .
Speaker 1Those are good . What about you ? For me , some traditions , things that I loved growing up reading by the Christmas tree with like its perfect smell . So growing up my family always did real trees so I have such fond memories of just like the Christmas smell and like the OG lights and just reading by the Christmas tree , which is funny now because I love reading still . And then now we have a fake tree because my parents are getting older , so it's just easier , which is fine , but it is different . So I love that . Growing up we used to go to IHOP every Christmas Eve with my family , which we don't do that anymore because we don't really have an IHOP by us , but still that was like a fun tradition growing up with Justin . I love we get a new ornament each year and we put a picture of ourselves in it , normally from like the Christmas date or something like that .
Speaker 2So that'll be fun and I'm excited for one year when it's just all our faces over the christmas tree , but it's like varying ages it's like memories as you're putting them up , and like going back and thinking about those days , and I don't know about you , but I'm someone who like writes on the back of the ornaments .
Speaker 1So , like my mom got me last year , she got me like a wedding cake ornament , so I wrote on the bottom of it , like mom gave after bridal shower , with the date . And then so , like one of the ornaments , um , like the ornaments I have with justin , typically I've written like went to ice with justin , the theme was the grinch , like something little that's so cute to help you remember . Yeah . And then so justin's aunt , uncle , just got us us a Christmas ornament because it's our first Christmas as a married couple . And I wrote on the back like Aunt Jen and Uncle Jason got you this ornament .
Speaker 1And so yeah , I really like doing that too with my ornaments , because we're definitely not like an aesthetic tree , we're like the memory type tree . So I love doing that .
Speaker 2That's so cute we do something similar in my family .
Speaker 2Um , not the faces , but like each year growing up , we would get an ornament that , like , represented that year kind of thing , whatever it was like a , like , an interest or something that you did , um , and so my sister and I would always pick them out , and I'm continuing that with josh , so , like this year , um , I got a snitch because , uh , harry potter was like the big thing for me this year , and he got a snowflake made of planes because he's been traveling a lot this year .
Speaker 2No so , uh , yeah , so we do something like kind of similar , but I like how you put the memory on the back . That's really smart . I might steal that do steal it , please .
Speaker 1It's , I love it . Um . Okay , for movies , I really do love the santa claus movies , um , but also there's so many good ones , so the grinch was also a really big one in my house . I just animated , or live action . The live action . Jim carrey also holds a special place in my heart . He he's on my hear me out cake . He was like my first crush as a kid .
Speaker 1So I just love him , I think just because he was funny Home Alone . That's a good one . I really like that one too , although when I was a kid it used to like scare me a little , but now I'm just like , it's so quirky and funny . And then recently and by recent I mean last nightin and I watched that new movie , red one . Oh , did you like it ?
Speaker 2yes , did you watch it ? No , but I saw it and it was one of those that was so kind of ridiculous that it intrigued me and I really want to watch it .
Speaker 1No , I really liked it . They had great actors in it , so it was like um the rock . Uh , chris evans , I think it's kiernan . Sure , I'm totally butchering her name . The girl from .
Speaker 2Charlie's Angels right .
Speaker 1No , sabrina the Teenage Witch , the new version , I think that one was her , or there's another girl that looks just like her , I don't know . It was really good and it was different . I don't want to spoil anything . There were just little moments that were smart , the way they rationalized in that world the different Christmas reasons for things happening . So I really enjoyed it and I hope they make a sequel for it because I would watch it . Adding to the list , please watch it .
Speaker 2And then for songs , this is a really sad one , but Christmas shoes , oh I saw I that's one of those so good that I cannot listen to because I sob every time , every time when the kids start singing . But um , yeah , so I like that one , because it's like it's an emotional roller coaster .
Speaker 1Yeah , that one's a good one . Sorry , I'm kidding you off . No , that's okay . And then very different drummer boy by justin bieber . I love that one , I love that . So the two spectrums . But as soon as I hear that , that justin bieber song , that gets me going , I love that . So those are good christmas songs those are good ones .
Speaker 1All right , cozy season . How do you like to curl up with your current read ? Are you able to read anywhere and everywhere ? Do you have a specific setup that you like ? What would your ideal setup be like ?
Speaker 2So I definitely am a setup cozy girl . I can read , especially with the Kindle . It's kind of made me branch out a little bit more and like , just bring it with me , like but also you have a kindle setup .
Speaker 2But I do have a kindle . I am a setup like I have . I like get nice and cozy . I have we have it going now the fireplace on youtube that runs for like eight hours . I have either the kindle arm or my little book and the cozy lighting and a nice soft blanket , a candle lit and the ambiance music . I like to do different types of music depending on the book vibe that I'm reading . So I try to do more like fantasy vibes or like romance , like violins or like just a chill lo-fi have you ever looked up ?
Speaker 1or like just a chill lo-fi have you ever looked up ? So when I was reading carvel , I looked up carvel music . Um , because it's like a carnival and it had like good music obviously not like a full-on carnival . Yeah , it's different than it , right anyway . Uh , but I like sometimes looking up the book and then looking up like playlist or music .
Speaker 2Smart . I haven't thought to do that , but I will now . I did do like the Harry Potter music soundtracks while I was reading those . It just helps set the vibe . I like the cozy setup . Ideally in the future same thing , but I want a real fireplace and a really big , comfy chair in a library . We talk about this all the time . We're going to have our own personal libraries at some point , and so that would be like just like taking it to the next level for me . Yeah , but what ?
Speaker 1about you . I definitely can read anywhere , um , and sometimes I like to read in nature . You know , like that's if I were to read outside of the home . It's like I want to read in the grass or on my . You know something like that . You know , I don't know how you say that , the little hammocks that you tie in the trees , but if I'm trying to make a cozy space at home typically very similar I'll light a candle , I'll put on like a background on the TV , or a lot of times I'll do . It's like the jazz , the eight hour jazz music , and then it has like a virtual setting . So that's a big one for me . In fall , since we don't get a fall season , I love doing like a fall background and pretending that I'm in this fall coffee shop with all the orange leaves . I cry thinking about that .
Speaker 2It really helps .
Speaker 1It does , and then I'll just like cuddle up on the couch with a blanket . So that would be my like cozy at home setup . Ideally , if I had like , I guess , like perfect . Well , there's no perfect Really . As long as I have the book , that's perfect . But a cool setup would be to have like one of those benches or couches that's like kind of like built into the wall that has a big window right next to it , so you get all that natural light , and obviously it would be in a library as well , um , of course , with a ladder , the rolling ladder , our bell dreams .
Speaker 1Yeah , seriously love that . I think that would be good . But do you know I'm talking about like the walls , where then it like , like goes in and yeah , it's like , um , oh , what's the ?
Speaker 2word , it's like a little nook like it's like a day bed kind of bench thing . I know what you're talking about .
Speaker 1There's like a specific word for it , but yeah like I think that would be fun , but I wouldn't like . Some of them don't look comfortable like . I'd obviously want one that's like more couch feeling .
Speaker 2Um , yeah , that'd be good love that um , okay , so kind of fun questions moving forward they're all fun questions . They are all fun questions , but these make us think creatively . Yes , yes , uh , if you were a writer for the hallmark channel , what would the plot of your next literary themed holiday hit be ?
Speaker 1Okay , I've never really gone into Hallmark , which is funny because I am definitely a person my grandma always used to say this may she rest in peace but she would always say I like happy shows , I like happy endings . And I'm very similar like I like happy endings , like I don't want to have to put , like you know , scary things on the mind if I don't want to have to put , like you know , scary things on the mind if I don't have to . But for some reason I've never really gone into hallmark . Anyway , all that to say , I think I would have a like in the in the movie , it would be a writer and she is like writing a fantasy novel and then she like falls into the fantasy novel that she was writing where , like in this novel , they celebrate christmas um , kind of like an akatar , um , how they have that and obviously , like the dark haired bad boy , closeted good boy , would be showing her the real christmas magic .
Speaker 1I love that and obviously there would be more stuff and I think that she would to . There would be a problem in the fantasy world that she would have to like help them solve and it would have to do with something like winter solstice , someone stealing , some type of magic that helps them or something along those lines . But then it would finish at the end she would wake up and see that her whole novel has been like written .
Speaker 2Yeah , oh , my gosh , forget Hallmark . Get this in theaters now . I want to watch it .
Speaker 1I don't know how Hallmark it is , but when you said like literary themed holiday hit , that's just what came to mind .
Speaker 2I love that , thank you , and I need to watch it as soon as possible , or someone write it .
Speaker 1That too , but Darby gets credit . But please put me on , let me star in it .
Speaker 2Yes , that'd be so fun . What about you Give it to me . So I'm also not like a huge Hallmark girly . I used to .
Speaker 1I watched him with my mom a lot growing up , because my mom's a huge Hallmark person , but when you have stuff like the Santa Claus movies , you can't top that . No .
Speaker 2I'm just it's too predictable for me . It's the same thing with books Like I get the peel for sure and like my dad and I have fun like making fun of them , we're like what plot point is it going to be this time ? Yeah , but yeah , I don't put it on by myself , but not . But it's definitely Hallmark vibes where it's like I forget if she's like truly Mrs Claus or if it's like Guardian Angel , but it's like this old woman who basically comes into like the main character's life and like helps in like certain ways , like set them up , uses a bit of magic or like of like medals in the life to like make things all turn out okay . So I'd go mrs miracle style and have mrs claus own a bookstore in like a small hallmark christmas town . But she gets involved trying to set up people in the town who visit the library based on their like taste in books .
Speaker 1So it's like matchmaker book like library , mrs claus kind of thing it kind of reminds me of the movies like valentine's day and year's eve , you know , where there's like like 20 different , like yeah plots going on or like you know , they all like their stories , but they intertwine that's the vibe it's giving me and I love that because I love those movies .
Speaker 2Yes , so that that would be mine .
Speaker 1That's the vibe that would be so good . I really like that . Okay , someone please write and create our stories , bring them to life and then give us credit and like give us royalties yeah , it's all yours yeah um , okay , speaking of hallmark , I saw this thing in cracker barrel .
Speaker 1In cracker barrel , so , setting the scene , and it was like a banner or poster . That was like you could have a chance to guest star in a hallmark movie and I was like this is so funny that , like you know , trying to be in a hallmark movies in cracker barrel because they really are like the same thing .
Speaker 2I would have never put that together , but as you say it , it makes so much sense . Yeah , it was like a sweepstakes and I was like this is just so funny , that definitely checks . And I was like should I , should I apply ? Yes , just kidding , that's so funny . Okay , so continuing on like North Pole library vibes . What kind of books do you think the residents of the North Pole would check out from their library ? Like what's on Santa's TBR ? Mrs Claus the elves reindeer , what we got going .
Speaker 1These all came to me really quickly , so these are like first thoughts that came to mind when I thought of it . So , santa , he's all about self-help and the psychology of people and kids . You know why they want what they want , why they act the ways that they do , what makes them naughty and nice . Oh my gosh , I'd love that . Thank you , really , thank you . So that's what santa's reading for me . Um , mrs Claus , she's obviously reading some baking books , like baking recipe books , or also like a Hallmark romance style book , something really light with a happy ending . The elves they vary , but they do have a monthly book club on a children's book to like stay hip Love , yeah , makes perfect sense . And then that way they can come out with like merch based off of and so smart off of the kids books .
Speaker 1You know the next bluey stuffed animal , I love that . Um . And then the reindeers . At first I was like they are not reading , they're just snacking . But then I thought if , if they were reading , it would be like sports book to elevate their game and like their you know flying game because I picture them like like kind of take it serious .
Speaker 1Yeah , I kind of picture them like bros , like I picture the reindeers as like frat bros . So I'm thinking they like they all want to be the best . They want to be the front of the sleigh , like riding um , or like , yeah , being like the the coolest . Oh my gosh , I love that , thank you . So they're for sure reading sports books .
Speaker 2Oh , those are all so good , we can skip mine , that's fine . No , don't do what yours are reading . No , those are so good , I love that . Thank you . That makes so much sense , too , mine . I struggled with more because I don't have as much of that creativeness as you do when it comes to .
Speaker 2You have so much creativeness , mi . Thank you . It took me a while , but we got there . So this is what I came up with . I feel like Santa , after a long Christmas Eve night , is kicking his feet up and getting lost in like an epic fantasy kind of book , like Brandon Sanderson type books where it's just like the really deep dive .
Speaker 2Just escape from it all for a little while Mrs Claus , I feel like I can peg her as a sergey mask early . Okay , I think that she'd be like in bed reading while santa's out doing his job , waiting for him to come back , and like giggling , kicking her feet with the rest of us when , like the bat boys come around , um the elves , I feel like are definitely listening to audiobooks while they're making toys . Good , that's good , and I think that they like into some mysteries and thrillers and like help keep their mind sharp , trying to put together like the plot twists that are coming , which also like kind of ties into them , figuring out how to build like a Barbie dream house for .
Speaker 1Pete , you know , ooh , that's smart , see , that's creative .
Speaker 2Thanks , I'm trying . And then the reindeer similar thought to you .
Speaker 1But I said sports romance books because I feel like you know . So yours are in a sorority , minor in a fraternity .
Speaker 2Yes , Because I feel , like you know , they love their reindeer games but they're like cute , fluffy , lovey animals that just have like soft gushy hearts too . I love that Sports romance .
Speaker 1No , those were just as creative . Thanks , I love those . I feel like if you mushed ours together , that's like the perfect . Yes , that's good .
Speaker 2That was great , so fun , all right , but what about like books that we're reading now ? Let's get into Borrowed and Returns .
Speaker 1Borrowed and Returns . It's that time Since we last talked
Book Reviews, Reading Goals, and Reflections
Speaker 1. I've read a lot , so my returns I'm going to go star order of like , least to best . Okay , so my three stars that I read were Yours True , no Powerful by Lauren Roberts and Daydream by Hannah Grace , which I feel like Powerful . If I had written it as a book instead of , or paperback instead of audio , it would have gone higher , but it just like didn't hit the same for me .
Speaker 1But also that one is like , um , like a novella right it's a novella and it's not like a prequel , but it's giving the same energy as assassin's blade .
Speaker 1Okay , and I do not have the same connection to sam as many people do and well , I definitely read that in the wrong order so that that attributes to it . But um same with like powerful , there's like a death in it that I just , I don't know just like didn't hit , whereas , like I know , some people in their reviews were like sobbing um . So anyway , those are my three stars . Okay , my four , four stars , yours Truly . By Abby Jimenez solid , good romance book , and then Light Lark by Alex Astor . I can see why it was really popular . It was a good book .
Speaker 2That's on my physical TPR right now too .
Speaker 1Yeah , and then Finale by Stephanie Garber was my five stars . This was the ending to the Carvel series and I loved this one . It was such a cool like setting again , because we love like romanticist books and just fantasy books . But sometimes you know they're popular for a reason , but they kind of have the same vibe , and so this , this book , just felt a little different . Yeah , um , but it while still having like the same things that you really want from that like fantasy , like trilogy , but just the world felt very different and unique . So I really liked that .
Speaker 1I'm so glad that ended well for you oh , it did , and there's a spin-off series that I will be starting very soon . But that was five stars and then borrows . I'm currently reading night bane by alex astor , so that's the second book in the Light Lark series and it's going good right now . But I think I like almost like tired myself out from reading because I went hard in the paint during Thanksgiving so I didn't read it all last week . But I think maybe I'll read when I get home or tomorrow , hop back into it , take a little breath , yeah , but it's going good . I enjoy it as well . Those are my borrows and returns . Hit me with yours .
Speaker 2Oh , before we get to mine , what about your reading goal for 2024 ?
Speaker 1Oh , my reading goal for 2024, . Thank you for reminding me . I think I had it set at yes , okay , it was set at 20 and I have hit 40 . Yeah , crazy , wow . And again last year , like I said , I I read like 24 books or 22 , something like that . So I've like crushing it , doubled it . So I like proud of you . I'm so confused how I did that . I don't know . It doesn't compute because I had so many books . Yeah , but what about you ?
Speaker 2um , so my returns . I did finish the harry potter series . I'm so proud of you , thank you . I did do it before the end of the year . However , I'm kind of upset with how it ended . Oh , I loved it up until the like the fifth book . If I I could like remind me how many books are in this year , there's seven okay , so six and seven is really where the series took a turn for me . I loved it up until like , completely like , understand the obsessed really up through book five .
Speaker 2books six is where it took a turn . For me that's half Half-Blood Prince . I gave it 3.75 stars , which I think is still a little generous that one . The fifth book was frustrating in the sense of character development because you're getting really frustrated with the characters and , like what they're doing , you're just like shaking , yelling at them , like what are you ?
Speaker 1doing . It's kind of like when a TV series goes on for too long and it's like you don't know what else to do with the characters , but it's like the fifth book .
Speaker 2it was like in a good way , because there was resolution , like they learned from it .
Speaker 2It truly did develop the characters that I feel like to use as a springboard for what should have been the sixth and seventh books . However , jk Rowling did not deliver for me in that regard , because the sixth book and the seventh book , they were just so frustrating and I feel like the characters really regressed back at that point . Just so frustrating and I feel like the characters really regressed back at that point . They're going through a lot of like similar problems and things that they already like learned from . So they should have been able to handle like differently , yeah , and but they handled worse than the first time and I felt like the story kind of dragged on and so that was just like , and I feel like , especially in the seventh book , she kind of like introduced big things and then just glossed over it to move on to other big things , like never really finished a thought .
Speaker 1So it's just really frustrating and kind of like a lackluster end to the series for me , which was , yeah , frustrating but , I did love it up until the sixth book it's like you , almost like the , the almost ending better than the actual ending .
Speaker 2Yeah , exactly .
Speaker 1That's why I felt with yours truly , that's why I didn't get five stars , because they had like where it basically ended , but then for some reason they added on like an extra part that I was like Unnecessary yeah .
Speaker 2Yeah , so I'm not even mad about like . I think like story wise , like how it ended made sense and like the actual plot points itself were fine . It's just like how it was written could have been way better .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2That makes sense . So that was like kind of frustrating , but I did finish it . Oh , and the Harry Potter Deathly Hallows , which is the seventh book I rated a 3.5 stars . So and then my friend Madison and I , our friend Madison , we are watching Harry Potter series now that I finished them .
Speaker 1So we just got through the second movie and I'm enjoying like doing the whole thing . Yeah , the parallel , yeah , more insight , that's so fun yeah , so that's been good .
Speaker 2Um borrows I started wretched by emily mcintyre , which is part of the never after series . She has going on where , like you know , villains get the happy ending , but it's very contemporary kind of romance . Um , but what I love about these is they're just quick , easy reads with good romance . But , um , the details that she adds and picks from the stories that she's retelling , so like this one , is wicked or like the wizard of oz , so I just didn't for this . Yeah right , it just so happened that's gonna be the next one . Um , so I just love finding the little easter eggs throughout .
Speaker 2That's what makes these like really captivating for me compared to like other kind of romance books . So enjoying that . And I also started the book that abby gave me um called adhd for smart ass women by tracy otsuka . Um , it's just kind of like a non-fiction kind of self-help book to like help identify um characteristics for 80 women , specifically for women with adhd , and like how give you strategies and like how to like move forward with it or like best , like live your best life with it my santa would be proud of you , the one that's reading the self-help book .
Speaker 1Since I called you , um .
Speaker 2So yeah , that's been good and that was like sweet that she like thought of me because I was struggling with that for a little bit , so she's like thought of me and buy me this book , so reading that , taking that in and that's been interesting .
Speaker 2So yeah , um , and then my reading goal . I said it , I said for 35 technically , but I did cheat and realized halfway through the year there's no way I'm getting the 35 . So I marked it down to 30 . Still challenging , but it took off a few and I did get it to 31 . Let's go , girl . So we just made the goal .
Speaker 1That's awesome , and December's not over yet . It's not , that's what we'll do by the end of the year . Yep , I doubt .
Speaker 2I'll get the 35 , but I might get to 34 . Hey , pick up some dr seuss books , you'll get to 35 . So yeah , and that's that's my awesome .
Speaker 1It so again , reading goals . We aren't defined by the number , but it is crazy when you look at other people's numbers sometimes , oh my gosh , it's insane the people that get into the hundreds . I don't understand , like at that point , how are you ? Like absorbing what you're reading it's great and you have to be reading like every day and doing audiobooks at like three times speed . Right it graze like more power to you because there are so many books in the world that I want to read and I won't get through them all in my lifetime , but that's insane .
Speaker 1I wish that I could well , even like 40 , I'm like that's , that's a lot like how did I even read that like ?
Speaker 2yeah , how do ? I remember that you keep it up , you might get to those hundreds no way .
Speaker 1If I get to those hundreds , I think someone needs to sit me down and be like darby you need to do the dishes or something . That means I'm neglecting everything else in life .
Speaker 2That's so funny , uh , yeah no , I , I don't know how people do . I think I've just as much as you like to say . I'm a fast reader . I'm really not , like it takes time for me to like process what I'm reading . So the fact of trying to get through that many books in a year , just like oh , more power to you amazing . I wish I could , but my brain can't function . Yeah way .
Speaker 1Yeah , it's so difficult , but we are proud of you if you read one book , if you read 200 books , if you didn't read any books we are proud of you and we hope that you have had a great 2024 year . We hope you have the happiest of holidays and know that we are so grateful for you and thanks for joining us on our first year journeying through the podcast world .
Speaker 2We really appreciate you joining us , and join us on Fable , the Lazy Girl Library . Check us out on Instagram at Lazy Girl Library or send us a note on our website lazygirllibrarycom .
Speaker 1Yeah , we're so excited . We have fun things planned in store for next year , and you'll hear more about it in our next episode . But happy holidays and happy new year . Bye , guys , bye . Well , dear listeners , we find ourselves at the end of another episode and remember , the lazy girl library is not just a podcast , it's a . We absolutely love hearing from fellow book lovers , so don't forget to share your thoughts and your favorite reads with us on our social media . You can find us on Instagram at Lazy Girl Library . Make sure to check out our website , lazygirllibrarycom , your one-stop shop for all things Lazy Girl . Before we go , we want to take a moment to thank all of our wonderful listeners . Whether you're listening from your cozy bed , on your way to work or anywhere in between , thank you for making us a part of your day and for being a part of our Lazy Girl family . So keep those pages turning , keep those imaginations flourishing and remember the best stories are yet to be discovered . Until next time , stay lazy and happy reading .
