The Lily Cafe Digest #14

This is my last Digest of the year, and thank goodness this year is coming to an end though next year probably won’t be too different, at least at first.

Instead of picking a topic or two to ramble about, I want to take a moment to thank all of you for reading, enjoying, and putting up with all the changes I do around here. I’ve loved getting to know and interacting with you. Needless to say, chatting with everyone here has been so lovely especially since I’ve barely been outside since March. I appreciate all of you and the pieces of beautiful all of you offer. Thank you so much for being here and for enjoying this space.

This past year has felt like an avalanche of things I need to do, reviews I need to write, posts I need to finish and publish. Taking a moment to say thank you has never been far from my mind, but became buried under all the obligations I had over my head. But I couldn’t end the year without taking time to thank all of you. It’s been a tough year for all of us, and it just means so much to me that, with all the craziness, you still take a moment to check out what I have to share and engage with me about it. Whether you’ve enjoyed or hated what I’ve shared, thank you. Whether you’ve been here for years or just started dropping by or are just stumbling into my little Cafe right now, thank you.

When I started up this blog again in 2018, I thought I’d have a bit of a fun, maybe make a friend or two. I didn’t expect that, nearly 3 years later, I’d have gained almost 2000 lovely souls interested in my little space, much less that I’d make some wonderful blogging friends. While I’d probably still happily write into a vacuum, I really am glad for and so appreciative of all of you. You really make everything I put into this worthwhile, and I hope I’m able to offer something, anything, to you.

Thank you so much, and here’s to a hopefully better new year!

And drop me a link to your blog/blog post and/or someone else’s. I’m always looking for new blogs to follow!

Guest Posts

Kindergarten During the Pandemic by Kimi Ann-Marie

Safer at Home Journal For My Kids, by Kat over on chelowens.com

The Bookshelf

Book Reviews:

Fantasy and Sci-Fi

Miram Dur by George A. Holland| Legacy of Steel by Matthew Ward| The Bright and Breaking Sea by Chloe Neill| Leads & Lynxes by Rebecca Chastain| Call of the Bone Ships by RJ Barker| Claimed by Nicole Adamz| The Stars That Beckon by Kevin J. Simington

Women’s Fiction/Romance

A Good Heart by Lisa Volz

Mystery and Thriller

Kiss of Salt by Smita Bhattacharya| Murder at Mile Marker 18 by Denise Jaden| Gates’ Bookstore by Jamila A. Stone| The Cousins Crime: Unravelled by Krisha Batra, An Amateur Sleuth by Manasi Patil

Fiction

The Existence of Amy by Lana Grace Riva| The Smilodon by E. K. Ndanguzi

Book Blog Tour: Pretending by Holly Bourne

Guest Posts: Two Murder Too Many by Bluette Matthey| The Darya Nandkarni Cozy Mystery Series by Smita Bhattacharya| Author Interview and Novel Excerpt: Quaking Soul by Jennifer M. Zeiger

My Favorite Read of 2020:

Fantasy and Science Fiction| Women’s Fiction| Mystery and Thriller

Catch Up On Queen of the Garden of Girls

Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53

Enjoy My Ratio Baking Adventures

Pumpkin Pie Attempts | How to Make Pumpkin Pie Muffins | How to Make Gingerbread Cookies

Blog Posts I’ve Enjoyed from the Blogging Community

Typically, I write a brief bit on why I liked each particular post, but, with everything going on lately and just feeling even too exhausted to peruse posts half the time, I’ll instead just be listing them as I don’t want to eliminate this part of my Digests just yet.

Everything You Need to Know Before You Read The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang from Read by Tiffany

Comparative Title: Pros and Many, Many Cons from Love Yo Shelf

7 Concrete Ways to Boost Book Bloggers and I’m Okay with Not Being Paid to Book Blog from Pages Unbound Reviews

Choose Your Habits Wisely from Degrees of Motherhood

Fairy Tale Issues from Fairy Tale Feminista

Romance as a Subplot|Let’s Talk Bookish from Literary Lion

The Geneaology of Zippy Mae from A. E. Costello

Triggers as Teachers from Quirky Quip

How to Support Trans People Every Day (even if you don’t think you know any trans people) – Unwarranted Advice from Nopoodles

Memes #1 from Aaliya’s Nook

How to Market Your Fiction Novel from Author Bound Press

How to Make Money as a Writer from My Life With Books

Point of View Errors! How to Spot and Fix Them from K.M. Allan

Most Sincerely, kat

You can find a list of all the Digests plus some bloggers I adore over here