The Lily Cafe Digest #23

Looking back, it’s been almost 3 months since my last Digest and blogging break. No wonder I’m feeling so exhausted. Or maybe it’s because my kids are out of school for the summer (10 weeks of summer break for the older one, 11 weeks for the younger one). We’re keeping them busy with an enriched summer, including workbooks, daily writing exercises, daily reading, and their dad teaching them math and science, so time is, surprisingly, flying. Though I am looking forward to getting both of them back in the classroom. I’m not going to lie; I’m counting the weeks. It’s been a long 2+ years.

By the way, that story I mentioned I was writing in my last Digest? Well, maybe I should have written a little post on it since I finished it back at the end of May, but end of school plus a long summer plus a brain slowly turning to mush means I kept forgetting. I haven’t looked back at it yet, but have instead started writing something that’ll probably be a short story. It’s a Persephone and Hades retelling that’s been circling my mind for the past couple of months and, since Persephone is my favorite, I decided to take a break from writing novel-length stories to get it written. Fun fact: the address for this blog used to be katpersephone.wordpress.com a number of years ago because I seriously had no idea what I was doing back in 2010 and had no idea I was setting up a blog. So I guess you could say this mythological couple has been my favorite for a long time!

I can’t say much else has been going on. We’re stalled on the house hunting front. Going anywhere is painful with gas prices in LA County what they are (the average is over $6). Though we are going back to JPL for an in-person tour for the first time since before everything shut down (we were about 2 weeks to going when the pandemic started). My mom keeps giving me yarn so she can make space for more, so I’m making a massive blanket from it all because I literally have nothing else to do with it (I don’t knit and am not interested enough in learning how to do more than the double crochet stitch). I figure I’ll call it Nana’s Blanket.

Before I forget, there will be some changes to this blogging break. I’ve fully committed to doing The Curated Bookshelf, which means I have to change that page at the beginning of every month as well as introduce the next theme. Considering July 1st is in the middle of my break, there will be a post about it. Since this is my mid-year 2 week break, it means July is a shortened posting month for me, so I’ll be doing a couple of book highlights during the second week of my break. And, as usual, I’ll have my Diversity and Inclusivity post at the end of June. I suppose all this really means is I’ll be sort of posting here and there, but I won’t be reading blogs and will probably not respond to comments right away (still trying to get through a backlog. I do appreciate every comment and am so sorry for not responding in a reasonable time frame!).

Anyways, here is the next Digest. If you click on the images, it should take you to the post. But, if that doesn’t work, please let me know so I can figure out how to fix it.

Guest Posts

The Bookshelf

Book Reviews:

Fantasy and Sci-Fi

Women’s Fiction/Romance

Mystery and Thriller

Fiction

Life Between the Pages:

Catch up on Sisters of String and Glass

Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148 | Part 149 | Part 150 | Part 151 | Part 152 | Part 153 | Part 154 | Part 155 | Part 156 | Part 157 | Part 158 | Part 159 | Part 160 | Part 161

Catch up on No Tomorrow

Introduction to No Tomorrow | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15

The Curated Bookshelf: June

Blog Posts I’ve Enjoyed from the Blogging Community

At the moment, my brain is kind of mushy from having two kids doing school at home since the start of the pandemic. It’s summer vacation for them, which hasn’t made things any better. As I try to get back into the swing of things hopefully by September), I might share some posts I liked, but will be defaulting to sharing some blogs I enjoy.

Creatively Thinking: Five tips on how to find your love for writing again from Boondock Ramblings – At one point or another, many, most, or maybe all writers experience a lack of interest in writing. I know I’ve been there even though, right now, I feel like I could use a little less love of writing. But, for those days when you’re stuck and not feeling it, Lisa has provided some great tips for how to find that love again.

An Introvert Responds To Common Assumptions About Introverts from Sara Flower Kjeldsen Writes – As an introvert, I had a lot of fun reading this post! I’m sometimes amused by the things people think about us, so I really enjoyed Sara’s responses to them. Definitely good reminders there’s nothing wrong with me!

Recipe: Strawberry Meringues from Books Baking & Blogging – Strawberry season may be practically over, but these still look so good!

Some Favorite Bloggers

I have some perennial favorites I always mention, so I’m going to keep things mixed up and share one or two of them in each Digest as my goal is to highlight the blogs I love that I don’t talk much about.

Boondock Ramblings – I’ve been reading Lisa’s blog for a while, and always enjoy the slices of life she shares and the stories she writes. From her posts about homeschooling her two kids to the beautiful photos she takes to the sweet and fun Christian romance books she writes, there’s always something to look forward to, and her voice is just so much fun!

A Literary Escape – I’m a newer follower of this blog, but I’ve really been enjoying it lately. There’s a nice mix of genres, but it’s mostly geared towards fantasy. This blog really caught my eye during May when Celeste participated in Wyrd & Wonder and I found myself really enjoying what she had to share.

Path to Publication – This one is a newer blog founded by Lucia from Lucia’s Fiction and run by her and a group of writers at various stages in their authorial careers. They each share posts about writing as well as answer questions and share things going on in the world of books and traditional publishing. There’s so much good information on their blog, and I always learn something new.

Spine & Leaf Books – I’m a newer follower of this blog, but have really been enjoying reading it. It sometimes takes me a bit of time to get into the newer blogs I follow, but this is one I always find myself looking forward to reading. Mostly books, there are also some lifestyle posts mixed in, but I really like the variety of books reviewed.

Most Sincerely, kat

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