Rainy Days With Amanda

I'm walking around the San Antonio Book Festival looking for a new book to read and lo and behold, the cover to this book caught my eye. It has and intriguing cover and an interesting title. I flip it around to the read the synopsis and immediately know it's a book that I would enjoy reading. Skip to six months later and I finally read it. Here is my little review on The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami.   A Little About the Author Laila Lalami is the author of six books, including The Moor’s Account , which won the American Book Award, the Arab-American Book Award, and the Hurston / Wright Legacy Award. It was on the longlist for the Booker Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. Her most recent novel, The Other Americans , was a national bestseller, won the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and was a finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages. Her essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times , the...

                                                           Pillars of Creation A Quest for the Great Name in a Nietzschean World By Carlos Nicolás Flor Literary Fiction, Coming of Age Publisher: Atmosphere Press Publication Date: 22 July, 2025 Where is God amidst the mass graves, poverty, drug trafficking, and corrupt officials on the Texas-Mexico border? Yoltic Cortez, a college dropout and aspiring writer in his mid-twenties, grapples with this question while living in an impoverished colonia. His bedridden father warns him to prepare spiritually for the challenges ahead by returning to their religious traditions and confronting the "Devil in the desert." Encouraged by his mentor, the "Failed Poet," to pursue a literary career, Yoltic struggles to write his first book. His situation is further complicated when a young Mexican woman...

   Press Coffee @ The Enclave ☕  11103 West Ave Suite 302, San Antonio, TX 78213   I've been to Press Coffee off Broadway and I absolutely adore going out there, especially on a cloudy, rainy day. This was my first time at their enclave location. The parking was tight, but once you step into the cozy quarters of this cafe, you suddenly forget. you were fighting for a parking spot.  Press Coffee at The Enclave has done it's best to bring the charm of their first location into this new location and I feel that it has paid off. The space is open, with plenty of seating and charging spots. They also boast a pretty nice patio that will be perfect for when the temps are cooler. The coffee and the morning treats were both excellent and I loved the ambiance of the whole building. Sure, it's not a greenhouse like it's parent location, but it doesn't make it any less of a great place to crack open your laptop or a book and enjoy some nicely brewed coffee.  💻 https:/...

 I’m back with another Stephani Plum novel. If you’re new here, I’ve been a Janet Evanovich fan ever since she was, seemingly randomly, on my sophomore summer reading list and I picked up Visions of Sugar Plums at Half Price Bookstore. I’m 30 now and I still find enjoyment reading the whacky adventures of Stephanie Plum and Plum Spooky was no exception. About the Author Janet Evanovich  began her career writing short contemporary romance novels  under the pen name  Steffie Hall,   but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stephani Plum , a former lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey , who becomes a bounty  to make ends meet after losing her job.  About the Book Wulf Grimoire is an opportunist who can kill without remorse and disappear like smoke. He’s chosen Martin Munch, boy genius, as his new business partner, and he’s chosen the Barrens as his new playground.  Wulf  is looking for world domina...

 The Talented Mr. Ripley is a story that captivated my curiosity in high school. I watched it once in my early twneties and haven’t seen it since. Fast forward, and I follow a very talented creator, Mina Le, who basks an online book club and this was the book of the month. I don’t know if I didn’t realize the story was a book or if that knowledge just escaped me, but once I heard that title once more, I knew I wanted to read it right away. Now, in my thirties, that curiosity for this psychological crime drama still remains. Here’s my book talk on The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith .  A Little Bit About Our Author Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novels and numerous short stories in a career spanning nearly five decades, and her work has led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her writing was influ...

 Wow, it's been a minute since I did a rainy travel. I guess that is due to me having a child, but we've honestly been traveling, I just haven't documented it. We've done more road trips around our huge state of Texas and we did go on a little anniversary vacation to Vegas in May. But we've been to Vegas. I guess I could make a blog about that. Anyway, for the long labor day weekend, we decided to make our way over to the great state of Washington to getaway and enjoy better weather. Here's how our trip to Seattle went.   Where we stayed  We opted to stay at this  Airbnb near all the things you do as a first time body in the Emerald City. We were just a hop to the Space Needle, MoPop, and the Chihuly Gardens. All of which we saw, and definitely recommend for you to check out to (I'll talk more about our experiences in just a bit). It was more of a hop and a skip to Pikes Place, but we're talking like a 15 minute walk, which is nice when the weather is o...

I was completely infatuated with the first book, A Court of Thorns , so I didn't want to wait too long to read the next book. I was hoping for a good sequel, well, some people will say ask and you will receive. This rang true for this sequel, A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Mass. SPOILERS AHEAD!     A Little Bit About the Author Sarah J. Maas is the prolific, #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Throne of Glass , A Court of Thorns and Roses and Crescent City series , which have sold more than 70 million copies in English worldwide and are published in thirty-eight languages. Maas is one of the most successful authors of the modern era, generating a far-reaching and ever-growing fanbase of readers, as well as a TikTok phenomenon, with the hashtag for her A Court of Thorns and Roses series having several billion views. A Little Bit About the Story Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court–but at a steep cost. Though she n...

Ever since coming back from my first European trip to Italy, I have been an avid Rick Steves listener. Besides listening to his podcast, I also consumed his TV specials (more so during the pandemic), but I had never read his books. I'm not one to read guidebooks, but when he started advertising for this book, I knew I wanted to pick it up myself, so down to the library I went. Here are my thoughts on On The Hippie Trail by Rick Steves .    About the Author  Rick Steves, America's most respected authority on European travel, empowers Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening. In 1976, he started his business, Rick Steves' Europe, headquartered in Edmonds, Washington, near Seattle. There, he produces a best-selling guidebook series, a popular public television show, a weekly public radio show, a syndicated travel column, and free travel information available through his travel center and ricksteves.com. Rick Steves' Europ...

 So many people recommended this series to me, and I refused to listen. Why? Because I am not one to read something super popular. I mean, I did read Twilight, but I read it well before it became popular let alone a movie. Anyway, I just didn't want to be disappointed with the hype. But alas, I was wrong.  Here is my book talk on A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas . A Little Bit About the Author 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 ︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶︶⊹ Sarah J. Maas is the prolific, #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses and Crescent City series, which have sold more than 70 million copies in English worldwide and are published in thirty-eight languages. Maas is one of the most successful authors of the modern era, generating a far-reaching and ever-growing fanbase of readers, as well as a TikTok phenomenon, with the hashtag for her A Court of Thorns and Roses series having several b...