+ We have been back in the school routine. I thought I was going to do a jury summons on Monday, but the case was settled so yay, I didn’t have to drive into morning traffic for that.
+ It is back to being HOT in Hawaii, we are hovering in the high 80’s so it feels like summer again.
+ My sister, my daughter and I are going to Stanford, California for the BTS concert in 3 weeks, and then a week after that I’m going to the Philippines with my parents and my kids…so I am traveling in the next few weeks. It’s going to be…a lot! I’m excited but also like…a little overwhelmed? Most of the Philippines trip my parents are planning and they have their way of traveling and I have my way…SO…I am giving up control to them I suppose? 😅 I’m kinda scared BUT…I have learned in my travels the past 3 years…just have to go with the flow.
The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox by. Katrina Kwan
Change of Plans by. Sarah Dessen
Weavingshaw by. Heba Al-Wasity
Double Happiness by. Heather Eng
The Last Page by. Katie Holt
Currently Reading:
Heir of Twisted Lies by. L.J. Andrews
Verity Guild by. Mai Corland
Soon By You by. Dahlia Adler
Rites of the Starling by. Devney Perry
Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:
MUSIC:
+ Drop Dead by Olivia Rodrigo – obsessed with it, love the regular and acoustic version!
+ BTS Arirang album so I can know the lyrics for the concert.
+ Still rocking Bruno Mars The Romantic because I am still on the concert high from his show.
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
Back to my schedule, and trying to get my May and June arcs done as much as I can because I have 2 trips in May, one to the BTS concert and then a 2 week trip to the Philippines with my kids and my parents! So I’m working on that and my Libby holds, some I’ll have to just let go because arcs are taking priority.
+ My kids and I went to Las Vegas to see Bruno Mars in concert on April 11, 2026. Let me just tell you what a crazy weekend it was. First, the weather called for HEAVY rain – thank you God it didn’t affect us. And I was worried about TSA lines, but that went smoothly and quick. 🙏🏽. Through security I run into someone I went to college with in California…and she’s my ex-high school boyfriend’s wife now. 😅. She’s a great girl, and we keep in touch – but it’s always kind of been awkward between my ex and me, if I saw him in public he never said hi to me. WELL…with me and my kids there and his wife calling out my name, he had no choice but to finally say hi to me. 😂 We even hugged! Anyway, they were going to the same Bruno Mars show as we were but they were on a different flight that was delayed.
Our flight was stopping over on Maui to switch planes, which we did on time…then the pilot comes on and says they need more fuel to make the trip to Vegas. SAY WHAT? And that they were trying to get clearance to fuel up in Maui…well they were denied, so we had to fly to the Big Island next door, to refuel there. So now we were delayed for 2 hours…kids were hungry. Good thing I loaded up on snacks but we reached Vegas at almost 9:30pm, checked into the Excalibur and got to our room by 10pm. They have a 24/7 food court, thank goodness…but yeah it was a LONG, tiring, day.
Since it was my kids’ first time in Vegas I did want them to see it in the day time, so we slept in, got breakfast, then decided to walk to Park Mgm and take the free tram to the Bellagio so I could show them the flower garden.
The hotels are so big you don’t know you’ve walked 8,000 steps until you’ve felt it! After checking out Caesar’s Palace my daughter said her feet hurt and it was time to rest before the concert. We spied the line for the Hello Kitty/Bruno Mars merch which I wanted so badly but my kids didn’t want to stand in line (I don’t blame them – it was a long line). We were supposed to check out the arcade at the hotel but I needed to nap and the kids wanted to go back to the room. So I napped, kids were on their ipads and we got at least 4 hours of resting our feet before taking the free tram from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay and walking it over the bridge to Allegiant Stadium. It wasn’t bad at all! The weather was nice too.
The stadium was nice, entry was easy – if you are ever going there for a concert, make sure you read the bag policy – clear bags only of a certain size!!! I’m glad I read it beforehand. Overall, we had such an amazing time! My daughter was a bit tired from all day walking (next time I’ll book one more day to rest), but once Bruno came on, both my kids were so hype. My son is a teen and always so self-conscious about singing…oh boy did he sing his heart out! Bruno was fantastic, such a showman, such a performer and that voice…I’m so glad my kids got to see him with me! ♥️. It’s my 4th time seeing him in concert and each time has been so amazing.
After the concert, we walked back with the massive crowd back over the bridge and to our hotel. When I looked at my steps counted it was 23,000 for the day! I felt it! We got back to our room at 11:45pm and I told the kids to go to sleep because we had to wake up in 4 hours to catch a 7am flight! UGH. I could do these quick trips when I was younger or just traveling with a friend but with kids, it’s a little hard, so next time I know to book one more day. Flight was on time, and who was on my flight? My ex and his wife again LOL….good times! What a weekend.
+ After our concert weekend it was back to our regular schedule but also I am planning my son’s bar mitzvah which is in July. He’s not having a major party because he said he didn’t want one. But I’m trying to at least make it a little special for people attending the ceremony. So now I’m stressed with that. 😅. At least I’ll be better at planning my daughter’s bat mitzvah in 4 years.
Blog Posts:
Books I Finished
The Summer of Second Chances by. K.L. Walther
Us Dark Few by. Alexis Patton
A Merry Life by. Sarah Branson
Miracles in Mercy by. Briony J. Shutt
The Verdant Cage by. Jess Lourey
Heart of the Wolf Queen by. Sarah Gallego
Currently Reading:
For Whom the Belle Tolls by. Jaysea Lynn
The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox by. Katrina Kwan
Change of Plans by. Sarah Dessen
Heir of Twisted Lies by. L.J. Andrews
Weavingshaw by. Heba Al-Wasity
Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:
MUSIC:
+ I cannot wait for Olivia Rodrigo’s album and by the way I promised my kids I’d take them to her concert. 😩 Mama is broke! But I’m going…someway, somehow. I love her new single Drop Dead!
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
Wow…last week leading up to my trip to Vegas was stressful as HELL. 3 friends cancelled on the trip, so it was my first time traveling with just me and my two kids to Vegas of all places haha. But it worked out, even when we had only 4 hours of sleep before catching our flight back home. The concert was amazing and my kids were such good sports about everything. ❤️ I did start some books on my kindle on the plane rides but didn’t finish anything. I am pretty much recovered now and now have to get ready for BTS in a few weeks. 😅. So hopefully I can get some reading done before then!
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
I guess I forgot to do a post last week Wednesday but it’s been that kind of April so far – bad. 😅. I’m hoping to turn things around this weekend as my kids and I go to Bruno Mar’s concert in Vegas, but we are also going to have stormy weather in Hawaii when we fly out. I’m just hoping all goes well. 🙏🏽. Also it doesn’t help that world events are making me super anxious. Sigh….thank goodness for books that let me escape a tiny bit.
+ It was a stressful weekend. My hubby’s car broke down on Friday which left us stressed out all weekend, it was broken Friday, but drivable but Goodyear said they couldn’t fix it, it was the transmission, then he chanced it and took it to Lexus which is in town (I told him to tow it) but they said the same the transmission is shot, so he attempted to drive it home and got stuck on the freeway. 🤦🏻♀️ So he had to tow it home and now we gotta figure out money to get a new car. Lovely. I feel like 2026 is the year where it’s a “lose money” kind of year. I feel like concerts tickets were so damn expensive this year (and I’m trying to sell 5 of them, thank BTS for not opening up Ticketmaster resale – it’s frustrating). Prices went up for gas, groceries, EVERYTHING. And now we might have to cancel our Philippines trip next month because we don’t want to be there while there is an energy crisis and resources are low (and we might have to pay a cancellation fee for that). So because of prices – I’m also back on my book buying ban! 😅.
+ My kids and I are going to Las Vegas on Friday – we are seeing Bruno Mar’s on Saturday! It’s very exciting. A friend of mine from college and her hubby will be joining us. But I’m bummed my friend who was supposed to fly with us from Hawaii to Vegas, might have to cancel because of her mom’s health problems. So this will be my first time flying with my two kids alone, and their first time in Vegas. It’s going to be a very short trip though, we are in and out of there.
+ Why do we have another weather alert for this week? I am tired of heavy rain and flooding in our state. I hope it passes quickly over our islands. 😩
Blog Posts:
Books I Finished
Japanese Gothic by. Kylie Lee Baker
Bloody Black by. Rhiannon Hargadon
Your Soulmail is Attached by. Joan F. Smith
Blood & Roses by. Callie Hart
Runebreaker by. Mila Finch
Currently Reading:
The Summer of Second Chances by. K.L. Walther
Starside by. Alex Aster
For Whom the Belle Tolls by. Jaysea Lynn
Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:
MUSIC:
+ RAYE – This Music May Contain Joy – what a creative album! It’s such a mix of different genres but the theme of being uplifting and staying strong, is heard throughout the whole album.
TV SHOWS & MOVIES:
+ Super Mario Galaxy Movie – had to watch this one because my kids were asking. We enjoyed it! I love the Super Mario music, the graphics, and all the surprise cameos of characters like my kids LOVE Pikmin. So they had a blast watching it and again, like the first movie, it tugged my nostalgia strings!
+ XO, Kitty (Season 3, Netflix) – so much dating drama! I was watching to see if Min Ho and Kitty end up together. Do you think there will be a season 4 to properly conclude this show?
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
March was so wild – especially because Hawaii has two storms that knocked out power, flooded communities and after those two weeks (during Spring Break), now the sun is out like nothing happened. I did get to read a lot but I felt like the month went by too fast. Let’s take a look at how many books I read and what I posted on my blog.
I read 26 books and posted 23 book reviews in March.
Books I Read – 26 books
Eternal is the Night by. Alayna Ravenwood (arc)
Life: A Love Story by. Elizabeth Berg (arc)
Half City by. Kate Golden
The Shippers by. Katherine Center (alc)
Never Ever After by. Sue Lynn Tan
The Poison Daughter by. Sheila Masterson
The Thorn Queen by. Sasha Peyton Smith (arc)
Seek the Traitor’s Son by. Veronica Roth (alc)
Cruel Angel by. Rebecca Kenney (arc)
While You Were Seething by. Charlotte Stein (alc)
The Serpent’s Bride by. Kathryn Ann Kingsley
The Serpent’s Sin by. Kathryn Ann Kingsley
Tethered by. Elayna R. Gallea
The Lies that Summon the Night by. Tessonja Odette
The Wings That Bind by. Briar Boleyn
Web of Vows and Vengeance by. Aria Ashbrook
Storm Breaker by. Nisha J. Tuli (arc)
Student Union: The Undergrads by. Julie Murphy (arc)
Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly bookish meme originally created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @ Book Nook Bits, where every Friday, bloggers write discussion posts based on a weekly prompt and Dini @ dinipandareads has cohosted since the beginning of 2025.
Prompts:Do you prefer reading about characters who are in a similar life stage as you (age, career, relationships, etc.)? Has your preference changed as you’ve gotten older? Have you ever re-read a book and experienced it completely differently because you were in a different stage of life? Do you think books come into our lives at the ‘right time’ and are there any books you think you’d feel differently about if you were younger or older?
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Do you prefer reading about characters who are in a similar life stage as you (age, career, relationships, etc.)?Has your preference changed as you’ve gotten older?
When I was younger (teens), I loved reading books with adults in it – to imagine what my life could be. When I was in my twenties, I started reading young adult again maybe because college was such an impactful time of my life and I wanted to recapture all those feelings! Then in my 30’s, I wanted to read about older characters (older meaning 25 and up lol…but have you noticed a lot of books in fantasy have 20 year old heroines?). Now in my late-40’s…I read young adult, new adult, adult…whatever…but I now sometimes I’m craving more older FMCs 30+ but it’s hard to find in fantasy. It’s easier to find them in contemporary romance. So I don’t necessarily want them to be in the same stage of career or relationship as me.
Have you ever re-read a book and experienced it completely differently because you were in a different stage of life?
Last year I re-read a Sarah Dessen book (she writes young adult books), and I definitely was experiencing it differently. Maybe because I have kids and in a few years (at least my son) he will be a young adult! So…I see it through a mom’s perspective now. But when I read it in my 20’s, I related so hard to these young adult feelings. I kind of want to go back and re-read some books just to see how it makes me feel now so we’ll see if I do.
Do you think books come into our lives at the ‘right time’ and are there any books you think you’d feel differently about if you were younger or older?
I do think it does sometimes…one example since she just did her podcast is Sarah J. Maas books. Throne of Glass came out when dystopian was big but I did read it…and I thought it was okay. And I read the next book and next book, but when A Court of Thorns and Roses dropped I was in my mid 30’s – I was hooked right away I think because Feyre just felt older (even though she wasn’t). And I liked her complicated family dynamics, and eventually Nesta’s story will be the one that impacts me the most personally. I don’t know if I would have appreciated ACOTAR if I read it when I was younger.
March 2026 Topics:
March 6: Women Who’ve Shaped Your Reading Life
Prompts: March is Women’s History Month and March 8 is also International Women’s Day. In honour of this month celebrating women, let’s talk about the women who’ve shaped our reading lives. Was there (or is there) a woman in your life who sparked your love for reading? Who was the first woman author you remember loving? Do you tend to read more books by women authors and do you think that’s for a reason?
Prompts: Immersive reading is when you simultaneously listen to an audiobook while reading the physical or digital book. Do you do any immersive reading? Do you prefer it or is it not for you? Do you think it’s a good way to get everything from a book? Is there a genre that is better to do this with? What are your recommendations for immersive reading?
March 20: Portrayals of Women in Books
Prompts:We’ve previously talked about underrepresented women and women in STEM in books, but let’s take a look at portrayals of women in books. Do you think portrayals of women have changed over time? Are ambitious women portrayed differently than ambitious men? Are “unlikable” female characters judged more harshly? Are girls and women written more complexly in books today? Share some of your favourite books featuring complex empowered women being unapologetically themselves!
Prompts:Do you prefer reading about characters who are in a similar life stage as you (age, career, relationships, etc.)? Has your preference changed as you’ve gotten older? Have you ever re-read a book and experienced it completely differently because you were in a different stage of life? Do you think books come into our lives at the ‘right time’ and are there any books you think you’d feel differently about if you were younger or older?
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
It is almost the end of March folks…how?! Anyway I’m all over the place with my reading. Going from contemporary to fantasy and vice versa because I’ve been reading too many romantasy.
+ The weather got better, it stopped raining but the sun barely came out all week. But at least it gave me a chance to do some activities with my daughter like take her to the arcade one day and then the movies the next. We watched GOAT and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would!
+ Then the weather got bad again, for round two of rain 2 days ago. I’m glad there were no high winds, but the rain was pounding and with the ground still so saturated (I haven’t turned on our sprinklers in 2 weeks!), the North Shore has lots of flooding in that area and other places around the island. It’s awful to see the damage of the homes. ☹️ People have lost their homes but from what I know – no lives lost, which is good. But recovery is going to be awhile – for one, we need the rain to stop – we need that sun to come out and dry up all this moisture in the ground.
+ Spring break is over today, it’s been mostly a rainy and boring one for me and my daughter. My hubby and son have been enjoying Osaka and Kyoto – lots of walking! But they come home today, yay, we’ve missed them!
Blog Posts:
Books I Finished
Never Ever After by. Sue Lynn Tan
The Thorn Queen by. Sasha Peyton Smith
Web of Vows and Vengeance by. Aria Ashbrook
The Lies that Summon the Night by. Tessonja Odette
Currently Reading:
The Summer of Second Chances by. K.L. Walther
Japanese Gothic by. Kylie Lee Baker
Storm Breaker by. Nisha J. Tuli
Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:
+ Bruno Mars, The Romantic, is on repeat!
+ BTS, Arirang – I have to learn these songs before the concert! I also watched the Netflix concert, but not at 1am in the morning when it aired in Hawaii. I was too tired to wake up but glad the replay was there, so I watched it when I woke up.
My daughter and I were bored and indoors because of the rain so we watched Spirited Away on my laptop when we had the power outage last week. And it was kind of the perfect thing to watch in the dark. ❤️ The following night my daughter wanted to watch another Ghibli movie but I only had Spirited Away on my laptop so I caved and signed up for HBO MAX (again – I don’t remember how many times I’ve cancelled already LOL). And we watched My Neighbor Totoro (we love that movie also), and then we had more time so we watched a My Little Pony movie. Then the next night we watched Ponyo. Ghibli films are really amazing! I’m glad my kids love them as much as I do. 🥹
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
Past Midnight Book Reviews & More 