• "Clytemnestra" by Costanza Casati
• "In the Lives of Puppets" by TJ Klune
• "Beach Read" by Emily Henry
• "The Duke and I" by Julia Quinn
• "The Half Moon: A Novel" by Mary Beth Keane
• "Chain Gang All Stars" by Nana Kwame Adje-Brenyah
• "Go as a River" by Shelley Read
• "If We're Being Honest" by Cat Shook*
• "Hello Beautiful" by Ann Napolitano*
• "The Viscount Who Loved Me" by Julia Quinn
• "An Offer from a Gentleman" by Julia Quinn
• "Romantic Comedy" by Curtis Sittenfeld*
• "Dust Child" by Que Mai Phan Nguyen*
• "The Great Reclamation" by Rachel Heng*
• "Mister Magic" by Kiersten White*
• "The Invisible Life of Adde LaRue" by V. E. Schwab
• "Romancing Mister Bridgerton" by Julia Quinn
• "The God of Endings" by Jacqueline Holland*
• "House of Cotton" by Monica Brashears
• "Loot" by Tania James*
• "A Council of Dolls" by Mona Susan Power***
• "People We Meet on Vacation" by Emily Henry
• "Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century" by Kim Fu
• "I Never Thought of it That Way" by Mónica Guzmán***
• "The London Séance Society" by Sarah Penner
• "Book Lovers" by Emily Henry
• "Homecoming" by Kate Morton*
• "The Friend Zone" by Abby Jimenez
• "The Nanny" by Lana Ferguson
• "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmun
• "Flight" by Lynn Steger Strong*

f you only read a couple books from this list, let them be "A Council of Dolls" and "I Never Thought of it That Way." My year's total book count is 66, but I read "Lessons in Chemistry" twice so 65. Cheers to another year of great books.

Sometimes I feel kind of blue after Christmas, but not this year. We had some of the best quality time together and we just slowed down and spent time together. It was pretty special. Family life can be so busy and it was so refreshing to soak each other up. We played lots of games and we went swimming. Conor and I exercised together and went for walks.

And then we got sick.

Ira ate so much candy on Christmas Day. I feel like every time I looked at him, he was putting something sweet into his mouth. He has the biggest sweet tooth of all my children. I just can't believe he didn't make himself sick.

I joke that these two are personality twins. Greta is her most happy when Ira snuggles with her.

This may have been the best Christmas ever. We had such a great day! Everyone was so pleased with what they received and happy to play and be together. Maeve built her lego set with very little help. If she asked for help, she didn't want anyone to give anything beyond what she specifically asked for, which honestly was mostly limited to finding pieces. She was quite determined! It was cute to see the girls exchange gifts. They really took the wheel on that and they were so excited. What a perfect day!