When someone asks me what I want for Christmas or my birthday, I always have a book on standby. Well, usually I have more than one. The same way I always have a lot of books on standby to be read. I try not to read all my new books right away and want to spread them out.

As I write this post, I am struggling to come up with the opening tidbit, which happens sometimes. I could make small talk and talk about the weather (it’s winter in Western PA, it sucks), or talk about my plans for the upcoming week (work, reading, celebrating Matt’s birthday).

Holiday reads should never be limited to the holiday season, which is why in January, I picked up In a Holidaze, which was on loan to me from my sister.

I love a good bookshelf. Whether it’s in someone’s home or a store or a library, bookshelves are cool. I was lucky that our house came with one. It’s been featured in a few pictures on AYOB already. Because I like to show off other items besides books on the shelf, I run out of room often.

The first AYOB post of 2021 is finally here! I spent some time at the very end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before digging into the first official book of 2021.