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January 2021 Reading Recap

February 2, 2021
Written by hester

I’m so so happy it’s February! January is always the longest month of the year, and this year it felt especially fraught for those of us in the US. Thankfully a dark cloud has lifted, and despite the happenings in…

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Books

October & November’s Combined Reading Wrap-Up

November 30, 2020
Written by hester

I feel like I fell off the edge of the earth in blogging terms in October and November. I know I wasn’t alone in feeling absolutely crushing anxiety over the election, spending up to 8 hours a day on Twitter…

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Books

September Reading Wrap-Up: Loves, Likes and “Meh’s” to skip

October 6, 2020
Written by hester

I definitely didn’t read as much as normal in September, with my kids finally going back to in-person school, I was doing a ton more driving (hello Miami life!) so I listened to a lot of podcasts and got trapped…

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Books

August Reading Recap: What I loved, liked and loathed!

September 2, 2020
Written by hester

I cannot tell a lie – August for me was boring as hell, and I was super-jealous of my friends in Europe who seemed (on social media at least!) to be having a semi-normal summer with beach trips and meals…

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Books

July Bookshelf: What I Read in July (and what I’d say you can skip)

July 31, 2020
Written by hester

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré was my favourite read of the month, and a book that will stay with me for a long time. Told in the voice of a 14 year-old Nigerian girl, Adunni, the…

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Books

The Best Thriller Novels to Read if you loved Gone Girl and Girl on the Train

July 22, 2020
Written by hester

If you loved Gone Girl and Girl on the Train, but have struggled to separate the wheat from the chaff of recent thriller releases (there’s a LOT of dross out there), here’s my round-up of thrillers which I think you’ll…

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About

About
Hester
Editor & Creative

I'm an Editor, Creative Director and Mama living in Miami, obsessed with books, style, travel and living well.

Recent Posts

  • January 2021 Reading Recap
  • October & November’s Combined Reading Wrap-Up
  • September Reading Wrap-Up: Loves, Likes and “Meh’s” to skip
  • August Reading Recap: What I loved, liked and loathed!
  • July Bookshelf: What I Read in July (and what I’d say you can skip)

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Must-Read Articles

1

January 2021 Reading Recap

February 2, 2021
2

October & November’s Combined Reading Wrap-Up

November 30, 2020
3

September Reading Wrap-Up: Loves, Likes and “Meh’s” to skip

October 6, 2020

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I’ve always been really good at changes - life a I’ve always been really good at changes - life as an expat makes you pretty adaptable. New countries, cities, schools, friends etc. Time is a little bit different when you’re an expat - year one is your getting settled year when everything is new and exciting but also very emotional and you work really hard on building friendships and figuring out all the admin and logistics, and then year two is when you can really start falling in love with where you live and you start to see the romance in a place. This Miami move has been so different with Covid, and also being the only move we’ve done so far which has been national not international, so I haven’t had the same culture shock as I did when we arrived in NYC. I have however had a huge personal shift as I’ve decided that my little design agency, Delilah Creative, needs to wind down. Covid hit us and our small business clients really hard, and I was also feeling this terrible sense of dread whenever I got an email from a client or even a new enquiry! I used to love getting enquiries and talking to clients! I’m still finishing up some projects, but I’m also having to get comfortable with a quieter pace. Fewer emails, more time to do courses online, finish up our house, work in the garden, play tennis. It’s a hard change when I have always loved and relished being busy, but there’s also part of me that is loving this slower season. I cannot wait until the world opens up again and I can figure out what’s next, but for now, more flowers, more cups of tea, more peace. Hope you’re all having a wonderfully peaceful Monday! xxx
HAPPY MONDAY everyone!! I have one kid on remote l HAPPY MONDAY everyone!! I have one kid on remote learning this week, and one back at school but after a week’s holiday and some good news in the world, I feel ready to handle anything! 
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I read The Four Winds 🌾 on vacation and it was the perfect choice - it’s a sweeping historical novel set in dust bowl Texas during the Great Depression. Elsa, our heroine, finds herself pregnant out of wedlock, then is forced to marry a much younger man, and move in with his Italian family when her own family disowns her. Finding a measure of happiness in her children, Elsa and her new in-laws scrape a living from their farmland, until the constant dust storms, endless drought and poverty force her to make the ultimate decision - to leave everything behind and set off across the country with her children to build a new life in California.
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While The Four Winds can be pretty unrelentingly grim, Hannah is a wonderful storyteller, and her descriptions of Elsa’s tale are so realistic that I was just as gripped as if I were reading a thriller. It’s a real American epic, and such a satisfying read. Oh, and you’re going to need some tissues for the ending, you have been warned!! 😿 
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Something I loved when we were living in NYC was p Something I loved when we were living in NYC was picking up big cherry blossom branches from Chelsea Flower Market and watching them slowly bloom over the weeks. This morning I got up and went to the flower market early here in Miami to do the same, as even though we haven’t gone through a dark winter, there’s nothing more hopeful than spring blooms is there? These branches look bare at the moment but they’re covered in tiny buds. And I had to use a big coconut chopper knife to cut the bottoms of the branches as otherwise the tips would be hitting the ceiling! 🌸
I wrote an essay about being bored for the wonderf I wrote an essay about being bored for the wonderful @lottieisloving's beautiful magazine, and if you're not too bored to read a disgustingly self-indulgent whine about boredom, you can go read it. And if that sounds awful, you can go and look at beautiful pictures and be inspired to set a beautiful table and make dumplings for lunar New Year instead 🥟 🍊🧨
Image by @lottieisloving #linkinbio
𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗽!
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Does anyone else feel so much lighter now that January is over? My January reading was a little out of the ordinary in that I hopped around to some non-fiction but also leaned HARD into murder mysteries, and the much-anticipated psychological thriller, The Push. 
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Here's a very brief run-down of my thoughts (but for the full post, please visit hester.co). And pssst... click on the little "save" icon under the image to keep these recos top of mind next time you're book-shopping! 
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LOVED ♥️
𝗔 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱 - Book of the Month for me!
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝘂𝘀𝗵 - A great psychological thriller but trigger warning: Child Abuse
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗿𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗲 - Agatha Christie went missing for 11 days in 1926 - Marie Benedict imagines why in this character-driven mystery
𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 & 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯 - two such cozy murder novels perfect for curling up on the sofa with!
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LIKED ✨
𝗤𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 - Want to reassess your re-calibrate your relationship with alcohol? Start here. 
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MEH 😐
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗢𝗻𝗲𝘀 - A modern Great Gatsby
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗼𝗿𝘀 - usually love Jane Harper but couldn't get into this
𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝘀𝗵 - I'm always distracted by shiny Bookstagram obsessions, but fantasy isn't really my jam!
Since Covid started we actually eat together as a Since Covid started we actually eat together as a family every night which we never used to do, so our dining room really gets used (and yes, the kiddos complain they have to drag these big vases around every night when they set the table 😣😂). I love how changing out the flowers for a big branch or smaller vases and candlesticks can totally change the vibe. And literally can’t wait until we can actually have more people around this table of course! Is anyone else just dying to have people over? 🙏🏻💕 
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#miamihome #coralgableshome #southfloridahome #livingroominspiration #livingroominterior #diningroominspo #lonnyliving #colourfulhome #housebeautiful #projectnamastayincoralgables #diningroomideas #diningtabledecor #styleitlight #loveyourspace #diningchairs
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