Hygge Dreamer

Revisiting Old Favourites: 3 Scary Books Reread

I never used to be a rereader of books, but when I started reading more and more earlier this year, I had the urge to do a LOT of rereading.

When the spooky season rolled around, I wanted to reread all of the books I remembered finding scary in the past – as in, books that really and truly creeped me out. Would they still scare me now?

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Reread #1: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The first book I reread was The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I first read this long before the Netflix adaptation was released, and I remember it being creepy but also not so creepy. It was almost like you knew something scary was there, but it was just on the edge of your peripheral vision, so you never caught it clearly. This book is fantastic and worth many, many rereads. Since this was my first time rereading the story since watching the Netflix adaptation (which I had watched at least 3 times – it really is fantastic), I went into it wanting to look for similarities. What parts from the book made it into the show? And were any of the characters the same?

12 Swoon-Worthy Romances You Need to Read Before the End of the Year

The end of the year is upon us, and with that, for many people, comes the stress of the holidays. The best way to relieve that stress is with a good book. Below is a list of swoon-worthy romances you need to read before the end of the year, with books full of romance, will they/won’t they, travel, secret relationships, friends to lovers, and so much more! Romance books are full of tropes people either love to love or love to hate, and the best part is getting to read all the romance to find the best of the best.

#1-4

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

Delilah Green, who is quite happy with her life in New York, far away from her hometown of Bright Falls, is called back to her old life when her sister asks her to photograph her wedding. While there, she meets Claire and wonders if her life with a different woman every night back in New York is really what matters. Will this clash of Delilah, who lives a life of surprise, and Claire, who prefers life with no surprises, collide? Or will sparks fly?

Book Review: A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong

Book review for A Rip Through Time, a series debut that is a fun, time-travelling mystery about a modern-day detective who travels 150 years back in time to Victorian Scotland, where she not only inhabits the body of a housemaid but a killer is also on the loose.

342 pages / published May 31, 2022 / Goodreads: 4.04 (out of 5) / Amazon

In this series debut from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, a modern-day homicide detective finds herself in Victorian Scotland—in an unfamiliar body—with a killer on the loose.

May 20, 2019: Homicide detective Mallory is in Edinburgh to be with her dying grandmother. While out on a jog one evening, Mallory hears a woman in distress. She’s drawn to an alley, where she is attacked and loses consciousness.

May 20, 1869: Housemaid Catriona Mitchell had been enjoying a half-day off, only to be discovered that night in a lane, where she’d been strangled and left for dead . . . exactly one-hundred-and-fifty years before Mallory was strangled in the same spot.

When Mallory wakes up in Catriona’s body in 1869, she must put aside her shock and adjust quickly to the reality: life as a housemaid to an undertaker in Victorian Scotland. She soon discovers that her boss, Dr. Gray, also moonlights as a medical examiner and has just taken on an intriguing case, the strangulation of a young man, similar to the attack on herself. Her only hope is that catching the murderer can lead her back to her modern life . . . before it’s too late.

Outlander meets The Alienist in Kelley Armstrong’s A Rip Through Time, the first book in this utterly compelling series, mixing romance, mystery, and fantasy with thrilling results.

Book Review of A Rip Through Time:

A Rip Through Time was such a fun read, especially since I am a huge fan of time travel books. This is the story of Mallory, a modern-day detective who is in Edinburgh, Scotland, to see her sick nan. When she takes a break from her nan’s deathbed to go for a jog, she hears crying coming from an alley. She goes to investigate and is swept back to Victorian Scotland in a body that is not hers and a time that is most definitely not her own. The only problem? Mallory is now in the body of Catriona, a housemaid, and needs to conform to her identity without being caught.

Oh, and there’s a killer on the loose.

I loved everything about this book. Mallory is such a great character, and it was nice to see her fall in time to a world that is not hers and not be completely competent in it. She’s a detective, not a housemaid. Of course, while she’s trying to make a go as a housemaid and find her way back to her own time, she realized the body she inhabits is that of a not-so-well-liked character. Catriona is a thief and a liar, and everyone in the household has suspicions about her. Mallory does try to fit in, but she is drawn to her boss, Dr. Gray, who is a medical examiner and is working on a case resembling that of a very famous murderer.

Still, hard work never killed anyone, right? By midday, I decide that whoever coined that phrase never toiled as a nineteenth-century housemaid.
Kelley Armstrong, A Rip Through Time

This book had a lot of fun things going on, with Mallory/Catriona trying to use her modern-day skills in an olden-day environment, where women weren’t typically sought out for in regards to detective and sleuthing skills. She has a great cast of characters to work with; Dr. Gray, who is a bit of an outcast because of his race, his sister Isla who is a widow and a secret chemist, as well as Alice, her fellow housemaid, and Mrs. Wallace, the house matron who decidedly hates her guts.

Do all of the mechanics and theories of time travel get explained and thoroughly explored? No, but that’s okay. Kelley is an amazing writer who can tell a story perfectly. She admits in the beginning that she is a 21st-century Canadian writing about historical Scotland and is not a historical fiction author, but she still wanted to explore the avenue of time travel writing. This gives us a time travel book through the lens of a modern Canadian (Mallory), and I feel like that makes the book unique. It’s not a science fiction novel, after all, but a mystery thriller, and that’s what we get.

Would I Recommend A Rip Through Time?

If you love historical fiction told through the eyes of a modern Canadian, with lots of twists and turns and mystery, this is the book for you. If you enjoy other Kelley Armstrong books or enjoy the mystery thriller genre in general, I would highly recommend you check this book out.

What do other readers think?

Are you looking to read more by Kelley Armstrong? Here are some suggestions!

FREE Crochet Bag Pattern: Sweet Stripes Pouch

One of my favourite things to crochet is bags because they are so versatile. Therefore, I’ve made SO MANY bags for my daughter to carry her fidgets around, bags to keep notebooks in, bags for all of my crochet and knitting tools, and bags to put on display because they’re just so pretty! This Sweet Stripes Pouch FREE crochet bag pattern will be the go-to bag you make for all of your storage needs!

Sweet Stripes Pouch Free Crochet Bag Pattern

This pattern originally appeared in Happily Hooked Crochet Magazine, which is a monthly digital magazine assembled by makers for makers. For only $49.99US per year, you’ll get a magazine each month that contains 12+ patterns. There are tons of courses and tutorials AND a great crochet community to chat with.

What is a crochet bag? How do you make one?

Crochet bags are ridiculously easy to make. SO easy, in fact, that if you’re a crocheter and only know simple stitches, you can still make a bag! A lot of the time, crocheting a bag means either joining your initial chain, making a circle, and then crocheting round and round to form your bag, and then seaming the bottom. OR, you might crochet two flat pieces and then seam them together. It really is SO easy to crochet a bag.

What type of yarn is best to make a bag with?

While you can use any type of yarn to crochet a bag, my personal favourite is cotton because it provides durability that acrylic does not. I really like the stitch definition that cotton has, and with so many different colours available in cotton and it being readily available at craft stores, it’s a great choice. Of course, you can still use any type of yarn to make your bag – it’s your project!

Can I put a lining in a crochet bag?

Linings aren’t necessary for crochet bags, but they do make your bag look amazing! If you go to your local craft store, you can usually find affordable fat quarters of fabric that are so easy to put together for linings. The Crochet Crowd has a great tutorial on lining your crochet bags – you can find it here.

Are there any special stitches in this pattern?

There are two stitches that aren’t common stitches in this pattern. The written instructions are below, and if you click on the links, you will be taken to a video tutorial from a trusted crochet source.

dc3tog = (yarn over, insert hook in indicated stitch, yarn over, pull through, yarn over again, pull through 2 ch on hook) 3 times, yarn over, pull through all 4 loops on hook.

crab stitch = without turning your work, insert your hook from front to back into the first sc, yarn over and draw up a loop, yarn over again and pull through the two loops on your hook. For the next stitch, insert your hook from front to back into the stitch to the right of the last stitch worked, yarn over and draw up a loop, yarn over again and pull through the two loops on your hook. You will continue to work clockwise around.

Sweet Stripes Pouch Free Crochet Bag Pattern

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the provided links, this blog will receive a small commission to put towards the maintenance of this blog.

Materials needed:

Bernat Handicrafter Cotton, worsted weight #4 (100% cotton; 573 yards/524 meters per 340 gram/12 ounce skein)

1 skein Floral Prints (A)

Lily Sugar’n Cream, worsted weight #4 (100% cotton; 120 yards/109 meters per 70.9 gram/2.5 ounce skein)

1 skein each of Hot Pink (B), Hot Orange (C), and Soft Violet (D)

Hook & Other Materials

US Size H/8 (5.0mm) crochet hook
4 1-inch buttons
Measuring tape
Yarn needle
Scissors

Instructions

Using A, ch 41.

Row 1 (RS): Working down one side of the chain, sc in 2^nd chain from hook, sc to last chain, 2sc in last. Turn to continue working up opposite side of beginning chain. 2sc in first chain, sc to last, 3sc in last, join to first sc. (84 sc)

Rows 2-6: Ch 1, hdc around, join. Drop A, but don’t fasten off. (84 hdc)

Row 7: Using B now, ch 3, dc3tog in same, ch 1, skip 1, (dc3tog, ch 1, skip 1) to end, join to first dc3tog. Drop B, but don’t fasten off. (42 dc3tog clusters, 42 ch-1 spaces)

Row 8: Ch 3, rejoining A, skip the first dc3tog cluster, dc3tog in the ch-1 space, (skip 1, dc3tog in space, ch 1) to end, join to the first dc3tog. Drop A, but don’t fasten off. (42 dc3tog clusters, 42 ch-1 spaces)

Row 9: Ch 1, rejoining B, hdc around, join to the first hdc. Fasten off B. (84 hdc)

Rows 10-15: Ch 1, rejoining A, hdc around, join to the first hdc. (84 hdc)

Row 16: Using C now, ch 3, dc3tog in same, ch 1, skip 1, (dc3tog, ch 1, skip 1) to end, join to first dc3tog. Drop C, but don’t fasten off. (42 dc3tog clusters, 42 ch-1 spaces)

Row 17: Ch 3, rejoining A, skip the first dc3tog cluster, dc3tog in the ch-1 space, (skip 1, dc3tog in space, ch 1) to end, join to the first dc3tog. Drop A, but don’t fasten off. (42 dc3tog clusters, 42 ch-1 spaces)

Row 18: Ch 1, rejoining C, hdc around, join to the first hdc. Fasten off C. (84 hdc)

Rows 19-21: Ch 1, rejoining A, hdc around, join to first hdc. Fasten off A. (84 hdc)

Row 22: Using D, ch 1, sc around, join. (84 sc)

Row 23: Ch 1, without turning your work, insert the hook from front to back in the first sc stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through both loops on your hook. Working clockwise, continue working in crab stitch all the way around, join. Fasten off. (84 sc)

Weave in all ends.

Straps (Make 2)

Using A, chain 51.

Row 1: Sc in the back bump of the 2^nd chain from the hook, sc to end, ch 1, turn. (50 sc)

Row 2: Sc in first 5, hdc to last 5 stitches, sc to end, ch 1, turn. (10 sc, 40 hdc)

Row 3: Sc in first 2, ch 2, skip 2, sc to last four stitches, ch 2, skip 2, sc to end, ch 1, turn (46 sc, 2 ch-2 spaces)

Row 4: Sc in first 2, 2 sc in ch-2 space, sc in next, hdc to the last stitch before next ch-2 space, sc, 2 sc in ch-2 space, sc to end. (10 sc, 40 hdc)

Row 5: Sc across. Fasten off. (50 sc)

Weave in all ends.

Assembly

Lay your tote on a flat surface. On the first side, measure 2 inches from each edge and sew on your first two buttons on row 20. Flip over and sew on your last buttons the same distance apart so each side matches. Attach your straps, and you’re done!

Are you looking for more FREE crochet patterns?

I hope you enjoyed making my Sweet Stripes Pouch! If you enjoyed making this FREE Crochet Bag Pattern and want to share your creation, please add your project to Ravelry! You can find my designer page for more FREE patterns!

Amplify Your Reading With a Touch of Hygge – 5 Simple Ways To Cozy Up Your Reading

Hygge might be a Danish concept and seem foreign to you, but it’s easier to incorporate into your daily life than you might think. Reading and hygge go together like milk and cookies or peanut butter and chocolate, and when you amplify your reading with a touch of hygge, bringing coziness into your reading, you’ll have an even better reading experience.

Reading is one of those things I would love to say I can accomplish anywhere: standing in line at the grocery store, getting an oil change, sitting next to my husband as he watches hockey, or maybe even while I’m cooking dinner.

However, in the past couple of years, I lost my focus when it came to reading. This meant that any time I could previously find myself reading — such as those listed above — wasn’t happening anymore.

It. Was. Tragic.

Now, two years later, I find myself gravitating toward reading again, and I have to set the right stage when I sit down with a book. Gone are the days when I could read a page here or there; I need to sit down for at least twenty minutes to actually get a good dose of reading in (hopefully more, but with kids, it can be hard!).

Setting the stage, for me, involves a little bit of coziness or hygge.

Years ago, I remember hygge being all the rage, but the concept has been around forever — especially for an introvert like myself.

hygge (noun): a cozy quality that makes a person feel content and comfortable

hygge (adverb): invoking or fostering a sense of coziness, contentment, and well-being
Merriam-Webster

Coziness and contentment — and maybe a coffee.

The Elements of Hygge That Make for a Hygge Reading Experience

A cozy place to read
A blanket or a cozy sweater
Proper lighting
A hot cup of something
A calm mind

A Cozy Place to Read

A cat and a bookcase — Reading next to my bookshelves, with my cat, is probably one of the most cozy hygge experiences ever.

Maybe it’s your bed, or the couch, or on your porch, but nothing is cozier than a place you don’t want to get up from. For me, this is either the couch in the front room of my house that overlooks the apple blossom tree and gets lots of light, or it’s the couch in my room on a stormy night, listening to the rainfall and smelling that succulent mix of rain and fresh-cut grass through my open window. For the latter, I get less light, but the rain adds that extra element of cozy.

What isn’t hygge is sitting in an uncomfortable chair, trying to read. For me, it’s like trying to have a meaningful conversation with people on an uncomfortable chair — it’s just not possible. Similar to wearing something too tight, too short, or just not comfortable, I move more, more focused on the discomfort rather than the conversation. Or, in this case, on my book.

A Blanket or Cozy Sweater

If you’re already finding it hard to sit and focus on your book, nothing makes it worse than feeling cold. Getting a nice wool sweater or blanket, throwing on a pair of fuzzy socks or cozy slippers, or even sitting next to a roaring fire wearing all of the above is the epitome of cozy.

Bonus points if you have a roaring fire, cozy blankets, AND an open window with a thunderstorm outside to accompany your book. I get chills just thinking about that!

As a knitter, I also love to wear hand-knit fingerless gloves while I read. They keep my hands toasty!

Proper Lighting

When I read a book, I love being completely immersed in the story. Do you know what sucks just a bit of that immersion out? Fluorescent lighting. Or, having to squint to read my book because it’s a wee bit too dark.

A nice, warm glow from a lamp, or a fire, is perfection. But sometimes we just don’t have access to a roaring fire, so sitting next to a window, or outside as the sun comes up or goes down, is also nice.

I also really like to read at night, in bed, by the light of my Himalayan salt lamp that sits by my bed. It’s not the brightest, but something about that orange glow just soothes me. And it’s the perfect amount of light at night. You might also find me reading until I just can’t see my book anymore while reading in the evenings. Don’t get me wrong, I love lamps, but I also love the organic feel of reading by sunlight and moonlight.

Just make sure to sit by a cozy lamp that you can turn on when it gets too dark so you don’t strain your eyes.

A Hot Cup of Something

Stephen King book, a cup of tea, and some fall decor — A hot cup of tea and a horror book = perfection.

Of course, there’s a time and a place for a book and a beer. Think, reading on the porch on a summer afternoon as the sun warms you up … having a beer with that is its own type of cozy.

But, when you’re sitting cozy on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, with the window open and a cool breeze flowing through, a hot cup of tea or coffee is perfection. Something to warm your body.

A Calm Mind

Lastly, to focus and get lost in your book, you need to have a calm mind. If your mind is racing with thoughts of what you need to accomplish the next day, or it’s thinking about a conversation you had earlier, you will not be able to focus on your book.

I struggle with this sometimes, especially at night. I’ll try to lie in bed and read my book, cozy with my heated blanket and the light from my Himilayan salt lamp … but my head won’t stop going over the long to-do list I have the next day. I then find myself reading sentences repeatedly, not really taking in what I’m reading.

How can you fix this? Write things down!

You could have a journal to write your thoughts in or write your to-do list down on a piece of paper or in your daily planner for the next day. Get those thoughts out! Don’t let them jumble up your brain.

You should also put your phone away in another room or turn it silent, so you’re not constantly reacting to a ping or alert. If you’re like me, the phone might be a distraction, so it’s best to keep it in another room. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

I hope these tips help you to amplify your reading with a touch of hygge. Reading is one of the coziest things you can do, and amplifying that experience with a few steps will make you enjoy it even more.

Would you like some book recommendations with your hygge? Check these out!

How do you make reading a cozy and enjoyable activity? Are you able to read anywhere you go? In the comments below, let others know how you amplify your reading with a touch of hygge. I’d love to know!