These are a few of my favorite things: Spring 2026 edition

 🌸 My Favorites of Spring 2026 🌺

Below, I have shared some of my favorite pictures, music, movies, YouTube videos, and TV shows that I have watched or listened to this spring. This has been a great season for some amazing entertainment. I also wanted to share the stories I loved on A03 from this season and some other favorites.

🌳The Beauty of Nature:

🎵 Music:

1. "Drive Safe" by Niall Horan and Myles Smith- Niall and Myles's voices sound great together.

2. "I Knew It, I Knew You" by Taylor Swift- This was obviously going to be on the list. New country Taylor song!! 

3. "Edge of the World," "No Time to Waste (End of May)," and "Famous" The Strike- The Strike is definitely one of my favorite bands. These are great new songs from them. I'm looking forward to hearing more of their new songs throughout the year. 

4. "(Can't Live Without Your) Love & Affection" by Nelson- An old favorite I have been listening to a lot over the last couple of months. 

5. "Lay Your Dreams Down Gently" by Oysterband- So beautiful! Found it because of a story I read. 

6.  luck... or something album by Hilary Duff- I have been a fan of Hilary Duff ever since I was about 10 years old when I first heard her album Metamorphosis. It's wonderful that she released new music this year. Great album. 

  

7. "Iris," "We Got History," "Truth About You," and "Speed of Light" by Mitchell Tenpenny- Gosh, I adore his voice so much. Beautiful! Especially his cover of "Iris"

8. "Bad Boys" by Wham!- I heard this for the first time in May and I love it. Never have not loved a song by Wham! Apology always gives me such great recs. 

9. "Love For Free" and "Better Than You" by David Archuleta- I don't think I'll ever find new music by David I don't love. "Love For Free" sounds so different from his other stuff. 

10. "WHERE IS MY HUSBAND?" by Raye- Gosh, I love this song! 

11. "Opalite" by Taylor Swift- This is not a new favorite at all, but it had to make it on the list because I cannot stop listening to it.  

12. "Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else" by Benson Boone- Another not new favorite on this list, but I have had it on repeat since I first heard it last year. Makes me want to dance every time I hear it.  

🖥️ YouTube: 

I haven't been watching as much YouTube this quarter but these all are always favorites. One of my favorite things to do is put on one of these videos in the background while working on blogging, graphic designs, or crafting. 

1. BooksandLala

I will never not have Kayla on one of these lists. She's always a favorite for me. I absolutely love her videos. I have watched and loved every one of Kayla's public videos this quarter and enjoy them all. Here are some of my absolute favorites. 

- fantasy & chicken nugget smut || Buzzword Vlog #4- Love the vlogs with Mama Lala

- She's Reading WHAT Book?? 🐝 Buzzword Vlog Ep.5

- Guessing & Ranking Every Romance Trope- Great video idea. Love how much Rob was in this one. 

- Reading Your FUNNIEST Book Recs 😆

- My Favourite Word Games 🕹️ 30+ Daily Challenges- I love games like these so much

- Speak of the devil!! 😈 Buzzword Vlog #6

- Book Shopping Roulette Controls My Week- Love her ideas! It's always entertaining to watch a video from Kayla. 

2. Gavin Reads It All

- Gavin's videos are an absolute joy to watch. I did not watch as many of them this quarter but had a lot of fun watching these ones. The top two were technically watched at the end of winter but I wanted to add them to this list because I enjoyed them so much. 

-  I Gave Up Control of My Snake Across My Bookshelves Reads 🐍📚

-  I Went to the Real Lava Springs to Read High School Musical Books! 📚🎶 

- The Top 100 Books of All Time 📖 

-  A Chill Few Days Reading A Classic & An Anticipated Arc 🫖🐳
 

 

 

🎞️ Movies/ TV Shows:

1. The Mandalorian and Grogu 

- My mom, brother, his girlfriend, and I all went to see The Mandalorian and Grogu twice together. Once on the day it released May 22nd and then again on June 7th. There's nothing like seeing a great Star Wars movie in the theater. It was such a great continuation of Mando and Grogu's story and I highly enjoyed the introduction to the new characters. My favorite out of the new characters was Rotta the Hutt. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed his character. It's the first time I have ever liked a Hutt. Jeremy Allen White did very well in the role. Sigourney Weaver was also a wonderful addition to the cast. I'm glad she was given a decent role. 

- My favorites of the side characters though were definitely the Anzellans, who are always great. I loved seeing them work together with both Grogu and Mando throughout this movie. Also, I liked Zeb's character quite a bit and want to finally watch Star Wars Rebels to see more of him. 

- The ensemble cast was great but the leads really stole the movie, especially Grogu. This really was his story and I loved seeing where it was taken. Sure this might not have been the most necessary story but I'm very happy to have it. Hopefully there will be more adventures with Mando and Grogu in the future. I don't want to say goodbye to them anytime soon. 

2. Ghosts (Season 5)

~ Another favorite that will probably always be on one of these lists. Definitely, my favorite show that is currently playing on tv. I’m so glad we are getting at least one more season. 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Star Wars: Maul- Shadow Lord

- This is a standout for a Star Wars animated show, just for the animation alone. It is a stunning masterpiece that I look forward to watching again in the future. I'm glad they have at least picked it up for another season of this. The character work is so entertaining and I enjoyed the many new characters they introduced here. 

- They did such interesting things with Mail's character. I could talk extensively about this show but there would be too many spoilers. I highly recommend watching it if you are a Star Wars fan. The animation alone makes it worth a watch.

 

Other: 

1. Cottagecore sticker book- I absolutely love this sticker collection that I found at Cracker Barrel a couple of months ago. I have been using it in my reading planner quite a lot. Such a wonderful selection of stickers. 

2. Summer Salads- I love making salads with strawberries and blueberries in the summertime. They are so great! Looking forward to many more. This salad has lettuce, spinach, grilled chicken, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, and blueberries. 

3. Lemon Waffers- We have always enjoyed waffers and the lemon ones are wonderful. They make me think of my dad every time I eat one. Lemon was his favorite flavor.  

4. Daily Trivia- Daily Trivia on our Roku has been one of my favorite parts of the day for about a year and a half. I try to play it everyday in the evening. I love trivia, especially for entertainment. 

 

5. My favorite stories on A03- I have not been reading as many books as I usually do the last couple of months because I have been reading a lot of fanfiction on AO3. My absolute favorites are marked with an asterisk (*).  These all are incredible stories that I have had the time of my life reading. 

~ Slack Water by AppleSeeds*

    - Such a great story!

~ Strange, Isn't It? by On1OccasionFork

    - An interesting take on It's a Wonderful Life. Here I am reading Christmas stories when it's almost the summer again.  

~  Critical Error: CEO Requires Attention by whatkeepsusalive

    - Hilarious! 

~ Music and Love Everywhere by pilatesandpinot*

    - One of the best stories I have found in a long time. Love how it's semi inspired by You've Got Mail. So sweet. 

~ When Fandom Trumps Hate by Dragonfire42, TheWatsonDiaries (Dragonfire42), VaguelyScribblesDownward (Dragonfire42)*

    - This is an epistolary story that is told through email, discord messages, texts, prose, and stories. It is such a great story that I had the time of my life reading. 

~  The Garden of Delights by Mizmak

    - Pub trivia, gardening, writing, cute romance... this has everything I love. 

~ Accidentally Revealed Series by whatkeepsusalive

    - Great so far. Looking forward to the next one

~ Until the last breath series by Merlarme

    - The first story in this series is an epistolary story set during WW1 and it broke my heart. Absolutely beautiful. 

~  Miracle Work by fandoms_of_allie*

    - Another heartbreaking story that I absolutely adored! 

~ Only Ever Meant For Someone Else by Di_42

    - This one was a lot of fun. 

~  A Christmas Wish by AppleSeeds*

    - AppleSeeds stories will always bring joy to my days. This one was super sweet with the Christmas Advent calendar adventures. Definitely going to be a new favorite I reread again and again. 

~ Notice by AppleSeeds

    - Such an incredible story. Loved seeing the relationship develop as they got closer. 

~ Say it with flowers by Angelica_Tree

    - I love flower shop stories. This was very cute.

 
~ In the Stars by ImaginaryCupcake *

    - This might be one of my absolute favorites out of the new stories I read this month. So beautiful and heartwarming. 

~ A Chronicle of Affection (or How to Get Everything You Ever Wanted in Just 12 Months) by SpectrallyDistracted*

    - And it's all because of a visit to see Father Christmas. Oh my goodness, this story was everything. Absolutely perfect in every way. I could not get enough of it. I'll always be a sucker for a found family story.  

~ Tale as Old as Time by Arielavader

    - A sweet short story about two different generations. Had me tearing up in the end but man was it beautiful. 

~ In Which the Flower Grows by Snowfilly1

    - Gosh, I adored this one. 

~ The Demon in the Doorway by LadyMango

    - An interesting take on a ghost story. I highly enjoyed this one.

 

~ You're Just a Little Under Rehearsed by MickyRC*

    -  I love a story dealing with putting on a musical and everything that has to be done to do so. This was entertaining and very cute. 

Bookish Wishes- 2026 Edition

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Bookish Wishes

The Top Ten Tuesday for this week is to give a wishlist of books you would like people to get for you. I decided to change this a a bit again for this year's post. These wishes are not going to deal with specific books that I want. Many of these wishes are ones where I would love recommendations if anybody has any for them. Thank you in advance! I hope everyone is enjoying the month so far. 

 Happy Reading!  

1. Translated Books - I have started a bunch of translated series from other languages such as German, French, and Japanese. Many of these series have not been completely translated into English for instance the Zamonien series by Walter Moers. Each of Walter Moers books can be read on their own for the most part but I would love to be able to read the entire series one day. So far only the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth have been. My wish is for all of them to be translated. I particularly want to read the seventh book in the series which sounds like it is very good. 

2. To love all the new books from my favorite authors- I'm always hoping for new books from my favorite authors. Plenty of my favorite authors have new works coming out by the end of this year or next year and I cannot wait to get to them. I hope they are all five star reads. Also, I hope everyone enjoys the books coming from their favorite authors. 

     Some examples are: 

        - Daggerbound (Swordheart #2), A Devil of a Crime, and A Spoonful of Trouble by T. Kingfisher

        - Wondrous and Emily Wilde's History of Dark Faerie (Emily Wilde #4) by Heather Fawcett

        - Mestra by Madeline Miller

        - Styx- The River (Goddesses of the Underworld #2) by Nikita Gill

        -  Sea of Charms (Spellshop #3), The Magical Cheese Emporium (Spellshop #4), and The Imagitorium by Sarah Beth Durst

3. Many beautiful days this summer to read outside - I love getting to read outside and have been enjoying the nice weather we have been having recently. It would be great to get some more cooler temps and less humidity. Here is a picture of a turtle that we have been seeing in our yard a lot recently while enjoying the beautiful weather. 

4. More Cozy Academia Books (fantasy, historical fiction, or contemporary romance) - I'm always looking for books dealing with academia, especially cozier ones. I want characters who are well-versed in their areas of study/specialty. Especially books with librarians, art enthusiasts, history buffs, literary lovers, and subject experts on fantastical creatures, or magic. Would love to read about characters who are enthusiastic about what they do. 

      Some cozy academia books that I enjoyed:

        - Emily Wilde trilogy by Heather Fawcett

        - Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

        - The Spellshop and The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

        - The Little Library by Kim Fielding

        - The City of Dreaming Books (Zamonien, #4) by Walter Moers- Many of the books in this series have scholarly characters, but I love how this one deals with books.

        - The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series by James A. Owen- These have some darker elements but I would say they have a cozy feel to them. 

5. Short Story/ Poetry collections from my favorite authors - Short Story and Poetry collections are some of my favorite types of books and I would love for more of my favorite authors to write them. 

6. Fantastical retellings of my favorite classics- I am a big fan of retellings of my favorite classics and I would love to find fantasy versions of these stories.  Some examples of classics that I want fantasy versions of are: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (I want more ghosts), and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

7. Magical Art Stories (particularly stories where people are able to go into art)- This is a very specific wish. I love books dealing with art especially in fantasy and historical fiction stories. My brother is a big fan of the Elder Scrolls series of games and he showed me The Painted World in the remastered version of Oblivion and I'm obsessed with it. I love the idea of characters in a story being able to go into paintings/art and the world around them changing to match the style of the illustrations. I've always been a fan of book jumping and now I want painting jumping (characters being able to go into paintings). 

8. Every series to have a satisfying ending- This is going to always be a wish for me. I don't like spending so much time with a series whether it be a book, movie, or tv series and then the ending just not working. We invest so much time getting into a world and loving it, for the ending to be subpar or terrible. 

9. More books like: The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien by John Hendrix for my favorite authors- I have gushed about this book on here many times over the last two years since I read it and will continue to do so forever because it was just that great. It's a wish of mine to get more books like this for my other favorite authors. I would love to get one in a similar vain for Terry Pratchett, but maybe in Paul Kidby's illustration style (he is the illustrator for many of Terry's works). There's an ultimate wish. An example of one of illustrations is below. 

10. To continue to find joy in reading and writing- I don't think I really need to make this wish after so many years of enjoying reading, but I hope to continue to find books that bring me absolute joy. Also, I hope to enjoy the act of writing for my entire life. I have not been posting on this blog as much recently because I'm actively working on my favorite writing project I have ever written. It brings so much happiness to my days and I hope that will continue.