You may or may not remember this tv show, Ally McBeal, from the turn of the century. It was a bunch of young, mostly well-intentioned Gen X lawyers who were gifted in the courtroom, but a hot mess in their personal lives. As with many shows at that time, it also had a phenomenal soundtrack (who knew before then, for instance, that Robert Downey Jr. had such a lovely voice?).

But this moment, at the end of season four, in 2001, marked a particular moment in time, when a teen whose prom date had dumped him at the last minute (I think he retained Ally to sue the girl, lost, and then brought Ally as his date) got up on stage to sing to the girl he’d loved and instead sang his way into the heart of America.

Josh Groban was only 20 when he made this appearance.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl asks us to share our ten most recent book hangovers — those books that we either absolutely could not put down, no matter the hour or consequence, or those that kept us so enthralled even after the final page was finished that we couldn’t move on to another book.

I had to go back almost a year and a half to get to ten, but I finally made it:

1. Kate Racculia’s Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts is a tightly paced, slightly over-the-top story with quirky, lovable characters that wanted to keep living in my head even after the final page was turned, which seems appropriate given the storyline.
2. Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory was such a sweet holiday romance that it wanted to be finished on back-to-back days, so it was good I read it over Christmas break.
3. The same thing happened with Jasmine Guillory’s The Proposal, but in that case it was during baseball season instead of the holiday setting.
4. Caravel by Stephanie Garber was also a fast read, full of a layered plot and unreliable characters and questionable motives.
5. Check, Please! Book One: #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu was an unusual read for me in that I don’t care at all about hockey, but I loved this book. And while I enjoy graphic novels, reading them gives me a little bit of a headache, so it’s rare for me to read them singly or for prolonged periods at a time. So it’s a real testament to Ukazu’s charming characters and New England elite liberal arts college setting that kept me absolutely glued to the pages.
6. Just as it’s rare for me to power through a graphic novel, it’s also unusual for me to progress quickly through an audiobook. But with The Lido by Libby Page, a novel about community activism and friendship and the power of journalism, I finished it in less than a week, which means I was spending a lot of my spare time listening, rather than just while I was washing the dishes at night.
7. Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce was another quick read, with a wartime setting and a BFF schism making everything more urgent.
8. Ghosts of Greenglass House by Kate Milford is the second in a series. Checking in with old friends in a familiar, well-loved setting made this a one-day read.
9. I did not love Barbara Kingsolver’s Unsheltered when I read it, but it refuses to fully release me from its spell, pulling me back into its unsettling orbit even now on occasion.
10. Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson was another fast read, rapidly investing me in its group of kids who go from forced support group to support network.

How about you? What recent book hangovers have you suffered from? ‘Fess up in the comments!

I head back to D.C. tomorrow afternoon. After all, we cannot spend all our time on vacation. Otherwise the work would never get done. And my cat would get lonely. And Rudi would miss me. So, I suppose it’s a good thing to get on the plane tomorrow. But I will miss my folks and Karen (and also getting to eat cake multiple times a day).

I thought I’d share some more cake with you.

This is the homemade blitz torte. It was so good that we’re down to a single slice remaining.

You know it’s a good birthday when you fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow, even if you were intending to write a blog recap from bed.

Rudi & I began the day with bagels and birthday presents before he took me to the airport for a flight to Connecticut.

My parents gave me midday cake (above) and we spent a low key afternoon reading and dozing (me) before heading out for pizza. We returned home for more delicious cake (Mum made my favorite cake of Gramma’s) and a dizzying array of gifts in front of the fire.

I got texts or calls from everyone I know, starting before I got up to moments before midnight, which made me feel very loved.

If your birthday sets the tone for the upcoming year, mine promises to be a good one.

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time once again to reflect back on three beautiful things from my past week:

1. A return of cold weather means that my birthday eve sundae doesn’t melt as I eat it on my walk home.

2. Rudi and I won’t get to spend much of my birthday together, so we went out to supper to celebrate at our favorite D.C. pizzeria two days early instead. We’ll do Valentine’s Day next week.

3. In Connecticut, where I grew up, “April showers bring May flowers.” But here in D.C., apparently February showers bring February flowers.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?