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#192025
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Bookwormjillk
BookSpinBingo | Untitled
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I think I finally figured out my June #BookSpinBingo list. Of course I‘m still working on April but we won‘t focus on that. Looking forward to many warm sunsets on the patio with Not My Cat. I‘ll tag my 20 in the comments. @TheAromaofBooks

Bookwormjillk A Northanger Abbey retelling (must catch up and read actual Northanger Abbey first) 2d
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Suet624 Great photo! 2d
Bookwormjillk A longest day of the year tradition 2d
Bookwormjillk Because a friend booked a trip that reminded me of this 2d
Bookwormjillk Curious about the Booker winner 2d
Aims42 Also looking forward to the Not My Cat posts this summer ♥️😻♥️ 2d
dabbe #nmc 🖤🐾🖤 2d
AnnCrystal 💕😻💝. 2d
LiseWorks Love Not my cat 2d
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2d
51 likes26 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
The Big Blue Soldier | Grace Livingston Hill
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Pickpick

Now that I'm down to only a handful of years to read to complete the #192025 challenge, I've turned to my shelves to see if I can fill any gaps. This slim story by Grace Livingston Hill checked of 1946, plus got an unread book off my shelf!! It's a perfect pleasant little story - Aunt Marilla is adorable - but too short to really build any kind of tension or actual romance between the two main characters. A soft pick, but one I won't reread.

Librarybelle Yay!!! 3d
merelybookish That's exciting! I am also down to a handful of years! 3d
Bookwormjillk Nice!! 3d
DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 3d
57 likes5 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
Miss Carter and the Ifrit | Susan Alice Kerby
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Mehso-so

This book had all the ingredients that I should enjoy, but somehow they just didn't work here. Miss Carter is a middle-aged woman, never married, who lives by herself in a small flat in London and works for the censor's office during WWII. Through a series of events, she finds herself in possession of an ifrit (i.e. genie). Part of the reason this book didn't quite work for me was that the ifrit's magic never really made sense to me. Apparently ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) he can't actually make things, just conjure them from other places? But he has to actually go in person and fetch them? Or something? And he physically flies to these places and consequently can be shot down by bullets? Or something? I was very distracted by the lack of sensible magic (you know what I mean haha) There is also a strange romance (ish) that I guess is supposed to be an acceptance of practicalities, but instead I just felt ⬇ 7d
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) bad that Miss Carter was giving up her peacefully independent life to go live with someone who more or less takes her for granted/doesn't seem to appreciate her. It was a strange vibe.

All in all, it was okay for a one-time read, but it's not a book I'm planning to keep. Right ingredients, wrong mixture.

But look at all those #ISpy prompts! 😂 - Cleaning Utensil, Cursive Font, Cat, Title/Author in Different Font, Book, Circle
7d
DieAReader Great!! 7d
Librarybelle Yay!!! 6d
50 likes5 comments
review
merelybookish
Lady Into Fox | David Garnett
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Pickpick

A fun little novella about a woman who suddenly turns into a fox, and how her husband manages. Author was part of the Bloomsbury Group.
Although very different in style and tone, reminded me a bit of the recent memoir Raising Hare.
Both suggest humans can learn a lot from wild animals.
Another prompt complete for #192025!

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Liz_M
14 Weeks | Jessica Gadziala
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I haven't changed this stack for a few days, so this is it, this is my stack for #14Books14Weeks!

A few for pride month, a few for Women in Translation month, half are #1001Books and more than half are for #192025

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sarahbarnes I Who Have Never Known Men is so good! I really liked Trust, too. 2w
Liz_M @sarahbarnes I was so intrigued by the title of I Who Have ... and then it got some Litsy love. Also Trust, because NYC setting. (edited) 2w
Ruthiella Good strategy to have a couple shorter titles to balance out the longer ones! 2w
ncsufoxes I liked Trust, I started Martyr! (really liked it) but I had to return it to the library & haven‘t gotten back to it. 2w
Liz_M @ncsufoxes Marytr! might be the book that has been recommended to me the most! 2w
BarbaraBB I still haven‘t read and do want to read 2w
41 likes20 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
Rilla of Ingleside | L.M. Montgomery
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Pickpick

This is one of my all-time favorite books and I have read it probably 25-30 times over my lifetime. The characters, the setting, the fact that a few of the moments in this book still make me choke up even after all these rereads - this book is close to perfect to me.

SO IT WAS A COMPLETE SHOCK to find out that in the 1940s random sentences/paragraphs were edited out!!! The edition I grew up reading, despite clearly saying it was “unabridged“ ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) was, in fact, abridged! As was virtually every edition published from 1942-2010! But in 2010 a restored text was published. Since I didn't know it existed, I didn't seek it out, but I just so happened to purchase this edition a couple of years ago as my old faithful Bantam paperback is wearing out and I love this cover. Turns out, it's the 2010 text. So obviously I didn't read the two editions side by side noting every passage I could ⬇ 3w
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) find that had been removed, because that would be ridiculous. But if I did, the note in the picture indicates how heavily each chapter was edited - ✔is unabridged, - is only a couple words or a sentence, + is several sentences, and ++ is multiple paragraphs.

I'm still completely befuddled as to why these passages were removed. It's true, nothing vital was taken out, but there are moments of humor, depth, and character, that were cut. ⬇
3w
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) A lot of the editing were various speeches of Susan's, so maybe they just decided they didn't like her character...???? But other moments, like Rilla clinging to hope so as to not 'break faith' with Walter, Anne recounting the hair-dying episode of her youth, or more details of how Dog Monday settled in at the station, seemed so arbitrary to remove.

So it was kind of fun to do a little treasure hunt and discover that there is even more ⬇
3w
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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) of a favorite book than I thought!!

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead @BarbaraJean
#192025 - 1921 @Librarybelle (I only have 5 years left to find so I think I may actually complete this challenge!!!)
#100YearsofBooks
#ISpyBingo - Cake, Stars, Train, Silhouette, Heart
#BookSpinBingo
3w
swynn Ridiculous? I don't know, reading the two editions side by side noting every passage that had been removed or altered sounds perfectly reasonable to me. How else would you know? Thanks for sharing your research! (edited) 3w
Librarybelle That‘s incredible! 5 years left…way to go!!! 3w
rubyslippersreads My copy is from 1921, so I think I‘m safe. 😊 Have you heard of this book? 3w
Kristin_Reads That‘s amazing! I would have never guessed! 3w
CSeydel Wow! 3w
BooksandCoffee4Me I‘ve never heard of it, but I want to read it. Hope I can find a true version. 3w
BarbaraJean And obviously I'm not going to go through your handy notes and check out all the differences between the two versions... and I'm also not reading the original unaltered edition in the ebook with my print versions at hand so I can check anything that doesn't sound familiar... 😆

It absolutely IS like a treasure hunt!! I love your perspective that it's like finding out there's MORE to love. I've been feeling betrayed by my old faithful Bantams!!
3w
TheAromaofBooks @rubyslippersreads - OOoo a first edition, so fun!! I have a few Anne books from the 1930s, but not Rilla. I hadn't heard of that book, but definitely want to check it out!! 3w
TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean - You can let me know if you find anything in the chapters I thought were intact - sometimes it would just be even a word. For instance, one time Rilla is cuddling Jims and says something like “I hope your poor little mother knows you're safe.“ Except in the original it's “poor little white mother“ and they cut the word white - which I feel like in this instance is more a reference to her being frail/sick rather than her actual race?⬇ 3w
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) But I have also felt rather betrayed by my old Bantams that I grew up reading!! So crazy!! 3w
Daisey I also love this book, but I didn‘t have time for a close comparison on this reread. I appreciate your notes! 2w
kspenmoll Happy Litsyversary!🎉🎉 (edited) 2w
TheAromaofBooks @kspenmoll - Thank you!!!! 2w
willaful @TheAromaofBooks I would feel the same! Hate that! 1d
68 likes2 stack adds18 comments
review
BarbaraJean
The Man in the Brown Suit | Agatha Christie
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Mehso-so

I‘m so conflicted about this one. I really liked the mystery and its twists and turns. I enjoyed the intrigue on the boat. I really liked Anne, Suzanne, and Colonel Race. But I hated Sir Eustace and I wasn‘t a fan of Harry. The colonialism and casual racism of the South African backdrop + the overt sexism/objectification of women really bothered me. I had a really hard time setting aside those latter elements with excuses of it being ⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) …“of its time” or tongue in cheek, so ultimately all of that overshadowed my enjoyment of the plot and the strong female characters… and the book overall.

#ChristiesCapers @Librarybelle This was also my 1924 pick for #192025.
3w
Ruthiella Great photo! 🤩 Her espionage themed books like this one aren‘t my favorites. 3w
Librarybelle That is a cool photo! 3w
BarbaraJean @librarybelle The cover of this library copy was so boring that it prompted me to get creative! @Ruthiella I've felt the same way about Christie's espionage books so far, but for reasons that feel unrelated to the espionage elements! 😆 3w
43 likes4 comments
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Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick
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Pickpick

I read these for the #192025 challenge, and they were both a quick & delightful way to bang out two years. Mrs Harris and the supporting characters were likeable, though I do think New York was a little less charming than the first. In Paris, we see Mrs Harris really impacting the various lives she encounters, where some of NY was swift mentions of people. Ultimately, I recommend both of you need something light & uplifting these days.

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BarbaraJean
The Library at Night | Alberto Manguel
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#BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for May! I‘m really excited about The Library at Night. It‘s been on my TBR for years, and my husband bought me a copy maybe a year ago at Christmas. It‘s on my #50x50 list and its time has come! My DoubleSpin landed on the same category as April‘s BookSpin (1950s—70s for #192025), which I still haven‘t read—I think it‘s a sign 😆 So I‘ll pick two of those three above, and one will be for April and one for May!

Lcsmcat I remember loving A Separate Peace when I read it in high school. 4w
Bookish.SAM I LOVED The Library and Night! And went to the immersive experience in Toronto a few years ago with the only other book nerd in my life, my cousin. We polished off the day at Library Bar in the Royal York. One of my best book nerd days ever! 📚🤓❤️ 4w
TheAromaofBooks Yay!! Enjoy!! I need to look at my list and figure out a strategy for my remaining books for that challenge - I actually don't have a lot of slots left so I feel like it's really doable!! 4w
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BarbaraJean @Lcsmcat I'm leaning toward that one and Black Sheep! 4w
BarbaraJean @Bookish.SAM Oh, that sounds amazing!! I'm so curious--what was the immersive experience?! 4w
BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I'm at about 75% for #192025--I think I need to read 2-3 books for it per month in order to finish in time. #BookSpin seems determined to keep me on track! 😂 4w
Bookish.SAM https://showoneproductions.ca/ru/event/library-at-night/. It was inspired by the book. A virtual reality tour of several famous (real and fictional) libraries around the world. Very interesting. (edited) 4w
BarbaraJean @Bookish.SAM That looks and sounds incredible!!! What a fantastic bookish experience. 😍😍 3w
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