Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
#50x50
blurb
TheAromaofBooks
Spin Around Space | Igloobooks
post image

Good morning, everyone! The moment you have all been waiting for!! Our official #BookSpin number is THREE! Our official #DoubleSpin number is FIVE!! I have thoroughly enjoyed looking at everyone‘s lists & am really looking forward to seeing your reviews!!

My next post will be the #BookSpinBingo card. I am NOT tagging anyone on that post!! If you want to bingo, please just check my profile for the card. This saves me having to double tag ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont‘d) everyone/keep track of who wants to bingo and who doesn‘t!!

I use the same tag list for the entire year, so if you would like to be added or removed, please just let me know. It takes me a while to tag everyone (there are a lot of you!!!) but if I end up missing you, it was completely inadvertent. Sometimes I just spell someone‘s username wrong. ⬇
4d
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) As always, the link to the masterpost about how this challenge works can be found on my profile or here - https://thearomaofbooks.wordpress.com/bookspin-bookspinbingo-litsy-challenge/ - and the link to the Google Form where you can track your reads for the end-of-the-year-giveaway can be found here - https://forms.gle/9aFL7yhPDjV1JNnFA

Thanks for playing, everyone!! Please know that I read EVERY comment on this post but don't always ⬇
4d
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) have time to reply to them all!! Thank you all so much for your enthusiasm and for making this challenge SO much fun!!

I'm going to post the Bingo board, and then come back and start the tag list on this post. Happy reading!!!
4d
See All 42 Comments
Soubhiville Yay! Thanks @TheAromaofBooks ! Happy New Year! 4d
JackOBotts Yay! 🤗 4d
staci.reads Thanks for #Bookspin 2026! The chunkster tagged is my #BS and Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche's Dreamcount is my #DS! I am excited to pull them both off my shelf and dive in! 4d
Suet624 Thank you. 💕💕 4d
Lcsmcat Thank you for continuing to organize this! My bookspin is V. 2 of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and ds is Lee‘s biography of Edith Wharton. 4d
PuddleJumper Thanks! That's Daisy Darker and Mr. Poirot Mischief on the Nile. It's a Christie month 4d
melissajayne Could I be added to the list? Thanks. (Yes I did look and I didn‘t see my username). 4d
TheAromaofBooks @melissajayne - I added you!! Sorry you got missed!! 4d
CozyBookworm Could I be added to the list? This is my first year trying #Bookspin, and I‘m so excited! Not brave enough to try #Bookspinbingo yet, but maybe next year 😆 4d
TheAromaofBooks @CozyBookworm - You're on the list!! And since this is a monthly challenge, you can totally try the bingo aspect any time you want. Lots of people pop in and out, or use one board for a couple of months. Feel free to make the challenge work for you!! 4d
CozyBookworm @TheAromaofBooks Thank you! I will do that. 4d
RaeLovesToRead 2026 is the year I will get a bingo! I can feel it 🤣 4d
bookandbedandtea Woohoo! 1st of the year 🎉 4d
claudiuo Awesome! First one in '26! Not sure what books yet, they are both TBD, one Mystery and one SciFi. Thank you so much! (edited) 4d
vonnie862 Sweet! Great start!!! 4d
CSeydel Thank you for doing this again! Happy new year! 4d
BarbaraJean Perfect spins—DoubleSpin is a graphic novel (tagged) that I *accidentally* finished in one sitting last night, and BookSpin is encouraging me to work on my #50x50 reading challenge 😁 (edited) 4d
willaful @RaeLovesToRead rooting for you! 4d
willaful Both of mine are romances, which is nice because I've been enjoying them again lately. 4d
Caryl Such a great start to 2026! Thank you and happy new year! 4d
Larkken I may have been misspelled in the tag list, if not, add me for next month please! 4d
Larkken I love that background paper 😍 4d
dabbe I hope you don't mind, but I rearranged things on the #LELH spreadsheet. If you want me to change anything, let me know! 😍

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xB17c0YZ6-IcngwWteNPyWiwoLn3bvcb7kjtqOLu...
4d
triplem80 I totally missed the request to be added to the list again this year, but I would love to be tagged. Thanks so much!! 4d
TheAromaofBooks @Larkken - Yep, I managed to give you double Rs instead of double Ks 😂 And the paper is actually a computer desk pad that my sister gave me for Christmas. Isn't it pretty??? 4d
Larkken @TheAromaofBooks ooh I love that!! 4d
Susanita Please add me back to the list. 4d
MemoirsForMe Happy New Year Sarah! Love starting the year with #BookSpin! 🤗❤️🎆🎊 4d
julieclair And we‘re off and running! 🎉 My BS is one of my #Roll100 books, and my DS is my #ClearTheCozies choice 4d
97 likes42 comments
review
BarbaraJean
The Hungering Dark | Frederick Buechner
post image
Pickpick

I didn‘t realize how appropriate this would be to read during December. It may partly be reading it during this season, but Buechner‘s reflections here all seem to center on and circle around the Christmas story—and on Christ—moving through themes of darkness and light, doubt and faith. Buechner‘s writing is gorgeous as always, and the prayers that conclude each chapter are especially rich & meaningful. This was my November #DoubleSpin. ⤵️

BarbaraJean This was also intended to be my pick for a #50x50 prompt—a book published before I turned 10 (between 1978 and 1987). StoryGraph lists it as having been published in 1985, but my copy shows it was first published in 1969… which is *technically* before I turned 10, but it‘s also before I was born 😆 I‘ll decide later whether I want to read something different to fulfill this prompt! 6d
TheAromaofBooks Lovely review!! It can be so aggravating trying to find actual original publication dates! 5d
julieclair That quilt!!! Are you a quilter? 5d
See All 7 Comments
BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Thank you! StoryGraph usually gets it right... just not this time 😩
@julieclair I'm not, but my mom was! This is one of hers 😌
5d
TheAromaofBooks Also, side note, am I supposed to be starting a Kindred Spirits book? I can't remember what we decided to do after the Christmas stories, or if we decided at all 😂 5d
BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Sunday we start Marigold! I need to post a schedule. In the aftermath of Christmas, out of town relatives leaving, New Year‘s, and in-town relatives returning… my mind has been chaos for the past week 😆 Schedule coming right up! 5d
TheAromaofBooks Absolutely no pressure. I just literally was like... I think we had a plan, but I don't remember it 😂 4d
31 likes7 comments
review
BarbaraJean
Five Little Pigs | Agatha Christie
post image
Pickpick

I really, really liked this—and I also read it at the beginning of July, so my memory is a little sketchy.

Poirot is called in to solve a 16-years-old case, by the daughter of the woman who was convicted of the murder. He examines the accounts of the five people who were present, investigating the contradictions and conflicts between their memories of that day. I went back and forth on who I thought was the murderer… ⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) …and was conflicted about who I wanted to be the murderer! A clever mystery, with lots of great Poirot content. This was my 1942 pick for #192025, my June #BookSpin, and fulfilled prompt # 23 for #50x50: a classic mystery. @Librarybelle @TheAromaofBooks 2mo
TheAromaofBooks I love the alternate title for this one - “Murder in Retrospect.“ It's been a long time since I read it, but I remember it being so clever. 2mo
Librarybelle Oh! I like the alternate title too, @TheAromaofBooks ! 2mo
See All 6 Comments
TheAromaofBooks @Librarybelle - I'm endlessly fascinated (and completely aggravated!) by why the titles sometimes changed between US and UK editions. 2mo
Librarybelle @TheAromaofBooks Yes! It‘s so aggravating! 2mo
BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I like that title better! It is frustrating when titles are changed like that. Sometimes I can see the reason for changing titles (i.e. And Then There Were None), but with this one it seems so arbitrary and unnecessary. @Librarybelle 2mo
40 likes1 stack add6 comments
review
BarbaraJean
post image
Pickpick

I‘ve loved John O‘Donohue‘s writing in the past. His book of blessings (To Bless the Space Between Us) always has something rich and meaningful to offer, and I‘ve often come across quotations from O‘Donohue‘s work that are exactly what I need when they cross my path. So I had high expectations for this one, having had it on my TBR for some time.

O‘Donohue offers an exploration of Celtic spirituality as he examines friendship, the senses, ⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d)… solitude, work, aging, and death. Woven throughout is a reverence for beauty and for the natural world. I enjoyed this overall, but often found it meandering & disconnected. Looking back at sections I underlined, there were quite a few gems along the way…so I‘m puzzled as to why it left me underwhelmed.

I read it over 3 months, in fits and starts, and I wonder if it would have read better for me if I‘d dipped into it more frequently—⤵️
2mo
BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) …savoring it more consistently. I will probably read this again, more slowly, dipping into chapters and sections as I feel drawn to them.

This was my April #DoubleSpin and I also chose to read it as # 44 for #50x50—“Related to my vocation/profession”—connecting it to my coursework in spiritual direction. @TheAromaofBooks
2mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2mo
27 likes3 comments
review
BarbaraJean
Salt Dancers | Ursula Hegi
post image
Pickpick

This is a quiet, internal story, with abuse, abandonment, and unanswered questions at its heart. Julia—pregnant at 41—returns to her hometown after 23 years away. She‘s searching for answers & some measure of resolution about her past. I appreciated the nuance with which Hegi paints her characters—acknowledging both the repercussions of abuse & abandonment, and the unreliability of memory—as Julia struggles to reconcile the past & move forward.⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) Post-college (early 2000s), I read a couple of Ursula Hegi‘s books—Intrusions and Stones from the River—which made Hegi an auto-buy author for me for several years. Salt Dancers was one of those auto-buys from a now-long-closed Borders‘ sale shelf. Although I remember one of my best friends reading and loving this, it sat on my shelf for years. A trifecta of challenges prompted me to finally read it back in August. ⤵️ (edited) 2mo
BarbaraJean This was my July #BookSpin, and it also fulfilled 1995 for #192025, and # 38 (published before I turned 20) for #50x50. @TheAromaofBooks @Librarybelle 2mo
Librarybelle I really enjoyed Stones from the River! Stacking this one! 2mo
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 2mo
33 likes1 stack add4 comments
blurb
BarbaraJean
BookSpinBingo | Untitled
post image

The #BookSpin fates are whispering “read your challenge books.” My BookSpin will fulfill 1953 for the #192025 challenge AND # 15 (BIPOC author I‘ve meant to read) for my #50x50 birthday challenge (which I‘ve neglected in favor of finishing 192025 😆) My #DoubleSpin is any #50x50 book. I‘m debating between the three on the right: Last Unicorn (classic children‘s fantasy), Mabinogion (Arthurian), and Hungering Dark (published before I turned 10).

BarbaraJean Oh! And my BookSpin will also complete another #10beforetheend book! 🎉🎉 2mo
TheAromaofBooks Yay!! Enjoy!! 2mo
28 likes2 comments
review
BarbaraJean
Raybearer | Jordan Ifueko
post image
Pickpick

Oh, this was good. Rich world-building, unique magic system, complex characters, nuanced political dynamics, and a fascinating examination of power, culture, history, and gender. All wrapped up in a fast-paced chosen-one/coming-of-age story with a (very complicated) found family vibe. The author makes bold choices here, exploring several very heavy themes and offering some jaw-dropping twists that kept me on my toes. Now I need the sequel!

BarbaraJean This fulfills prompt # 30 for my #50x50 challenge: a book given to me within the last 5 years. 5mo
43 likes1 comment
review
BarbaraJean
post image
Pickpick

Fast-paced, snarky, ridiculous, and fun—this was just as expected. During the COVID pandemic, Jamie takes a job working for a secretive “animal rights organization” and finds himself part of a team studying and caring for, well—Kaiju. On an alternate world adjacent to our own. Naturally, hijinks ensue. I read this for my #50x50 challenge, for prompt 12 - a book I gave to someone else but still haven‘t read. (Well, now I have 😆) ⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) Do you ever gift books you haven‘t read? I sometimes do—but often feel like I shouldn‘t! This one was a gift for my husband, and he still hasn‘t read it. I feel like I‘ve restored balance by reading it before him. 😁 5mo
49 likes1 comment
review
BarbaraJean
The Library at Night | Alberto Manguel
post image
Pickpick

I loved this. Manguel writes about being a reader in ways that are so relatable, even though I‘m pretty sure his reading is much more erudite than my own! Starting with reflections on setting up his own library, Manguel uses each chapter to examine a different aspect of libraries—the library as myth, as order, as space, as imagination, and so on. He brings together historical tidbits about personal and national libraries with his own reflections⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) …on reading and the collecting of books. Sprinkled throughout are related photos that made me add to my aspirational list of libraries and bookish sites to visit someday. And, naturally, several more of Manguel‘s books about reading have now been added to my TBR. This fulfills # 7 for my #50x50 challenge: a book about books/reading. And, it was my May #BookSpin. @TheAromaofBooks 6mo
TheBookHippie I personally think Netanyahu is pure evil, simultaneously I am so tired of people blaming all Jewish people for Palestine. People have lost the ability of nuance and the ability to contain multitudes. I give to Hadassah, I want the hostages home, I weep for what happened Oct 7. I also give to WORLD KITCHEN and aid to feed Gaza. I worry for the women & children there. I‘m so tired of people being on one side. No one wins in war but the oligarchs. 6mo
BarbaraJean @TheBookHippie I think you meant to post this for the Beinart book, but YES to all of this. Complexity abounds in all of this and SO MUCH nuance is needed. When people conflate Judaism as a whole—or all Jewish people—with the current government of Israel, it completely flattens that nuance. It is possible to both be heartbroken about October 7 and the destruction of Gaza. Any person of decency should be able to see the horror of both. (edited) 6mo
See All 6 Comments
TheBookHippie @BarbaraJean ha. OY VEY yes!!!! Ooops. 6mo
BarbaraJean @TheBookHippie 😂 I knew what you meant! 😁 6mo
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 6mo
46 likes1 stack add6 comments
blurb
BarbaraJean
The Library at Night | Alberto Manguel
post image

🤖 Finished System Collapse yesterday, completing my Murderbot re-read
⚔️ Started Guards! Guards! for #OokBOokClub
🐶 Beautiful Joe is ongoing for #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent
📚 I‘ve been parceling out an essay per day of The Library at Night, which is my May #BookSpin and also a pick for my #50x50 challenge

rachelsbrittain Love Murderbot! 7mo
29 likes1 comment