Welcome to Litsy!

#MiddleGradeMonday.

Loved this book when I read it. Aven Green was born without arms but she likes to tell people an alligator ate them. Great story about perseverance.

This is an interesting oral history of a woman born in 1901. Based on the author‘s grandmother. I read The Glass Castle a couple years ago, about the author‘s life growing up & especially her dad and his crazy schemes. This book was interesting as it showed her mom came from stock that wasn‘t much less chaotic.

In an effort to clear the kindle I picked this 2013 buy. it‘s a solid if perhaps unecesssrily complex murder mystery set in the Arizona desert. Narrated by Bridget Quinn in the first person its the story of a somewhat disgraced, early retired FBI agent and the case that got away. Bridget is frankly infuriating but also kind of awesome and it was interesting to have a slightly older protagonist. Apparently now there are also another 3!

Aven Green may have been born without arms, but she has amazing parents, an incredible sense of humor, and that knowledge that she can do almost anything she sets her mind to. When her family moves to a new place, she befriends a boy with Tourette‘s Syndrome, and together they dig into mysteries at a Western theme park. Delightful, emotional, engaging, and laugh-out-loud funny, this was a fantastic book about acceptance of self and others.

Scored a line in #bookspinbingo for the first time in months with this one! Really enjoyed it, great character development, and managed to be uplifting even though the subject matter at times was super dark

Meh, when does friends with benefits not lead to at least one person or both wanting more? I liked the premise of making it about birding- it almost sounds fun. The last third of the book is nothing but smut, but thankfully it‘s not degrading so it wasn‘t too cringe. Book #72 in 2024

Only @dabbe and I get to complain about the heat !Or Death Valley people or other Phoenicians! Note 100 at 11 pm. This is WTF heat

Reading this at the same time as Robinson Crusoe really pointed out how introspective Gil is. (And how much more I like him than Robinson 😀) This also feels like a book that will reward multiple readings. It touches on so many topics that could be depressing, but is actually hope-filled. I look forward to my book club‘s discussion on Thursday.

Current book club selection.

The bird-watching setup for this fake dating t trope was really cute. But don‘t let his innocent looking cover fool you because surely those fogged up binoculars were ineffective to sight 150+ birds. …It‘s become fact, that if I‘m pushing a sleeping grandchild through a crowded park and listening to an audiobook, I will have forgotten earbuds, and the book will be steamy🤭🤭