Litsy

Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope | Eleanor Herman

December wrap up, 12 books read:

3 Nora Roberts books for #authoramonth
1 chunkster for #foodandlit #Italy #Jubilee
2 books for #whattheDickens
1 for the #LitsyIrregulars
1 last book to finish #litsyatoz #letterV
1 book narrated by our very own @ImperfectCJ

Best book of the month tagged.

kspenmoll 👏🏻👏🏻 4h

Gissy You finished your reviews👏👏👏I‘m still in October because I went out and just arrived a couple of minutes ago. Let see if I can finish this task for my closure📚🙌 3h

23 likes2 comments

ncsufoxes

Yoko: A Biography | David Sheff

pick

Finished in 2025, I was interested to learn more about Yoko‘s life. She faced endless racism & misogyny when she became connected to John Lennon. After John‘s death she faced years of death threats towards her & her son. She is always seen as the person that broke up the Beatles but the group was already falling apart before her. She is the one that encouraged John to finish making Abby Road. It was interesting to learn about her life prior to

ncsufoxes being with John, her life with him, & the after. Sheff also does point out the book was not viewed by Ono before publication. He had had an immensely close relationship with her for many years & then they slowly drifted apart. 1d

19 likes1 comment

Texreader

Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope | Eleanor Herman

pick

Olimpia Maidalchini‘s father, lacking assets to pay a dowry worth his class, tried to put her in a convent. She ran away and never looked back. After a sketchy few years, she married and widowed into vast wealth—enough to fund the papacy for her second husband‘s brother, Pope Innocent X. Was she brash, manipulative, free-thinking? Heck yea when the alternative is meek silent acceptance of her lot in life. An otherwise boring tale is never that. ⬇️

Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick, Butterfinger

Texreader Every single sentence is interesting and propels the real-life story of this woman, in a world that rejects women at all costs (unless you‘re the pope who depended on her to win you the papacy). She supported Rome‘s prostitutes as well as her sisters and other women forced into nunneries. She built homes for the poor and paid for dowries to keep poor women from the convents. How can you not love her? I loved this book. A top pick for best book ⬇️ 1d

Texreader of 2026. So glad I read it for #foodandlit #Italy #Jubilee. It was a Jubilee year during “her” reign as well so it was well timed. And I loved revisiting so many places I visited three years ago in Rome and learned so much more about the people I admired (I‘m looking at you Bernini!). A brilliant book by an awesome author. 1d

Deblovestoread Fantastic review! Stacked 1d

See All 8 Comments

Crazeedi Want to read! 1d

Texreader @Deblovestoread @Crazeedi It‘s so good but beware it is a chunkster! It took me the whole month to read it. 1d

Butterfinger I have to read this. 1d

Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick This sounds great! Thanks for putting it on my radar. 1d

Crazeedi @Texreader I love chunksters, ❤️ 18h

49 likes4 stack adds8 comments

Trace

Reagan: His Life and Legend | Max Boot

pan

The author spends more time talking about Trump than the subject of the biography.

1 like

LitsyEvents

Meet George Washington | Joan Heilbroner

repost for @Amiable, @TEArificbooks

This month we will be reading a book about George Washington for #USPresidents. You pick the nonfiction book. Please tag @TEArificbooks and @Amiable There are so many book about George Washington, if you follow the hashtag you will see lots of options.

LinesUponAPage @TEArificbooks and @Amiable Sounds like a great challenge! We were in Maryland for Christmas and went to where George Washington decommissioned I think it was the Maryland State House? It was nice to be somewhere where a great man stood. Looking forward to reading more about him. Thanks for the chance to read more about the presidents. (edited) 1d

TEArificbooks @LinesUponAPage I used to live on old Mount Vernon land and frequently visited his house and mill and tomb. The mill still works and you can buy corn mill. The ladies that take care of the property do a lovely job. I highly recommend going to Mount Vernon if you ever get a chance. 1d

Amiable Thank you, @LitsyEvents ! 1d

LinesUponAPage @TEArificbooks Mount Vernon is amazing! We‘ve visited over 50 times in 20 years, mostly because one of our kids lives in Virginia. We took family pictures in 2025 behind the house and near the dock. GW is my husband's favorite president. He even dresses up for our July 4th event, which we started and now is run by a board of 7 Before we moved, our town didn't do a July 4th celebration. I told him I couldn't live in a town without events. 😉😆 1d

33 likes4 comments

GinaKButler

Mark Twain | Ron Chernow

New year, new chunk!! This is @Kelly326 and my first chunky buddy read of the year! Thank you for the inspiration, @Amiable 📚

Amiable I‘ve heard great things about it—plus, it‘s Chernow! I‘m excited, too. 2d

dabbe @Amiable I think I know why YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST was not your fave for GW. She HATES Chernow, doesn't she? 😳 1d

Amiable @dabbe I wrote a very detailed review of why I disliked that book if you want to scroll back on the book page. I think it was about 6 years ago. 1d

dabbe @Amiable Will do! 🤍❄️🩶 1d

23 likes1 stack add4 comments

Amiable

Mark Twain | Ron Chernow

Also diving into this one today for #chunksterchallenge2026. It‘s the 15th year in a row I‘ve committed to reading a book of approximately 1,000+ pages and starting it on Jan. 1. It‘s been my own personal #chunksterchallenge all these years. I‘m thrilled that so many of you have embraced the chunkster love and come along for the journey! Remember: Don‘t be afraid of a chunkster. It‘s just one page at a time until the end. You can do it ! 👊🏼

GinaKButler @Kelly326 and I are reading this one, too! 2d

Amiable @GinaKButler Yay!! 2d

Meshell1313 🎉can‘t wait for your review! 😍 1d

53 likes3 comments

Deblovestoread

Washington: The Indispensable Man | James Thomas Flexner

After crashing and burning on all challenges and most buddy reads last year (has anyone been more glad to see a year end than 2025) I feel hopeful and excited to be reading the above books.

#USPresidents2026 - Washington: The Indispensable Man
#BookedinTime - The Rival Queens
#SundayBuddyRead - Mob Queen
#AuthorAMonth - Nettle & Bone
#EuropaCollective - The Hottest Dishes
#AuldLangSpine - The Lilac People & The Girls Who Grew Big

May 2026 shine!

TheBookHippie Yay!!!!♥️♥️♥️♥️ 2d

dabbe I am so with you on 2025! Here's to better reading in 2026! 🩵🤍💙 1d

51 likes2 comments

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