3/5 stars for this “Barely a Bitsy” (just made it !) level in #ChunksterChallenge2025. I liked it well enough. I did. It just seemed … bloated. The action takes place over a 14-day period and it felt like I was reading every minute in real time. I did enjoy the descriptions of the Tudor period, though. Perhaps I‘ll pick up a nonfiction history of the era next. I‘ll probably continue with the series, but I‘m not in a hurry to do so.

Accurate. Sadly, horrifyingly so.

Completed the Chunkster level for #ChunksterChallenge2025. I‘d give it a pick because it is a story well told (and well translated, if you get the P+V version). I wouldn‘t say it‘s the “greatest novel of all time,” as some reviews call it. It does provide an interesting historical context of its time. And now I can finally check it off my list. ✔️

#kareninawinter
#chunksterchallenge

@Cuilin — spotted this in my library and figured it must be a sign to read it ! Either that or @dabbe is hiding in the stacks and sending covert messages via hardcovers. 😀

I literally can‘t anymore. 😖

My reading stats for January 2025. I had a great month for fiction.

Amen.

I can‘t be the only weirdo who gets excited when I see a sale on a book about a disease or medical condition. Right? Bueller? Bueller?

#DiseaseoftheMonthBookClub

Completed book 6 for #DiseaseoftheMonthBookClub (Prompt: Read a book about cancer) This is about the employees at the Goodyear Tire Co. in Niagara Falls, NY, and the outbreaks of work-related cancers caused by exposure to toxic chemicals. I love a good narrative nonfiction. This one was a little more “nonfiction” and a little less “narrative” than I prefer. But still a good read.

A powerful novella that calls to mind the quote from the Talmud and “Schindler‘s List”: “Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.” It conveys the idea that one person can make a difference, that kindness and selflessness are essential to society, and that moral courage and strength are required to save that life and make that difference. I‘m in awe of Keegan‘s ability to pack so much of the human experience into so few pages.

Just got new socks. May be washing them to wear daily for the next 3 years, 51 weeks and 3 days. 😖

And it hasn‘t even been 24 hours yet.

Inspirational words that I needed to see/hear/read today, on this very dark day in our country. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “we must never lose infinite hope.”

OMG, this book! 😍 It totally stole my heart in a “A Man Called Ove” sort of way. I had tears in my eyes by the end. Loved it!

Today seemed to be the appropriate time to start this.

I‘m struck by this assertion: A book does not exist until it is read. A writer writes the words. But WE as the reader decide what the story is. What a fabulous and provocative topic of discussion for a book club.

I love this. ❤️

Tagging this book for the prompt, but also want to call attention to several others that should be read —they could have been written last week. Listed in the comments 👇🏼

@BookmarkTavern
#SundayFunday

Completed this book for #BookedinTime (Tudor England). I enjoyed the writing style and the story. Although I‘m not sure if I‘m invested enough in the character of Shardlake to continue on with the series. Maybe I‘m a bit curious to see how he fares now that his rose-colored glasses about Cromwell and the Reformation have been removed.

@Cuilin @dabbe

At first I was a bit … um, I guess, underwhelmed would be the word. It felt like just more of the same (but not in a good way) and I was just going through the motions. But then suddenly it began moving like a freight train and I was hanging on for dear life and hurtling over the finish line. And I was like, damn, Louise. You got me again. I can‘t quit you, Gamache or Three Pines. I‘m in for the long haul. ❤️

I‘m late to the party, but HOLY HELL this was a fun ride! And not just because I‘m a reader of a certain age.

Finished this and immediately put my name on the library waitlist for book 2, which comes out in March.

So excited and thankful to @CBee for tipping me off to the suggestion of ordering John Boyne‘s “Elements” series directly from Blackwell‘s since I couldn‘t find them here in the U.S.! Free shipping right to my door —at a very reasonable price, too!

It‘s funny… but it‘s not. 😖

Completed my #AuldLangSpine2025 pick from @JoeMo . This memoir is a gloriously acerbic, brutally honest look at the restaurant business in the early days of Anthony Bourdain‘s career. It‘s a bit repetitive, but I absolutely adore his voice. And now I know how to make a breast of chicken and mashed potatoes “tower like a fully engorged priapus.” So there‘s that. 👍🏼👍🏼 Thanks, Joe!

@monalyisha
#AuldLangSpine

Slowly making my way through this book, and just reached Part 4. Stumbled upon this phrase that made me literally laugh out loud. And also wish I could read Russian so I could enjoy it in the original text. 😄

#kareninawinter

@TheBookHippie @Cuilin @julieclair @kspenmoll @MemoirsForMe @Librarybelle @PurpleyPumpkin

Day 12 of #12Booksof2024

@Andrew65

My stack for the various challenges I am attempting to tackle:

1. Tolstoy: #kareninawinter, #chunksterchallenge2025 (848 pgs) and #fictionaltraveler (somewhere cold)
2. Dissolution: ##BookedInTime (Tudor England) and #fictionaltraveler (somewhere English)
3. Bourdain: #AuldLangSpine2025
4. The Cancer Factory: #DiseaseoftheMonthBookClub
5. King: #Nonfiction2025

Day 11 of #12Booksof2024 is my favorite nonfiction read of the year

@Andrew65

Goodreads reading challenge completed for 2025! 🥳🎉

@Hooked_on_books : my son was visiting for the holidays, so Brady wanted to send greetings and best wishes for 2025 to his doggie Doppelgänger! Woof woof, Bindi! ? ?

Day 10 of #12Booksof2024

@Andrew65

Day 9 of #12Booksof2024

@Andrew65

I laughed way too hard at this one. 😄

Raising a glass (I mean, a mug) of tea and a cardamom bun to @JoeMo as I kick off #AuldLangSpine2025 with this pick from his list.

#AuldLangSpine

I WAS planning on starting this puzzle to work on throughout the month, but my rocket-scientist son came home and completed it in 24 hours. So, um… yeah. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Day 8 of #12Booksof2024
A trio of excellent nonfiction reads

@Andrew65

Well, this is it —that‘s all she wrote (or rather, read) for 2024! I‘m not going to finish anything else tonight so might as well wrap it up. Feeling very pleased —I managed to smash my goal for “total pages read.” That‘s the one I aim for so I‘ll pick up the longer books.

Stats for December: Finishing the month with a few more completed reads than I expected, given the holiday season!

#2024ReadingBrackets I read a lot of really good NONFICTION this year. The tagged book was my pick for December. However, after the dust settled in this category I had to give the nod to “Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space” by Adam Higginbotham. Higginbotham managed to keep me on the edge of my seat – even though I knew how the story ended. That‘s a master journalist right there.

#2024ReadingBrackets are complete! My top selection for December was “North Woods“ -- it's magnificent! This would have been my top choice – if it had not been forced up against “Stoner” by John Williams. That book captured my heart in July and never let go. My FICTION pick for 2024 is “Stoner” – with the strong recommendation to also read “North Woods.”

Day 7 for #12Booksof2024. This book grabbed my heart in July and has stayed there all the rest of the months since.

@Andrew65

Tomorrow I‘ll post my end-of-year reading brackets with my top reads of 2024. These are the ones that made the “top of the bottom” list.

Have you always wanted to tackle War & Peace, Les Miserables or any of the other giant books that double as paperweights, but the page counts intimidate you? Join us for the 5th annual #ChunksterChallenge! It‘s structured with levels to help build up your stamina to take down those super-sized tomes and claim the bragging rights. Because the secret to completing the Colossal Chunkster is simple math – one page at a time!

#ChunksterChallenge2025

Soft pick. This book is very black-and-white: the horrible characters are really horrible, and the good ones suffer nobly. In other words, it‘s very clear who you are supposed to hate and what you are supposed to think and feel and root for. Which also makes it very predictable (and I haven‘t even read “Mansfield Park,” of which this is apparently a retelling. So I didn‘t know the plot). I prefer more nuance in a book.

Day 6 of #12Booksof2024

@Andrew65

Day 5 of #12Booksof2024. Two memoirs about death and grief and how to continue living in the aftermath. Both very well written and pack an emotional punch.

@Andrew65

Day 4 of #12Booksof2024

@Andrew65

Literally, heaven. 🥰

This speaks directly to the mood reader inside of me. 😍