Really good middle grade audiobook, read by the author. Tackles many issues: ADHD, immigration, school redistricting, absent parent, gender roles, etc. As pictured on the cover, the main character Emilia learns to weld while helping her dad fix up a car in the family's auto shop (although this is not really the main part of the plot).

This is a good start to a new mystery series. I really liked the main character, Poppy, and her dog Bess, of course. I liked that Poppy had doubts about herself and her investigation, but was able to muster the confidence that she needed to move things forward. I will be keeping my eye out for the next book in this series.

#netgalley

This was an exceptionally annoying Monday, so when I got home I had a big glass of wine, bought myself a book on impulse from Better World Books, and tucked myself into bed with my current read.

I love the board game Clue, so I thought this book looked like a fun tribute to it. I expected it to be quirky or madcap or campy but it wasn't. It was kind of dull. It's kind of amusing to read if you're a fan of the game or movie, but otherwise there's not much appeal.

This book sounded so interesting and I read lots of positive reviews for it, so I was super stubborn and refused to bail on it when I should have. Usually I don't have a problem with bailing on books. I don't know why, but this one just didn't click with me, and I couldn't get into it.

1. Interacting with people who love books and reading; no need for fancy staged photos like on instagram
2. Swaps, questionnaires, photo challenges, review posts that only link to blog posts of reviews
3. Reviews, conversations about books
4. Varies, depending on life and what I'm reading
5. No
6. Easier way to mute hashtags; more detailed stats about book ratings; easier way to have book discussions
@ljuliel

Not bad, but didn't live up to the hype.

Not terrible but not great. Entertaining enough that I might read more in the series if I'm looking for a light, easy read. I was a little dismayed by the lack of female characters other than the main character and a few minor side characters (one of whom she didn't get along with), and she seemed to rely too much on the male supporting characters. I would prefer more adventure and less romance.

Two of my favorite things: books and old Hollywood. Contains photos of stars reading books, mostly publicity shots or stills from films, with bits of info about the stars and/or films. This would make a nice gift for bookworms who also like classic films.

I won this in a giveaway on LibraryThing. Published by Chronicle Books.

I'm currently reading a different book on my Kindle because this one is being used as a pillow 😸

Excellent middle grade historical fiction about a boy who moves from Alabama to Chicago in 1946 after his mother died. He misses his mother and Alabama and struggles to adjust to city life. He's also bullied at school for being "country." He finds solace and peace at the library where he discovers the work of Langston Hughes after whom he's named.

This new cozy mystery series involves an irresistible combination: mystery + library + Agatha Christie (and other Golden Age mystery authors). The well-written story delivers what you expect from a cozy mystery, and I enjoyed the characters. I will definitely continue this series as new books come out, and I hope to see the main character dive deeper into the collection of mysteries that she curates.

#netgalley #thebodiesinthelibrary

The writing is not top notch and the plot is full of holes and implausibilities, but it's a book that you read for the fun ride, not literary merit, so it delivers in that sense.

This was a bit odd but enchanting. The art was beautiful, although I found the human forms of the cats a little weird.

#netgalley #MinotaurBooks

Characters are the strong point of this 1st book in a new series. They are complicated, realistic, and sometimes unlikeable but still sympathetic. The first half of the book moved too slowly for me; I need more urgency and suspense. The detectives missed some pretty obvious clues, which I found frustrating. I don't know if authors do this purposely, so the reader feels smart figuring things out, but I find it annoying.

Cute story that will put you in the mood for fall🎃🍁

I loved this, even though contemporary rom coms are not my thing. I liked that it didn't feel like the story was about the quirky loner main character needing fixed, which is a problem I have with some books with similar characters. She is portrayed as someone who likes being alone, but still has a full life, including friends. In the end everything came together in a way that allowed her to still be herself.

Book 2 in the Frances Gorges trilogy. Full of plotting and intrigue in King James I's court. I don't think I would have enjoyed the suspense of the ending as much if I had been more familiar with the historical details.

#netgalley

I spent most of the day decorating cookies and listening to this audiobook.

This was interesting and I enjoyed it, but I have to admit that I lost track of who everyone was. I needed a family tree to refer to while I was listening.

I'm struggling to read this book. It's for book club, plus it's such a well-regarded book, otherwise I would not hesitate to bail. I'm only on p.37 and feel like nothing about it is compelling me to continue. Can anyone who has read it convince me that it's worth sticking with?

This book deals with the accidental shooting death of a child by a neighbor/relative and the aftermath for the two families involved, so it is not easy subject matter to read about/listen to. I liked this more than The Round House, which is the only other book of Erdrich's that I've read, but I think it's because I listened to the audio of this one. If I read more Erdrich, audiobook will be the format.

This was a light, entertaining, easy read, which is what I expect from this series. The mystery got started far too late in the book, and sometimes it feels like the main characters don't learn or change much, which gets a little old. I missed some of the usual fun side characters, but this had an interesting setting.

This retelling of Cinderella was amazing! I loved every bit of it.

The author, who is the editor of a very small Iowa newspaper, won a Pulitzer for editorial writing, and the book caught my attention because my mom grew up in this area of Iowa, but his writing style with the folksy tone and sentence fragments is killing me and I don't know if I can get through this book 😬

McHugh has a talent for portraying small, dying Midwestern towns as grim and a bit sinister, while capturing the humanity of the people who live there. The story felt a bit tepid, though and the suspense could have been been turned up a notch or two in the first 2/3, but not bad overall.
#librarything #earlyreviewers

This is the story of Milady de Winter, nemesis of D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers. It's been a long time since I read The Three Musketeers and I don't remember much from it, but I still enjoyed this book completely.

On a side note, this style of cover seems to be a new trend, and I don't find it appealing at all. I can't quite figure out what I don't like about it, but I know I don't like it. But the book was good!

This novel is about a young Appalachian pack horse librarian in 1930s Kentucky who also has a genetic condition that causes her skin to be blue (a real condition that affected a real Appalachian family). This young woman had to endure so much grief and sorrow, but the book did end on a hopeful note.

The cat and I are spending a lazy day reading. I read this a long time ago and remember next to nothing about it, and now I'm reading it for book club. I'm about halfway done. It's an excellent book so far.

A collection of short stories featuring many unlikeable characters and the darker side of suburbia and domestic life. Lippman has a talent for making a story zig when you think it's going to zag.

I gave this until about 10% and decided it wasn't for me, so moving on. #netgalley

I'm giving this a pick because I liked it in spite quite a few flaws. I think it's the tone and setting that I liked, and I was engrossed in the story even though the mystery was pretty weak. If you read it, be prepared to skim a bit when it gets too wordy and overdoes the similes. Also be prepared to feel depressed at the end. I'm really selling this one, aren't I?

Enlightening but depressing.

Fascinating.

Fabulous characters, lively writing, excellent setting, but not enough plot. I enjoyed it up to a point but then it failed to keep my interest. #netgalley

Maybe I just didn't have a deep enough interest in the subject matter to really get into this book, but I found it rather boring and bogged down in minutiae. It is interesting to consider that Wallis was not solely responsible for the situation and maybe wasn't the manipulative schemer that she is usually portrayed as, but ultimately, I couldn't find much sympathy for either party in the affair. #netgalley

A fantastic start to a new historical mystery series. I liked the witty, clever main characters and will be interested to see how the friendship develops between this mismatched pair.

I enjoyed this book for the most part & always like Williams' writing style, but there are a couple of things about her books in general that are getting tiresome for me. The alternating timeline trend is getting really old & gimmicky for me. Also too much "I love you so I have to have your babies!" in her books especially in this one where it was dangerous & life-threatening for the character to have babies. Also some loose ends not tied up.

I learned about some people in Ohio's history that I didn't know about (in spite of living in Ohio my whole life), but this book doesn't really add anything to our understanding of history. For the most part, it's the same old same old white men and manifest destiny that was in all our history books growing up.

I read this looking for anything that I could use with the after school kids I work with at the library. It's an interesting book, but there's not much that would work in my particular program. I would love to be a 6th grader in the author's reading class!

I decided that it's a good time to start reading The Real Wallis Simpson because she is also a character in another book I'm currently reading: The Golden Hour.

I found lots of good Kindle daily deals and monthly deals today. There are two more monthly deals that I want but I'll wait a week or two on those.

#bookmail from @WilliamMorrowBooks just in time for weekend reading! Looks great next to all my other Beatriz Williams books!

This was rather disappointing. The story could have been interesting but it dragged on far too long and character development was lacking. I don't know much about Prague, so it was interesting to learn about the city and its history.

This was interesting. I learned about women I had never heard of. I like that these women are presented with all their complications, even if that means that they don't fit our contemporary ideas of feminist icons. I could have done without the author's commentary on her feelings about each woman at the end of each chapter, but otherwise it was a worthwhile listen.

I really liked this mystery. The main character is Roxane, a female PI in Columbus, OH, and she takes a job trying to locate a witness in order to free a man who's scheduled to be executed for a murder he didn't commit. It reminded me a little of the Kinsey Millhone series, but a little darker. Still a quick, easy read, though. I will continue reading this series, although there's only 1 or 2 more books so far.

Starting a new book and have to say I'm intrigued by this introduction to the main character, who is a PI. It's a local author and setting, which is also interesting. So far, I'm getting Kinsey Millhone vibes, which is a compliment.

I enjoyed this book for the most part, especially certain parts of the ending, but the first half dragged a bit and the emotional connections between characters were not developed enough for me to really feel invested in them.

#librarythingearlyreviewers

I like how Konigsburg writes her characters, but there is quite a bit in this book that would not be considered pc today and was downright cringe-worthy at times. Like the kids' academic bowl team using a noose as their victory symbol, which made sense (I guess?) in context and was not being used in a racist way, but wow that is seriously tone deaf and inappropriate.

Yikes, a pretty significant error on the flap... This story is taking place in 1854 not 1954! At first I thought maybe it alternates between 1854 and 1954, but it alternates between 1854 and 1812. I got this in a giveaway so hopefully the copies for sale will have a corrected dust jacket 😳

But all that aside, I've enjoyed 3 chapters so far.