I took some time to tidy my desk today and found that I had five (5) open cookbooks scattered about. 😏 I mean, I HAVE been trying to get out of a dinner rut recently. 😂

I'm taking a #mentalhealth day and am going to try to make progress on some of these buddy reads. (Except Babel, which I am- very slowly- reading for myself.) I have my tea, birds are singing, sun is shining, ahhhhh 😍 #BackPorchReading

#WhereAreYouMonday
I'm in a gated community in Massachusetts
@Cupcake12

Finished! Remembered parts of it from the past. Ready for discussion. #NancyDrewBR

I liked this. I mean, I had a few quibbles, but, at this moment, it worked for me.

I'm spending my quiet time with Nancy Drew 🧡 I love Sundays
#BackPorchReading #GoBroncos

I've had this book from the library for 18 days but I couldn't make myself start it. Now I'm loving it and racing to finish before they pull it back! 🤞🏻😬🏁

This is very informative and I'm glad to have learned this piece of history but I did find all the detail overwhelming at times. I skimmed in places. 😳
Proof that books are powerful.

That last panel is all too familiar to me 😆

@BookishBrunette1 @ElizaMarie I started my book while my grandbaby was at swim lessons 😊 (hashtag TBD!)

Another finish! I'm finally reading again!!
This was sweet (with a little angst) and quick and just what I needed today.

I finally finished this! 🎉
Mixed feelings. I would have liked a dragon POV. Having it only from Alex's POV does lean into the exploration of memory and trauma the author's note mentioned but I think it makes the story less interesting. Alex was a child with no context for the things that happened. Along with the govt cover up it means she isn't able to provide information and that's what I wanted. I wanted to understand the dragons but they were

I went to an author event last night for R.F Kuang (moderated by Stephen Graham Jones*, hosted by @TatteredCoverBookStore and Trinity United Methodist church) and it was so fun! She had some fascinating points to make about magical systems, journeys to hell, logical paradoxes, and much more. I've read Yellowface, am partway through Babel, and will definitely be getting the Poppy Wars and the new book she announced last night. 🤩

My #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin picks for September. I've been meaning to read both of these for a long time. 😊
@TheAromaofBooks

August started off normally but around mid-month I fell into a deep slump. I couldn't seem to get through any book I started and it was so frustrating! I'm not sure I'm out of it yet but seem to be having a bit more luck with my current books. 🤞🏻 Since books weren't working for me, I switched to fanfiction and read quite a few really good explorations of some of my favorite characters. 🤗 #yayforfanfic

#CurrentRead
Yay for Labor Day! (In the US) I LOVE not working on a Monday. 😊

A #coverbuy although it also sounds good!

I have a finish! I'm just not sure what I think of it. For more than half the book we get a LOT of the main detective character exercising, deciding what to eat, describing Nantucket in way too much detail, thinking about his history- with plenty of info about his parents, wife, and sons- and, occasionally, thinking about the case he's been sent to oversee. The bones of a young child have been discovered at a construction site, which they've been

#BackPorchReading
The good news is- 3 days off work!! The bad news- I'm having such a hard time reading right now! 😫 And the thing is, everything I'm reading right now is good! I completely enjoy them while I'm reading but as soon as I put any of them down I struggle to pick them up again. I hate this. 😢 Hoping to make progress over this long weekend.

These are on their way to you @Jerdencon 😊
@TheAromaofBooks #TravelingThrills

I liked this. As much as Henry annoyed me in MP, I could see their story playing out this way. Since I don't particularly like Edmund in the original, I was perfectly fine with seeing him (not entirely happily) married to Mary, leaving Fanny to make a more interesting match. Henry does a lot of soul searching in this, a la Darcy, and I liked this version of him. Fanny was given a smidge of humor, which helped me with her. #JaneAustenThenAndNow

#WhereAreYouMonday
As soon as my workday is finished, I'll be entering an alternate version of the US in the 1950s 🐉
#WatchingTheClock
@Cupcake12

This is suspenseful and creepy but not mysterious, (brief review in comment so as not to spoil @Jerdencon and @TheAromaofBooks )

#BackPorchReading on a lovely Sunday morning 😍
I'm eager to get started on this as I'm always fascinated by the use of DNA in solving mysteries, real and ficticious.

Reading at the soccer park #SaturdayMorning #LifeOfaNana

#WhereAreYouMonday
I'm in Boston and London with a bunch of messed up people
@Cupcake12

I'm the only one up, it's still cool enough to sit on the porch for another hour or two, and I'm reading about Fanny. 🥰 Happy Sunday y'all!

#QuietHouse #BackPorchReading

Finished this while waiting for a concert at the lake. At times I was really concerned about how this would turn out but I was happy with the ending we got. I loved Alice & Edie. I especially loved Seb, & the kids were all great in their scenes too. I enjoyed A & E navigating each other's lives, making some things better, & dealing w the fallout when necessary. Soft pick because I did think it was a bit much for them to be switching at their age.

I'm still in a bit of a creativity slump but here's a card I've painted for my gnome- loving mother's birthday. 😆

#ShowandTellTuesday
@Catsandbooks

#WhereAreYouMonday
I've been in Ojai CA where Olivia has been hired to ghost write the memoir of a horror novelist who, rumor has it, murdered his siblings when he was 16. Oh, and said novelist is her estranged father who is losing his memory to disease! Olivia does manage to learn much of what happened and the story went places I wasn't expecting.
@Cupcake12

I'm reading two different mysteries right now and needed a change last night so I started this one too (when did I become such a scattered reader??) and these sisters are stressing me out! 😆
It's back to Ghostwriter this morning. I have a couple hours before we have to head back home.

Reading in my #happyplace with a (preseason) Broncos game to look forward to this evening. Life is good.

This was OK. It's the 2nd in a series and, as I read, I recalled that I didn't particularly like any of the main characters. So that obviously dragged the book down for me. The idea of the book- an unknown Van Gogh turning up- is a thrilling possibility. This book introduced me to the controversy around his death and

I've been looking forward to this one! And to a pedi. 😊

This was so fun! It's full of wonderful characters (my favorites are Thimble and Amity) and positivity. Just the kind of thing I needed right now. Just imagine being around for the invention of cinnamon rolls!

#WhereAreYouMonday
I'm in a fairy tale land where Viv, an orc, has just hung up her sword and opened a coffee shop. 😄☕️
@Cupcake12

Evening mood
Have added to my collection today, including the tagged.

There was a lot going on in this book: a current murder, a historical presumed suicide, a historical presumed accidental death, a bunch of actors (ie excellent liars) as suspects, some emotionally fraught circumstances for Lynley, some excellent detecting by Havers, and some political BS. It made for an entertaining read but I need to give this series a break now. I'm definitely going to continue but I need to read some other stuff first.

August 2025 #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin 😁
@TheAromaofBooks

I'm in the middle of two books but do not expect to finish either tonight so here is my July roundup. Lots of good books this month; I think my favorite is Mary Jane.

#WhereAreYouMonday
I'm in the Scottish Highlands during a snowstorm/ house party/ murder
@Cupcake12

I really enjoyed meeting Lynley & Havers, although this definitely was darker than I expected! I've already borrowed the next book from the library. Good pick for #TravelingThrills @Jerdencon
@TheAromaofBooks

Soooo many books on my TBR! 📝

Saturday morning, starting a new book at my #happyplace, nothing to do today but read. It should be a good day. 🩷

I finished this book, then turned back and read it all again. I love this, but I still don't quite understand all of it. The letters and the progress of Red and Blue's relationship: yes. The world-building: not completely, but I understand enough for it not to get in the way of the story. Not my usual thing but I truly enjoyed it.

@TheAromaofBooks @Jerdencon Do any of these sound good for #TravelingThrills?

#WhereAreYouMonday
I'm in Minnesota, getting introduced to ex-sheriff Cork and various townsfolk of Aurora and the nearby Anishinaabe reservation. At the beginning of the book, Cork feels he's at rock bottom as his marriage is imploding, his mentor recently died, & Cork has lost his appointment as sheriff. But soon, things get quite a bit worse for him as people in the community die and/or disappear & Cork can't resist investigating. @Cupcake12

I read this (while enjoying this view 🤩) and it was fine. 🤷‍♀️ I was certainly interested in learning how a book about a fairytale world Hazel had made up as a child in England had been written by a young American author but it was too drawn out. I skimmed a bit here and there because things were taking too long.
Also, I'm kinda tired of love triangles and this one didn't have anything to cause me to feel an exception. I wish that either

This has arrived @TheAromaofBooks 😊 I'll start reading it later this week.
I guess it's time to decide if we want to do another round of #TravelingThrills
I'm game if y'all are @Jerdencon

I loved this! I won't say much as I know there's a group doing a buddy read right now but I have to say how much I love a book that revolves around female friendship. Sammy and Andy are both wonderful characters and I was fully invested in their stories.