#MonthlyRoundup for November, and I am well pleased with how I did! Some really fantastic books this month. ❤️

When Selena comes to her aunt‘s home, she expects to find family & rest after her mother‘s death & a recent breakup. Instead she finds an empty house, a squash god, friends, & an evil roadrunner.

T Kingfisher really does not miss. This was a charming story about finding where you belong & the strength to stand up for yourself, w/ creepy scenes of not knowing what‘s happening. Adored all the characters, & the ending was perfection.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

An old feud is ramping up again when a dwarf is found murdered, & the trolls are accused. It‘s up to Vimes & the Watch to investigate & solve this crime before war breaks out.

The parallels between trolls/dwarfs & Sally/Angua play off so well against each other. This is also my favorite Vimes story as he battles his anger/darkness. & his dedication to 6 o‘clock hit much harder, as I had a tradition of reading to my nibling during COVID.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

Kate‘s newest case involves a string of child strangulations in an isolated community. When she & Al learn 1 of the locals was once jailed for murder, they‘ll be forced to re-examine a case from years ago.

Intense & stressful read! I liked Kate as a character, & I liked how we learned about her as she allowed Al to learn. Not too much of an actual mystery, but a thrilling investigation. & I really liked the resolution of everything.🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

Gotta shout out the American Girl Dolls here! I loved all of these books growing up! #MiddleGradeMonday @Karisimo @Daisey

Thanks for the tag @Eggs !

I love chilly weather, warm blankets, SOUPS, wrapping presents, The Christmas Cookies, and spending time with family! ❤️💚❤️💚

#MajicMonday

#WeeklyForecast

I am so excited for This Princess Kills Monsters!

#BookReport

Such wildly different books over the last week! 😂

Whew! Got my #BookSpinBingo list together! And I‘m actually almost done with Christmas shopping, so I hope I‘ll have more time for reading! 😂

When Daniel finds a hidden book in a mysterious library, he begins to unravel a mystery that involves burned books, a vanished author, a crumbling mansion, history of the Spanish Civil War, & his own romance.

Fantastic book about the power of stories to shape our lives, gorgeous imagery, & an engaging mystery. But it also felt like it was doing too much sometimes. & the tension was really unrelenting. I had to step away several times. 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

Finally managed to sit down with my list and get my #Roll100 titles for December!

The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
Great Fortune by Daniel Okrent
Collection of Robert Burns‘s Poetry

Every year, I have a New Year‘s resolution to read more non fiction. That‘s still the goal, but I‘m going to try to be more deliberate about it and read more non fiction written by members of marginalized communities.

#SundayFunday Have an amazing day, and don‘t forget to tag me in your posts!

Ayleth is determined to prove herself to her mother‘s coven heading to the kingdom‘s capital to rescue the Bloodstones keeping the Veil intact. But then she draws the eye of the king as she becomes friends with a princess dark as a raven, fair as snow, & red as blood.

A fantastic prequel! Really digs into taking a sympathetic character & breaking her down until she‘s willing to burn it all. Great world building, a little slow to start.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

In a futuristic England, a disowned noble son & the scientist that takes him in travel to Egypt to explore the pyramids. I‘m doing so, they wake a Mummy that sets out to cause chaos.

This was an odd read. Absolutely fascinating ideas of scientific developments, politics & backstabbing worthy of Game of Thrones. But so slow & bland characters. & I‘ll be honest, I mostly kept reading hoping the Mummy overthrew the English monarchy.😂 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑

The Bob Whites get swept into another mystery when someone attempts to sabotage widowed Mrs Elliot‘s flower selling. Everything becomes worse when it seems her stepson knows more than he‘s telling.

A very interesting, more personal mystery. Trixie & the gang help out a neighbor, make some new friends, Dan gets to shine, & things don‘t always go right w/ the investigation, but the whole team always operates w/ good intentions.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

#WeeklyForecast

I‘m really looking forward to getting to the #OokBOokClub book! Thud is one of my favorites!

#BookReport

I think The Everlasting is my favorite book of November so far.

This had such a cute cover, I‘ve picked it for my #ThematicCozies read for December!

@julieclair

Ya‘ll! 🎉🎉🎉🎉 #AuldLangSpine2026

It‘s time for one of my favorite Litsy events! The absolutely fabulous @monalyisha does this event yearly where you‘ll end up reading lists of 2025 favorites with another Litsy user! I‘ve found some new favorite books doing this, and I can‘t recommend it enough!

Once, there was a knight. Then, there was a scholar documenting the knight‘s legends many years later. The 2 stories aren‘t supposed to meet, until a mysterious book arrives in the scholar‘s lap.

WTF was this book. A love story, Arthurian vibes, a time loop, a tale about the power of stories, what makes a nation or a kingdom, & grasping your own destiny between your hands. This left me crying, & I want to read this again immediately.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

Years ago, the only thing I was reading was my single volume of the Lord of the Rings I had received for Christmas. As soon as I finished, I started over.

My dad became frustrated with my refusal to read anything else, so he took it away until I read Fahrenheit 451, which put me off sci fi for over a decade.

& then I discovered LeGuin, & I fell in love with the genre. I am so grateful to this book for reintroducing me to a genre I had avoided.

New Amina Al-Sirafi book! New Amina Al-Sirafi book!

My pirate queen! 💖

#CoverReveal

2 brothers are just trying to live as people w/ powers around them fight amongst themselves. When Emil suddenly manifests an ability, the war becomes much more important in their lives.

This was an interesting magical twist on the superhero genre, w/ some really interesting characters. But the pacing was nonstop, we didn‘t get really deep characterizations, & there‘s a difference between a cliffhanger & ending in the middle of a climax.🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑

The local harvest festival cook off is just ahead, & Sherry‘s practice cooking is thrown off when the body of a local farmer is found under mysterious circumstances.

A fun read, with lots of community building! Everyone felt very well established, but I wasn‘t lost given that this is 10 in a series. It did rely a lot on dialogue, too much sometimes. But I adored the description of food! Do wish more recipes were included.🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

Medusa has had many roles in many stories. Daughter, sister, mortal, priestess, victim, monster. Here‘s a story that incorporates many aspects of her past to make something new.

A fascinating retelling of Medusa. This Medusa is much younger than other retellings, & that influences a lot. Medusa‘s characterization is deep, but everyone else‘s is shallow. The pacing kept me tense the whole time, & the ending left me feeling a bit sad.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

#WeeklyForecasting

I am enjoying The Everlasting so much! It‘s a perfect curl up under a blanket with a cozy drink kind of read.

#BookReport

Both of the audiobooks I read this week were so good with amazing narrators!

Watched the movie!

Pros!
Gorgeous scenery
Breathtaking costuming
Amazing soundtrack
Jacob Elordi
Oscar Isaac

Cons!
We seem to have lost a lot of the complexities and subtleties of the story
I am NOT a fan of how the ending read, to me

Results? Worth the watch, but a separate story from the novel. Which is fine. If I wanted 1 to 1 the novel, I‘ll reread the book. #BookAdaptations

Din wasn‘t sure what he was expecting for the 1st big crime he had to investigate, but he certainly wasn‘t expecting murder by tree growth. When multiple bodies start dropping the same way, Din & his boss must untangle a vast conspiracy.

Wow! An epic fantasy Holmes & Watson mystery within a vast magical empire! Interesting characters, a fascinating mystery. A little repetitive on how the magic works, but I‘ve already put a hold on 2!🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

I‘ve been hearing very mixed things about Guillermo del Toro‘s Franksenstein, so I wasn‘t sure if I was going to watch it. And then a friend sent me a review where the reviewer was mad saying “why is the monster hot? Why is the monster sympathetic?” And now I have to watch it. 😂

It‘ll be an after work treat for me today.

#SundayFunday Have a wonderful day everyone, and don‘t forget to tag me in your posts!

Ya‘ll! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Greenteeth is my favorite read of 2025 so far! I‘m so excited to see a new title from O‘Neill!

#CoverReveal

Colonel Chris Hadfield reflects on his life and training that led to him becoming a highly skilled and successful astronaut.

Absolutely fascinating look into all that goes into astronaut training combined with sweet brief glimpses of his family life as well. And yet, somehow, was incredibly dry to read. Interesting, and probably would be better as an audiobook.🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

❤️❤️❤️❤️

#Dedication

The adventures continue as the whole gang travel to India to meet Connie‘s family & find an artifact of immense destructive power before the Order.

Such a fun series! Love the relationships between all the characters (although 1 particular aspect felt rushed), loved the spotlight on Connie‘s family & the plight of India under British rule. & really enjoying the depth given to 1 of the villains, making for a really interesting conflict. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

*takes deep breath* AAAAAHHHHHH!

HG Parry?! Arthurian retelling?!? I need this immediately.

#CoverReveal

You take 1 ghost space ship, scrub it clean of Lovecraft fish people, add in a werewolf, a mummy, a Frankenstein, & an AI doctor, mix it like a margarita shaker, then send them off to kill Dracula. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything. Everything goes wrong. This pastiche of horror icons made me LOL several times. Not a lot of character depth, but I was honestly having too much fun to care. I want more of this group‘s adventures! 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

#WeeklyForecast

I am so excited for all my upcoming reads! A friend at work has been recommending The Tainted Cup to me for weeks, and my hold finally came in!

#BookReport

I‘m so happy and a little sad that I‘ve finished all the Oz books by Baum. I think I have one of Ruth‘s books, and I know I have a copy of Dorothy Must Die somewhere, so I might continue on sporadically. #BeyondTheYellowBrickRoad

Ozma & Dorothy head to the land of the Flatheads & the Skeezers to prevent a war. When the girls are held captive, it‘s up to a team of our favorite Oz heroes to rescue them.

I love this one. We get the whole gang back together, there‘s a fun fusion of science fiction/fantasy w/ the Skeezers city, there‘s some interesting distinctions in the different magic types, & I really Iove the subplot of Ervic & the Adepts. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

The worst evil is coming to England to discover new hunting grounds. It‘s up to a traumatized real estate agent, his technology savant wife, a cowboy, the owner of an asylum, a Lord, & a doctor from Amsterdam to stop Dracula.

Done for another year, & I still love this story. Yes, it can be slow, Stoker‘s obsession w/ the word voluptuous is very weird, & there are only 2 women. But it‘s also such a love story & amazing friendships.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

I love the friendship that develops between the four children in this series.

But almost equally, I love how these books demonstrate all sorts of friendships. Friendships between generations, healthy friend relationships between men and women, friendships that change over time.

#SundayFunday Hope you all have a good week, and don‘t forget to tag me!

Feeling stuck? Then you might find yourself stumbling down Gloaming Lane to find the Amberglow Candy Store w/ magical delights that will shake up your life.

Delightful! Such sympathetic characters, & the candies & how they influenced lives were so unique & interesting. & I really liked the dive into the backstory of the mysterious shop owner. Made me immediately crave something sweet, though. Would happily read several sequels!🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

When Hana visits the Sea Witch, hoping to find answers to the Storm threatening the kingdom of mermaids, she instigates a swap w/ a trapped Rapunzel that may save 2 kingdoms & avert a war.

I continue to be delighted by this series. The girls are unique & strong protagonists, the fairy tales are recognizable, but w/ a unique spin, fun world building. I would like to see more diversity, & I do not need every girl to get a little romance.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

Ahahaha! I got cocky! 😂😂😂

I was sure I had this in the bag. I‘ve been to 48/50 states. New England and the Mississippi/Alabama/Georgia triad got me.

#TakeThreeThursday #TTT @dabbe

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

10/10 choice. Would get got by Barnes and Noble marketing again. I‘ve been craving a good heist novel, and I‘ve heard fun things about this one.

It‘s Ozma‘s birthday, & everyone is scrambling to figure out what to get for a fairy. At the same time, Roggedo is up to his usual tricks, & a new magician is running around causing mischief.

This is a cute story with a solid storyline for everyone, & we get the sassy Glass Cat back! Unfortunately, we also get the return of Deus Ex Well of Oblivion, & the Wizard being real shady. But I also adore Cap‘n Bill & Trot together. 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

Five generations of Metís women, how their lives intersect & separate, the cycle of family trauma, & the connection of life to earth.

Honestly, this was lovely to listen to, but occasionally so confusing I had to rewind several times. POVs of the women, bison, dogs, a car, the Earth itself made for an interesting, intense, inspiring, & very confusing read. This is not a book to listen to while trying to do other things.?????

I went into Barnes and Noble for one book! One! This is not one! 🤦🏼‍♀️

#BookHaul #Oops

You know what? I got close to filling out my #BingoBoard last month. I‘m going to challenge myself to finish the board this time. #BookSpinBingo

#BookSpin NetGalley #DoubleSpin Book club

#Roll100 An Astronaut‘s Guide, A Grave Talent, Magic‘s Pawn

#OokBOokClub Thud!

#BobWhiteBuddies Secret of the Unseen Treasure

#BeyondTheYellowBrickRoad Glinda of Oz

#QueerBC Infinity Son

#ThematicCozies Farm Fresh and Fatal

Look at that! I increased my nonfiction again! 🎉🎉🎉🎉 Woohoo!

#Storygraph #StorygraphStats #StorygraphWrapUp