pickFinished this door stopper of a book. Overall, I liked it. MT was a complicated character. Terrific writer, lousy businessman, two daughters (out of three) and his wife died before him. There were parts that seemed to be more filler than anything else, and I find myself skimming those pages.
4/5 ⭐️
#bigbooks #biography #MarkTwain #RonChernow
“The planes looked like distant pinpoints at first, and few who saw them took them seriously even up to the moment they dropped their payloads.”
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl
Northern lights were neon pink tonight in Kenai/Soldotna, Alaska. First time I‘ve seen them with my naked eye-the pink was visible, but not this vivid.
#nofilter #northenlights #nature
Started this doorstop of a book today. Rom Chernow is one of my favorite authors. #MarkTwain #history #biography #RonChernow
Saw this game on Amazon and had to get it. Books and Ladders. Instead of snakes, there‘s ribbon bookmarks. My six-year-old grandson just trounced me. 🤣
#bookishgames #bookgames #BooksAndLadders
I had high hopes for this book, but I‘ve DNF‘d about 40% through. The flashbacks and inner monologue of the four main characters keep pulling me out of the story. The murders are so overlooked/unmentioned that I keep forgetting it a “murder mystery”.😢 I quit when I found myself starting to skim.
My next ARC. The 5th book in the Phyllida Bright series. Phyllida is Agatha Christie‘s housekeeper and an amateur sleuth. I love this series. ❤️📚Here‘s hoping this book lives up to my expectations! 🙂🤞🏻
#NetGalleyARC #historicalmystery
#Falling. Day 2 Football. The Dover-Phila football rivalry is either the oldest or second oldest rivalry in Ohio. It puts the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry to shame. 🤣 It‘s also one of those local things that you only understand if you‘ve grown up there. Game #122 is this fall. 🏈🏟️⬇️
I haven‘t read this, but it was in a publisher‘s newsletter this morning. I immediately thought of all the cat lovers in this group, so I thought I‘d bring it to your attention. And there‘s a sequel. I think it‘s “We‘ll Prescribe You Another Cat.” (No pets here-allergies 🤧) #CatsOfLitsy #cats
#ShowandTellTuesday #LitsyCrafters
Still Tuesday where I‘m at! Wreath in progress. I need to get it done because fall is coming fast, and this is a summer wreath. 🤣
In case you were wondering, those are butterflies. 🦋
Started this. It‘s about Benedict Arnold and George Washington‘s relationship during the Revolutionary War. It covers four years, starting in the spring of 1776. So far, so good. I‘ve read Philbrick‘s “Bunker Hill” and “Mayflower” and enjoyed them both.
#RevolutionaryWar #history #colonialhistory
“Alma once had a friend, a writer, who for years before she died, relatively young, was always talking about this one story she had to write down.”
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl
When I‘m in Alaska, a friend and I spend a lot of time in the ceramic shop. The cabin/book/birdhouse was a watercolor project. I also needed a bigger utensil holder, so I did one of those, too. I have a platter to pick up yet, and two on-going projects.
#ShowandTellTuesday #litsycrafters
Started this book. A writer decides to start a literal cemetery for all of her untold stories when she inherits a plot of land near the city dump. She wants her characters to rest in peace, but they have other ideas. I haven‘t gotten to any buried characters yet, but so far, so good.
“On a hot, almost windless afternoon in June, a seven-year-old boy stood beside his mother and looked out across the green islands of Boston Harbor.”
That 7-year-old was John Quincy Adams, and they were witnessing the Battle of Bunker Hill from at least ten miles away.
#history #RevolutionaryWar #BunkerHill
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl
Deep dive into the lead-up and start of the American Revolution. So far, so good.
#history #AmericanRevolution #TBR #TBRstack
bailedI read Kelly Link‘s short stories in grad school, so I wanted to like this book. But, no. I ended up bailing. I didn‘t like anything about it. 😬😒
pick4/5 stars
2nd book in the Maple Bishop series.
Thanks to NetGalley & Crooked Lane Books for a free e-copy.. All opinions are mine.
War-widow Maple Bishop is rebuilding her life. She started a business building dollhouses & it's doing well. But what she really loves doing is assisting the sheriff in his investigations by building miniatures of the crime scenes.
#NetGalley, #NetGalleyReviewer, # #HistoricalFiction
My latest Piper and Ivy #bookish t-shirt purchase newly arrived from the post office. ❤️❤️❤️
#bookishthings #bookishclothes #piperandivy
I‘ve had the tagged book on my TBR for a long time. And it‘s going to have to wait several more months since I don‘t have it with me.
#SundayFunday
Pub date: Sept. 23, 2025.
Oh yay! I was approved for an ARC of this book. The series is based Frances Glessner Lee, the real-life mother of forensic science.
WWII widow Maple Bishop's dollhouse business is thriving. She's used her miniatures to help the sheriff solve an earlier murder. Now he's asking for her help again when a body is found in a burned cabin.
#NetGally #ARC #NetGalleyARC #NetGalleyReviewer
pickPub date was June 24th.
Book #2 in the Beatrice Steele series. Beatrice is determined to make her own way in Regency England. She and Inspector Drake start their own PI business, DS Investigations in London. When the bodies of the elite of the Sweetbriar neighborhood start appearing, she and Drake are in a race with Sir Huxley, London's premier (but inept) detective to solve the cases.
#NetGalley #ATerriblyNastyBusiness #Historicalfiction
Well this is unfortunate. Looks like pgs.197-198 got caught in a machine at some point.
#SundayFunday
Mysteries is my go to.
Picked up my order at River City Books in Soldotna, Alaska. Got “trapped” inside the bookstore by a mama moose and her twins munching on the plants right outside the door. (Is it really “trapped” when it‘s a bookstore? 🤣). I hope to start it tonight.
Received my second #SummerCardSwap today. 😎
I love the flowers @jenniferw88 I avoid romance books too!
@TheBookHippie
Happy release day in the 4th Saffron Everleigh historical mystery series.
This series is a favorite, and I love the covers.
#historicalmystery #saffroneverleigh #historicalfiction #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer
#FridayNightShare #MidsummerSolace
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is, so far, my favorite 2025 read thus far.
#SummerCardSwap mail going out today. We‘re on baby-watch, so I wanted to be sure to get these out before grandbaby #5 arrives sometime today. 🙂🤞🏻
My first #summercardswap has arrived! I got it several days ago, but forgot to post. Thanks @BkClubCare 🙂
Birthday book haul from River City Books in Soldotna, Alaska. I‘m planning on reading the tagged book first. I also ordered another one. 🙂
#cozymysteries #independentbookstore #birthdaybooks
#Two4Tuesday
1) The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
2) A Botanist‘s Guide to Rituals and Revenge by Kate Khavari.
#ThreeListThursday #TLT
7/100. Better than I thought I would get considering my history with these lists. 🤣
I don‘t know that any of them will make my TBR stack. 🤷🏼♀️
#SundayFunday
Longest I‘ve read, I think, is the tagged book-“Sacajawea” at 1424 pages. “Lonesome Dove,” “The Thorn Birds,” and “The Lord of The Rings” are some other chunksters I‘ve read. And “Hamilton” by Ron Chernow. ❤️❤️📚📚
@BookmarkTavern
#Two4Tuesday
1) Daniel Mason
2) North Woods. One of my favorite books of 2025. That‘s something because I don‘t usually read short story collections.
#FirstLineFridays
“No one was dead, at least not to begin with”
I will probably DNF this. I‘m 50 pages in, and I don‘t care. All the characters except the detective are mean, and the detective needs a backbone. 😬
#WondrousWednesday
1) Tagged. It‘s in the mail. He‘s an auto-buy author for me.
2) For the NetGalley books, sometimes I like writing them, other times not so much. 😬 I post on NetGalley, Litsy, GR, BookBub, Amazon, B&N, my blog. For bought/borrowed books, I usually leave a star rating on GR. If I really like it, I‘ll write a review. I‘m trying to use Story Graph more, but I keep forgetting.
#Two4Tuesday
) Sitting
2) Tagged book. It‘s an ARC. It‘s a fun read-snappy dialogue, great characters, humor. I enjoyed the first book in this series.
Post 3 on this book-last one! The pages in this book are a lot of fun. Some are colorful. All have illustrations related to the essay‘s topic. The pages are what make this book fun to read, and fit Syme‘s humor/writing style. These choices keep the book from becoming a dull read, IMHO. Not all the pages are colorful. Some are the usual black on white, but still have graphics.
(2nd post on this book 🤣) I got this from the library, but have told my kids I want my own copy for Mother‘s Day or my birthday (both in May). 🤣 I mean, how could I not after opening the book to this? This beautiful envelope with a letter to the reader inside. 🙂 #letterwriting #penpals #nonfiction #librarybook
pickThis was such a fun book to read. The pages are a big reason (in another post). Short essays about most, if not all, things letter writing. Paper, envelopes, style, “how to write about (subject). Syme‘s goal is to get more people interested in writing letters, an activity she started during the pandemic. 5 🌟
#librarybook #letterwriting #penpals #essays
#nonfiction
#TLT
#ThreeListThursday
28/100. Ouch. 🤣
I had two that were DNRs for me-Gone Girl and Left Behind. Several I think I may have read, but can‘t remember. I didn‘t count those.
Favorites-Joy Luck Club, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Hitchhiker‘s Guide to the Galaxy.
