I am torn. I loved the first 2 sections of this. I really loved the writing, the characters were varied and believable. But (like Audition) I get to the 3rd part and my brain had trouble switching gears to new MCs. I still loved the writing and thought it was interesting, but I was fairly distracted by it. And in the end I think it is a bit (maybe 100pgs) too long. So it is a soft pick. I will for sure read more from him. Hopefully more focused.

@TheAromaofBooks

#bookspin = ARC I have a few thatook really good and I am excited for!

#doublespin = Maggie O'Farrell's Instructions for a Heatwave perfect for July!

@thearomaofbooks #bookspin #bookspinbingo

I love that Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea ended up next to each other at the top. My goal is to read them together.

Got some very chunky books this month, hoping to slow down a bit and enjoy not only longer stories, but also these gorgeous longer days.

Happy Summer to the Northern Hemisphere!

My plan for this evening had been to read a chunk of our #CampLitsy25 book. Then I fell and cracked my head ... Wish that was a fun riddle.

I think I am fine, just super sore waiting for test results, getting good care. Sitting here worried about the government and about how soon we are close to having millions more people who cannot get this level of care.

If you are in the US please call your rep tell them to vote no: 202-224-3121

One of my yearly goals is to read less than 50% of books from Authors / Set in the US

Some day I would love to throw England into this, and read half books US+England and half from the rest of the world, but I am really not there yet.

But for 25 I am doing pretty good with 44% US based books, and the rest from 19 other countries.

Okay half way through the year.

Here is how I am looking, how are you doing?

94/100 books read
30,818 /50,000 (62%) pages read

I have read 7 books over 500pgs my goal is 12 so I am right on track there.

My nonfiction reading is needing a bit of focus, I am currently at 19% when my goal is always 25%

#25in25 we are halfway through the year and I am doing not as great as I could have hoped on the 25 books I have chosen to focus on in 2025.

I feel like July and August are going to be my time to shine on this! A perfect time to read Anne of Green Gables, Three, A Trace of Sun, all those lovely summer books.

I grabbed the audio of Cutting for Stone from my Library so will dive into that this month.

Current count 11/25

I read 17 books in June (I am in therapy for my anxiety thanks!)
Here are my ratings:
5 ⭐
Giovanni's Room

4.25⭐
Henry Hamlet's Heart
A Single Man
Well of Lonliness

4⭐
If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

3.75⭐
The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir
A Gentleman's Gentleman
Icarus
Maggie

3.5⭐
Automatic Noodle

3⭐
Happy Place
The Pairing
Queer Body Power
Witch King
Let's Talk About Love

2.5 ⭐
Wild Dark Shore

#bookspin #doublespin #BookspinBingo

Read 1 spin, got 15 pages into the other and realized it was defiantly not for me. and had 3 bingos! I kept getting close to more but then getting distracted by something shiny.

3rd bingo with the help of a couple of DNFs which is a bit of a bummer, but both of them I kicked off my TBR which is the whole point!

ARC pub date July 22

Our MC is having a rough time. Her husband has been having an affair, and has left her for the mistress a woman named Maggie. And now the MC gets diagnosed with breast cancer, and she decides to name her tumor after her husband's mistress
This is not really humorous (even from a dark humor POV) but it is very human. I really love how the MC starts to reevaluate everything, to start to see herself and her husband in new ways👇

I am thrilled at this Agatha Christie old timey cover haul I got at the Goodwill today!

I am planning an Agatha Christie 2026 and this for $10 is a big help!

#weeklyforecast

I am about 150 into the tagged so hoping to make a big dent in it this week.

Death of the Author is the next #CampLitsy25 read, having much higher hopes for it then the last read.

I need to tuck into Spent and get it back to the library! I grabbed Immaculate Conception on audio from the library so will start there on my daily walks.

Written in 1928 but this "lesbian classic" (as my cover calls it) could easily have been written this year. The language is easy and the prejudices of that day still linger, even as strides are made. I felt for Stephen throughout the book, she is drawn as a vivid and complex character, even when she is doing unwise things I found myself rooting for her (maybe for her to get a grip, but still, rooting).

I am ready for some summer reading!! I have 3 books to finish up for June which has been super grey and gloomy here in PDX. But July is almost here and the sun has agreed to come out!

Pulling all of my summer feeling books ☀️🎉🌈

Saturday morning vibes featuring Serene Cat actually being serene.

Hoping to finish this book today.

This was so interesting! I really loved the different POVs and the sharp change in the third act. I loved the look at privilege and how there are many layers of privilege.
This is also an interesting look at belonging. How we are "from" a place but might not "belong" to that place.
The writing is beautifully lyrical. This is short but very well done.

@dabbe #TLT (a day late)

Realizing like books I will read (watch) the first in a series and will rarely follow up with the rest.

Favorites:
Top Gun (I was obsessed with this as a kid!)
Grease (what a trip watching this again as an adult and realizing how dirty it was!!)
Back to the Future

??? Who is your favorite Batman??
He is by far not my favorite superhero (too whiny) but I loved Michael Keaton's version

This year for #PrideMonth I wanted to challenge myself to read all of the letters in the Pride spectrum (well the most common at least - LGBTQAI)

I found that Intersex, Asexual, and Queer were the most difficult books to find.

Q- while queer is often used as a catchall category I was really looking for authors who specifically called themselves Queer, and it turned out harder then I had first thought.

These are the books I read.

I really have to stop just buying books. This Emezi book is NOT for me. I normally love their work but I am only about 30 pages in and I hate everything about it. There is a lot of sexual abuse going on. I think it could have worked if there was more of a lead in but I just feel gross reading it.

#allhailthebail

A lyrical YA story about a boy trained as an art their and the boy he falls in love with that changes everything. Very Greek with Icarus and Helio as our main guys! I thought there were a few unusual and interesting ideas in this story, and I overall enjoyed the writing, even if some of the elements were a bit too fantastic.

Low pick. It is hard when people pour so much of themselves into a book. This is a good introduction for people who are new to body positivity, eating disorders, and queer and disabled body talk. As someone who is familiar with the issues there wasn't much new for me here. A lot of the book was Instagram quippy talks.
I don't recommend the audio. There are a lot of quotes she reads from I think her IG communityand it started to be confusing.

Okay July!

My focus is going to be on clearing some of my physical TBR

I am excited to reread Jane Eyre (which I remember not liking) so that I can read Wide Sargasso Sea - If anyone wants to join me in this reading let me know!

Then getting to the summer vibe books - Instruction for a Heatwave, Hughes Simple, Sky Daddy all feel very summer reading to me.

@thearomaofbooks

End of the month book organization has begun with a Calamity helper.

#weeklyforecast

I have the tagged as my audiobook this week. Need to finish up Well of Loneliness, then will tackle Little Rot and Just By Looking at Him. Will start the chunky Hollinghurst with no hope to finish by EOM.

I cannot believe we are on the last full week of #Pride month!

Sunday. Taking a beat before meeting up with friends to watch Materialists and then eat our body weight in sushi.

Today is a dark day for the country, trying to not spiral.

This is so, so good and the library copy was due back with a couple of people waiting so I caved and just bought a copy, very lucky to have found a used one at my local store!

A gorgeous and sad novel. This is my first Isherwood but will not be my last. I thought George was a sympathetic and complex character and in his grief we can see limits to human emotions that are not so often pondered on in this beautiful but tragic way. I really enjoyed this.
Also this was dedicated to Gore Vidal and I had not known about their relationship - mentorship where they write letters to each other for 40 years until Isherwoods death

I read the book yesterday and decided I needed to see the movie immediately after. And I am so glad I did. What a sad and gorgeous story.

The cast of the movie is perfect. The house. Goodness the House!! Beautiful. There are a few changes they made that I am not too sure about, but definitely made things more dramatic.

Normally I find age gap stories super sketchy, but Isherwood and the producers did things in a way that didn't feel creepy

"You're neither unnatural, nor abominable, nor mad; you're as much a part of what people call nature as anyone else; only you're unexplained as yet--you've not got your niche in creation. But some day that will come, and meanwhile don't shrink from yourself, but face yourself calmly and bravely. Have courage; do the best you can with your burden. But above all be honourable."

Continuing my Pride book recommendations, today is Juneteenth (the day the Black folks of the US celebrate the end of slavery). So here are 6 books I feel are proper recommendations for the collision of these two celebrations

If you have not read The Prophets yet, get on it. Rarely has a book made me gasp out loud, this one did it and I fell utterly in love with Isaiah was Samuel. Your heart will break, but in really important ways.

3 favorites
Slaughterhouse Five (love it so much I got this tattoo)
Song of Solomon
Interview with the Vampire

I have read most of Ian McEwans books and Cement Garden is his worst by miles and miles.

#TLT @dabbe

Glad I am done looking at this cover.
This is my second McQuiston. I find her characters annoying. I thought I liked Kit but then he quickly got on my nerves when we switched POVs. I guess I dislike books where I cannot really see why one character likes the other. Theo was mostly an ass. Everything revolves around mis or no communication.
Too much sex to be considered YA but not enough maturity for olders. 20 somethings might like it

Starting this ARC with a US release date of 22 July

A woman goes to dinner with her husband, and finds out he is having an affair. Soon after she is told she has a tumor. She names the tumor Maggie - her husband's mistress' name.

From GR: "she embarks on a journey of grief, healing, and reclamation."

It is supposed to have a lot of Chinese mythology (told by narrator to the narrators children)

I love the edges but goodness do I hate this ugly cover. Every time I reach for the book I think about how much I dislike the cover 😂

This is my second McQuiston and I feel like they just might not be for me. Though I did like the movie version of RW&RB I really didn't like the book, so if their stuff is ever adapted again I would try that medium.

#weeklyforecast

Serious consideration going on here by Serene.

Main focus is on the lesbian classic Well of Loneliness, my monthly chunky read.
Then: The Pairing, A Single Man, and my car/bedside Kobo read is the ARC Maggie: or, A Man And A Woman Walk Into A Bar

Listen to this mostly on a long drive this weekend. A haunting and original books. Narrator Chris has lost her wife Bo when Bo gives birth to their baby. Unfortunately in this timeline when you harm someone the government gives you an extra shadow as warning to others, so the baby gets one within minutes of being born. Unfortunately for The Kid Chris also has an extra shadow. What are they going to do without Bo?
Very well written with many 👇

We are just about half way into the year!

How are your book goals looking?

Are there any goals you are changing or bailing on?

How are you feeling about your 2025 reading?

We are halfway through the year. How did that happen?

Looking at the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year, I am doing pretty good! I am almost done with my book count goal (86/100) and am holding steady on my read count (57% done). I am keeping up on reading non-US books (currently at 38% US)
I have these books I am trying to prioritize this year, and I hit the half way mark recently.

It has been a long time since a book has kept me up past my bedtime, but this YA romance did it.
I adore Henry and his fun family, and though I thought Len a bit of an ass all the way through I also felt it was realistic.
The pacing on this was great and the side characters added to the story and the vibe. I do wish the third act was a bit more flushed out. There were words that should have been said.
4.25/5⭐

This was a bit of a disappointment. I have read Kann before and really like her book Romantic Agenda, but this time around I was just annoyed with most of the characters. Our MC felt super juvenile - she is in college but I am reading an actual YA of boys set in HS and they are acting more mature than this.
I thought everyone around her was awful including her best friends & love interest which is always a bummer
Overall this just wasn't for me.

Friday #Pride book recs!

Ace and Intersex books are not very common. Here are three each I recommend.

Ace = A-sexual this is such a scale! Angela Chen's nonfiction book Ace helped me so much to understand that range. I really recommend it.

**I originally added a book that after more research (I read it years ago before I knew better) appears to be harmful. This is an updated graphic.

At a party: "Why did I agree to this? There aren't even any cats."

Starting this one tonight.

Carrie Fisher was his BFF and sometimes roommate. Joan Didion was his aunt. He is an actor, directed one of my favorite comfort movies (Practical Magic) and his family is incredibly tragic. Mostly swirling around his sister's murder in 1982 Dunne's book tells the complex story of growing up in a Hollywood family. It is a bit crude but also funny & heartfelt. I didn't recognize his name when the book came out but his stories here are memorable

3 favorites:
Cat's Cradle
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Bell Jar

3 on my TBR:
Once and Future King
Wide Sargasso Sea
Master and Margarita

3 books turned movie/show I liked
Breakfast at Tiffany's 😍
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Nurse Ratched (spin off of One Flew Over The Cuckcoo's Nest)

@dabbe #TLT

I am thinking about this book, and what our conversation on Saturday will look like, and there is an NPR interview with Kitamura that is super interesting. She talks about how she wants the 2 halves of the story to sit along side each other, and the idea of this image comes up.

Is it a rabbit or a duck?

NPR article here: https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5243214/katie-kitamura-says-a-solution-is-n...

Okay my poetry fans!

My 11 year old niece is obsessed with Emily Dickinson. She loves how "soft" her words are (her description) I am on the hunt for other - age appropriate - similar poets. I keep picking up and putting back things when I see a lot of violence (or randomly the word clitoris in a sentence it has no business be in? Is that an adjective now??)
All suggestions appreciated! ❤️

#allhailthebail
This is my #bookspin and I am bailing. But I only made it 20 pages in so not marking it as traditional review bail, just realized this language is not for me. It is super intense Irish and 20 pages in I haven't understood anything. That is totally on me. I am sure my annoyance of the McConaghy book earlier today isn't helping. I just want a book I can sink right into that makes sense.

#WeeklyForecast

I have started the tagged. So far it is great, recommend for people who find Hollywood and Joan Didion fascinating. Lots of famous cameos but the root of the story is the Dunne family of 5.

Well of Loneliness is chunky I need to get cracking on
I grabbed The Pairing on audio for my daily walks
Thunder Song needs to go back to the library next weekend
Henry Hamlet's Heart looks like a quick read and is my #doublespin

3⭐ I am an outlier on this author. This is my third book of hers, and I am only reading it for #CampLitsy25. I could have skipped it and saved 2 days of reading...
I just don't understand. I find the characters, their motives and actions, utterly silly and unbelievable. I think that the language she uses is good but the way others gush about it I just don't feel the same (there is nothing I want to take a highlighter to).
👇

#sumdayfunday @BookmarkTavern
The list is so long.
James Baldwin, always more Baldwin.

Ocean Vuong (Tagged)

I would like to start reading Alan Hollinghurst (his books are huge so intimidating)

My main focus this year though is Patricia Highsmith, I am having a lot of fun with her this year.