Happy to have pulled two relatively short books for my #bookspin this month, considering that I‘m a few months behind on my previous selections … maybe this will be the month I get caught up! Or at least don‘t fall further behind.
bailedHackeneyed. Dull. Repetitious. I made it to 50% before I couldn‘t take anymore and flipped to the end to see who the bad guys were.
This should have been right up my alley — the 70s, middle America, a possible serial killer, a town full of secrets, loads of suspense — but it just wasn‘t hitting. Partly I think it was the pacing; the suspense was too contrived, it felt forced rather than intriguing.
Oh, yuck. #spotify #audio #audiobooks #robotoverlords
Wow!!!! What a fun surprise 😁😁😁 My #autumncomfortswap parcel has arrived already!!!
Thank you @Meshell1313 I will put it in a safe place so I‘m not too tempted to open it before opening day 👀
Hey my #autumncomfortswap people! I‘m having a time trying to shop for my swap partners. How about a “This or That” to help a gal out?
Repost with your preferences! And don‘t forget to share where we can find your wish list of books you don‘t yet own 😄
@Bookwormjillk @BookwormAHN @CSeydel @Gissy @maich @pyjamaviking @Meshell1313 @KadaGul @kspenmoll @ShelleyBooksie @CrowCAH @catiewithac @TheDaysGoBy @Daisey
Finally jumped on the Murderbot bandwagon. Enjoying all my current reads although I‘m progressing slowly
Just one week left to sign up for #autumncomfortswap #litsyevents
Go forth, choose your own adventure, bring some comfort to someone near or far! Gently used books and homemade items. I signed up—who‘s with me?
Open internationally. Hosted by @thebacklistbook
Sign ups close June 30.
https://forms.gle/ZYqsJ7MAtbVd9MVh8
May wrap up!
👍🏻:
The Wedding People
My Friends
Olive Kitteridge
Birds, Beasts and Relatives
Greta & Valdin
Tom Lake
The Stardust Grail
👎🏻:
The Lost Apothecary
All Fours
My June #bookspin picks! I‘ve had the Horowitz on my shelf for, oh, 20, 25 years now. I was quite the little college Republican. I suppose it may seem dated now, but I‘ll give it a try - if I can‘t get into it, then I‘ll make myself let it go. And Horowitz just passed away this year, so it‘s as good a time as any to revisit his writing.
Bag of Bones was my gift in a Halloween swap a couple of years ago and I‘ve somehow not yet read it. Let‘s go!
For my #hyggehour tonight I‘m cozying up with my bluebonnet mug, a murder mystery, and a slice of divine sourdough from Long Beach Bread Lab 🍞☕️📚
It really was a tough call this month between Fredrik Backman‘s MY FRIENDS and Alison Espach‘s THE WEDDING PEOPLE. I went with WP basically because it was the first book I‘ve read by this author, whereas I‘ve read several Backmans so I sort of knew what to expect.
#bookbracket #ReadingBracket
#ReadingBracket2025
What do you do when you have more books piled up than you can possibly read in a month, and suddenly your library acquires the new Fredrik Backman book and you‘re the first in line for it? I think you all know the answer to that.
#5JoysFriday
This week:
1. My amazing gift box from @Meshell1313
2. Bimonthly book club met last night; fun to catch up with those friends
3. My cactus is blooming!
4. Fun snack from TJs 😋🔥
5. Board game group meets tomorrow
My #100kpages giveaway prize arrived today — @Meshell1313 this is too much!! Thank you, I love everything. The journal is perfect! I was just thinking I wanted to start keeping a physical journal instead of only online, but I was just using a blank spiral notebook. This is way better! And the stickers are simply delectable! And chocolates, and Jane Austen mints - I feel so spoiled! I can‘t wait to read the book, I‘ve heard it‘s terrific!
Had to wait to post this until after our book club meeting tonight so I could include the July book. But here are my #14books14weeks
so-soI had a lot of issues with this book but as you can see I also marked a LOT of sentences/passages for future reference. I ran out of book darts and had to start using Post-it flags! I‘m still not completely sure this wasn‘t satire - the MC was so comically pretentious and self-absorbed that I think she may have been intended as a sly parody of a certain type of artsy hipster grappling with middle age. In that light it almost worked.
#shelfsweeper
#whereareyoumonday
Still in Monrovia with the sociopath narrator of this tedious nonsense
Far too hot for a warm beverage tonight, and I had ice cream earlier, so I‘m just kicking back without refreshments for tonight‘s #HyggeHourReadathon
#5JoysFriday
1. I‘m at the soccer game right now with my lovelies
2. Got a cool garden spinner on clearance. Been wanting one of these!
3. Made a mango strawberry smoothie for lunch
4. Going to Orla Gartland at the Fonda tomorrow with my daughter
5. Tagged book is hilarious! I couldn‘t sleep last night and I was reading it, but I laughed so hard I thought I‘d wake my husband 😂
If love was available, one chose it, or didn‘t choose it. And if her platter had been full with the goodness of Henry and she had found it burdensome, had flicked it off crumbs at a time, it was because she had not known what one should know: that day after day was unconsciously squandered.
so-soI did not care for this one, unfortunately. Not the worst thing ever, but shallow and unremarkable.
#ShelfSweeper
I‘ve got a bad feeling about this…
So I know this book is polarizing. I went in expecting shock, expecting transgressive attitudes about sex, gender, and aging, expecting discomfort in the name of probing implicit attitudes and assumptions about propriety and morality. But so far it‘s just exhausting. It‘s like listening to your most neurotic friend monologue about her chaotic and obsessive thoughts, which are entirely self-oriented
#WhereareyouMonday
Well I‘m still in London innit
Just trying to plough through the last few chapters so I can be done with this silly book. The scenes that are supposed to be tense and exciting had me either rolling with laughter or shaking my head in disbelief.
It‘s contrived, is what I‘m trying to say.
Ok for my #hyggehourreadathon I … I watched a movie. I watched Star Wars on May the fourth because my daughter asked if we could. And I loved it just as much as I loved it the first 347 times I saw it.
pickMostly listened to this on audio. It was masterfully written - Patchett is unparalleled in that regard. The story—I didn‘t really connect with the story. Partly I was rankled by the MC/narrator, Lara‘s, rosy wistfulness about the COVID lockdown. It‘s one of my pet peeves (partly because my family did not have a cozy, bread-baking, ‘growing closer free from the distractions of hectic life‘ experience). But partly I just felt a bit detached 👇
Finished up Tom Lake, which I mostly listened to on audio (Meryl Streep did an outstanding job). Forcing myself to read The Lost Apothecary for my book club next Saturday. Sneaking chapters of Rilla when I can…
#weekendreads
Um … yeah
#tfw the book YOU selected for book club is … not good 😬
Anybody else read this one? I‘m on chapter 2 and so far it‘s pure cringe. Does it get easier to ignore the hackish writing I‘ve the plot starts? Please say yes.
Bonus points for the audiobook narrator pronouncing “Northanger” as rhyming with “danger” 🙄
Never did read these but somehow managed to keep them safe for 35 years (and 6 moves!) #kindredspiritsbuddyread going to give me that push
1. The rose my husband planted for me is blooming like crazy! So many flowers!
2. I bought some fabric on Etsy and finally made a valance for my bedroom window
3. Got tickets to see Head & the Heart at the Greek in September
4. Spontaneous library haul
5. Angel City beat Washington 4-3 tonight! Crazy game!
#5joysFriday
#bookspin and #doublespin
I probably (ok, DEFINITELY) won‘t finish both of these in May since I still have my April pick, The Ghost Map, to read. But they‘re in the queue!
Just because I already have … let‘s see, I guess it‘s 8 or 9 books already planned for May book clubs and challenges, why should I not bring home six more library books?
Well, I think this is my winner for April. Fascinating, well-written, and a joy to read.
#readingbracket
#bookbracket
#ReadingBracket2025
I‘ll probably finish Entangled Life tomorrow, but close enough to count for April. All winners this month!
pick#AuldLangSpine @CBee
I think I was a victim of my own outsize expectations here. This book fell a little flat for me and I‘m having a hard time articulating why. It has a lot of different plot threads and I‘m not sure they all work together to create a cohesive story. Then again — that‘s real life for you. I did appreciate the ending.
It‘s not just me, right? 🙃
All wrapped up and ready to go
pickI loved this way more than I expected to! I didn‘t know a ton about Martin Short going in, although I was generally a fan. This memoir hit the perfect balance between autobiographical storytelling, emotional depth, and comedy - he intersperses chapters with vignettes done in character of Jackie Rogers Jr, Ed Grimley, Jiminy Glick, etc. His “nine categories” philosophy is so down-to-earth and he just seems like an authentically decent guy.
pickDalton, Maine, 1995. The characters we met in “The Road to Dalton” are back, coping with their various quiet griefs and everyday joys of their small town lives. Some ache to break free of the constraints of tiny Dalton, while others take comfort in the familiar embrace of their town and its land and people. Beautifully told. Can‘t wait for book 3!
pickThis was such a treat to read. It‘s summer 1951 and 11-year-old Donal Cameron must take himself from Montana to Wisconsin to stay with relatives while his grandmother has surgery. Things don‘t go well and he soon ends up back on a westbound bus. It‘s humorous, heartfelt and honest. The people he meets along the way, the stories he collects, and just the cadence of the language all make this a joyful and immersive experience.
