As a teen, I adored The Luckiest Girl, one of Beverly Cleary‘s “First Love” novels, but I never read the others. I decided to remedy that and picked up Fifteen this year. It was sweet! But TLG is better. 😊 (The others, perched alongside the tattered copy of my old favorite, have been purchased and are ready for me to read in 2026!)
This was my June #BookSpin pick.
pickLocal author Kao Kalia Yang won the Minnesota Book Award in three categories this year! This one, her first middle grade novel, was my May #BookSpin pick. The story is inspired by her little brother‘s experiences, and it‘s dedicated to him. 💕 (Pictured with her three memoirs; I‘ve read the most recent, plan to read the other two in the coming year.)
pickThis book won both a Newbery Honor and was a Sydney Taylor Book Award Honor, which is how it got on our book club‘s radar. We all learned some new-to-us history and appreciated the scope of the book. It moves through several generations of a family, taking place in four different countries and with four different protagonists. Lots to take in!
This was my April #BookSpin pick.
pickMy February #DoubleSpin pick was this historical romance novel. I‘d never read Beverly Jenkins before. What a treat! Credit goes to my alma mater for hosting a discussion of romance novels through a critical/intersectional lens, and including this one on their list. Jenkins‘s afterword describing her research made me want to read the others in this trilogy. (I‘m not a big fan of romances or westerns, so that‘s saying something!)
pickThis story of two mothers and their families held me captivated. I felt for Mrs. Fowler, and I came to care for Mrs. Willoughby, too. The last chapter was exactly the ending I needed. I can see myself picking this one again in another year or two. Classic Persephone!
This was my February #BookSpin pick.
#PersephoneClub
#BookSpinBINGO @TheAromaofBooks
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pickThis month, I plan to post about the #BookSpinBINGO picks I‘ve read this year. Here is the first, my #DoubleSpin pick for January. I‘m so glad I read it — not only to help me connect to the season, but also because it gave me a better sense of who Mary Oliver was as a person. I intend to read more of her poetry in 2026.
Here‘s my December #BookSpinBINGO shelf! My #bookspin pick is the year-long #NaturaLitsy pick: A Tree a Day. My #doublespin pick ended up being the same one I got in November: The Blank Wall. I‘m adding One Afternoon as well, hoping to sneak in two #PersephoneClub reads this month!
Last #BookSpinBINGO list for 2025! I decided to include all of the #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin picks I haven‘t gotten to yet this year; those are the first ten titles. If any of them are chosen, I will also read another book connected to it in some way. Big goals!
Already November! Here‘s my #BookSpinBINGO list. Lots of good reading to look forward to this month!
I‘m a little late with my October #BookSpinBINGO list. (How is it October already?) Excited to check the picks after I post!
Spending this #HyggeHour making my Week 1 plan for my Artist‘s Way journey. Back-to-school vibes have got me to recommitting to the course. I started it last year, but didn‘t get through it. I have a better sense of what to expect now, and gave my perfectionist side a stern talking-to, so I‘m ready to jump in and play!
So many great titles on my #BookSpinBINGO list for August. I hope can dedicate lots of time to reading this month!
I‘m determined to read many of these titles this June. Now to check out this month‘s #BookSpinBINGO picks!
My bookshelf is ready for a new month! February‘s #BookSpin pick is also the #PersephoneClub pick (yay!), and my #DoubleSpin pick is a genre I don‘t usually read. (My alma mater is hosting a book talk on romance novels, and this is one of the titles they‘ll be discussing.) Looking forward to both!
#BookSpinBINGO
January was a slow reading month for me, but I also attended three book club meetings (one brand new) and five book events (three in person, two online)… so it was still a book-filled month! #BookSpinBINGO
My bookshelf is ready for the New Year: filled with my January anticipated titles, and stacked with past & future reads.
Finally, here‘s my #BookSpinBINGO list for December. I would love to get to all of these—plus three #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin picks I missed from previous months. Wish me luck!
pickI don‘t think I‘ll ever get tired of Isabel Dalhousie. This 15th book in the series is exactly what I‘ve come to expect—Isabel pondering & philosophizing, Isabel trying to help others she‘s only just met, Isabel‘s daily life with her family and friends in Edinburgh. Always a treat.
I read fewer books than usual in September, but it was still a good reading month. (I forgot to include Foster by Claire Keegan here.)
#BookSpinBINGO
pickI expect The Watsons would have been a lot of fun if Jane Austen had finished it. Emma Watson is a wonderful heroine—kind, curious, and wise—and Tom Musgrave is a hoot! I‘m glad Austen shared her intended ending, but I wish we could have seen all that happened along the way. The image above comes from this post: https://www.janeaustensummer.org/post/the-watsons-an-abandoned-manuscript-by-jan...
This was my July #DoubleSpin pick.
pickGrace Lin never fails to wow me with her beautiful art and excellent storytelling. In this book, she shares the “real legends, real myths, and real histories” behind a feast of Chinese dishes, as well as many cooking/serving techniques and traditions. From
her author‘s note: “Chinese American cuisine is the flavor or resilience, the flavor of adaptability, the flavor of persistence and triumph. Above anything, this food is the flavor of America.”
Here‘s my September shelf, full of my #BookSpinBINGO reads. My #BookSpin is Raising Demons (for a Shirley Jackson study I‘m doing with a friend) and my #DoubleSpin is The House in the Cerulean Sea (for the #AuthorAMonth challenge). I have a great month of reading ahead!
Lots of good reading in July, including both of my #BookSpinBINGO picks— and two from earlier this year. 📚💖🥳
pickLook at any list of ALA youth media awards, and you‘ll likely see Carole Boston Weatherford‘s name. Her nonfiction picture books for young people are wonderful. I especially love how she uses poetry to tell stories of important people and events in American history. In this book, Weatherford shares her persistent search for the stories of her ancestors, using the poetic form again to great effect.
This was my June #BookSpin pick.
July‘s TBR shelf/#BookSpinBINGO list. I‘m really pleased with my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin picks for this month: Kate DiCamillo‘s Ferris and Jane Austen‘s The Watsons. Thank you, @TheAromaofBooks !
June was a great month of reading. (Now I need to get better at posting book reviews!)
#BookSpinBINGO
pickI loved many things about this book: learning fascinating words from Ivar‘s language which helped me understand the island‘s landscape, following John Ferguson as he fell gently into Ivar‘s life, and cheering Mary on as she continuously surprised and delighted me.
Thanks to #CampLitsy24 for the great discussions, and to @BarbaraBB @Megabooks and @squirrelbrain for being awesome camp counselors!
So happy this one finally came in for me at the library! Halfway through, and looking forward to reading the #CampLitsy24 posts about it.
![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png){kind=icon}
