I can understand why some people do not enjoy Sally Rooney. Her characters are unlikable and her writing style is a bit jagged. This is my third of hers and I always enjoy her complex relationships and how she happily leans into melodramatic characters. This one in particular I like how she takes on endometriosis (a side plot but well done) I was interested throughout even as I wanted to shake Francis, the early 20s are a hard age.

None of us are doing great on this first round! #TLT @dabbe

3 I loved
Austen (all)
Frankenstein
North and South 😍

3 I thought had the funnest titles
The Life & Opinions of Tome at Murr
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle
Life of a good-for-nothing

3 on my TBR
Dangerous Liaisons
House of Seven Gables
Fall of the House of Usher

Play along with this link:
https://www.listchallenges.com/1001-books-you-must-read-before-you-die-1700s

Today's reading spot.

Reading: Dark Maestro by Brendan Slocumb (Violin Conspiracy) out next week!

Listening: Indila 2014 album Mini World

I think a lot of people will be interested in how James was picked this year.
Clip from NY Times IG full context here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DJWvbzqRQEn/?igsh=c2o2aGdhcGxveWFs

I bucket this into my favorite type of book "Women going a bit mad because of life" but Jane ..oh, Jane is really not doing anything to help herself here. I thought Senna did a great job of ramping up the uncomfortableness as we go along, the worse Jane did the more panicked I felt for her family. The writing is well done and tight I think it would be great for open minded bookclubs who can handle uncomfortable race conversations

I saw this after taking the book out of my purse I carried around all day without reading. ...

Anyone else excited for The Met Gala? I love this first Monday of May but this year's focus on Black Dandyism is especially historically interesting and important.
Monica Miller is the creative director of the Met's exhibit (the gala is the party for the fundraising and opening of the exhibit). Tagged is her book about the history of Black Dandyism which is a fantastic resource.

I am super excited to see Colman Domingo and Rhianna 😍

I read Kwans Lies and Weddings last year and really enjoyed it, but this older one if his just didn't hit the same. I really dislike Nick, IDK if he is just a jerk or if he is completely stupid but I would not have lasted a quarter of the time Rachel did with him during this trip. And man everyone she meets is just the worst. Overall it is insanely tone deaf about money and colonization while lacking all the charm of other wealthy romances

"The McGirt decision resulted in the largest restoration of tribal land in US history."

Nagle does an amazing job telling you many different stories of Native people, while also explaining how the US government committed genocide on them, mixing history and current court cases to paint a detailed and complex picture of the Muscogee land. The writing is exceptional, very easy to read and understand.
"As long as the grass grows or the water runs"

"Chief Justice Roberts repeated the lies told about the Five Tribes to justify allotment."

As someone who followed not only this case closely but also follows the SCOTUS closely each year I hope that people get that CJ Roberts is an asshole out of this book (while also understanding that Gorsuch was right here but always wrong everywhere else - also a jackass but does good in this area)

"Oil and gas producers don't fight regulation as it comes up; the industry lays the groundwork to ensure future regulation is not possible."

"(Oil &gas industry) Organized (..) laws preempting bans on plastic bags- a petroleum product. As of 2020, fifteen states have banned the banning of plastic bags, while only eight limit their use. "

Asif I needed another reason to always use my tote bags.

Scott Braden worked in the public defender's office at the same time as Lisa and is a citizen of Osage Nation. Seeing how capital punishment worked from the inside solidified his opposition of it. "It really is a crusade on the part of prosecutors and staff to build political careers on the backs of the poor," he told me. "The poor are the ones that get executed. The rich don't get executed."

1 of my top reasons for being anti- execution.

It's AAPI month
I have gone through my TBR bookcase and picked out 4 books I want to read this month to celebrate, I don't think Prescribe Cats is technically part of this month since it is a Japanese not Japanese American but I am adding it anyways and will hopefully pick up a couple of others including my Aardvark book box with Ling Ling Huang.

@thearomaofbooks #bookspinbingo

#BookSpin = Ann of Green Gables
#DoubleSpin = Some Desperate Glory

My Aardvark box picks!

I am trying to curb my book buying I read Jane O. last month and absolutely loved it, so want to hold onto a copy. I really enjoyed Natural Beauty so hoping the tagged has the same vibe and great writing.

I put 3 others on hold at the library -
When the Tides Held the Moon
Julie Chan Is Dead
The Pretender

#ReadingRoundup for April -
15 Books read
6 countries
4 Nonfiction
3 chunksters (over 500pgs)

⭐
4.5
Disappoint Me
The Strange Case of Jane O.
Swans of Harlem

4
Challenger
The Faggots and Their Friends
The Most
Agent Zo
Reservoir Bitches
Stag Dance
Kingmaker

3.5
In Every Mirror She's Black

3
Beautiful Things
His Grace, The Duke
I Capture The Castle

2.5
Apartment Women

@dabbe #TLT #ThreeListThursday

I have read 59!

Many on my TBR three I would like to get to this year-
Middlemarch
The Secret Garden
Anne of Green Gables

3 I LOVED-
Bridget Jones
Perfume
Persuasion

Chipping away at this one while I enjoy a giant pistachio croissant and honey oat milk latte

Happy Thursday!

@thearomaofbooks

#bookspin = Agent Zo ✅
#doublespin = Disappoint Me ✅ 💓

#BookspinBingo = 4

Probably if you are an American of a certain age you will have a Vivid memory of the day the Challenger exploded killing all 7 aboard. This book takes you through a history at NASA from the first Apollo to that awful day. He walks you through the science and the politics, the human error and hubris that lead to the explosion and what could have been done differently. Incredibly well researched and with easy to follow language and narrative.

Lunch break

I needed another book for a free space on my #bookspinBingo board and I have been needing romance books (I have actually listened to a bunch but they're not great & I don't count for my reading goals) this is a series of connected stand alone books that all revolve around weddings. If you like fake dating, childhood crushes, and don't mind a bit of miscommunication this was pretty good. I liked that no other ladies were trashed.

This was a lot darker than I had originally thought it would be. Three Black women in Sweden, and they are all connected by one white man. I went in knowing that racism in Sweden was not pretty and this book does not shy away from it. I did feel it was a bit unbalanced, more Kemi and Brittany than Muna, but overall I thought it was well written and the characters believable, I was really rooting for all 3 even while knowing things were not good.

#weeklyforecast

Headphones for the tagged on audio.

I have a small procedure on Thursday and am taking through the weekend off so going to read a ton! I am finishing In every Mirror today, I am half into Challenger so hoping to finish that mid-week
I started Beautyland yesterday and it isn't hitting as much as I had hoped but going to finish it anyways, hoping I connect with it more as it goes along.

#Bookspin May (MAY?!!?)

"We gotta keep each other alive any way we can 'cause nobody else is going' to do it."

I don't know how to describe this book. It centers a group of gays in a commune, Larry Mitchell modeled the book off his own life . There are pearls of wisdom throughout, many gorgeous quotable lines. I love how he loves women and their wisdom, this was told between the Stonewall riots and the beginning of AIDS with a focus on revolution.

"The strong women told the faggots that there are two important things to remember about the coming revolutions. The first is that we will get our asses kicked. The second is that we will win"

???
I got this copy from the library, but I am ordering one so I can cut this page out and frame it.

"There is more to be learned from wearing a dress for a day, than there is from wearing a suit for a lifetime."

The little romance bookstore in PDX is not in the Litsy list yet but if you are in town check out Grand Gestures! It is a Black, LGBTQ owned store and they have a great selection and there is a coffee shop next door!

I am osolating between so-so and a light pick. This was a struggle for me. It took me almost 2 months to read. But I can see why people are charmed by it. It feels like another book that I should have read in my late teens early 20s to get the full pleasure and nostalgia for. But in my mid-40s it just feels a bit too forced, I didn't like Cassandra and the only person I really cared for was Stephen. Poor Stephen.

Another thing to love about PDX (Portland Oregon) we have Indie Bookstores. Many are Black and/or LGBTQ owned. One of ours is often considered the largest Indie Bookstores in the world (Powell's)

Happy International Independent Bookstore Day!!

😂

Found on IG (Bookaholic)

39/100
You are at a huge advantage if you have not read a ton of Terry Pratchett or the UK children's writer Jacqueline Wilson, which I have not.
3 favorites:
Frankenstein
Atonement
The Forsyth Saga .....or Dorian Grey.

@dabbe #TLT

Bailing 100 pages in. Scalzi is always hit or miss for me. I love the idea of this book - the moon has, in an instant, turned to cheese and no one knows why or how it what is next. Scalzi uses interviews, news reports and (for me) way too many pov. The book is creative but I have been sitting here for the last 40 or so pgs wishing I was reading Blake Crouch's Project Hail Mary instead so I am going to stop now

I thought this was great. Kathy gets in the apartment complex pool one warm November day and refuses to come out. We then get her and her husband Virgil's versions of their courtship and marriage. My one complaint is I wish we had less of Virgil and more of Kathy. It is a fleeting character and relationships study, I can see why people would want more but I thought it was well written & well crafted. I'm going to look for more from the author.

"All around them was death, and Kathleen had never been more in love with Virgil in her life."

Well. I have 2 days of jury duty. Let's see how much reading I can get done. We are currently one lunch during day 1 and I am finishing this one up. I am liking it way more than the GR reviewers.

This is fantastic. Peters knows how to weave a story. I find it so interesting how she placed the stories, there are a few stories that relate to one storyline and it is mixed up chronologically making for an onion layer reveal between that are strong stories and the one novella (title story). My only complaint is that novella was a bit too long.
TW for one brutal animal scene that is upsetting in a story called The Chaser.

Yesterday some friends and I got together for lunch and a theater showing of the Keira Knightly Pride and Prejudice! This weekend is the 20th anniversary if you can believe it! We had a ball, I sometimes forget how incredible the cinematography is in this film, seeing it in theaters really shows you what an amazing job they did. And goodness everyone in this is gorgeous 😍

Starting this one today feels serendipitous after the highly publicized "flight" this week. I have so many thoughts and feelings.

I was in the first grade when the Challenger tragedy happened and I still remember the shock of it all. I have heard good things about the this one and think it is a perfect time to read it.

I was turned on to this during wishlist talks for the Women's Prize for Nonfiction this year. Before this I had never heard of Pamela Churchill Harriman. What a fascinating woman she was! From a fat frumpy teen running around the Mitfords to the wife of Winston Churchill's son, to socialite and finally to a US democratic fixer. Told with an obviously great amount of research this story is captivating, Pam was a complex woman. 👇

I found this book on lists of hopefuls for the Women's Prize for Nonfiction long list. and honestly so glad I did. If you want to dip your toes into who Pamela Churchill Harriman was there is an excellent New Yorker article about the book. I personally had never heard of her before -
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/09/23/kingmaker-sonia-purnell-book-revie...

“Pamela, who lived and died in the twentieth century, believed that a superpower that did not protect the vulnerable was not worthy of the name."
She died during Clinton's term and I cannot help but wonder what she would think of us today.
Pamela is one of the few old school political people who enjoyed favor with both sides of he aisle, but she seemed to always (after her teens) have a firm moral compass.

Photo -Pamela 1995 from britannica.com

Book 2 in the series, you really have to read these in order. Rosalie has been adopted into the Corbin family and she is quickly becoming the center of three men's lives.
This is much spicier than the first novel and I am still scratching my head and annoyed that Trump supporters are mad at Rath for her saying she doesn't want them near her (the reason I picked up the books)
Overall a great read - plenty of plot and character growth.

I have read 65 (I am counting some series even if I only read the first)

Favorites:
P&P
Beloved
Sirens of Titen ties with Hitchhikers Guide

3 I do want to read:
Anne Green Gables
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Another Country (one of the only Baldwins I have not read)

#TLT #ThreeListThursday @dabbe

Harmon who? We know who the winner was in this situation.

Trying my luck with Pango, I started listing today, so if anyone in the US is shopping for some new to them books - often I get books then listen to them on audio so many of the ones listed have not even been read!

If any Pango sellers have any advice would love to hear it!

You can see the books here: https://pangobooks.com/bookstore/chaoticreadingadventures

Who's this? New profile photo, same person. 😁

I truly dislike this part of it. 😂

The sun has come to Portland for the afternoon 😍☀️💗📚