Thanks to StoryGraph, I see that The Count of Monte Cristo is my answer, at about 1,276 pages. I read it in 2015. I loved the 2011- 2015 TV show Revenge. I learned it was based on this classic. I had put it off due to the length, but really enjoyed it and was happy I dove in. #SundayFunday

George: We‘re used to Nancy‘s whizbang brain.

new book vase

My daughter gave me a book from my tbr and a book from hers. She bought herself the same. Two more buddy reads for my Mother‘s Day gift!

Only Magic in the Building is a whimsical rom com series with different authors. Each book takes places in the same building but is a stand alone. The first two stories are super easy reads with likable characters. I plan to continue with the series.

I‘m enjoying the second whimsical rom com in the Only Magic in the Building series. I‘m reading a story a day in House Gone Quiet. I plan to start Nancy Drew 19 for the BR today. #weekendreads

The mayor told us not to wear clothes anymore.

House Gone Quiet is a short story collection. I bought it on Indie Bookstore Day and am really enjoying it. I‘m reading the story titled Decency Rule today. #FirstLineFridays

#BookNerdBliss

Perfectly lovely. A cozy city-country swap (grandma & granddaughter trade homes for two months) with generations learning from each other.

I realize there are bits in the story that might make it less cozy for others. Trigger warnings under spoiler in the comments.

Ninety-five years of Nancy Drew!
The Secret of the Old Clock was first published
April 28, 1930.

This dystopian novel has become extra popular again because it was written in 1993 and is set in 2024-2027. Kinda like when I read 1984 (written in 1948) in 1986. This was a downer of a read and I ended up taking several weeks off at the midway point. It does provide some moments of hope and the MC is a likable heroine I readily cheered on.

My intermission made me fall WAY behind the #WithTheBanned BR hosted by @Jadams89

I enjoyed rereading this collection of short stories with #NoPlaceLikeHolmes

@dabbe and @Cuilin always host worthwhile discussions and I appreciate them so much.

I went to my local indie with a couple books in mind, but none were on the shelves. I ended up reading a few jackets and picked two books I‘ve never heard of. House Gone Quiet is a collection of apparently “beautifully crafted” short stories if the pitches are to be believed. Shady Hollow promises to be an ultra cozy mystery and that sounds perfect right now. Everyone who made a purchase was able to choose an ARC on their way out.

I gifted this to my foodie husband months ago. He enjoyed it and read several passages to me which he was particularly entertained by. It was this month‘s pick for my local bookstore‘s book club so I read it myself and really liked it too. Great discussion and the facilitator brought two types of tomatoes for us to sample. She also played Homegrown Tomatoes by John Denver which was new to me.

This took me much longer to read than it should have so I‘m behind schedule for #HitchToScreen with @JenlovesJT47

I had not heard of it before, and really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed reading the revised series when I was in elementary school. I did not come even close to reading them all, but enough to have a genuine love for Nancy and her friends. Reading these with the #NancyDrewBR is really fun, but if you just want to read the “good” mysteries skip this one. It was choppy, and needed some more editing imo.
My favorite line from this caper -
George: Bess, you‘re the heroine of the occasion!

Great pick for #WithTheBanned @Jadams89

This was my first time reading Perks. I watched the movie many years ago and pretty much just remembered the scene pictured above.

Difficult topics dealt with respectively and with hope.

Looking forward to #CampLitsy25

All The Other Mothers Hate Me, Sarah Harman
Three Days in June, Anne Tyler
My Name is Emilia Del Valle, Isabel Allende
Happy Land, Dolen Perkins-Valdez

@squirrelbrain @Megabooks @BarbaraBB

Anyone else listening to songs mentioned?

#WithTheBanned @Jadams89

A grand story, with grand lessons and symbolism all in 145 pages.

Forward by Ann Patchett, who brought this book back into print.

While visiting Nashville, I toured Cheekwood Estate. This is a dumbwaiter in a nook off the library. They used it to easily get books up to and down from the second floor for reading in the bedrooms. Genius.
(I started the tagged book while on this trip.)

I tagged along on my husband‘s work trip to Nashville. While he was at his conference I visited Ann Patchett‘s bookstore, Parnassus Books. Luckily she was there and I spoke with her briefly. She was friendly and gracious. I‘ve listened to The Dutch House and Tom Lake. I‘m currently reading The All of It which she got back in print and wrote a forward to. I look forward to reading these signed copies soon.

This is a retelling of My Fair Lady with an Elijah instead of an Eliza. Higgins and Pickering are young women. I‘ve seen the movie many times and used to listen to the soundtrack on repeat so I definitely picked up on the nods given by the author. This was the lighthearted romp I‘d hoped for.

I listened to the audiobook and it was superb.

Finished # 17.
Ready for our #NancyDrewBR tomorrow!

I‘m reading ND 17 for our BR on Saturday while I wait for the eclipse. Kinda cloudy where I am so I‘m also watching the livestream from Griffith too. https://www.youtube.com/live/BguB5KSBYd0?si=OdK92PWQUeviTD9X

This is a reread for me of Anne of Green Gable # 7. I read it the first time over ten years ago and I didn‘t remember much. A nice happy escape with some laugh out loud moments. I look forward to the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead discussion on Saturday.

Started this today and enjoying the escape. My Fair Lady is my fav movie. I read Pygmalion a few years and enjoyed that too. This audiobook is well done and I‘m enjoying the nods to the original story.

I listened to the audiobook that was over 16 hours long. The book is only about 290 pages. Leslie covered the same stories in the book (and added some) in her own words that she felt in the moment of the recording. She laughed a lot and she cried a lot. She shared her testimony more than once. This was incredibly moving and I‘m glad I heard her story. Amazing. Four stars for the unending, absolutely countless f-bombs. lol She knows.

“Mr. Wiley used to mention hell when he was alive. He was always telling folks to go there. I thought it was some place over in New Brunswick where he come from.”

- Mary Martha Lucilla Moore Ball Vance, age 12

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

Macomber leaves the reader with a few cliff hangers to head into the next and final novel of this easy read series.

This has been on my tbr for years. Knowing the dark topic, I put it off til later. When the opportunity to read it with a group arose, I figured it was time. I‘m really glad I waited to read it with others, much better experience than I would have had going it alone. A HUGE thank you to @BarkingMadRead for hosting the BR. #hashtagbrigade

Super fun. A Delight. Full cast, great comedic timing.

I didn‘t research this enough before reading it. I might not have chosen to read it the same time as The Bell Jar. I thought it was simply a whimsical rom-com. It is more than that.

Happy Valentine‘s Day #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

I finished mystery 16 and look forward to the #NancyDrewBR discussion tomorrow.

Illuminating. The great migration extensively researched and told through the personal stories of three families. Definitely worthy of the Pulitzer.

Ridiculously amusing.

Read this for the second time #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead
It has been more than ten years, so all the details were as fresh, surprising, and emotional as the first time. I adore this series. Glad to revisit it.

I enjoyed this dark thriller. I‘ve read the first three in the Ripley series, so this is my fourth Highsmith. Glad there are still more. #HitchToScreen

“Thanks be, I‘m done with geometry, learning or teaching it,” said Anne Shirley, a trifle vindictively, as she thumped a somewhat battered volume of Euclid into a big chest of books, banged the lid in triumph, and sat down upon it, looking at Diana Wright across the Green Gables garret, with gray eyes that were like a morning sky.

I enjoyed #20 of this very fun cozy series with lovable characters.

This was another fun one with the impeccable Nancy and her supportive, able friends solving another case.

More in the comments protected by spoiler.

This was a reread for me. Over ten years has passed though, and I didn‘t remember much. I adore the characters of Holmes and Watson and enjoyed digging in with #NoPlaceLikeHolmes

This was my first time reading,
and oof, heartbreaking.

#WithTheBanned

This is a reread for me, but enough years have passed I did not remember the details that keep the reader in suspense in this one. I adore this whole series. Very enjoyable to read it this time with #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

Without realizing it, I chose a very appropriate listen to start a new year, and I love Mae Whitman.

I read 125 books this year, and know I won‘t finish another today. For me, these were the best of the bunch.

tags in the comments

Bittersweet, festive, and bookish. Just 127 pages.

kindle unlimited with audio option

Soft pick, 3⭐️

Just 175 pages, but still a little wordy. Too many paragraphs of people explaining or considering obvious ideas.

Stella Partridge never expected to move back to her hometown. She never expected to be a house-sitter for the twelve days leading up to Christmas as a desperate bid to earn some extra money. And she definitely never expected to recognize the thief that breaks into the house she's watching: Jack Piorra, her childhood best friend…