I love Narwhal and Jelly. They never fail to brighten my day. In the latest book, Narwhal becomes a substitute teacher for a school of fish. This is sweet, fun, educational, and “fintastic”. 😂

This is it. This is all I‘ve read this week. I managed 30 pages or so of the print book I started two weeks ago and an hour or two of Miriam‘s audiobook, but this is all I‘ve finished. Still sick. Felt better yesterday and this morning. Feeling worse this evening. Being sick sucks. #bookreport

I look forward to Small Business Saturday at Park Road Books every year. This year‘s haul includes this beauty. I cannot wait to snuggle under a blanket and get lost in these pages. 🤩

I‘ve been so sick with bronchitis the last week+ that I haven‘t been able to read at all. I finally picked this back up for book club and I‘m so confused. It‘s like the rules for time travel change depending on what the plot needs. I have to finish it this weekend, but it‘s giving me a headache. Has anyone else read this? Does it get better/start to make sense or should I just accept that it‘s gibberish I will never comprehend?

Hi @suvata

Just wanted to let you know your book arrived today. 🥰

#lmpbc

Excited to dig into this list from @katiekat311 😍 The House in the Cerulean Sea is my all-time favorite book and I actually own The Kiss Quotient and The Guest List. Thanks again for putting this together @monalyisha 🥳
#newyearwhodis2022 #nywd2022

This week‘s #bookreport is a great big FAIL. I‘ve had a fever for three days. Apparently, it‘s “just” bronchitis, so there‘s not much to be done but ride it out. Meanwhile, I haven‘t been able to read anything - even audiobooks require more brain power than I have. I did start Miriam Margolyes‘s book early in the week, but I haven‘t finished it yet. I wanted to get The Gone World mailed out, but I‘ve only read maybe 10 pages. 😭

The first of my newly purchased books for #ReadingAfrica2022 and #Booked2022 arrived. This one counts as a Black-owned press (Africa World Press) and author born in Africa (Zambia). I don‘t know if Queen Elizabeth will actually make an appearance, but murders take place right before her scheduled visit to Zambia in 1979.

I haven‘t done one of these in a while. Thanks for the tag @wanderinglynn 🥰
#1 I‘ve completed both #Booked2021 and #ReadingAsia2022. I need 2 more books to finish both #MountTBR (75 books) and my Goodreads goal of 150 books.
#2 I have to read my #lmpbc books, but nothing else is really calling to me right now. I just have to make sure to read at least 2 other books that count for #MountTBR.
#Two4Tuesday

@BarbaraBB @Librarybelle Question on the challenge-is it “cheating” to use the same book for multiple countries? I have several that touch at least three countries.
#readingafrica2022

Lastly, #Fall #Booked2021 Another list with some hard prompts!
#19-Dark Academia: The Secret History
#20-a coming out story: Fun Home
#21-HopePunk: We Set the Dark on Fire
#22-mythology retelling: The Witch‘s Heart
#23-adapted for small screen: Lost Girls
#24-MC/Author with AIDS/about the AIDS epidemic: Nobody Ever Said AIDS

Initial proposed list for #Booked2022 #Summer
#13-include a recipe: The Diva Runs Out of Thyme
#14-set in Canada: The Matchmaker‘s List
#15-involves exploration: The Arctic Fury
#16-about sisters: The Once and Future Witches
#17-New in 2022: Sloth Sleeps Over
#18-set in an inn, lodge, or hotel: Jamaica Inn

#Booked2022 #Spring These were a little less challenging, except I got stuck on the difference between a journalist, contributing writer, etc.
#7-about a Royal: The Summer Queen
#8-by a journalist: Evicted
#9-Five Nights Before the Summit
#10-Make Your Own Prompt “Related to things I make (quilts)”: Quilt or Innocence
#11-nautical novel: The Deep
#12-murder mystery: The Decagon House Murders

I‘ve got my list together for #Booked2022 #Winter. For the record, some of these were really hard! I‘ll be interested to see how close the reality comes to this, because it will change. 😂
#1-about cult/religion: Behold
#2-repeating title: The City & The City
#3-set in China: The Firemaker
#4-weather term: The Storm Runner
#5-Black-owned publisher: Sweet Dreams Young Savage
#6-non-patriarchal society: Herland

I‘m looking forward to listening to Miriam‘s memoir. There‘s nothing else on my #weeklyforecast that I want to read, at least today. I have to finish The Gone World this week to be sure it gets in the mail on time for #lmpbc 😢

I had plans. Then, I watched The Graham Norton Show where Miriam was promoting her book. The hardcover isn‘t available in the US until next May, but we all know I prefer memoirs on audio anyway. So, plans be damned, Miriam‘s memoir is my next listen. 🤩

Lister‘s style will not appeal to all, and while not inclusive to what my finance coach calls women+, as the target audience, I enjoyed this combination of memoir, history, and introduction to witchcraft guide. I could have done without some of the verbiage, but I also understand that reclaiming those words and rejecting any shame and discomfort around them is part of reclaiming the divine feminine power that has been stripped away by patriarchy.

Not a bad week for my #bookreport. Three non-fiction audiobooks and I completed #readingasia2021, which I‘m still excited about. Slowly plugging away at The Gone World for #lmpbc. It feels way over my head and I‘m struggling to concentrate, but I HAVE to finish it and I have to finish it in print. 🥺 I‘ve also started #DrZ, but I‘m still on the intro by Pevear. Would it be wrong to skip that??

I loved this. History written by white men, made educational law by white male politicians is astonishingly NOT what really happened. /s More books crushing the white savior/hero narrative please. It‘s past time for us to stop pretending con-men, slavers, thieves, and rapists are heroes and worth emulating. Knock them off their pedestals. Burn your Phil Collins CDs while you‘re at it (ugh).

And with In Extremis, #ReadingAsia2021 is officially complete, including the three optional bridge countries it listed on StoryGraph. I‘m leaving In Extremis as my conditional choice for Timor-Leste. If I have time, I may read another book that references the country for more than 30 minutes of a 13 1/2 hour audiobook, but for now…I am counting it and I AM DONE!

I expected more about Marie Colvin's work as a war correspondent. When the book focused on Colvin's work and the regions where that work took place, it was interesting, informative, and compelling. However, I couldn't have cared less about her dating life, bad habits, eating disorder, etc. The audiobook narration was uninspiring. #timorleste #readingasia2021

I‘m struggling with In Extremis and questioning whether it really fits for Timor-Leste, so I tried to find something else. The only thing that I can find available in any format, is a digital copy of the tagged book. Over my dead body am I paying that much for Kindle, especially one that I know based on genre I will most likely hate. 😩 I don‘t have Scribd - do I want to spend $10 for one month to read this? My library & hoopla don‘t have it.

It seems wrong to say I enjoyed this book. It was a hard read, very short, but also well-written (except for the alarming number of exclamation points). The ending was unsatisfying, but most of the book made me rage-y and can best be summed up with a loud “Fuck the Patriarchy!” #readingasia2021 #yemen

I‘m all in for the #DecemberChill #BuddyRead of #DrZ! I bought this back when I read The Secrets We Kept. The good news is the audiobook is the same translation as my print copy so I can go back and forth. Since I struggle with so many Russian authors in translation, though, I‘m looking forward to bailing on this one soon! 🤣🤣

So much of this book is ugly, but I thought this imagery is beautiful, if sad.

I listened to a couple hours of In Extremis last night (I really hope it gets better soon), but didn‘t get any other reading done. This week, I hope to finish my #lmpbc book and the last of my books for #readingasia2021. Then, I‘ll start last month‘s LibraryThing Early Reviewers win. I can let my NetGalley queue back up for years, but I like to keep LT current. Forget the Alamo May or may not be my next audiobook. 🤷🏻‍♀️ #weeklyforecast

My Shelves Bookstore #RIAL subscription/book club book for November arrived today. It looks good and I have high hopes for it. Fingers crossed!

Despite a rough week with migraines and work stress, I got a lot of reading done and more importantly, I enjoyed the books I finished. I was apparently in a “take no prisoners” mood when it came to audiobooks, as I bailed on two. I‘ve started my last two (😱) books for #readingasia2021 and my second #LMPBC book for the new round. Hoping to finish at least one more book today, but we‘ll see. #bookreport

My first bail of November. Sarah Vowell is an author who should not read her own work, IMO. The quotes from celebs are okay, but it‘s all a little distracting. I may give this book another chance later in print, as the subject interests me, but it‘s an #audiofail for now.

This was a decent thriller. There was a little of the American writing about an “exotic” locale feeling, but certainly not as bad as others I‘ve read this year. Predictable, but still entertaining. I‘ll probably read more of Fesperman‘s work, but I‘ll probably skip the audiobook narration which was mediocre. #readingasia2021 #unitedarabemirates

I enjoyed this just as much on the reread as I did last year and this solidifies it as an annual holiday tradition. I hope the rest of my #LMPBC group enjoys it, too. 💖

This was a much better choice for #Tajikistan than the other book. Iggulden‘s books are always meticulously researched, well-written, and interesting. While Genghis Khan and the Mongols do get a lot of page time when it comes to nonfiction, their empire doesn‘t seem to get a lot of historical fiction love and I find the culture and time period fascinating. #readingasia2021 (3 books to go for the challenge!)

The audiobook quality is TERRIBLE! It was clearly edited and the post-production is awful. Every few minutes it sounds like the narrator has walked into a bathroom. On the bright side, the author already mentioned that the entire territory of the Mongol emperor, Chagatai, encompasses the full territory he covers in this book, so I‘m switching to Khan:Empire of Silver for #readingasia2021 #tajikistan

If I manage this November TBR, I will complete all of my reading challenges and be able to coast through December. The top four are the last I need for #readingasia2021, In a Holidaze and The Gone World are for #lmpbc, HEMI Under Glass is a LibraryThing Early Reviewer copy, and the others are for my November themes: #Noirvember and #NonfictionNovember. #novembertbr

And that‘s a wrap on October! I really thought this was a bad month, but despite several bails, I finished 19 books! Granted, very few of these are standouts, but at least I finished on a high with Singapore Noir. (Books listed in reverse order of completion because there were too many 3-star reads to make rating order meaningful). #octoberwrapup

This has to be one of my favorite Akashic Noir collections so far. There was only one short story that I didn‘t like. While the ending on a couple of others left me scratching my head, the stories themselves were enchanting. The sense of place, the variety of characters and plots, all combined to make a rich collection of dark tales. #readingasia2021 #singapore

I‘ve got to finish Singapore Noir today, and then it‘s off to tackle the November TBR, starting with an audiobook for #readingasia2021 and the books for both #lmpbc groups.

#weeklyforecast

I love Tessa Dare. This novella lacks some of the laugh out loud humor of her more recent work, but it still has funny moments, great characters, and a heartwarming love story. Perfect for when you need a quick HEA.

This. Was. Awful. I didn‘t enjoy the epic poem, Layli and Majnun, and I liked this tale even less. It‘s tedious. The characters, especially the men, are obnoxious idiots, and the women are portrayed as either doormats or sly bitches. No thank you. At least it was free. #readingasia2032 #maldives

Finished four books this week, which wasn‘t bad, even if it wasn‘t everything I wanted to get through. I hit a block with the second story in Singapore Noir that I need to power through. The first story was so good. Dhon Hiyala continues to be a thorn in my side, but I will conquer it. Only a day and a half left in October to finish the bottom two. I don‘t want either to carry over to November. #bookreport

One of these days, I‘ll tackle The Gulag Archipelago, but this short novel is a good introduction to the horrors of that tome. It‘s dark and sad, but Solzhenitsyn is one of the Russian authors whose writing I can get through (*shakes fist at Dostoyevsky). This is my pick for the bridge country of #Russia for #ReadingAsia2021.

I think it‘s a combination of stress and an audiobook narration that I did not enjoy, but I found this disappointing. I remember really enjoying Sparrow Hill Road, but this one fell flat. It wasn‘t bad, just not anything to write home about. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I enjoyed this audiobook more than I thought I would, though the subtitle is misleading (did I miss the tsunamis?). If you‘re looking for cultural insights, like religious traditions, food, dress, or even things like natural disasters that have shaped #Indonesia, this will disappoint. If you are interested in military/political changes, from colonization to rebellions to “democratic” elections, then you may enjoy this. #readingasia2021

NBR but I have a new gnome for my home and I love him (I need to get ribbon to hide the wreath hangers, but…)

Based on the build up in this introduction, I have high hopes for this collection!

This is a pick with reservations. I enjoyed the writing style - it was detailed without being bogged down, and for a police procedural involving a serial killer , not gratuitously graphic. The pacing was good and I never lost interest. However, I didn‘t enjoy the twist or resolution, so it was ultimately unsatisfying. I‘d read more by Luca Veste, but I wouldn‘t reread this one.

I watched a mini-series on Netflix earlier this week with the dumbest police detectives. Hunting a serial killer, they were constantly walking into dangerous situations alone. One cop is killed in the prologue and the two current-day detectives are constantly getting beaten. It was annoying. Then, I come across these two quotes, all in the first third of my current read. Is this the new norm in crime fiction? 🙄

I really want to read all of these by the end of October, but the most important are Dhon Hiyala (which is so tedious), A Brief History of Indonesia, and Singapore Noir, as they are all for #readingasia2021. The others are just books I really wanted to read this month. Fingers crossed. #weeklyforecast

A solid adventure tale of two children who ferry a secret message from the resistance in Tibet, across the mountains, to the exile community in India. I‘m not sure which major rebellion played out here, as Tibet has been fighting Chinese rule since the 1950s, but this was still a good story. Soneela Nankani is not my favorite audiobook narrator, though. 🤷🏻‍♀️ #readingasia2021 #tibet

Technically, I haven‘t finished Running on the Roof of the World, but I will later today. Needless Street was wild, but Mooncakes was disappointing. I will probably bail on the audio of The Girl in the Green Silk Gown because I am not enjoying the narration, but I haven‘t decided, yet. I‘m making progress in the other two, but not enough to say I‘ll finish today, but I would like to finish at least one of them. #bookreport