Pretty much all of my joys this week revolve around a snowy week.

💛 The beauty of snow! ❄️
💛 A cozy house during this cold weather
💛 Several long walks with Luthien when I had snow days from school
💛 Quiet days at home with lots of reading and project time
💛 Cat snuggles

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

This was a fascinating story with magic, time travel, and some great characters.

#audiobook #LitsyBookClub

Tolkien readers, I‘m waiting on my copy to arrive in order to plan a timeline, but our next read will be The Fall of Arthur. @JazzFeathers and I hope to start at the beginning of February, but we can push it back if needed for interested readers to find copies.

Although I am tagging my entire Tolkien list today, please comment if you‘re interested in being tagged for this book specifically.

#FellowshipOfTolkien #MedievalTolkien #JRRTolkien

I really enjoyed this contemporary MG novel about a boy running a family greenhouse with his older brother after the death of their parents. His teacher assigns a project in which he must relate events & tasks in his own life to the 12 labors of Hercules. There‘s a lot of mythological information and an amazing setting on Cape Cod alongside a story of the importance of found family (including pets) and community connection.

#TRS2024 #MiddleGrade

I‘m finally settling in to start this next Shardlake novel with supper this evening.

#ShardlakeBR #ReadAndEat

I listened to this middle grade book over the course of the day. It was ok, with plenty of references to Harry Potter (Vivian‘s favorite books), Dungeons & Dragons (the characters play B&B), and some other fantasy stories, but there‘s nothing that really pulled me into this specific world with these characters.

#MiddleGrade #audiobook #TRS2024

📷: After a couple days inside because of the snow, Luthien and I got back out for a good walk today.

This is quite a convoluted and complicated story. There was a lot of explanatory information before the dead body appeared and plenty more detail following. I found most of the descriptions of the bells and how they were used fascinating, but sometimes I struggled to maintain my focus. Overall, it was an interesting mystery that kept me wondering.

#audiobook #1001books #AuthorAMonth

📷: Snowy but sunny day here and a perfect shirt for it!

I‘ve read many Litsy reviews of this book, but I was still expecting more from the hockey player must learn to figure skate plot along with the spicy scenes. It was a fun read, and I loved the team friend group dynamic that frequently had me laughing.

It bothers me somewhat that I borrowed this from a HS girl, but I also appreciate there are some great messages about communication & consent compared to the romance novels I first read as a teen.

This was an interesting story of time travel in which Boomi hopes she can change her dad‘s fate but instead makes other changes and learns to make her own choices. I really liked how it was divided into tracks instead of chapters as her dad‘s boombox from 1986 is the key to the time travel. It also deals with some serious issues of parent death and healthy body perception in relation to ballet.

#MiddleGrade #TRS2024 #audiobook

💛 Litsy! As I compiled book stats this week, I considered again how Litsy has impacted my reading life. Thank you all for your part in this community.
💛 Seeing progress made on long term reading goals and reviewing great reads from the past year
💛 Time for Luthien to run and good weather for me to walk while visiting family
💛 The cats and all their snuggles
💛 Extra time this week for some canning baking projects

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

Juniper Berry has grown up deep in the wilderness and knows almost nothing of modern conveniences. Instead she knows how to hunt and forage to survive with her family. Then, her brother becomes acutely ill, and the whole family travels to the city. Suddenly, she has to learn a whole new set of rules while living with an uncle she didn‘t even know existed and cousins who don‘t want her there.

#MiddleGrade #TRS2024

My first audiobook of 2025 was a #1001books listen. I liked this one better than the previous book I listened to by this author, but her style is not apparently for me. I felt like this book had somewhat disconnected storylines, left too many things unanswered, and ended rather abruptly. I guess that makes it true to life, but I‘m not sure what I am supposed to take away from it.

#audiobook #Reading1001
#TBRTakedown January 2024

My official reading stats for 2024

As of today, these 12 books are the ones I continue to think about the most. The top row includes #1001books, #LitsyBookClub reads, a #CampLitsy read, and 1 reread for a #ShardlakeBR. I tend to focus on first time reads for my year end list, but rereading the Shardlake series must be included. The bottom row are all fantastic middle grade reads.

#ReadingStats #2024Stats #DaiseysReadingSummary

Some more book stats for 2024

I always find these two graphs of my reading interesting.

#ReadingStats #2024Stats #DaiseysReadingSummary

This year I read 37 books from the #1001books list. I think 2 of those were rereads, so my current Goodreads tally is 289 completed books from the complete list of 1318 books.

Some of the most interesting/memorable included Cloud Atlas, Year of the Hare, Perfume, and Storm of Steel.

#ReadingStats #2024Stats #DaiseysReadingSummary

2024 #BookSpinBingo

124 books completed this year

#DaiseysReadingSummary
#ReadingStats #2024Stats

I finished my final book of 2024, and the only book currently in progress is my long read/listen of the Complete Sherlock Holmes with #NoPlaceLikeHolmes. Now it‘s time to compile all the book stats for the year. First up, I completed 16 books in December thanks to a lot of time to listen to audiobooks and Christmas break. This included a good combination of light reads, mostly holiday related, and more serious ones, including 5 #1001books.

This is my final completed read of the year and it was a great one. Storm of Steel is a straightforward description of trench warfare in WWI from a German soldier who was wounded multiple times and continued to return to the front until the 7th time after 4 years of fighting. He seldom shirks away from the violence and gore of the battle, yet also expresses respect for the skill of the enemy.

#1001books #memoir #nonfiction #WWI #audiobook

Lawrence is having a tough time at his new school, getting into trouble for fighting although he‘s not the one instigating. When he gets expelled, he starts spending a lot of time at the community rec center meeting new people and learning chess.♟️

#TRS2024 #audiobook #MiddleGrade #NorthCarolina

Overall I liked this historical fiction from the point of view of a girl who stows away on the Titanic, but there were a few issues for me as a reader. Hazel sneaks onto the ship and then makes herself way too visible, including spending time in the first class areas. She asks specific questions that provide lots of clear information about the flaws/mistakes that led to the catastrophe, and of course it all works out well for her in the end.

I listened to this yesterday and I‘m still not quite sure what I think. It‘s got some amusing bits and interesting scenes, but for the most part it‘s just a story of a man that‘s not going to stick with me.

#audiobook #1001books

For the past year I‘ve used the same basic #BookSpinBingo list each month. For 2025, I kept it much the same as it‘s worked well for me. I‘ve included #1001books, whatever readalongs or hashtag reads I‘m participating in, MG & YA (or a random children‘s book), as well as owned & nonfiction reads. Plus there are always free spaces. I love this method of tracking my reading, yet it‘s incredibly flexible & not time consuming from month to month.

This was a novel in verse about a girl who is struggling more with her neurodivergence as she gets into middle school. She comes to realize that she‘s on the autism spectrum and other members of her family probably are as well. She becomes an advocate for herself as she learns there are others who feel the same and more about accommodations that can be helpful.

#TRS2024 #NovelInVerse #MiddleGrade

I didn‘t read this word for word because I skimmed through some plants that I didn‘t recognize. Instead I focused on plants I already know how to find. This has many of the same plants as Lisa Rose‘s book on foraging, but it goes into more detail about medicinal uses. It had clear photos and information for using local plants for tinctures and salves.

#nonfiction

When Marian‘s father is murdered she suddenly learns about the magical creatures in the world and her own abilities to communicate with them. As she learns to help them, she also learns about the business of selling and holding them captive. Is this why her father was murdered and how can she truly help these amazing creatures? I loved the mythological aspects of this story, but I was disappointed in the ending.

#TRS2024 #MiddleGrade #YA

💛 Being home with my family for the holiday & spending time on the farm
💛 Wonderful Christmas Eve church services
💛 Beautiful Christmas trees & lights
💛 Delicious food, some games, gifts, & working on a puzzle with family Christmas Day
💛 On these days I spend at my sister‘s house, Luthien gets to spend hours running miles in the woods, and I know where she is and can call her in thanks to her tracking collar.

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

A book, a mug of boozy cocoa, and a blanket make for a perfect evening.

I‘m finding this story fascinating so far, but I‘m also far enough in that I am ready for some more answers.

#TRS2024 #MiddleGrade #YA

Merry Christmas friends! 🎄
I‘ve sent the beagle out to run & prepped breakfast enchiladas for brunch with family in a few hours. The tree is lit and music playing while I enjoy a few more pages of this book. I won‘t finish until I‘m back home this evening, but I love it as much as ever. I so appreciate how Tolkien weaves a fantastic story while also reminding readers to be aware of hard times for others.

#FellowshipOfTolkien #TolkienChristmas

Merry Christmas Eve and Happy #Jolabokaflod! I opened my gift between putting in some hours of farm work today and getting ready for church this evening. Thanks so much Kristen for the book and chocolate. This one‘s been on my wish list for a while!

Thanks again to @MaleficentBookDragon for hosting this wonderful swap!

This was a quicker listen than I expected. I started it a few days ago, but when I got back to it today I listened straight through to the end. I‘m not much of a reader of espionage novels, but I appreciated the tangle of events and explanations this one explored. I‘ll definitely be interested in picking up another of Le Carré‘s novels.

#audiobooks #1001books #Reading1001 #TBRTakedown December 2024

Friday‘s long gone, but I still want to share some joys from the week.

💛 Baking Christmas goodies
💛 Holiday festivities at school
💛 School‘s out for Christmas break
💛 All the gifts are wrapped
💛 Extra snuggles with the pets

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

I finished listening to this today. I enjoyed the story, but I didn‘t love it. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I would have listened straight through instead of interspersing it with other audiobooks, but some parts were also just long. It also may be one I would appreciate more by more closely comparing it to Dickens‘ life since it seems to be somewhat autobiographical. The audio narration of this version was great.

Listening to some more David Copperfield while making cookies for a cookie exchange tomorrow! Lots of things are happening in the story now and I plan to finish it up this week.

#WhatTheDickens #1001books #audiobook

I had a bit of a delay in getting the book, so my package was just sent out today.

#JolabokaflodSwap24 #JS2024

Apologies to my fellow Tolkien readers. I‘m teaching new classes this year and we‘ve got one more week to wrap up the semester. I‘ve got little time for print reading until this week is over, and I haven‘t even kept up on this short daily read. I hope to catch up once school‘s out Friday, but don‘t expect any posts before then. I hope you‘re enjoying, and I would still love to see your posts this week.

#FellowshipOfTolkien #TolkienChristmas

Well, that was a strange and disturbing story, especially with McEwan‘s descriptive writing. I felt dread early on, but I also didn‘t expect such an abrupt ending. Since I was listening as I worked and not noting the time remaining, I expected what was about to happen to be more drawn out.

#1001books #audiobook

Back to some light and cheery holiday reads now . . .

Usually I‘m considering what to share at the end of the day, but this morning I‘m ready to share my simple joys from the week. Wishing everyone a joyful Friday!

💛 The pets of course
💛 My little changeable desk decoration is ready for Christmas
💛 New stickers for my classroom collection
💛 A simple but funny decorated door for my classroom
💛 Plans to finish Christmas shopping with friends tomorrow

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

I haven‘t kept up with the L.M. Montgomery stories this past week, but I listened to several today on a walk with Luthien and read a couple more once back at the house. I‘ve loved the new ones that I haven‘t read before just as much as those I have. Reading these is such a wonderful way to get into the Christmas spirit! I especially loved “Aunt Cyrilla‘s Christmas Basket” and “The Osbornes‘ Christmas.”

#KindredSpiritsChristmas #audiobook

This is a fun & festive #MiddleGrade book for the holiday season! Adopted girls Aviva & Holly meet and realize they must be twins separated at birth. They decide to switch places to learn more about each other as well as Christmas and Hanukkah. The switching lives after just meeting wasn‘t very credible to me, but it was an incredibly heartwarming story.

* I received this #audiobook through the #Librofm Educator #ALC program. Duration: 8 hr 3 min

Today‘s projects included canning a batch of chicken breasts for easy meals later. I used a combination of recipes from this book and a couple of blogs. The recipe from this book included adding lemon and garlic for seasoning.

#MtCookbook #cookbook

💛 The first snow of the season while I was visiting my family for Thanksgiving
💛 Letting Luthien run on the farm and also play with other dogs
💛 Sledding with my niece
💛 Attending my hometown Christmas tree lighting and caroling (I only make it on years Thanksgiving is late and aligns with the first Sunday of December)
💛 The snow had completely melted off the roads for my late night drive back to my house

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

Catching up on Letters from Father Christmas this morning with breakfast and laughing about the “Rory Bory Aylis fireworks” and the North Polar Bear‘s antics!

#FellowshipOfTolkien #TolkienChristmas #BreakfastWithTolkien #BookAndBreakfast

It‘s December and time to read this wonderful collection of letters! I was busy traveling Sunday and getting back into the routine of school yesterday, so I‘m just now sitting down to read the first few letters. Reading them again, it‘s interesting how simply they start, but also to note aspects that will stay the same in them for years to come. I look forward to hearing your thoughts as you read!

#FellowshipOfTolkien #TolkienChristmas

Another month complete and another month in which the Shardlake reread was my favorite.

#BookSpinBingo #MonthlyStats #ReadingStats #DaiseysReadingSummary

Happy Saturday! It‘s snowing outside, but I‘m cozy inside with Christmas music playing while I enjoy a late lunch and more of this book.

#ReadAndEat #TRS2024 #MiddleGrade

💛 Just two days of school this week and Thanksgiving break
💛 Family time for the holiday weekend!
💛 Thanksgiving meals and leftovers
💛 Time for a little foraging while exploring with Luthien
💛 Helping my sister and her family with some farm chores

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

I finished this book while driving to Thanksgiving celebrations. I don‘t know that I would‘ve made it through a print copy as I took me a long time to become invested in the family. I liked how the chapter titles were all transitional words, and it had some interesting things to say about writing, women, and mother daughter relationships, but it never had enough plot for me.

#audiobook #1001books #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #FoodAndLit #Canada

I don‘t have a specific word to share today, but I did see this post from Merriam-Webster this week that I think is worth a share.

#WeirdWordWednesday #WeirdWords

I read the first book in this series earlier this year for something light and liked it enough to pick up this second one as well. This is Travis & Taylor fan fiction from the friendship bracelet to the Besties to so many other references. It‘s enjoyable fluff, but it also has the body positivity message and fantastic Kingman siblings of the first book, which means I‘ll probably pick up the next one in the series at some point too.

#audiobook

This series is so good! Shardlake gets himself into all kinds of trouble in this book, and I enjoyed reading all of it. I like the dynamic between Shardlake and Barak as well as the mystery. I also appreciate learning more of the detail of the history of this time period.

#ShardlakeBR #ShardlakeSeriesBR