💛 Watching hummingbirds enjoying a new feeder
💛 Cooler evenings in the hammock in the back yard
💛 The pets, including a cozy Gandalf and a happy Luthien out exploring today
💛 Watching my nephew play Friday night football
💛 The long weekend to catch up and relax, including reading for #SummersEndReadathon

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

I haven‘t made as much reading time for this book as hoped, so I gave in and downloaded the audio. It‘s fine, but when I‘ve read books by an author before, a perfectly good narrator just doesn‘t sound right in my head. I‘m finally far enough in that I‘m getting adjusted and into the story. I started Part 2 today, and it‘s good to see Shardlake meet Barak again.

📷: My #audiowalk with Luthien this evening

#ShardlakeBR #audiobook

I started this book during our independent reading time in seminar today, and I did not want to stop when the bell rang. I‘m really intrigued to see where this story goes. However, the book has to stay on my desk at school for the week, so I may not get much further until this weekend.

#TeachersOfLitsy #YA #TRS2025

I enjoyed this book, but as other reviewers have said, I sometimes felt that it had too much going on. I found Covey‘s story incredibly interesting and enjoyed figuring how it all fit together. However, there were so many characters and relationships, that in the end I didn‘t need details for all of them. I think a narrower focus could have been stronger.

#LitsyBookClub #audiobook

Happy Friday!

💛 Iced Pumpkin Carmelicious coffee on my last day of running errands before the start of a new school year
💛 First day of school for a new school year!
💛 Fresh tomatoes for salads for lunch this week
💛 The pets, especially this adorable beagle who thought she should just get to stay snuggled in blankets when I needed to leave for work.
💛 Smooth first week of school completed!

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

This was an incredibly interesting, sometimes sad, sometimes even humorous look into working in the mortuary and cremation business. I think the author makes a great point that in many ways our society has become too separated from the realities of death. I appreciate her writing to share more with the rest of us.

I‘ve seen many interesting reviews of this book, but it took a #StudentRecommendation to make me pick it up.

#audiobook #Nonfiction

I sent out my #AutumnComfortSwap box this morning!

It has been a very long time since I read the original novel, so I can‘t speak for exactly how well this adaptation compares to it. However, it fit well with what I remembered and was a great story with fantastic illustrations. Alanna is one tough and determined girl!

#YA #GraphicNovel

It‘s a hot day and also my last Saturday before the new school year starts, so I took an afternoon break from housework to read this graphic novel. It‘s a fun story of a girl obsessed with a fantasy world who finds that world intersecting with her own real world. It‘s also about friendship and realizing everything is not necessarily as it seems from the outside.

#MiddleGrade #GraphicNovel

This book provided a different perspective on Victorian London told from the perspectives of two very different young women whose lives become intricately entwined. There are three parts, and although I liked listening to Sue‘s story more, Maud‘s also completely held my attention. The twists and turns of their stories frequently surprised me and always kept me invested in listening.

#1001books #audiobook
#TBRTakedown August 2025

💛 Prepping my classroom for the school year with new bulletin boards
💛 Dinner at one of my favorite restaurants with a friend I haven‘t seen in a long time
💛 Delicious meals made with fresh garden vegetables
💛 Iced coffee
💛 The pets

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

Today‘s weird word post has to do with me learning about the origin of the name Bluetooth while reading this ARC of a soon to be published #MiddleGrade book. Bluetooth was named for Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson, a Danish king remembered for uniting tribes in Denmark & Norway.

🔗: https://www.bluetooth.com/about-us/bluetooth-origin/

#WeirdWords #WeirdWordWednesday

Maisie is excited to get a phone, even an old one from her Great Aunt Hazel, but then it also means spending the summer at Hazel‘s house and receiving text message riddles from an unknown sender. I thoroughly enjoyed the historical aspects of this story and the almost time travel story. The characters of Maisie‘s family were pretty standard for middle grade, but Hazel‘s pets were fantastic and key parts of the story.

#NetGalley #MiddleGrade

This was an incredible audio collection of all the Sherlock Holmes stories narrated by Stephen Fry! I‘ve read and listened to some of the stories multiple times and others just once. Some are phenomenal and others much less memorable, but overall it‘s a wonderful collection.

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes #Sherlocked #audiobook

I enjoy Elisabeth Wheatley‘s videos and decided I should try her books. This is the first book of a complete series and available on Hoopla, so I thought it would be a better choice than her new series. It has some interesting world building, but it‘s also very much a first book that sets up a series. I‘m giving it a light pick, and I may or may not pick up the next books when I‘m looking for another light fantasy listen.

#audiobook

💛 Canning projects with fresh produce
💛 Evening reading in the hammock
💛 Starting to get my classroom ready for a new school year
💛 Local festival
💛 The pets

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

chyron: (noun) an electronically generated caption superimposed on a television or cinema screen

#WeirdWords #WeirdWordWednesday

This is a light pick. I found the narrator‘s story interesting because I could sympathize with the difficulties she faced as a woman, but she was also unbelievably lucky while seeming to have no qualms about moving on from one family to another. She‘s without morals through most of it, and I‘m not convinced she‘s truly penitent at the end. I did like how her story came full circle from Newgate to Virginia and both again.

#1001books #audiobook

I‘m not generally a poetry reader, but this collection is by an author from my hometown so I decided to support his work and give it a read. I‘m reading a few poems each morning this week with breakfast.

#poetry #BookAndBreakfast

I‘m behind on our readalong, only starting Part 2 of Book 2, but I‘m hoping to have more reading time this month and catch up some.

Also, I love sunset reading in the hammock.

#HammockReading #KLBR #DoorstopKristin

I agree with several reviews I read for this one. It started out fairly interesting; I enjoyed the flow of the writing and description of the country as they traveled. However, it got old as each section seemed to repeat the same aimless travel to a different place with never enough money, but through some work and theft, they managed enough for drugs and to find another woman to love and leave.

#1001books #audiobook

💛 A few last days of farm work with my dad before transitioning back to get ready for a new school year
💛 Pets that travel well together
💛 Back at my own house with all three pets together
💛 Making a few different kinds of pickles with homegrown produce
💛 Cooler weather this weekend

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

July 2025 #BookSpinBingo

#BookSpin 4 -
#DoubleSpin 11 - #LitsyBookClub Margo‘s Got Money Troubles

This month I had hardly any print reading time, so I only finished one ebook and am behind on readalongs. My favorite listen was Wild Dark Shore.

#DaiseysReadingSummary #ReadingStats #MonthlyStats

This was an interesting weaving together of a book within a book.

#CampLitsy25 #audiobook

Another Saturday edition:

💛 The pets
💛 Lunch with friends I don‘t get to see enough at a new to me restaurant
💛 A visit with @jewright
💛 All the fresh homegrown produce, including putting up sweet corn today
💛 VBS week

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

🍁 Cozy
🍁 Coffee or tea
🍁 Sweet treats
🍁 Stickers
🍁 Knick knacks
🍁 Blanket or socks (but not the fuzzy ones)
🍁 Either pumpkin or apple
🍁 Chocolate
🍁 Any kind of book
🍁 Highlighters and I love any kind of colorful pens

#AutumnComfortSwap #ThisOrThat

I had a long drive yesterday and listened to this entire book. I enjoyed the way it was put together with the present alternating with flashbacks and how the narrator was telling the story to her unborn child. Overall I liked it, and I had a pretty good guess as to the main event of the ending, but I was also disappointed to be left with so many unanswered questions.

#audiobook #CampLitsy25

Of the books chosen for #CampLitsy25, this was the one that most interested me, but summer reading time & library holds meant I just got to it. The setting & atmosphere were fantastic. I wished as the story progressed that the characters would have communicated more, but along with the ending, it seems more realistic to the story that they did not. I enjoyed the multi-voice perspective & how Rowan helped the family move forward. #audiobook

I‘ve been interested in foraging plants for a while, but not so much mushrooms because I don‘t tend to like the ones I‘ve had (except wild morels which I grew up eating). However, I‘ve watched videos by this author, online as Appalachian Forager, and started reading more about foraging mushrooms as well. I recently checked out her new book to read more about chanterelles after my uncle gave me a few to try.
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Another Saturday edition after a long Friday

💛 A walk along the creek where I grew up and a little bit of foraging
💛 Time for Luthien to run
💛 We‘ve reached the time of year with the best cucumber tomato salads!
💛 A great view of the Missouri River while working along the levee
💛 Not having to put on my daily sunscreen today

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

I listened to this on my drive to see family yesterday, and it was a strange read. I didn‘t particularly enjoy it, yet I felt compelled to keep listening. After the sudden death of her mother, the narrator spends some time trying to understand more about her mother‘s life and her connection to her. It was often a confusing and disturbing read.

#1001books #Reading1001 #audiobook

When I first heard about this book, it did not sound like one I would pick up, but it also received many positive reviews so I was intrigued. I‘m glad I gave it a listen. Margo doesn‘t always make great choices, but she works to do the best that she can and grows through her experiences. I especially appreciated the relationship she built with her father.

#audiobook #LitsyBookClub

💛 The pets
💛 Fresh garden produce
💛 Watching some of the canoes & kayaks in the MR340 go by on the river
💛 Finishing baling this year‘s straw
💛 A slower start this morning after a long week

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

As I continue to teach more math, I keep trying to read more books about math myself and add a few more to my class library as well. This is my current math related read, and so far I‘m appreciating it.

#TeachersOfLitsy #Nonfiction

@CarolynM Tag You‘re It! If you want to play, find another post related to the ocean to share.

#TagYoureIt #Ocean

This is my favorite of the books I‘ve read by George Eliot. I enjoyed how the characters‘ stories were woven together, and how Silas and Eppie found and helped each other to better lives. These characters were much more real to me than some of Eliot‘s others.

📷: I listened as I worked getting the drill ready to plant sunflowers and other jobs around the farm.

#audiobook #1001books #BooksOnTheFarm
#Reading1001 #TBRTakedown July 2025

This note from Holmes to Watson in “The Adventure of the Creeping Man” seems such a clear example of his self-centered perspective when it comes to asking Watson to join him. He has no consideration for any of Watson‘s other responsibilities.

“I received one of Holmes‘s laconic messages: ‘Come at once if convenient—if inconvenient, come all the same. —S.H.‘”

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes #Sherlocked #quote

I completely missed posting my joys on Friday because it‘s been an incredibly busy week, and all the days have kind of blurred together. This morning, though, I had the chance to enjoy some quiet time out on the front porch with the dogs, an iced coffee, and a book before church. It was lovely.

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys #NaturaLitsy #ATreeADay

Good morning! I did a little bit of catching up last night to finish the June pages of this book. We‘re halfway through and I continue to really enjoy these stories of various trees. Today we start July with this quote which I‘ve heard variations of throughout my life. It‘s a wonderful way to consider your impact on the future.

#NaturaLitsy #ATreeADay

June 2025 #BookSpinBingo

June was a busy month with a limited amount of reading time. I loved listening to Black Woods Blue Sky while traveling in Alaska, and I thoroughly enjoyed the reread of Lamentation.

#ReadingStats #MonthlyStats #DaiseysReadingSummary

💛 Attending a teacher appreciation event at Missouri Scholars Academy with one of my students
💛 Putting up hay with the beautiful views from some of the fields and the start of wheat harvest
💛 Chocolate chip scones made by my niece
💛 AC and a comfy bed to sleep after long days of working outside
💛 Always the pets!

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

I enjoyed this, especially the descriptions of some of the locations along the journey, but I agree with some other reviews that the ending was anticlimactic.

📷: I listened to some of this as I was running farm errands, working around the shed, and getting the baler ready to go bale straw. #BooksOnTheFarm

#audiobook #translated #1001books
#Reading1001 #TBRTakedown June 2025

💛 Being back on the farm for the summer (although it‘s been a bit of a transition from travel in Alaska)
💛 Home cooked meals with my sister‘s family
💛 The pets - Luthien, Gandalf, and my sister‘s dog Gracie
💛 Hammock time on the porch
💛 The beauty of the creek after a rain

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

In the first part, a group of travelers gathers at a castle, but they‘ve lost the ability to speak. So, they take turns telling their stories through tarot cards. These felt a bit like The Canterbury Tales, and I enjoyed them. The second part had a similar setup, but the stories included more literary references and weren‘t quite as enjoyable to me.
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I finished my reread of this book, and although I thoroughly enjoyed it, it‘s not one of my favorites of the series. Part of what keeps me invested in these stories is the dynamic between the characters, and I felt some of that was missing here. I did find the mysteries intriguing, and, as always, the depiction of Tudor England was fantastic.

#Reread #ShardlakeBR

I just got home yesterday from a two week trip to Alaska, so my joys for these weeks are all about that.

💛 So much beautiful scenery!
💛 The experience of flying in small planes to & from the village and watching seaplanes land on the water
💛 Seeing wildlife, especially moose
💛 Hiking out onto a glacier
💛 Delicious food, including fresh fish

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

I listened to this book on flights to and from Alaska, and it was the perfect complement to my trip.

📷: Mountain view as we flew out of Anchorage.

#audiobook #Alaska

May 2025 #BookSpinBingo
May was a good reading month. My favorites for new reads were probably Call The Midwife & The Glassmaker, but I enjoyed almost all of them.

#ReadingStats #MonthlyStats #DaiseysReadingSummary

Another late post, but this has been a week full of joys worth sharing.

💛 Strawberry mule made with vodka I infused with fresh strawberries
💛 Church dinner with the homemade rolls I made
💛 Traveling to see my family with very well behaved pets
💛 The beginning of a trip to Alaska!
💛 Getting to fly to the village where my cousin has taught for several years

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

This week I‘ve had the opportunity to visit a cousin who‘s been teaching in a dual language village school in Alaska for several years. She shared the essay “In Quinhagak” from this book. It details the writer‘s visit to a village where an archaeological dig is working to preserve a 500 year old village in the same area of Alaska before it‘s washed away by the sea. It was fascinating to read and see details similar to the village where she lives.