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.

deracinate: (verb) uproot someone from their natural geographical, social, or cultural environment

An interesting word found as I was reading the introduction to the tagged book.

#WeirdWords #WeirdWordWednesday #KLBR

I‘m getting a head start on this book while I‘ve got some time this week, and this line from the introduction caught my attention.

#KLBR #1001books #KindleQuotes

I couldn‘t wait any longer. I had a long drive yesterday and my schedule the next few days is chaotic, so I finished the last few chapters. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I appreciated the discussion to note some details I would have otherwise missed. It was also an often frustrating read, and my heart hurt for Maggie in that it never seemed she had good options from which to choose.

#audiobook #1001books #HashtagBrigade

I just started watching Call the Midwife this past year and love it, so I put the first book on my TBR. I finally made time to listen this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it as well. It‘s such a fascinating, sometimes heartbreaking, but mostly hopeful perspective on a part of history I knew almost nothing about.

#audiobook #nonfiction #memoir

It‘s a beautiful Saturday evening, and I‘m enjoying a strawberry mule thanks to inspiration from @BarbaraJean while finishing the chapters for the May portion of Lamentation. I‘m enjoying it, but I miss the collaboration and comradeship of Shardlake, Barak, and Guy.

#ShardlakeBR #BooksAndBooze

I lost track of time yesterday and forgot to post. It‘s been a quiet but enjoyable week.

💛 A couple of meals out with friends
💛 Days to stay at home cleaning and reorganizing
💛 Fresh strawberries! 🍓
💛 Beautiful weather and time outside with the pets
💛 Time to cook - including fish tacos with onion straws, grilled ribs with roasted sweet potatoes, and sourdough English muffins

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

I now know not to expect happy endings from Wharton, but the details of this one still surprised me. She writes beautifully and pulls you into the lives of the women she describes, in this case two sisters running their own small shop in New York City who meet a local bachelor. Then, you just wait to see how things will fall apart. Again, I find that I tend to enjoy Wharton‘s shorter works more than her longer novels.

#audiobook #1001books

This is a great dog story! There are some rough moments throughout as Sam‘s owner does not treat his dogs well, but in the end things work out for Sam & the boy Evan he befriends. Evan also has an interesting group of friends at school that add to the story.

🎧 Audio duration: 4 hours 48 minutes

* I received this #MiddleGrade #audiobook through the #Librofm Educator #ALC program.

📷: My pets are cozy inside while it‘s dreary & rainy outside.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of a glassmaking family through time. The way in which it skips through time while focusing on the same family is a fascinating storytelling technique, and it includes so many interesting details about glassmaking in Murano and the history of Venice.

#LitsyBookClub #audiobook

This is a fun, short listen for someone who finds microbes fascinating! I had hoped there would be more about the human microbiome, but it‘s about all different kinds of microbes in the world around us. I would also be interested to see the illustrations that go with this #nonfiction book for middle grade readers.

🎧 Audio duration: 1 hour 57 minutes

* I received this #MiddleGrade #audiobook through the #Librofm Educator #ALC program.

Last weekend was so busy that I never had time to share, so I‘ve got two weeks of joy!
💛 Bored Teachers comedy show with friends/colleagues #TeachersOfLitsy
💛 End of the school year events and graduation for another class
💛 As commencement speaker, I was able to reminisce with the seniors about writing and reading projects as well as personal memories from our experiences together.
⬇️

School‘s out for the summer, so I‘ve got a few quiet mornings to enjoy a slow start with a book. I‘m looking forward to getting into this next Shardlake novel. I read it once before, but in a rush so that I remember even less than the others I read longer ago.

#BookAndBreakfast #ShardlakeBR #reread

Toni Morrison is a master at describing the most devastating and heartbreaking stories with wonderful language, and to hear this one in her voice added to that. Some of her books strike me much more than others and this is one of stronger. The switching perspectives and sometimes backwards storytelling were somewhat confusing, but they all had purpose and are worth the effort to follow.

#audiobook #1001books #Reading1001
#TBRTakedown May 2025

ensorcell: enchant, fascinate (verb)

#WeirdWords #WeirdWordWednesday

This was not the book for me. It‘s a strange, dark story with repetitive scenes from the perspective of a narrator frequently in an opium haze. At least that‘s how it seemed to me. I also think I missed aspects due to differences of culture & translation. I feel there‘s much more symbolism than I‘m aware of.

📷: Gandalf kept me company during my #HammockReading this evening.

#translated #1001books #Reading1001 #TBRTakedown April 2025

I went to Audible looking for something else this morning and stumbled across this upcoming release. I tend to use the library or Serial Reader for most classics, but I also appreciate making the most of my credits with collections so I preordered. This collection featuring several narrators will be released in the middle of June.

#WhatTheDickens

It‘s been a whirlwind week/weekend, but I made time today to finish my #reread of this wonderful book on audio. I had forgotten just how solemn and sad the entire story is. It is truly a novel of WWI on the Canadian home front with all of the stress and grief that includes. Yet, it also has those signature moments of pure beauty and humor that LMM writes so wonderfully. I loved revisiting this story.

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #WWI #audiobook

Happy Sunday! These are a couple of books I‘m very much looking forward to for May.

I‘m going to listen to Rilla on audio since I‘ve yet to start, and after yesterday‘s posts compare passages to my print copy.

As for Lamentation, I read most of Heartstone in ebook, and I may have to do the same for this one so I can fit pages in when and where I can without carrying this hardback around.

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMReread #ShardlakeBR

This story starts with a mother evacuating Florida with her college age stepson and two younger children as a massive hurricane heads for Miami. Suddenly their well to do family is separated, has lost access to all cash & credit, and is being bused to a camp for displaced people in Oklahoma. It‘s often a tough story and considers various perspectives as we deal with more extreme weather.

#audiobook

📷: Luthien exploring this morning

💛 More morel mushrooms!
💛 Completing a very busy week of school
💛 Teacher appreciation events at school
💛 Bacon & tomato sandwich
💛 The pets

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

April 2025 #BookSpinBingo
April was a busy month, but I completed these 7 books, including the long listen of Sherlock Holmes stories narrated by Stephen Fry. Heartstone & The Colour were top reads this month.

#MonthlyStats #ReadingStats #DaiseysReadingSummary

I realized as I joined the discussion of this book that I had forgotten to review it. I felt this one started slowly (which was partially impacted by my lack of reading time), but once it got going I really enjoyed it. There were a lot of things going on in this one, but I also love those layers of complexity and history. I also really appreciate that we get to know characters more in the series, but the mysteries are unique.

#ShardlakeBR

💛 A long Easter weekend with my family
💛 Luthien & Gracie (my sister‘s dog)
💛 Mushroom hunting with my dad & my niece
💛 Easter nests
💛 Fresh asparagus

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

Sometimes I just need a light and fun romance for a change of pace. The reader knows from page one where this story is going as it starts with the reveal of the big secret and then flashes back to the beginning. It was quite an insta-love story, and the best parts were the bookish aspects and Fabio the cat.

I think most readers can relate to this quote.

#quote #KindleQuotes

Much of this book is set in Tokyo‘s book district which sounds like a fascinating place, and it had an interesting cast of characters. It was a fairly quiet and enjoyable read, but I don‘t think it‘s one that will stick with me.

#audiobook #LitsyBookClub #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #Japan #translated

💛 I planted a couple broccoli and an early tomato plant.
💛 My strawberries are blooming & violets are popping up all over my yard.
💛 The tulips are beautiful! 🌷
💛 The pets! Luthien ran for miles yesterday, and LaGata got some snuggle time.
💛 It‘s Easter weekend and our spring break for school.

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

This is a story of a family dealing with some big things which come out slowly over the course of story. It‘s told in alternating chapters from the perspective of Ernest, one of the boys in the family who loves words, and Olivetti, the family‘s typewriter. The typewriter makes for an interesting point of view, and the story includes a wonderful group of characters.

#MiddleGrade #audiobook

📷: my tulips! 🌷

I had a hard time with this book. It did not hold my attention well through long sections, then something rather bizarre or violent would happen and I‘d get caught up in the story again for a while. It also took a long time to get the characters straight.

When I finished, I did listen to a podcast episode that discussed a few aspects and gave me a bit more to think about. (Link in comments)

#audiobook #LMMAdjacent #1001books

This year I‘m listening to an audio devotional leading up to Easter. It‘s a good length most mornings to pair with a news podcast on my drive to school. Today I completed the Lent portion before church and moved on to the first for Holy Week.

#Christian #audiobook

It‘s been a good but busy week and weekend.

#DaiseysJoys #5JoysFriday Sunday Edition

I‘m a bit late starting, but I got caught up listening to the first few chapters of The Mill on the Floss while taking a walk with Luthien today. I‘m not sure what I think of these two siblings yet, but I‘m looking forward to seeing where this goes.

#HashtagBrigade #audiobook #1001books

Parts of this book were bleak and I was almost constantly listening with a slight feeling of dread about what might be about to happen, but I also enjoyed it. It actually ended on a more hopeful note than I expected through most of the story. I felt it described the setting of 1860s New Zealand and the gold rush very well.

#ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #NewZealand #audiobook #1001books #TBRTakedown

A day late this week, but still worth acknowledging

💛 A weekend with my family
💛 Helping Dad clean up a field and burn brush piles
💛 Plants continuing to green up and bloom for spring, even if it‘s turned cooler again
💛 Fixing my dishwasher
💛 Pets, of course

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

March 2025 #BookSpinBingo

March was a busy month, so I only finished a few books. I‘m also currently in the middle of several reads.

#MonthlyStats #ReadingStats #DaiseysReadingSummary

💛 Pets!
💛 Our HS quiz bowl team placed second in their conference tournament.
💛 My daffodils are blooming!
💛 Wild ramps are coming up.
💛 A weekend with my family

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

I finished this over the weekend, and then I almost forgot to review it. I found some parts interesting, but overall I‘m just ambivalent about the whole thing. I will be curious to see if our book club discussion gives me any greater appreciation for it.

#LitsyBookClub #audiobook

lissom: thin, supple, and graceful (adjective)

#WeirdWords #WeirdWordWednesday #FellowshipOfTolkien

Happy Tolkien Reading Day! After recently reading Tolkien‘s work on The Fall of Arthur I decided to revisit a bit more of his poetry today in the tagged book with supper tonight. I love the story of Beren and Luthien, and the parts that were written as poetry are especially wonderful.

Anyone else reading a little extra Tolkien today?

#TolkienReadingDay #JRRTolkien #FellowshipOfTolkien #ReadAndEat

Saturday night #BooksAndBooze

I‘ve reached the part of this book where I just don‘t want to stop, but I also don‘t want to get too far ahead of the chapters on the schedule for March.

#ShardlakeBR

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

This one reads slower than the previous one to me, but I‘m still thoroughly intrigued.

#ShardlakeBR

For the most part I really enjoyed this one. There were so many interesting characters, and I enjoyed seeing Nicholas grow. I also appreciated how the different storylines came together for both him and his uncle in the end.

#WhatTheDickens #1001books #audiobook

I have personal copies of books I will only loan out selectively, but for the most part if someone borrows a book and doesn‘t return it, I‘ve learned to let it go. Having a middle school class library has taught me to be much more relaxed about this. The tagged series tends to come back in the worst shape or sometimes not at all, but it‘s also a series that gets more reluctant readers reading and that‘s the real goal.

#SundayFunday

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

Chiasmus: a figure of speech in which the grammar of two parallel phrases is inverted

#WeirdWordWednesday #WeirdWords #FellowshipOfTolkien #MedievalTolkien

I‘ve been listening to a lot of other things lately and realized this weekend that I really should try to wrap up this audiobook before I start The Last of the Mohicans. I listened this afternoon as I enjoyed the beautiful weather and passed the halfway mark. Spending several hours with the story this weekend also helped me become more invested in some of the characters than when I listen to shorter sections at a time.

#WhatTheDickens #audiobook