My dad, 87, has been pushing me to read this book. He wasn't wrong. It was refreshing to read an original thriller with well thought out twists and turns AND a satisfying ending. Pardon me, while I go call my dad.

This is my MUST read recommendation of the year. McConaghy deeply understands nature and our human role in it. Through Inti's story, the reader learns how humans have nearly destroyed the wild world and how it is our responsibility to repair what we can. It deals with issues of abuse that could be triggering to some.

After an extremely busy week, spending Saturday night in my comfys with my book and this yummy tea is exactly what's needed.

Reading: Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy. Highly recommend!

Wintering follows the author through one of the toughest seasons of her life. She has just left her job, she is experiencing a health scare, and her son is struggling in school, so she pulls him out. She weaves her own story of difficulty with winter customs to deal with the long, cold days in various cultures. She even participates in some. Loved this part memoir, part how-to guide.

“The forest has a beating heart we can‘t see,” Dad told us once. He lay flat on the earth and we copied him, placing our hands on the warm ground and our ears to the underbrush, listening. “It‘s here, beneath us. This is how the trees speak with and care for each other. Their roots tangle together, dozens of trees with dozens more in a web that reaches on forever, and they whisper to each other through their roots. .

This was as good as the first. Includes themes of mental illness and eating disorders. The 5th installment comes out in November.

"But also knowing that some people need more support than just one person can give. That's love, darling."

I was looking for a cute and funny rom-com to listen on a road trip with hubby. The library hold came in too late, but I listened on my own. It was considerably more steamy than I had bargained for, but by the time the characters got there, I was wholly invested in the plot. It was a good story about what love looks like in action, an examination of how we treat the people we love the most. Chloe and Red were extremely likable characters.

Book 2 of Naomi Novik's Scholomance trilogy was just okay for me. I want to learn more about the main character and the dire prophesy and I still want to know what her mom has against Orion Lake. But, the never-ending fighting was nothing short of tiresome to read about. If I had been reading rather than listening I might have bailed. I do have book 3 on hold, but I'm giving myself permission to DNF it if I'm not loving it.

This series is so sweet! Charlie and Nick are both experiencing first love with all the extra complications of same sex relationships and the awfulness of high school. Still, so sweet!

Each poem in this beautiful collection highlights different thoughts and emotions that reveal the experiences of young immigrants. The reader can better empathize with newcomers by understanding these experiences.

I love how this story combines a coming-of-age tale with themes of mental illness, the meaning of art and literature and their significance, and how keeping secrets impacts a person's life over time.

1. Sanditon, Rock the Block, Shrinking
2. Arc of the Scythe

@Eggs #WondrousWednesday

The Measure asks, what if everyone on earth could know for certain how long they would live? How would that change things? How would society react? Who would choose to know or purposely choose not to know? How would that change our decisions, change how we live our lives?

I've read 15 books this quarter and Addie LaRue is the best of the best. Some honorable mentions not shown here are:
The Once and Future Witches
Family of Liars
A Deadly Education
The Name She Gave Me
The Silent Patient
The Book Woman's Daughter
The Measure

“You know, I watched a lot of people come to the end, and everyone around them kept begging them to fight. It takes real strength to keep on fighting, and yes, usually that‘s the right answer. Keep fighting, keep holding on, no matter what. But sometimes I think we forget that it also takes strength to be able to let go.”

Same

Same

Please tell me there is a sequel. This was an outstanding YA fantasy. I loved Voya and I want more! If you like strong female characters, magic, and moral dilemmas, this one is for you.

This is the first time I've noticed a content warning in a book I'm reading. I like it.

I powered through this one in less than 36 hours. It is worth the hype it has generated. It's been a long time since I stayed up way past my bedtime reading, but this book did that for me.

It's just as delightful as the first. A must-read for historical fiction fans. My only criticism is that it ended too soon. I want to know more about Honey's story. The author could easily write a third book, and I'd pre-order it. Literacy and women's rights in the hills of Kentucky!

I remember this one receiving such flack. I'm going to love it anyway. It has the best first line that pulled me in from the very start: "I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life." It has everything you'd want from a story set in a magical school, deadly magical creatures, enemies and allies, and a snarky but likable protagonist. I'll definitely read the whole trilogy, an anomaly for me.

I forget where I am in the pattern, how many stitches I've done, which kind of stitch I'm on, what I'm trying to make, why I haven't stabbed out my own eyes with the hook yet. It's brilliant for building a truly frothing head of rage.
🤣🤣🤣

She says it's too easy to call people evil instead of their choices and that lets people justify making evil choices. Because they convince themselves that it's okay because they're still good people overall inside their own heads. And yes, fine. But I think that after a certain number of evil choices, it's reasonable shorthand to decide that someone's an evil person who oughtn't have the chance to make any more choices...

Rynn was adopted as a baby but feels a strong connection to her birth family and goes looking for her birth mom against her adopted mom's wishes, which creates tension in an already tumultuous relationship. Culley does an amazing job crafting this story.

1. Summer. Trader Joe'sSweet & Spicy pecans. Lilacs. Historical or haunted houses/castles. Diet Pepsi. Phase 10.

2. Tagged.

#WonderousWednesday @Eggs

A delightful tale where the princess does the saving!

I read/listed to 14% but I'm just not loving ot. I rarely DNF a book.

Olivia, Olivia, Olivia, a mute orphan, finds her family home and relatives she didn't know existed. Gallant is her home, but it exists on the border between two worlds. Olivia learns that home is a decision and death is an inevitability.

I love hearing/reading stories from multiple perspectives. Ivy, Cal, and Mateo rekindle their middle school friendship only to become wrapped up in the murder of a classmate. They are witnesses turned suspects, and no one is safe. Another homerun by McManus!

"I respect a good checklist, but I‘m beginning to think my mother went overboard."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Your reading habits are a form of self-care - a vehicle for unwinding and taking time for you. You tend to gravitate towards books that make you feel optimistic and relaxed, and you are energized knowing you can escape from reality to visit worlds and characters you love by simply settling in with a good book. Thrillers, mysteries, fiction or romance… if it lets you switch off the world, you‘ll read them as fast as you can get them...

Quiz link⬇️