Sometimes you head into an indie bookstore wanting to find something just to support the store. That‘s how I ended up with this, and it couldn‘t have been more perfect. This book is a love letter to bookstores (even the authors say so) and a romance that‘s not scared to poke fun at the genre. Loved that the male lead owns the romance-only shop and his least favorite trope is enemies to lovers (the title alone tells you where this is going). Cute!

🎧🚨Unpopular opinion: Outside of Daisy Jones, I‘m not a TJR fan. Daisy Jones‘ oral history/interview style forced TJR into a different writing style. The others, I can‘t handle the drama of it all. The writing is so dramatic; the way the characters speak to each is so dramatic. For me, this suffers the same fate as Broken Country. The MC is too perfect. Continued in comments:

This book is so in my wheelhouse. I love the weird dystopian (but you don‘t really know why it‘s a dystopia) setting, the reality show and the boundaries it pushes for the sake of “entertainment,” and the view of consumerism. How much of yourself would you give up for stuff, especially with it being televised? My jaw dropped a couple of times, and these are some fleshed out characters. I loved it. Gave me Chain-Gang All-Star vibes.

To be fair, I skimmed a lot of this book and was never surprised by where it picked up. And by skim, I mean skipped. I so badly want to like this author. I want to read Native American lit that is fun and of the times, but Nava just isn‘t for me. I didn‘t read many of the scenes where the MCs were making out, but in two of two, she “kissed him with everything she had.” This repetition was part of my problem with Nava‘s first book. I‘m moving on.✌️

So incredibly unhinged, but I couldn‘t stop reading it. The writing is superb. The premise is WILD. There‘s an underlying humor that‘s not quite enough to shadow the incredible sadness of the characters. Definitely not one I‘m going to forget and not one I can recommend to just anyone…😬🤭

The main characters are awful, insufferable people. They‘re awful to each other. The moral compasses are way out of whack. I wanted to know what happened to these two who get caught in a fire at a high-rise hotel during one of many trysts in their years-long affair, but finishing this was very much a hate read. PS: No quotation marks usually don‘t bug me, but the dialogue was so close to internal thoughts that it made it a little frustrating.

This book wasn‘t everything that I wanted it to be, but I sure needed to read the portions that spoke to me, like what alcohol does to our body, the influence society places on drinking, why alcohol is considered palatable when the effects on the body are much like (the no longer socially acceptable) cigarettes, how alcohol has been marketed, etc. I skimmed or skipped the parts that felt too heavy handed and found what I needed to read.

@Allyneedsbooks and I got to visit the BEST little bookstore in upstate New York. It‘s a mix of new and used books with some antiques thrown in, all under the roof of the most precious old house turned perfect bookstore setting. Hardwood floors, porch to sit on, completely beautiful surroundings for book wandering. It was EVERYTHING!

Finished this one on a flight with @Allyneedsbooks and I really liked it. Enough action to keep my interest and quality writing to back it up. Rekulak is creeping onto my auto-reads authors list. 🤓

So @Allyneedsbooks and I are visiting the hometown of on of our very best friends. On a walk, she pointed out a neighbor‘s house, a ‘botanist at a college who spends her summers up here.‘ Y‘all, it‘s the author of Braiding Sweetgrass and The Serviceberry! I can‘t believe it!

This cracked me up! If you‘ve ever taken your kids to Disney, you feel this deeply. 😂 (For reference, Dad is trying to pay for parts of his daughter‘s wedding, but she‘s marrying into a very, very wealthy family.)

Quick listen and practical advice. I love him!

Finished out the series reread today. I mainly listened to this one, so I felt like maybe I missed some details about the secondary characters. Regardless, it didn‘t sway my love for all things Hunger Games. This is my least favorite in the trilogy, but it‘s still a love for me.

Just perfection. Utter perfection.

Currently re-reading this beauty. When the book came out, way back when, I devoured it. One of my all-time favorites, and nothing is changing this time around. Just pure magic. Here are my various copies. Can‘t stop, won‘t stop picking them up...😍🫶🤗

I think I‘m going to have to pass on this one at the moment. The setup (estranged daughter of super rich recently deceased dad returns home to the family that‘s full of drama and there‘s a romance with guy she meets while she‘s there) sounds way, way too close to The Conditions of Will that I just finished. Like eerily close.

This was not my favorite. I didn‘t love the main character. She studied personality/body language/reading people and if I saw AU18 or AU24 followed by a description of what it meant one time, I read it 247 times. And the sibling dynamic, wowza. I‘ve never been more glad to be an only child than after I finished this book. Wow. With that said, the book was not bad and prob even better than meh, but my love for Magnolia had the bar set really high.

Damn, I‘ve been saying ‘hone in on‘ this whole time…

Keeping it real about Southern women…definitely not all, but if you‘re from the South, you know a few.

Jessa Hastings hitting the nail on the head 🔨

I definitely didn‘t love it, but it was fast-paced and entertaining enough that I kept wanting to read it. The MC is a complete and utter disaster, so if you need to like your characters, steer clear.

At halfway, it‘s a no for me. I was really excited about this one but I‘m not feeling the least bit invested in the story. They meet in college, that was cool, but there‘s zero connection despite them both being hot, smart, and single. Time jump. They‘re BFFs. Then he ghosts her. Pick up two years later with a random run in and they reconnect but there‘s NOT A CONNECTION. They just keep being BFFs and ‘the most important person‘ to the other. No.

Okay, but why? Why do they have to remain friends? 150 pages in. Years into them knowing each other. Each thinks the other is the best thing since sliced bread. Nothing except this idea that they have to “remain friends” with no context as to why they haven‘t tried a relationship. So weird.

I loved it! A romance minus the smut and with some depth, characters who could be people you know facing normal, real-life problems. The NYC setting and ‘pre-iPhone in everyone‘s pocket‘ time period were nice escapes.

I love this concept of ‘sleeping off your grief‘ and, of course, Erlick‘s writing. I felt partially disconnected because A) timing (July 4th week, activities, brain status) and B) the emphasis on siblings. Being an only child, I couldn‘t really relate. I read and valued those connections in the book, but I couldn‘t empathize. Overall, this is a good book and Erlick is an auto-read author for me. And it‘s a Beaut, Clark! 🤩😍📖

The cover! These end papers! Those sprayed edges! This book is one of the most BEAUTIFUL books I‘ve ever seen in my life. I‘ve never stolen a book from the library but…. I kid, I kid, but I may have to buy my own copy. So pretty!!!!! 🤩 And I hear there‘s an updated version of The Measure that‘s just as pretty. Might need to add both to my shelves.

I don‘t reread books, but when I finished teaching Hunger Games this year and read Sunrise on the Reaping, I really felt compelled to visit this world again. And boy, was that the right choice! I loved it just as much as the first time. Collins is just so good at her craft! Also I‘ve finally figured out the magic of physical book reading when you‘re relaxing + audiobooking while you do the chores to keep the house looking presentable. A win-win!

Only at 25%-It‘s not awful, but it feels like a rip off of Lyla Sage‘s Rebel Blue Ranch series (which I loved). The FMC has a estranged-ish dad that‘s loaded. He dies and leaves her crap tons of money and a HUGE ranch in Texas (that‘s ran by hot cowboy brothers who live there) with a 6,000 sq ft mansion, as well as a cute little perfect 1900s farmhouse. Kicker: she has to go stay there for a while. It‘s. All. So. Perfect. 🫠Cont‘d in comments.

Five FULL BLOWN stars for this one! I loved the different perspectives and various media. I was completely enthralled by the suspense of the missing hiker and whether or not Bev would find her. I love the way Gaige is able to connect characters. I love what this novel says about family and mistakes, reconnecting and forgiveness. I remember the real-life missing hiker (the one searchers were so close to finding) that Gaige based this novel on.

I‘m continually thrown off by these lines above the page numbers. My brains registers them as a page break, but they‘re not. Every page…😵‍💫

If I have to see it, you do too. This might be a DNF bc it‘s a rough day to have to see that in reference to some flippin food. Oof. And it‘s on page 20!! 😖😫

No one ever accused me of being a night owl so there‘s not many books that are going to keep me up reading the Kindle past the double digit hour of 10pm, but I had to find out what happens to Jolene (who is one of the most relatable characters I‘ve come across). Don‘t let this lighthearted, Word Art-ish cover fool you; there‘s depth to this office comedy and I LOVED the snarky writing. Some of the best one liners live in this book. It‘s a gem! 🤩

If I had a dollar for every time I‘m fretting over important legal documents at 3am. It‘s like the author is right in the middle of my brain. So glad you put this one on my radar, @Allyneedsbooks 🤗

First off, this is not my preferred genre but a Bookstagram post got the best of me. Secondly, I finished it and consider it a pick, so that says something. There was a part in the middle that lagged for me and the words the author used during the sexy time was cringy at best, but it‘s still a pick. Will I read Book 2 when it comes out? I‘m not sure. Almost DNF-ed when I hit that lag, but I‘m glad I didn‘t, so there‘s that…

Bookish haul from BOTM and library holds that came in today 🤩

Some interruptions in my morning reading… 🐾

I loved it so, so much. Gave me Olive Kitteridge vibes, but in letters. The letter from Daan to Sybil is one I hope I never forget. This book is top tier ❤️

This book is going to be in my Top Ten of the year, no doubt. The way Virginia Evans is able to relay so much to the reader using solely letters is really something. This entire book is just so special.

Switching things up for next year‘s sixth graders. 🤩

I‘m afraid this one is headed back to the library unread. A road trip novel isn‘t appealing this soon after reading the ultimate feel good road trip book, The Road to Tender Hearts. Maybe I‘ll pick it up later and give it a fair chance.

Sad and depressing, to be honest, but isn‘t that to be expected from a memoir of a wife whose husband loses his leg in the war? I think the first half was stronger than the second half; I would‘ve liked more ‘here‘s what‘s wrong with how we handle our injured vets and here‘s what needs to change,‘ and maybe that was my fault going into a memoir expecting something else. It‘s not something I‘ll remember or recommend, but it was fine. 3 stars.

Seems like the most perfect day to start this memoir 🇺🇸 ❤️🤍💙

I‘m giving up at a little over a third of the way through. It‘s very New Adult, very ‘why, exactly, aren‘t yall together,‘ very frustrating. I‘m hanging it up and moving on ✌️

“…the objectivity of solving a math problem…take solace in the quiet hours spent on a solo project.” Umm, I worked with high schoolers for a long, long time. Even the best and brightest don‘t talk to their friends like this 😐🫠

This is one of the most interestingly structured books I‘ve ever read, and I think it‘s quite a marvel. (*Huge, huge trigger warnings for domestic violence)

In no way is the book a romance but, man, what a quote…

“And she‘d carried on, unaware. Of him, and this special thing. Unaware, too, of what it is to have that person in your life, that person who will plan surprises, who will try to fix wings to your back.”

The 7th graders loved this just as much as last year‘s group. I did, too. I hope I read this every year for the rest of my teaching career.

Perfection. Poignant, funny, and heartwarming without the cheesiness. I loved this story, and it made me think that I‘ve probably been undervaluing Hartnett‘s earlier books. Might need to reread and see if I don‘t stumble across another character that I love as much as I love PJ. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

PJ Halliday is quickly becoming one of my favorite main characters, right up there with Nathan Drum and Linus Baker. 💞