7-26-24: My 25th finished book of 2024! Siracusa is a town in Sicily where our 4 narrators travel together one summer. Taylor and Finn and their daughter Snow, and Lizzie and Michael. The four adults tell this story from all their points of view and not one of them is likable. As they travel around Italy and finally Siracusa their stories becomes more intense, their hatred for one another more palpable. The final act was a surprise.

7-21-24: My 24th finished book of 2024! Book 7 in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. Finished on the plane ride back from Florida to Philly. This was ok. Not Steig Larsson great but I was able to get through it. His first 3 books were amazing. The next 3 by David Lagercrantz were pretty good too, but this was one felt forced. It‘s always good to welcome Lisbeth Salander back. And to visit with Michel Blomkvist, as well.

7-20-24: Taking a break in Florida at my friend‘s pool. So thankful she is a reader like me! 💖📖

7-16-24: My 23rd finished book of 2024, finished at work, it‘s a slow day! Kittentits is Molly, a 10 year old potty mouth, who loves with her Dad in a collective Quaker home that has recently been on fire so only those 2 and Evelyn live there. Her mom is dead. Her new best friend, Jeanie, an ex-con, comes to live at the collective and Molly‘s whole world opens up. She finally meets her pen pal Demarcus and she causes a stir at the World‘s Fair.

7-10-24: My 22nd finished book of 2024! The Fury starts off with a singular narrator telling the story of the love of his life and how things unraveled through a series of events he tries to control. After learning of a treachery, Lana, a retired famous movie star, invites her closest friends to her island in Greece. As our narrator becomes more unreliable we learn through many twists that things are not what they seem. ⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣2️⃣2️⃣

7-7-24: My 21st finished book of 2024! What a bizarre story. When Belle learns her mother has passed she flies to California from her home in Montreal to take care of her mother, Noelle‘s, home and business. Noelle has left a lot for Belle to uncover. One thing being the spa like mansion on the cliff that sold Noelle all the jars of creams lining her walls. It‘s a story about mothers and daughters but also about the price of beauty.

7-2-24: My 20th finished book of 2024! 1993 in Mexico City. Montserrat and Tristan, friends since childhood, get mixed up in a magical catastrophe. Upon meeting an old director from the 60s who they admired, they helped to reenact a spell that would bring back the leader of an occultist group. Magic and mystery, Nazis and the occult, what fun this one was. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣2️⃣0️⃣

6-23-24: My 19th finished book of 2024! Sarah Slade and her husband, Joe, have started a new life. They‘ve decided to buy the Black Wood House to renovate and resell. But the house comes with a terrible past and the neighbors in Beacon are completely against them. Sarah, a therapist and media influencer isn‘t going to take it lying down. She is unlikeable and in need of her own therapist and besides the neighbors the house seems to be against her.

6-19-24: My 18th finished book of 2024! Meet the Padavano sisters-Julia, Sylvie, Cecelia and Emmie. They are an extremely close Italian American family living in Chicago. The story spans time from the 70s to 2008. The ins and outs of growing up, falling in love and finding yourself. Nothing is perfect for any sister, but that‘s life. And then there is William, the basketball player who tries his best to be apart of the Padavano family.

6-13-24: My local library in South Philadelphia 💖📖

6-13-24: My 17th finished book of 2024! Book 4 in the Thursday Murder Club series. Another fun read with the octogenarian murder club. Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron and Ibrahim are at it again but this time it‘s a friend who is murdered that starts them on a new chase for a killer. And there‘s heroin. And antiques. And forgery. And a new cop on the beat even though our regular Chris and Donna are here to help. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣1️⃣7️⃣

6-3-24: For the last 8 weeks, my daughter and I have experienced all 8 of the Spiderman movies re-released on the big screen. It was a fantastic way to spend time with my daughter who is a big fan and to usher in her birthday month! 💖🎉🕸️

6-2-24: My 16th finished book of 2024! Michael Cunningham‘s The Hours is one of my all time favorite books so of course I put a lot of pressure on this one. It‘s beautifully written but it didn‘t gut me. April 5, 2019, 2020 and 2021. How can so much change in 3 years to the day? Isabel and Robbie are sister/brother and very close. He lives with her family, husband and 2 kids. But Robbie has to finally make his own way. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣1️⃣6️⃣

5-27-24: My 15th finished book of 2024! Number 10 in the Tales of the City series. And what a surprise to have a new book with this cast of characters. I‘ve been reading this series since o found it as a teen in the 90s and I‘ve re-read it often. Barbary Lane in San Francisco in the 70s was an immediate draw for me. This one takes place in England at Mona‘s Easley House. It‘s the 90s and some of my favorites like Anna and Michael return. 💖

5-25-24: My 14th finished book of 2024! I finished this at my daughter‘s house laying next to my 3 month old granddaughter and it was creepy to say the least. Don‘t read it while pregnant. Actress Anna Alcott is going through IVF with her husband Dex when things become weird. Anna can‘t trust anyone, her agent, her best friend or her doctor. Everyone wants a piece of her. There might even be a cult involved. Anna just wants her baby to be safe.

5-22-24: My new outdoor reading nook. My husband set it up for me on Mother‘s Day but today was the first day I could try it out and it was glorious. Reading outside is my favorite, preferably the beach, but this is perfect, as well. I‘m so glad my husband gets me. 📖💖😍

5-18-24: My 13th finished book of 2024! I‘ve been waiting to read this one. It was a fascinating take on an old tale. It‘s the story of the sorority girls who were attacked one night in the 70s at their university in Florida by “The Defendant”, never named but one of the most infamous serial killers known. Pamela was the eye witness of the man who got away and with the help of a forceful woman named Tina, friend of another victim,Pamela prevailed.

5-7-24: My 12th finished book of 2024! I love A.M.Homes. Claire is a therapist who is married with 2 sons. Back in 1966, she was forced to give her daughter up for adoption. Jody is a twenty-something film intern/student who becomes Claire‘s patient and her obsession. Could Jody be Claire‘s long lost daughter? Homes always make you feel uncomfortable, which feels real. I love that about her. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣1️⃣2️⃣

4-28-24: My 11th finished book of 2024! The Shack is very religious which I am not. I put that aside to look under that layer to see a family in turmoil. A father on a camping trip with 3 of his children saves one while another is taken. Four years later, Mack, the father, receives a note, from God, to meet him at the shack where the scene of the crime occurred. What a weekend Mack had at that Shack. The beauty and compassion he is shown save him.

4-21-24: My 10th finished book of 2024! This is a very slow book written in 1972, about a rabbi named David and his wife Miriam. When David decides he needs a break, he takes a 3 month leave of absence from his synagogue to travel to Israel with his wife and son. He becomes involved in a recent set of bombings while in Israel and befriends a foreign correspondent visiting his son. Back home, the congregation is wondering if David will return.

4-14-24: My 9th finished book of 2024! A story told in three time lines. Back in the 90s, an unlikely friendship that came at a time when both girls really needed one another. In present day (2016), after many years of estrangement, a scavenger hunt created by someone close to them will bring them together for one more weekend. Will that weekend fix years of confusion and sadness? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣9️⃣

4-7-24: My 8th finished book of 2024! Wow, every trigger warning is in this novel. Drug abuse-especially heroin use, molestation, rape, murder, suicidal ideation, the list goes on and on. It was a really rough read but overall very good. Young Callie and Leigh, have done something horrific for good reasons. Years later, as adults, their secret begins to resurface and they must try to deal with the fall out. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣8️⃣

3-31-24: Happy Easter from the newest little bunny in my world! My granddaughter, Ava Rosemarie💖📖😍

3-30-24: My 7th book of 2024! I picked this book up at a book swap because I loved the cover. I wound up loving the story too. Sam and Sadie are childhood friends who bond in a hospital over a video game. Through a series of events they reconnect as young adults in colleges in the same city, far from where they grew up, and they bond again over a video game, this time making one instead of playing one. I loved following these characters.

3-20-24: My 6th finished book of 2024! This one was hard for me. Michelle wrote a beautiful memoir in honor of her mother full of lovely memories and connections to food from her Korean upbringing. Reading about what she went through with her mom when she became ill was difficult because it was so reminiscent of what I went through with my mom from 2016-2018. Losing a parent is devastating, especially a mother. The author wrote a love letter 💖

3-8-24: My 5th book of 2024! Told in present day with one timeline from 25 years earlier, this is a story about neighbors lives intertwining when tragedy strikes. In a Georgian home in a suburb of London live 3 families. The Harlows on the top two floors, Emma and Zeb on the main floor and Vicky and Chris in the basement. When one of them goes missing they all somehow get involved. Told in many different voices this one caught me by surprise.

2-27-24: My 4th book of 2024! I really didn‘t care for this. The writing felt juvenile for some reason. Charlie hates his life and is given a chance to change it in a very drastic way. Then along comes Aude who helps to make his life better than he could have imagined. They must jump over some hurdles to make it work but in the end they find the right balance. It was very predictable and a little boring because of the predictability.⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣4️⃣

My almost 3 week old granddaughter on her first trip to our local library 💖📖😘📚

2-20-24: My 3rd book of 2024! 970 pages of Barbra? Yes please!! I‘ve waited my whole life for this book and I‘m so thankful she took the time to tell us the truth about her life and career. To say it has been remarkable is an understatement. I took a long time to read this but really I was savoring each page and didn‘t want it to end. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars for sure! And yes, I would read this one again which is why I bought my own copy to have forever.

It all got cut off but basically I‘m looking for postcards from every state for my coworker‘s 3rd grade class project. If you‘re interested please send to Jaime Fumo 2600 South Broad Street Philadelphia, Pa 19145. Thanks in advance!!!

2-3-24: Well, it looks like I‘m about half way through this 970 page book! And I‘m loving every second of it. 💖📖 #barbrastreisand

1-26-24: I finally got to see Who‘s Afraid of Virginia Woolf on the stage! I‘ve watched the movie many times and loved it but seeing it live was amazing. Hearing all the caustic quips and the audience laughing changed the whole first half of the show for me. Everyone‘s personalities change over the course of the show but it is more evident in the play. I highly recommend seeing both the movie and the play. 📖💖

1-19-24: My 2nd finished book of 2024! Book 1 in a series about Rachel Krall, the host of Guilty or Not Guilty, a podcast. Rachel has just touched down in Neapolis to cover the rape trial of Scott Blair, golden boy swimmer, accused of raping Kelly Moore. While, covering this, she is contacted by Hannah, who is trying to uncover the secrets of her sister‘s death from 25 years earlier. The two storylines combine and I didn‘t see the end coming.

1-10-24: My 1st finished book of 2024! I adore Alexandra Billings! I follow all her social media and she is funny and insightful on many topics but especially old Hollywood. Her memoir is difficult at times, she had a rough start as Scott before she transitioned into Alexandra. Some of it was hard to read however it was also moving and uplifting. I‘ve wanted to read this since it came out and when I received it for Christmas I was thrilled!

12-31-23: Well, here is my Goodreads challenge completed for 2023! My original goal was 128 which is what I read last year, but since I started working I‘ve had less time to read. Still 105 isn‘t too shabby. Happy New Year everyone!! See you in 2024🎉📖💖🎊

12-31-23: My 105th finished book of 2023 and my final book of 2023 pictured here with my new glass mug from my youngest daughter which is full of wine on this New Years Eve night! What a twisty one this was. Julia Day is a DCI in Portishead who is investigating yet another missing girl. Between that and helping keep her daughter safe from a serious allegation, DCI Day is trying to keep it all together. Happy New Year! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣1️⃣0️⃣5️⃣

12-27-23: Well, my goal to read this whole series during my Christmas break was fulfilled! Loved it! Thanks to my dear friend Dana, who sent me this for my birthday in September. 🎄💖📖⭐️

12-27-23: My 104th finished book of 2023! Book 4 in the Winter Street series. It was supposed to be a trilogy but the author decided to revisit the Quinn‘s one more time and I‘m glad she did. All was resolved very nice but it definitely ended on a difficult note. Life will go on for the Quinn‘s in the best ways possible. Marriage, retirement, a new TV show…so much to look forward to but saying goodbye was hard, lots of tears.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣1️⃣0️⃣4️⃣

12-25-23: Gifts from my family. The tagged book has been on my list since it came out! So happy to have it. The wooden piece is for my book, glasses and coffee! 📖 👓 ☕️🎄💖

12-25-23: The tagged book is another one that was found under our tree this year. This is my family. My husband and two daughters. And the one in black is carrying my first grandchild. Her name is Ava Rosemarie. I love them and really enjoyed our holiday today. More to come….

12-25-23: Merry Christmas from my darling daughter. One of those presents is the tagged book! 📖🎄💖

12-25-23: My 103rd finished book of 2023! Book 3 of the series. It was written as if it were the last one so there was a lot of resolutions for the main characters be it in love, marriage, family, war, addiction. This one got me a little bit. I definitely shed a tear towards the end but was pleasantly surprised to see the author decided to write one more book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣1️⃣0️⃣3️⃣

12-22-23: My 102nd finished book of 2023! Winter Stroll is book 2 in the Winter Street series. It takes place in early December in Nantucket during the Winter Stroll weekend. We are with the Quinn family once more. There is a new addition, and everyone is getting ready for her baptism. There are a lot of real life situations occurring in this novel. It is more dramatic than book 1 and leaves us on a cliffhanger. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣1️⃣0️⃣2️⃣

12-19-23: My 101st finished book of 2023! Book 1 in a series my good friend Dana bought be for my birthday back in September. 3 days during Christmas in Nantucket with the Quinn family. Kelley, the dad and owner of the Winter Street Inn gets a major shock, Margaret, his famous ex-wife shows up to help. And their children all go through it but it feels very relatable and funny for the most part. I‘m looking forward for book 2.

12-17-23: My 100th finished book of 2023! I thought this was beautifully written. The story of a young woman, who is about to lose her freedom, who runs away only to find herself in a cult like community with no freedom, who eventually has a daughter who learns how to grasp for that freedom because of reading books. One book in particular saves her. One author becomes the love of her life. It‘s true that books can save us and open doors for us💖

12-16-23: My 99th finished book of 2023! Flor and her 3 sisters, Matilde, Pastora and Camila, have gifts. Flor can predict when someone will die. When she decides to hold a living wake for herself, her sisters, niece and daughter, pitch in to make it a memorable affair but have many questions. The story goes back and forth in time, telling how the 4 sisters upbringing took them from rural Dominican Republic to the capital and finally to NYC.

12-7-23: My 98th finished book of 2023! Holly Gibney has been around for many books now. She shows up in the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and in the short story If It Bleeds as well as The Outsider. She is a great King character. Flawed in many ways but a great detective who faces a lot of scary stuff. In this novel, Holly is dealing with a crazy old couple, several disappearances and her own personal issues related to covid.King always keeps my interest.

12-6-23: My November Book Wrap Up! How sad only 4 books. Now that I am working a full time job here in Philadelphia I don‘t have nearly enough time to read! These were fine with the exception of The Wishing Game being 5 stars. It was a lovely story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖💗

11-26-23: My 97th finished book of 2023! This was just eh for me. Book 5 in the series. This one centers on brother Heath, just back to England from LA. He gets called for jury duty as does the fictional Sherlock Holmes. The majority of the story takes place in the courtroom with the jurors. Many mishaps occur here to bring them to an island to search for proof of an alibi. It could have been better. ⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣9️⃣7️⃣

11-24-23: I‘m catching up on my reading while my husband is cooking a feast for our daughters. We are doing Thanksgiving a day late so we could have everyone together. 🍽📖💖