Me with all the Heartstopper content right now. 🍃💕🍃💕

A fine way to start my birthday: by having the time to read this in one sitting! (The day ended with a sick toddler who puked on me twice, but I‘m focusing on the positives. 🤪) This was super unique! Iris was an entitled brat until she learned an important lesson in friendship, but the story of the town was fascinating! I was left satisfied, but with a whole host of questions!

Heartbreaking in many respects, jaw-dropping in others (how can humans be so insensitive?!), but overall a story of gaining a better understanding of our family.

As someone who has failed five (yes, FIVE) Ancestry DNA tests, this is both fascinating and frustrating. I‘ve been our family‘s genealogist for over a decade and I‘m the only one who doesn‘t have their DNA results. 😂 But I love stories of people who discover something unexpected in their DNA, and the history included adds another layer to the experience.

The sheer inventiveness of this book makes it worth the read, both in terms of the story itself, and the characters individually. I‘ve never read anything like it. I thought, for a split second at the end, that I was going to be rage-writing this review, but luckily it turned around and ended in the best way it could. 💀

I flew through this! All four boys were unique and lovable, but any time you have four main characters it‘s hard to spend sufficient time with any of them. I wanted more time with them all! and I wanted more interaction between them. It ended perfectly, so I‘m not sure where the author is taking the story in the second half of the duology, but I‘m excited to read it and see! 🕶

#BookSpinBingo update because I‘ve stayed up crazy late the last few nights reading when I should‘ve been painting my living room.

Currently Reading:
📖 Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban (illus.) 5%
📱 Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson 11%
🎧 Golden Boys by Phil Stamper 4%

Wow! Well, I did not intend to read this entire thing in a day, but once I got started I just had to keep going! Now it‘s 2:00 am, but it was totally worth it.

It may be short, but this is perfect! I love feminist retellings of fairy tales and this is like a meta version of just that in spades! And to top it all off, it‘s funny! Loved this and can‘t wait for the sequel. 👑

Buddy Read with my oldest, Lily (yes, from HP 😁)! It‘s so much fun sharing this series with her! 😍

I expected to like it, but I LOVE it! What a fantastic array of cryptid characters outrunning the bad guys, looking for home. 💜

A great werewolf story with bonus family history, first crush, and getting the bad guy. Very satisfying! Reading makes traveling go so much faster!

The story is captivating and a wild ride, but I just wish that every adult graphic novel I read didn‘t make me literally nauseous from the gore and violence.

April 2022 #BookSpin featuring many of my favorite authors and no self-restraint whatsoever! I‘ve been reading only for my committee the last six months and I‘m eager to read whatever I want! 😊 Looking forward to the tagged book. Ghost/human love stories are my fave!

Wow, what a creative story! I loved everything about this; the setting, the family, the many kinds of magic, the end (!), and Vonceil 💙! This feels like a brand new fairytale.

So, to be totally honest, I picked this one up because the characters on the cover resemble the Golden Trio (Harry, Ron & Hermione). Jay, Fix, and Sable are absolutely nothing like those characters, but it was fun getting to know them anyway. I had a hard time following everything, but I still enjoyed the story.

This one was rather sparse on the info, unfortunately.

I‘m having a rather slow month. Still #reading 📖 + 🎧 Maya, 🎧Firekeeper‘s Daughter, 📱Howl, and 📖 Chamber of Secrets. Drarry fanfic has taken over my life though. Sorry, not sorry! 😍

Making progress on my #bookspinbingo. #currentlyreading Maya and the Rising Dark 📖 , Howl 📱 , & Firekeeper‘s Daughter 🎧.

This is such an original, creative, immersive world! Darcie Little Badger‘s writing is delicious; I can‘t wait to read more! I 💙 Kirby.

Finally got around to making the pretty version of my #bookspinbingo board. #bookspin title this month is Outbound Flight; tagged book I‘m currently 70% through the audio of and I love it! Bribing myself to finish a couple by splitting them into halves or thirds. 😂

I just finished the book and my heart is pounding. I always prepare to be destroyed by Courtney Summers, but I‘m somehow always surprised at how completely she does it. This was amazing and captivating and so hard to read at times because Georgia is right, this kind of world is everywhere. Thanks, Courtney, for another broken heart, and thanks, Edelweiss, for the advanced copy.

Fascinating, fast read on the search for, discovery, and emptying of Tutankhamun‘s tomb. The curse was of less interest to me, but an interesting addition. I was forced to ask myself many questions surrounding the morality of disturbing someone‘s burial place, but it was also really wild to learn about what all was in there! ⛏

We‘re in the middle of a winter storm with crazy winds, an inch of snow an hour, and it‘s cold AF, but I don‘t even care because COURTNEY SUMMERS! 🙌😍

Thank you, Edelweiss!

Adorable, even with heavy topics dealt with wonderfully throughout! 💙

I haven‘t fallen like this for a book in a while! I switched repeatedly between print book, ebook, and audiobook so I didn‘t have to stop reading no matter what else I was doing. I did not see where this was going, and I love that I was surprised! Mostly, I am gleeful at learning how maternal ancestors are incorporated in this magical world. I will be obsessively checking for an arc of book two until I find it or it‘s published. ⚔️

Finally figured out how to make a pretty #BookSpinBingo board on Canva. 🙌 Started listening to tagged book this morning. You know it‘s a #chunkster when 45 minutes of listening gets you 4% through the book. 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

Finishing the tagged book earned me my first ever #BookSpinBingo - this is for sure the most I‘ve ever read in a month (excepting graphic novels or fanfic).
Currently reading: Me (Moth) 📖 and The Brave 📖
Next up: Maya & the Rising Dark 📖, Legendborn 🎧, and Firekeeper‘s Daughter📱

Am I the only person who reads historical fiction in shades of grey? Millie‘s story should be full of color! Her ornery, negative musings and attitude did get a bit excessive, but she came around enough by the end that I accepted the change as character growth rather then just an annoyance. And, Christopher Columbus!, did I enjoy the lingo of the times! 😂

A lovely little story about family in all its glorious forms. ❤️

I enjoyed this much more than I anticipated. I loved that the various histories of basketball were included and tailored to each player‘s family history.

Once I hit about 30% I could not put this down! It‘s a fast-paced, riveting read that kept me trying (and failing) to figure out both what happened in the past, and what was happening now. I‘m so glad Netflix is picking this up because I need more of Nora in my life! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Giving #BookSpin another go. I love the idea of using two lists; one for bookspin and the other for #bookspinbingo! This is the bookspin list. This month is basically entirely dedicated to reading for my committee, but once we meet I‘ll try to fit this month‘s pick in.

I admire Ruth‘s bullheaded push for the truth! The story puts the Flint water crisis into new, horrifying, perspective as well.

Another fantastic middle grade novel with amazing rep by Alex Gino! Rick‘s relationships with Grandpa Ray and Ronnie were my favorites. And enough cannot be said about breaking up with a friend, especially when you have to acknowledge they‘re not a nice person. Loved to see that here.

My favorite part of quilt retreat is sitting by the fireplace and reading. ❤️

I really enjoyed the unique time travel and education on the incarceration camp experience of Japanese-Americans in the early 1940s. It‘s such a devastating topic.

An excellent friendship story with a kickass feminist look at menstruation.

The actual start to the series (we read them out of order). The backstory was interesting, but the author does a good job of briefing the reader on past events in each installment.

I loved following Zoe‘s investigation into her father‘s incarceration! The family ties, research, and friendship building were captivating. Her character seemed a bit young for seventh grade at times, but it‘s been a while since I was that age.

This turned out to be better than I expected. Three sisters come into their own, battle evil and save the day! What more are you looking for?

My yearly big bookstore haul. I had so much fun! The best part was the tagged book (which isn‘t released until tomorrow!!) being on the shelf. ❤️

I‘ve been following Allie for years. Her podcast and courses are amazing and sincerely help me keep myself sane. Getting ready to do another purge of the stuff that has accumulated in my house and listening to this was the perfect start!

Whew, this one was hard to read, but so captivating that it kept drawing me in. Quan and Justyce are interesting and their friendship kept me engaged. Besides, I‘m a sucker for a happy ending.

This story has a little bit of everything: moving to a new country, fitting in with new customs while keeping your own, an underdog story, a contest, making new friends, family, and amazing dishes! I am awed by Cici‘s cooking intuition: something I entirely lack. I need a recipe or the house is on fire.

Anna and Elsa discover Elsa‘s secret admirer and make a new friend in the process. Nothing earth shattering in the story, but Lily read two sentences all by herself, which makes it special to me!

Wow, this was a hard read. Not story-wise: it‘s captivating. But content-wise it is eye opening and heartbreaking. I loved the family dynamics, both bio and found, and enjoyed the fencing very much, too! Coach was, by far, my favorite character, and that last match was awesome!! ⚔️

Jerry Craft‘s graphic novels are just…fun to read! I like that they don‘t shy away from real problems and even offer things to think about or act on. I loved the Easter eggs and chapter image inspirations!

I know that a lot of tie-ins and extras to popular franchises can be…less than good, but this original tale set between Disney‘s Frozen and Frozen 2 is excellent! I was spooked at times reading! Some of this was probably a bit much for my five year old, but she was into it! I would read as many as Kamilla Benko would write in this universe!

While ultimately hopeful, I feel like I‘ve been through the wringer.

Della‘s voice will propel you through this story at incredible speed. I couldn‘t not read it, knowing she had more to tell me. It is impressive that a book dealing with such intense topics can be rendered in a way that is for ten year olds. But Kimberly Brubaker Bradley is an amazing author who has created a haven, a door, a window, a starting point for anyone who needs one. 💜