While nothing can be as delightful as Swann‘s sheep characters in Three Bags Full, she apparently also has a knack for portraying old folks with humor. Suddenly, several old folks are murdered and Agnes decides to investigate. It‘s fun and I look forward to book 2.

In 1984, a white man went to a church at night during a bible study and murdered the black deacon and his wife in cold blood. The police, insisting it wasn‘t racially motivated, proceeded to not solve the case. This book follows the situation until the current moment, showing how poorly our “justice” system can work. It‘s very well written.

Six people in San Diego are visited by odd people who snap a silver bracelet on their wrists. Shortly thereafter, the world ends but the six are shifted to an alternate earth in which it‘s possible to manipulate aspects of time. They start to learn about their unique capabilities while hiding from the authorities and learning someone wants them dead. There are little issues with this, but I enjoyed it and look forward to book 2!

This searing book looks at 5 families in Atlanta who, despite working hard and making educational efforts, find themselves homeless due to lack of housing and policies designed to have them fail. It‘s a damning indictment of how we run our country in the US. We should be appalled and I truly wish every republican would read this book with an open mind to see what happens. Dion Graham reading it makes it marginally easier to swallow.

I didn‘t post my list, but here are my four books for September‘s spins. We‘ll see how I do given that as soon as the National Book Awards longlists come out next week, I‘ll be pivoting hard toward them. For August, I‘m just finishing up the one book I read for #ReadYourEbooks, but I‘m still thrilled as it‘s long and been on my Nook forever.

Here are my latest little critters. The cactus and mushroom are part of a plant arrangement I‘m making for my mother-in-law for her birthday. And the dino is just because I think it‘s cute. 😬 All patterns are from the tagged book. #ShowandTellTuesday

This book opens with a very wacky, very gory extended horror scene. Which Tingle gets away with by terming it a “low probability event,” and we‘re off to the races with Vera, who is not handling the mental trauma of that event at all well. But then someone comes along looking for her particular knowledge. This is fun!

This book looks at space colonization, whether it be Mars or the moon, and looks at all the reasons why it is so very unlikely to occur (sorry Jeff and Elon). It‘s quite interesting and they clearly take a cue from Mary Roach on the humor front, though with slightly less success. A low pick for me.

Meg has made it as an actress, but has had to change herself and is kinda exhausted by the Hollywood scene. So she takes a trip to a town in Ireland where she had wanted to go to school. Somehow, she discovers herself in the life she would have lived had she done so. I really enjoyed this one and thought the author did a good job pulling it all together. Plus there‘s some good humor sprinkled through.

On October 19, 1984, a small commuter plane crashed in northern Alberta, killing 6. Four men survived. This tells the story of the crash and how it happened, their experiences before rescue, the aftermath, then follows the men for over 20 years. It‘s terrific narrative nonfiction and an excellent read.

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I read Gretchen‘s previous two books and they were a bit of a split decision for me. This one is a bit different, with horror elements but really more of a noir with good creeping dread but a bit less gore. I liked parts of it but was a little bored by the end. And the cover is so dreadful to look at, I figured a pic of yesterday‘s walk would be preferable as the main image. Low pick for me.

This book is a delightful peak at the (mostly past) people of Astoria, Oregon. It starts with a longer piece about the Flavels, the “first family” of the town, then moves into short pieces about other inhabitants. There‘s a lot of white guys, but I appreciate that there are also a fair number of women, from a semi-notorious madam to one of the last full blooded Clatsop Indians. I found this delightful!

When I read about this, I was super pumped for it, but it ended up just meh. It‘s too much backstory and just plain didn‘t hold my attention. I kinda wish I had bailed.

My B&N #bookhaul order has arrived! All were 50% off and I‘m so excited. The sale ends on Sept 1, I think, if anyone still wants to shop.

In this book, Johnson looks at how black people have always been considered less than in the US and shows how that just isn‘t true. He shows examples of genius in black people, even just little things, and largely by looking at people who aren‘t known or famous. I came away feeling that the biggest genius in black culture is black community, which he shows beautifully. It‘s a great book that left me thoughtful.

Here‘s my latest critter. I made most of it on our long drive to my in-laws‘ house and the rest while I was there. My hubs suggested the rainbow horn and I think it works. #ShowandTellTuesdat

In 2020, 4 women grew intrigued about a cold case and started to work together to investigate it. I had really mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, the book is well-written and propulsive and what they discovered is fascinating. On the other hand, they made amateur mistakes, nearly putting themselves at serious risk, and committed fraud. So I can‘t quite call this a pick.

In Abrams‘ latest, someone has died at a high tech company and there‘s a question of whether AI was involved. Avery and her gang are brought in to investigate and we really see how things with AI can go wrong. Chilling, and a great read.

Uh-oh, I‘m going to piss some people off with this one! I HATED this book. It is heavy-handed treacle and I have no idea how it‘s persisted this long. In order to get through it, I switched to audio so I could make my little fox while listening. I only persisted because it‘s for my local bookstore‘s bingo card. 😬

Lottie didn‘t set out to kill people, it just kind of happened that way. But she got away with it and is now retired and living in another town under a new name. Until someone comes knocking, stirring up her past, and she feels there‘s no choice but to kill again. Such a fun premise, but I found this really uneven. Parts were great, but this could‘ve been a much better book.

Peter Lindsey moved as a kid to Cannon Beach in 1946. Here, he tells some history of the town before that, then stories from his own life. My husband‘s life mirrored Pete in many ways, only 40 years later and glimpsing Pete‘s story gives me more of a look into my husband‘s, which is cool! And it‘s such fun to see and hear what the town used to be. This book was an utter delight!

As she mentions at the start, this is a political history of the US. Some of it is how I learned history in school, but some definitely has a different focus, for which I am grateful. It‘s long but really worthwhile. Every time I dive into US history, it reminds me that none of the stupid shit happening now is new. And we got to better spots after those previous times, so that gives me hope.

The Big Bullshit Bill has slashed federal funding for state libraries, causing harm everywhere. So, my act of resistance today was to go to the next town over and pay to get a non-resident library card, thereby helping the library. I will be renewing yearly as long as this crap continues.

In his latest, Cosby deftly builds a layered narrative of greed, violence, and revenge. This is his darkest book and quite possibly his best yet. If you‘re looking for a master class on how to create dread, look no further. An absolute masterpiece.

The latest book in the Hana Westerman series finds a major character in peril and the search for the perpetrator. It‘s excellent, but I‘m saddened by a choice Bennett made here (though it works for the book). If you‘re looking for gritty mysteries set in New Zealand with Māori characters and author, definitely check these out.

As far as I‘m concerned, Annie Hartnett officially has a hat trick: three books, all of excellent. I really enjoyed her latest, which deftly blends tragedy with humor and her signature offbeat style story. I could have done without the judgmental, sanctimonious daughter, but she does make a good foil.

Not a book I would pick, as I already know a fair amount about checklists and how impactful they can be. But I‘m checking out the book club at the local library and this is the next read. The writing is so good that it really kept me engaged, so bravo to Gawande!

I meant to post yesterday but forgot. 😬 I‘ve been crocheting lately and love my little cow! I got the pattern from the tagged book.

#ShowandTellTuesday

Littens! We are good to have so many unread books! Woohoo!! 🥳

https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/do-i-own-too-many-books/

I‘m so glad I finally read this—it‘s brilliant! Hurston is clearly an incredible writer, and the audio reader (Ruby Dee) is absolutely fantastic. It made me sad while listening to this that as a kid they had me read crap like The Old Man and the Sea in school and we should‘ve been reading this.

In this clear-eyed book, Beinart addresses Jewish people who continue to support the war in Gaza and enumerates through data and the breaking down of straw man arguments why they should not. This is by no means a screed and he is firm in his support for all Jewish people. I worry that this won‘t move the right people (I‘m not Jewish and already agree with him), but I very much hope it does.

While this book has hands down the best title of the year, the title implies a cheekiness or lightness the book lacks, so I think it does it a disservice. It‘s an exploration of two highly visible trans women who don‘t “pass,” their relationship, and the hate they receive. And all around how shitty and judgmental people can be. It‘s not a perfect book, but I‘m glad it exists. Low pick for me.

This one just isn‘t working for me. I‘m not a fan of the writing or the structure, which frequently flips into memoir after a very short snippet of science.

I know Boyne is well liked, but apparently he‘s as bad as JKR and I thought people might want to know.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/aug/11/polari-prize-nominees-and-judges-w...

This is an interesting look at how the earth is alive and shaped by the organisms upon and within it, and not just us. It‘s a narrative story but also filled with fascinating facts—there are bacteria far below the earth‘s surface, a single elephant print can sometimes hold 50 gallons of water, etc. I really enjoyed it.

This book was published in 2017 as a direct response to and rebuke of 🍊1. Now we‘re here again but it‘s even worse, making this book more relevant still. The key is: if enough of us fight against this crap, we‘ll protect our democracy. So, please read it and whatever way you choose, STAND FAST AND FIGHT!

I really liked Penner‘s first book then strongly disliked her second, so I didn‘t know whether to try this or not. Ultimately, the cover pulled me in and I ended up really enjoying it. It has two timelines, and I found the each equally engaging with good characters. It gives me hope for her future books!

This is the story of Ona Judge, a woman enslaved by our first president (alongside A LOT of others) who found her way to freedom and stayed free for the rest of her life. Not only is it well written with a superb audio reader (💙 Robin Miles!), it emphasizes some of our history that certain people would rather we not know. I can‘t think of a better reason to read it right now.

During one of Capri‘s true crime San Fran tours, a participant sees a woman being attacked. But when the police arrive, nothing is amiss. Capri can‘t let it go and starts investigating, and pretty soon someone turns up dead. This is a really well constructed mystery with fun characters and interesting info about SF. I really enjoyed it!

I‘m usually not a fan of child protagonists, so I wasn‘t sure how I‘d respond to this. I ended up really liking Janet, no doubt because she has a healthy slug of Ramona Quimby in her, and I really related to Ramona as a kid. We know at the start she has a tragic fate, which tinges the whole story, but she‘s such an exuberant presence, it was still a bit of a shock at the end.

People Like Us is such a sly book. A sequel to Hell of a Book (though each can be read without the other, it‘s a laugh out loud funny ride that made me do just that several times. But then the sobering ending makes you realize that all along you‘ve been reading a book with weighty topics like gun violence, racism, suicide, and a place you are from making you feel like you don‘t belong. Really well done.

My local bookstore is doing summer reading bingo and Read a Graphic Novel is one of the prompts. I‘m so glad I chose this one. Remembering the story of John Lewis and others who marched with him is more vital than ever and hopefully inspiring for fighting the current ongoing and escalating injustices. I‘m not proud of my country now, but I‘m proud to be from the same country as John Lewis.

This is a perfectly fine but not exceptional thriller until something happens which hasn‘t been developed at all and it was just impossible for me to buy. Unfortunately, it‘s the hinge for the rest of the book, so it‘s a meh for me. I did like the ending, though.

An interesting take on the divorce novel. Here, a woman learns her husband has been having an affair (and is leaving her) immediately before learning she has breast cancer. So, she names her tumor after the other woman, as you do. It‘s threaded with humor and abounding with metaphors. I liked but didn‘t love it.

In the 1970s, the ruling junta in Argentina disappeared thousands of people, including pregnant women. It became clear that they waited for those women to give birth before murdering them and giving their babies to other families. This is the story of the group of grandmothers who tirelessly sought out their grandchildren for decades. I thought the first part was poorly organized, but then it smooths out and is very good.

A young witch, Lydia, learns about a powerful dark grimoire that a coven helping Hitler hopes to find. Lydia knows if they find it, the war, and likely the world, is lost, so she goes in search of it herself. This is an absolutely smashing debut: engrossing story, very well crafted, and utterly unputdownable. I just loved it!

Here‘s my books for August #ReadYourEbooks. Let‘s see how I do this month! 🤞🏼

I meant to post this a couple days ago but forgot. I didn‘t manage to read any of the July books, so let‘s see if I do better in August! #roll100

This outstanding book chronicles the life and work of Roxie Laybourne, a woman who was just trying to do work she loved. She had a knack for taxidermy and was hired by the Smithsonian (unpaid for a while, of course) and found she was especially good at birds. This segued into her pioneering a way to ID bird species from airplane bird strikes. I can‘t emphasize how good this book is—amazing woman with fantastic writing.