I decided to join in on an online event hosted by Amnesty International and Save the Children where you get the name of a Palestinian child and speak up for that child. I can't do much but I can go and scream to let Muhammad live. It's not the children's fault what's happening in this world.

And some other funny shyd happening. The usual stuff 🙃🫠

#MondayMood @Deblovestoread

Translation: Death on the Soccer Field

Helen Hürlimann knows what she's writing about, soccer is a huge part of her life. In this crime novel she puts that knowledge to work. It's an unusual writing style, a bit dairy, a bit stream of consciousness, a bit dry martini. Somehow very... Swiss? Calm, unagitated, focused. An interesting book for sure.

#roll100 @PuddleJumper

Happy #5JoysFriday on this lovely Saturday 💛

It was a lovely week with lovely joys:

1. A whole day with my bestie and my aunt in lovely Basel 😍
2. @VaniBarelyReads made dinner for me. Lovely pasta, yum 💖
3. #TinyCarFamily grew again 🛻
4. I received your lovely package, @iread2much 💖 Thank you so much for everything 💖
5. Had a lovely Friday evening at an event hosted by our new Literature Club in town 📚

@DebinHawaii

TJ Klune is one of the authors that has never disappointed me and I guess it'll take a lot for that to happen. Yes, this book is different, but at the same time it's still a truly Klune book. I thought the first 3/4 were stronger though than the end.

What a lovely and wholesome ending to the series. I guess there are more than enough possibilities for spin-offs and prequels and sequels, so I hope for more to come. I'd be in for the ride. Sure, the books weren't highlights, but they're enjoyable and fluffy and nice. And I think that's exactly what Thorne wants it to be.

It's Tuesday but I'm still carrying around my #MondayMood

Translation of the first picture: Society says "young men turn to the far right because of feminism" instead of "young women turn to feminism because of far right men" because the number one rule in patriarchy is always blame women for what men do wrong.

@Deblovestoread

Oh wow, I did not expect to love this one as much as I did. It's eerie and it does have a fantasy vibe, even though it's not. I never quite knew where the story was heading and the things I thought would happen, did not. And of course I loved Mary and how she approaches all the difficulties in her life (they are mostly male shaped). I didn't know it, but it was the right book for me to read in autumn time.

Oh Churo! How happy was I to meet him again! And yes, the others too, of course. And oh, how they learn and grow and keep on fighting! This volume didn't even break my heart, rather it's overflowing.

#starwarsbuddyread @BookwormAHN

For now - it has to be enough. I do have hope and no Donald or Elon or whatever they're called will stop me.

#Starwarsbuddyread @BookwormAHN

I knew it was Friday, but I didn't realise it. Time zones save me again - Happy #5JoysFriday! 💛💛💛

1. In memoriam by Alice Winn 🥺
2. Joking around with @VaniBarelyReads and...
3. ... having my first PSL this year with @VaniBarelyReads and...
4. ... a trip to Austria with @VaniBarelyReads
5. My El Tonys arrived 😁

@DebinHawaii

This was so adorable! A book for all the people out there who love cats. I loved the message about taking care of nature, I loved the friendship and of course I loved the cat. I mean - how could I not love the cat? Seriously. One scene was almost a bit too much for me, but it's a children's book, so it's no spoiler if I tell you that everything turned out fine 😻

This book broke me. And again. And again. And again. I do get sad while reading books, but it's unusual that I can't read the text anymore because there are tears in my eyes. Constantly. I couldn't read 4 pages without the urge to just break into tears. I didn't want to continue, but I wanted to continue. I also wanted to give it six stars on GoodReads, but I was only allowed to give five. Which is not enough. This book needs more. 1912 forever.

Soft pick. I liked the characters and how they developed. Especially, funny enough, the fathers. Some 🌶️ but I didn't really care for that. It was fun and entertaining, but also kind of forgettable. Perfect background noise to listen to while doing something else.

#queerbc @PuddleJumper

Bookish song Nr. 62 (I did a lot of scrolling): Good Charlotte - Bodies

Me: Oh, a new song by GC, "Bodies".
Harrow: You called?

And that's it. I think it really fits the Gideon-Harrow dynamics.

Happy #5JoysFriday 💛💛💛

Some joys this week:

1. Got a new haircut ✂️
2. Watching Taskmaster 📺
3. Random funny things @VaniBarelyReads does 💖
4. Drawing again ✏️
5. Meeting a lovely friend for a lovely Chai Latte ☕

@DebinHawaii

History, ships, pirates, queer characters - what's not to love? Exactly! Sure, at the end it got a bit too much YA for me, but I think in that age readers just need that. Everything else was just an awesome ride. I loved how Mar grows and learns to accept themselves, Novoa wrote their journey really good and I think a lot of young readers will relate. And maybe some of us older ones, too?

#riseupreads @Catsandbooks

Well, I thought I would need half of the month for this audiobook. Turns out, I got addicted and ran through it in almost no time. I get that not all people like the all the monologues and the educated talks, but I did. It's amazing how Kuang fusions actual history and fantasy together, I'm still stunned. Also, how we see Robin growing and transforming just blew me. The older he grows, the more he understands and changes his points of view.

I found this wonderful book by chance, because I logged into our online library. It was there in the “Coming Up“ section and the cover just captured me. The rest is history.

It's a bittersweet, beautifully written coming-of-age story in a small village in Northern Ireland. It's a story of longing, of wishing and first love. James is torn between his family and his own wishes. This book broke my heart in the best possible way.

Since the German publisher doesn't seem to continue the series in German (what a shame - love their covers!), I'm just going to continue reading the books in English. Problem solved. I love Pentecost and Parker, I loved the plot and I loved that my guess was right. So yeah, I definitely will continue reading this series.

Yay for #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin 💖
I can't seem to get Women's Football go ⚽

@TheAromaOfBooks

I went rouge again with this one, you might get that I'm a bit annoyed right now. I'm dealing with a flare of neurodermatitis since July and I think I've had enough of it already.

Neurodermatitis
Not dangerous, nor contagious
But could you leave me the f* alone now?!

#haikuhive

Monthly wrap-up because apparently another month has come and passed.

#bookofthemonth #botm

Yeah, yeah, I know it's Saturday already, yada yada. Belated happy #5JoysFriday

My joys this week:
1. Pride in Lucerne, spent with a dear friend 💖
2. I got my first official Postcrossing card from Japan 🤩
3. I drove in and out of Zurich twice this week without a major accident happen 💪
4. Surprise book find in the open bookshelf in Zurich's university hospital 🏳️‍🌈
5. I got diagnosed with AuDHD and it explains SO much! 🧠

@DebinHawaii

The title is a pun in German. “Macht Sprache“ could mean “Make Language“, but “Macht“ also means “Power“, so it could also be “Power Language“.
This book is about both. About how to make your language more inclusive and why that's important, and about how language can mean power. There are so many notes in my notebook now, and I think I am better prepared now to argue why inclusive language is more important than ever.

Letting Amadeo speak to all of us who are struggling right now 🫂💖 Joy is resistance 💪

#StarWarsBuddyRead @BookwormAHN

The story is mostly plot focused, but the end really got me and broke my heart. In a guy way, though. Is there a book in the series, that doesn't make me cry?

#starwarsbuddyread @bookwormahn

A book for all the bird lovers out there, even though it gets ghost-y. When I was younger I didn't really appreciate Nothomb's more autobiographical books, but as I get older, I understand those better (I think). I was moved by the very personal bits at the end.

#bookishmonopoly @AkashaVampie

Again, it might be still Wednesday somewhere in the world. Also, we don't care about your world made for neurotypicals. We are not stupid, we are not incapable, we are not a failure. We are neurodiverse and you trying to stop us won't work. Because without us your world would stand still 🫳🎤

#wdncw @dabbe

Going for two lists again and I'll see how I'm going to manage the picks. Yay for autumn 🍂🍁🎃

@TheAromaofBooks #BookSpin #DoubleSpin

Yes, alright, the plot may be ridiculous and the jokes are all dirty, but that's why I enjoyed it so much. I just need a good laugh every now and then, especially now in 2025. And the audiobook is so well done, I love Benji's voice, it's just so fitting. And who doesn't love anarchist elfes?

It does feel weird to put a Pick on this book, because there shouldn't be anything to like in there. And that's why it's a Pick. If you need books with characters to identify with - don't read. If you're going through a hard time - don't read this book. The thing is, the author shows us exactly in what kind of r@pe culture we live in. This is hard to read, but well executed.

#Bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

If I'm not reacting to your tags and comments and likes for a while, it's not you, dear Littens. Sometimes all I can do is breathe.

#haikuhive

@itchyfeetreader @kristy_k @debinhawaii @mimi28 @thebookhippie @jenlovesjt47
@reggie @vivastory @eggs @jdiehr @thespineview @cbee @lil1inblue
@julieclair @anncrystal

Just a friendly reminder that #Queerbc is going to read Georgia Clark this September. Have you already chosen your book? Are you excited? We hope that you all are going to enjoy some good reading hours with one of her books.

@ElizaMarie @BookmarkTavern @Read4life @peanutnine @Jari-chan @lil1inblue @willaful @GirlNamedJesse @maich @WJCintron @CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian @jenniferw88 @Zuhkeeyah @rwmg @JenlovesJT47 @Catsandbooks @JudeCC

So, I've read this. I've taken some notes. And I guess that's it, because I'm so not the target audience for this text. How am I supposed to understand any of this? But I know it's an important book and famous outside the bubble, too. So I'm glad it exists.

#roll100 @PuddleJumper

I'm late with my #5JoysFriday but yesterday was really a day... So, here we go anyway:

1. Going to the cinema with a dear friend and @VaniBarelyReads 💖
2. This Urban Garden I came across 🍀
3. My first time seeing Poetry Slam live 😍
4. Kids enjoying the toys in our bookstore 🥹
5. Secco being all clingly 😻

@DebinHawaii

When I first started reading this book, I thought it might wasn't for me. But the more I read, the more I got into the story. I loved how layered the plot is, the different narration styles and the beautiful writing. The magical realism really fits the setting and the atmosphere, it just fits together perfectly. A wonderful book.

Yay for #roll100 picks! Sind I've already started reading my number 77 today, I took a look at my extra list and added Nr. 117 instead. I'm really curious about Babel.

@PuddleJumper

We do not care that we passed a horde of teenagers while pressing our stuffed fox to our breast. We need that and if you would go and get your AuDHD test results back, you would do that too. Also, normalise grown ups holding plushies.

#wdncw @dabbe

Oseman is usually reduced to Heartstopper and Loveless. So I was very delighted to find that little gem in the authors repertoire. It's such a moving and touching story, and I especially appreciate that it's about friendship, not romance. Aces know how underrated friendship in most of our society is, so it does need books like that.

#queerbc @PuddleJumper

I'm getting into happy songs about not happy topics. But I do believe in the next generations, I really do.

MKTO - Thank you

https://youtu.be/X0gtzHJphVg?si=ewXsiMwlQf_BqYVi

We are the ones, the ones you left behind
Don't tell us how, tell us how to live our lives
Ten million strong, we're breaking all the rules
Thank you for nothing, 'cause there's nothing left to lose

Title translates as: “Unfiltered. Social Media and our Body Image“

Even though I was hoping to get more into detail about how Social Media changes our body image, it's still a book I would highly recommend to anyone. I rarely do that, but maybe that's a book I would say everyone should read. Because we all suffer from distorted eating habits, we all are affected by the diet industry and we all life in a world that tells us how we should look ⬇

Well, I guess somewhere in the world it's still Monday. So, yeah. Nough said.

@Deblovestoread #MondayMood

I did not expect to like this one as much as I finally did. I liked seeing Kenzie & Gennaro as parents. Even though the 16 years-old doesn't much act like that, I think after what she went through we all would age faster. That said, it's still a Dennis Lehane book. It's still dark, messy and sometimes uncomfortable.

Happy #5JoysFriday on a Saturday! Why am I so busy right now? Well, I've had some joys too:

1. Visit from an old friend and some nice talks with her 💖
2. Happy days at work 📚
3. A day just sleeping in and resting 💤
4. Celebrating @VaniBarelyReads birthday 🎂
5. Those cutie pies that visited our shop 🐶

@DebinHawaii

I loved this one just as much as I loved the other book in the series. They're so different, how does Cipri manage that? And they're still sort of the same. It's amazing. And I do get the appeal of that one, and why many people prefer “Finna“. Well, I hope that there are going to be more books in the series. Or more anti-capitalist sci-fi novellas by Cipri.

@TheAromaofBooks #DoubleSpin

Well, it's Terry Pratchett - what's more to say? We get Discworld, we get a glimpse into private Terry, we get speeches and short stories from young Pratchett. Including the great illustrations by Josh Kirby. What's not to love?

(I did skip the texts about Neil Gaiman and JK, though)

My next roll in #bookishmonopoly bought me to my TBR at work, and believe me or not - the newest book by my dearest Amélie Nothomb is still waiting to be read! Shame on me.

@AkashaVampie

JK being feminist again. So let's show her some real women doing amazing stuff.
Oh yeah, my brain is hyper focusing on Hyun-ju right now 😍🤩🏳️‍⚧️

#mondaymood @Deblovestoread

So, I guess my Dune journey ends with this volume. The next book is more for hardcore fans, I think, and I am quite alright with the ending we're getting here. Sure, I'm not alright with some parts, just as I didn't agree with other things in the previous books. But the story held my interest for eight long novels, and that counts for something, right?

This was my #bookspin for July and finished it 7/31/25 @TheAromaOfBooks

Not the tagged book, but a collection of short stories from the same universe

These stories are all written by different authors, so they all differ from each other. We got some typical Sci-Fi, we've got a heist, we've a troubled author and someone searching for answers.

I would've wished for more female rep in this book, because this future does seem rather equal. A missed opportunity maybe?

#bookishmonopoly @AkashaVampie