I‘ve never read a story in this format and wasn‘t sure if I‘d like it but I ended up really enjoying it and ordering the other two books in the series. It‘s definitely dark and is not for everyone. Looking forward to the discussion for #WithTheBanned2025 ! 4.5⭐️

I wish there were a
vaccine to eradicate
you from my being.

#haikuhive #haikuaday #poetry #love

From another favorite movie of mine, The Birds.

The flapping of wings,
trapped like a bird in a cage;
predator now prey.

#haikuhive #haikuaday #poetry #TheBirds #Hitchcock #TippiHedren

Stayed up late to finish this one! Another fun and twisty mystery that kept me guessing. 4⭐️

#audiobook
#FreidaMcFadden

For @lil1inblue - The Princess Bride!

A finger wiggles.
Not bad at all when you‘ve been
mostly dead all day.

#haikuhive #haikuaday #poetry #princessbride

From the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice!

Caught unaware, heat
floods my cheeks as I take in
Darcy‘s dripping form. 😳🥵

#haikuhive #haikuaday #poetry #prideandprejudice

A brief clasp, a glance;
sparks flying, the connection
unmistakable.

For you @bellabella ! I did one for the 2005 version and the 1995 version of P&P since I‘m not sure which one you like better. 🤗

#haikuhive #haikuaday #poetry #prideandprejudice

My heart remembers
No matter how much I wish
I could forget you.

#haikuhive #haikuaday #poetry #love

Lucky for me Hoopla added the 7-8 Frieda audiobooks I haven‘t read yet. This one was interesting. Tess wakes up every day unable to remember everything that happened the past 7 years. Lots of interesting twists & turns along the way as she tries to figure out what is happening to her. 4⭐️

#audiobook
#FreidaMcFadden
#thriller
#Hoopla

Decided to do another movie themed haiku for yet another of my favorite movies, Anne of Green Gables.

With a crack, the slate
came crashing down, dust flying.
Carrots indeed, Gil.

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕

#haikuhive #haikuaday #poetry #AOGG #AnneOfGreenGables

Chipper‘s kitty cuddles really put me in a better mood this morning. What would we do without our furbabies? 😻

You turned my morning
around with your rumbling
purrs and velvet fur.

#haikuhive #haikuaday #poetry #Chipper

I sped through Freida‘s new audiobook in a couple of days. This one kept me guessing as to which directions the twists were going to take and I was not disappointed. Her books are great to get sucked into. Perfect escapism. 4.5⭐️

#audiobook
#thriller
#FreidaMcFadden

Enjoyed reading this brief interlude through everyone‘s different points of view for #LittensLoveACOTAR - its great setup for the last book. Thanks so much for organizing all of this @StayCurious ! 🤗 4⭐️

#fantasy
#ACOTAR

Went to visit my grandma at the cemetery for Mother‘s Day this past weekend. 💚

I feel your presence
as the breeze gently blows by.
A whisper of you.

#haikuhive #haikuaday #poetry

Another movie themed haiku for today — this time, my favorite horror movie, Psycho.

With a creak, the chair
slowly swivels to reveal
Mother — boy‘s best friend.

#haikuhive #haikuaday #poetry #Psycho

After all this time
Still, you linger in each dark
Corner of my mind.

#haikuhive #haikuaday #poetry

In honor of one of my absolute favorite movies, Dirty Dancing:

Dancing, the Catskills,
Watermelon courier.
The time of my life.

🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉

#haikuhive #haikuaday #poetry #DirtyDancing

Haven‘t been to Red Lobster in so long, which is highly unusual for me. Had an early Mother‘s Day dinner. Been craving scampi for ages which is what inspired this silly haiku. 😆

Juicy, succulent,
Mouthwatering, delicious.
I braved rain for you. 🍤☔️

🦞🦀🦞🦀🦞🦀🦞🦀🦞🦀🦞🦀🦞🦀🦞🦀🦞

#haikuhive
#haikuaday
#poetry

Rain steadily falls
outside my window. I can‘t
get you off my mind.

#haikuhive #HaikuADay #poetry

Now for another of my favorite movies from Old Hollywood, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (if you haven‘t seen it, please do! Great movie and dialogue and Liz Taylor and Paul Newman might just be the two best looking people I‘ve ever seen together in one place here!)

Obnoxious odor,
smell that? The powerful smell
of mendacity.

#haikuhive #HaikuADay #poetry #OldHollywood

Been working on some more movie themed haikus. Breakfast At Tiffany‘s is one of my all time favorite movies.

Only Tiffany‘s,
danish, coffee and diamonds
can cure the mean reds.

#haikuhive #HaikuADay #poetry #AudreyHepburn #BreakfastAtTiffanys

Chipper my cat inspired this haiku — 😸

My prey — a lizard. 🦎
Alas, this window stands in 🐈‍⬛
My way. I need thumbs. 👍🏻

#haikuhive #HaikuADay #poetry #haiku #Chipper #CatsOfLitsy

I had so much fun playing with this one as a nod to one of my favorite movies. 😆

First rule of Fight Club
Is don‘t talk about Fight Club.
Don‘t. Talk. About. It.

#haikuhive #HaikuADay #poetry #FightClub

#haikuhive #HaikuADay #Jace

Lazy afternoon.
Wet bubbles and dusty chalk.
It‘s the simple things.

Inspired by an afternoon spent with Jace with lots of bubbles and sidewalk chalk. 💛🐝

I‘m taking a crack at writing my first haiku in French.

Je t‘adore, tu sais.
C‘est vrai, plus que les étoiles
Dans le ciel bleu.

I love you, you know.
It‘s true. More than the stars
In the blue sky.

#haikuhive
#HaikuADay
#poetry

Grady Hendrix‘s books are always fun & this is no exception. I feel we are kindred spirits in a way & he really gets my obsession with true crime. 😆 This is a fun vampire romp set in the south in the early 90s against the backdrop of a book club who has eschewed the usual stuffy book club picks & embraces trashy true crime from the 80s & 90s. My kind of people! 😆 4⭐️

#audiobook
#horror
#vampires
#GradyHendrix
#bookclub

#HaikuADay

The crack of a bat,
The roar of the crowd, it‘s our
Favorite Pastime.

Getting in the mood for some Atlanta Braves baseball today!

I‘ve been catching up on all the Riley Sager books I missed the past couple of years. I enjoyed this one, which is about the cold case disappearance of a 10-year-old boy who was taken out of his best friend‘s backyard tent. Lots of small town secrets and twists. 4⭐️

#audiobook
#RileySager
#thriller

Well I am officially all caught up on the Hamish Macbeth series. This one also has a different narrator like the last one, and the whole series just feels a bit off. I‘m not sure why it bothers me with the Hamish books and not the Agatha Raisin books. Oh well. I will still read them as long as they publish them! 3⭐️

#audiobook
#HamishMacbeth
#MCBeaton
#cozymysteries

This traveling matchmaker series is light and fluffy and perfect when you‘re not in the mood to think too much. 3.5⭐️

#audiobook
#historicalfiction
#MCBeaton

Book 3 in the #ACOTAR series is just as good as the second one. I had a very hard time putting this down. I would highly recommend this series!

#fantasy
#romance

Still a bit behind posting reviews. I adored book 2 in the #ACOTAR series — my favorite by far! Thanks for hosting all of these buddy reads @StayCurious ! I don‘t read a lot of fantasy but I would highly recommend this series. 5⭐️

#fantasy
#romance

I got behind on posting for #HaikuADay but here is mine from Saturday. Went to see the movie Sinners with my dad (was amazing, highly recommended!).

#haiku
#poetry

🍿🎞️🍿🎞️🍿🎞️🍿🎞️🍿🎞️🍿🎞️🍿🎞️🍿🎞️🍿

Got a bit behind on the #NancyDrewBR but all caught up now. This one was just a smidge over the top with exploding oranges and a wild leopard. 😆 It was very disjointed. The 1941 version sounds intriguing. As a Floridian it was a fun but ridiculous ride! 3⭐️

🍊🐆🍊🐆🍊🐆🍊🐆🍊🐆🍊🐆🍊🐆🍊🐆🍊

#NancyDrew

I‘m slowly working my way through all of M.C. Beaton‘s books on audio. This is a standalone with a couple of atypical main characters, which is refreshing. There‘s mystery & her typical humor. 3.5⭐️

#audiobook
#cozymystery
#MCBeaton

I‘m a big Agatha Christie fan & this is a fictional account of her 11-day disappearance in 1926. It took awhile to get into but once it got going I was hooked. I definitely need to do some more reading on the real facts of the story. Recommended to anyone who likes historical fiction or is a fan of Dame Agatha. 4⭐️

#audiobook
#AgathaChristie
#historicalfiction
#mystery
#NinadeGramont

I‘ve been a Jojo Moyes fan since Me Before You. She is great at writing characters & stories that are very true to life & relatable. Loved Lila & her highly dysfunctional hilarious family. Excellent narrator. 4⭐️

#audiobook
#JojoMoyes

I had the opposite experience with this Riley Sager book & could not stop listening. A triple murder occurs in 1929 in a mansion on Black Tuesday. The story picks up in the 1980s with a young nurse moving into the mansion to take care of the only survivor of that awful night — who is also the number one suspect. This has a satisfying ending & lots of twists. And an excellent narrator. 4.5⭐️

#audiobook
#thriller
#RileySager

I think I would have enjoyed this fun regency book more if I had read it with my eyeballs. I was not a fan of the narrator who was a tad monotone, but there‘s a good story in there. 3.5⭐️

#audiobook
#regency

Some friends of the Parentals have dropped off their 2 little hellions for the weekend at Casa Wakefield. They proceed to terrorize the twins with mean pranks until Jess & Liz have had enough & decide to run away. They run all the way away to their fort in the backyard 😆 & eventually, all is right in their world again. So cute. 4⭐️

#SweetValley
#SweetValleyKids
#SVK
#twins
#nostalgia

Book 4 marks the end of the Edwardian Murder Mysteries. Lady Rose & her friend (her name escapes me at the moment) are funny & do get into some hilarious situations and as always Davina Porter is excellent. 3⭐️

#audiobook
#cozymysteries
#MCBeaton

Riley Sager‘s books are hit or miss for me & I haven‘t picked one up in a bit. I finished this a few weeks ago & have already forgotten most of the details 😳. It was okay but nothing special. 3⭐️

#audiobook
#thriller
#RileySager

This one was extra jarring & felt like a totally different series. Just when I finally had gotten used to the 2nd narrator, this one has a different one. Everything felt off in this one. Sigh. 3⭐️

#audiobook
#cozymysteries
#MCBeaton
#HamishMacbeth

I‘m giving this a soft pick. While there are differences in the Agatha Raisin series since R.W. Green took over, they are subtle & don‘t bother me much. Not so in the Hamish Macbeth series. In this one & the next one especially it almost feels like a completely different series. I will still keep reading but it‘s not the same. 3.5⭐️

#audiobook
#cozymysteries
#HamishMacbeth
#MCBeaton

Book 3 in the Edwardian Murder Mysteries is just ok. Very similar to the first two books and nothing stands out, but they are easy listening fluff narrated by the amazing Davina Porter. 3⭐️

#audiobook
#cozymysteries
#MCBeaton

I liked book 2 in the Edwardian Murder Mysteries series better than the first. Lady Rose & her “companion” crack me up. These are fluffy cozy mysteries narrated by the amazing Davina Porter who does a great job with the various accents. Can‘t go wrong with M.C. Beaton! 4⭐️

#cozymysteries
#audiobook
#murdermysteries
#MCBeaton

Bear with me while I catch up on a month of reviews!

Read this fun Irish romance for #LittensLoveRomance and #foodandlit this month. While this is nothing earth-shattering, it‘s cute and cozy and perfect for when you‘re in the mood for a bit of escapism. 3.5⭐️

#Ireland
#romance

Finally finished this up today for the #SundayBuddyRead - I overall did enjoy the story & it was interesting reading all the real historical aspects of the story. But I didn‘t love it. The main character was not incredibly likable, & I also wasn‘t a fan of the dual timeline here (I don‘t mind when done correctly). I will say, however, that I thoroughly enjoyed the last few chapters. 3.5⭐️ Thanks for hosting @TheBookHippie

Mrs. W. rear-ends an old lady, Mrs. Harrington, then Jess & Liz befriend her & help out around her house. Jess is particularly taken with her, especially once she discovers Mrs. H. is really a famous retired movie star, Dolores Dufay. She pays for Jess to take acting classes & helps her with a school play. I actually really enjoyed this because I love it when Jess acts like a decent person & does the right thing. So refreshing! 😆4⭐️

#SweetValley

I‘m on hold for the next Hamish book so I decided to dive into another cozy mystery series by M.C. Beaton, this time set in the Edwardian era. It had its funny moments & the narrator did a great job with all the voices, but it didn‘t capture my full attention. It‘s not bad, just not my favorite. 3⭐️

#audiobook
#MCBeaton
#cozymystery
#historicalfiction