I listened to this last weekend for St Patrick‘s Day. It was interesting to learn how Guinness began and even more how it influenced culture and made things better related to health and hygiene in Ireland. However, the author was like a full-fledged cheerleader of constant praise for the Guinness family. You learn at the end that the family has quite the history of suing authors….that may have played a part in the tone and content of the book

I absolutely love the more modern storyline in the book. The author has a style of writing that really pulled me in. However, there‘s a story within the story that almost ruined the entire thing for me. It‘s basically about the legend and folklore about this particular fishing spot the the town that used to exist around it. The owner of a local diner tells the tale to two fisherman in an attempt to scare them away….and he drones on for hours!!!

I listened to this while my stepdaughter reads it for English class….I was shocked that I loved it. There was a lot more compassion and tenderness than I anticipated for a book about a gang of teenage boys. I see why this is considered to be the start of YA fiction, even though most of what I‘ve read in the genre pales in comparison. My stepdaughter, she‘s still working on it, but she read ahead to the ending (what‘s with young people today?).

Here is another audiobook from the haze that was February. It‘s a gritty tale of two brothers who have been surviving on their own since their teens. Everything gets turned upside down early one morning when one of them has an accident. The book walks a fine line by making the reader empathize with everything the main characters have been through while not hiding how absolutely stupid and horrible some of their decisions are.

Before reading this, I have to admit I didn‘t know much about Captain Cook outside of the fact he‘s a pretty solid guess on Jeopardy in the topic of 18th century European explorers. This is a thoroughly detailed book of his epic final journey. I enjoyed how the author contrasted events and Cook‘s decisions and tendencies to those from earlier expeditions. I hope to read more by the author and about Capt Cook in the future!

Here‘s my TBR and Bookspin Bingo list for the month!

#bookspinbingo
@TheAromaofBooks

This is a work of fiction inspired by real-life events that may tell the story more effectively than a nonfiction piece could. It focuses the victims and their loved ones. It also does a phenomenal job of dismantling and destroying a lot of the lies and myths the press built up around Ted Bundy, which are still too prevalent to this day. I strongly recommend.
#bookspinbingo

@TheAromaofBooks

Here‘s my TBR List for February!
#bookspinbingo
@thearomaofbooks

This is a true story of corruption within the Baltimore Police Dept. When reading this, I can‘t say that I was really surprised. But, part of me wondered how a division could get away with so much…the lack of real oversight that was in place was ridiculous!

#bookspinbingo
#auldlangspine2025
@Amiable
@TheAromaofBooks
@monalyisha

Fuzz is yet another entertaining book by Mary Roach. This one explores how humans react when nature and civilization collide. As you can probably guess, things typically don‘t go well for the animals. Among the parts I most enjoyed was the inclusion of the book‘s footnotes, which is rare for an audiobook. This was fun even if I don‘t love it as much as her earliest works, Stiff and Spook.

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Who knew a book about mysterious revenge killings related to lynchings and other violent, racial-based crimes could be so fun? This is one of the more unique works of fiction I‘ve read. The author achieved an odd balance of dark subject matter mixed with humor. If anything, I would have loved it if the book was a bit more serious. A less-skilled writer could never have pulled this story off. I can‘t wait to read more of Everett‘s work!

This is a memoir of the author‘s time profiling serial killers and violent criminals. It‘s informative but far from prefect. The author spends a bit too much time boasting of his accomplishments. I think it helps to keep in mind this was published in 1993. I have a high tolerance for tragedy, but I have to admit I was a bit disturbed at times with the constant barrage of violent stories told in the author‘s direct and somewhat dispassionate style!

15,680 points for part II and 19,930 points total

It was fun…but it‘s over. I don‘t know about anyone else, but I just couldn‘t read anymore holiday-related stuff the past few days. 😂🤷‍♂️ I‘m so glad #Wintergames returned this year!

#wintergames2024
#christmaschapterchasers
#xmaschacha

@StayCurious

Here‘s my list for January and to kick off 2025!

#bookspinbingo
@TheAromaofBooks

This is a novelty item that I purchased as part of a Die Hard-themed white elephant gift I put together for a family gathering! Of course I had to read it before wrapping it up in the wee small hours of Christmas morning. It‘s cheesy, light, and fun!

#DieHardisaChristmasMovie
#BookSpinBingo #WinterGames #WinterGames2024
#XmasChaCha

This was a nonfiction piece that was originally intended to be an expose‘ on the commercialism and corruption of Christmas. Instead, it became a slice of life piece of the suburb of Frisco Texas as it prepares for the Christmas 2006 holiday. The author follows the stories of Tammie, a home decorator; Jeff & Bridgett, homeowners with a ridiculous light display; and Carol, a single mother.

This was a reread/listen for me and I absolutely love it!

I‘m loving the season to include the holiday-related reads…but I‘m really looking forward to the new year and the return to reading “more serious” stuff. #Auldlangspine has added an extra jolt to my TBR as I‘ve been paired with @Amiable and am intrigued by a number of her favorite reads from the past year. Above are just a few of her recommendations I plan to check out in January and well into 2025!

#auldlangspine2025
#ALSpine2025

This was a short but solid title that focused on the Victorian era tradition of telling ghost stories by the fire on Christmas Eve. Far from scary though, these tales are served with healthy portions of wit and sarcasm.

#bookspinbingo #wintergames #wintergames2024
#XmasChaCha #littenlisten @TheAromaofBooks @StayCurious @aperfectmjk

This book covers the history of Christmas in small, focused snippets. It covers subjects that range from fruit cake to wrapping paper to Santa Claus and everything in between. I‘ve heard of many of the subjects before on the podcast of the same name, but I loved revisiting them and prefer the audiobook version thanks to better sound quality. I‘ll be revisiting this book and its various subjects for years to come!

At the halfway point for #wintergames2024, my points are listed above.
#wintergames
#cristmaschapterchasers

This was a brief but intriguing read about the Christmas Witch, the twin sister of Santa Claus. It was creative, different, and brief, clocking in at just under an hour. The sound design was really immersive and helped pull me into the story. When a character is walking in the snow, you hear the crunch of each step for example.

I hope they‘ll be a sequel next year to continue the story.

This reminded me of why I hated philosophy in college so many years ago. These scholarly types love to beat dead horses repeatedly instead of getting to the point. There are essays on the origins of Christmas, the Christmas Nativity, Santa, Christmas consumerism, and related pop culture. I thought this would be “fun.” It did have its moments. I really enjoyed essays in the latter half of the book that were more cheeky in their subject matter.

So last weekend I setup Christmas tree lights in our fridge based on a viral TikTok video. It‘s like the best decoration ever! It took a ton of packaging tape, but it was worth it. I giggle like a 10-year old every time I open the fridge!! 😂😂😂 I thought I‘d share just in case anyone is bored and has an extra string of lights that they don‘t know what to do with!
#wintergames #wintergames2024 #christmaschapterchasers @StayCurious

A woman is released from prison after eight long years and decides to start life over in a new town. The story unfolds with Christmas rapidly approaching. There are some plot holes, and well, some things that just don‘t make any sense here….eight years in prison for a first time offense of embezzlement? A woman spends all that time in prison yet doesn‘t seem hardened and shows no ill effects from it?

A festive title by Christopher Moore, filled with the adult humor and fast-paced chaos that seem typical for his work. It was fun and something a bit different to celebrate the holiday season with compared to the titles in the more typical holiday romance or Christian fiction genres. It‘s a story about a truly unintelligent angel on a mission to make a child‘s Christmas miracle come true.

This guide was part history of Yule and its relation to Christmas and part how to book with advice on how to celebrate Yule in modern times. This was to the point and brief, which is great for a general reader like me who isn‘t planning to apply the knowledge. Also, it‘ll earn me a ton of points on the #wgwordsearch with 331 words!

#bookspinbingo #wintergames2024 #wintergames
#Christmaschapterchasers

I read this for the first time in 27 years. It was much more impactful to me at this point in my life compared to when I was in college. I had also forgotten most of the work itself. I started with the Audible adaptation with Andrew Garfield and enjoyed it so much, I then listened to Orwell‘s original work. It remains a thought-provoking, relevant work.

Here‘s my TBR list for #wintergames2024 and #bookspinbingo!

#wintergames #earlybirdpoints #christmaschapterchasers
@TheAromaofBooks
@StayCurious

1. Hot chocolate
2. Christmas Day
3. 🌟
4. Indian food
5. Travel - I got snowed in for one Xmas around eighteen years ago and was bored to death

#wintergames2024
#earlybirdpoints
#christmaschapterchasers

@staycurious

I loved this book! It was like revisiting nostalgia which was reaffirmed for being as good if not more awesome than I remembered it! I loved these guys growing up and would often end up watching their syndicated show after the late-night talk shows went off the air on Fridays. These guys genuinely loved movies and enjoyed sharing their love and criticism of film with the world. They despised one another but came to respect and love each other

This book was amazing! It was so much nerdy fun to revisit this election and get the views from insiders from all of the various campaigns. The only downer is that I had this book several days before the election while finishing it a couple of days on the other side of Election Day…those Obama years where progressive thought we turned a corner seem so far away…no offense to those on the other side of the political spectrum.

This was surprisingly deeper than I anticipated. If Horn‘s other works are similar in nature, I think I‘ll end up preferring his style over his famous father‘s! I wouldn‘t exactly call this horror, but I have no idea of what other categories or genres of work that would better describe this novel! The premise is a guy wakes up and seems to be sprouting horns from his noggin one random morning.

This was probably the winner among my horror reads for the past season. It feels more serous and mature than Camp Damascus, which was a pretty solid work in its own right. There were some pretty creepy ideas and moments in this work and the story was solid throughout! The growth and span of Tingle‘s work is pretty amazing in itself if you‘re not familiar with his full bibliography!

This was a mildly entertaining collection of really short horror stories. For several stories, the author would take the time to tell the story from the perspective of several different characters…when used, this method had mixed results. I may try some of the author‘s other work to see if his longer stories are more engaging and suspenseful.

#hauntedshelf #bookspinbingo #skeletoncrew

This had some very interesting plot twists, especially in the last quarter of the book . However, could the author have written at least one likable character in the story? These are all pretty terrible people.

#hauntedshelf #trappedinaspookyhouse #bookspinbingo #skeletoncrew

This explored the morbid history of Penn‘s Woods to include dark and strange stories for the area to include tales of witches, hangings, murder, and spontaneous human combustion among other things…this was a solid start to the Halloween season for me!

#hauntedshelf #trappedinaspookyhouse #skeletoncrew #bookspinbingo

1) maybe three times per day usually….depending on work visits and such

2) This has been on my TBR for quite some time….hopefully I‘ll actually get around to it soon (after the October/Halloween festivities)

#two4tuesday
@TheSpineView

The Lesser Dead is about a group of vampires living in the NYC underground in the late 1970s. It‘s the first time I‘ve really been sucked into a story about vampires (other than Bunnicula)

A Season with the Witch is a nonfiction work by a reporter who stayed in Salem with his family for the month of October. It‘s such a historic, complex, and horribly cheesy place. Visiting Salem is now near the top of my bucket list!
#hauntedshelf #skeletoncrew

@MatchlessMarie here‘s your list for #TrappedinaSpookyHouse. Pleasant reading, and I hope you survive the spooky house!!

@PuddleJumper

Join me in participating in @PuddleJumper #HauntedShelf an October challenge where you earn points for reading, participating in readathons or other challenges, and helps tackle those growing TBR piles

You can participate as much or as little as you want. It‘s a little bit of fun

Signups will be open all the way through September

https://forms.gle/EYiyBXSKoybhkKDX6

This was a thorough look at the political scene in the early 1990s with a heavy focus on the 1992 presidential election. I was a teen at the time and this brought back a lot of memories…like watching the Ross Perot infomercial. A lot of the things I didn‘t remember though…like how awful of a human being Pat Buchanan is. This is great for lovers of history and political science

#bookspinbingo
@TheAromaofBooks

If you‘re like me, you‘ve been stashing books for almost a full year and it‘s now time to whittle it down to the Halloween TBR list! I‘ll be thrilled if I get to read 1/3 of this!

#hauntedshelf
#skeletoncrew
@Emilymdxn

I‘m particularly nostalgic for circuses and carnivals and experiencing them as an adult still strikes me with wonder. So I‘m an easily-to-please target for this book…but I swear it‘s both informative and entertaining. It‘s especially fun once we meet the characters of Barnum and Bailey. It‘s interesting to learn about the mergers and how the circus changed over time. My favorite moments were the side stories about the performers and their acts.

Here‘s my list for Sept!

#bookspinbingo
@TheAromaofBooks

D&D truly changed the world of strategy and RPG games. Unfortunately, the tale behind its creation was not as exciting as it had been billed to me. I felt this book was a textbook-like retelling of facts to include annual sales numbers. The game‘s very slow build from mocked fantasy game to cultural icon is interesting. Overall though I just felt like something was missing…like any type of connection to the creators.

This was a surprisingly entertaining memoir covering the early days of Blue Ribbon, a tiny shoe distribution company that almost went belly up several times. It would survive, somehow, and would eventually evolve become the behemoth that is Nike. It‘s hard to think of Nike as the “little guy” facing astronomical odds, but it truly was a very long time ago. Regardless I‘m still more of a Converse and Adidas guy!

#bookspinbingo
@TheAromaofBooks

So this book took awhile to finish, apparently I started this in January 🤷‍♂️. It was just so thorough, which was both a positive and a negative. This book covers all types of nuclear accidents to include those related to research and tests, the transportation of weapons, and those at power plants. This was informative if not a bit unsettling at times with the number of close calls reported. The author‘s light tone and sense of humor helps

This is a tale of two Scottish immigrants who come to America filled to the brim with dreams and naïveté. The book was as epic and sprawling as the land the homesteaders try to survive and build their lives on. Even if some plot points are a bit formulaic, Doig‘s writing style provides a depth I never expected. I look forward to more of his tales. If there isn‘t a PBS miniseries for this and possibly the whole trilogy, there needs to be one!

It‘s August…..time for another round!
#bookspinbingo #bookspin #doublespin
@TheAromaofBooks

This was a fast and enjoyable read that took me back to simpler times. I liked the Apprentice when it first came out and was at least indifferent to Trump or even kind of liked him for when he‘d show up and say ridiculous things on the Late Show and always laughed at how he‘d slap his name on everything. This is a fun behind the scenes of how the Apprentice came to be and how the show helped propel him to the presidency. #bookspinbingo