First luscious sip of
a Chick-fil-A peach milkshake.
Summer has arrived!

What foods/tastes say "Summer" to you?

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

An absolutely sweet memoir about the author‘s summer job at Tiffany in New York City. And what a summer it was! 1945… during the last months of World War II. Lots of interesting historical details of daily life are included, as well as some cute stories about working at such a glamorous place. Great fun!
Another #SundayBuddyRead winner. Thanks, @TheBookHippie !

My #5JoysFriday is all about Iceland this week. The scenery here is dramatic!

1. Sunset at 11:30 p.m.
2. Waterfalls
3. Lupines. They are everywhere. Great swaths of them strewn across fields and hills.
4. Snow-capped mountains.
5. Windswept hills.

@DebinHawaii

This dual timeline historical novel about the potential authorship of Shakespeare‘s plays is fascinating read. Well-researched and well-written (although a bit too heavy-handed at times for my taste), this was very thought-provoking as well as entertaining. I think this book‘s impact will stay with me. Don‘t skip the author‘s note at the end!

I have some fun choices for #ReadYourKindle this month! Thanks for hosting, @CBee !

My June #ReadYourKindle list. @CBee

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

Spending the week in beautiful Scotland has been filled with too many joys to count. The people are friendly and welcoming, the scenery is stunning, and there is so much to see and do! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

My #BookSpin list for June. May has been a slow reading month for me. Hoping June will be better! 😎

For June, I decided to try making one post for the monthly challenges I host. I‘m excited to see what everyone will be reading!

#MonthlyNonfiction2025 - your choice, or if you‘re progressing through the Dewey numbers, 500-599

#FictionalTraveler - A Place You‘d Like to Visit

#ThematicCozies - Celebration

#ReadOrDonate - Your Choice

#AllergicToChunksters - Continue with whatever you‘re currently plowing through, or start something new 🙂

On Sunday, we attended our first Highland Games! The Atholl Gathering at Blair Castle. It was so much fun!

Bagpipes, cannon fire,
Men in kilts throwing hammers.
Scottish Highland Games.

#Haikuaday #HaikuHive

@dabbe

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

A joyous week for sure! We visited our grandsons in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, before flying to Scotland for a vacation. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I woke up to this cheery sound this morning!

#Haikuaday #haikuhive

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii @dabbe

#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

Well, this was one of the more unusual reading experiences I‘ve had! The main character‘s last name is Poitier, and his first name is Not Sidney. Much hilarity and clever dialogue ensues due to this unusual name. Not Sidney is Black, and is the victim of all kinds of racial prejudice - truly serious American societal issues - but somehow Percival Everett manages to write these scenes as humorous. Very skillful. ⬇️

This book manages to highlight the important issue of book banning, while also being hopeful and laugh-out-loud funny. Although several members of my book club complained that there were too many characters to keep track of (keeping a character list as you read is very helpful], we had a great discussion. We have even decided to read some banned books in future months.

#Pantone2025 #ViridianGreen @Lauredhel @BarbaraBB

I loved the strong sense of time and place in this novel - small town Maine in the late 1700s. The main character is a midwife - a strong woman with influence in her community, which she uses for good. Based on a real midwife, Martha Ballard, who kept a diary that has survived. Superb storytelling!

#Pantone2025 #SecretSpaces @Lauredhel @BarbaraBB

#haikuaday #haikuhive

I love driving into my neighborhood in the evening and seeing these guys. 💟

I enjoyed this story about famed interior designer‘s renovation of the iconic Greenbrier Hotel. A strong, confident, talented woman, Draper made some difficult decisions as she pursued her career at a time when it was not socially acceptable for upper class women to work. The hotel itself felt like one of the characters in the book, and it sounds like a beautiful place. I‘d love to visit in person!

#SundayBuddyRead (March) #Pantone2025

#HaikuADay #haikuhive @dabbe

Ancient live oak tree
Spanish moss dripping beard-like,
Shading my front porch.

@JenlovesJT47 @DebinHawaii @TheBookHippie @TheSpineView @Kristy_K @lil1inblue @bellabella

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive @dabbe

My first attempt. Not very melodic, but it‘s a start. 😆

My May choice for #ReadOrDonate has been sitting on my shelves for years. It‘s time!

What will everyone else be reading?

My May selection for #MonthlyNonfiction2025 is Confessions of a Bookseller, by Shaun Bythell. I‘m hoping to visit his bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland later this month! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿📚

What will everyone else be reading?

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

My May #ReadYourKindle list is ready. 🙂 Thanks for hosting, @CBee !

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

1. The smell of beeswax always makes me think of the Wren Building in Williamsburg, Virginia. I had a lot of classes there in college, and the stairway railings were polished with beeswax. They always smelled so good!

2. One Christmas, when I was 8 or 9, my grandmother gave me a huge Barbie doll wardrobe that she had sewn herself. She was an excellent seamstress, and the clothes were beautiful.

Want to play?

For May‘s #FictionalTraveler #SpanishSpeaking prompt, I will be traveling to Ecuador. Where will everyone else be traveling? Have you ever been to that location in real life? I have never been to Ecuador. 🇪🇨

My May #BookSpin list! @TheAromaofBooks

Lots of great tips and strategies for finding cheap flights. There is a lot of repetition of information, but that just helped to cement the concepts in my mind. I can‘t wait to try out these tips for future vacations! ✈️🧳

My choice for the May #ThematicCozies theme of #Flowers/Plants is #6 in the Darling Dahlias series, by Susan Wittig Albert. I have read several others in this series and enjoyed them.

What will everyone else be reading? 🌸💐🌺🌷🌻🥀🌼🌹🍀🌿🍃🌴🌲📚📚📚

Nothing profound here, just a sweet, uplifting read with beautiful illustrations. I have been reading it slowly, savoring just a page or two every couple of days, on an as-needed basis, lol. It's a nice antidote to these troubled times, and a good reminder of the many small things one can do to make each day a little happier.

#5JoysFriday

#5JoysFriday

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

#moodboardcontest @dabbe

Congrats on your impressive milestone! Leave it to you to come up with such a fun and creative way to celebrate! 🎉 You‘re the best! 🩵💚🩵

My mood is so mixed these days. I am SO very blessed with my 3 grandsons, but so worried about their future in this broken country and world.

I am so thankful that my husband and I are able to live our retirement dream after saving for so many years, but worried about the economy.

Packed with adventure! Set during the French and Indian War, the book contains some pretty brutal scenes. I appreciated that one of the main characters was a strong female, especially for a book written in 1826. But the writing also reflects attitudes towards women and Native Americans that were prevalent at that time. Seen as a period piece, the storytelling is excellent, with a strong sense of time and place. ⬇️

There are just some days when this book is exactly what I need. Calming, thoughtful, and thought-provoking. I am really enjoying taking my time and truly savoring it.

@TheBookHippie @kspenmoll

Everything I like in a cozy mystery. Amateur female sleuth, police detective boyfriend, likable supporting characters, small town setting, and a mystery that I can‘t figure out. I‘ll read more of this series. 4⭐️

This was my April pick for #ThematicCozies #Sport, and also my #BookSpin #DoubleSpin

Loss. So much loss in this book. But also resilience. And ultimately, hope. A worthwhile read, but you have to be in the right mood.

#Pantone2025 #WindsorWine @Lauredhel

Just soooo sweet! I want to read this to every child I know! Another winner from @TheBookHippie ‘s #ChildrensClassicRead .

I love books with a strong sense of place, and this one did not disappoint. The author did a wonderful job of depicting life on a remote island, complete with island traditions, food, and a cast of quirky characters. This setting, along with the growth in confidence of the main character, a bit of romance, and the revelation of some long-buried secrets made for a very enjoyable read.

#FictionalTraveler #Island

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

A fascinating story, this historical novel takes place in Strasbourg, during the dancing plague of the 1500s. An informative, atmospheric and reflective read.

#Pantone2025 #AntiqueWhite @Lauredhel

#WondrousWednesdays @Eggs

1. Daffodils

2. My new grandson, rain that helped control the forest fires, dear old friends.

Thanks for the tag @Read4life ! 💙

Want to play, @kspenmoll @Soubhiville @mabell ?

Nope… not for me. My April #ReadOrDonate book is going straight to the donate pile.

#HailTheBail #BetterBooksAhead

Reading along as Mike Gayle tries to tackle his 1200+ item To Do list over the course of one year was interesting, inspiring, and very funny. The items on his list were so relatable! This was my March selection for #MonthlyNonfiction2025 .

Joy doesn‘t seem like a big enough word for me this week…

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

I have no idea where or when I acquired this book, so I think that makes it a perfect #ReadOrDonate candidate! What will everyone else be reading?

This book was a fascinating glimpse into the constantly changing politics of Ancient Rome, from a female point of view. Livia was the wife and trusted advisor of the emperor Augustus. Although I didn‘t always agree with some of the choices she made, I couldn‘t help but admire the way she worked through the constraints placed upon her as a wealthy woman, to become a powerful, influential force for the good of the Roman people.

I‘m really looking forward to traveling to the glorious fictional island of Tuga for #FictionalTraveler this month! What will everyone else be reading for the #Island prompt?