My July choice for #ReadOrDonate is Palisades Park, historical fiction about a legendary amusement park near where I grew up in New Jersey. What will everyone else be reading and/or donating?

What a delightful book! I learned so much about the shells and other various mysterious objects that wash up on the beach - mysteries no more! The author uses scientific terms, but explains them in layman‘s language. She also encourages readers to just soak up the relaxing atmosphere of the beach, being aware of all 5 senses, meditating, and pondering age old questions. Perfect reading for anyone who is at the beach, or dreaming of being there.

My #ReadYourKindle list for July. A good number of these are #CatchUp reads from prior months‘ challenges and buddy reads. 🫣
@CBee

I have 3 fun choices for #Roll100 this month: Spindle‘s End, Perestroika in Paris, and Blackbeard the Pirate!
@PuddleJumper

Looking forward to lots of fun along with our mystery in July! Our #ThematicCozies prompt is #Fair/Festival/Carnival . What will everyone be reading? And… hoping some of us get to attend a real fair, festival, or carnival in July! 🎡🎠🎢

I thoroughly enjoyed this cozy mystery. Despite the light-hearted title, it had a surprisingly complex plot, which kept me guessing. The characters were believable and likable. It‘s the first in a series, and I look forward to reading more.

#ReadYourKindle @CBee
#Pantone2025 #BlueGranite @Lauredhel

My July #BookSpin list. New month, new choices! 😃
@TheAromaofBooks

The #FictionalTraveler prompt for July is #Water . Hopefully our reading will bring some refreshing fictional escapism for those of us who have been dealing with oppressive heat. 🥵💦💧💦

What will everyone be reading?

#HaikuaDay #HaikuHive

This book is a balm for the soul. Calm, quiet, relaxing, filled with love. It was a perfect choice for #Naturalitsy #MidsummerSolace , as it really did provide solace for me in these stressful times. Escapism at its best. @AllDebooks @TheBookHippie @Chrissyreadit #LitSolace

I love summer at the beach! We meet such nice people!

#HaikuaDay #HaikuHive @dabbe

Rental house next door,
New neighbors each Saturday.
Friends, week at a time.

Nope. Not for me. Too weird. #HailtheBail #BetterBooksAhead

I enjoy the Lucy Stone mystery series. The books are well-written, and the characters feel realistic. This book is #31 in the series. Lucy‘s daughter is getting married, and I could so identify with the “wedding industrial complex” that suddenly takes over their lives! I also appreciated the thoughtful treatment of the history of the Native Americans in Maine. And it‘s a cozy, so of course there was a murder! It kept me guessing until the end.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

Fun! A divorced American mom books a vacation at Austenland, a Regency-immersion country house hotel in England, hoping the change of scene will help her overcome the numbness she has felt since her divorce. Romance and a murder mystery… reality or just part of the immersion experience storyline? The witty, snarky conversations she has with herself in her head are a hoot! Loosely based on Northanger Abbey. Great on audio.

#JaneAustenThenAndNow

This was a cute cozy mystery, but not one of my favorites. I actually found it a bit boring. But I did enjoy the setting at a Librarian‘s Conference. And the main character‘s Maine coon cat was a fun - if superfluous - addition.

This was my #ReadOrDonate selection for June. I‘ll bring it to our local Little Free Library. It would be a good beach read for our island‘s summer visitors - light, entertaining, and easily completed in a week.

We are loving every precious minute with our grandson! 💙

#HaikuADay #HaikuHive

@dabbe @TheBookHippie @TheSpineView @Kristy_K @JenlovesJT47 @DebinHawaii @bellabella @AnnCrystal @BooksandCoffee4Me @vivastory @Reggie @CBee @lil1inblue @Eggs @jdiehr @Jari-chan @Itchyfeetreader @mimi28

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

Happy Friday, Litsy friends!

I am not smart enough to understand this book. Looking forward to the #CampLitsy25 discussion on Saturday, hoping for some enlightenment. Or at least some commiseration, lol. 🤪😳😵‍💫

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.