So. I‘ve been listening to this. Maybe about 2 hours in. Mark Bramhall is PERFORMING this. But. It‘s dark. It‘s disturbing. It‘s increasingly weirdly violent with bizarre religious fervour and violence. I don‘t mind grit but I‘m not certain I want to continue with it? Anyone else read it? To the end?

It‘s raining out. I‘ve made my cup of tea and let‘s settle in and get this book read! No distractions. I feel like I‘ve been distracted by other books (and my phone) so I‘m going to focus and finally get this book finished! It‘s a perfect day for it right? ☔️

The library is determined to keep me from finishing The God in the Woods! This came in for me today. (I mean I could probably focus on finishing TGITW before starting this one…we‘ll see!)

A pick but with some “buts”. I loved chapter 6. I loved part III with Eva‘s journal that connected the book nicely for me. But a lot of the times I felt a bit distanced from it. I don‘t know how to express it any better than that.

Just an appreciation post for this bookmark. There are a few more like this and I need to go back and buy all of them. They‘re beautiful 🥰

Currently reading 2 books with moody green covers. Have been noticing the use of green instead of blue that was everywhere a number of years ago.

What did I just read? This wasn‘t for me - I‘m trying to read more Classics this year and this was to be a prequel to Jane Eyre. Here‘s to hoping my reading experience is vastly different for Jane Eyre than it was for Wide Sargasso Sea.

Alright. Mixed reviews for this one. But I love Liz Moore so I‘m jumping into this one. Another one where I‘m thrilled the publisher spent time on the insides of the book.

I quite enjoyed this one!! Now the well-worn saga of “what do I read next??” The first book choice of the year is so important!

I do love when publishers make a great effort like this for books. Every chapter, section, quotes like this have received nice attention. It makes for an enjoyable reading experience for sure.

This is a stack of Classics I hope to get to in 2025. To work one in a month. I have plenty more sitting on my kobo too.

I‘ve been thinking about how to start my 2025 reading. I‘m thinking of starting with one of these stacked books (in my new book cart my daughter gave me for Christmas!). Under it are Classics that I‘m going to try and work on to my reading each month.

I started this one on Christmas Day because I was close to finishing the Fredrik Backman and I was feeling the tears were going to start pouring, so I quickly reached for this one so I wouldn‘t be breaking down in front of my family. 😚 So far it‘s been good.

Oh Fredrik Backman. How I love you. At first I wasn‘t liking the fairy tale pieces to this one, felt it convoluted the story too much then he did what he was always does - he reveals the connections and the reasons and I was left with many tears while finishing. Loved it.

I‘m hoping Backman gives me all the greatness I need to finish out my reading year with an excellent read!

It was just a pick. I read a review on Goodreads that said this series has lost its charm, and I think that‘s a pretty spot on analysis. While I appreciated the humour in this one, I did not appreciate the repetition and the long and weak drawn out plot. 😕

Another quick read from the library. So far I‘m quite liking it.

Beautiful writing. Lovely story. But I grew a little weary of the linguistic gymnastics. What may take a sentence or two was always described in a page or two. Overall 3.5 stars. It was a very lovely story with beautiful writing. I just grew anxious for the end. 😘

Oh!! ❤️❤️ This book is BRAND NEW from the library! I am the first person to crack it open! That makes me so happy!

Well Louise Penny will need to be put on hold. Library holds showed up. I only have 7 days to read Time of the Child so I have to hurry on to that one. My Favourite Terrible Thing is for our book club and I couldn‘t resist a new John Banville.

Finally finished an absolutely all consuming work project that‘s consumed my life for the better part of the last 6-8 months. I have saved my new Louise Penny to settle down with, calm my mind, cozy up to and enjoy as we barrel into the last month of 2024 😮

Let‘s say 3.75 stars. It‘s pretty classic Hawkins - you‘re disoriented to what is happening, who is the good one, who is the bad one, how it will play out. But I think for me it was a bit lacklustre in its ending. Pretty good but maybe just that - good. 👍

My current book. Wowie this has low ratings on Goodreads, we‘ll see how this goes for me.

A really great bunch of stories!

This is so far proving to be more of a read that I can get into. 😚

I didn‘t connect with the style of writing and not with the characters. I truly didn‘t. Unfortunate but not all can be 5-star reads. 🤷🏻‍♀️

While I‘m ripping through The Bee Sting at a pretty good clip, I own that one and the library is only giving me 7 days to read this one, Moon Road. 🇨🇦

Going to jump in! This has been waiting for me for so long, my Hoarder partner bought it for my birthday last year. Look at those end papers! It was meant to be that I reached for this book - Fall is almost here and these leaves give me that happy mood. 🍂

I knew it was going to be very hard to follow up after the epic The Eighth Life. This one also had a very different and clipped style of writing. It was good, but yeah, any book following an incredibly written saga was going to just be “okay” for me.

I‘ve decided on this one. It‘s been on my shelf for years and years now.

5 🌟 My Kobo says I spent 27.4 hours reading this epic masterpiece. Chock full of history and many generations of family saga - it‘s definitely my kind of book!! Gorgeous writing and impeccable translation. It took me just days shy of one month to read it. A worthwhile amount of time spent for sure. Of course now what do I read next??

Next up!

Adored it. Loved it. Very sad I‘m done reading it.

I am loving this book so very much

3.5 🌟

I find myself reading two books with whale in the title and their story of washing up on shore happening in the background. Whale Fall has a very different writing style - spare, straightforward and clipped sentences. Where The Whalebone Theatre is very lyrical and descriptive. Whale Fall just arrived from@the library today. While its writing style is a big change from what I was reading I am interested in its story so far!

My reading for the weekend. Happy Mother‘s Day to all of you celebrating this weekend too!

Absolutely fabulous and fantastic. I‘m finished - now what do I do? 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Not enough stars for this one.

Book friends are best friends 🥰 This was a fun gift given to me by my Literary Hoarder partner. Her daughter said it‘s perfect- I could measure with it, stencil, mark my place in a book with it. 🤣

Requested a cleanse from reading Little Cruelties and this was recommended.

I did not enjoy this book. No character had any redeeming qualities and I was left wondering what the point/purpose was overall. At first I thought Nugent‘s writing of a narcissistic mother and sibling rivalry was on point but it became unbearable as everyone was awful about everything and to each other. It sits in my donation box ready to leave my house.

Started this one on the weekend. Sarcastic, sibling rivalry is on point as is a narcissistic mother. I‘m interested to see where this is going.

#ShadowGiller2024 @Lindy

Lovely literary mystery with just the right amount of cozy. A touch too long in my opinion but the writing was great.

These two I did buy though! And yes, those in slightly stickers came off cleanly!! Whew!

I‘m the first person to crack open this library book, it‘s almost like I bought it myself 🥰🥰

Two on the go now!

Fantastic. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Can‘t wait to dive into The Bone Tree, the next in the series

I wanted to read something completely different over what I‘ve been reading lately and this was a good price for my Kobo and has very high ratings.

The Diamond Eye was great! I stayed up later than usual to finish. 🌟🌟🌟🌟The Ordinary Failings book wasn‘t so great for me. I‘d be surprised if it made the shortlist of the Women‘s Prize. Or disappointed over surprised. I gave it 2.5 stars. The ending improved it for me. Then I read Western Lane. It was better over Ordinary Failings - a decent story about grief. That‘s a 3 star for me and again, surprised if it makes the shortlist.