Anne is in this title so little. It's good but I miss her.

Reading this series with my preteen has us in varying agreement. I'm relating so much to Anne as an adult, while my daughter enjoyed the earlier books in the series more. In Anne Of Ingleside I found myself reflected in being on the visited end of long staying guests and their unwelcomed behaviors.

Love, loss, friendship, and so many heartfelt moments I can relate to.

Written mostly as a one sided epistolary, readers get a glimpse of life for Anne during the three years she spends at Windy Poplars while she's the principal at the school as she writes to Gilbert who is away studying to be a doctor.

"... Sometimes I feel as if being grown-up just frightened me and then I would give anything to be a little girl again." page 3

Such a different time in the world, I can't imagine being in charge of a classroom at 17.

Fixed our Wednesday/Thursday forecast. #LibraryFan

Listen to the newest podcast episode of Maggie's Book Bites!

In this episode, Maggie was joined by Sarah to discuss non-fiction books, the first of two non-fiction episodes for 2025. Listen on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Google, Amazon, and Stitcher.

nar·cis·sist /ˈnärsəsəst/
noun
a person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of themselves.

gas·light /ˈɡasˌlīt/
verb
manipulate (someone) using psychological methods into questioning their own sanity or powers of reasoning.

Do not read this book if either are triggers. What an awful man from beginning to end. The ripple affects of his manipulation spread through the generations and surely would have continued had they not all died.

I very much enjoyed diving back into this book and intend to read the whole series this year, something I have never done before. Although this wasn't my first time through the first book, I never noticed how rushed the ending felt compared to the rest of the book.

A few years ago a simple conversation over a shared favorite author became a 6/year book club and I couldn't be more thankful for the deep friendships and community we have built. I got to host last night and my Forever Friends were over for 5 hours, leaving at 11pm. I know it's different for business and library book clubs, but for those that meet in homes how long do your discussions last? (P.S. this includes a carry-in supper)

January 2025
Host of Maggie's Book Bites Podcast
Goodreads.com/MaggieCarr
#2025SpineStack
#MaggiesSpineStacks
#StorygraphStats

I've had Storygraph since it was in beta but didn't want to long my books in, yet, another place. However seeing so many friends share their graphs with end of year stats really convinced me. I've claimed to be a varied reader for a long time, I really struggle with world building fantasy that has a new language and with psychological thrillers, but other than that I read most anything. I was fascinated with my fiction to non-fiction stats!

Absolutely fascinating to learn additional medical history from a female trailblazing (and often times ridiculed) account of so many remarkable women medical staff, some patients, and the family and societies that surrounded them.

Reread (2012, 2025)
I love all the Forever Friends, but Katie is my favorite. She grows up so much in this, her own series, while also remaining her authentic self.

A fascinating book. I applaud the author for trying so diligently trying to give credit where credit was due.

Not my first WKK book and likely won't be my last but I do think editing wasn't a priority for this, and as a reader of history, and random knowledge that sticks in my head some parts of the story simply don't work for a 1958 setting. For me, that overshadowed the story and consumed my thoughts, unfortunately. This book gave me Beartown (Backman) & The Lost Man (Harper) vibes but in an American setting instead of Sweden & Australia respectively.

Snippets of stories, centered around music and movies sharing an invitation to keep Christ the center of the holiday season.

Happy #LibraryShelfieDay from my growing home library. I am fortunate to surround myself with books as a hobby and as a career. 2025 will continue to be a reading year of becoming a better human being thanks to the perspectives I can read from, the places and cultures found in books, and the lessons we can learn and grow from. Read more about Library Shelfie Day on National Day Calendar's website.

Definitely not my favorite narrative history, I'm not sure that I liked the alternating chapters. I think I would have preferred two different books- one about the Chicago World's Fair and another about the murders. I get that they tie together in settings and influx of victims but I think they could have stood alone. Anyway, I'll definitely look at the area of Chicago differently the next time I visit The Museum of Science & Industry.

Not at all what I was expecting. Some lines really stood out, but I'd be guessing as to if I understood the real context or not.

While it isn't completely necessary to do so, it was helpful to reread The Scarlet Letter (Daniel Hawthorn) in reminding me of the cadence of that story to see the direct parallels in the true crime that inspired it. This book is written with a non-biased journalistic perspective of the author Catharine Read Arnold Williams telling of the case & trial surrounding the death of Sarah Maria Cornell.

Aside from feeling like I've read a rough version of this storyline before a few times (city hospitality finding the enjoy a family run establishment better while falling for one of the owners), I really did enjoy this one. As a closed door romance it was nice to read without pages and pages of descriptive intimate scenes throughout. The side characters are equally as lovely- hope they each get their own stories in the series as well.

Maybe it's just because I'm older, and wiser or see red flags more clearly due to my varied reading genres but the complexity of this story and all the symbolism will stick with me way more now than it did at 16. I'm eager to jump into the new true crime title that spurred on my desire to reread The Scarlet Letter. Up next:

"The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne By Kate Winkler Dawson"

I had already watched the movie before reading the book so there were no surprises but I loved the Deaf & hard of hearing representation included in this middle grade sports book.

Absolutely fascinating and the author helps readers by translating so much into a digestable information and context. The recipes are quite intriguing!

Photocopied the spines of the 158 books I read in 2024. On to 2025!

#2024SpineStack #SpineYear #MaggiesSpineStacks

December 2024
Host of Maggie's Book Bites Podcast
Goodreads.com/MaggieCarr
#2024SpineStack
#MaggiesSpineStacks

I've followed Erynn online for years and knew of her Mom's cancer returning and being called home to heaven. I was excited for a new book but once I saw the theme was centered around grief I just knew it would be authentic and heartfelt. It was just that. With a few funny moments mixed in, this book is a grief journey that reflects so much truth and questioning we find ourselves doing as Christians when we lose loved ones. Well done, Erynn.

So much truth and to know how flawed our judicial system still is is sickening. We can do better as a country.

Ending the year with bronchitis wasn't in the calendar but finishing book 156 while waiting for chest X-rays is how it went. Here's to a healthier reading year ahead.

I purposely took my time reading this book because I didn't want to be caught up on my RJG books again. I savored each chapter and I marked the heck out of my copy. Loved the Easter Eggs of a blue-eye teenage dream of her future husband (a nod to Todd, obviously, of the Christy Miller series-es) and at the end a mention of Shawna and I squealed out loud knowing it has to be the same Shawna (confirmed a few pages later) sigh, these connections...

Michael read the Drunken Mary Kay Lady story out loud to a room of (mostly) female librarians a few years back and it was my first exposure to his humor and sarcasm. I'm now three books in and keep recounting his stories to anyone who will listen to be- though I don't nearly do them justice. Can we have a do-over meeting, Michael? Share a shot and work on our bucket-list making together?

Some good advice, I'm just not the intended demographic for readership, though.

Blake is a billionaire that finds out he has a 4yr old deaf daughter (Maisy) and welcomes her without hesitation when he learns of her and that her mother has gone to rehab. There is instant attraction to Ellie (also Deaf) who ends up being his daughter's advocate leads to an open door romance. Ellie has visits and together they start learning sign language and helping Maisy adjust to her new environment and learn to communicate, something she...

I am so, so grateful for the friends that take me as I am these days.

😭❤️

In a quest to understand the human mind, Brene Brown and her team ask the hard questions. I'm captivated to see the parallels in myself and I had never noticed before about some behaviors I gravitate towards- especially regarding seeking closeness by over sharing and finding common a common foe. I need to do better. I also read the Sandy Hook section the day after yet another school schooling (time time in Wisconsin) and find myself grappling...

This one is hits close to home with navigating mental health.

Second Michael P. Branch and now I have a comparison - it's like a High Elevation Nevada setting similar to Mike Rowe. Does that make sense? Like, each chapter is separate but together they string an ongoing daily life narrative similar to a biography but also packed full of things you've never wondered about. I found the flatulence section quite intriguing and tried to read it out loud to my family. They weren't nearly as impressed as I.

I grew up with Rebecca St. James music and now my kids are huge For King and Country fans. This book overlaps a lot with the recent movie highlighting the Smallbone matriarch in their transition from Australia to America, but has lots of other reflections and words of wisdom from the mom of 7.

On par with Alan Gratz' Ban This Book comes a fictionalized yet based on a true story of the author's experience of book censorship at her school. In this book the town also has strong options of dress codes, candy, and pizza delivery among other things. Themes of parental mental health are also worth mentioning.

This book was refined and recorded some 50 years after originally being written. Listening to it is very emotional, within such a short story you come to understand each and every character and their motivations. It takes a wonderful writer to transport readers like that.

A wonderful follow-up to The Swedish Art of Death Cleaning. A small portion of overlap in content but purposely placed among stories of her past, worries over the pandemic (written in the thick of C-19), and the realities of being 86 with some medical scares but otherwise healthy. This series is motivating to readers of all ages.

I will read anything Ann Clare LeZotte writes; this one is a modern story. Her Martha's Vineyard trilogy left me feeling so educated as a reader. I'm not obtuse to what it's like for deaf children to be born to hearing parents who don't desire to learn sign language. This book, written in verse gave me Matilda vibes (minus the magic).

Really good, just felt like I had already read it because it was so similar to Hatchet but in a different setting. The end is wide open for a follow up- wonder if that was the intent but Mr. Paulsen died before it happened.

Not what I was expecting (a mermaid graphic novel). Owell.

Short stories with a running narrative that gives voice to the places I've visited but from the perspective of being local instead of just passing through. Naming their first daughter may have been my favorite in this book.

Couldn't find title but these were all cute short stories.