I‘m a little more than 50 pages into Fourth Wing, which hails at 541 pages. I like the characters and story well enough, I guess, but I think it could have been more tightly written and could move at a much quicker pace. On page 58, the story is still focused on the morning when Violet Sorrengail is conscripted into Riders School. Really??!! Let‘s get this story moving! Yeah, everyone‘s scared. Move on!

Of course, I'll be using a dragon bookmark wit this new read! 😁😆

I usually don't pick up books that are on the bestseller lists. I normally read indie authors and those who are considered to be mid-list authors. But this book jumped off the table near the door of the local Barnes and Noble and into my hands. What was I to do?? I broke down and bought it along with a few others to the tune of almost $75. 🙄😳😆 Ya can't let me lose in a bookstore. 😁🤣

I read this book about two weeks ago and loved it. I'll read it again within the next few months. I'm currently reading Rising Strong, also by Brene Brown. 💕😍

Thanks so much to @TheBookHippie for the great #LLSS package. I read Reichl's memoir, Save Me the Plums and look forward to reading her novel. I also look forward to reading the other books from authors I haven't read before. I love the bookmark; I can always use more as I usually have several books going at once.

#litsylove

I think this is my package from @TheBookHippie for the #LLSS exchange.

Thanks so much.

@Bookgoil @Deblovestoread

My #Litsylovesummerswap package went out today to @TheBookHippie. It should arrive on Thursday.

#LLSS #Litsylove @Bookgoil @Deblovestoread

I've received such awesome cards and goodies from the great Littens who participated in #summersolstice. Thank you, guys. The cards brightened my day when I received them.

#litsolace

To Catch a Spy by James M. Olson is my #DoubleSpin (#6) for June. I have no idea where The Vegas Flop, the book for my #BookSpin (#17), is located. Although the title is familiar... 🤔

Talk about an overwhelming TBR. 😅🤣😆

@TheAromaofBooks

Thanks to @KadaGul for her #litsolace card and goodies.

My cards will go out soon.

@TheBookHippie

My name is Abby Huxford, and in my twenty-nine years I've broken one hundred and seventeen bones.

Last I Saw Him by Arthur Herbert

#FirstLineFridays #litsylove @ShyBookOwl

I'm a bit late, but I just began the tagged book. The author writes about her time as an ambassador's wife in Madrid during Barack Obama's presidency.

#FoodandLit2024 @Catsandbooks @Texreader
##litsylove

In the movie Jerry Maguire, Tom Cruise plays a recently fired, now-freelance sports agent whose success mantra becomes "Show me the money!"

#FirstLineFridays #litsylove @ShyBookOwl

✔️ My indie author friend has started writing his third book
✔️ I am gradually pulling out of a reading slump
✔️ I've scheduled a lunch date with a woman friend next week
✔️ I've written a poem this week
✔️ I plan to join a writing group soon

@debinhawaii
#fivejoysfriday
#litsylove

#wondrouswednesday ##litsylove

@eggs

1. Shortly after I started fifth grade, I went to the library with the reading list the teacher had handed out. Mr. Gesler, the librarian in the children's section, asked if he could help, so I said I needed a book to read and handed him the list. He asked what the checkmarks next to all the books on the list meant. I said that they were the books I had already read. ⬇️

1. I don't often go on picnics, but I'd take either hard-boiled eggs, deviled eggs, or an egg salad sandwich. Homemade iced tea to drink.

2. The tagged book 📖

@TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday #litsylove @TheAromaofBooks @Andrew65

I read about one-third of Out With the Tide (#18) and set it down. Meh. I may pick it up again in the near future. I'm about to start The Third Chapter (#4).

I've also read Nick of Time by Cathi Stoler. I'm also part way through Out of Time by the same author.

##litsylove #bookspin ##Doublespin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks @andrew65 #awesomeapril

1. I used to play the flute when I was much younger

2. Tagged book

#Two4Tuesday #LitsyLove
@TheSpineView
@DaveGreen7777

"Again?" Rob Crosley mumbled as he made his way down the steps to the beach.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

My May 2024 #BookspinBingo #Bookspin #Doublespin

I've started reading Out With the Tide and look forward to reviewing it on my blog.

The Third Chapter (I'll fix my bingo card 😆) will be a reread for me. I read it several years ago.

@TheAromaofBooks

I* Daffodils
II* The Sound of Paper
III* Visit a few state parks

@Eggs
#WondrousWendesday

My May #Bookspin list.

@TheAromaofBooks

I'm reading Winter Tales II: Women on the Art of Aging. So, I'll continue with that book and also continue Find Out Anything From Anyone, Anytime by James O. Pyle & Maryann Karinch and Go Luck Yourself by Andy Nairn. I'll also start The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud.

@Andrew65 #AwesomeApril

I've never met any authors in person. But I'm friends and talk on the phone with Garrett James, a new indie author whose books I have blurbed here on Litsy recently.

I'd love to meet Neil Gaiman. I own a few of his books, but they're still residing in my humongous TBR piles. Yeah, that's piles with an s.

I wish I could have met Nathaniel Hawthorne and Robert Louis Stevenson.

#sundayfunday @BookmarkTavern @DaveGreen7777 @wanderinglynn

1. Small town, or maybe suburbs
2. Tagged book

@TheSpineView @Andrew65 @Cinfhen

A love story with appeal to both sexes. As Long as I Breathe is such a story. James highlights characters that men and women can enjoy and see themselves in that situation. Steph Morgan is caught in an abusive relationship. Even so, she shows herself to be strong and capable as a single mom. Mason Cain seems to be what the outside world sees—a tough, tattooed ex-con. What will they go through as the jealous boyfriend goes haywire? (Some sex)

Want to read a great love story? Or give it as a gift to your significant other? Only Twice by Garrett James will fill that bill nicely.

This delightful ode to love highlights one man's life and how the simple act of telling one's story can change another person's life. The common outlook is that true love only happens once in a person's life. But is that really true? Only Twice will convince you otherwise.

Although I've read this poetry collection in the past, I've taken it off the shelf again. I'm still as enthusiastic as ever about this poet's insight and skill. After I finish this collection, I'll re-read her other collection, A Hinge of Joy. Fabulous, succinct poems.

Thank you to the folks at #athingaday for the nice and unexpected gifts. The package came two days ago. I love the pad, and I can always use more bookmarks because I usually have a lot of books going at once. 😁 😎

#gifts #package #thankyou

1. My book reviews on my blog, janecairns.com, are coming along well

2. I'd love to meet a few of the authors whose books I have reviewed. I'd ask them when they knew they wanted to be a writer and which authors they like to read.

3. I love to read indie authors and write about their books on my blog - to spread the word about their work. The tagged book is an excellent example of a great indie author.

@Eggs @Andrew65 @CoffeeandaGoodBook

Loved this one. A novel of connected short stories about James Leipfold, private investigator. The stories deal with his somewhat younger years and how he became an investigator, and how he met Detective Inspector Jack Cholmondeley. Nicely done.

#mysteries #privateinvestigator

This is a new author for me. This is the first book in his Leipfold Mystery series. I'm enjoying it so far. Reading this for #serieslove23 and #MarvelousMarch

@Andrew65 @DieAReader @TheSpineView

Great first book in the Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne series. Fergusson is the priest of St. Alban's in an upstate New York town. Van Alstyne is the police chief. They team up to solve the mystery surrounding a newborn boy left at the church. Murder soon follows. As does a blossoming illicit romance between Fergusson and Van Alstyne (he's married).

I'll read more in this series.

@Andrew65 @TheSpineView #FabulousFebruary #SeriesLove2023

Thanks for the Valentine's Day card. @dabbe 💝 It really made my day. 😀

#Valentines

Great second book in the Wexford/Sloane mystery series. A strong historical mystery set in Regency London. Lord Wexford and Charlotte Sloane make a formidable, evenly matched pair. Friends of Raven and Hawk (Charlotte's wards) are a troupe of streetwise urchins who help gather information, similar to Holmes' Baker Street Irregulars.

Good characterization of both primary and secondary characters.

@Andrew65 #FabulousFebruary #SeriesLove2023

Great opener to Tom Fowler's series about CT Ferguson. CT is home from Hong Kong, where he worked as a hacker to help people emigrate from China surreptitiously.

His parents insist he do something to help people. He thinks he can be a detective based on his skills. Alice Fisher calls and CT is on his way.

Good characterization. I'll read more, including the prequel novella about CT's time in Hong Kong.

#serieslove2023 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView

Hey @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks, if you need a helping hand with book reviews for the #LitsyLove newsletter, I can chip in a review now and then, whenever you need it.

(Do you think I can find your email?! Lost in space, I guess.) 🤣😁

I finished The Drums of War by Michael Ward a few days ago. This is the third book in his Thomas Tallant series. It's a great book for lovers of historical fiction that's mixed with a little romance and a bit of mystery.

This series just keeps getting better.

#readathon #joyousjanuary #serieslove2023
@Andrew65 @TheSpineView @TheBookHippie

So sorry, @cinfhen, I need to back out of participating in #muglove23. Hopefully, I can join the action at the next mug swap. 🥺

My first foray in #serieslove2023 - the first book in the Philo Vance series. I'm only a few pages into it; so, we'll see. 👀

@Andrew65 @TheSpineView

Congratulations, @wanderinglynn, and Happy Birthday.

I'd love to receive Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.

#300KBirthdayGiveaway

For the #WinterreadathonDailyChallenge @Andrew65 happened to post a photo of one of my favorite chocolate candies - M&Ms. I also love Cello chocolate-covered cherries (covered in dark chocolate, of course 😁). And almost anything chocolate from Bomboy's on Market St. in Havre de Grace, MD.

#Winterreadathon

Can't wait for spring and summer to arrive. Usually, I don't mind the cold weather too much. But not this year, I guess I'm getting older. 🤣🤪

#winterreadathon #WinterReadathonDailyChallenge
@Andrew65 @GHABI4ROSES

Here's a collage of some of our Christmas 🎄 decorations. #WinterReadathonDailyChallenge

I'm reading the tagged book for the #WinterReadathon

@Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES

Even though I love reading, I sometimes feel my brain is turning into mush. So, I decided to try and learn another language.

I took a few semesters of Spanish classes while in college and French in high school a bazillion years ago. I may try to refresh my memory 😅 and relearn them again in the future.

#winterreadathon @Andrew65

I'm chugging along reading this book for the #Winterreadathon . Interesting insights, but there's quite a bit about age discrimination in the workplace. While I agree with what's being said, I'm already retired (due to caregiver responsibilities) and don't want to go back to work full-time. Still, interesting stuff. As someone who's older and looking to work, I'm more interested in the gig economy (I do mystery shopping sometimes).

@Andrew65

Great book for those of us who are part of an older generation. (Including me 😁)

Even better, possibly, for those who may want to see what's in store for them.

In fact, the global population is trending older because of slowing birth rates worldwide.

Not everyone who is long-lived is a fuddyduddy.

#winterreadathon @Andrew65

Not exactly candles, but lit wreaths on the light poles, looking down the street towards St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Easton, MD.

Not exactly a craft, but I took this picture that I have on my calendar.

Haven't been to Maryland's Eastern Shore in several years, now. Wish I could go again. Maybe someday soon.

#winterreadaton #winterreadathondailychallenge
@Andrew65 @GHABI4ROSES @DieAReader

Four murders in a few months, all from the same software development company. Could it have anything to do with the software being developed for the National Security Agency?

The suspense starts early and ramps up. Characters are well drawn, and the sleuths become a tight-knit group by the end.

Although this is fiction, the premise is true to life. Remember Edward Snowden??!

@Andrew65 #winterreadathon @GHABI4ROSES @DieAReader #mystery

Read several more stories in this doorstop of a book plus a few magazines for last weekend's #20in4 #readathon. Still not finished yet! I'll keep plugging along reading a story or two here and there between my other book and magazine reads.

@Andrew65