1. The Secret Room by Jane Casey. Don‘t read it if you haven‘t read the whole series! I love this crime novel series.

2. Zeal by Morgan Jerkins. I‘m tried to get to it in May so I‘m moving it to the top of my stack for June.

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

Catching up in the Karen Pirie series, which I really enjoy. This one finds Karen and her team trying to investigate a case during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns. It has a book with a book element too. You can‘t ever tell how everything is going to come together in the end, which works for me in a crime novel.

I finished five books over Memorial Day weekend (all but one I had already started and was in various stages of completion before Friday). But #JumpStartSummer gave me an excuse to buckle down and finish them! All of these were good in different ways. And I still have a big stack of books to get me though early summer!

I‘ve had this on my TBR for a while after reading Dear Committee Members a few years ago. This is satire but still familiar to anyone who has worked in higher ed or who has traveled with a group. I really enjoyed it! The MC is just a grumpy as before but he becomes more endearing as this one goes on. #JumpStartSummer

Kate Moore does a great job with women‘s history that isn‘t as known as it should be. Her narrative style reads very easily, even as the subject matter makes you madder and madder. It‘s hard on one hand to believe that women could be declared insane just for want to be learn, speaking her own mind, or even reading. I was really impressed by Elizabeth Packard‘s determination in her fight against injustice. Spoiler below. #SheSaid

This was a melancholy romance about a woman who completes her influencer sister‘s bucket list after the sister dies. She‘s motivated to do this because a sponsor promises to pay off the family‘s medical debts. Despite that set up, it‘s pretty sweet and the MC is a character you root for as she figures out how to make this all work. I‘d never read this author before, but she did a good job balancing all this. #JumpStartSummer

I really enjoy Dolen Perkins-Valdez‘s work. I loved her previous book so this one had to meet high expectations. She does a great job balancing the dual timelines and timing it so that it spools out the narrative just right. It was especially interesting to read this one since it is based on a true story in my home state. #JumpStartSummer

Today my work started out half day Friday summer schedule. I look forward to this all year. This weekend I want to #JumpStartSummer by making a start on my summer reading TBR. I want to finish Happy Land and start at least one other of this stack.

I love this series so much. Jane Casey has done a great job building an ongoing storyline for her main characters and weaving it into cases that keep the reader guessing. I was honestly not sure how either thread was going to resolve. You definitely need to start at the beginning with this series because you‘d miss a lot jumping in randomly.

This was my #BookSpin for May

We would all be in trouble. I keep thinking about this passage from this month‘s #SheSaid book.

I‘m excited to read my #BookSpin for this month. The Maeve Kerrigan books are my favorite series that‘s still active. This one just came out, and the only downside is having to wait a year for the next one.

I‘ve already knocked out my #DoubleSpin for May. I watched this show on Netflix and wanted to see how the book was. It was pretty different from the show, with a lot of changes to the storyline. But it was a quick read and the characters were still interesting even though they were changed for TV.

Ten books finished in April. I didn‘t quite make a bingo, but it was still a good reading month. My favorites were the new Finlay Donovan and The Bright Side Running Club.

In mid-May I start having half-day Fridays for the summer, so I hope that means I have more time to read. Here‘s my #BookSpinBingo list for the month.

I read this for a reading challenge prompt and was afraid it would be too sad but ultimately it was uplifting and affirming of friendship. I hadn‘t read this author before. The story was inspired by her own experience and was similar to Sophie Cousens in that it was a light read with some depth.

This book got on my radar bc it was Amazon‘s book of the year. I think the story is award worthy but it wasn‘t as engaging as I‘d hoped. I wanted more about the players and less football play by play. It‘s still worth reading!

This was my #BookSpin for April

I finally got a chance to read the latest Finlay book and it did not disappoint. I love all these characters and the fun ways they keep getting involved with crimes. This one brings in Mrs. Haggerty, the nosey neighbor, even more. Can‘t wait for the next one.

I‘m always interested in learning more about women who haven‘t gotten as much attention in the history books. One of The Six was Sally Ride and one was Judy Resnik, but the others are lesser known (at least to me). Astronauts are so interesting to me, but I have no desire to leave Earth! It was somewhat melancholy reading this after reading Challenger.

March recap: 14 books finished & two bingos. 9 fiction, 5 nonfiction. My top choices for the month were The Favorites and Challenger. I wanted to read more nonfiction last month and I did!

I‘m still reading my last March book, but now I‘ll be ready for April. I always say I can‘t believe it‘s another month already, but Spring is definitely here in North Carolina. Everything is covered in pollen.

If you love figure skating, villains, intense competition, and couples who are both terrible and perfect for each other, you‘ll love this book. I tore through it in just a couple of days. I‘m actually surprised by how much I loved it since I hate its inspiration, Wuthering Heights. Even though that classic doesn‘t work for me, this modern take and the nods to the original were really fun.

Switching to fiction now that my hold for this anticipated read came in from the library. A little March Madness in the background

This was pretty interesting if a tiny bit long. I realized about halfway through that I‘d heard about this when it was in the news several years ago. My main thought though was why any of these women put up with “Ethan” at all.

A picture from Elle Cosimano‘s event tonight at my favorite indie bookstore, Quail Ridge Books. Let me tell you, she wants you to sign up for her newsletter.

I had fun at Quail Ridge Books listening to Elle Cosimano talk about the Findlay Donovan series. She was in conversation with author Esme Addison so I bought both books! Happy to attend with @OriginalCyn620

Both of my #BookSpin picks are finished! They were interesting and I learned a lot from both. I love to read nonfiction but now I need to finish some fast-paced novels!

I love reading about notable women whose accomplishments are not as well known now. If you‘re looking to read about a mafia trial this is not that — that case is only a small part of the book. The rest of it is about a Black woman who became an attorney when that was rare and it covers her full life. It‘s by her grandson but he doesn‘t lionize her; her flaws are on view. It also has an added element of family lore vs public record.

Weekend reading! I‘ve heard so many great reviews of this one. It‘s a mystery set in the the tech industry but I‘ve been assured that the tech stuff isn‘t too much for an average reader.

I‘ve really enjoyed all the books I‘ve read by Gillian McAllister bc she always does something a little different. This one was enjoyable, with an opening mystery that kept me guessing. It‘s more of a relationship drama than a thriller, especially after the first section. I think it‘s more enjoyable if you go in with that expectation.

This was an incredibly thorough look at what led up to the Challenger space shuttle disaster. The author starts all the way back in the beginning of the space race to show how systemic failures, political maneuvers, and human hubris, led to the dangers being ignored. Some of the science/engineering vocabulary was a bit beyond me. But I really appreciated how much he humanized the people involved, especially the astronauts and their families.

I said I needed to read more nonfiction this month so my #BookSpin picks are trying to encourage me. Both of these sound so interesting.

I expected to really relate to the MC here but I didn‘t like her much. It may be that the book was too much in her head. She was way too involved with her kids. I understand it was partly about having to let go and find your role once your kids were grown, but it didn‘t fully work for me.

This was like the tragic version of Rob Lowe‘s Stories I Only Tell My Friends. A lot of his stories feature famous family and neighbors. Some of his stories had me thinking, why would you tell that? But others were engaging. The long chapter about his sister‘s murder and the court case that followed held my interest the most. They didn‘t get the justice they deserved.

Most of the lead characters in this novel are terrible people and I wanted to throw them all over a cliff at different points. But of course I knew what I was getting into after the first book, and I still wanted to see where these authors were taking us. Only a pick if you like reading about terrible people and people who make dumb decisions. Apparently I do.

This was my #jolabokaflod gift from @LeslieO and I finally got to finish it. I started it on Christmas Eve but didn‘t get far, but when I restarted it in February I finished quickly. I ended up loving Anna and Will plus the premise of the book made it fun getting where the author was leading. I‘ve enjoyed all the Sophie Cousens books I‘ve read so far. She‘s become a real favorite.

My February #BookSpinBingo card. 12 books finished, one bingo. Only 2 nonfiction this time, including my BookSpin pick Somebody‘s Daughter, which was excellent.

Here‘s my #BookSpin list for March. There are a couple here that I‘m really looking forward to!

I had fun meeting JoJo Moyes last night at Quail Ridge Books. She was so funny! This was one of the only stops on her US book tour. I also like the sign in the mantle behind us.

I finished both my #BookSpin picks this weekend. Somebody‘s Daughter was excellent. Ashley C. Ford writes about trauma and a challenging childhood with skill, honesty, and a lot of empathy. It would be easy for her to have written this from a place of anger but she made a different choice.

Still Life was another enjoyable installment in the Karen Pirie series. It‘s so interesting how all the story threads come together.

Thanks to library holds I‘m finally getting to read some of last year‘s top books. This one was maybe a bit over complicated but definitely worthy of the hype. At first I struggled a little because there were so many characters to keep up with and two timelines, but it all came together well. I liked that almost all of the POV characters were women, especially Judyta and Louise.

My picks for this month‘s #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin. I‘m going to be listening to the audiobook of Somebody‘s Daughter. I hope everyone has a great reading month.

Here‘s my #BookSpinBingo card from January. I got one bingo, read 13 books, and finished both my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin. The ones I enjoyed most were Don‘t Forget to Write, Five-Star Weekend, and What You are Looking for is in the Library. I also really recommend Sing Sing Files, which was not fun at all but an important nonfiction look at wrongful imprisonment.

Overall a great reading month.

I really enjoyed this book. It‘s a set of interconnected short stories about different people who are struggling when they find their way to a small library in a community center. There they are connected with books that inspire change. I read this for the #PS2025 Healing Fiction prompt. I hadn‘t heard of that genre but will definitely read more of it.

Here‘s what I‘m thinking for February #BookSpin but I might tweak it before our numbers come out. Hoping for a distracting month of reading.

I was able to finish six #AuldLangSpine books from @Jerdencon this month. I enjoyed all of them. Except for The Five Star Weekend they were all historical fiction. I enjoyed these glimpses of different lives! I will keep reading off your list this year.

Thanks to @monalyisha for hosting and coordinating this fun swap every year. This is my favorite Litsy activity! I think about what I‘m going to out on my list all year.

Another good book from the #AuldLangSpine list I got from @Jerdencon this year. I always like stories about women making their way against the grain, which is what happens in this story of life for a young widow after World War II. She gets a job working in radio, and it deals with some of the issues of the time period that I hadn‘t read about in historical fiction before.

I read this thriller about “black bag” PR, which means trying to hide/overwhelm/manage negative image problems, in this case in Hollywood. This is what is alleged to have happened in the Blake Lively/Justin Baldoni situation. But in this book there‘s also murder. Overall, I enjoyed the book but the pacing was a little off and the way the 14-year-old girl character was written was not believable. Even for a jaded Hollywood teenager.

Another #AuldLangSpine winner from @Jerdencon I hadn‘t read this author before. I enjoyed how she mixed her characters on with real life celebrities in this story of life in the French Riviera before World War II came to France.

I never read a book jacket so I thought this was just going to be about Marion defying expectations by becoming a dancer. Turns out there‘s a whole other plot based on a real life bombing case. All of this was entertaining to read. My one issue was the father character was such an overbearing jerk and I think the main character was too understanding of him. I will put another thought in comments. Thanks @Jerdencon for the #AuldLangSpine pick

The cozy mystery set in a cafe or restaurant almost always works for me. This one goes into maybe a little more detail about the cafe offerings than I might need but the mysteries are always good and the cast of characters is usually fun.