How Gladwell weaves together events to explain the human experience amazes me. Here for example we get 1980 LA bank robberies, Palo Alto CA‘s experiment in racial integration, the cheetah monoculture, how Miami became what it is today, the rapid acceptance of gay marriage, the magic third, the superspreaders who play an outsized role in propagating ideas or lies, the Harvard admission process, triplicate prescriptions and the opiate crisis.

A drama of a 29-year-old woman from acoma believing herself to be 16 going on 30 wasn‘t working for me until page 33 when the backstory begins with Drew and Evie alternating chapters between past and present. I was all in and finished before recalling my amateur book-editing talents were needed on those first 33 pages 🤣This story gives me strong Colleen Hoover vibes which is fine for me but realize some have a visceral dislike of CH fiction.

I like the way the story was written in alternating chapters between 1999 and 2023 showing the reader the disappearances vs being told what happened. What makes this a slower pick for me is the 2023 characterization of the MC, Lyndsay. I think the story would have been better had they edited out her angst, made her more likable, and gave the reader fear for her safety.

I really enjoyed reading about how much Hilarie loves her life and the people in her small New York State community. She loves all things witchy from mythology & goddesses, herbs & berries, planets & astrology, poetry and her collection of words is wisdom. She even purchased a haunted house. She seems to live a hygge life and I‘m down for that.

It wasn‘t until I assembled the pics for this grid that I realized what a memoir mood I was in. I chose the tagged for the grid because I believe it to be an important piece of literature.

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

David Karr beautifully captured his thoughts and encouragement of his daughter through his words written to her. …I lost a parent first as a toddler and next at 48. In my 30s I was gifted a book called Motherless Daughters realizing then absolutely every age is the wrong age to lose a parent. …To be 26, following in your beloved father‘s pro footsteps, battling the addiction he knew all too well - argh that had to be tough to move through.

I could feel the insular small rural community on every page of this book when the rest of the world seems so far away and you marry someone because, well, they asked.

Without doubt this is the skinniest BOTM book I‘ve ever purchased, but it was worth every penny. It‘s filled with hope, love, and humor. And yet my tears landed on pages knowing this is only fictional insofar as it‘s written by a successful novelist who wants to retain creative license to her work. 🥰

I read this WWII HF for my IRL bookclub. It was predictable in that the endings for each primary character concluded as expected - and also as I hoped. I liked the characters and enjoyed reading the impact they had on each other. I did think the aftermath of the women surviving bombings was treated a bit too casually especially compared to Grace‘s father, Ben, as a WWI survivor.

I‘m hard-pressed to give a memoir anything less than a pick out of respect for anyone capturing their story in published words, but I had a hard time reading this. Augustine writes with humor the life he led when the adults in his world had absolutely no business being in the company of a minor. I was so mad at the system for allowing a child these experiences that I found no humor here.

I‘m giving this a slow pick because as I think about the atmospheric story now having reached its conclusion, I like and understand why it was told the way it was. But while reading it I kept thinking - the most interesting people are already dead 😵. I didn‘t particularly care about Grace who was alive and well.

For me it‘s simply fun to read or watch Stanley Tucci eat his way through life surrounding himself with people he loves. Ifl he had to spend a week in my house with me as hostess and cook I‘m not sure if he‘d die from absolute boredom from adventure or of bland food starvation. Either way it would be absolute torture for him.🤣

This is my first book by this author chosen solely by the autumn cover. It was a quick and satisfying read about two people falling madly in love, and the required conflict is the speed of said love. This is a standalone book, but the MC has a BFF (as any good HEA must 🤣), and I had a distinct feeling the BFF had a backstory. Checking GR and sure enough last Oct the BFF was the MC of her own story. I‘ll probably read that one, as well.

I didn‘t think I needed to be reminded of how brutal oil companies in its pursuit of profit can be so incredibly cruel to a people and their land, health, and culture, but dang😡 And missionaries aren‘t looking so good either. #NFN

This grid crossed months but my Oct TBR was unreasonable so today is something like Oct 37 for my reading priorities 🤣 Tagged my Favorite which at least works for #NFN.

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

I was over 3/4 through this when I correctly realized an upcoming twist. After that it was wondering how it would go down if and when Clove came to understand the situation. The ending was fine and changed from pure entertainment (as if growing up in domestic violence can ever be fodder for entertainment) to a story with a message.

This book gutted me, and no pun intended - it‘s so well executed it felt like nonfiction. Ansel Parker is on death row with 12 hours to live and no justification to consider him anything less than the murderer he is. Nothing changed my mind about him. But his mother, his wife and her family, those murdered girls who never saw their potential realized - they are unforgettable.

Nov #BookSpin Cat: Needed 90 days for Oct TBR @TheAromaofBooks

This is an entertaining creepy-kid (or is she?) thriller. I‘ll be surprised if this is not the first in a Stella Hudson, best-interest attorney series. It was set up like those old-school network legal shows where there is a situation to resolve with guest characters, but there‘s a separate story of the weekly returning characters we grow to love with this last 5 minutes dedicated in full to them.

you ever listened to the audio of a book and wondered if your experience would have been equally enjoyable in print? That‘s what happened to me here as narrator, John Pirhalla, captured the essence of Frank Szatowski so perfectly. The good of bad intentions of everyone else paled compared to my hope for Frank‘s satisfaction. I googled this narrator and I‘ve only experienced one other of his 400+narrations!

I‘d recommend reading this nonfiction of 10 distinct wrongly convicted cases in segments. It‘s heartbreaking and I have so much gratitude and respect for those passionate to take up the case and do the work fighting for justice of those wrongly accused. I don‘t use the word shame lightly - but those in the legal system who knowingly work to retain wrongly convicted to save their own reputation - shame on them. #NFN

I‘m a mood reader but can‘t believe I stayed on theme for the entire month! My issue is I stacked my Oct TBR all year and need an additional couple months to flatten said TBR so I‘ll just redate tomorrow to Oct 32!

October 2024 #MonthlyWrapUp #indexcard

So this announcement was delivered to my email this morning - a new book with a June 2025 release date. I can‘t wait for one of my auto-read, pre-purchase authors to deliver a new story. I chose the tagged since this was when I discovered her and read her back catalog while waiting on new releases.

This was okay. I spent more time considering the characters guilt or innocence than following the specifics of the story. Daphne‘s story spoke too often about her adult weight gain which I thought was unnecessary and wished had been edited out.

I live in Kansas so have to try Wizard of Oz inspired 📖 even though Kansas typically gets the short end of the where-to-plant-your-feet stick. I expected 11yo Dorothy as the MC. Instead fictional Dr Evelyn Grace Woodford (cousin to the IRL Frank L Baum) rode in from New York to save Dorothy from rural religious Kansans. I get and respect the message, the bastardization of faith - I just wish it wasn‘t with Dorothy, Uncle Henry, and Auntie Em.

The proportion that one month holds to the entirety of my life has become minuscule. I‘m sitting here thinking can I somehow attribute this to climate change, something, anything 🧐 Yes, aging 🤣🥴. Ah well.

November 2024 #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I can‘t be two books into this fun little series and not read the HEA for third Penhallow brother. I also have a soft spot for spot for the grumpy- sunshine trope - reading about how a character is shaped from his past to be the loner he is only to have a bit of sunshine peel away those layers so he can define himself anew. Even if one has to travel to 1957 to get it done.

I was equal parts entertained by this book and entertained by being entertained. How did JG have me root for a lawyer faking his own death leaving wife and child while funneling $90 million (1992 dollars) from his slimy law partners!? Then after 4 years he orchestrates his own arrest. I dunno, but it was good and I didn‘t give thought to this contemporary fiction being 28 years old!

Oct #BookSpin Cat: Author‘s Canon

I feel good about this grid because I know some of these would remain buried on my TBR had I not read them this month. I chuckle because my tagged favorite was a book I originally bailed.

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

I thought this was a fun murder mystery with maybe just a few too many characters, but somehow I stayed tuned into the ones that matter as the story resolved. Knowing this is 1st in a series I was expecting a cliffhanger but to my delight Book 1 was fully resolve which curiously makes me wonder more about the direction of the next book.

I‘m at a bit of an odds with this book. I mostly liked it and about 1/3 of the way in I became curious on the direction the story would go. But it went down so many paths that I was a bit disconnected from the characters because I never knew which character (even in the end) to root for.

My extent of history regarding Texas and Mexico had been minimal, but became fascinated in both culture and history during my 5 years living in downtown San Antonio. I had to laugh because without experiencing South Texas myself I wouldn‘t have realized the significance of fire ants 🐜, grackles🐦‍⬛, and bats🦇.

1950‘s Hollywood striving-to-be movies stars - oh, I‘m all in! 🎥 But if you are looking for a story of women supporting women - this ain‘t it🤪 I liked the snippets of interviews between chapters. I thought the alternating chapters between Nancy and Vera were entertaining. I was less interested in the way-back chapters of Salome but understand its significance to the story.

Even though I liked the first installment more, this was a good follow up. It was fun to see the typewriters back in action but this time it was Iris clearly knowing with whom she was communicating. I was a little disappointed her brother, Forest, didn‘t have a more flushed out story.

I bailed on this book, then started over and ended up almost loving this in a mind-blown sort of way. Sure there‘s a creepy house on an isolated Hudson river island and there‘s a murder - because you have to have a storyline. But for me it was all about the identities (head mates) sharing a physical body to navigate the outside world while an entire ‘family‘ exists and communicates within.

I just read the last of Newman‘s disaster stories and couldn‘t resist looping back for the 2nd installment. This was a fun ride, too, with all the characters one needs for a good disaster story. It‘s like ohhhh, this one‘s the ass. This one‘s not gonna make it to the end. This is the outsider that knows just how to save the day. You gotta have ‘em🤣

Oh the sophisticated sliminess of Ivy League secret societies pull me in every time and it‘s just fun to read the evildoers get their comeuppance! Also, it‘s a Reese Bookclub pick so I can‘t help but try to cast my imagined streamed limited series.

I‘m thrilled I was finally able to prioritize this book which sat unread on my shelves for over a year - it‘s a wild and fun ride. I read a few chapters per day because it was too outlandish to plow through without giving consideration to each adventure. The cast of characters on board-ship with the nakhuda,Amina Al-Sirafi is a hoot!

October #DoubleSpin Category: Tall Tales @TheAromaofBooks

How is this for an October grid! All were books I planned to read this month and each ranged from a 4.75⭐️ solid A to a 4⭐️ solid B! Tagged my most anticipated.

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

Another cozy murder mystery series by Osman - count me all the way in! I oftentimes suffer from character count overload in a book but never with Osman. Every character introduced to this story was fun to read and I didn‘t even have a firm grasp on all their roles by stories end. I can‘t wait for this series to continue.

I skipped this book when it first came out but reader‘s FOMO had me purchase this and the sequel together. Sometimes FOMO is a good thing! I love these characters and their magic typewriter. I enjoy a love story in fantasies when that love doesn‘t take over the fantastical plot - so kudos to the author.

I was equal parts entertained and frustrated by this story. Today‘s camera monitoring technology could easily solve the issue with the attic. This book was so ripe with red herrings that it was practically rancid, and yet, it remained an entertaining read. I might give up on this genre if this were the typical format, but it‘s certainly fun on occasion.

This was my first T. Kingfisher story and I really enjoyed it. It‘s a simple story that would be fun to co-read with a tween.

The creep factor in this book is off the charts! Except for Jake, I was judgey on everyone from beginning to end. This was a pile of fun to read.

I had fun binging this Netflix series, realized it was based on a book and promptly placed a library hold. Apparently, 341 other people had the same idea. I‘d been watching my place slowly move forward. But look at me, I was 89 one night and winner winner chicken dinner the audio was ready for me to borrow the next day! I decided it would be good karma to listen and return in a single day. I liked both - the book a tad more.

This book read like a pissed off roll call of Zeus‘ descendants (4 of whom descend from Hera, as well), but I enjoyed it. Years ago as a Math/CS major at a liberal arts college, ‘free‘ credits found the way to two particular instructors in the English Dept - one of whom was a master storyteller allowing me into her upper level mythology course - without doubt my favorite 3 credits in those 4 years. This book tested my memory in a great way.

I grew up in an era of limited TV channels - signing off at midnight , no option to record. Marvel movies were not a thing, but disaster movies were my jam and I still can‘t resist them! T.J. Newman makes me want to pull out bell bottoms, gather some leather fringe, part my hair down the middle, get comfy in a poncho ,and settle in to all the feels that had me scouring TV Guide for another showing of Poseidon Adventure or Towering Inferno.

If a book series could be wrapped inside a warm hug, the Cerulean chronicles would be its result. Each child of Authur and Linus is pure delight and I can‘t pick a favorite or least favorite - and that includes the new addition of a yeti. However, this story is told with a heavier hand than the first installment which conflicts with its joy. But then I read the author‘s note so now I am hard pressed to fault the weight of this author‘s ✍️.

This tagged book is among my favorite Moriarty books so it wins the grid, but dang I read two fascinating memoirs in this 3x3.

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

This was fun and complicated with maybe a bit too many details that really didn‘t take the reader to the story‘s end. I backtracked several times to track what mattered to the resolution. …Sidebar - as a born and bred Montanan, I‘m hyper aware of its random place settings in a story. But I swear, 9 out 10 times, the MT city referenced will be Missoula. 👇

I really enjoyed how this family drama/mystery played out. When As I finished this I realized I never spent a minute of my reading trying to determine how the mystery would resolve. I was just a fly on the wall reading as Nora and Sam discovered the life of the man who was their father.