May reading #wrapup

Favorites:
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng &
Can‘t Get Enough (tagged) which is book 3 in the Skyland series. I just love this series so much. Kennedy Ryan gives us strong, very real women who take no shit and find partners who love them for the strong women they are without fear. 🥰

Also read:
Madam by Cari Lynn & Kellie Martin for #roll100
Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs for my #mercyreread
Both 4⭐️

Worst read ⬇️⬇️

My April #roll11 read was this delightful cozy mystery.
Jane is the manager of Storyton Hall, a bookish resort set in rural Virginia. To bring more business to the hotel, she plans a Murder & Mayhem retreat themed around murder mystery books. Of course one of the guests turns up dead in his room & she must figure out why.

Jane‘s aunt & uncle have a secret legacy that I found added a lot to the story once it was revealed to Jane. ⬇️

So many books coming out this year that I very much want to read! It was hard to narrow down to only four choices, but luckily some of the other titles on my must read list have already been nominated.

I give you my nominations for #camplitsy25

Deep Cuts by Holly Brinkley
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith
The Antidote by Karen Russell

Most of my reading time this week has been devoted to book 2 in the Bone Season series. Shannon‘s rewrites are less obviously apparent but still work cohesively with the revised book 1 to better tell the story & keep the reader invested.

We learn more about the syndicate as well as Warden & the Ranthen. Paige really finds herself in this book so it‘s my favorite of the series so far. And even knowing it‘s coming, the ending is still shocking!

Let me start by saying I have been a fan of this series since the very beginning. However this is my first time reading the revised text in the 10th anniversary edition.

Shannon takes the unique world & story she originally created & turns it into a masterpiece with this version. This version is so much more readable. She takes the info dumping of the original & turns it into real world building expertly crafted throughout the story. ⬇️

A #roll100 pick for February which I finished yesterday.

There are some interesting pieces in this story, but not enough to give it a pick. I enjoyed the music shop, the idea of Frank being able to choose the record his customer needs rather than what they asked for. Set mostly in the late 1980s, it never really felt like it outside of the commentary on vinyl records being replaced by cassettes and CDs. I liked Frank‘s friends as well. ⬇️

I read 8 books in February. A slow month for me. Pictured is my reading journal where I like to draw in their spines next to a star rating. I write the full title and author name on the left page.

Favorites were my rereads of Moon Called & Blood Bound with A Closed & Common Orbit being a close second.

Finished out the month with a couple of Ruby Dixon books from her Aspect & Anchor series which is one of hers I have not yet finished reading. ⬇️

Last of my catch-up reviews for this week.

Book 2 in the Mercy Thompson series. It started off a bit slow with some repetitive info from book 1 (I understand this is necessary, but in this case it slowed down the beginning). However once our Mercy got roped into the vampire‘s problem it picked up. We find out more about the vampire seethe and how it works. We also got a bit more about Mercy‘s walker powers & some werewolf politics of course.

Book 2 in the series was less successful in my eyes than the first book. I liked Logan more than I expected to once we started getting more of his back story. However Grace felt sort of flat & never as interesting as Hannah, maybe because her background was vague. Hannah & Garrett actually stole all the scenes they appeared in.

Overall it felt more like a typical college romance story that I‘ve read before. Not as fresh and fun as The Deal. 3⭐️

Read this last week but I don‘t think I posted a review. I liked this college hockey romance. It has been everywhere and mostly lives up to the hype. Hannah and Garrett have great chemistry with some good banter. I liked the way their friendship developed first.

A low pick & I had fun reading it. Certainly not my favorite hockey romance but good enough that I‘d recommend it for someone looking for a college age hockey romance specifically. 4⭐️

Thanks to #roll100 I‘ve finally read this book that has been on my shelf for a few years.

It started out very good. Told in 3 timelines, I was captivated by Nell & Cassandra‘s search for the truth and Eliza‘s story in the past. The first couple of nights I had a hard time putting it down to get some sleep. But then part two started to drag. It felt like I was slogging through bits of each timeline waiting for anything exciting to happen. ⬇️

Reading this series in full is one of my 2025 goals. I read this book 15+ years ago & loved it. It was borrowed from a friend at the time so I have not revisited the series since. I‘ve been itching to revisit it & have managed to collect most of the books from secondhand stores.

Since it‘s been so long, I remembered none of the plot so it was almost like reading it for the first time. So good! I love Mercy & am excited to see what she does next.

Catching up on reviews. I finished a reread of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (just as good this time 5⭐️) before jumping into book 2.

I very much enjoyed the second one as well. The sentient AI growing into her character was well done & I enjoyed diving into Pepper‘s background. Although I didn‘t quite feel the same sense of belonging at the end of this one as I did with the first. It was there, but didn‘t quite hit the same. Not sure why.

#auldlangspine recap
8 books read, all 4-5 ⭐️ reads
Favorite is Margo‘s Got Money Troubles… I‘m still thinking about it weeks after finishing. It will likely make my favorites list for the year.

A Woman is No Man is next up on my list as it is already on my shelf, but I prioritized library reads first.
First Lie Wins: I plan to get from the library later when I‘m in the mood for a thriller.
Five Little Indians: I still have to track down a copy.

#auldlangspine Book 8 was another excellent choice by @Zuhkeeyah

This was such a fantastic take on a classic. It was full of the adventure you expect from a Huckleberry Finn retelling, but manages to say so much more about slavery and the way a Black person was required to move through the world. While I wouldn‘t call this a light read in any way, the sense of adventure did bring a bit of levity to it I wasn‘t expecting and loved. ⬇️

#auldlangspine Book 7 is another delightful cozy title. This one has been on my TBR list for a long time so I‘m very glad @Zuhkeeyah included it on the list. It delivered all the cozy fantasy vibes I‘ve come to love from the genre. Kianthe & Reyna just want to live peacefully together selling books & tea in their new shop. Of course that doesn‘t exactly go as planned. I loved both of our MC‘s. Reading as they build a life together was just lovely.

#auldlangspine Book 6 This is my favorite book so far from @Zuhkeeyah ‘s excellent list! I was immediately drawn in by Margo‘s voice & stayed up much too late reading it the last two nights. I loved Margo‘s grit. Her way of making mistakes, then finding a way to keep going & learn from them. I also found the author‘s use of switching between 3rd & 1st person to be masterfully done. It added so much to Margo‘s character. All the stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#auldlangspine book 5

A delightful graphic novel where Lady Camembert disguises herself as a man to avoid marrying one, then falls in love with Princess Brie. I loved all the cheese names! It really fleshed out the world in a very humorous way that had me chuckling each time a new one was named. Loved Brie‘s friends along with Feta, Cam‘s servant. The conversations about women‘s rights were well done & didn‘t take away from the overall coziness.

Very cold temperatures yesterday (high of -6 F) meant lots of cozy reading time. Finished #auldlangspine book 4.

This was a fun music inspired retelling of The Little Mermaid. I loved the Disney movie as a girl so it was delightful to find all the connections with that story & see how the author brought Ariel & Eric to a modern timeline. The music theme w/ Eric‘s up & coming band + Ariel‘s pop princess background added a fun element to the story.

#auldlangspine Book 3 is another fantastic read. Chakraborty‘s Daevabad trilogy is one of my favorites & this book has been on my TBR since its release. Amina did not disappoint! I loved the older female pirate & her crew. The blending of historical & fantastical elements creates a richly imagined world full of adventure. It is also an interesting portrait of a woman trying to juggle her passion for adventure with her desire to be a good mother.⬇️

I‘ve spent the last week with this heartbreaking, necessary memoir off @Zuhkeeyah ‘s #auldlangspine list. Miller eloquently & bravely writes about being sexually assaulted, pressing charges, dealing with the legal system & the resulting media coverage where she was known only as Emily Doe.

I could only read 1-2 chapters at a time before my emotions overwhelmed me. But I am so glad I read this. I wish I could hand a copy to everyone I know! 5⭐️

#auldlangspine book 1

I knew I was probably going to love this because of how much I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea. But I forgot just how very wonderful these characters are. It was a delight to be back on the island with Arthur, Linus, Zoe and the children.

Klune once again had created a hopeful, uplifting story that shows how the world can be terrible, but yet how we might make it better. I want the world he sees to be ours one day. ⬇️

I‘ve finished my December books so I can start on my #auldlangspine list.

I already own the two on the left so I will definitely read those this month. Picked up the four on the right from the library today. I also have holds on James, Margo‘s Got Money Troubles and the Princess & the Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

Now where to start? Thinking either the tagged or the Chakraborty first since I loved both City of Brass & House in the Cerulean Sea.

Kristin Lavransdatter was a #roll100 pick for December so I decided I would read book 1: The Wreath. Didn‘t quite finish it before the end of the year, but I did finish it yesterday.

This was lovely! Kristin is a strong heroine who struggles to balance love & obedience to her family & God with her own desires for her life. I was captivated by this portrait of medieval Norway. I also found some of Kristin‘s internal conflict to be true to life. ⬇️

This was the last book I finished in 2024 and it was just okay.

I really wanted this to be a delightful winter themed cozy fantasy. I loved the idea of a traveling tea house set up at Winterfrost Market for midwinter celebrations, interrupted by a quest to find her mother with a fae tracker by her side. Alas, the premise was interesting but lacked the descriptive world building needed to really bring this to life. ⬇️

My 2024 StoryGraph wrap-up! I didn‘t get any reading time yesterday so ended with 154 books read and 51K pages.

The average rating is skewed here as I did not actively add star ratings to StoryGraph for most of the year. I definitely leaned towards romance & happy books this year in between the more heavy reads.

Ended with a lot of 5⭐️ reads with some really fantastic favorites I‘ve been thinking about ever since. Overall a great reading year!

I read 154 books this year! At the beginning of the year I started drawing the spines in my book journal with a stack for each month & am proud to say I kept it up all year long. I‘m definitely going to continue to do this in 2025 as I love the way these pages turn out… plus it‘s good practice for my art.

In the middle of 2 more books but I don‘t know if I will finish them today. Might wait to post my StoryGraph wrap-up tomorrow just in case.

This was beautifully written: heartbreaking, emotional, but also tender told through the hopeful eyes of a child. Ronja and her older sister Melissa do their best to deal with their alcoholic father and make ends meet working at the local Christmas tree stand with the occasional help from neighbors. Inspired in part by The Little Match Girl. Don‘t be fooled by the pretty cover… this is not a cheery book. But it is beautiful in its sadness. 5⭐️

I wanted this to be a fun Bollywood inspired romance layered with rich descriptions of Diwali & India. But instead I got a surface level romance that never really took off, very brief descriptions of the events & place, & a third act break-up where I didn‘t really care that much if the couple got back together. The grand gesture was cute, but it took too long to get there. The entire Raj storyline was unnecessary.
Skip this one.

This was a fun wintery romance book, perfect for the season. I love the idea of a winter theme park in Florida and the setting came to life here. I could picture Cold World very clearly.

Asa and Lauren‘s relationship evolves from work enemies to lovers in a very beautiful way. I love romances that give me a bit more depth. This one dealt with some of their past traumas and I really like how the author handled those issues. 5⭐️

#roll100 for November which I‘ve been reading since before thanksgiving. It was slow going with bits of action here & there. The couple spends very little time in Scotland & I was missing a sense of place. Although I liked the ending which bumped it up to 3⭐️

Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I‘d read the rest of the series (This is book 6)? I enjoyed the author‘s Fever series so grabbed this secondhand a few years ago. Glad it‘s off my TBR.

When I say #auldlangspine is my favorite reading event every year, I mean that I have participated in every iteration of this event & it‘s the thing I most look forward to in January. Some of my all time favorite books have come from this event.
Here are my favorites from the past years:
2024 @Karisimo The Eyes & The Impossible
2023 @xicanti Lessons in Fusion
2022 @JackOBotts Sigh,Gone
2021 @BarbaraJean How Long ‘til Black Future Month
⬇️

I was so excited to wake up to this fantastic list from @Zuhkeeyah 🎉

I‘ve read & loved two of these. Shark Heart was on my #auldlangspine list of favorites last year. Just for the Summer almost made it on my list this year but was very slightly edged out.

I already have A Woman is No Man & Amina Al-sirafi on my shelf to read. Margo‘s Got Money Troubles is on my Christmas wishlist & the others in the right corner I‘ve been wanting to read.

My holiday #libraryhaul for today! Went to pick up the tagged book I had on hold and ended up coming home with lots of holiday/wintery reads off my TBR.

I am planning to spend December reading happy, fun romances and cozies along with a few others that feel right for the season off my own shelves. I need some comfort and joy right now.

Which one should I start with?

5⭐️
I don‘t know what it is about Ruby Dixon‘s writing, but she always hooks me in quickly and keeps me entertained throughout. This was no exception. In fact I stayed up way too late reading this every night leading up to Thanksgiving.

I loved the idea of hunting magical artifacts in this sort of underground ancient ruins like some kind of Indiana Jones type guild. I enjoyed the world building and can‘t wait to read more in this series. ⬇️

Registered for #auldlangsping2025 🎉

Every year this is my favorite event! It‘s always the thing I most look forward to in January. I inevitably find some amazing books that end up being favorites for the year. 3 titles from @Karisimo ‘s #auldlangspine list made it on my list of 2024 favorites (and a few more were close contenders)

@monalyisha is an expert matchmaker. If you haven‘t participated yet be sure to check out her post for all the info

Fable has this fun new shelfie feature I used to make this. I will admit I haven‘t gotten in the habit of using this app regularly yet, but I do like some of these features to play around with. The title and description are auto populated based on the books you select. Tag me if you make one so I can see yours!

Also working on my #auldlangspine list in anticipation of sign-ups! This is a little peek into my list of favorites for the year.

This is one that I‘ve been meaning to get to for awhile. Bannen has created a very unique world here with excellent world building. I found myself rooting for Hart & Mercy, but also for Mercy‘s family as well.

My only issue is that I do think this would have benefited from being slightly shorter. There were areas where the story lagged, especially when the MCs were separated. That being said, I did really enjoy it & will probably read book 2. 4⭐️

Attended a fantastic author talk this evening with a friend. It featured William Kent Krueger talking about his tagged book which was selected for the local One Book One Community read this year.

I haven‘t had a chance to read this book yet, but his talk was wonderful. He also discussed his writing process and the power of stories. If you like his books and have the opportunity to see him speak in person I highly recommend it.

This was a delightful middle grade adventure! It‘s been on my son‘s shelf for a long time. I finally picked it up to read for a winter book review article I have to write soon.

Full of adventure in the coldest Icelands set in a fantasy world with sweet friendships and a lot of humor. Stella and her new friends run into all kinds of magical and unique creatures as they got to know one another. I‘ll definitely be picking up book 2. 5⭐️

This was delightfully fun cover to cover! A locked room Christmas mystery romance featuring two author MCs. Maggie is a bestselling cozy mystery writer. Ethan writes spy thrillers and always calls Maggie by the wrong name. They are both invited to spend Christmas at the house of Eleanor Ashley: the reigning queen of mystery (ala Agatha Christie). But when Eleanor disappears from a locked room the first night it‘s up to them to solve the mystery.⬇️

I finally got around to this #auldlangspine pick from @Karisimo and it was well worth it! I‘m actually glad I waited to read this one until the weather was cooler since I didn‘t get to it at the beginning of the year. I very much felt like the chilly mornings added to the atmosphere of the book.

The way the alternating current and past stories began to weave together with the little fairy tale stories in between had me captivated. ⬇️

It might be a “it‘s not you it‘s me” thing but I didn‘t really like this one. Based on the premise, I thought I was getting a western with doomed lovers set in the Montana winter 1891. What I got technically followed the description but I never really felt like I was reading any of those things. Lovely lyrical writing but surface level with no sense of place. I never truly felt like I understood the characters & they could have been anywhere. ⬇️

I get a couple of uninterrupted reading hours this morning at my favorite coffee shop while my son is at jazz camp. It‘s a beautiful day outside, the coffee is delicious and this book is starting off wonderfully.

I don‘t read a ton of nonfiction, but thanks to Litsy I have found amazing reads I probably wouldn‘t have picked up otherwise. @monalyisha and @xicanti have inspired me to share my three favorites (for today anyways):

1. Sigh, Gone by Phuc Tran (tagged)
2. Fly Girl: a memoir by Ann Hood
3. Good Talk: a memoir in conversations by Mira Jacob

#tlt #threelistthursday

Here‘s my finished stack for February.

16 total books read
Favorites are
📚 We are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride
📚 Lady Tan‘s Circle of Women by Lisa See
📚 In An Instant by Suzanne Redfearn :: (tagged)
The book follows the aftermath of a traumatic car accident from the perspective of a teenage girl killed instantly in the accident. Each character deals with what happened in a different way. I couldn‘t put it down!

Absolutely gorgeous cover that captures the story within.

This is a novel in verse. It‘s about clinical depression and grief, told through the lens of fairytales and ultimately ending in hope. I found the story captivating; the lyrical prose beautiful and thought provoking. I loved the way McBride‘s words propelled the reader with Whimsy in her journey through sorrow while also asking them to dig deeper into the metaphorical nature of the story.

I forgot to take a picture of this one before bringing it back to the library so instead you get a picture of my reading journal.

This one started off slow and I had a hard time staying interested for the first half. But the second half I couldn‘t put down and I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. I did predict most of the twists in advance but it was still a fun ride once it got going. 4⭐️ in the end for the second half.

January reading update:

Finished 13 books
7 #auldlangspine titles. Many thanks to @Karisimo for such an awesome list!

⭐️ Favorites were:
The Eyes & the Impossible
The Reading List
The Frozen River (I knew I would like this one and it did not disappoint!)
Much Ado About Nada
Book Lovers

I also gave 5 stars to Black Bird Blue Road.

I‘ve changed how I record books read in my reading journal this year to add this book spine artwork for each title.

#auldlangspine book 5

I really need to be more intentional about including MG books in my regular reading. Because I love them but no longer actively keep up now that my son is older.

All that to say I loved this book also! What a unique story that is both educational and heartbreaking. It might be too much for sensitive kids, but for others it‘s an excellent read with enough action to keep them interested while still learning about the culture.