I listened to this one on audio, and I enjoyed it. The story was engaging. I had a good time trying to figure out what really happened. It had a lot of twists and turns. The ending was satisfying, which I always appreciate in a mystery. I think the deceased, Diana, would have been an interesting person to know.

I really enjoyed this pick from #BOTM. I enjoyed the way it went to different time periods to tell the story of three different women from the same family, and then how it tied all of the stories together. I enjoyed reading about their strengths and connection with the natural world. The book was very engaging, and I was always excited to read it. In addition, just look at the cover!

I just finished this classic short story with my students. They enjoyed it and found it shocking that it caused outrage when it was first released. As always, I enjoyed reading it and sharing it with my students.

This one was good but not my favorite by her. I thought some of the choices by the characters were not smart and I was able to figure out some of the twists. I am not one that can typically figure out the twists. I listened on audio, and the performers were enjoyable.

This one absolutely lived up to the hype for me. I loved the way the author made the characters so interesting and believable. The people in the story came from many different walks of life and faced their own unique set of challenges, and McBride tied them all together. I loved that everything tied together. The ending was very satisfying. My big thing is beautiful writing, and this definitely delivered on that.

This book took me by surprise and totally captured my heart. I loved the way it went back and forth through time and how the author eventually brought everything together. I loved hearing the stories of the lost things interwoven through the book. The love stories of the characters were beautiful. Honestly, there wasn‘t anything I disliked about this book. I listened on audio, and I think that made it even more likable for me.

My friend chose this for our book club this month. I had never heard of it and didn‘t know what to expect. I loved it so much! The story was beautiful and just made me feel good to read it. I am an animal lover, so the references in the book about the beauty and majesty of the giraffes really spoke to me. I enjoyed reading the transformation of the main character, Woody, and The Old Man and Red too. The Darlings were the real stars, though.

This one was fun. I listened to it on audio, and the narrator was good and made the book enjoyable. I thought the story was clever and liked how it referenced murder mystery rules. It kept me guessing until the end and reminded me of my love of Agatha Christie novels when I was younger.

I really loved this book. I knew I liked it, but the way the author wrapped up the ending made me love it even more. I think this one really spoke to me due to the losses I have suffered the past few years and the joy and gratitude I feel over the love I have found. Love your people with everything you have. None of us know when our time will be up.

This one was very good. Honestly, it is the best book I have read in a while. The story is very poignant, and is really that much more so when one considers that it is based on actual events. I had never heard of Georgia Tann, nor the Tennessee Children‘s Home Society orphanage. The story is both interesting and well told.

I listened to this one on audio. I enjoyed the story while I was in it, but I was not thrilled with the ending. It just did not seem as clever as the rest of the story. I was disappointed.

This book is different from any others I have read about events related to the Holocaust. It follows the story of four people whose stories intersect before, during, and after the war. Nico and Sebastian are brothers, Fannie is their friend, and Udo Graf is the German officer whose evil lies and manipulations seals the fate of the other three.

I listened to this on audio. The performers were very engaging, so I recommend listening. Overall, the story was good. I was excited to read it, because I really liked The Lost Apothecary. This one wasn‘t quite as good, in my opinion. I thought the romance angle was unnecessary. I did enjoy the twists and trying to figure out who could be trusted.

I picked this book up at the library knowing nothing about it, and I ended up loving it. I could not put it down. It follows the stories of Ruby and Eleanor, and eventually how their lives come to intersect with one another. I loved the characters and the solution did a great job of making me want to keep reading to see how everything would turn out.

I listened to this on audio. Overall, it was entertaining, and there was an interesting twist. My big complaint is that the author went out of her way to disparage education and health-care workers. These are two groups that receive enough grief.

I love to read Steinbeck‘s writing. This collection of stories allows the reader to witness as the young boy, Jody, learns life lessons. The lessons can be harsh. The story of Gabilan was particularly gut-wrenching. Through it all, I was just reminded of how much I love the way Steinbeck puts words together and views the world. Truly beautiful.

I went into this not really knowing what it was about. I knew it had been a buzzy book, and my book club picked it. It is much more serious than I expected from looking at the cover, and I really liked it. I think it is an excellent reminder to women today how hard women in previous generations had to fight to get us the rights that some of us take for granted.

I loved this book. It is massive and quite an undertaking to read, but it is worth it. Some of the passages are just so beautifully written that they stopped me in my tracks. It follows a family in India through the decades as they deal with the family condition. By the end, the author ties everything together perfectly.

When this book was chosen for my book club this month, I was not sure I would enjoy it. It‘s not the kind of book I normally read. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up liking everything about it. I quickly became invested in the characters. I loved stepping into their world to watch them work through this time of their lives. I spent the book rooting for them to succeed.

At first glance, I was not sure what I would think of this book. Once I started, I was quickly hooked and ended up loving it. Yes, it is a little predictable. I didn‘t care. I loved the characters, especially Marcellus, and I was cheering for everything to work out for them.

I enjoyed this book about a mother searching for the children taken from her. Her need to find them was relatable and her bravery was inspiring. The author‘s writing was quite beautiful. Overall, I really enjoyed this debut novel. I will look forward to hearing more from this author.

Despite its large size, this was a quick book. Just when I thought I had it figured out, I realized I was wrong. It kept me guessing all the way until the end. The ending was very satisfying. I enjoyed reading about the characters and how everything worked out.

Very good. I can see why it has received accolades. The writing is mesmerizing, and the story is tragic and realistic. Definitely David Copperfield for current times. I‘m glad I read that one right before this one. It was interesting to compare the two.

I really wanted to get this one read before reading Demon Copperhead. It was massive, but I am glad I finally did it. The characters were delightful, and overall it was worth the challenge. I enjoyed the way Dickens used the book to make commentary on social classes and people in general.

So happy summer is here 😊

I really enjoyed this thriller. There were so many twists and turns that kept me on my toes. Just when I thought I had things figured out, another one came along. #BOTM

I enjoyed the self-acceptance message in the poems in this book. What I love is that one of my middle school students is the one that turned me on to this. I am happy that this book is on their radar, because the poems talk so much about self-love.

This book was disappointing. I was definitely expecting something creepier. I ended up generally disliking all of the characters as well. There were parts I enjoyed but overall pretty meh.

It took me a long time to get the hype surrounding this book. I am still not sure I do. The pivotal event did draw me in and redeem it for me. The ending was pretty strong. A big complaint was the author‘s use of unnecessarily obscure words. It was like she got a new thesaurus and wanted to use it. I love words, but they just didn‘t add anything to the story.

This was an intense book that drew me in quickly. I liked this author‘s earlier books, and this one holds up with them. I like that it made me think…just because we have the ability to do something, does that mean we should. The ending was not quite as strong as the beginning, but it still delivered.

I am not normally a big fan of nonfiction, but this was interesting and enjoyable. The author presented the information well and interjected some humor. I learned a lot.

I really enjoyed reading this. The characters were just real people with real problems. I found the experiences the characters were going through very relatable. #BOTM

This is a beautifully written book. I grew to love the characters as I read about them. This is based on actual events, so that made it even more intriguing.

This was an enjoyable and quick read. It grabbed me from the beginning and I read it straight through. I love the way Atwood develops her characters.

This book was good but not the greatest. I really feel like I would have liked it better had I never read Daisy Jones. This was just too similar to that one, and I found it to be more realistic. This is good, though. I liked Opal as a character. She would be very interesting to be able to know in the real world.

This was a good slow-build mystery. I really liked the way the author brought the reader around to figuring out what was going on. I liked the characters and was interested to find out how everything would end up. #BOTM

This book was written by one of my very good friends. I love it because I got to watch her go through her journey of writing and publishing it. It is the true-life story of her rescue cat Boots, and all of her other rescue pets have supporting roles in the book. My friend is a true animal lover. She is wonderful, and I am so proud of her for bringing this dream to life. I hope you will all check out her book!

I haven‘t posted for a long time. My life has been quite a journey for the past few years. In 2018, my husband of 27 years died. It took me a while to find myself after that. In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, I started dating and met the man who would save me. In 2021, I learned my son was ill. In November of 2021, I was married on a Saturday and my son would pass five days later. This beautiful life is not for the weak.

Interesting and compelling book. I have been having trouble finding the motivation to read lately, and this book was good for that. #BOTM

This book was very difficult to get through, and I just found the story ridiculous. I doing really see the point of the Romeo and Juliet tie in. This just didn‘t work for me at all.

Here I am twinning with my classroom guinea pig, Winston. My students are virtual right now, but they demand pictures of Winston. He is a little potato-shaped celebrity.

This book is a fascinating story of survival and redemption. Books like these serve as a reminder of how quickly things can turn. They also let us know that strength comes in many different forms. I like books like this to give me perspective.

This book lived up to the hype for me. It‘s not necessarily that it was hard to figure out; it‘s that it was sincerely eerie and creepy. I really liked that aspect. I also liked how the author jumped back and forth through time to tell the story. I just found this book refreshing and enjoyable.

This book was different, and I mean that in a positive way. I liked the originality of the story. I liked watching the characters face this unknown reality, and seeing how each one uniquely faced this unknown. There were some lines written that simply took my breath away. I‘m a sucker for beautiful writing. #BOTM

This current read for my book club was a pleasant surprise. I did not think it looked that great, but it ended up providing twists and turns that kept me guessing. That is what I want from a thriller. Every time I felt smart and thought I had it figured out, the author made a surprise move. It was fun.

I had to read this book for one of my book clubs. It was close to just a so-so for me. It was decent but nothing special. It‘s definitely forgettable. It was really easy to see the twists and turns.

Parts of this book were okay, but overall it was so boring to me. I wanted to DNF the book, but I honestly don‘t know an easy way to do that on my Kindle. So, my only reason for finishing was to not mess up my Kindle library; that‘s not exactly a ringing endorsement. I really wish the author would have just not focused so much on White. If I wanted to read about him/his book, I would have read his books.

#BOTM pick for this month. This story is at times tragic, but the main character‘s strength in facing adversity is admirable. It is hard to read of her watching those she loves deal with depression and addiction. I think it reminds me of the helplessness one feels when a loved one is in pain. It is also interesting to hear the main character attempt to reconcile religion with science and question how God can allow such suffering.

This book is the current pick for my book club. It ended up being much different than I expected when I started. I expected a campy comedy, but that wasn‘t the case at all. The book actually had some serious themes. It addressed racial and economic inequality, wives being subject to physical and emotional abuse by their husbands, and relationship struggles between parents and children. Oh yeah, and the women did this while dealing with a vampire.

This book was good but not great. It felt very lightweight, which is troubling since it deals with a character committing suicide. I would have liked to see much more character development and expansion of situations. There just wasn‘t much depth to try to deal with such a serious topic. #BOTM