Oooof fam, this was bleak. I‘m not saying I didn‘t like it, but I am saying that the author and his family had ROUGH lives. There were so many similarities between my life and his: we grew up in the same area of WI, we both experienced poverty, hell, our mothers died in the same nursing home, just two years apart. But wow the generational trauma really does fuck a person up.

It is February, so it must mean that I‘m frantically trying to finish our Community Read that I have to talk about early next week in my own blessed program. Expect more updates throughout the weekend!

I expected a fun and interesting jaunt into forensic artistry, I got that, but also a scathing review on the dude bro culture of the FBI. This was fascinating and infuriating. (Weeding time pictured!)

TW sexual violence I really enjoyed most of this book but the sexual violence in the middle was both not needed nor handled properly.

Welp fam, this is gonna be a long haul (not the book; it‘s almost a pamphlet.) What do you do when you‘re scared? Read a book. Drink your water. Get some sleep.

It‘s stupid cold. I‘ve made myself finish off a cowl and I‘ll start something else. The Witchstone is fun though. Kinda jaunty with the air of a heist yet to happen.

I can‘t doom scroll anymore, so I‘m finally letting myself read this. So far, Diana‘s daughter is creepy and I can‘t believe that Ysabeau de Clermont would allow her granddaughter to call her “Grammer Ysabeau”. Like, nice try, but no.

Wow that sucked. I had to read it for work, but had that not been so, I would have abandoned it after the third chapter. I kept up a hate log just to finish the wretched thing.

I‘m programming around this mess of a novel next month, so I have to read the wretched thing. I haven‘t hated a book this much since the Scarlet Letter. I am so thoroughly annoyed with Frankie and her life. Bah.

I love the Meg Langslow books because they‘re cute and low stakes. The further the series goes, however, the more I argue with the author. This time I had words with her about landlord/tenant laws, architecture, and physics. And by “arguments” I mean I yelled at the book. Despite that, I still love the series.

The twists at the end were so fun! The Muffin and I were shocked!

There are some parts that have aged like milk, but I still love Poirot!

I‘m in a slump so I‘ve started a new Barker and Llewelyn while I process some trade sized.

So much teenage angst, so painfully slow. My motto this summer has been “plow through it” but I just can‘t.

Do you need to sloppy cry? Like cry off all your makeup and end up covered in your own snot? Do I have the book for you! It quite a beautifully told story of a tragedy but I‘ve sobbed so much my eyes are puffy.

This is an okay series. The mysteries are okay, but not spectacular. Meh.

We went to Door County this week and when you go, you‘re obliged to take home produce. It‘s cherry season, so I‘m making cherry bounce while Poirot investigates.

I haven‘t read this book in twenty years. It‘s beautiful and sad and infuriating as it is still applicable. It‘s not large, but you should read it.

The new book in the series is out, so I‘m doing a reread of the first three. (I‘m not rereading the fourth. I have mostly apathy towards it.) Wednesday was my reading buddy once again!

I binged TAZ this past winter. I love that I can relive the series in graphic novels! The illustrations are cute and colorful and NOT traditional DnD (if that‘s your bag, cool no hate) just like TAZ.

I don‘t find a lot of media that mirrors so many of my experiences, but this was a sweet and engaging example. Much like the author, I spent too much of my life feeling wrong or broken. She‘s right: representation is important.

This was fun! The characters real and thought out except for the ten year old near the end. It was a nice break from the doom and gloom.

I had high hopes that this was going to be a fun and light read. Ding dong, I was wrong. Do you think you‘re superior to other members of the animal kingdom? Read this and wish you were someone‘s pet chicken. It didn‘t make me cry, but now I‘m more envious of Wednesday All-Kitty seen here.

I‘m an American, and right now it is not an easy thing to be. I‘m full to the brim with sad and this sounded like the perfect book to read right now. Fam, it wasn‘t great. There is A LOT of toxic positivity and some weird tropes. Just oof.

I‘ve wanted to read this for a while, and it was just meh. It wasn‘t bad, but the world building and the characters were lacking.

A fun retelling of sleeping beauty and also the only thing I got done today.

I‘ve forgotten how much I love this series! It‘s sweet and funny and just a little spooky. They‘re like a quick snack. (Pictured here is the Muffin, reading buddy extraordinaire.)

The Meg Langslow books have become one of my favorite comfort reads. They‘re light and fun and I kinda want her life (the main character, not the author although I‘m sure she‘s lovely.) This book was heavy on farm animal exposition and improbable, but I still enjoyed it.

I‘m not really into horror, but this was more noir. It was fine. It wasn‘t gorey, which is nice, but I‘m reminded that there‘s a reason I don‘t read traditional horror.

Deanna Raybourn is so fun! This series is breezy, fun, funny, and little sexy.

This was beautiful and sad and hopeful and heartbreaking. It‘s entirely possible that the author was trying to do too much, but I still loved the final result. I recommend reading the audiobook. It‘s one of the few I‘ve found that‘s read by the author and is improved by the fact.

12 year old me would have LOVED this book. Honestly, I don‘t know how it escaped her. 41 year old me was bored. The writing is beautiful, but maybe I‘m just no longer interested in coming of age stories? I dunno. Meh.

What a sweet and beautiful fairy tale! This is exactly the kind of book that could make a wonderful movie if they included every single word and detail.

I love the premise, but the author doesn‘t have the knack of writing women. The protagonist is wooden. I can‘t fall into a story when I‘m constantly critiquing it at the same time.

Long time no reviews! Hi! This was a weird friggin‘ book guys. Like way more racism than I expected. I‘m trying to finish a boatload of books this summer for all staff SRP, so I can‘t tell if this book was compelling or if I‘m motivated by bragging rights and a trophy.

This was my favorite book as a tween. Many years ago, I got a tattoo of one of the symbols from the book but the symbol has been co-opted by white nationalists. Today my cover up is getting color!

What a crap shoot! As is the case with most short story collections, there were a few good stories, but mostly not. #pop23 #charatersnameinthetitle

This is one of my favorite series. I reread it when I‘m stressed or sad or both. It is far from perfect; some of the language is very 90‘s as is the general viewpoint. But it‘s lighthearted and funny and was the first thing to make me laugh when my mom passed. #pop23 #bookthatiwishicouldreadforthefirsttime #iknowthatisnotapeacock

July sucked. I didn‘t realize how much it sucked until I looked through my feed and found I really didn‘t have anything to show for the month. All I read were comfort reads. (Pictured is a character from the lobster fest I found myself at.)

I‘m kicking myself for not reading this sooner. It would have meshed beautifully with Firekeeper‘s Daughter for our library‘s winter read. So far it‘s gorgeous. The author is narrating and she reads in this gorgeous dreamy way.

Picking favorite books is stupidly hard! Thanks @CBee and @chasjjlee

“that ten cent Clark Gable that thinks he‘s so slick he can slide uphill.” Is just a beautiful insult.

I kept forgetting that this was the first in the series and that the next doesn‘t come out for a few months. Miss Gail is the queen of protagonists who find themselves unlikeable, but are really rather sweet. This is not a particularly deep story but it‘s nice and has been good company. (Pictured is my very confused fuzzy cat. The neighbors keep firing off illegal fireworks and she just wants to sleep.) #pop23 #bookthatwasselfpublished

It‘s taken me a while to get invested in the story, but I‘m so close to the end now that I need to finish it.

The Poisoner‘s Handbook is harder in places and more uplifting in others than I expected. It was also fascinating! The two men that this book was really about, Norris and Gettler, made forensic science what it is today in America.

“If I won my 250,000, mightn‘t I have lots of roses?” Said by Katherine Schaub, one of the radium girls during their lawsuit against the U.S. Radium Corporation, in the hopes of flowers for her funeral.
Of all the horrific crimes reported on in The Poisoner‘s Handbook, this one is the first to make me sob.

“Until the early 19th century a few tools existed to detect a toxic substance in a corpse.”

History of science makes me so happy! #FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

1. Younger me would have ADORED Howl‘s Moving Castle. Like if it was a character driven fantasy, I was/am all in.

2. I typically go full librarian on my friends and cater to their tastes when I recommend stuff, but if I‘m just giving them one of my favorites, it‘s gonna be The Night Circus.

3. I would love love love to meet Deborah Harkness and Gail Carriger. I would make an ass out of myself, but whatever. #wondrouswednesday @Eggs

Book sale day 1 is done! My coworker and I manned the brat tent. I‘m going to take some ibuprofen and snuggle up with the Poisoner‘s Handbook. I promise I‘m not looking for ideas!

This is an interesting concept: a modern FBI agent is stolen and taken to a steampunk world where, upon freedom, she becomes a police detective there. Her partner is a lovable curmudgeon in awe of her. There are some holes (like vocabulary of the supporting characters) and weirdness (they have mostly the same food as we have) but overall it‘s a charming story. #pop23 #authorwithsameinitials