Well this is off to a good start... 🌫🏝😬

Reading this as part of a Goodreads Challenge. It's been a little gem so far. Hope it resolves well 🤞

A great sequel and a feline hot water bottle combine for happy weekend reading 👓

"On Dill's last night our father had permitted us to sit out by Miss Rachel's fishpond." The illustrations in this graphic novel are just gorgeous ?

Last book of the year and it is a thing of beauty 🐇

Gormflaith tells the story of Brian Boru's efforts to become High King of Ireland in 968 AD. He battles her husband, the Viking King Olaf. And her second husband, Malcolm of the Northern ONeills. And she faces her own battles when Brian becomes her third husband. And she must move from her Dublin home to Kincora and the Dal gCais clan. Enjoyable read for a bloody history.

Seeing out Storm Fergus with the audiobook of The End Of Us. One of us is slightly more caught up in the suspense!

The autobiography of "a self-confessed a la carte feminist" is both wholly recognisable and shamefully-unfamiliar to me. To have such a relatable narrator describe an Ireland that passes me by is challenging. But channeling James Baldwin in the opening pages helps somehow. The unparalleled magic of literature is hearing the unmediated voices of people who would be silenced by society.. An important read for me & my contemporaries.

Cosy Sunday reading 🐈‍⬛🤎🖤

This probably isn"t the book I expected but I'm enjoying it all the same. Flaws of the protagonist unravel slowly and humanely. Will be interesting to see how the last chapters round out this story...

If cats disappeared from the world... this book is tugging on all heartstrings you'd expect 🐈‍⬛

Rainy Saturday and all my library ebooks arrived together. I love a spontanwous bookathon 🎧📚🧃

Really enjoying this so far...

It's easy to forget how great the public library is! Printing, graphic novels & original fiction that I haven't heard of before. Excited to start on this haul....

"The night I watch Athena Liu die, we're celebrating her TV deal with Netflix". #firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl

My big sleeper & favourite work colleague 🐈‍⬛

Caught up with the various threads of this speculative fiction novel at two-thirds of the way through. Hoping for a satisfying ending 💭

The Lorraine Motel, Tennesse

"It's a museum now", Jim said
"And it should't be", Ed said
"Why not?", Quip asked
"Its just a motel. That's what it is. That's all it is", said Ed. "People should rent out that room and sleep in that very bed and step through that very door and stand on that balcony and realise what happened there".

I always think of James Baldwin when I read Black voices and realise how much of my world view is perspective ?

"

Rainy summer Saturdays...

Reading on a summer night. At 67% and eager to see how this all plays out...

...but here's the thing, kiddo, there's no full picture, the picture is always filling, filling, let it, don't try to order it or organise it, listen to it, watch it fill.

Beautiful story of individual struggle and the communities that build us back up. A neurodivergent teen mourning his mother, an English teacher longing for a child & a carpentry teacher relocating to a new place. Feeney brings her poetry to their story and it is just gorgeous

I think this might break my heart but absolutely loving the first third...

Not at all what I was expecting but I enjoyed this quick read. It felt a bit too plausible to be dystopian, but universal in terms of social inequality and the framing of motherhood. I was initially just drawn to the cover so it was a nice surprise to find a thoughtful novel.

Loving this story of an extended Turkish-Armenian family despite their painful history. Wonderful characterisation, quirky contexts and genuine hurt spanning generations. About two-thirds through & hoping it ends as strongly as it began.

“And you, you do not feel old, despite being as old as God?
I feel as I am. A queen.“
A fascinating portrait of a woman who was banished from her marriage, children and life. Telling her own story in the aftermath of the death of Lear, Goneril, Reagan and Cordelia. A remarkable character rewritten into literature.

“They weren't just on the same team, they were the same player. Their victories doubled, their losses halved; loyalty was as given as gravity.“

“The first time I went in, he didn't notice me because of reading a book. Not regular reading. I mean gone. He and that book were not in this house, nor maybe this world.“ Such a quotable book!

The only way to spend a January weekend 🐾

Not finished reading for 2022 yet! But confident in these picks. What a great year for reading #readingbracket2022

Brixton Hall / L Moggach
Lamplighters / E Stonex
Record of the Spaceborn Few / B Chambers
Glory / N Bulawayo
Raptures / J Carson
Amusements / A Flannery
Queen of Dirt Island / D Ryan
Small Things Like These / C Keegan
Theres been a Little Incident / A Ryan
Satsuma Complex / B Mortimer
Snowflake / L Nealon

“When I arrived I noticed a colourful red and white striped bicycle leant against the wall by the entrance. It crossed my mind there might be a pissed juggler inside the building throwing his skittles willy-nilly at the light fittings. I would enjoy watching the repercussions of that sort of incident.“

As BobMortimery as it is possible for a novel to get - LOVED that Bob read the audiobook. So good!

You don‘t have to have a reason to be tired. You don‘t have to earn rest or comfort. You‘re allowed to just be.

I suppose at one time in my life I might have had any number of stories, but now there is no other. This is the only story I will ever be able to tell.

Author's note: Some of the dates are misleading; some of the names are lies. I'm not trying to protect the innocent. I'm trying to protect the guilty. You'll understand soon enough.

Great opening - I'm in!

"My name is Mosscap", it said, sticking out a metal hand. "What do you need, and how might I help?" -- I expected to love this and then I DID ☕?

We're both loving today for different reaaons. This is proving to be a gem of a read 🌼

After a busy month, it's bliss to read a good whodunnit with a tiny tiger pinning you to the couch 😁🐾

“What is building, and rebuilding and rebuilding again, but an act of faith?”

#alphabetgame #letterZ

Last day! Thanks @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks , really enjoyed this month 🙂

“How easy it is, treachery. You just slide into it.”

#alphabetgame #letterY @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Completely cheating for Letter X...

“Murder isn't the most logical way to escape a difficult situation. It only leads to a different difficult situation.”

#alphabetgame #letterX @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

“Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories.”

#alphabetgame #letterW @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

“The problem with learning the truth about things is that you lose the confidence that comes from being dumb.”

#alphabetgame #letterV @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I remember reading and loving this many years ago. So I read it again and loved it again!

Really enjoyed this at The Limetree on Friday night 📜

I waited months for publication day and so was quite surprised to find myself telling the audiobook to f**k off on page 2 - I was invested early. I had to put the book away for an hour, but then I listened the rest in a single setting. Beautifully told story of four generations of Nenagh women and their shared lives. Queens all ❤ And written by a poet.

I'm not going to lie, I was definitely drawn to this book because of the cover. But I enjoyed it based on the fantastic premise too - the widow of a ruthless ruler is put on trial and one of her young lawyers tries to uncover the truth of her complicity in his crimes. A touch long but an intriguing read.

“But the relationship with an animal is so much more physical than a relationship with another person. You don‘t get to know a dog by asking how he‘s feeling or what he‘s thinking, but by observing him and getting to know his body language. And all the important things you want to say to him you have to show through actions, attitude, gestures and sounds.”

#alphabetgame #letterU @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

🌸“The Chicken: As I was walking down Stanton Street early one Sunday morning, I saw a chicken a few yards ahead of me. I was walking faster than the chicken, so I gradually caught up.... At the fourth house along, it turned in at the walk, hopped up the front steps, and rapped sharply on the metal storm door with its beak. After a moment, the door opened and the chicken went in.“ Tales of America

#alphabetgame #letterT @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I finally have my hands on this! Waited all summer and very excited to read this next...

#alphabetgame #letterQ @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

“I lie down and let life leave its footprints on me.”

#alphabetgame #letterS @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

“If you want to understand any woman you must first ask about her mother and then listen carefully. Stories about food show a strong connection. Wistful silences demonstrate unfinished business. The more a daughter knows about the details of her mother's life - without flinching or whining - the stronger the daughter.”

#alphabetgame #letterR @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks