Another great mystery by Ms Christie. I thought it was so interesting that Miss Marple isn't even introduced as a character until halfway through, and yet I was still riveted by the mystery! And when she does show up, she literally inserts herself into the crime scene and the detective is like, 'sure this old lady seems like she can help!' I mean, he's not wrong but... 😂

I thought this was a really well done retelling of P&P. Enough details were included to connect to the original text, but each character felt fleshed out with a new modern purpose. Lizzie works at a failing queer magazine, which is bought out by the overeager Bailey and her reserved & budget-enforcing friend Darcy. Lizzie wants to do more than write fluff pieces but is angered when Darcy disparages her work. I loved the conversations about ⤵️

I've been terrible about posting reviews lately, but I did want to highlight my reread of Pride and Prejudice, and the adaptations I consumed last month for #JaneAustenThenAndNow
This book is always a joy to read, as are the 1995 & 2005 adaptations. I rewatched Fire Island, which is a very fun modern queer retelling that I adore.
I read Just as You Are, which I loved & will post a separate review for. I dnf'd one & am still reading another

#Bibliophile #NewberyWinner
Such a powerful book. I haven't read the graphic novel version yet but it's on my list

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#Bibliophile #ProtagWithDisability
I love this series of vampire romances, each with their own challenges and disabilities. Book 1 has a vampire MC with anxiety and depression, book 2 has an autistic vampire and a love interest with chronic pain, book 3 has an ADHD vampire and a love interest with diabetes.
Tagging my favorite of the series so far. Book 4 comes out later this month!

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#Bibliophile #TimeTravel #AsianAuthor
I missed yesterday so a two for one today. I love all of Mike Chen's work, but especially this time travel adventure about a man on a mission to save his daughter

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. My partner and I have started taking walks together down our (fairly long) driveway when we get home from work to connect & chat about our days 💖
2. Sally's energy is always so joyful 🐕
3. Cat snuggles & a good book 😻
4. My niece had an end-of-year concert that I unfortunately couldn't attend in person but got to see adorable pictures and videos. She didn't cry this time! 😂
5. Book mail! Pretty special editions ✨

#Bibliophile #2ndBkInTrilogy
One of my more recent favorite series, each book delightful in its own way. I need more queer historical fantasy like this in my life ✨

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#Bibliophile #FaveColorOnCvr 💙
I love this book and adore this special edition because of the pretty blue design

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#Bibliophile #PsychThriller
I'm not usually one for thrillers but I enjoyed this novel by Moriarty. I still haven't watched the series adaptation, I need to

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#Bibliophile #CultClassic
I read this in high school and it started my love for dystopian novels. More recently I don't read much of the genre anymore because it is just too real sometimes 😬

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#Bibliophile #Birds 🐦
Some great books about birding that I've read over the last year or so. Two nonfiction and a romance, but all three have inspired me to pay more attention to the feathered creatures around me. I love watching, listening, and trying to identify the birds I encounter each day 👀

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#Bibliophile #BkBasedOnPainting 🎨
I read this graphic novel at the start of the year. It's a great biography on Monet's life and career, done in the impressionist style and mimicking some of his most famous works. A beautiful rendering of a passionate life 🪷

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Guess what I managed to catch yesterday! The moment I reached 100,000 litfluence! This community is one of the best corners of the internet, so to celebrate I'm doing a giveaway 🎉
Comment or post about a great book you've read thanks to a recommendation on Litsy. I've had so many #blameitonlisty reads that have become new favorites & I want to hear about yours! Use #100KGiveaway & tag me by 5/11 - I'll send the winner a book off their wishlist!

My final #bookspinbingo card for April. So close to a cover all but I finished 22 books this month and 1 DNF
@TheAromaofBooks

#Bibliophile #Cats 🐈🐈‍⬛
I'm loving the trend of Japanese novels with cats on the covers. I've read three of these, the others on my tbr

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#5JoysFriday on Saturday! My collage this week is messy and all over the place, much like my brain 😵‍💫
@DebinHawaii
1. Independent Bookstore Day spent with my hubby
2. The last bookstore we went to was also a restaurant so we sat outside for lunch. I had a cocktail and read while we waited for our food
3. The cats being sweet and silly. We tried Cam in her harness but she mostly wanted to lay on the pavement and sniff grass
Cont ⬇️

May #bookspin picks! Any #roll100 book and Margo's Got Money Troubles, which sounds unhinged in the best way. Excited! 😆
@TheAromaofBooks

April Romance #ReadingBracket2025
It was a very difficult choice between At First Spite and Lavash at First Sight (a weird title coincidence) but I ultimately decided to go with this one. I really loved the character growth of the two main characters

April Fiction #ReadingBracket2025
We read this one in my book club and we all really enjoyed it, which is rare lol. Planning on reading the sequel this month!

I'm listening to the Amazon Classics version of Northanger Abbey this month. This will be my second time reading this novel. Last time I realized belatedly that the edition I listened to was abridged, so while it was delightful I'm looking forward to getting the full experience this time around.
#JaneAustenThenandNow @Crinoline_Laphroaig

#Bibliophile #PoetryCollection
I've been slowly working my way through this collection this past month 🌱

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

April Nonfiction #ReadingBracket2025
I haven't read any of Amy Tan's fiction work but loved her memoir about bird watching 🐦‍⬛

#Bibliophile 🎪 #Circus
Two trapeze artist edges on two circus themed books

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

April #MonthlyNonfiction2025 Reads
Some great selections this month, I enjoyed them all
@julieclair

Such an assorted mix of #roll100 picks for May! Mood reader that I am, I'll wait to see what strikes my fancy this month, but I think I'll definitely try to read the tagged. It's been on my TBR for ages
@PuddleJumper

My May #bookspin list is finally ready I think. I've got a few extra bookclub commitments this month, we'll see if I can pull them all off...
#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Unfortunately bailing on this one for now. I might try the ebook once my hoopla borrows reset for May, but I've been slogging through this audiobook. I'm a third of the way and feel like barely anything has happened. Has anyone else read this one? Does the pace pick up at all?
I'm bummed because it was doing some cool things inverting the Darcy/Elizabeth characters that I was excited to see explored
#JaneAustenThenAndNow

Final #bookhaul from the book crawl this month, plus a few from the annual library book sale. Good thing I have a big empty bookshelf waiting to be filled 🤭

Happy Independent Bookstore Day! I'm off to catch the last six bookstores on the Greater Charlotte Book Crawl. Support your local indies today! 📚
#independentbookstoreday #bookcrawl #gcbc
(oh and Benny says hi 😽) #catsoflitsy

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
Overflowing with joy from this past weekend!
My niece Jolene turned 4 & had a princess tea party to celebrate! 👑🫖
My parents came to visit for the occasion & Lewis cooked a feast on Sunday while we played outside in the sunshine.
My present to Jo was her own wooden tea set which she wanted to paint immediately.
I also was able to give my dad his belated Christmas present, some new custom Spider-Man shoes that I painted

"Everyone knows that when you throw a dinner party for a bunch of lesbians, at least half of them will be vegan."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

It's interesting to see how each P&P retelling incorporates that famous first line. This one is so cheeky, with just a nod to the original. Love it
#JaneAustenThenAndNow @Crinoline_Laphroaig

Two Armenian families enter a competition to promote their food brands. Nazeli & Vanya have an instant chemistry which their shared culture strengthens, until they realize their parents have been in a years-long feud. They hide their budding relationship while trying to convince the judges that Armenian cuisine can be palatable to the masses
Loved the romance in this one! Forbidden romance/rivals
And I enjoyed learning about Armenian food &culture

#WeirdWordWednesday @CBee
Mellifluous is also a pleasant word to say! I love that the Latin translates almost literally to 'flows like honey' 🍯

My evening activities consisted of the last episode of BBC Pride & Prejudice and a bubble bath 🛁 #selfcare

#JaneAustenThenAndNow @Crinoline_Laphroaig

Happy #5JoysFriday ☺️ This week seemed to fly by! @DebinHawaii

1. Lunch at a great new Mexican place 😋
2. Love being back to regular aerial practice again
3. Met up with my sister's bookclub at the new all romance bookstore. Fun people and a great store!
4. Many bookstore trips for the Charlotte Book Crawl! It's so fun but I always buy too many books 🫣
5. Took a chance on a mystery book that turned out to be one I wanted 🎉

I don't usually buy mystery books like this cause I'm worried I'll have already read/own it, but this one sounded real cute and in my wheelhouse so I took a chance.
❔❓Any guesses on the book? ❓❔

This past week's #bookhaul from my first leg of the Greater Charlotte Book Crawl - a few favorites and a few from the TBR

🚨New Pride and Prejudice adaptation in the works!🚨

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/pride-and-prejudice-netflix-emma-co...

First Quarter Romance #ReadingBracket2025
The majority of my reads in March were romance, so it was tough to narrow down. But these two I read for the #TransRightsReadathon and really enjoyed them both. The tagged is moving on as my favorite for the quarter. (The bonus pick is The Dandelion and the Thistle btw, it's hard to read so tiny)

I came across this one today. It comes from 'elegy'. Another definition calls it wistfully mournful, which I liked
The book I read it in was describing a poem in which "she sees the woman she‘s in love with sitting next to a man, and admires his composure. Because she knows if she were the one sitting next to the woman, she would be at a loss for words."
I've been reading a lot more poetry this month so I appreciate this new word

First Quarter Fiction #ReadingBracket2025
This was a tough decision. I had to sit with the finalists for a bit to decide what went on. Ultimately I decided on this cozy fantasy, which was like a warm hug in book form.

First Quarter Nonfiction #ReadingBracket2025 complete!
Helen Gibson leading the race so far 😄

My #5JoysFriday are from our recent camping trip in Georgia. I got to read most of my book in front of the fire. We went hiking to Brasstown Bald, the highest point in GA, and also trekked to a few nearby waterfalls. We saw a huge snapping turtle in the lake of the park we were staying at. The trip was a meetup for my husband's Coleman lantern collector's group, so we got to visit with them. Spotted a few new birds in the mornings!
@DebinHawaii

My April #bookspin and #doublespin picks!
Any of my #roll100 picks and the buddy read for #riseupreads 🦋
@TheAromaofBooks @PuddleJumper @Catsandbooks

Finished four nonfiction books this month, with an unintentional focus on history
#MonthlyNonfiction2025 @julieclair

April #Roll100 picks! @PuddleJumper

Happy April! 🌸 Finally got my #bookspin list ready for the month!
@TheAromaofBooks

#CoverStories Day 30 #Sea
A great book - which cover version do you prefer?

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#CoverStories Day 29 #Music 🎼🎶
Poston's newest that comes out later this year, looks like another good one

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs