#EBBR

My solved to stumped ratio was particularly bad in this one! 😬 Though, IMO, none of the solutions were particularly convincing. Was the author running out of ideas, I wonder?

Also, it was unpleasant reading due to one incident of animal cruelty and racist portrayals of indigenous Americans. The fact that it was the Seminole, however, it does help geolocate Idaville as being in Florida or one of its neighboring states with a coastline.

#whereareyoumonday

While still visiting Norway and England in other books, today I am concentrating on Costal Maine, the setting of this collection of stories/vignettes by Sarah Orne Jewett, who was a writer much admired by Willa Cather.

#offmyshelf “most recent TBR”
#ohcanada

This novel brings an important aspect of Canadian history to light-the use/abuse of indigent British children as indentured servants in Canada in the 19th and 20th cent. Told from the present with flashbacks to the past by Winnie to her granddaughter.

I‘m glad to have read it. However, I didn‘t like the writing or storytelling style personally. I found it too basic, the characters felt one dimensional.

#weekendreads

I have a lot going on this weekend, but I hope to at least have enough time to finish the #ohcanada pick and #EBBR and #NancyDrewBR . Those are quick ones.

I‘m reading the Sarah Orne Jewett b/c of the podcast “One Bright Book” and it takes time to digest.

The bottom two are also slower for me #hashtagbrigade and #DoorstopKristen #KLBR .

#whereareyoumonday

I am going to be in medieval Norway for the next couple months for #KLBR #DoorstopKristen. Enjoying it a lot, though I know it‘s also at times going to make me sad.

#Roll100
#OffMyShelf “Out of your comfort zone”
#14Books14Weeks

A good friend gave me this book, it‘s very much not what I usually read. But I‘m glad I did. There are no easy fixes or answers. Boyle asks only that we have compassion for our fellow humans.

“The strategy of Jesus is not centered in taking the right stand on issues, but rather in standing in the right place-with the outcast and those relegated to the margins.”

My #TimeTravelTop5

1. Life After Life - Kate Atkinson
2. Kindred - Octavia Butler
3. Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
4. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
5. Version Control - Dexter Palmer

I had to use the internet to remind me of what I have read that fit. There were some titles I‘ve read but don‘t like b/c romance was the focus - not my cuppa.

Do you have a favorite time travel book? Post ‘em or let me know in the comments! 😃

#wondrousWednesday Thank you for the tag @Ddzmini 😊

1. Be satisfied with enough.
2. 🙊😻📚
2. The book I am reading “Woodworking” by Emily St. James.

If you‘re reading this and want to respond, consider yourself tagged!

#whereReyoumonday

Reading very much out of my comfort zone, I‘m in East Los Angeles in the current century with Pastor Gregory Boyle and the congregants and residents of the area in this nonfiction account of Boyle‘s outreach efforts.

#weekendreads

I have two library books on my kindle this weekend. Should finish Stag Dance by Sunday. 🤞

Thanks so much to @Andrew65 and @Tove_Reads for hosting the #ShelfSweeper readathon in May. I was uncertain at first but I managed to read all six of my planned books. 🤩 I appreciate this kick in the pants to dust off (sometimes literally! 😂) a few of those lingering tomes and read ‘em!

@batsy is right. This book is 🍌👖! Per the introduction it‘s one of the first novels to feature a female (amateur) detective. The “Lady” definitely shares some characteristics with Marion Halcolmb from The Woman in White. She‘s subverting Victorian ideals of femininity but apologizing for it, more often than not. In some ways this book made me think the fairytale Bluebeard in the protagonist‘s effort to find out the truth about her husband.

#beachreadsfindaway

See original post https://litsy.com/p/SEhEWG5NakJx for a chance to win a book of your choice by telling @vivastory your idea of a good beach read!

I think by definition, it‘s supposed to be lightmaybe because one is easily distracted on vacation? But if you want to read War & Peace on the sand, by all means. I took the 800+ page I Claudius/Claudius the God on vacation once. Another time The Name of the Rose. Both excellent!

#WondrousWednesday

1. Now I don‘t care, but as a kid, I wished I‘d been named Naomi. I thought it was pretty. 😊

2. My current feral cat living in my front yard I usually call Fluffer Nutter Butter instead of Tom. He is very fluffy. His now deceased brother I called Skinny Minnie instead of Tim. 😻

3. It‘s not a favorite, but I assumed Bryony was a made up name when I encountered it in Mary Stewart‘s “Touch Not the Cat”, but it‘s for reals. 😅

#Hashtagbrigade
#ChunksterChallenge2025 Bitsy chunkster 544 pages
#AllergictoChunksters

I‘m not sure if I love or hate the ending? Set in the mid 19th cent., this is the story of Maggie Tulliver who, were she a man, would have had the education and success she deserved. She‘s smarter than her father, who favors her, and her brother, who loves her but holds her back. Phillip is her intellectual equal. Stephan I think she‘d eventually tire of…

Murdoch is for me an acquired taste and only to be enjoyed in measure. She‘s impossible to read quickly.

This is farce set in late sixties London, Bradley Pearson is a retired civil servant and unsuccessful novelist. Told from his POV, which is questionable, it‘s what happens when instead of writing his magnum opus, his life falls apart, with no little help from his own ineptitude, jealousy, and solipsism. Wickedly funny at times and quite dark.

#WhereAreYouMonday

I‘m only 100 pages in, but this is a kind of a Victorian detective novel where I suspect the sleuth will be traveling a bit between England and Scotland looking for clues and witnesses to overturn a “Scotch Verdict”.

#weekendreads

Trying to get to my #Roll100 picks before the end of the month! 🤞

Hello #EBBR armchair detectives! I hope all are having a good weekend, especially if you are in the US and have Monday off. This is a quick reminder to get your mitts on the next book for June.

I vaguely recognize the cover of this one, so may have read it before? 🤔 We‘ll see if anything feels familiar when I dive in.

This monthly buddy read is open to all! If anyone would like to be added to or removed from the tag list, let me know. 😃

#WhereAreYouMonday

I‘m in Nebraska with Alexandra Bergson and family as they try to farm and prosper while so many of their neighbors fail and move back to the cities to try their luck.

This is also the fourth book on deck for the #ShelfSweeper readathon. 😊

#FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

A charming Cinderella story, though I felt a little sorry for bad-girl Cora. Also, when Bunny fainted, I laughed, it was so melodramatic- which was I think not the intended reaction. 😂

Aesthetician Ann, from an impoverished but proud and upstanding middle class family, meets cute Sir Timothy. Will class differences hold back true love? If you‘ve ever read Susan Scarlett before, you know the answer. 😍

#OffMyShelf “indy press”

After the intensity of “The Trees”, maybe Everett just wanted to have a little fun? This book is pretty goofy, with just the slightest edge. It did make me laugh. A James Bond like spoof. Professor Kitu (born Ralph Townshend) has made a career out of the study of nothing. When he‘s approached by a super villain who wants to harness nothing to achieve world domination, he agrees. He‘s up to nothing. Nothing happens. 😂

Hello reading friends. I hope you all had fun reading this month‘s #EBBR book. I missed the solutions for three of the cases! 😅 My powers of deduction seem to be getting worse!

I must say, winning a pie a day for a month in The Case of the Blueberry Pies sounded delicious! 🥧😋

#TLT #ThreeListThursday

Thank you for the tag @dabbe 😊 I‘ve picked for my three, some Zola titles I‘ve not yet read. I will nominate all three for next year‘s #HashtagBrigade selections. 🤞 I know that Zola super fan @sisilia will support this! 😂

#14Books14Weeks

📚This is my stack of 14 books to read between May 26 and September 1. The library copy of “Kristin Lavransdatter” is only a place holder, since I actually own it on Kindle. All the others are from my physical shelves. 📚

#weekendreads
#shelfsweeper

#TLT. #ThreeListThursday

Thank you for the tag @dabbe . 😊 My three are books that I have read with the #HashtagBrigade and probably would not have picked up otherwise! 😃

#OffMyShelf “Owned > 5 years”
My first completed book for #Shelfsweeper readathon . 😃

I listened to this on audio, read by the author. It was like a very long podcast…entertaining but I don‘t know that much will stick. But I don‘t think it‘s Gladwell‘s intention to write a how-to about how to create social movements or ad campaigns. He‘s more interested in exploring the fascinating and contradictory nature of human behavior and thought.

Come celebrate @peanutnine ‘s milestone of 100k Litfluence by telling her about one of your favorite BlameitonLitsy titles. Details about this #100KGIVEAWAY are in her original post.

My pick is The Cazalet Chronicles, which I‘d heard of prior to Litsy, but it was really the effusive praise from Littens that tipped me over the edge!

Honorable mention goes to Cranford by E. Gaskell. I didn‘t really like North and South, but I LOVED Cranford!

#WhereareyouMonday

This Monday I‘m in 1930s Syria at an archaeological dig with Dame Agatha and her second husband, Max Mallowan. Some of my favorite Poirot novels are those set in the Levant region, so I am looking forward to this memoir.

Slow but steady progress with #SeriesLove2025 . This is book 2 in the 5 book series set in England during WWII.

Howard excels at writing interesting characters that are fully human, with all the good and the bad that comes with that. And her balance is impeccable as well with this exceptionally large cast of an extended family and their servants.

The UK/US covers are a little bland IMO, so I have included some of the foreign editions for fun.

#OhCanada
#ShelfSweeper
#4Elizabeth
#WeekendReads

#ThreeListThursday
#TLT

Thank you for the tag @dabbe 😊

I agree, the list was particularly Pratchett heavy! 😅 Pictured are three titles that I would like to re-read and lucky me, the tagged book is going to be the #HashtagBrigade pick for September! 🥳

These are all books I physically own that I hope to read in May for the #ShelfSweeper readathon hosted by @Tove_Reads and @Andrew65 .

I didn‘t see any from @eanderson ‘s list that happened to coincide with my plans but I will still be reading in her memory #4Elizabeth ❤️ If there is a heaven, surely it is a library.

Happy Spring #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub members! Our choice for May is the tagged by club favorite Susan Scarlett, aka Noel Streatfield. Based on previous books by her, I expect a heroine we can root for and a baddie we can love to hate! 🤞😂

Be sure to tag everyone when you post blurbs or a review so we can like and comment. Read at your own pace.

All are welcome. If anyone wants to be added/removed from the tag list, let me know.

@LitsyEvents

#whereareyoumonday
#roll100

I‘m on the home front in Britain in 1940. The extended Cazalet clan has taken up permanent residence on the Sussex estate. Told mostly from the perspective of the third generation of the family teenagers Louise, Clarey, and Polly who experience the uncertainty of life during wartime while also navigating the transition from childhood to adulthood.

#weekendreads

Busy weekend for me, but I do have all three on Kindle, so I might be able to squeeze a little in here and there on my phone. 🤞😬

I‘m going to try to read all six of my May #Roll100 options. 🤞

Tagging @BarbaraBB and @CarolynM because I know you will cheer me on to read your favorite Iris Murdoch. 😅

🎲 3 - The Black Prince
🎲 30 - Shadow and Bone

🎲 4 - Tell Me How You Live
🎲 40 - The Law and the Lady

🎲 7 - Baby Doll Games
🎲 70 - Dr. No

#EBBR

Ready for another round with our favorite boy detective? Time to put in your hold or otherwise grab a copy of the tagged for May.

Looking at the cover of the 1967 edition with the polar bear, I remember the solution to that particular mystery! It‘s weird what sticks from childhood, huh?

This buddy read is open for all-if anyone not tagged wants to be, let me know. Equally, if anyone wants to be removed, say the word.

@LitsyEvents

#OffMyShelf “New Author”

Little Bee flees violence and murder in Nigeria only to encounter prejudice and indifference in England. She seeks out a British couple and their horrific original chance meeting and its repercussions are revealed.

I appreciated the message in this book, which calls for compassion towards asylum seekers, but I didn‘t get on with the style. It felt too heavy and obvious. Glad to have experienced this author however.

#OffMyShelf “Award Winning”
#ChunksterChallenge2025
#AllergictoChunksters

Longlisted for the 2020 International Booker, it also won two German awards per the back flap.

It took me two months to read this 1275 page monster. It‘s a multigenerational saga about a Georgian family from 1900 to 2007. Very melodramatic - I didn‘t particularly like it but appreciated the mental workout of reading in German. I read it w/ a friend & complained to her. 😂

#WhereAreYouMonday

Apparently based on Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, I am still with Maggie Tulliver and co. in the mid 19th century reading for #HashtagBrigade . The “real river” is the Trent and it is quite imposing looking. “Floss” sounds so sweet and gentle. But the Trent is known for its dramatic flooding that can even change the course of the river.

#moodboardcontest #mbc

Congratulations @dabbe on your 200k milestone! 👏👏👏

My mood board is a selection of dream libraries and book nooks on Pinterest. It is a reflection of where I go in my head when I need a break from reality. I find them soothing to look at. ☺️

#whereareyoumonday

I appear to be in Kingston upon Thames in greater London some time earlier this century with a young Nigerian refugee, Little Bee, and a recently widowed mother and her young son. There‘s a bit of a mystery as to how they are connected and what Little Bee has escaped.

Checking in with my #EBBR pals! I was bested in three cases. I‘ll put in under a spoiler comment my issue with one particular.

Fun fact: we find that Encyclopedia lives in a state with a coastline! I‘m imagining Oregon.

I am enjoying the goofy humor, like:

“I‘ve seen a match box and a boardwalk, but I‘ve never had to solve a pillowcase,” said Encyclopedia thoughtfully. 😂

“He‘s like a set of false teeth, always trying to get even” 🤣

I‘m excited to join in this summer with #CampLitsy25 ! These are my nominations. Whatever we end up reading, the experience and discussion are always enlightening.

This quiz was fun. I‘m mostly purple. One of the books suggested was Cloud Atlas , which I loved, which tracks. But I‘m also almost equally orange, which leans towards epic fantasy. Try it! https://www.readyourcolor.com/take-the-assessment

Thanks for the link and post @TheLudicReader ! 😊

#whereareyoumonday

Nancy and I head down to Florida. Perfect timing for spring break!

#weekendreads

Two chunksters this weekend. Won‘t finish either, naturally, but steady as she goes.

#50KGIVEAWAY

Congratulations on reaching this milestone @CSeydel ! 🥳 And thank you for the giveaway opportunity.

As others have pointed out, there are many, many things to love about Litsy. For this prompt, I‘m gonna say DISCOVERY. I love encountering books and authors I might not otherwise. It‘s an adventure! 😊