I‘m going to try and complete the shortish Bewilderment for the #20in4 Readathon hosted by the wonderful@Andrew65 . I also hope to make headway in my re-read if Susan Howatch‘s Starbridge series, book no. 5 Mystical Paths and in Rushdie‘s The Satanic Verses, but I don‘t expect to finish either.

Read for #ToB22LongList . Between a pick and a so-so. I LOVED Binet‘s HHhH but while this had a similar playful style, I thought the alternative history was a little dull. The book is a thought experiment: what if instead of Europe invading the Americas in the 16th century, the Incas invaded Europe? I probably would have gotten more from it were I better acquainted with world history. As it was, I did a lot of googling.

Here are my choices for #CloakandDaggerChristmas . In all honesty, I think I‘ll only manage one, but we‘ll see!

🕵🏼‍♂️Tey = Golden Age Mystery
🕵🏼‍♂️James = Set in a Different Country
🕵🏼‍♂️Maron = Start of a New Series
🕵🏼‍♂️Swanson = Amateur Detective (though I think maybe this is a cheat and a thriller, not detective novel...

My late #Two4Tuesday. Thanks for the tag @Eggs ! 😀

1. My family is conspiring to cut into my reading time! 😢 I have something I *have* to do all four days. So I don‘t think I will read more than usual.

2. All the things that I eat only this time of the year: pumpkin and pecan pie, roast turkey, green bean casserole, yams, etc. 😋

Not really accurate, but still funny! 😆 #LitsyHumor

A gentle farce with subtle humor but improbable situations (not the least of which what Jocasta ever saw in Quentin!) The story is about a Byron forgery inspired in part as jealous revenge against Byron himself, despite the fact he‘s been dead for over 140 years. And the ultimate fruit of all Quentin‘s efforts? Hilarious!

I am fascinated by the author who founded The Fashion Museum in Bath and designed Hepburn‘s costume in The African Queen. 😮

I love challenges that make me read the books I own to balance out the siren song of the library and new books from thrift and bookstores!

If you also need inspiration along these lines, check out #ROLL190 at @PuddleJumper and sign up for her 100 book challenge in 2022.

It will be tough because I don‘t read much over 100 books a year, but I still wanna try! 😬

The trouble with reading 5 books at once is that it feels like forever before I finish one and show any progress! 😅 I‘m glad to report I finished these two for #NovelNovember. Master and Commander also is for Nautical November #RoaringWolf for the category “Read a Classic about Sea Life“. Bookworm is also a nod toward Nonfiction November. I enjoyed both books very much.

Thanks for the tag @wanderinglynn ! 😀#Two4Tuesday

1. I hit my Goodreads goal. I still have two books to read for #Booked2021. I‘m doing an online Back to the Classics challenge where I think I‘m gonna be one book short, unfortunately. 😬

2. Tons! I want to read at least one book for Nautical November for #RoaringWolf maybe two?

No matter the day of the week, if you are reading this and want to do this tag, DO IT! 😅

@ReadingEnvy I even ran into this world in wild recently when reading Terry Pratchett! 😅

https://themorningnews.org/article/the-year-in-fiction-2021

Hey! The 2022 Long List for the 2022 Tournament of Books has been announced! I‘m so excited! 😝 I‘ve read 10 of the 68 books. Will any of you be following along in March 2022? #ToB #ToB2022

These are the five books I have on tap for the #NovelNovember readathon which starts tomorrow. All are in various stages of completion. My goal is to finish My Caravaggio Year and Bookworm at the very least by Nov. 21. At a stretch, Id like to finish all five but that‘s pushing it! 😅

I combo listened (narration by Moira Quirk=fantastic)/ read the ebook. I honestly didn‘t understand what was going on until at least 60% and I‘m still not sure I get all of it, but I loved it! It has aspects of both, but I would categorize it as Fantasy over Sci-Fi. Gideon, a thrall bound to the Ninth House, gets her chance to escape when she becomes the Cavalier to her house‘s Necromancer. It‘s bonkers, funny, touching and incredibly creative.

1. One dream is visiting Wigtown, Scotland or Hay on Wye in Wales to visit all the bookshops there. ❤️📚

2. If it‘s a used bookstore, I usually bring a list of authors to look for, otherwise it can be overwhelming. In first run book stores, I typically only have one title in mind but I definitely eye the new arrivals area too! ❤️📚

Feel like playing? Considering yourself tagged!

#Two4Tuesday Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView 😃

🍂 1. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright can instantly transport me back to 4th grade. ❤️

🍂 2. I have no particular preference. I‘m an all-weather reader. 😅

🍂 3. Today I am grateful for my local libraries. 📚

Thanks for the tag @erzascarletbookgasm 😃

#WondrousWednesday

#ThinkPositiveBePositive

Thanks for the tag @RaeLovesToRead ! A little late but it is still Tuesday in my time zone...

📚1. Solid. I read a reasonable amount.

📚2. I‘m not really up on new releases. I do have, Nobody Somebody, Anybody on hold at the library, which was a July 2021 release...that‘s as close as I can get.

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

Hi #FurrowedMiddleBrowClub reading friends. I just wanted to quickly remind you of the planned November 2021 group read: My Caravaggio Style. Plan to read and start discussing mid month, if that works for you.

If other Littens want to join in, please do! Any one can participate. 😃

@LeahBergen @rubyslippersreads @CarolynM @quietjenn @Cathythoughts @erzascarletbookgasm @batsy @tamra @sarabellum @BookNAround

I achieved my goal of reading one book for the #20in4 Halloween weekend readathon. This was a rare re-read for me. Nevill Aysgarth is an ambitious, married Archdeacon in 1942 when he meets socialite Dido Tallent. She becomes yet another ultimate prize for him to pursue as he desperately tries to keep what he thinks of the undesirable aspects of his personality tamped down. No. 3 in the Starbridge series - Compulsive and emotionally satisfying.

I‘ll be taking part in the Halloween weekend edition of #20in4 hosted by @Andrew65 ! I hate Mondays, so I‘m choosing to participate starting Thursday, Oct. 28 thru Sunday, Oct. 31.

All are welcome to participate and post what you‘ve read. Do it! It‘s fun! 😃

I actually finished a book last night and haven‘t really started anything new yet. 😱 🥳 THE SKY IS THE LIMIT! 🚀 I think my goal will be to start and complete one book by Sunday.

2nd book for #OutstandingOctober. The last in the St. Benet‘s trilogy. Despite the dated (and I suspect made up) ‘90s slang, this was another satisfying story of redemption from Howatch. I found it surprisingly moving. Howatch has said she‘s a writer who writes on Christian themes rather than a “Christian writer”. She doesn‘t proselytize which I appreciate. Weird slang aside, it‘s compulsive story. I‘m also using it for #booked2021 Heart in title.

For all you NYRB readers, if you would like the opportunity to win a year‘s subscription to the NYRB Classics Book Club, listen to episode 11 of the Mookse and the Gripes podcast to find out how.

Also, if anyone is looking for another bookish podcast, I recommend this one. Paul and Trevor discuss books, authors, publishers, reading habits, etc. in an entertaining and laid back style.

#ThinkPositiveBePositive

Thanks for the tag @EadieB and @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 😊

Happy Birthday @TheAromaofBooks 🥳 🎂 💕 🥳 ! I normally don‘t get too much reading done in the week but the 50 pages I managed today were for YOU. #BirthdayBash

My first completed book for #OutstandingOctober. 😃

This is the 6th and possibly penultimate book in the Shardlake series. Our Tudor era lawyer is once again drawn into political machinations when he is asked by Lord Parr to find a stolen manuscript on behalf of his niece, Queen Catherine. Hotheaded Nicholas Overton is a good addition as an apprentice lawyer. As usual, Shardlake doesn‘t know when to let sleeping dogs lie, which leads to danger.

😂😂😂

Who‘s ready for a week long, choose your own goals readathon starting this Saturday? 😃 #OutstandingOctober hosted by @Andrew65 will soon be upon us.

I‘m currently reading two books, Lamentation by C. J. Samson and The Heartbreaker by Susan Howatch, both which are fairly long and will take me into the weekend for sure and possibly beyond.

Let everyone know what you‘ll be reading!

The Shirley Jackson vibes are definitely here! This story of a mad housewife is unsettling. Prim and proper upper class Mrs. March is unnerved when it is suggested that the prostitute main character in her husband‘s new novel is based on her. But Feito slowly reveals that things haven‘t been right with Mrs March for a long, long time...

I‘m using this creepy novel for the category “book with green on cover” for #RoaringWolf Ominous October.

A short novel with a Russian teen attending a low ranked English boarding school. No midnight feasts, instead the girls featured are obsessed with dieting and weight loss. I feel like Thomas was going for satire here but it didn‘t quite land for me. There was also a mystery aspect, but it felt underdone.

I‘m counting this for the Frenemies category for #Booked2021 Fall Edition. That wasn‘t the theme of the book but there were instances of it.

A pick with reservations. This was suitably creepy. It hit all its marks but felt predictable. I wanted something less generic.

Now in an asylum, the story flashes back to 1865, when then recently widowed Elsie visits her husband‘s estate. The decrepit manor has a tragic and haunted past. Journal excerpts from 1635 help fill in some of its history and suggest the family Elsie married into is cursed.

#RoaringWolf Ominous October (Spooky Family)

Thanks for the tag @Eggs ! #WondrousWednesday

🍁 1. I want to read at least one book for Ominous October hosted by #RoaringWolf...maybe two? Definitely will also take part in the #OutstandingOctober readathon hosted by @Andrew65 .
🍁I love squash which is a nice seasonally appropriate vegetable!
🍁Today I am grateful for kind and supportive work colleagues.

Anyone else feel like playing? Consider yourself tagged. 😃

Read for #Booked2021 Fall edition/Jewish author

This was similar in style to Doctorow‘s masterpiece ‘Ragtime‘ in its depiction of a moment in history told from multiple viewpoints. Not all who join at the start of Sherman‘s march from Augusta GA to Durham NC will finish. As with any novel about war, there‘s a lot of brutality and sadness; some hope too, but we know now the US Civil War would expose a wound which is still not healed to this day.

Last day of #ForTheLoveOfBookmarks and the prompt is to show where we store our bookmarks. Most of mine are in this mug next to my reading chair for easy access along with pens and spare reading glasses.

A big thank you to @aperfectmjk for creating this challenge! It‘s been great fun! 😃

It‘s #Two4Tuesday on Wednesday! 😂 Thanks for the tag @RaeLovesToRead . 😃

1. Nope. Unfortunately that‘s too much of a commitment for me. But I love seeing everyone else‘s posts!

2. I thought I would try to read at least one seasonally appropriate book in October. Hopefully The Silent Companions will arrive at the library soon. 🤞

I‘m not much of a seasonal reader but I want to read at least ONE spooky book in October! 🎃 #RoaringWolf

I‘ve already featured many bookmarks that were gifts from others but this is the only one that‘s a 3-D printed cat! 😻 My sister gave it to me last year. #ForTheLoveOfBookmarks

Thanks for the tag @Cathythoughts 😊 #ThinkPositiveBePositive

My second and last book for Sci-Fi September #RoaringWolf. At under 150 pages, this novella fits the category “Warp Speed” (Read in one day).

This was a sweet, gentle story about a human “tea monk” and a robot. I miss the marvelous alien worlds of the author‘s Wayfarer series, but I did enjoy Sibling Dex‘ journey of enlightenment through their encounter with the robot Mosscap. It was replete with Chambers‘ typical positivity and optimism. ❤️

Thanks for the tag @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks . 😊 #ThinkPositiveBePositive

I‘ve already displayed a few reading/book related bookmarks for other prompts; here‘s the rest. #ForTheLoveOfBookmarks

Reposting the October photo challenge prompts for #Haunted hosted by @Eggs and @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks . 👻 🎃🧛‍♀️ Lots of great ideas to get your creative juices flowing!

I had to skip the last two prompts and maybe I‘m still fudging it here? I think they are Pop Culture because they riff on (from left to right) a novelty rap song, Roy Lichtenstein and an ad campaign...🤔
#ForTheLoveOfBookmarks

🍁 Cooler temperatures!
🍁 Lattes!
🍁 Friday evening!
🍁 My local libraries!

#WondrousWednesday

Thanks for the tag @inlovewithmyshelf ! 😀 Want to play @BkClubCare ?

I typically don‘t use postcards as bookmarks, but I thought I‘d take this opportunity to show a few from my reading friend @BkClubCare . She likes pie, if you hadn‘t noticed! 😅 #ForTheLoveOfBookmarks

“Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace” ☮️ #ThinkPositiveBePositive

Thanks for the tag @Eggs ☺️

My only coffee/tea themed bookmark. ☕️ #ForTheLoveOfBookmarks

I managed a fourth book, just under the wire, for the #SuperSeptember readathon that ends today. The tagged book was a weird one...I‘m not sure if I “got” it? I loved the first 2/3 which are awkward and creepy. Remy and Alicia are a little too obsessed with a former coworker, Jen, and her instagram page. They are most comfortable when pretending to be someone they aren‘t...but then who are they really? But the last third was too out there for me.

My only food related bookmark. It‘s too small to see, the pictures are of fish in the Atlantic that are edible to humans. 🐠 🐟 #ForTheLoveOfBookmarks

My 3rd book (and likely last) for #SuperSeptember. An unnamed narrator takes a temporary position as interpreter at the International Court of Justice at The Hague. The book is mainly interior thoughts as she navigates her new transitory life, meets new people and considers the ethical implications of her work. This is a deceptively simple novel. Underneath there are big questions about complicity and justice and moral relativism.

My only Astronomy/Astrology themed bookmark. 🚀 This exercise is pointing out the motley nature of my collection. 😅

#ForTheLoveOfBookmarks