New year, same old list. Did clear out a few from last month though. Last year I found keeping 21-25 free and embracing audiobooks let me read quite a bit more! Here‘s to an even more productive reading year for 2026!

With this book I met my reading goal of 2025! Woo hoo!

In other news, I‘ve started a fun YA series that is a great premise and does a wonderful job of pulling from elements of the original fairy tale without just being a retelling. Can‘t wait for the next one.

Book was gifted to me forever ago by @CBee (sorry just getting around to this)
Final #bookspin read of the year @TheAromaofBooks

I enjoyed this story I think more than it‘s predecessor, even though I didn‘t enjoy the narration as much. The story was much more engaging and dramatic. 20 years after the original story Ellis‘ life is disrupted and she returns to Ireland. I like how this one gives you more than Ellis‘ perspective and you are invested in all characters. ⬇️

Enjoying my new bookmark. Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday. Happy Reading! 📖 📚

After listening to the last sectioning and not absorbing anything and realizing after this weeks discussion that I‘m completely missing things, I‘m gonna bail. It seems my group is really “enjoying” it so I would feel bad giving this a bad rating when the problem may be either myself or the means in which I‘ve decided to read this. Maybe next time #sundaybuddyread

This was basically a Hallmark Christmas movie in book form and I loved every bit of it! Wish I picked up sooner!!!

I think it took me just about 5 years to finish all four books in this series, but I did it! It was a fun listen, though some of the characters were kind of annoying but their various powers were cool and a great storyline. But agree with a lot of other reviews that the ending felt rushed.

Meh…a cheesy free/discount book that delivered on what I paid for it. Quick and easy though and kinda mindless which was nice. Picture of sunrise reflecting on the Rocky‘s after our first snowstorm of the season.

A beautifully written coming of age tale of a quiet young woman who leaves Ireland for America. WE follow her as she navigates this new life, creating something of her own. As she settles in, news brings her back to Ireland but with a new found confidence but questions about whether she‘ll return or not. This was a slow burn, but ended up finding this very engaging. Read for #literarycrew

Books are unpacked so back to my physical book list! Which is a lot more pleasant to read by the light of our Christmas tree! 🎄 Happy Holidays and Happy Reading! #bookspin #booskpinbingo #doublespin

An enlightening look at the horror and brilliance of Pablo Picasso as told by his long time partner Francoise Gilot. She in herself is an amazing human and it seems because of that, she alone was able to survive the relationship with this monster. I didn‘t know much about him before reading this and wasn‘t a huge fan of his art anyway, but I‘ll definitely look at It differently moving forward. Read for #sundaybuddyread

The rapture was (and still is a little) a terrifying concept to me especially when I was younger so starting this was quite unsettling. But once I got over that, I was really interested in the human response in this scenario. I loved following the different people and can see how this would transition really well to the screen. It makes me want to watch the show given the way the ending was. Read for #literarycrew

I got this as a blind date book for banned books week from the library and it might be one of the most incredible stories I‘ve read. The Walls children define perseverance. The relationship they have with their parents is incredibly complicated yet so full of love. I‘m astounded about what they‘ve gone through. I‘m so thankful Jeanette is brave enough to tell her story; this will sit with me for a long time. #doublespin

Still haven‘t unpacked my books so sticking with my mostly digital list. Didn‘t get a ton of reading done as it was a crazy month for us so we‘ll see if November is any better! #bookspin #doublespin #bookspinbingo

This was a little tough of a read for me. I really enjoy this author but this was probably my least favorite from her. That being said, I still enjoyed it a bit. I loved the setting and as usual the story wrapped up very well. This was a change from her style using two heroines but it ended up being so much information that it was distracting and hard to follow at times. Still an auto read for me. #sundaybuddyread

“I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster.” #firstlinefridays #bannedbooks #blinddatewithabook

I‘ve always wanted to do one of these and what better way than with a banned book for banned book week. #bannedbook #blinddatewithabook

Soft pick for this one. Finished on my way back home from vacation. A slow build (almost too slow) but some fun twists but unlikeable characters which really didn‘t help my buy in on the resolution. A good vacation read, but won‘t stick with me. This was a #bookspin for September (maybe #doublespin, I can‘t remember)

All my physical books are packed, so this month is a digital list as will be on vacation then moving when #bookspin #doublespin and #bookspinbingo come out.

I wanted to like this more, but I genuinely am happy to have introduced to Frances Perkins. It‘s amazing to have gone 40+ without having heard of her. I definitely want to learn more. The book struggled stylistically; bounced between fiction and historical fiction. Really could have done with a solid edit, but gained appreciation when I read this was a kickstarter. #bookspin and #sundaybuddyread for September

A solid listen and story. A slow start as he was building the world and lost myself in a lot of the planning, but boy did it end up being quite exciting and hard to put down by the end!

This bracket so far. #readingbracket2025

Since I‘ve probably finished what I‘m gonna for this month, gonna go ahead drop this now. Life is getting quite hectic so not sure how much I‘ll get to reading especially since we‘re moving (not far) but packing and what not I‘m sure will limit my reading. Fingers crossed!🤞 #bookspin #doublespin #bookspinbingo

Did the audiobook version. It was fine, but didn‘t hit me like it seems to have others. Good narration but really was more background for me. Maybe physical copy would have done better. #literarycrew

A well written YA thriller that keeps you guessing. I would have loved it 20-30 years ago. It was a fun read but I‘m just the wrong target demographic. Cleo is celebrating her 18th birthday when she receives a gift that is the start of a dark scavenger hunt revealing secrets surrounding the death of her abusive boyfriend a year prior. #doublespin

What a weird and wild little book this was. Absolutely not something I would have picked up on my own, but I surprisingly enjoyed it. Following a group of people in 1930s New York and their drama filled lives. Very much of its time yet quite relevant still. Read for #sundaybuddyread

Lisa Jewell writes great thrillers. I liked this one, but think I would‘ve liked it better reading vs audiobooking. It took me a bit to figure out who was who even with the different narrators. Guessed some of the twists but still had a fun time listening.

A real contender for book of my year with this bracket!

Easy pick for me this month

Looking forward to what August has in store for #bookspin #doublespin #bookspinbingo

I finally finished! The authors note described this as a pandemic Mish-mash and that is what it felt like. It came together for to a somewhat interesting conclusion; but definitely felt disjointed. Some stories I enjoyed, some j didn‘t, the house as a narrator just felt silly. But good enough for me to want to finish. Read for #literaryclub

Unpopular opinion, but wasn‘t as big a fan of this one as everyone seems to be. I can see the appeal I guess, but it was long and a bit tedious at times. The jumping around the time line and different perspectives worked, and the last section was tough to put down. But for me didn‘t hit the mark. Two kids from the same well to do family go missing in a fifteen year span. It‘s quite the mystery, but the pay off didn‘t quite deliver for me.

Again Lee delivers. Did it end exactly as I expected? Yes. Did it follow her same formula? Yes. Did I have fun during the ride? Also yes. We follow Sammy, a Chinese girl on the run from the law with a runaway slave on the Oregon Trail. Wild adventures and lessons learned and a great title. #sundaybuddyread

Holy Moly 7 Years! So much good and some bad reading. Have met some wonderful people and have been exposed to some great books and genres I wouldn‘t typically read thanks to this app. Love to you all! 😘📚

The bed is empty.
#firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl

Another solid read from Cosby. I have devoured everything I‘ve read from him and this one is no different. They way he presents morally gray characters is phenomenal. Brutal and gritty but so good.

Had a good month of reading for June, might finally be out of the slump. Thinking I set myself up well for July as well on my way through a Couple of these already. Helps I‘m not reading chunksters right now. #bookspin #doublespin #bookspinbingo

Started this with print and was really struggling to get through. I switched to audio and it was much easier to get through. The story of Isobel, a Scottish seamstress who ends up going to Salem. What I didn‘t catch from reading but came through much clearer in audio was that Isobel sees color in letters and in a time where this could get you killed. It‘s a story of perseverance and friendship. Read for #literarycrew

I started out thinking I wasn‘t going to like this one. Some serious triggers: child murder, extreme violence, mental illness, suicide, sexual assault. But once you get into it; it‘s impossible to put down. Twists throughout and while I saw some coming the ones I didn‘t really delivered. An interesting look at moral ambiguity. Could use a better title, otherwise a wild read. My #doublespin for June

Amanda White lifted the lid from the electric baby bottle sterilizer and stared inside at the .22-caliber revolver. #firstlinefridays

Absolutely loved this book!!! So difficult to put down. Easily my favorite read of the year so far. The origin story of Morgan LeFay, infamous Arthurian sorceress. I look forward to continuing this series. Read for #literarycrew

We follow the friendship of Hazel and Maxine. They met on a USO tour at the end of WWII. The core of the story takes place during the McCarthy witch-hunt of communists in the entertainment industry. I listened to this on audio and I didn‘t care for the narrator for Maxine, even though I really liked the character. I enjoyed the story overall even if it got a little cheesy at times. But didn‘t really love the end. Read for #literarycrew

Started this yesterday and already enjoying. Also loving his cover #literarycrew @Librarybelle 🥰

I just couldn‘t. About halfway though and it doesn‘t feel like anything has happened and have so much more I want to read to care what ends up happening. An interesting premise and it seems like a lot of people like it, but just wasn‘t for me. #bookspin for May

While I haven‘t been reading a lot of books, the books I have been reading lately have been chunkster a. Guessing that‘s why it‘s been feeling like an uphill battle. #bookspin #doublespin #bookspinbingo

I finally did it @5feet.of.fury ! While I didn‘t keep up with #readingwesteros I‘m happy to have conquered this one. It reads like a history book versus a fictional narrative. There is quite a lot of detail. Some of which was quite interesting, but a lot of it was tedious. Probably my least favorite of GRRM books I‘ve read, but not so bad that I wouldn‘t continue to follow up on future westerosi reads.

April was an easy month as I only finished one (it was a weird life month). But even if I finished more than one, I could see this still being my favorite. Recency bias made me want to pick it over Queen Hereafter but went back to the ratings and Queen was rated higher. So here we are!
#readingbracket2025

Easy to pick Dune over the Scarlet Letter, but ultimately had to go back and look at my ratings to determine the winner of the first 1/3 of the year. #readingbracket2025

Couldn‘t find there Bookspin book for the tag 🤷🏼‍♀️. April was crazy, hopefully will read more this month. #bookspin #doublespin #bookspinbingo

Get the hype. Wanted to read this before watching the hbo movies. I‘m glad I did because it was so good. The audiobook version was well produced. Different narrators for different characters so a little easier to follow. There were times it got to be a lot, but I imagine that will make it a more in depth movie.