Only a week left in April #AuthorAMonth readers! I hope your time with Ruth Ozeki has been good so far.

May‘s author is Emily St John Mandel. Time to find her on your shelf or put in your holds or orders!
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If you ever find yourself in Hendersonville NC, there is an adorable tea room called Book and Bee. This is the entrance. It‘s beautiful inside and the food was very good. We just had lunch, as you have to make a reservation for tea service. We‘ve made plans to go back for the full experience for my birthday in June 🙂🩷☕️.

I am amazed at all of the nominations for #camplitsy this year. This was a really tough decision, and there are so many more I‘m just as interested in reading. But after spending an enjoyable afternoon reading as many blurbs as I could, I wound up voting for these 6. I wonder if any of them will wind up on our camp roster. We‘ll see!

Thank you so much to our hardworking hosts!

Meh. I didn‘t love this.

It‘s about a woman who has depression and her family and boyfriend urge her constantly to get on meds. She, however, likes herself how she is and would like to be left alone.

I thought about bailing several times, and don‘t feel like I would have missed out if I had. Maybe better for someone who can relate to Janet more?

Cute dog on the cover is the best part for me.

A funny light read about a food writer who goes to Italy and the comedy of errors that ensue.

This is a light pick for me. It was a fast read and enjoyable, but not as good for me as AMS‘s Mma Romatswe books.

Yes he does end up having to rent a bulldozer to drive across Tuscany because there is a mishap with his car rental.

We just got home from our walk and Sietje is out cold!

This got some mixed reviews, but I love ED, so I had high hopes and wasn‘t disappointed! It‘s historical fiction and while it‘s about 3 monks who sail off the coast of Ireland to find a small island to live in seclusion on, the star for me was the natural setting and Trian and Cormac‘s spirits. Artt on the other hand can take his megalomania right to “the bad place.”

Beautifully written.

This was my first Julia Alvarez, probably picked up partially for its Vermont setting.

Antonia is grieving the loss of her husband Sam and adapting to life alone on her VT property without him. She still thinks of him while gardening, harvesting “Sam‘s potatoes” even though she planted this crop herself.

She has three sisters, “the sisterhood”, and their relationships are complicated. I enjoyed the dynamic.

You may want to check warnings…

I definitely recommend reading this one instead of listening to it! There are a lot of characters and time changes, and with the audio I was lost. But there is a family chart with time periods at the beginning, and that made it much easier to follow.

I loved the way this wrapped up. It focuses on many generations of daughters, all starting with Afong Moy. It explores generational trauma and mother daughter relationships.

Venkman says hi!

The Dozier School for Boys was essentially a juvenile detention center in Florida‘s panhandle. It ran from 1900 to 2011. During that time many boys were buried on site on Boot Hill in unmarked graves. Many died of mysterious circumstances. Boys who were released from the school reported abuse and neglect, yet the school kept operating.

The author is a forensic anthropologist asked by families to find the truth and get their boys‘ remains home.

A story of being an accidental refugee on an unnamed island. It was a fresh perspective for me.

Amir followed his uncle onto a boat. At 9 yrs old, he believed that they were going sight seeing. His uncle didn‘t know he was being followed as he boarded, trying to escape poverty and get to “the western world.”

Vanna helps a shipwrecked refugee child escape from authorities when she sees him running out of the woods by her home.

👍👍

Thanks #AuthorAMonth readers for voting for Ruth Ozeki! This is the first I‘ve read of hers and it will not be my last. I loved it! And it‘s her debut, impressive.

There are a lot of topics addressed but the things I loved were Jane the documentary director‘s undermining of her racist, misogynistic boss and the dark look at the meat industry. I‘m glad I don‘t eat meat!

Lots of content warnings, look them up if needed.

#Bookspin has spoken, and these are the two I‘ll be reading in addition to my bookclub and #authoramonth books for April. Thanks @TheAromaofBooks ! I‘m looking forward to both, even though they are both bound to be sad.😔📚🥰

My March reading wrap up. I really enjoyed all of these, so picking a best of the month was almost a dice roll. The other 2 that I might have chosen are Moon of the Turning Leaves and Gory Details.

Darius is the best book about adolescent depression I think I‘ve ever read. I loved his family, and felt for him as he met his family in Iran for the first time. His feelings of not fitting in, of feeling like an “other”, were relatable. I‘d definitely recommend this to any teens, but especially to anyone struggling with mental health or who feel like having immigrant parents set them apart from peers.

This was a great follow up to Moon of the Crusted Snow. It‘s mostly a traveling story, as 6 members of the survivor‘s community strike out south east to see if they can find new grounds for their people. They are hoping to be able to return to the land their ancestors lived on; the land that had been taken from them by the white colonists.

The narrator isn‘t the best, he stumbles and loses his flow. But he is an own voice, which I appreciated. 🤩

Welcome to April #AuthorAMonth readers! Time to pull out our Ruth Ozeki books. What are you planning to read?

#AuthorAMonth is a no-pressure, no-commitment Litsy challenge. The goal is to celebrate the works of a particular author each month. Authors were chosen through polls by Litsy participants. Read as many as you like, skip months when needed, it's entirely up to you! ⬇️

It‘s always fun putting together my #Bookspin list for the month! What 2 will @TheAromaofBooks pull this time?

I will definitely be reading The Many Daughters of Afong Moy for bookclub and My Year of Meats for #AuthorAMoth. We‘ll see which of the others I‘ll get to!

I love these books. Becky Chambers has a way with cozy scifi that fits right into my heart. (This is book 3 of her Wayfarer books.) I loved the career path of the caretakers, and the thought of composting our bodies as an after-death option.

Venkman is trying to lure me in to lay in the sun with him. It might work for a few minutes.

Definitely not for the squeamish! Full of interesting facts about body decomposition, bugs, microbiology, unpleasant smells, and so much more. One of the most memorable chapters for me is about disembodied feet that wash up on the Pacific coast in northern America and Canada. The investigation of where they come from and what was found will stick with me. 👟🥾
Grossest for me? Bugs crawling into orifices and slug eating leading to death 🫣!

This is an abridged version of the original book, with beautiful forest photography from around the world. The writing isn‘t the best, possibly a combo of the translation from German and the abridgment. But for me still interesting and worth reading to absorb the nature pics. Still lots of good info! I may pick up the full book at some point. 🌲🌳🌿💚

Heads up #AuthorAMonth readers 🙂. We‘re 2/3 of the way through March and you all have read a lot of Jane Harper! She seems to mostly be a hit.

As we inch closer to April, you may want to place your library hold or order for Ruth Ozeki books. It will be my first experience with her, and I‘m looking forward to it!

Happy Reading 📚🙂💚.

Sietje can‘t believe the book has the audacity to touch her!

I absolutely love this cover, and the story was quite good too. A fantasy world with living gods who interact with their followers, accepting offerings and sacrifices and granting boons and blessings. Or curses. Three main characters- an orphaned girl, a soldier in disguise, and a godkiller, find themselves traveling together, each on their own quest.

March‘s #doublespin

I found this at a library book sale at some point and it‘s made a few moves with me. Tried to start it today, but within a few pages I could tell it‘s not for me. Oh well, on to the next book.📚

I thought this was a well written story of two enslaved women and their community through the beginning of the civil war and beyond into abolition times.

May Belle and her daughter Rue are midwives, but also know plant medicine and are healers. Some people refer to them as Conjure Women.

The cover and spine caught my eye, and I‘m glad, the inside is just as good!

Thank you @Jas16 for sending me the whole series of Illuminae books. These editions are gorgeous! I do love the sound of Like Happiness too, what a great bonus. I‘m not sure which to dive into first. Thank you my friend 🙂📚🩷.

What a strange and bittersweet book. The friendships Peggy formed with James and his family were complicated and her emotional attachment to them strikes multiple chords.

In not sure if I‘ve ever read about a 8 foot tall person unless it was in fantasy. This really felt like historical fiction, I would believe it if told it were based on a true story.

@AmyG I feel like you might enjoy this one.

March‘s #bookspin

This weekend I walked a new-to-me trail which took me by a library with adorable reading statues out in front. Cute right? Well Sietje and my aunt‘s dog Wall-E (who you can see in the background) did not find them cute. They refused to pose with them, Sietje wouldn‘t go anywhere near this one, and Wall-E barked at them. Oh well, I enjoyed them. 😹🐶🤷‍♀️

I borrowed this audio for #naturalitsy. I thought it was well written and contained a wealth of knowledge about how human civilization evolved around water, the issues we‘ve caused by overusing and polluting, and a discussion of how we can change our habits and laws in order to fix the looming water shortage crisis that will arise if we do nothing.

I really appreciate that the author included extensive solutions and hope that this can be fixed.

My topics bookclub‘s theme for March is “written in an unusual format” and this was the first thing that came to mind. I‘ve seen reviews of it here with pics of its set up. Very different!

It‘s a fast paced scifi, with letters, text messages, military reports, lots of redacted documents, transcripts of video footage, and more. I think it might be YA. I really liked it.

Sietje was cozy on the couch this morning 😁🐶💜.

I‘m not sure why this drew me, except maybe morbid curiosity about the end of Hefner‘s life? I watched some of the reality show back when it was Holly and Kendra, but knew nothing of the later years and honestly was surprised he ever got married.

I‘m glad Crystal felt comfortable telling her story, and can only hope the more stories like these are told that maybe fewer women will fall into patterns and situations like this.

Tomorrow is #bookspin day! My March list is ready. I‘ve started the tagged already for bookclub, I wonder what else @TheAromaofBooks will pick?!

It‘s March #AuthorAMonth readers! Time to pick up something by Jane Harper. What are you hoping to read?

Now may be a good time to update your Google form tracking your #AAM reads. You may either track your books monthly on the form or once at the end of the year, it makes no difference to me. If you want to start the form now, here is the link to do so:

https://forms.gle/3N5rn4hdF86TXvUFA

All the rules and prize info are on the form.

Gilda has anxiety and depression, and this book is from her point of view. She finds a flyer about a therapy group and goes to a church to get more info, and accidentally accepts a job there as a receptionist/ office staffer. And then finds out the previous woman in her position died mysteriously.

This is funny even though it gets dark. It doesn‘t shy away from the dirty gritty things depression can put one through. But it‘s also hopeful. *CWs!

Ann Patchett recently recommended this on her bookshop‘s social media account. It‘s a short novel about a court case, from the point of view of Juror C2, who we learn towards the end of the book is named Hannah. Patchett admires the author‘s ability to weave intricate stories with few words, and I have to agree. Even though it‘s short, it has a lot to say.

The story ends up being more about Hannah‘s life and feelings than the actual court case.

Caught Igor mid yawn, lol!

I really liked this novella! Tetley lives in Garbagetown, which is a floating community built of trash after humans have allowed our environmental damage to deplete the ice caps, flooding the entirety of earth.

Obviously dystopian, it‘s comprised of a short story that was previously published in an anthology, “The Future is Blue,” and the second titular part.

A quick enjoyable (dark) read.

My other new art acquisition! 🤩🪼

This was a fun short scifi mystery that takes place on Jupiter, which future humans have colonized after ruining Earth. It‘s a Sherlock style murder investigation, except the main characters are women, and the body is missing. I believe book 2 was just published, and I will probably pick it up.

This wasn‘t for me… at another time I would have liked it I think. It‘s about Paul, who can shapeshift, and uses his abilities to become a woman to have multiple and wild sexploits.

Pictured with my new cow art. Some friends of mine are moving and I got to choose a couple paintings from their eclectic art collection. ❤️🐮

Multiple time lines follow several members of a family. In 1924 Josephine is a landowner who escaped enslavement. We hear her story as a child working with her parents and also as an adult running her own farm.
In 2017 Ava, Josephine‘s granddaughter, has decided to take the position of caregiver to her other elderly grandmother, who is white. Ava and her son King move in and have to adapt to Martha‘s fall into dementia.
Complicated, emotional.

Hello #AuthorAMonth readers! We‘ve got about a week left in February with Lauren Groff. I hope you‘ve been enjoying your time with her.

March‘s author is Jane Harper. It might be a good time to place your library hold or order. 📚❤️🙂

Have a great week!

I just finished this for a bookclub, otherwise I don‘t think I would have gotten all the way through.

Don‘t read this without looking into content warnings if you care about those- very graphic descriptions of a lot of unpleasant situations.

Had I looked at previous reviews I would have known to expect more of a biography of Sandra, who has had a difficult life in so many ways. The cleaning itself is included, but takes a back seat. Intense.

Full disclosure that I‘m rating this only based on the first 3 stories… I‘m just not in a short story mood right now. I did really like the first two though. I have enjoyed all of the Lauren Groff I‘ve read, and I expect I may return to this at some point. #AuthorAMonth

I‘ve seen this compared many times to Daisy Jones and the Six, and while it has a similar topic and is written in a similar format, it‘s a very different story.
I liked this one better, as it feels more important. Opal shines as an oddball character I really related to.

I was planning on using the photo of Sietje sleeping with the book, but then Venkman got all dramatic and supermodelesque and I had to add him 🙂.
#doublespin for February.

@UwannaPublishme you are so sweet! Thank you for the book, journal, bookmarks and stickers, and this adorable squishy soft creature Squishmallow! It arrived today and made me so warm and fuzzy. Thank you for thinking of me. (The kisses are out of reach of the fur-kids, I‘m enjoying those as well.)

It‘s been a very long time since I‘ve read poetry, I‘m looking forward to seeing what Kingsolver‘s is like!

I‘m reading The Final Revival of Opal and Nev, and Venkman gives me a little blep face. 🐈‍⬛🖤

I do often have to try to read around his head. Totally normal, right?

I loved this! One of my bookclubs chose it for February and I‘m so glad!

4 young siblings visit a fortune teller who can predict the date of one‘s death. They each learn their dates, and decide to never discuss what they learned. Each is affected by the knowledge in a different way, and the author writes about each of them in turn.

An interesting view on mortality and morality and what might be the important things in a life. Loved it!

I had heard that electric cars might be worse for the world than gas, and the batteries are the problem, but didn‘t know why. One huge reason is that they require cobalt- all rechargeable batteries do. Cobalt comes from the Congo, where people of all ages (yes, children too) work in the worst conditions you can imagine, risking their lives, for on average a dollar a day. And they have no choice, it‘s the only work available.

Makes me think ⬇️

I‘m excited about these #Bookspin and #Doublespin draws this month! Thanks as always @TheAromaofBooks for hosting my favorite monthly challenge. 🙂

Did you know that the road systems humans have built interrupt migrations, isolate animals in territories too small for them, kill an impossibly huge number of creatures daily, and pollute soil and waterways?

A main focus of this book is wildlife crossings by underpass, overpass, culvert, even tiny pipes for rodents, and the amount they cut back on road deaths is astounding.

I wasn‘t expecting the section on roads isolating humans.

Excellent!

My January wrap up. The best of the month for me was Pomegranate. But there wasn‘t anything I didn‘t like.

@CBee thank you so much for this blast of love and happiness. I so appreciate your support. I look forward to reading all of these, and digging in to the snacks. I haven‘t ever tried spicy pistachios, but they sound delicious! I love Reeces, and the gnome is so cute! He‘s perched on my bookshelf now. Sietje enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper 🐶. You are so sweet. Thank you again. 💞