#Plans.
@AmyG have you started this yet? I‘m 100 or so pages from the end and it‘s cracking my heart to pieces. I have to finish it this morning, everything else is on hold for the day.
@Hooked_on_books I see why you loved it.

This will be my last for #nonfictionnovember.
Meg Lowman was the first scientist to dedicate her studies to the canopy- the very tops of the trees. She studies leaves, branches, life cycles of trees, which has led to studies on the creatures who live in and eat leaves. Mostly insects, but also birds and mammals.

Fun fact I learned: in many spider species the female is up to 100 times the size of the male 😱😬.

Another job I think I‘d love!

I received this book as a gift years ago. I picked it up now because I‘m looking forward to Groff‘s new book, Matrix.

I loved everything about this! It span‘s Bit‘s life from a child growing up on a hippie commune, to an adult living in a city and starting a family, into middle age as he moves back to his parent‘s house to care for his ailing mom.

Heartfelt and so real, Groff writes characters I feel all the way through. Great debut novel!

Who was doing Fiction/Non-Fiction #pairings? This was 100% accidental, but I find myself reading 2 books about the lumber industry and deforestation, conservation, and the impact of all of this on low income folks living in the Pacific Northwest of the US. On the right, NF, the left is fiction. Funny when reading life throws coincidences like this at you!

How are your Zafon books going #AuthorAMonth readers?

This resonates with me this weekend. I hope you all are finding time to relax, breathe, and find your own joy. 🥰🌾🍂🌻. Happy reading!

#AuthorAMonth readers, Allende is our December author. This is a kindle deal in the US today if you haven‘t got something lined up for her yet. 📚🙂

What if the drugs we‘ve come to know were gods, sort of like the gods in Clash of the Titans? And their goal is to get the mortals “worshipping” them to the giant party in the sky?

This is a great YA fantasy twist on the story of addiction, and the main character is Roxy, or as we know her, Oxy. She‘s not a villain, she‘s just doing what she‘s been created to do, right? Can she help it if sometimes things get out of hand?

👍👍 from me but CW ⬇️

I absolutely loved the poetic way Jahren writes about plant life. The beginning part in which she describes growing up in her Dad‘s laboratory made me laugh out loud. The many instances of “but don‘t try it.”

I found the parts about struggling to keep funding for her research disheartening. And of course reading about her struggles with depression too.

But really this was an incredible read, I‘m glad to have picked it up. #NonFictionNovember

Cal Flyn visited sites all over the world where humans have left, for one reason or another, and nature is in different ways creeping back in.

Some high points- endangered sheep coming back from the brink in demilitarized Cyprus, pupfish in the Californian Salten Sea able to survive in water hotter and saltier than any other species, types of lichen which may be able to absorb heavy metals from contaminated war zone in Verdun, France.

“I remind myself: if one goes in search of nature in its wildest forms, you shouldn‘t expect it will be pleased to see you.”

The author visited Swona, Scotland, a small island off the tip of northernmost mainland Scotland. It was abandoned in the mid 1970‘s, and the cattle and rabbits raised there were turned loose and have rewilded. Flyn found herself attacked or threatened by Arctic Terns, seals, cattle, and Great Skuas.

This is the location⬇️

#weeklyforecast @Cinfhen
I‘m enjoying both Lab Girl and Islands, and hope to finish at least one of them today.
Damnation Spring arrived in the mail yesterday and I read the first couple pages, so I guess I‘m reading it now 🤣. It‘s nice when something sucks you right in like that though. Totally unplanned.
Embers and Roxy are cued up for my next audiobooks. And Exile and Pride is my last myTBR rec from my last batch.

If you participate in #AuthorAMonth and you like tracking your challenges on StoryGraph, guess what? I just made a challenge for us over there for 2022. Here‘s the link:

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/9b7b9b04-8cca-4f99-af82-a554d56...

Would you be interested in going back and entering this year‘s books? If several people would be excited for that I‘ll make a 2021 challenge as well. Comment below and I‘ll tag you for that.

It‘s been a slower reading week for me. NonFiction just takes longer to digest.

I hope to finish Islands of Abandonment this weekend, and maybe also Lab Girl. They are both excellent.

I picked up the second Percy Jackson to give my brain a break, but honestly I think I‘m going to bail on it… not connecting, so it‘s probably destined for my LFL.

I came across this on FB and it made me think of fall readers transitioning into winter readers. Made me think of my Litsy community. 🍂❄️🧡🤎🤍

I didn‘t think to take a photo of the box, but my #wintersolsticeswap package is on its way north! May it travel safely. #wss 🌲❄️📚

#AuthorAMonth

I have to say The Shadow of the Wind has some of the most beautiful bookish quotes of any book I‘ve ever read.

I hope you are enjoying your Carlos Ruiz Zafon readings. I can‘t believe the month is almost halfway through!

I really enjoy Jennifer Ackerman‘s writing style. This is her second bird- topic book I‘ve read, and I‘ve another on my TBR shelf.

Things I learned:
-House Sparrows aren‘t native to North America, they were brought by Europeans and now are among the most plentiful birds here. Mockingbirds also.
-Alex the African Grey parrot could understand a lot of human speech, and could answer questions about color, quantity, and more!
-So much more!

It definitely would have been nice to spend the whole day like this, but alas, I had to go to work. I‘ll be back to Venkman and this book in a little bit. Snuggle to be continued.

Has the last week really been so busy that I‘m only now getting October‘s wrap up posted? Yes apparently so!

I have to say all of these were really good.

We are a family who cherish our weekend naps together. I caught Sietje and my hubby in a cute moment when I woke up first. Sorry this is only book related because I went from here to the library to read until they woke up 💙.

Well now I‘m doing 3 swaps this winter 😊📚.

Go to @candority for more info.

I hereby announce the winning authors for 2022 #AuthorAMonth!

#AuthorAMonth is a relaxed reading challenge. There is no commitment. Read as many as you‘d like by the chosen author, skip months if you need to.

Litsy readers voted and these 12 authors came out on top 😊.

At the end of the year there is a prize box for “Most Read.” To qualify books must be finished in the appropriate month. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Can I just send you over to @Megabooks review of this one, because it says exactly what I‘m feeling.

Yes, I was uncomfortable listening because I see myself in that title- a progressive white person perpetuating racial harm. I‘ve learned and I strive to keep learning. This isn‘t a thing we can learn once, it‘s ongoing education and we must seek out more ways to be better, all the time.

Excellent book, as is White Fragility. Big recommend.

I loved this just as much as the first one. A high school for magic wielding teens, filled with monsters, and most years a tiny percentage of the class makes it through the graduation hall that‘s just a basement filled with things that want to eat them? Yes please.

But Naomi Novik, your cliffhangers kill me! I‘m sure I have to wait another year for the next installment… This makes me understand readers who wait for series to finish to dive in.

Read by the author, Swan Dive is a dance memoir and Georgina- “Gina” or “Paz”- frankly discusses her over 20 years with New York City Ballet. She touches on the blatant misogyny and racism in the pro-ballet world, as well as her laundry list of falls (hence the title) and injuries. But at its heart this is a memoir of the love of the dance. Paz has had some amazing experiences, and I‘m glad she shared them. 💕

I just restocked my LFL for #NonfictionNovember. 😊📚📚📚

Yes! I‘m looking forward to both my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin, and they both fit well for this month‘s topics bookclub: “Something You‘ve Obsessed About.”

Islands of Abandonment is about areas that people have moved out of and how nature is moving back in, which is something I‘ve spent a ton of time thinking about.

Kicked, Bitten, Scratched is my life as an animal caretaker. I‘ve done many animal jobs, currently a dog groomer. 🐕🐩🦮

It‘s time #AuthorAMonth readers! Here is the poll to vote for next year‘s Authors.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CSSFKWV

#AuthorAMonth is a no-pressure challenge in which we read books by a voted on author each month. Read as many or as few as you like. At the end of the year there is a prize box for “Most Read.”

There will also be randomly drawn prizes- everyone who has read at least one Author a Month book during the year is entered. ⬇️

This book was amazing. I loved it. The audiobook is very well narrated, and the accents all sounded spot on to me.

I found Inty‘s condition of being able to feel physical sensations that anyone she is looking at is feeling incredible. I‘ve never heard of anything like that before.

Be warned- this is dark and shines a light on man‘s worst evils. If you need content warnings this likely isn‘t for you. See spoilers below.

It‘s November, time to bring out our Carlos Ruiz Zafon books for #AuthorAMonth. What are you planning to read?

#AuthorAMonth is a no-pressure challenge, read as many or as few as you like. The authors were voted on by Litsy, see list for the year above.

At the end of the year there will be one prize box going to the person who read the most books. To qualify the books must be finished during the author‘s month. ⬇️

Candy is gone, along with TONS of books! This will be a Halloween tradition for us. The parents were really happy about the book idea. I was happy to see so many middle grade and young adult books chosen.

#weeklyforecast @Cinfhen

It doesn‘t seem I‘ll be finishing either Once There We‘re Wolves or The Last Graduate today, so they‘ll have to carry over to November.

My next reads will partly depend on the #bookspin draw, but these two are cued up on Libby for #NonFictionNovember, so I‘ll likely start with them.

Happy Halloween Friends!

I can‘t believe it‘s already the end of October, the last day of #AuthorAMonth VE Schwab. I‘m so glad it seems everyone has enjoyed reading her books!

Please comment below with the number of books by VE Schwab you read. Or if you prefer to post a collage of your reading, just use the hashtag #AAMVS and be sure to tag me so I see it.

#AuthorAMonth is a no-pressure challenge in which we read books by a voted on author each month. ⬇️

I thought this was a fun mystery. I loved the setting and the characters. Mystery isn‘t usually my genre, but the characters made it for me and I will check out the sequel some time.

Content warning in spoiler comment.

My poor pumpkin Sietje isn‘t feeling well after getting her shots today, so I‘ll be spending the evening reading in bed with her. Hopefully a little TLC will have her back to normal in the morning.

I think my #bookspin list is ready for Nonfiction November! I‘ll probably skip on Bingo so I can relax into mood reading more. But as always I‘m excited to see what you pull out of the hat @TheAromaofBooks !📚📚📚

Can Sietje and I squeeze in one more spooky book before Halloween? We‘re gonna try 😁📚🖤.

Wow. I loved this. It‘s historical fiction about the Dakota people being driven from their lands, having families divided by war, children forcibly removed to white schools and foster homes. Most chapters follow Rosalie‘s life from the 70‘s through ‘02, but some are about her ancestors and other women close to her.

It also speaks of how agriculture became corporate and how pollution has inundated the land.

5⭐️ and 👍👍 for me.

I grew up in the North Eastern US, and I feel like my education included learning about slavery in a way that was sensitive to the needs of children but also was truthful about it‘s horrors.

This book explores the history of slavery and how it‘s facts are entirely entwined in every region of US history. I feel it‘s a must-read, and I‘d love to see it become part of high school curriculums.

I‘d highly recommend this. 5⭐️

#weeklyforecast for Halloween Week!

I have taken a break from seasonal reads, and both The Seed Keeper and How the Word Is Passed are so incredible so far.

I may have time to squeeze in one more mystery (which I‘d consider seasonal), so my next audio will be The Thursday Club. (Thanks Library!)

I‘m excited to set up a table to watch trick or treaters grab candy and books, and plan to bake some fall treats for myself 😋🧙‍♀️🧡🖤.

I think I‘m done with horror and such for a minute, so I‘m picking this up. It was another recommendation for me from my personalized Tailored Book Recommendations: myTBR.co.

I‘m admitting to being smitten with this cover. If you can‘t quite see, it‘s a design of seed beads. I hope the inside is just as beautiful.

I just finished my last #LMPBC book for this round. Why was I expecting fantasy? I think the cover put that in my mind. It‘s not at all fantasy, it‘s more a YA thriller set in a private high school academy.

Venkman helped by hiding my silver markup pen as much as possible. 😹

Although I found some plot points obvious, overall it had me turning pages quickly and my heart racing.

Our favorite foul mouthed crow is back! Shit Turd bemoans the hardships of raising the last Mo-Fo (human) on earth.

I agree with other reviews I‘ve read. This isn‘t quite as fresh and funny as Hollow Kingdom. But it was still an amusing read. I was happy to hear another chapter from Ghengis the cat‘s point of view.

#AuthorAMonth

August and Kate are back, fighting more monsters. They face something new, possibly scarier than anything they‘ve seen so far.

I wish I‘d read this right after Savage Song. In the year or two in between I‘d forgotten enough of the story that I had a tough time getting right into this sequel. Once I did though I enjoyed it.

I hope you‘re having a great Birthday @TheAromaofBooks even though you have to work. I‘ve spent some time physically reading Ace of Spades today, and while driving and working I was listening to Feral Creatures.
Sending Birthday Hugs!
#BirthdayBash

Are there any authors you would like to focus on next year for #AuthorAMonth? It‘s time to make nominations. See the above list of who we‘ve read so far. Authors must have several books to choose from. All genres welcome!

Poll to vote for favorites will follow in 2 weeks 😊📚❤️.

I love this quote. I‘m so thankful for the literary doors I‘ve found throughout my life.

#AuthorAMonth readers, we‘re just over halfway through October. I love how many of you are enjoying your time with VE Schwab. 🖤

Reminder to put in your holds for next month‘s author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

TJ Klune, what have you done to me?

I give this all the stars. The whole bag full.

My heart is broken and healed at the same time. What a beautiful story.

Me and this book. I‘m going to need another box of tissues please.

TJ Klune knows how to massage my feelings. I‘m about 50 pages from the end and sobbing every few minutes. God this is beautiful and wonderful and also so so sad. 💔