Excellent and brutally truthful. I loved both Nanette and Douglas, Hannah‘s Netflix specials, and I was glad to get a deeper glimpse at how she got to who she is now.

If you aren‘t familiar with her already I‘d suggest watching her specials first. Heavy content warnings.

There are so many great and slightly unsettling author pics of Patricia Highsmith that I couldn‘t choose just one! I love an author photo that includes a pet, and she clearly loved her cats.

May is halfway over #AuthorAMonth readers. I hope you‘re enjoying your picks.

June‘s author will be Chris Bohjalian, in case you need to put in an order or library hold. (He‘s a favorite of mine, from my birth state, Vermont.)

My last #vacationread as I‘m headed home today.

If America offered reparations in the form of 40 acres and a mule, but they are on the sea floor and you have to get body modifications in order to become a merman or mermaid… strange and haunting, as racism can‘t even be escaped when leaving life on land.

This is from the Black Stars stories, published by Amazon, the third of 6.

My second #vacationread, and I thought it was excellent. It works for #Nigeria for #readingafrica.

Adunni is a 14 year old Nigerian girl who grew up in a small village. Her mom passed away and her alcoholic father disregards the promise he made and sells Adunni into a marriage with a much older man as a third wife. That‘s just the beginning.

Adunni‘s strong spirit and her wish to do good for her country will stay with me. All the TW though.

This is a fun fast paced window into society in the late 1930‘s, in which an out of work governess stumbles in to the life of a more privileged young actress and joins her in a day filled with visits from friends and parties.

I enjoyed this much more than I expected to. I loved proper Miss Pettigrew starting to admit to herself that maybe enjoying life has more merits than her elders would have led her to believe.
#doublespin

Part memoir part history of “celesbians “, this is the author‘s take on society‘s view of queer women.

I am easily a decade older than the author and pretty out of touch with pop culture, so I admit I don‘t know a lot of the celebrities discussed here. That took a bit away from the book for me. But there was still plenty I did enjoy.

Some content may be triggering- see spoilers below.

Airport reading!

I feel strange saying I enjoyed this profoundly sad book, but I really did.

Lucy and Sam grow up with a gold prospecting father and a mom who came from Asia hoping for a better life. Theirs is an unstable unpredictable poverty, ever shifting.

They are followed by tragedy and hardship into separate adulthoods, and the juxtaposition between hope and the inevitability of luck.

I don‘t think I‘ve ever read anything quite like this before.

So good! I enjoyed every moment, and the narration is great. This‘ll likely be close to the top of this year‘s “best of” lists for me.

My April wrap up 😊📚

The best was definitely Project Hail Mary. It was a fun and fast paced ride.

It‘s May, time to pull out our Patricia Highsmith books for #AuthorAMonth. 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!

There will be some prizes sent at the end of the year: ⬇️

I can‘t say I liked this study of a mid 40‘s man going through a divorce and learning to navigate the virtual dating world. I found myself cringing quite a bit, I think because I would hate dealing with dating aps.

In the end I did like Toby as he settled into a primary caregiver to his 8 and 11 year old daughters and I hoped he‘d be able to find happiness.

My May #bookspin list. Every month I feel list making time sneaks up on me! This month I kept everything on my list that I didn‘t get to in April and just filled in the empty spaces made by those I did read. Looking forward to the drawing @TheAromaofBooks !

Here we are at the end of the month again #AuthorAMonth readers! I really liked my John Boyne book, A History of Loneliness. I‘ve enjoyed the others I‘ve read by him in the past.

I‘ve read and stacked books from all of your reviews!

Monday starts May and our Patricia Highsmith books. If you haven‘t yet put in your library holds, it‘s time to get to it! Have a great weekend all. 📚❤️📚

I love the title of this novella!
Read for the May topic of my IRL bookclub: “choosing books for each other.” (Chosen for me by @ThePageantHam )

With magic, polyamorous, queer, and non-binary characters who feel like friends of mine, and a mystery, there‘s a lot in this 100 page gem. I especially loved the description of how spells work, and when 2 characters have to get sneaky with a church.

Definitely recommend!

I had no idea how many undocumented Americans worked at ground zero doing recovery and clean up and how many of them were denied pay after working, denied healthcare after becoming ill from the conditions there.
This author unflinchingly describes situations across the country where the undocumented are abused, taken advantage of, and ignored. I admire her tenacity and devotion to helping others both by writing their stories and by encouragement.

I loved Hartnett‘s last book, so I was excited to see she‘d released a new one. Then I heard it took place in one of the towns where I grew up, and I was doubly so!

The way she captured memory loss and brain fog really hit home. I loved Emma‘s fifth grade class, what a pack of characters! And of course as a pet-mom, I love how important the animals were to the story. I really enjoyed this one a lot! 🦊🐶🐸

My Little Free Library garden has been getting it‘s spring spruce up over the last 2 weekends. Got the new baby plants and mulch in today. Mexican Heather and Lantana. I can‘t wait to see how the flowers do! 💜 I added some new books after I was done digging too. 😁📚🌸

I found this a little hard to get into because there are a LOT of characters and time/ setting jumps. But once I started settling in to it I really liked it.

It‘s a dystopian futuristic book, definitely a social commentary that brings current issues into the future. One of the main themes is colonialism and gentrification, as we see white people who had fled Earth start returning a generation later after some of the climate crisis has passed.

#authoramonth
Boyne‘s writing is compelling. Although this is a slow moving story, I was never bored with it. I can‘t imagine taking a parent‘s desire for my future as rote, Odran did seem suited to life as a priest. As usual I didn‘t see the twists coming, and the end was a little rough.

Definitely a pick, but Heart‘s Invisible Furies is still my favorite of his.

CWs abound- see spoilers in comments.

Thank you Easter Bunny @Mitch for the sweet Easter gifts. I need to pull out my markers 😊 and color some notecards.

I hope you and Mel and Woodford had a lovely weekend. ❤️🐇🌸

#weeklyforecast @Cinfhen

I‘ll be reading these three this week, with support from Venkman. I‘ve just started A History of Loneliness for #AuthorAMonth and it‘s very good so far.

I‘m officially an Andy Weir fan now. I love his writing style. I love his sense of humor. I love that he uses science and math as part of his stories in a way that‘s really accessible. (I am not a math-person at all, you don‘t need to be.)

I need to read Artemis now. Maybe I can work a Half Price Books trip into my day…

This was my #doublespin @TheAromaofBooks 😊📚

#bookreport @Cinfhen

I love spring gardening!
I finished these 3 books this week, and I‘m hoping to finish Project Hail Mary today before my bookclub meeting. ❤️🌸💜

I found this informative and possibly useful, and very easy to follow for nonfiction/self help.

It‘s mostly about ways to possibly manage and overcome anxiety with diet (not like going on a diet but as in eating nutritiously), sleep, and exercise. She‘s not against meds, but offers alternative options if you‘d like to either try a different approach or if you‘d like to get off meds you might currently be taking.

Sy Montgomery tells wonderful non fiction nature stories. In this one she works with a hummingbird rescue expert for a month to hand raise two tiny orphaned hummingbird babies.

This little book is also a chapter from Sy‘s book Birdology. It includes quite a few photos.

I‘d definitely recommend this if animal rescue is your wheelhouse, or it would make a great spirit lifting gift.

This is a novel in pieces. Each chapter is from the point of view of either Fiona or Jane, two Taiwanese immigrants who have been in America since they were young girls. Their friendship waxes and wanes as they grow.

I‘m so in love with my Iris! I got them from my sister 3 years ago, and this is the first year they‘ve bloomed. 💜🌸

I liked this second book in the series just as much as the first, which was The Unspoken Name.

Rich worldbuilding, gods vs mortals, orcs are main characters, there‘s queer and non-binary rep, flying dimension traveling ships! So much good stuff!

One of my favorite things about this world is that there is absolutely no homophobia. People just are who they are and no one has any thoughts that they shouldn‘t be.

Larkwood = new fave!

I‘ve been wanting to try one of Tove Jansson‘s books for some time, since I see Litsy friends enjoying them.

This was a very short novella in stories about a friendship between two artists. Maybe more than friendship? The stories are little peeks at conversations about working artist‘s lives, island life, and nature.

I had to adjust to the style, as it‘s translated and didn‘t feel natural at first. But I did enjoy it.

This was my #bookspin.

Thank you @Mitch for this surprise in my mailbox! Since there are Easter stickers on them, I‘ll wait to open. You‘re so sweet 💜🐇

I liked every story in this collection. This is coming from someone who doesn‘t usually like short stories very much. I loved the way they mostly felt modern, but with a slight folklore twist.

If you‘ve got a challenge that calls for a short story collection, maybe consider picking this one up.

Thanks Bookclub for making me step out of my comfort zone😊.

My #bookspin and #doublespin books are about as different from each other as they can be this month. I‘m excited to dive into them! Thank you @TheAromaofBooks 🥰📚

My March wrap up.

I had three bails as well (that‘s a lot for me):
China Dolls and On Gold Mountain by Lisa See and The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy.

Since the drawing is tomorrow, I guess I better settle on my #bookspin choices for April! I‘ll go with these 😉📚💜.

A heartfelt memoir about growing up in a Muslim household as a queer non-binary person. Amrou truly loves their parents and they love them, but their culture makes their coming out really difficult for all of them. Hearing how they grow and about their self discovery is both heartbreaking and inspiring. Things that will stick with me: their love for their mother, music, and their drag family.
#getTBR
Content Warnings in spoilers⬇️

I can always count on JP for an engrossing read. This one is about the pandemic. There‘s a twist halfway through that completely blindsided me.

I know she‘s not for everyone, and that this topic is too fresh for some readers, but I have to give it a pick. I am ready for a tropical trip now please!

It‘s April, time to pull out our John Boyne books for #AuthorAMonth. 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! ⬇️

I found this to be really uplifting.

Yinka‘s elder female relatives hound her constantly- and embarrassingly in public!- about finding a husband. She struggles with insecurity and sets herself a goal of having a boyfriend within a few months to show off at her cousin‘s wedding.

Yinka‘s friends are really supportive, and even though they have their misunderstandings and arguments, they love and want the best for her.

Definite pick!

#AuthorAMonth readers, we‘ve got just a few more days of March and Lisa See‘s books. I hope everyone is enjoying their time with her.

April brings us John Boyne. Put in your library holds or find him on your TBR shelves, we start in a few days. 📚😊📚

NBR, but just got home from our little weekend away, and I think the bebes missed us. 🤣

Another from the Black Stars collection that isn‘t listed in the database yet. This one features a djinn who is released from the book she‘s been captured in when it is burned in a library by Al-Queda. I‘m about halfway through and it‘s very good so far.

Our last morning at Lakehouse BnB at Canyon Lake, enjoying the view and a cup of tea before the rest of the house stirs.

Morning from the balcony of our BnB in TX hill country. A view of Canyon Lake.

I‘m not sure why this isn‘t in the Litsy database, it‘s from the Black Stars sci-fi collection Amazon released earlier this year or maybe late last year.

I think this tiny printing of Miller‘s short story Galatea is so cute. It‘s really short, I read it in about 20 minutes. A retelling with a feminist twist that I appreciated.

I loved the way this felt like an ancient Indigenous tale with animal people and all of the stories within the story. The characters were fun and quirky. I want to visit the animal world!

Don‘t you just love weekends?

E Lily Yu brought me right in with this story of escaping war in Afghanistan to immigrate to Australia from the point of view of a young sister and brother. It‘s a journey full of trials and tragedy and brutality.
I felt the frustration of the parents who paid for the entire trip, yet found the family on a rickety boat then in a detention center.

This isn‘t an easy read, but beauty balanced the sadness.

My local bookclub reads based on a monthly topic. March was “a color in the title”. These were my reads. We had an interesting and diverse mix of books chosen.

What book would you suggest with a color in the title?

#LARS #LitsyATXReadersSociety

What a beautiful to read outdoors! I‘m loving my #currentread! Why haven‘t I seen more people talking about this one?

I ordered this short story because I loved Song of Achilles AND because my niece is named Galatea. I was kind of thrilled that it‘s this tiny little cutie of a book!

It‘s hard to get the scale in a photo, but Venkman is a good sized kitty…. The next post I make I‘ll put it next to some more normal sized books. But take my word, it‘s adorable!

See where it says “heartbreaking” at the bottom? No joke.

The characters feel so real, so flawed. Most of the 20-30 something characters‘ parents are Indian or Sri Lankan immigrants, and so arranged marriages are pretty common in their lives. Lucky, a lesbian, married her friend Krishna (who is gay) to avoid losing her family by coming out to them. Her sometimes lover Nisha is about to enter an arranged marriage to a man she‘s never met. ⬇️

At halfway I didn‘t really see the point of the book. All three main characters are stuck in repeating patterns of self destructive behaviors. The plot isn‘t really compelling. Putting it down for now. I‘m disappointed because I usually really like Lisa See but this one doesn‘t seem up to her usual standard. Maybe a case of wrong book/wrong time. #AuthorAMonth