Read for my “Death Becomes Us” bookclub with @Eyelit and @thestarlesscasea . We read books about death, all nonfiction so far, stemming from a common interest in Stiff by Mary Roach and The Mummy Congress (⬇️).

Because we‘ve read a lot on the topic, this felt like repetition to me, except for the exhausting details about presidential burials, casket and hearse materials, and grave robbery protective contraptions. A bit dull, unless it‘s a new ⬇️

I thought this was a really solid YA fantasy trilogy. Glad Bardugo was chosen for #AuthorAMonth, otherwise these books may have sat unread on my shelves for who knows how long! My editions also included a short story about Genya and a prelude about The Darkling as a child.

I‘m planning to keep an eye out for a used copy of the Six of Crows Duology, and I expect I‘ll like that just as much if not more. 🙂👍👍
Hi from Venkman 🐱🖤

I love this author, and this one is another winner for me.

Near future climate fiction.

Emma Gatewood walked the Appalachian Trail starting in her late 60‘s. Her first attempt was Southbound and she didn‘t get far before an injury sent her home, but less than 2 years later she started again Northbound this time and through hiked from Georgia to Maine. She was the first woman to do it, and in the first 5 people recorded as through hiking it.

The AT is part of my family‘s history, so I loved learning about Grandma Gatewood.
(CWs)

Well unfortunately I got about 2/3 through and was just not interested in the rest. I read through a bunch of reviews and many folks said it started strong and weakened in the middle, without a clear or strong conclusion.

It‘s about a Latina reader writing to an older Latino writer she admired greatly and had a confusing relationship with 10 years prior, after being contacted by a reporter about said author being charged with sexual assault.

Book 2 for #AuthorAMonth 🙂📚. It‘s pretty rare I read more than one for any given month, but I‘m thinking I might move right on tho book 3 since I have it.

I agree with others that the common YA trope of refusing to communicate because of fear of the other‘s reaction (self-gaslighting) was annoying. But the story is compelling and I feel like so far the Netflix series did a pretty good job of keeping pace with the books.

Did we need another book about Dracula that feels not too different from the original? I‘m not sure I did. It felt overly long, and dragged in parts for me. I did like that many of the characters were scholars and that a good deal of the story is them researching, delving into old tomes in search of historic scraps about Vlad that others may have missed.

Overall though, I can‘t say I gained much from reading this.

Sietje‘s just here to show off her new blue socks.

My salon closed for a few days so we could all go to the grooming convention in Atlanta, and we were inspired to dye all of our own dogs to push our color line to our clients. Sietje was a great guinea pig, but she‘s willing to do just about anything for treats.

To make this book related: I‘m enjoying Siege and Storm, book 2 in the Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. #AuthorAMonth

@Jas16 thank you for this sweet surprise! Coincidentally I‘m currently reading another book you sent to me: Like Happiness. 🙂📚

It was very thoughtful of you to pass it along to me, and I‘m looking forward to reading it. Thank you!

The audio on this is only 3 hours, and if you liked Horrorstor or like the idea of a story that takes place (partially) inside an IKEA-like store, this is for you. It‘s less horror that Hendrix‘s book, and leans scifi and multiverse. LGBTQIA young adults searching for a missing grandma. Good times!

Sometimes some YA fantasy just hits the spot! I bought the trilogy used a few years ago, so I‘m happy #authoramonth prompted me to finally pick it up. I liked the Netflix series, which I‘ve recently learned is a combo of this series and the Six of Crows duology. Wish they wouldn‘t have canceled it 😕.

Sietje and Venkman sunbathing in the background.

I‘ll be reading book 2 soon.

My March #bookspin and #doublespin! Thanks @TheAromaofBooks ! I‘m already a good chunk into Shadow and Bone, since it‘s also my #AuthorAMonth book. It‘s good enough I might just keep going with the trilogy.

Have a great month 📚 Good luck with your move Sarah!

Here we are in March #AuthorAMonth readers! This month we will be reading Leigh Bardugo. I‘ve started Shadow and Bone. What are you planning 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/1F1BmkcTBh7uPXNp9

⬇️

It‘s the last day of February #AuthorAMonth readers. I hope your time with Roxane Gay has been meaningful. I know she‘s not a gentle easy read.

Tomorrow we‘ll be picking up our March author Leigh Bardugo. Dropping into some fantasy!

I‘ll proofread the 2025 google form and attach it to tomorrow‘s post, for those ready to start tracking your books.

Have a great day, Happy Reading.

It took me a little while to get into this one, as I felt held at a distance from the characters. Once I got into it I really enjoyed it though. It‘s a little slow paced, but I felt like it was a great family story, with complications.

I‘ve only read one other by this author- Cantoras, but I definitely will pick up her other books when I see them.

For fans of Sarah Waters and France‘s de Pontes Peebles. Historical Fiction that follows tango music‘s evolution in mostly Argentina, through the eyes of a young woman who chooses to disguise herself as a man in order to be accepted as a musician.

Slow moving but beautiful. Sapphic and sexy.

Continuing with my #bookspin trend for the year, here is part of the blue paperback section of my TBR shelves. I will definitely be reading Shadow and Bone for #AuthorAMonth and Last Rites for bookclub. What else will @TheAromaofBooks pull out for me?

Nayler‘s pro-animal scifi with heavy environmental themes speaks to me!

This 100 page novella is fast paced and is about Wooly Mammoths that have been cloned from ancient DNA. And the ability to implant digitally saved human minds into new bodies.

I didn‘t love this as much as The Mountain in the Sea, but I tend to enjoy full novels more than novellas in general.

Pictured is Sietje at work allowing a puppy to share her bed- uncommon!

For a huge portion of this book I was so confused! At the end it all makes sense and the message is important and the author did a great wrap up.

I chose this for my bookclub‘s March topic- dark humor, and while it has some definite dark humor there is less than I expected considering I found it on a list of humor books.

Overall a pick, even though I was lost for a bit.

I have tried a few of Amy Tan‘s fiction books and didn‘t connect well with them. This journal and collection of drawings however was delightful!

She‘s an incredibly talented artist, and I found her observations and commentary on her backyard visitors funny and interesting. Highly recommend if you also like birdwatching or feeding your locals.

February is already halfway over #AuthorAMonth readers. I hope you‘re enjoying your time with Roxane Gay.

In case you need to place an order or hold for March, our author will be Leigh Bardugo.

Happy Reading! 📚❤️🙂

I‘m surprised to see a low rating for this here, I thought it was a solid interesting scifi.

A group of Earth Humans who fled a dying planet find themselves on a very far away world. Their plan is to leave all of humanity‘s bad traits on Earth, and live in harmony with nature on their new home. Then the plants begin to show fast adaptation, even sentience, and things get complicated.

This spans several generations. I really liked it.

I have had more time than usual to listen to audiobooks in the last few days, and got through this one quickly.

It‘s a sweet sapphic romance, maybe New Adult since the MC is 18 or 19. The title makes it sound like fantasy but it‘s not, though Tarot plays a big part. I enjoyed the little explanations of all the cards in the major arcana. And it takes place in Salam MA, right around Halloween.

I‘m glad I finally read something by this author. I‘ll definitely read more by her.

It took a bit to settle into, because at first I didn‘t care for the main character. But once it grabbed me the story had me hooked. Very sad, lots of content warnings.

Venkman wishes I hadn‘t woken him for a photo this morning. Or is he winking at you?

@TheAromaofBooks just pulled the #bookspin numbers, and perfect timing for me as I just minutes ago finished my last book.

I‘m really looking forward to Honor, as I‘ve been meaning to try reading an Umrigar for ages. The tagged feels pretty fitting for our current times!

I picked up this short stack from my library‘s used book sale this weekend. I‘ve had the top and bottom books on my to read list for some time. Any you loved here?

A short Chilean novel about societal treatment of outsiders or people who choose to live outside the norms.

It‘s a quick read. From the point of view of 12 year old Miguel whose uncle Ramon decided to leave their neighborhood and live in a billboard alone. Ramon has always valued silence, and finds more of it in his isolation.

Definitely has a melancholy cast, but interesting philosophical ideas.

It‘s February #AuthorAMonth readers. This month we‘ll be celebrating Roxane Gay. What are you planning to read?

I haven‘t gotten to this year‘s Google form yet. I will try to do that by my mid month post so you can start recording what you‘ve read. In the meantime, if you use StoryGraph here‘s the link to the challenge there:

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/3fd3a3c4-e3eb-4846-b89e-b9024ac...

My StoryGraph January cover collage! I love that StoryGraph does this now!
Idlewild was definitely the best of the month. Second place to Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear.

I had high hopes for this because I loved The Passage series. And it started out strong, but about halfway in it becomes a chaotic jumbled mess. I slogged through the next quarter of it, and while it does all come together to make sense at the end, I‘m still disappointed overall. I came very close to a bail but I did want to see how it ended.

I looked at other reviews here to see if I should press on and it looks like others felt similarly.

My new grooming shop is finally up and running! Here‘s our new mural, featuring our shop kitty Cali who didn‘t survive the hurricane floods, and Sam the owner‘s dog. On the couch Mazi, Sietje, Sam (as above so below 😆) and Kira. Kira is a client, but she wanted in for the photo. Mazi and Sam are Sietje‘s coworkers, lol.

I do like this author and that she writes romances featuring characters with more depth. Not my usual genre.

I‘m continuing with my 2025 #bookspin plan to just post sections of my shelves, with a February theme of pink and red. Plus my bookclub book. Ready for Bookspin day @TheAromaofBooks ! 🙂📚🩶

Sietje got up and left when I tried to get the photo, so you just get her toys today.

I came to really care about these characters and some tears were shed. I think we all know what this is about, it‘s pretty hyped, and I felt like it brought up interesting questions. The main one of course- would you open your box? If I knew what it contained I would not.

I enjoyed this Amy, thank you!

I had not heard of this 111 page book Roxane Gay coauthored last year, but it just showed up in my kindle deal email for 2.99. If you don‘t have a plan yet for #AuthorAMonth in February maybe this is what you‘ve been waiting for?

The link Amazon gave me is too long for a Litsy post, but if you search the book from your account or kindle store you should find it. Enjoy!

(I will add that Hunger is my favorite book by Gay)

I loved the Arc of the Scythe series, so of course I wanted to read this volume of short stories that Neal Shusterman and a few other authors wrote taking place in the Scythe world.

I was surprised that the other authors just co-wrote with Neal, I was hoping for some completely different voices. They all have the feel of the trilogy. But they were mostly enjoyable. The only one I didn‘t like was Perchance to Glean, about dreams.
#doublespin

We‘re halfway through January already #AuthorAMonth readers. I hope you‘re enjoying your time with Dorothy L Sayers.

If you want to start thinking about February you may want to put a hold or order in for your Roxane Gay books. I highly recommend watching some of her interviews at various author events on YouTube as well. I‘ll post links to one or two in February. Happy Reading! 📚🙂❤️

@wanderinglynn Thank you for hosting a birthday giveaway! Happy happy early birthday! The tagged book is on my TBR. 📚🎁🎉 #49bdaygiveaway

We‘re having a snow day in Western North Carolina, and Sietje is rocking her new hoodie.

I‘ve mostly been staying bundled up indoors and reading this latest Wayward Children book. It‘s a stand alone about a water world and Nadya, a Russian orphan who was adopted by an American couple and never felt quite like she had control of her own life until she fell through a pond into another world. SMcG delivers another great novella.

I‘ve got my first book hangover of the year thanks to Idlewild. Once I started it I really never wanted to put it down. The passion and yearning of high school/ teen life, even when you aren‘t sure what the huge yearning feeling is for exactly, combined with such deeply considered characters.

While the ending felt right and very realistic, I did hope for something slightly different.

Best book of the year so far 😆. I did love this.
(Pic-Igor)

I‘m only 3/4 through, but I can feel this one is likely to make my best of list for the year. It‘s kind of exciting to say that this early in January!

I‘ve heard great things about this book. Two folks in my bookclub rated it 5⭐️. Thank you @BookwormAHN ! I loved the festive unicorn paper, and I look forward to enjoying some PB Santa chocolate and reading this Romeo and Juliet reimagining. Great swap package!

Thank you @bookish_wookish for hosting, I love stretching out the holidays like this. 📚❤️😁

What a fun book to start off my reading year! At the grand opening of a new all inclusive resort in the Bahamas, Dan and Mara are horrified when the sun explodes. Not what they expected on their vacation!

There were some twists I definitely didn‘t expect, and it‘s been quite a while since I‘ve read most of a book in one day. It was a good way to pass a cold winter day.

#AuthorAMonth announcement time! Are you ready?!
📣 😁📚

We had a total of 49 participants in #AuthorAMonth in 2024. Wow! We read 295 books. The most read author was Jane Austen. There were 50 readings of her books. Second place was Lauren Groff and Third was Emily St John Mandell.

🥁 And the WINNERS are: 🥁

MOST READ goes to @Eyelit with 30 books read! Congratulations!
⬇️⬇️⬇️

I‘m pleased with this month‘s #bookspin picks 🙂📚. Thanks @TheAromaofBooks !

I know I read this as a kid but I didn‘t really remember it. It was published in the 60s and the language really feels like it. One character‘s favorite line is “oh baloney!” 😆

It‘s a cute middle grade read, low pick for me. I looked up to see if there was a movie made, and there was in the 70s, called The Hideaways.

I feel like it probably inspired A Night at the Museum, but there‘s no magic here, just two kids staying in a museum.

Happy New Year! It‘s time to start our first #AuthorAMonth read of 2025, Dorothy L Sayers. I had actually not heard of her before nominations, so she‘s new to me. Have you chosen your book yet?

Please be sure your 2024 form is complete if you want to be eligible for a prize. I‘ll be announcing winners this Saturday. The link is in a recent post under this book title.

As always let me know if you‘d like to be added to my tag list for 2025.

I embraced #HailTheBail this year, andI plan to continue to do so in 2025. StoryGraph makes it easy to see what I dropped this year, so here are the 📚 that didn‘t work for me.

North Woods took the Best of the Year for me, and here are the rest of my #top24of2024 in no particular order. 😁📚❤️

Hubert Bird moved from Jamaica to England in his early 20‘s, met the girl of his dreams, and started a family. Now in his 80s and living alone, he struggles to make himself leave the house. A young neighbor pulls him out of his shell, and together they decide to address loneliness as a societal issue in their town.

Reminiscent of Ove, beautiful and sad and sweet, with issues such as addiction, estrangement, and loss of family members. Loved it!

Another year of #AuthorAMonth has almost ended. I can‘t believe it. 2025 will be our 7th year of reading authors nominated by and voted on by the Litsy community, celebrating and discovering new authors together!

Please be sure to go edit your AAM google form. I need everyone to do this, because I just looked at the spreadsheet and realized I forgot to ask for your Litsy names! 🤦

https://forms.gle/r6EydHX3GmrfYenA8. ⬇️