While I do love this author‘s writing I didn‘t connect with this book as much as some of her others. For me all of the romantic relationships got boring, as we read about the love lives of several women. They are complex characters and I think the difficulty going deep was part of the point.

This is also a pandemic book, which I don‘t mind but some might not want to experience again. TW- graphic SA and a difficult aftermath.

A beautiful memoir of a death doula. While she shares experiences from her work, I‘d say more than half of this is about Alua‘s life. Her interactions with clients and their families were touching. My favorite part was the epilogue in which she writes about her vision of what dying could be like, and how she would like to die.

This was the first of two “close my eyes and pull from my shelves” #bookspin choices this month. I switched to the audio since it was available from my library.

This is a memoir about trying to get US citizenship, about immigration and deportation. The author‘s family has experienced it all.

The author is a poet, and I didn‘t love his writing style. He switched timelines in a way that was hard to follow for me. But it‘s an important POV.

Valerie Perrin is a master of breaking my heart with lyrical, slow, emotional stories. I loved this so much! Thank you for gifting it to me @AmyG .

I don‘t think I‘ve ever connected so much with translated writing. It makes me wish my French was better so I could read something by her in the original language. Huge kudos to the translator!

I‘ll be looking to pick up Three sometime soon. And she‘s going on my auto buy list!

I loved Cantoras by Caro de Robertis, so when Libro.Fm suggested the audio of The Palace of Eros I was all in.

Eros defies Aphrodite‘s orders to use her divine arrows to create an unhappy marriage for Psyche. Instead she whisks Psyche away on the wind, to live in a palace.

The author delves into gender diversity in an interesting way, especially with gods involved. This brings the spice, queer love, and questions of what free will means.

“Where I was Root, she was Soil and I burrowed into her and found home.
Where I was River she was Riverbed, holding and shaping me at the same time.
Where I was Cloud, she was Sky, to dissolve in her was sweet annihilation.
Where I was Flame, she was Flame. Together we could have burned down the world.”

Loving this sapphic retelling of the Eros and Psyche myth! (I have no idea who photo credit should go to, I‘ve had this in my phone forever.)

For my Topics bookclub we are reading “Cryptids” in September, and this was available on audio from my library. I enjoyed it more than I expected to.

Noah is 12 and trans and in deep grief over loss of his best friend Lewis. Lewis loved the legend of Mothman, so Noah starts writing to the Cryptids and leaving the letter notebook outdoors overnight. Someone seems to be reading the letters, but who?

Noah navigates school, new friends, bullies.

September is here #AuthorAMonth readers, which brings us to Kurt Vonnegut.

I‘ve only read Slaughterhouse Five. Feel free to comment your favorite titles by him or what you plan to read. I know I already asked in my last post (which you can see by going to this book title.)

The Google form has rules and prizes: https://forms.gle/1F1BmkcTBh7uPXNp9

As always let me know if you‘d like to be added or removed from the tag list. Happy reading!

I haven‘t arranged my TBR shelves in any sort of organized way yet in my new house, so closing my eyes and grabbing something seems like a good plan 😆📚. Keeping #bookspin easy!

My copy of The Four Winds doesn‘t have a book jacket, so here‘s Venkman sunbathing. 😎

I had heard of the dust bowl but never read in depth about it. What a devastating story! While the characters went through such hardships, I was propelled to keep reading because they had spirit and heart. Great historical fiction!

Hello #AuthorAMonth readers! Can you believe we‘re almost to the end of another month? Just a few more days with Judy Blume. If you haven‘t yet you may want to check out the biopic of her on Prime, it‘s excellent!

For September we‘ll be reading Kurt Vonnegut. Any recommendations?

In a dystopian city partially underwater, our preteen narrator lives as part of a “repopulation program”. She and her mother and aunt live in a high rise just outside the flooded zones, and all 3 work as supers for the building. Her aunt tells her folklore from their old country, and convinces her that the woman in the penthouse has a sinister supernatural secret.

A low pick for me.

I know everyone says the series takes off in book 2. I‘m not sure I‘m going to move on to it. This was ok but I wasn‘t that into it. I didn‘t get a book photo before I returned it, so you get a kitty photo.

Meet my new mini panther Mirabel! She‘s about a year old and was found as a stray, I adopted her a few weeks ago but this is her first post 🖤🐈‍⬛. She‘s getting used to living inside and with another cat and dog. Sweet, gentle, and quiet.

I guess found family is a sub-genre I really like. I‘m not usually into mysteries, but I have enjoyed both of the Vera Wong books I‘ve read so far. She‘s funny and sassy, and I‘m ready to have her adopt me as my Chinese Auntie too.

I wasn‘t aware this author had so many books. I may try one from another series.

These are good on audio!

I am honestly not familiar with the author, but this was a bookclub pick and it was good.

There are a lot of heavy topics- fertility struggles, sexual assault, suicidal thoughts, and racism. But some lighter and beautiful stories as well.

I think we‘ll have a good bookclub discussion.

@TheAromaofBooks this was also my #doublespin book. 🙂📚

I‘d call this a low pick. It was entertaining, and had funny moments. I‘m not much of a mystery reader, andI mostly picked this up because the title sounded different. I don‘t think I‘ll continue the series though.

The view from my deck.

This book was so good! I never wanted to put it down. I wouldn‘t even have minded if it were longer. I‘m definitely going to read Verghese‘s other book, Cutting for Stone.

Each time there was a character shift I wanted to protest because I didn‘t want to leave the point of view I was in. But within paragraphs I‘d be immersed in the next bit.

What a remarkable storyteller.

I reread this for #AuthorAMonth. It held up to what I remember from my childhood read of it. I had forgotten that in addition to the main theme of puberty and friends at that age, Margaret is trying to decide if she is interested enough to join her father‘s Jewish faith or her mother‘s Christian one.

I know this one isn‘t getting as good reviews as his previous books, but I really liked it.

It‘s about the summer 4 friends were 14, and they spent the summer swimming, laughing, and dealing with difficult home situations. Lots of content warnings, but if you liked the Beartown trilogy you may like this too.

Wow. This is vey hard to read, because who wants to think about genocides, corrupt governments, murders committed and excused by politicians. But that‘s why it‘s important to pay attention.

I guess if you want a glimpse into what it‘s like to be a rich white southern lady and a how-to for throwing dinner parties and minding your proper southern manners, maybe this is for you.

It‘s a very short audio and she does share some cute stories about her family, but I‘m definitely not aiming for this particular southern belle lifestyle. She is charming and funny though, and if you‘re a fan of her you might like this.

Since I put ACOTAR on my #bookspin list as both 19 and 20, I‘m using the book before it on my it for my #doublespin this month.

I‘m reading ACOTAR ironically- my bookclub topic is “popular trash”, and this was the first thing that came to mind. Mainly because I‘ve heard of how spicy the series is, no offense to anyone! I do like fantasy, so I expect to like it. But is the hype real? I‘ll let you know. 😁📚

Here we are on August 1st #AuthorAMonth readers! Let‘s pull out some books by Judy Blume. What are you planning to read?

Here is the link to the Google form:

https://forms.gle/r6EydHX3GmrfYenA8

All the rules and prize info are on the Google form.

As always, let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the tag list. 🙂📚. Happy Reading!

I finally finished this (it‘s been a busy month for me!) and I loved it. Leave it to #camplitsy to bring some great books into my hands!

I‘ll be going back over the questions tonight to see what everyone had to say. This shows that trans lives can look so many different ways, different for every person living it. 🏳️‍⚧️🩵🩷🤍

We have reached the end of July #AuthorAMonth readers! With a sigh of relief we can all set aside Virginia Woolf and reach towards our August author, Judy Blume. Quite a change of pace!

I‘m pretty sure I saw this on a list of “if you enjoyed A Man Called Ove.” It fits to an extent, with a prickly cactus of a main character who becomes more relatable.

The cover has the feel of romance books lately, and I‘d say it‘s not really that. It‘s mostly the story of a woman who recently finds herself accidentally pregnant and then has to deal with her mother‘s death. There is family drama.

I enjoyed it but more meh than pick.

I‘m glad you reminded us @TheAromaofBooks because I‘ve been too busy to think about #bookspin these last few weeks!

Since my books are currently all in boxes, these are all on Libby or my ereader, with the exception of two which are saved out. The last two on the list are for bookclubs. 🙂

The author is a podcaster, and she narrates the audio pretty well. This was a bookclub pick. It blends true crime with forensic science, mostly following one Jane Doe case in Indiana but with stories from other cases the author has looked into. It‘s good that private citizens have access to look into the cold cases that authorities don‘t have time or money to continue with. Quite a few Does have been identified in this way.

It‘s been almost 2 years since my life drastically changed. I found out I was getting divorced, decided to move back to my heart‘s home North Carolina. Having a house build is quite an ordeal, but it‘s finally officially done and mine! I‘ll be moving in a couple days, I can‘t wait to settle in and unpack my books! I‘m going to read on this deck and soak in the mountain air as often as I can!

If you need my new address email me: magicbelly⬇️

I assumed this was a new release when @Hooked_on_books and others were reading it for a recent prize longlist, but no it‘s a translation from the original German written in the 60‘s.

A woman wakes after a night alone in her family‘s hunting lodge to find that an invisible wall separates the property from the town. She is alone with a cow, a dog, and a cat, and apparently everyone else in the world is dead? ⬇️

My #bookspin this month was a historical fiction about the exploration of the Wolverine River through Alaska, the first successful trip by white men.

While the exploration part was interesting, I preferred the other part of the story is about Sophie, the wife of the lead explorer. She is left behind near Seattle, and finds a new interest in photography of birds and nature, in the days when the art of photography was new.

While I did enjoy this, it fell short of the books I love by TJ Klune. Still a pick.

My main issue is that Artimis Darth Vader, the little girl in the story, sometimes comes across as incredibly naive and sometimes comes across as too mature. This might be fitting for the character and circumstances, but it felt inconsistent and pulled me out of the story.

Still worth a read, just didn‘t live up to Whispering Door for me.

I tried Virginia Woolf for the first time and she is definitely not for me. I hope other #AuthorAMonth readers have better luck!

This is my second short read by Keegan in a couple of weeks. Her writing is so good! I‘ll definitely make my way through all of her titles.

I got this on from my library, probably after seeing @tpixie ‘s review. I haven‘t been to the Louvre, but I would love to one day. I would love to see Nike, and really so many of the works the author describes. It was cool hearing about the history of the buildings themselves and the gardens. And of course info about some of the artists. Great book for art enthusiasts!

July is here #AuthorAMonth readers! It‘s time to try a classic with Virginia Woolf. I‘m going with one of her short books on Serial Reader. What do you plan to read?

#AuthorAMonth is a no pressure challenge to honor Litsy nominated and voted upon authors. There are several prizes at the end of the year. Track your reading and see the rules on the google sheet linked below.

As always let me know if you‘d like to be added or taken off the list.📚

At some point Libro.FM had a sale and I got this audiobook.

The author lives in the suburban Seattle area, and this is a series of essays about the wildlife she finds in her own area. Birds, bugs, fungi, plants, she talks about a little of everything.

If you read a lot of nature writing some of this will likely be familiar to you, but even so I found it engaging.

New to me- slime molds. I‘ve never thought very much about them. Cool!

Thank you so much for the recommendation @BarbaraBB !

What a beautiful novel in letters. Sybil prefers letter writing to any other communication. She writes to friends, family, favorite authors, customer service reps, really anyone.

She‘s in her 70s and her vision is failing. The fear of that and grief over two huge losses in her life become the backbone of the story.

I cried more than once, and I laughed plenty.
Recommending!

This is one of those books I‘ve heard about for most of my life and thought “someday I‘ll read that.” I‘m so glad I finally did! I‘m sure it‘s one I‘ll read again. Celie learns so much in her life, overcoming abuse and learning about love and making a life for herself that she feels good about.

I watched the movie in the last year so the story was familiar, but the book was much better. Of course.

Loved, possibly my best book of the year.

Well, at about 30% I‘m giving up. I am not finding this particularly funny, and I don‘t really like the main character. I know he‘s supposed to learn about who he is and grow as a person, but I‘m over it.

#hailthebail

This audio was only an hour, so I think this would be considered a short story probably.

The story of a girl who spends a summer helping relatives on their farm. It‘s scary at first, but she finds them kind and more caring than her own parents, and thrives in their care. It‘s not all sunshine though, as there is a secret that overshadows.

Beautiful writing, I will put one of Keegan‘s books on hold.

July‘s #bookspin comes from a very limited selection, since I‘ve packed all but 3 of my books 😱. The other are audio from Libby and Libro.FM. If I happen to have enough time for more there‘s always my kindle or the library! Hopefully my shelves will be set back up by the end of July. 📚

Are we completely sure this was written by Kevin Wilson? It lacks the humor and the wittiness and weirdness we know him for. It really doesn‘t feel like him at all. But maybe he was trying something different?

I did enjoy it, I thought it was an interesting story. It just wasn‘t what I expected at all. And the ending felt abrupt, like the book was unfinished.

Oh well, hopefully he‘ll return to his old style with the next book.

For July #AuthorAMonth. I have found Serial Reader to be a great way to get through classics. It‘s a free ap, and there are a lot of Woolf books on there, from 7-25 “issues”. Each “issue” is about a 10 minute read, making it easy to read for 2 short sessions a day and complete a tough classic in a month! I think I‘ll probably read her this way.

Hello #AuthorAMonth readers! We‘re down to about one week left with June‘s author John Scalzi. I hope he‘s been making you laugh.

July brings us to a classic with Virginia Woolf. I haven‘t read anything by her before and I‘m looking forward to it! Any recommendations for where to start?

Andy Weir may be an auto-read for me at this point, and I‘m not sure I can say that about any other scifi author.

This one is a heist in a lunar colony. Jazz is hired to sabotage the smelting company on the moon so a billionaire can take over their contract with the lunar government. Of course things don‘t go as she planned, and a fast paced race to avoid the law, a mafia, and save the day ensue.

Projects Hail Mary is still my AW fave, but 👍👍.

I really liked this stand alone dark fantasy! It‘s pretty heavy, with themes of colonialism and oppression and exploitation, among other things. Definitely see content warnings.

There‘s a well defined magic system and two main characters I really cared about. There were several reveals I wasn‘t expecting, and the end was a surprise.

A tragic car accident spurs events in this intense family and neighbors drama. I really liked it, though it jumps around in time quite a lot.

Morning snuggles and reading.

The cover and title made me pick this up used somewhere, and it‘s been on my shelf for some time.

It‘s a low pick, but I found it fun and silly. How often do you get to read a heist book with 5 retirees as the criminals? It looks like there are a few more in the series. While I won‘t rush out to get them, I‘d read more if I found them in a LFL or at a library sale.

Goonies never say die! Thank you for the birthday gifts @Hooked_on_books ! The glass is perfect, so cool that you remember my favorite movie. I just read that it released 40 years ago this week.

All of the books sound great, and I‘m faced with the dilemma once again of what to read first! Seeing that you chose The Wall as the winner of a recent award makes me lean towards it.

Thank you Holly! (Happy to see Powell‘s stickers, glad you‘re back)