Is Ivor dead or not? 🫣 I won‘t say.

Fremlin is always entertaining and highly perspicacious regarding human nature. I can‘t wait to read another.

5⭐️ An amazing mosaic!

This novel unapologetically advocates for the end to Palestinian occupation, so this won‘t be for everyone. It is a blend of fact & fiction, which some readers haven‘t liked, but I loved. It isn‘t over dramatized rather it is humanized in intelligent and sometimes brutally realistic ways.

The apeirogon as a metaphor and structure for the novel is brilliant - so appropriate to the boundless “sides” of the conflict.

A request for lemon crinkles. 😄

I do NOT want to put this down! As is typical with all of Fremlin‘s novels.

Happy Mail! 😄 I‘m in the mood for suspense.

I‘m only 18% and really enjoying this timely novel. I love McCann assumes the reader is intelligent enough to pick up what he‘s putting down and isn‘t resorting to soap opera drama.

McCann narrates and I could listen to his voice all day.

“Harmony exists only in music…And then rarely. A single family can no more sort out its legacy than society can…”

This is a family drama set over the Christmas holiday that wrestles with the question of what and how much one generation owes another.

Soft pick - this one won‘t be living on my shelves, despite the fabulous cover.

The haunting lyrical prose is in sharp contrast to the abuse suffered by Annis, a young slave girl. Annis discovers by way of descent into her memory that she has the will & power to choose life rather than cross over the river into the spirit world.

Up next - because I‘m a sucker for cover art! 😜

Look at that cover! 😍 Unfortunately the novel within doesn‘t live up to it. I had really high hopes because Hubbard is a poet. While there were threads of the story that were engaging, a neglected & abused child evacuee meets emotionally fraught conscientious objector in the desolate Fens, it just didn‘t weave together to make a satisfying whole. I really expected the natural environment to be more of a character rather than a backdrop. 😒

It‘s Thanksgiving planning time - already! 😅 This year the kids say they‘re going to help. 🤔

Betty has been my Thanksgiving grandmother since 1988. (Edition 1987)

A bizarre claustrophobia inducing story about being transformed by the sea and the unknown within it.

I can‘t decide whether I liked it or not. I kept listening to find out what happens to Leah, who is trapped in a sunken submersible, so it did capture my attention.

What an absolute delight! The village of Wealding is forever changed by the war and those left behind, but what a gem as painted by Mollie Panter-Downes. Not so much a story as a description of 24 hours on a hot summer‘s day, during which the characters contemplate their lives past, present & future.

If you love lush nature writing as I do, this slim novel is truly a gift.

Thumbing through and came across these lines - agreed!

Not my genre at all……but WOW!!! 😵

I just finished watching the Netflix adaption of this graphic novel and I enjoyed every puzzling, confusing, crazy minute! Super smart and the different timelines make it really engaging.

Had it not been for the 19th century piece I wouldn‘t have been sucked in. So glad I was.

Love - it is the crux of the story.

“A silver hoarfrost on everything one morning. The trees were wave after wave of silver to the horizon, where they met a silver-blue sky. Every small oval leaf of the honeysuckle and forsythia was fringed with silver. The hackberry twigs, delicate as cobwebs. Leaves fell straight down. The sun began to melt the frost. The green leaves had an icy shine.”

A rare B&N shop today! I had to have a paper copy of The Sentence to reread because I enjoyed the audio so much. I read the Forster so long ago I remember nothing and realized it wasn‘t on my shelves to revisit. (Culls happen. 😏) Ceremony has been TBR for quite awhile and Flatlands was an impulse buy, but seems promising. 🤞🏾

5⭐️ Interlocking short stories composed of the life experiences of David as a Native American boy & man on an eastern US reservation. Nonlinear - reads the way memories pop up in our consciousness.

Having grown up in an isolated NA village, in MHO the writing feels very real and is emotionally gripping.

I will most definitely be reading Talty‘s novel that looks to be coming out in April next year.

Perfect cozy family romp to kick off the holiday season! I kinda wish there had been more Dulcie shenanigans. 🤭
#furrowedmiddlebrowclub

My TBR lucky find yesterday. I‘m looking forward to reading it soon! I‘m going to leave it bedside so it doesn‘t get buried with all the others on the TBR shelves.😏

Maggie‘s writing is compulsively readable. You need to be in the mood for personal/family drama though! It can be a tad overwrought.

I love cranberry season!

Trying to read, but with the time change Cooper thinks he‘s going to starve to death waiting.

Loud & clear Mr. Cooper.

Honestly, not looking forward to this IRL bookclub selection. The bookclub is pretty new and this is the second NF self-helpishy book. 😏

I‘m sure it will be “fine”, but I‘m not expecting more.

Ummmmm, if you think you‘re going to get a story about the mysterious poisoning of a French village in 1951, it won‘t be in this one. 99% revolves around a woman unfulfilled in her marriage.

No quibbles with the writing, it‘s unconventional and there is plenty of engaging character development, albeit of dislikable characters.

Nonetheless, the blurb is very misleading. I really wanted the mystery!

I‘m not the audience for this novel; I listened to it for work bookclub. The dialogue & romance are YA level. Some of the action during the game itself was engaging. This leads me to my last observation, which is it felt like two separate novels bound in the same the book:
Hunger Game & Post Hunger Game. The story climaxed with the game victory and then went on to develop other (less interesting) threads. It didn‘t retain the momentum.

I think this one is going to be fun! 😉

#furrowedmiddlebrowclub

GF Alert! Two bites into this coffee cake and my daughter said, “You definitely need to make this again.”

Glad to be finding alternatives that work!

Wow, only two stories in and I‘m hooked! The writing is amazing. So glad I pulled it off the shelf this time.

I‘d much rather be reading than doing admin crap. 😣

Important history lesson, but it read like a YA novel for me. If you are looking for an easy read, this will fit the bill.

Had to bring in the outdoor plants yesterday. 😩 I don‘t have very good luck with succulents so I‘m not holding my breath over the fate of this pot.

Pondering dinner……with temps in the mid 30s F 😩, something comforting & warm is in order. I was thinking MS Roast (❤️pepperoncini), but then I spied Mapo Ragu! I will bookmark both.

This was a “meh” for me. I appreciated the complicated & richly emotional context of the MC‘s failing relationship. But, it didn‘t speak to me. I‘m only likely to remember this novella for the final nursing scene. 😜

More family drama! I seem to be reading a lot of it these days. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Messy lives just trying to navigate the world and their relationships with one another.

Intricately plotted - must pay close attention to this one! Thoroughly enjoyed the story of three childhood friends who each in their own way struggle to be seen & loved for their authentic selves.

I will admit it could have been pared down. It‘s unnecessarily long.

Now I have the fun of picking my next read! 🎉

Having a hippie throwback morning. 😁 I mean that in the most positive way.

Book mail! 😁 I haven‘t been able to get the tagged book out of my mind since I read it earlier this year. I had to have a copy to reread.

The Bowring is for #Europacollective 🎉

This one by comparison (Learned by Heart), just keeps getting better as Perrin doles out bits & pieces I keep trying to fit into the puzzle of exactly what happened to the trio of friends. The dual timeline is working and I love she doesn‘t spell everything out so it‘s a bit fuzzy on both ends. 😊

Wow, I am so disappointed in this book. Given her other novels I expected far more substance. Not that there isn‘t some beautiful prose, but it seems like a short story spun out to novel length. I kept listening for some amazing revelation.

Still looking forward though to what she publishes next.

I‘m just not going to learn to stop checking out cookbooks from the library am I? Now I have to add this to the to-buy list. Plenty of mouthwatering Asian inspired noodle pics too.

Schopenhauer baby, Schopenhauer. 😏

I am at the 50% mark and so far the story doesn‘t seem to be going anywhere. So weird because I‘ve really enjoyed Donoghue‘s previous novels. 🤔

Ooof 😣 This is either exactly the right time to read this raw personal account of the war years in Germany or exactly the wrong time.

Tilli‘s letters encapsulate all of the human and inhuman complexities of war. I have no more words - just feelings all over the place. #Persephoneclub

This selection is taking on an even more depressing aspect given the current state of affairs in Ukraine & Israel. I‘m feeling rather pessimistic about human progress. #Persephoneclub

Another winner from this book - Pumpkin Spice! 🎃

I can‘t believe I let this book sit so long on my shelf without trying the recipes. Sadly, the discovery coincides with what appears to be my daughter‘s gluten sensitivity. 😩 Poor thing.

Anyone have experience with gluten issues? I am wondering if it may be she‘s more sensitive when it‘s in processed foods. (School lunch experience.) We‘re in the early stage of the process of elimination.

Perpetual Reading Sisters of Litsy

Plenty of red herrings & blind alleys in this one! I enjoyed the Reverend Mother‘s spirited (pun intended) character - intelligent, clever, independent, just, & kind.
I disagree with Lucy‘s assessment she is naive to the ways of the “real” world.

I appreciated the pictured quote. 🤓

#nunlitquarterly

“Is the naked tree any more the true tree than the whole tree with its leaves? Images betray us.”

“A cold wind begins from the east. The wild fox drains out of me. The old hound pads toward the fire.”

Another win from this book! I think I‘ll be naughty tomorrow and use this loaf for grilled cheese & jalapeño sandwiches.

Providing medical care and all of the attending services to the homeless is indeed a Sisyphean challenge. I loved how Dr. Jim adopted Camus‘ interpretation, that the meaning & fulfillment is in the struggle, not the accomplishment of the goal, despite the absurdity.

Both depressing and heartwarming how the staff care so deeply about the people caught in a broken US social system.

This bread is scrummmmmptious! 😋 I‘m finally getting around to this book.

Hmmmmm I‘m not sure how I feel about this one. In some parts I felt like I needed a shower - gritty story emotionally & physically. MC is hard to connect with, probably because she herself has become disconnected from reality. I get how difficult times could do that to a person, but maybe I don‘t want to read about it??? 🤷🏾‍♀️

This purchase means I‘m giving into the inevitable……..
❄️☃️🥶🧦🧣🧤