My happy place

The sky is spectacular tonight. As is this book. I‘m in awe of how much Claire Keegan can tell with so little words.

I usually really like this series but somehow I didn‘t vibe with this book at all. There wasn‘t a real case to be solved and it was loads of WW2 talk.

Uff, this hit so hard on so many levels. Sometimes I had to skip whole paragraphs to know what‘s happening next. I am looking forward to the #camplitsy25 discussion. Especially what you guys think about the ending.

Saw this on the #bookerlonglist and got a kind of feeling. So I had to read it immediately. I think it‘s the cover‘s fault, but I expected something more poetic? I liked the character and the story but the writing was too little atmospheric for me.

Crime story set in Portugal, but it‘s not the usual holiday-read. A great set of inspectors (one autistic) and a good and clever storyline.

„Many things start and end without one noticing, as long as you‘re stuck in the story. It‘s only later that you‘re wiser.“

This is an adorable book in which nothing really happens. It might have irked me at another point. But for now it was a welcomed cozy read.

This was stressful. And halfway through I wasn‘t sure if it was able to grip me like her other books did. But the ending tore at my heart just like I thought it would.

I‘m usually not a fan of sequels but this one was nice. And I would read a third book with these characters. I really got to like Darius.

This has been sitting on my tbr for ages and I read it at the right time. There were some quirks I didn‘t like but the overall feeling was very warm. And I learned so much about Persian culture, especially the food!

I thought, I start this to see whether I like it and then I just read it. I have no idea what to think of it, so I am very much looking forward to the #camplitsy discussions!

Dipped into this for five months. I always liked it. I don‘t know if I could have read it in one go, but i am now considering reading the sequel.

When it‘s too dark to read on but you don‘t want to move and go inside…

This has been on my TBR for ages. I am so happy I finally read it. And I kind of wish, I‘d read it 20 years ago. It resonated even now and I think it‘s a brilliant description of the headspace you can be in when you‘re a teenager. But I think it would‘ve hit me even more, have I read it while actually being a teenager. Also the fact that this is on lists of banned books makes me unbelieveably angry.

I loved this when I was a kid, and thought I‘d give it a re-read to see if it‘s something for my daughter. And oh, I did not expect the amount of childhood-feels the names of all the animals gave me.

I quite liked this author‘s previous book, so I gave this a go. It started ok but halfway through I started to not believe the MC anymore, everything felt a bit too constructed and in the end I was really annoyed.

This was an ok read. It helped giving my head a break from some heavy stuff going on around. The writing was good but story-wise, I liked Bel Canto a lot better.

This book ❤️ It got me through the past two weeks.

A gay romance set in New York in the 50s. There‘s fear and there‘s pining and there‘s love, so much love. I fell in love with the characters and the story. And I am usually really not fond of romance stories.

There‘s dragons and books and magic and tea but somehow I didn‘t vibe with that book. It was too much lovey-dovey and too little suspense in the plot for my liking.

It looks like I wanted to get away from this book so fast, that I brought it back to the library before I took a picture… oh, this was heavy and made me feel aggrieved. But it‘s not a bad book at all. I gave it five stars exactly because of how it was able to make me feel. But it was a hard read. Especially in times like these.

I had a proper book hungover after Bookshops and Bonedust and looking around, noticed that I have a thing for „cozy fantasies“. So I started this one. And it soon became one of those books when you count the hours until you can continue reading it. So much love for the storytelling, the world-building and the characters.

Also I am now actually considering getting a spider plant.

I liked the baking, the rest of the plot was a bit meh, though.

It took me so long to finally read these books and now I am hooked! I love the characters and the world and I want to read moremoremore!

It took me a long time to get into this but then I really wanted to know what was happening next. I can‘t help but like this series. Finished it tonight during #hyggehour

I saw so much love for this around here, so I gave it a read and I loved it! I was so invested and rooting for Margo. The characters were so deep, the narration so engaging.

This has been my 2024. I read 57 books. I dove into the year, signing up for loads of challenges. I read loads of books I woudn‘t have if not for them, but in the end it felt like a burden. So for 2025 I set myself only one challenge: to not take part in any and just read what I feel like, whenever I want to. And I am really looking forward to it.

I don‘t know if there‘s a better thing to do at New Year‘s Eve than finish a good book. I saw this around for so long, now finally gave it a go and read it in three days. This is so random and yet so warm and comfortable. Also I am craving cinnamon buns now.

And another one is finished - even though, this book will never truly be finished. I will flip through this over and over again and not only because of the recipes. I really liked her approach in explaining why you do certain things while cooking, so the reader can learn and adapt. Loved it! 5 Stars and a Cesar‘s Salad Dressing. #readouttheold

I finished another one! This was very interesting. Some things I knew already, some things I learned. Sometimes the narration was a bit too simple for my liking. But nevertheless it‘s very important that books like this are being written. And it‘s even more important that they‘re read. #ReadOutTheOld

Joining @TheAromaofBooks #Readouttheold readathon to finish all the books before the new year arrives. Read this one for a bookclub. I had a hard time getting into it and when I got in, it became very heavy.

This was a wonderful cozy book to read! I liked it a lot. It‘s also the last one I read off my #AuldLangSpine list. @JamieArc thank you very much again for providing me with good books throughout the whole year!

It took me so long to finish this book and I don‘t quite know why but it‘s somehow fitting as this is all over the place. There‘s ghosts, a magical healing touch, there‘s drug addiction and animals, there‘s a missing person case, brain diseases, a disfunctional family, a small town, and it still works. It‘s not too much.

Christmas Bookclub Meeting!

I loved The School of Essential Ingredients. And while I still also love the way Bauermeister lets charatcters unfold, this book didn‘t really get to me.

I Marie-Kondo‘ed by TBR-list. I went through every book and deleted all the ones that didn‘t make me want to read them. I‘m still at 130. But I am very excited about all of them.

Liked this a lot. Becky Chambers stories always give me that certain feeling of belonging even though it‘s a weird and foreign world.

A quick and comfortable read. Exactly what I needed. I love me some gay coming of age teenage angst

Read for a bookclub. It was horrible. Tried too hard to be funny or intelligent. Did the exact opposite.

Yep, I am still reading books off my #AuldLangSpine-list. This was last month‘s #bookspin choice and oh, how I liked it. It‘s one of those books that you count the hours that you can go back to it in the evening. I love fantasy-settings that throw you in and you have to figure out a lot for yourself. Also I liked Emily Wilde. So thank you @JamieArc for recommending me yet another gem

Another one I read in my holidays. The story of a guy who steals art all over Europe, just to put it up and admire it in his attic. It took me half the book to realise that it‘s a true story. It was fascinating to get a glimpse into this world, still it didn‘t manage to completely grip me.

Horribly behind with my reviews, so here I go. I read this in my holidays. It was a nice and fast read, though not my favourite in this series. The storyline seemed a bit easy.

Holidays means morning reading sessions.

Holidays ❤️

Bookmail for my holidays! Late Show has been on my tbr for ages - and it‘s this month‘s #bookspin choice. I also started to read Eve as ebook but thought it‘s one if those books that are better read as a real book :)

Another garden book! It is just the wrong time of the year to read this books as I want to sow all the seed but my pots are empty… I liked it as much as I liked Adams first book. This was also last months #bookspin

Enjoying the last warm rays of sunshine in my garden with this. A feel-good-story with a garden. Not too heavy, not too deep. Exactly what I needed this week. #bookspin from two months ago, I think. Still catching up.

Catching up on all my challenges. This one was for #foodandlit Jamaica. Poems just always get me when they‘re this raw.

(longer explanation in the comments 👇🏻. Short version is this:) I wanted to try New Adult for a while. So I gave this m/m-college-sports-romance a go. Good points: I liked the setting and the dynamics. Bad points: The language felt overly cheesy at times and the sex scenes were quite unrealistic. But nonetheless, I am glad that I read it. Soft pick.

Another bookclub-read I had a really hard time getting into. It started to pick up with 50 pages to go… 🤦‍♀️