I really enjoyed this breezy history of bookstores in the U.S., from colonial days to the present (shoutout to my local indie, RJ Julia Booksellers, which garnered a mention!). It took me a month because I didn‘t read it straight through — I dipped into it a chapter or a section at a time. Definitely recommend for anyone who loves books about bookstores —and nonfiction.

I don‘t think Al Pacino had a ghostwriter and instead penned his own memoir. Which is pretty amazing! On the other hand, it reads like Al Pacino didn‘t have a ghostwriter, and he penned his own memoir. 🤷🏻‍♀️ It‘s not the most well-written book I‘ve ever read. Then again, it isn‘t the worst. So. If you are a fan and want to read Al‘s thoughts on acting and life, pick it up. It‘s a fairly quick read.

During a delayed and stressful Australian flight, an elderly passenger tells the other passengers how and when they will die. After the flight, some of her “predictions” begin to come true. Is the “Death Lady” a psychic, a fraud, or just a confused old woman? The ride to find the answer is a rollicking one.

A large pile of reading material, a mug of hot tea, a fleecy blanket and a spot on the couch: Ah, Sunday mornings. 😍🥰

1. Hmmm. How wide are the stripes? How big are the spots? I reserve the right to hold off on a decision without additional information. 😀
2. Just started reading the tagged library book. Only one chapter in so far so I have no opinion about it yet.

Thanks for the tag, @dabbe !
@TheSpineView
#Two4Tuesday

Just completed my 100th book of the year. Which coincidentally was also my 2,000th book since I started keeping track on Goodreads in 2011. The nerd in me is tickled by the mathematical symmetry. 😀

I am gutted.

Working at the polls in my town today. Brought this with me to read — and to make a silent statement. Vote today like your life depends upon it. Because if you are a woman, it actually does. 🇺🇸💪🏼💙💙

Finished 6 NONFICTION books in October. The tagged book was my favorite. I love biographies, especially when they are about fascinating people I didn‘t know anything about.

#2024ReadingBrackets

The tagged book was my pick of the 5 FICTION books I completed in October. It was a fun tongue-in-cheek read, but did not hold a candle to September‘s pick: “The Trees” by Percival Everett. Which set up a very difficult decision for the quarterfinals. In the end, my heart is still with “Stoner,” which moves on.

#2024ReadingBrackets

Fast-paced thriller that imagines the missteps, miscalculations, stubborn pride and arrogance that start with a naval clash in 2034 between the U.S. and China and escalate to nuclear weapons. The authors are a former Marine and a retired Navy admiral, so the authenticity of the military actions saturate the narrative. Probably shouldn‘t have read this on the eve of the most consequential presidential election of my lifetime, but here we are. 😖

Posting my October stats from Storygraph. This month was more nonfiction-heavy than usual. I love these analytics! Such a fun snapshot of my reading moods.

I rarely listen to audiobooks, but make exceptions for memoirs read by the person. I love Randy Rainbow, and hearing him tell the story of his journey from a chubby, awkward kid to YouTube sensation and star of satirical political parodies set to the music of Broadway show tunes was a rollicking ride. He‘s funny & self-effacing, and his brutally honest take on Trump and the GOP makes me LOL. Also loved the stories about his grandmother, Nanny.

Fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the White House Situation Room as it has evolved over the years and throughout the presidential administrations from Kennedy until Biden. If you are still unsure about how to vote on Nov. 5, read the Trump chapter. It will enrage, disturb, horrify and scare the #%^ out of you.

The narrative of this book was all over the place. Plot points were randomly dropped into the story and never mentioned again. Because the characters were adult women who had known each other since elementary school, you often felt like you were overhearing private conversations without being privy to any of the history. It‘s a strange and unnecessarily confusing way of building a narrative.

I always love it when I visit The Book Barn and one of their special friends comes out to say hi.

Thanks for the tag, @DebinHawaii ! A lot of eating in my #5JoysFriday. 😄 Today included lunch with coworkers. This weekend my husband and I have dinner plans with friends we haven‘t seen in months; Sunday I‘m meeting two good friends for breakfast and a stroll through our local used bookstore‘s annual sale. And earlier this week my husband received word of a modest inheritance coming his way.

My husband and I spent the weekend in the Hudson River Valley and of course I managed to find a few bookstores to visit. 😇 Here‘s my book haul. As usual, I‘m in a nonfiction state of mind! 😀

I didn‘t know much about legendary editor Judith Jones, but after reading this book I‘m intrigued by her life story. Over her long career at Alfred A. Knopf, she nurtured the fledgling works of Sylvia Plath, John Updike and Anne Tyler, and became the go-to editor for cookbook authors —including Julia Child. Along the way she dealt with gender discrimination in the workplace. She was a fascinating woman.

Spent the weekend in the Hudson River valley for hubby‘s birthday. Tops on our must-see list was this bookstore that‘s located in an old firehouse—and with a bar inside. So he could sit and have a beer while I browsed. First time he hasn‘t gotten impatient with me for taking too long to finish shopping. 😄

Reading about Oct. 6, 1948 on Oct. 6, 2024. It‘s always fun when these calendar coincidences align!

This bio about children‘s author Margaret Wise Brown (The Runaway Bunny, Goodnight Moon) is a soft pick. Interesting information about her life (much of it apparently taken from her own journals) but the tone of the book was oddly stilted and dispassionate. Even the description of Brown‘s death was so curt and matter-of-fact that I read right over it and had to go back. And several of Brown‘s life choices left me questioning her judgment.

Just one NONFICTION book completed in September—but it likely would have been the winner anyway. This is the kind of narrative nonfiction that really grabs me.
#2024ReadingBrackets

Updated #2024ReadingBrackets:
Completed 8 books in September, 7 of which were FICTION. The clear winner, however, was “The Trees” by Percival Everett. It‘s the third book by Everett I‘ve read this year, and it‘s my favorite. The man is a genius.

My reading stats for September. Being sick with Covid for two weeks really took a toll on me —in more ways than one. Ugh. Get your boosters, people!

I‘m so sorry I missed the opening date for #FallingforFallSwap —I‘m still in denial that it‘s October already! 😬 Thanks for the sweet package, @BethM ! I‘ve never heard of the imprint that published this book, but it sounds fascinating! And I love the bookmark — how did you know I have a black cat! 🐈‍⬛ Happy fall to you!
#FFFS

Typically a dysfunctional family story would be right up my alley. But this one didn‘t quite hit the mark for me. The older I get, the more impatient I am with people who run away from their problems. And with books based on situations that could be solved or prevented if people just opened their mouths and told someone how they are feeling. (Apparently I‘m THIS close to yelling at kids to get off my lawn. 🙄😀)

My husband and I spent a lovely autumn day wandering around Jamestown, Rhode Island, today. We got a bag of hot apple cider donuts, stopped at a local brewery—and found a cute bookstore, of course! Picked up this Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. that I‘ve had my eye on.

I‘ve read 22% of the books on this list (that I can remember, anyway—it‘s been a long time since I was reading children‘s books). Three that I was surprised to find on a banned list were:
1. Friday Night Lights (it‘s about … football?)
2. A Light in the Attic (it‘s… a cartoon?)
3. My Brother Sam is Dead (is the Revolutionary War a forbidden topic now?)

Link to the survey is on @dabbe ‘s page

@dabbe
#TLT
#ThreeListThursday

I tried. I made it almost 300 pages — until Imelda‘s section with the run-on sentences and lack of punctuation took me down. It was a valiant effort but I just couldn‘t do it. Moving on.

THIS is what narrative nonfiction should be. David Simon‘s classic account of a year in the Baltimore Police Dept.‘s homicide unit, it became the basis for the award-winning TV series “Homicide: Life in the Streets” and “The Wire.” It‘s dark, it‘s dreary, it‘s gritty —and it‘s incredibly compelling. I am in awe of Simon‘s prose —he has a gift for putting words together.

Finally. 🥰 Happy Fall, y‘all!

Meh. Although it‘s not tagged as such, this read like a YA romance. And since I dislike both YA and romance, it was a tough slog. I liked the beginning but then it bogged down and felt very drawn-out and stuffed with platitudes that were trite and cliched. But at least I finally completed a book for this year‘s #AuthorAMonth. So that‘s something.

Received my #FallingforFallSwap #FFFS package today, @Avanders and @Chrissyreadit !

This weekend I met up with several college friends in Cleveland to see Billy Joel and Rod Stewart in concert! It‘s the first and only time in their careers that these artists have shared the stage. It was a fabulous event —and the best part is that I got to share it with lifelong friends. 😍

The package to my match for #FallingforFallSwap #FFFS is on its way!

@Chrissyreadit
@Avanders

For August's #2024ReadingBrackets NONFICTION I chose the tagged book by Timothy Egan. It‘s a grisly yet engrossing account of the Ku Klux Klan‘s rise to power in Indiana in the 1920s. The parallels to today are also scary and sobering. It was a fascinating read that also took down its challenger and moves to a semifinal slot. Honorable mention for a wild-card slot was “Beyond the High Blue Air” by Lu Spinney, a poignant, heartbreaking memoir.

Updated #2024ReadingBrackets:
August was a productive month, with 13 books completed – thanks in large part to an enforced period of time on the couch after my knee surgery as well as several events that involved hours of travel to get there. Eight of the books were FICTION. Of those, I gave the nod to “God of the Woods” by Liz Moore as the top pick. Great read, but it's no match for “Stoner“ -- which moves on into the semifinals.

When you try to sneak in reading anywhere and any time you can. Including at physical therapy for post-op knee rehab. 😄

This is funniest book about lynchings I have ever read. And yes, I know how bizarre that statement sounds. It‘s a savage satire on racism and the history of violent hate crimes. (Warning: it‘s pretty graphic.) My only quibble is that the ending felt rather abrupt. Read it. Percival Everett is absolutely brilliant.

This is the saddest memoir I‘ve ever read. 😕 In 2006, Spinney‘s son Miles, 29, was critically injured in a snowboarding accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him in a minimally conscious state. Over the next 5 years, his family strongly advocated to help him live —until they realized that Miles was aware of his limitations and stark prognosis. Then they advocated to help him die. Poignant, heartbreaking and very well written.

So far, August has been my most productive month of 2024, in terms of number of books and pages completed. I guess being confined to the couch for a week after knee surgery with nothing else to do can have SOME perks! 😄 FYI, the “average time to finish” was skewed by a book that I finally finished after 10 months. 😖

I‘m not a romance fan and this is tagged as such, but I enjoyed it. I loved “One Day” by this author, and I don‘t think this new one lives up to that. Still, the writing made me laugh out loud in parts (especially the descriptions of Marnie‘s efforts to copy edit orgy scenes in a terrible manuscript 😄) and I found myself caring about the characters and their possible connection.

Writing notes to likely Democratic voters as part of the Postcards to Swing States Program while watching the Democratic National Convention roll call. Let‘s do this! 💪🏼

It‘s a pick and I did enjoy it. But it was kind of all over the place and parts of it (in the middle, especially) read like a textbook, which was distracting and a bit jarring. I didn‘t care for the main character, either. Which all sounds like I didn‘t actually enjoy it 😳😄… but despite the unlikeable character and the disjointed narrative, it‘s still a compelling read.

A small book that packs a big punch. This is a primer of sorts that explains why —and, most importantly, how — we should turn our lawns into “homegrown national parks” and create pollinator pathways. My husband and I were so inspired by this book that we‘ve joined our local chapter and pledged to remove invasive plants and install more native plants in our yard.

1. There was once a boy called Milo who didn't know what to do with himself – not just sometimes but always.
2. I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.
3. Serene was a word you could put to Brooklyn, New York. ⬇️

Finished yesterday but forgot to post until now because I was preoccupied with today‘s knee surgery. A woman training to be a forensic pathologist learns through DNA that she‘s the infant who went missing 30 years ago. She‘s thrust into a mystery involving her birth family. Chapters are short, the action moves quickly—although some scenarios strain credibility. I guessed some of the ending early on, but there was an extra twist that surprised me.

When your library hold comes in JUST as you arrive home from knee surgery and will be on the couch for several days. Libby for the win! 🥇 🙌🏼

Grisly yet fascinating account of the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. While it happened across the country, this focuses on Indiana, which had the highest concentration of KKK members and chapters of any state. (This statistic surprised me, although I‘m not really sure why.) In 1925, a brave young woman named Madge Oberholtzer gave a deathbed testimony that brought the group down. The parallels to today are also scary and sobering.