My God, this book is magnificent! I had literal chills by the end of it. A sprawling work that encompasses multiple genres and centuries and characters, with entanglements and intersections that move forward and backwards and demonstrate how we are all connected to the environment and to history —and it to us. This would have landed on my #AuldLangSpine2024 list if I‘d finished it in time, @JoeMo

Received the book from your #KrampusNacht giveaway, @WildAlaskaBibliophile and @TieDyeDude ! Thank you so much! The illustrations are gorgeous. 😍 It fits nicely in with my husband‘s collection of creepy German nutcrackers, too. (There‘s a whole box of them in the basement, too. I only let a few of them out at a time.) 😀

My #JolabokaflodSwap package has arrived! 🎅🏼🎄🎁

Read a detailed, minute-by-minute narrative about how nuclear war would likely unfold and destroy life as we know it just a few weeks before America‘s love child of Caligula and mad King George retakes the White House? Sure, why not? I already wasn‘t sleeping.

It‘s here! Opening day of #StuffedStockingSwap Thank you so much for the fun package, @KadaGul ! The teas, the candles, the books … and I‘ve never seen a furry tea mug before —I‘m obsessed! Happy holidays to you and yours, and happy reading in 2025. 🙂 And thank you again for organizing, @Avanders

Hit my page goal with a few weeks to spare! 💪🏼💃🏻🕺

The sequel to “Brooklyn,” the events in this book take place 20 years later. Eilish discovers that her husband has impregnated another woman —and intends to bring the baby into their family. She returns to Ireland to ponder her future, but finds the past patiently awaiting her arrival. A book about the choices we make, the paths we don‘t take and the people we hurt along the way. The ending is ambiguous and leaves room for a 3rd book.

Our department has a magnetic Scrabble game for the fridge in the kitchen. Every week or so someone starts a new theme. Thought @WildAlaskaBibliophile and @TieDyeDude would appreciate one of my contributions. 😀

#krampusnacht

My #JolabokaflodSwap package is on its way, like Santa on his sleigh! 🛷 🎅🏽🧑🏼‍🎄

This book, the sequel to “Parnassus on Wheels,” follows Roger and Helen Mifflin to their brick-and-mortar bookstore in Brooklyn. It‘s a weird mash-up of a mystery punctuated by Roger‘s lengthy harangues about the state of the world. Not as charming as the first book, but still a pick for me because Morley‘s prose is almost hypnotic. I love the way he can turn a phrase.

What a fascinating #AuldLangSpine2025 #ALS list from @JoeMo ! Titles in red are books I've already read. Titles in blue are books I already own, so I will likely start with one of them in January.

Title in green is already on my TBR. I'm intrigued by the book about Siskel and Ebert. Honest disclosure: I don't intend to read anything with the words “Donald“ or “Trump in it for the rest of my life, if I can manage it. 😖 So probably not #14.

Before I embark on #AuldLangSpine2025, I want to give a shoutout to my awesome ALS partners from previous years. Here are my favorite reads from @singout, @deblovestoread and @MallenNC. Your 2025 ALS partners are in for some treats! 🙂

#AuldLangSpine

Before embarking on #AuldLangSpine2025 with my new reading partner @JoeMo , I decided to read one last book off the list from my #AuldLangSpine2024 partner @MallenNC . 🙂 I enjoyed it ! As much as I can now enjoy books about global pandemics caused by viruses that originated in China, that is. 😖 I even wanted it to continue. I don‘t know what that says about me. 😳

@monalyisha

My #stuffedstockingswap #sss package has arrived! 😍

@Avanders

My first #20in4 Readathon is … wait for it … in the books! I met my goal of 20 chapters across 4 books.

Chapter tally:
Severance: 13
Parnassus on Wheels: 15 (finished the book)
Undue Burden: 1
Nuclear War: 3

Final: 32

Thanks for hosting, @Andrew65

6 NONFICTION books completed in November—setting up a few interesting matches. The tagged book was my pick. And my enjoyment of it pushed it ahead of its competitor from September. However, I‘m still thinking about the wild card memoir—so I gave it the nod to move on. But in the end, my love of a well-written narrative nonfiction propels “Challenger” into the finals. What a fun year this has shaped up to be!

#2024ReadingBrackets

To my complete surprise, the tagged book is my pick of the 6 FICTION books I finished in November. I wouldn‘t have guessed that based on the first 150 pages or so. But it grew on me. (And to be honest, the other 5 choices were simply ok.)

#2024ReadingBrackets

Finally got around to scrolling through The New York Times list of 100 Notable Books for 2024. I‘ve only read 6, and have another 13 on my TBR.

What an absolutely delightful little book! Helen McGill is my new favorite heroine.

A snapshot of my reading stats for November, courtesy of StoryGraph.

Halfway through #20in4 Readathon. My goal is 20 chapters, spread across the pile of books I‘m currently reading. Total chapters so far:
Severance: 9
Parnassus on Wheels: 4
Undue Burden: 0
Nuclear War: 0

13 chapters down, 7 to go!

@Andrew65

Forgot to take a photo of the box, but here‘s a picture of the tracking receipt! My #stuffedstockingswap #sss package is on its way. Due to arrive next week—although it‘s going a fairly long distance, so fingers and toes are crossed. 🤞🏼🦶🏼

There‘s still time to get in on the #AuldLangSpine reading club for 2025! Submit your list of the best 7-20 books you‘ve read this year, and @monalyisha will work her magic and match you with another Litten who shares your reading tastes! You‘ll swap lists and read at least one book off each other‘s lists in January. Navigate over to @monalyisha ‘s page to sign up.

Head over to @monalyisha ‘s page to sign up for #AuldLangSpine! Help her out — I mean, SOMEONE has to get paired with me and get my list of nonfiction books. 😀

My relationship status with this book would be “complicated.” For the first 150 pages, I dragged my feet on picking it up. Then I buckled down to read it —and couldn‘t put it down. I disliked the main character, even after finding out the family dynamics that basically made her into an unlikable person. But she was real and messy and imperfect and HUMAN—so I understood her in a visceral way. It‘s a pick for me, but I can see why others bail.

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!