Started this on Kindle today. In this 1920's gothic comedy, bright young socialite Julia and shy Jewish magician Simon decide they aren't beholden to their families' unhappy history. Together they confront such horrors as murdered ghosts, alive children, magic philosophy, a milieu that slides far too easily into surrealist metaphor, and, worst of all, serious adult conversation.

This was a fun read.

Well this was magical. It was like a warm hug and I really want to read the next two books. Half of Theodora's soul was stolen by a faerie and she does not feel things as others do. While accompanying her cousin to London, she meets the handsome, but ill-mannered, Lord Sorcier, who learns of her condition and promises to "cure" her. Their banter was amusing and their growing relationship put a huge smile on my face.

"There is such a thing as evil in this world. It does not help to look away from it. It does not even help necessarily to look at it. But sometimes, when you cannot force the world to come to its senses, you must settle only for wiping away some of the small evils in front of you."

Starting this book tonight. I had to do an interlibrary loan to get it because my library doesn't have it. Excited to read a regency romance that is also fantasy.

Going to start listening to this tomorrow morning on my way to work. I've never read a Rainbow Rowell book and I'm looking forward to it.

Starting this book tomorrow. I'm excited to start this cozy, low-stakes fantasy novel about a battle-weary orc who opens up a coffee shop.

I enjoyed this book. It had interesting, believable characters and I enjoyed learning about them. There were some serious conversations about race, sexuality, and trauma but the author still made it feel fun. I'll have to pick up the first book in the series when it's available at the library. I also definitely want to read the next book when it comes out.

For Women's History Month, I'm going to start this audiobook tomorrow. #herstoryathon

I know it's the second book in the series, but it caught my eye at the library and they didn't have the first one available, so I brought it home anyway. It's due soon and I'm taking my time with Thistlefoot, so decided to pick this book up and see if I can read it before it's due in three days.

I adored this book. I highly recommend the audiobook, as I feel it adds nuance to her particular kind of humor. I own the physical book and enjoyed going through and looking at the pictures after I'd listened to a particular part or highlighting things that struck a chord. The way she describes mental illness is spot on and the way she uses humor to deal with it is very relatable. Definitely will listen to her other books.

In other words, stop judging yourself against shiny people. Avoid the shiny people. The shiny people are a lie. Or get to know them enough to realize they aren‘t so shiny after all.

I woke up with horrible anxiety this morning but I was listening to this part of the book on my way to work and ended up laughing my ass off. The nurse's name is Latoya, not Labya. 🤣🤣

"There will be moments when you have to be a grown-up. Those moments are tricks. Do not fall for them."

"Things happen that we cannot speak of. These rememberings are prickly like blackberry briar in winter, with no leaves to soften them. And the very worst thing about memory, the deadliest, most brutal part: memory can be forgotten. But a folktale - a folktale can never be forgotten because it wiggles & rearranges until it sits neatly on the heart."

"The loyal citizens of the kingdom of Daxaria described their homeland as a lovable mess." Me too Daxaria. Me too. ?

I'm slowly making my way through books I've had for years and have been meaning to read. I'll start this tomorrow.

Next on Kindle: Finlay Ashowan joins the staff of the King & Queen of Daxaria. He becomes the royal cook and cooks up uncanny meals, trying to keep people out of his kitchen and hiding that he's a witch. When his magic is discovered, he begins meddling in royal affairs, but soon his past begins to catch up with him. I've heard this is a cozy book, which is what I'm needing right now.

There were definitely some things I enjoyed about this book. I liked the main character and the commentary about society and the way it looks at people who are different. Also how it looks at retail workers. I was annoyed with everyone else in the book and the main character's "solution" to how to fit in better was horrible. I'm glad she decided to stay true to herself in the end. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

"People in our family, we're born with thistles in our feet. It's why we're always traveling. Because if we stood still, the thistles would prick us."

Started this audiobook on my way to work this morning. I already recognize certain things from my time in retail. Some things are universal.

I enjoyed this book even more than the first book. In fact, I absolutely loved it. Megan Whalen Turner is so good at surprises. I don't usually like political fantasy but I'm so glad I decided to give this series a chance and will definitely continue with it. The audiobook narration is also fantastic.

"The great blue forest lay silent as a chapel beneath a risen moon, and the black trees soared impossibly, merging with the cloudy sky."

"Why carve things of wood," she asked him, "if you can make marvelous things of ice with only your hands?"

He glanced up. "I carve things out of wood because things made by effort are more real than things made by wishing. "

Next up on Kindle. I've seen this described as a mix between Frozen, Mad Max, and Ice Road Truckers. Call me intrigued.

I enjoyed this book about an author who inherits a magical house and needs a magical house keeper to help him control it. It felt like a perfect winter read. I really liked the magic system. There was enough intrigue to the story to keep me wanting to turn the page. I'll definitely read the next book in the series, but I might try it as an audiobook. I feel like this would be absolutely perfect as an audiobook.

"Beauty is just like a book. Some will not bother to look beyond the cover; others will find the entire tome utterly captivating.”

"Two rivers gashed the skin of the Russian forest, and Moscow lay at their joining, atop a pine-clad hill. Her squat, white walls enclosed a jumble of hovels and churches; her palaces' ice-streaked towers splayed like desperate fingers against the sky."

Starting my re-read of book two tonight.

"I am in a spot where I can neither be what I always am nor turn into what I could be. "

Sitting outside starting this book. The Oscar nominated film An Cailín Ciúin (the Quiet Girl) which is the first ever Irish language film to be nominated is based on this short book, so I thought I'd read it.

The read along dates for The Girl in the Tower. Katherine Arden will be live on Instagram on these dates at 3pm EST (8pm GMT) and again at 8pm EST.

I listened to the audiobook of this and the narrator's voice was perfection. The story itself was interesting and the humor was top notch. I laughed a lot on my way to and from work. This is my first Christopher Moore book and it won't be my last.

All my life I have been told "go" & "come". I am told how I will live & I am told how I must die. I must be a man's servant & a mare for his pleasure, or I must hide myself behind walls & surrender my flesh to a cold, silent god. I would walk into the jaws of hell itself, if it were a path of my own choosing. I would rather die tomorrow in the forest than a hundred years of the life appointed to me.

"The prince arrived just as pale spring became dazzling summer, with a tender, capricious sky and the fading flowers buried in a wash if grass."

Starting this on Kindle today

This book will stick with me for a while. I really felt this book, felt immersed completely. I'm sure my religious background had something to do with why I related to the main character so much. Very powerful.

"All this time she'd been busy chasing beasts and devils believing evil began and ended with them. True Evil wore the skin of good men. It uttered prayers, not curses. It feigned mercy where there was only malice. It studied Scriptures only to spit out lies."

I'm not certain what happened to my post from last night, but it's gone now. 🤔 Anyway, I started this book last night about the Yaga siblings who inherit a sentient house on chicken legs named Thistlefoot which has arrived in America from Eastern Europe. Unfortunately a sinister figure also arrives at the same time with dark secrets from the past.

This book was quite the ride. The main character went about her life, having dinner with the neighbors, fixing up her house to turn it into a B&B, taking her dog for a walk, calling her son and her parents, meeting someone, all while something lurked ominously in the background. It was quite the build up, and I didn't want to stop reading until the end.

"The snow fell thrice, deep and solid after midwinter, and after the last snowfall came a deep blue frost, when men felt their breath stop in their nostrils and weak things grew apt to die in the night."

Starting to read part one tonight for the read along. I've been looking forward to picking this book up again. I adore The Winternight Trilogy and am happy to emerse myself in this world again.

Katherine Arden is doing a read along of The Bear and the Nightingale on Instagram! She'll be doing a live on these dates at 3pm EST(8pm GMT)and again at 8pm EST. She'll be continuing with The Girl in the Tower in February and The Winter of the Witch in March.

My next audiobook on Libby. I've been waiting for it to be available for a couple of months. A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself. I've heard it's dark and gory and spooky.

My Amazon first reads choices for the month. I don't usually read thrillers, but a woman knocking on someone's door thinking it's her own and seemingly having too much in common with the woman inside had me wondering. Also, a gothic book set in a depression era haunted town in the Ozarks? Call me intrigued.

The last five in my 15 favorite books of 2022. There is no actual ranking order to my favorites. These books were cozy reads and just gave me the warm fuzzies while I was reading them, despite being very different books.

Five more of my fifteen favorite books of 2022. The tagged book and also The Miracles of the Namiya General Store are the books that I think about a lot.

I have chosen my 15 favorite books of the year. I couldn't narrow it down more than that. I don't know how anyone chooses one favorite book. These are five of my favorites. Pictured are three spooky gothic books, a cozy scifi about the human condition, and a nonfiction book giving murder victims their humanity back.

This book surprised me. I truly enjoyed it quite a bit. I wasn't expecting there to be as much political maneuvering as there was in a book about a prisoner who is sent to steal a sacred relic. I will definitely carry on with the series. I enjoyed the narration of the audiobook as well.

Next up on Kindle: Tess is turning her old family home into a bed & breakfast. In a hidden art studio of her grandfather's, she finds sinister & disturbing paintings that spark nightmares. The ominous brush strokes, scratches at the door, and moving shadows pull Tess further & further into darkness.