I should've read the description to this book better. I thought it would be a fun romance, but it was quite emotional as the main character's mom had Alzheimer's and some of the chapters were from her point of view. I loved those chapters, but they made me feel sad, as my own mom has mixed dementia. It was a sweet book about family, both natural and found, and second chances.

The fourth book I'm reading for the Asian Readathon is a fantasy book with tea magic. Tea. Magic. I am so excited to read this book! The prompt for this book is read a book by an Asian author that has a cover worthy of googly eyes. 👀 The country represented is Taiwan. #asianreadathon2022

This was such a cute book! As much as I love the movie, I think I liked this Kiki better. She seemed more like a real person. I wish the other books in the series were available in English.

The third book I'm reading for the #Asianreadathon is the story of half-witch Kiki and her black cat Jiji as they take on the traditional witch's challenge of living in a new town for a year. The story was inspired by a drawing by the author's daughter and turned into an animated film by Hayao Miyazaki. The prompt for this is read a book by an Asian author that has a universe you'd want to experience or a universe totally different from yours.

This book was different than the books I've been reading lately. I listened to it on my way to and from work for the past two weeks, taking my time with it. I'm glad I did. The writing is quietly beautiful and I felt like I knew the characters intimately. The ending hit me pretty hard. I actually had to go to my Kindle and read the last chapter myself so I could really let it sink in.

My next read for the #Asianreadathon2022. The prompt for this one is to read a book featuring an Asian character who is a woman and/or older. The country represented is India.

Well this was fun! I was completely invested in the story. Ayesha and Khalid were both likeable characters and I was rooting for them the entire time. I absolutely adored Ayesha's grandparents. I definitely will be reading more books by Uzma Jalaluddin.

I won a Goodreads giveaway! What a lovely surprise!

First book for the #Asianreadathon2022 is a reimagining of Pride and Prejudice in a modern Muslim community. The prompt for this is to read a book by an Asian author. The country represented is Afghanistan.

I stayed up past my bedtime to finish this book that takes place in an isolated town surrounded by a creepy forest filled with monsters. I kept needing to know what was going to happen.

Library book haul for the upcoming #Asianreadathon

This book was so adorable! It was a fantastic middle grade fantasy graphic novel. I now want a tea dragon of my own.

More adorable tea dragons!

This book is seriously adorable!

It's been a while since I read through a book this quickly. This was seriously such a fun book. At one point I laughed so hard, I scared one of my cats. 🤣 I'm looking forward to the next book.

Started this book last night. Enjoying it so far.

Brought these two books home from the library yesterday. My husband picked up The Tea Dragon Society to look at it. I told him one book is cute, the other is creepy. His response? "Cute and creepy. Just like you."

I also went to Barnes & Noble and splurged a little bit. I went there for A Magic Steeped in Poison but it was buy one, get one 50% off, so I picked up The Siren of Sussex. I somehow hadn't bought the new Veronica Speedwell book yet, so I bought it as well. I don't know which book I'm more excited for. I need to finish a couple of library books first though.

Today I went to a parking lot sale at an antique market with my mom and brother and I found these books for 50¢ each.

Somehow I forgot about First Reads this month. All the books sounded interesting, but The Last Goddess, about a woman who is the last in a line of healers, was my choice. I also decided to pre-order The Half-life of Ruby Fielding, a book that takes place in 1940's New York because it sounded fantastic and I had a difficult time choosing between these two books.

Next up! The first book got me out of a reading slump a couple of years ago and I'm looking forward to reading this one.

Next up on Kindle: Budapest in 1944, and war has finally reached them. Nineteen year old Marika is pulled into the resistance movement, rescuing orphans and displaced Jews. The fanatical Arrow Cross Party unleashes a killing spree on the remaining Jews of Europe. One day, as peril intensifies, she must make a decision that puts her in extreme danger to save herself, her family, and the orphans she‘s sheltered. Will she regret it?

This book started a little bit slow for me and it took me a while to read the first 50 pages. I picked it back up yesterday and ended up about 2/3 of the way through it because I couldn't put it down. I only put it down to go to bed. I ended up absolutely adoring the main character, Josie and the love interest, Adam. I also really liked their friends. My third book by this author and I've loved every one of them.

I know this is a winter book, but I requested it from the library when it was winter and it wasn't available in time. Nevermind that it's already been around 90° where I live. Maybe this will help me feel cooler. I enjoyed the other couple of books I've read by this author and figured I'd give more of her books a try.

Spent about a week not really picking up a book to read, but picked this back up today and finished it. I enjoyed this book as much as the first book. The author has a way of writing about heavy topics without making the book feel heavy. It is a cozy mystery so there were lots of fun moments, heartfelt moments, and amazing sounding food.

“Yes, it is the end of the world. Yes, we are all going to die. But we are British. These things still need doing in an orderly manner and there is certainly no excuse to get all emotional about it.”

“Is that a knitted scarf?”
“And a big flappy coat.”
“We‘ve had a break-in by Doctor Who.”
“Looks like a woman.”
“They were going to get around to gender-free casting eventually.”

I requested this book from the library before my library had it. I'm the very first person to check this book out of the library and don't understand why nobody else has requested it. The first book in the series was one of my favorite books last year, so I'm really looking forward to starting this.

This was quite the book! Difficult to explain, but completely entertaining. Part crime novel, part romance, part family drama, part comedy. Looking forward to the next book.

Next up on Kindle: It's the end of the world as we know it, but someone still has to do the paperwork. I wanted to read something different and I think this fits the bill.

A classic murder mystery with a quaint little woodland village populated entirely by animals. This was such a fun read! I enjoyed the little details and the humor. Definitely going to read the next book.

Next up on Libby: a murder mystery with animals. I've been eagerly waiting for this book to be available.

This was more murder mystery than I was expecting, but that didn't bother me. There were some heavy subjects in it, so definitely check for trigger warnings. I thoroughly enjoyed the magical realism elements to it as well and the love story. Made me want to check out other books by the author.

I enjoyed this book just as much as the first one. What absolutely magical books these are! I'm so glad I read them.

Library haul! I'm excited to read each of these!

Stumps! I used to like that forest. It was, well, it was darksome. You don't get proper darksome anymore. You really knew what terror was in a forest like that."
"You want darksome? He's replanting with spruce," said Micah. "Spruce!"
"He said replanting would make the land easier to sell."
There was a long pause while Cohan digested this. "You can't sell Cutshave Forest. It doesn't belong to anyone."
"Yeah? He says that's why you can sell it.

I absolutely loved this book filled with old forest magic. It was beautiful. The author Naomi Novik called it "deep and green and wonderful" and that is the perfect description. I'm spending the next couple of hours reading the sequel.

I haven't been reading much for the past month but I picked these up from the library yesterday and I'm really looking forward to reading them.

"Those of you who are more than casually familiar with books - those of you who spend your free afternoons in fusty bookshops, who offer furtive, kindly strokes along the spines of familiar titles - understand that page riffling is an essential element in the process of introducing oneself to a new book."

"If we address stories as archaeological sites, and dust through their layers with meticulous care, we find at some level there is always a doorway. A dividing point between here and there, us and them, mundane and magical. It is at the moments when the doors open, when things flow between worlds, that stories happen."

Out of work for the week. Starting this book this evening when I get home.

What an absolutely beautiful book about loss and life and what comes after life. It was at times laugh-out-loud funny, sweet, sad, bittersweet. The found family aspect was wonderful, the grandpa especially. Highly recommend! All of the stars.

Wallace whispered, "It's easy to let yourself spiral and fall." "It is," Nelson agreed. "But it's what you do to pull yourself out of it that matters most."

"Each day, Luna‘s ability to break rules in new and creative ways was an astonishment to all who knew her." Hmmm ...reminds me of a certain other girl named Luna. ??

Starting this book on Kindle. I've been meaning to read it for a while and decided it was a good time to read it.

First book of the New Year!

This year I discovered how much I love Rebecca Roanhorse's writing. I read these three books plus four of her short stories and adored them all. Looking forward to reading more from her.

These are my favorite books from the second half of the year. I don't read a ton of nonfiction, but two nonfiction books made it into my top books. I tagged Sweet Bean Paste because it was a wonderful surprise that I stumbled across, had never heard of, and absolutely love. It definitely deserves more attention.

I read so many fantastic books this year that it was so hard for me to choose favorites, so I divided the year into two. These were my favorite books of the first half of the year. Lovely War was one of the first books I read last year and I still think about it and recommend it all the time. I think it deserves more love.