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brennahawleycraig

brennahawleycraig

Joined September 2016

review
brennahawleycraig
The Guest List | Lucy Foley
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Panpan

Unpopular opinion: I hated this book. The quality of the writing itself was ok; but it was 100% lazy thriller. Somehow everyone at this wedding had some Deep Dark Secret, which is not real life. But also, is there only one bad person in all of the English isles? Sure seems like it. Also, let‘s not throw around Agatha Christie comparisons lightly; this was a thriller and did not have the architecture of a Christie mystery.

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brennahawleycraig
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Pickpick

The kind of book I stay up reading till 2 am on a work night. Definitely recommend as a solid quarantine read.

30 likes1 stack add
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brennahawleycraig
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Pickpick

Looking for some levity right now so I ordered some comics. This is weird and really illustrates how strange mythology is. Definitely not kid-friendly but pretty funny, IMO.

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brennahawleycraig
Artificial Condition | Martha Wells
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Pickpick

Murderbot diaries are SO GOOD. Another solid rec, @Liberty also, it‘s always so impossible to take pictures of black cats!

BookishMe I looked it up after Victoria Schwab recommended it. Hope to get to the series soon 4y
brennahawleycraig @BookishMe I‘ve never read any books from this particular viewpoint. It‘s so interesting! 4y
BookishMe Sounds intriguing! 4y
30 likes3 comments
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brennahawleycraig
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Things I‘ve not had self control over this week: books. Not pictured are two not yet arrived from BOTM and two from our local bookstore from Tor.com. 🙈 In other news, I‘m really enjoying this historical murder mystery series!

robinb I may have to re-visit this series. I tried the first one but wasn't bowled over by it. Maybe I should have stuck with it. 4y
brennahawleycraig @robinb honestly I was the same way at first. Read the first, thought meh, came back to it. Now I can‘t stop. I will say, the mysteries are not always hard to figure out, but I like the main two characters enough that it usually overshadows that for me. 4y
robinb @brennahawleycraig good to know....thanks for your perspective. I think I will definitely put it back on my radar. 👍 4y
24 likes3 comments
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brennahawleycraig
Gideon the Ninth | Tamsyn Muir
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Pickpick

Favorite book in ages. Wow. Is it June yet?

LauraJ @Liberty is hosting a re-read on tor.com leading up to the release of 4y
brennahawleycraig @LauraJ I saw that! I guess I just started a little early 😂 @Liberty and her love of this book definitely got me to read it, and I‘m so glad I did! 4y
LauraJ @brennahawleycraig Me too. Her enthusiasm leads me to so many great books. 4y
28 likes3 comments
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brennahawleycraig
Gideon the Ninth | Tamsyn Muir
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This book is so weird. But I am thoroughly enjoying it now that I‘m fully into the world.

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brennahawleycraig
The Monster of Elendhaven | Jennifer Giesbrecht
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Mehso-so

First two books of the year. Both I would say are 3.5/5.

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brennahawleycraig
A Pressing Engagement | Anna Lee Huber
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Pretty happy with my year in books considering it‘s my first year with kids. 82 books, 25k pages. Here‘s to carving out more time this year to read, which basically is what saves my sanity.

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brennahawleycraig
Room on the Broom | Julia Donaldson
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Pickpick

One of my favorite part of having the kiddos is the awesome books out there. We‘ve found some great Halloween ones, and of course I couldn‘t pass up the one with twins!

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brennahawleycraig
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Birthday trip to the local indie resulted in one for me and one for the boys. Historical murder mystery (on brand) and this book for the kiddos. Our local store always has the best books for kids that I hope will help us teach them to be decent human beings. Can‘t start too early!

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brennahawleycraig
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Apparently today is my three-year Litsyversary! Thanks for the tag and reminder, @HappyLitsyversary . I‘m honestly surprised that in my first year of twin motherhood I‘ve been able to keep my reading pretty active. I‘m to 51 books for the year, and the tagged is my current. The books may not be as long or involved as they have been in past years, but I still love them!

Jas16 Happy Litsyversary 📚🙌🏽🎉 5y
14 likes1 comment
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brennahawleycraig
The Coroner's Daughter | Andrew Hughes
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Both babies came down with a viral stomach bug this weekend. So I‘m reading while acting as a bed. Not so bad. Loving yet another historical mystery. Kind of wishing this was a series.

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brennahawleycraig
Akata Witch | Nnedi Okorafor
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Pickpick

Just finished Akata Witch, going straight into Akata Warrior. I‘ve struggled with fantasy since I got pregnant; I think world-building is difficult for me right now. But I just devoured this book! I‘ve only read Binti by Okorafor but this is showing me I need to read alllll the books by her!

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brennahawleycraig
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Pickpick

I haven‘t stayed up this late reading in a while...at least since early in my pregnancy, which at this point was a year ago. I honestly haven‘t had the brain space for this type of book lately, but this one is fabulous. Honestly, I get scared to read books by people I am aware of as something other than authors in case the book sucks (7-year Pop Culture Happy Hour-listener). This book was incredible. I would stay up this late again to read it.

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brennahawleycraig
The Way of All Flesh | Ambrose Parry
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Pickpick

Highly enjoyed this historical murder mystery, especially after reading that of the two authors, one studied medical history and the premise was based on face. In Edinburgh, a “man midwife” studies with a famous doctor and realizes that someone in town is murdering pregnant women, usually prostitutes. I‘m excited for the next book! Otis is too, although you can‘t tell it. #dogsoflitsy

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brennahawleycraig
Julian Is a Mermaid | Jessica Love
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Really excited for this read we got at our local indie bookstore. It‘s not too early to let our boys know they can be themselves, no matter who that is. Also, our bookstore is donating 10% of sales to RAICES this weekend. It was another excellent reason to shop there!

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brennahawleycraig
The Austen Playbook | Lucy Parker
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Pickpick

The books I finished tonight. It‘s always nice finding notes at the beginning of books that remind you they were a gift from your aunt and uncle for your fourth birthday (Berenstain Bears, obviously). I enjoyed this romance more than most books I‘ve ready lately. Give this one a go; my favorite in the series. #romantsy

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brennahawleycraig
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The best book mail day!! I‘m so excited for more @EloisaJames and you can‘t go wrong with another historical mystery and book by one of my favorite podcasters Linda Holmes! #catsoflitsy

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brennahawleycraig
Death in Kew Gardens | Jennifer Ashley
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Evening reading looks a little different than it used to. Also, that‘s the face of a dog who stole a piece of cake off the counter (with the help of a cat, we suspect) but knows we don‘t know yet. #dogsoflitsy

Tanisha_A That some solid pairing to pull a cake heist. 😀 5y
Ericalambbrown So cute! And @Tanisha_A That‘s too funny! 😂😂😂 5y
brennahawleycraig @Tanisha_A I know! It‘s the only solution we can come up with because it was too much for just the cat to eat. 5y
26 likes3 comments
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brennahawleycraig
Hollywood Homicide | Kellye Garrett
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Panpan

This wasn‘t for me. The main character made some pretty ridiculous leaps of logic, and I‘m not into celebrity like these characters are. Too bad; I‘m needing another good mystery. Any suggestions?

DogEaredBooks I really love the tagged book. And it‘s a series (edited) 5y
18 likes2 comments
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brennahawleycraig
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Pickpick

Another series I adore! This is a fun historical murder mystery featuring a lady and her maid, both former spies. I get a kick out of everyone, and this book was no different! I couldn‘t put it down.

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brennahawleycraig
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Pickpick

I 💚 this series! Alyssa Cole brings all kind of representation to romance and still keeps it fun. I love revisiting the characters from previous books too! Already ready for the next one! #romantsy

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brennahawleycraig
Lion in the Valley | Elizabeth Peters
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Pickpick

My own Lion in the Valley wasn‘t too keen on sitting still to pose, but I figure this will do. I‘m really enjoying this series as I still seem in the pattern I had during pregnancy of reading historical murder mysteries and romance novels. Twin infants suck up a lot of time! 😹 Been working on this one for a while. Love Peabody, Emerson and Ramses as usual. #catsoflitsy

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brennahawleycraig
Little Miss Scary (UK) | Roger Hargreaves
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I may have twin boys, but I definitely preordered these books once I saw they were a thing. I love me some Spice Girls and the boys will be exposed to some classic ‘90s pop girl power too!

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brennahawleycraig
Making Up | Lucy Parker
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Pickpick

Really enjoying this romance series! My brain is far less inclined to read complex books now that I have two infants but books like this really hit the spot after a long day. Need to track down the next one! #romantsy

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brennahawleycraig
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Mehso-so

I did not love this book. YA can be smart and intriguing, and although I did finish, I found this to be neither. I want to go watch the Netflix movie again, which might be one of the only times I‘ve ever said the movie is better than the book!

swishandflick Agreed! I thought the movie was fantastic. 5y
16 likes1 comment
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brennahawleycraig
Hippopposites | Janik Coat
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The *best* kid book Costco buy! These are incredible.

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brennahawleycraig
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Pickpick

The twins have officially heard their first Harry Potter book! Rereading them out loud is a great time, and these illustrated versions are beautiful. We get other audience members occasionally too! 😹 #catsoflitsy

mklong That is so sweet! Love those illustrated versions. 5y
24 likes1 stack add1 comment
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brennahawleycraig
The Lost Man | Jane Harper
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Pickpick

Finished the new Jane Harper today with the two little ones nearby. It‘s not in the same series as her other two but is just as intriguing. She makes the Australian Outback come alive. This story was great.

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brennahawleycraig
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First order of business being new parents to twins: reading Harry Potter out loud every night!

31 likes1 comment
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brennahawleycraig
The Proposal | Jasmine Guillory
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Mehso-so

This is my first non-ebook of the year, because I gave birth to our twins on December 26 and frankly, my hands are usually full. A lot of my reading time right now is in the middle of the night, when kindle reading on my phone is easier! I will take what I can get. This book was so-so but the kind of fluff I wanted right now.

TrishB Well done on getting any reading in 👍🏻 5y
Wife Congratulations on the babies! Please post pics when you have a moment. 🌹 5y
mabell Congratulations! 🎊🎉 5y
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brennahawleycraig @Wife thank you! We are actually keeping pictures of them off social media but I promise they‘re adorable 😊 5y
Wife Totally understand. Enjoy them. They grow so fast. 🌹 5y
23 likes6 comments
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brennahawleycraig
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Pickpick

I‘ve been struggling with a lot of the rhetoric around pregnancy and what the expectations are versus how I feel (generally, like a human Petri dish). This book was a great read for facts around the experience but also a commentary on how some of those expectations are just silly. Definitely recommended even if you haven‘t been pregnant in ages or never plan to be.

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brennahawleycraig
A Perilous Undertaking | Deanna Raybourn
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Pickpick

The second book in a historical murder mystery series I‘m really loving! I love the banter between the main character, Veronica, who is quite the abnormal woman for the Victorian era, and her companion Stoker. Admittedly, the huge number of Agatha Christies I‘ve read taught me how to guess whodunit, but I did not enjoy it any less for that! Onto the third!

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brennahawleycraig
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Pickpick

This. Book. Was. Awesome. I listened to it on audiobook and will definitely be getting a hard copy. Such a fascinating true crime that delves into such a strange world - fly tying with beautiful (and often illegal) feathers. The only thing I missed by listening was the photos I presume are in the hard copy of the birds. My googling tells me they‘re all beautiful!

LauraBeth I want to read this! 5y
brennahawleycraig @LauraBeth it‘s been on my list for ages. Soooo worth it!! 5y
36 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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brennahawleycraig
A Gentleman's Murder | Christopher Huang
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Pickpick

Sally refused to look at the camera for this 😹 Just finished this historical murder mystery and found it highly enjoyable. Somehow most of my books lately have been murders based around WWI, which I know very little about. This one had a really interesting take on shell shock, as it was known then.

Louise Have you read the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear? The time period spans WWI and WWII, and they are excellent mystery/crime novels! (edited) 5y
brennahawleycraig @Louise I‘ve read the first two!! The third is waiting on my nightstand. She‘s a lot of fun! 5y
Louise Yes! I‘d love to meet Maisie for tea and a long walk! 💕 5y
29 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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brennahawleycraig
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Pickpick

I‘d had this on my TBR for a while, and when browsing amazon for kindle deals found it was $2.99. Soooo worth it! It filled my craving for a historical murder mystery, but also was charming and witty. Loved it, ready for the next!!

23 likes1 stack add
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brennahawleycraig
Lord of the Rings | J R R Tolkein
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The latest addition to our book-themed nursery is this wonderful decal we found on Etsy. Originally it had Narnia, but I had them sub in the 100 Acre Wood and I love it! We also did some doctoring of the height to make it better fit the space. But I‘m totally in love 😍

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brennahawleycraig
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina | Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
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Been wanting to read this for a while. Seems fitting to start it on a chilly October day with a snuggly black cat.

AmyG I got this for my Hocus Pocus swap! 6y
31 likes1 comment
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brennahawleycraig
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Pickpick

This book is BONKERS. It reads like a thriller and is so uncomfortable at moments that you can only be infinitely grateful that Theranos was finally exposed. The amount of reporting in it is astounding as well. For real, go read this ASAP!

28 likes1 stack add
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brennahawleycraig
Green Eggs and Ham | Scholastic Inc.
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Had my first baby shower yesterday at work and these were all part of the haul! I love that people were up for buying me books, and the classics weren‘t even on the registry! They know me so well. These twins already have an awesome library 😍

Lovesbooks87 That's awesome! So many great books! 📚💜📚💜📚💜 (edited) 6y
mabell What terrific collection! 6y
BookNAround ❤️❤️ I bought each of my children all the big award winners from the year of their birth (children‘s books as well as adult books) and wrote them each a note to go with their books. I figured it was a way to combine my big lives, my babies and books. 😁 6y
brennahawleycraig @BookNAround oh my goodness, what a wonderful idea!! I‘m due right around the turn of the year, so I may have to wait to buy, but I definitely want to do this!! I‘m fairly certain I need another bookshelf in there 🙈 6y
33 likes4 comments
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brennahawleycraig
Berenstain Bears Go to the Doctor | Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain
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I‘ve been hitting up our local used bookstore, our local indie and Abebooks.com to stock up on some classics. So excited in particular to add to my own childhood Clifford and Berenstain Bears collections for our kiddos!

SamHeartCoffee The Berenstain Bears! 6y
tracey38 Oh I loved the Berenstain Bears. 6y
28 likes2 comments
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brennahawleycraig
Lethal White | Robert Galbraith
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Here I go!

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brennahawleycraig
The Late Show | Michael Connelly
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Mehso-so

My first Michael Connelly. Didn‘t love it, didn‘t hate it. I‘m thick into mysteries right now and this *sort of* scratched the itch.

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brennahawleycraig
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We are knee-deep in second trimester house projects while I still have energy. We got some nursery painting done this weekend, but we‘ve moved on to the bookshelves. So many of these are my childhood copies of favorites. I‘m so excited to get to read those with my kids! And also have already figured out additional book storage 😂

Tanisha_A Looks amazing! 😍 6y
Tanisha_A And, congratulations! 😀 6y
Bookartbookmarks Looks so great! Congrats that is so wonderful 6y
mklong What a lucky kid! 6y
mabell That looks terrific! I love those shelves! 6y
40 likes5 comments
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brennahawleycraig
Early Riser | Jasper Fforde
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Thank goodness for Book Depository, when Goodreads teases a new book from one of your favorite authors only for you to find that release date was not for the U.S.! I probably won‘t get to it immediately, but it‘s read when I am!

Ericalambbrown I just read The Eyre Affair and loved it! It was my first of his - I can‘t wait to read more! 6y
brennahawleycraig @Ericalambbrown I‘ve only read that one of that series but am excited to read more! Shades of Grey is weird and amazing, but I started on his fairy tale series and loved it. 6y
Ericalambbrown @brennahawleycraig I will definitely need to check into those! 6y
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emtobiasz I was so upset when I realized that release date was UK only... I may have to do the same thing! 6y
brennahawleycraig @emtobiasz and the US date is sooo far away!! I just couldn‘t wait for that 😂 6y
smilingshelves I didn't realize it was the UK release date. 🙁 Looks like I'll be placing a Book Depository order tonight! 6y
brennahawleycraig @smilingshelves yeah, I‘ve seen this happen on goodreads emails with some other book before! They need to fix that because it‘s such a downer when you realize it. 6y
meltedsquirrel I just received my copy from book depository too. Couldn't wait for it to come out into the US. That's just ludicrous. 6y
29 likes2 stack adds8 comments
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brennahawleycraig
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Read this historical murder mystery in a recommendation from a friend. I loved the banter between the lady and her maid and actually laughed out loud a few times! Excited for the next couple books to arrive.

robinb Just picked this one up...been meaning to, thanks for the reminder. 😊 6y
28 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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brennahawleycraig
Pinnochio | Carlo Collodi
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Finally got my collection of antique books out at the new house (I had temporarily misplaced them and our current project of organizing the unfinished portion of the basement helped me find them 🙈). Some came from my grandma via her stepdad‘s first wife, circa 1910s. Others we got from my husband‘s relative who died and nobody wanted the books. Obviously I did!!

Mdargusch Beautiful vignette! Glad you found them. 6y
36 likes1 comment
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brennahawleycraig
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Look what came today!!!! I‘m so ready!! Even for people who don‘t read comics, I recommend this series. Think Indiana Jones but female set in 1800s Turkey. She. Is. The. Best. #bookhaul

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brennahawleycraig
Birds of a Feather: A Novel | Jacqueline Winspear
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Jumping into my second Maisie Dobbs book on a break from cleaning the unfinished portion of my basement. My husband is building the shelves and I‘m making sure we need all the stuff! But my back aches from pregnancy, so Cosmo is providing moral support while I rest.