Dogs are humans ❤️

Persian Mirror Art
"I think about this a lot Cyrus. These centuries of Persians trying to copy the Egyptian vanity, really their self reflection. How it arrived to us in shards. How we had to look at ourselves in these broken fragments, and how those mirror tiles found themselves in all these mosques, the tile work, these ornate mosaics. How those spaces made the fractured glimpses of ourselves near sacred."

I don't remember what list I saw this on but I am so glad I grabbed it from the library! I don't read too many motherhood books (unless they are on the women's prize list!) but I love a good unraveling novel and our Clover here is doing some award winning unraveling! And right when I was thinking it was too much we shifted a bit.
This is a bit of a mommy moment and a thriller. Even though I figured out the twist early on I still enjoyed the ride

Busy couple of weeks for many here!

How is our reading going?

Are people getting to the ones they want to read the most? Are we having some failures (that is okay, they are just books!). Anyone complete their goal?

#10BeforeTheEnd

Fully endorse this.

Akbar has an amazing use of words. The way he lays out and describes Cyrus' descent into alcoholism is heartbreaking, gorgeous and understandable.

"But Cyrus's true love, his bedrock, his soulmate, was alcohol. Alcohol was faithful, omnipresent, predictable. Alcohol didn't demand monogamy like opiates or meth. Alcohol demanded only that you came back home to it at the end of the night."

#333Challenge

Auto Buy -
This has changed a lot in recent years
Jacqueline Woodson
Han Kang
Yaa Gyasi

Read More:
Valérie Perrin
Percival Everett
R.F. Kuang

Start Reading:
George Eliot
Fonda Lee
and I guess Emily Henry since I randomly bought 2 of her books at some point.

A little end of year challenge I am seeing going around on other social media sites but have not seen here:

#333Challenge

Name:
3 authors you automatically buy when you see something new
3 authors you have read and want to read more of
3 authors you have yet to read but you want to start /try them out

Will post my answers on a separate post

I finished my 7th #10BeforeTheEnd

And it might be my last.... I have picked up Intermezzo and Ours a couple of times to read a chapter or 2 and then have put them down and walked away.

I am reading some fantastic books not on this list. We will see where the next week and a half leads us, but I am finding it hard to resist the pull of new shinny things, and also the library books that need to go back.

Maybe I can get to flamingo next week....

3.5 low pick. I read parts of this on audio, which I do recommend I thought they did a great job with muffling and inflexion, it was entertaining.
Overall there is this odd place this book falls for me. It felt a bit juvenile but also the topics were clearly adult. Something there just didn't work for me. I also found it much too long, I skimmed the last 50 pages.

The creator of story graph has announced a paused category!

They already have a DNF so this is an additional category for those of us who pick up a book read some of it and then set it aside for something else, with the intention to go back to it!

This is a low pick for me, which is on me not the book. The book is excellent. I appreciate how the language and tone shift from pov to pov inside of the stories, and each tenant is a full person. I think I just needed more depth at the moment. Some of these stories are only 10-15 pages and while you get a feel for each person you also feel like a lot of their story is missing.
Overall though this is excellently constructed.

I don't usually go for Disney things, and I know the story is twisted in their special way but this is a beautiful edition 😍

I found this copy of a folding (left to right) scroll book of the legend of Mulan while looking for poetry books for my niece 😍

I have got to get these books back to the library! This week's stretch goal. I am 3/4 into the tagged and am listening to the audio on my walls, hope to finish tomorrow. I am 1/3 into Tenants Downstairs and hope to finish that Tuesday. Picked up 7 Moons on audio to supplement my reading when walking.

I have read a couple of books this year that mention - or in the case of Tom Lake revolve around - Our Town. I have somehow gotten through this life without seeing or reading the play and thought I should correct that. It isn't a play that is performed around my area so reading it was the way.i think I would have more affinity for it if I had learned it in highschool. It is a sad story and 👇.

I am looking for all the French novels you loved! Last year my favorite book was My Husband. Next year I want to read a bunch of French books. I have and will read all of the Valerie Perrin books that are available in English, I am working my way through Edouard Louis, and Philippe Besson. I need more modern day ladies!
All suggestions appreciated.
Photo from UK Vogue

Out March 25, 25

This is so creative I love it. I learned a ton about Tubman (googling along the way). Bob can sure tell a story even if his writing was a bit simplistic for my normal book tastes. The characters are well drawn and the story is propulsive.
I was a bit confused with how the comebacks knew about certain niche things but not more common ones. But I love that he was like " they just came back and now they are here and here we go!"

1858-1925. William Dorsey Swann was an American activist. An African-American born into slavery, Swann was the first person in the United States to lead a gay resistance group and the first known person to self-identify as a "queen of drag".

Why am I learning important American history from Bob The Drag Queen? Swann sounds amazing and I want her movie!

I am finishing this today and thinking about all the things I was never taught about Harriet Tubman.

* She was called Moses during her railroad days, but she also had a brother named Moses who she freed from the same plantation she was enslaved in.

* She lived to be 93 years old

* She was beat by her enslavers wife so badly she developed epilepsy or narcolepsy

* Most of the people she freed were her own family, she has 8 siblings

I tend to read all over the place and since I do not read many series my authors most read list is always a bit dull.
What is worse is I read 3 Claire Keegans and I honestly don't get it. She is not for me and I cannot see me picking up any more of her books. I might pick up another Jose Saramago to to push her to a solid second 😂

Heading quickly to the new year I am starting to think about 2025 goals, I gave to go on a pretty strict budget to pay off some things and pad my savings so I am focusing on my IRL TBR I am going to do my 25 in 25 from my already owned shelf. Funny (not so much) when picking I had trouble finding 25 I was actually excited about. Whatever I don't finish next year might be time for a culling.

I am so sad more people are not reading this!! I loved this story of a relationship before, during and after one of them transitions.
This is a love story, it is a friendship story, it is a 20- something coming of age story. It is both tender and adult. If you want a love story that is also a gorgeous character study this is the book for you. This will be one of my favorites of the year.
4.5/5

🏁 2 weeks to go!!

😱 😵
#10BeforeTheEnd

I am updating my Storygraph, and I feel like I do not use this site regularly because I don't have any friends over here!

If you are on Storygraph pleas friend me chaoticmissadventures or let me know where you are and I will figure out how to friend you!

I want to try harder to move away from GR, but I am finding Storygraph to be much lonelier, even though it does give more room for all of my thoughts.

"When the train arrives, I climb on and sit opposite a girl who smiles at me. She‘s wearing loose trousers and a stripy top with a cardigan. She has her hair in a bun on top of her head. She looks like an ally. The kind that doesn‘t know any queer people but makes her boyfriend watch Drag Race. I wonder what‘s going on in her head when she looks at me. Probably nonsense. Slay coochie mama queen yes god tongue pop!"
Such a good description!!

Feeling a bit indecisive for this #weeklyforecast we will see what happens!

Started the tagged ARC which is fun, also almost done with Bellies (currently in my purse in the other room, started Ours which is a bit to verbose for my current mood, and went to the bookstore and started The First Sister last night when I needed a space book 😂📚

"I placed my ear on his abdomen and listened to the low gurgle under his skin. The system beneath it seemed larger and more powerful than the belly of a boy. … I shut my eyes. It was a dark and endless canyon. The deep deep sea, outer outer space."

I am really enjoying the language of this.

I have 9 books checked out from the library. I have 5 books left on my #10BeforeTheEnd (3.5 week to go!!)
But what do I want? I want a space book, and not one of those books are space books.

#moodreader

This is cute! Pretty heavy on the OCD and ADHD storylines, which is nice representation. Overall it is a light fairly predictable romance, I really liked the ending.

Truth!
🤣😂🤣

New Anne Tyler out Feb 11.25
This is a slim read, and a bit boring.

Tyler is all about telling not showing, and telling second by second. Our MC Gail is very dull, you learn about her own marriage as she is attending her daughter's wedding, secrets abound but none of them are captivating and all of the resolutions feel both inevitable and lackluster.
I think this is for people who like a slice of life and love the 90s writing style 3/5

Okay. Well. This didn't jive with me at all. I have read the reviews by others and I guess I am missing something but honestly this was such a chore I don't care
This was so incredibly disjointed (meant to be) and the main character was completely unlikable and uninteresting - how do you make a sky uninteresting? Ask Kushner here. I don't mind an unlikable MC but dang it they have to be interesting.
Not for me 2/5

#tlt #threelistthursday @dabbe

I did better than I thought I would! I am not a huge holiday movie fan but I have seen 39

My three favorites from childhood:
A Christmas Story
National Lampoon
Edward Scissorhands

Now:
The Last Holiday
Elf
The Holiday

Wow. This might be the absolute worst audiobook I have ever encountered. I am trying to sneak in a couple of chapters on my drive to work today and I just cannot listen to this narrator!
Normally I listen at 1.5 but tried speeding this up to 2 and her pauses between words is still excruciating. Her monotone might be a reflection of the main character, but I honestly don't know how anyone could get through this while paying attention.

It's the FINAL COUNTDOWN!

4 weeks left in the year.

How are we doing?

New York Times Best Books of 2024.

What do we think of this list?

I have only read 2
Fiction
All Fours - Miranda July ✅
Good Material - Dolly Alderman
James - Percival Everett ✅
Martyr! Kayeh Akbar
You Dreamed of Empires - Álvaro Enrigue
NF
Cold Crematorium -
Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here
I Heard Her Call My Name
Reagan
The Wide Wide Sea

I am so glad I picked this up! It reminds me a bit of In The Time of Butterflies but sapphic.

A group of 5 Uruguayan lesbian women buy a tiny cottage on the beach and we follow them for the next 40 years as they fall in and out of love and as the country changes - politically and culturally.

A country I do not see many books set in this was a lovely read.

Here we go!

#bookspin#bookspinbingo @thearomaofbooks

@bookspin #DoubleSpin @thearomaofbooks

Intermezzo and Stories from the Tenants Downstairs

This feels like the longest month ever.
I read 15 books in November all of them pretty fantastic in their own wary.
Stand outs were -Little Friend, Rise, Safekeep.
Earl Crush is tons of fun (1.21.25) Year of the Tiger is essential reading. If you are stuggling with how the US got to where we are now Men Who Hate Women, Jesus and John Wayne and Pelosi's books all put things in perspective.
I am glad for 3 Musk. I think it helped me tackle Tartt.

I have finished my 5th #10BeforeTheEnd book! I knew that the tagged was going to take the most time, I think I still have time to get through the others. Ours is a bit of a chunkster so I am putting that on my dinning room table to start chipping away at while I quickly read Bellies next.

@Bookwormjillk #NFNovember is a wrap (yesterday)

I was able to finish 7 of my 8 titles, pretty much all of them are well worth the time. Stand outs were The Facemaker and Kolisi's book. Year of the Tiger was fantastic. The rest were very political and I am very tired at the moment on this front.

I am hanging onto Behind the Beautiful Forevers, I know it will be worth it whe I can convince myself to pick it up.

November #bookspinbingo

I was able to get throught my #Bookspin (Men Who Hate Women) and my #DoubleSpin The Three Musketeers, and I racked up 3 bingos!

A solid reading month!

'“It‘s awful being a child,” she said, simply, “at the mercy of other people."'

Wow. This is not a book for everyone. This is very snobby Literature. But I picked this up at exactly the right time and I am blown away by it. This is a book you read because you want to be immersed in a world of language, with many wild but wholly believable characters. I do not normally enjoy book centering children but the changing POVs and Harriet's ?

An important read for Americans. This is my last for #NFNovember (7 of 8) and my 3rd of 4 for #20in4
I learned a lot (Nixon was a Quaker? The meet your husband at the door in Saran wrap was an Evangelical idea b/c they think women are not doing enough to please their men?) a lot I knew but it was good to see in writing laid out (the fueled & imaginary idea/hatred towards Muslims)
I think this is an incredibly important read. 👇

I have a review to post and one weekend book to finish but I am thinking about the first December books already. Week one of the final countdown!

I am going to tackle 2 of my #10BeforeTheEnd (Ours is a chunkster expecting it to take all month) and 2 from the #ToB both Creation Lake & Wandering Stars are on that list and the NYT best books of 2024.

"You are South Africa. Embrace it."
This is not the book for someone who is not a rugby (particularly a Springbok) fan. There are lots of play by plays of games and an assumption that you know the 2019/2024 team (he drops names like nobody's business not really telling you which side). Lucky me I am a massive Bok fan and was easily able to follow.
More than a rugby book though Siya takes us from his childhood poverty - going weeks living on ?

Book 1 of 4 for #20in4 and book 4 of 10 for #10BeforeTheEnd

I really enjoyed this ride! The character and world building were incredible. The idea of going to doppelganger planets and seeing how the people changed is such an interesting concept. There were a couple of things that I didn't really understand - most notably I didn't really understand the mechanics around the jump but I am sure that is a me problem.

Glad I got to this one finally!

Tell me what books are you most looking forward to comig out in 2025?

I am exited for:
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
Stag Dance by Torrey Peters
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao
We Could Be Rats by Emily R. Austin
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Don't Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo