As always, Louise Penny has written another intricately woven mystery that Gamache, Beauvoir, and Lacoste must understand all of the facets of in order to solve it and bring those responsible to justice. A murder in the church seems to be related to the sudden appearance of a stranger in Three Pines. This stranger is dressed as a cobrador, an emotional debt collector meant to shame the guilty party.

This is a lovely tribute to the friendship between Ann Patchett and Lucy Grealy. Before I read this, I read Lucy Grealy's memoir Autobiography of a Face, so I already had an understanding of her medical situation and how it affected her life. Ann and Lucy met in college, quickly became close friends, and Ann was Lucy's biggest supporter.

Minnie & Quinn were born at the same hospital on the same day. Their moms were even in the same room together for awhile. Minnie's mom has always held a grudge against Quinn's mom for winning the prize money for the first baby born on New Year's day & for stealing the name Quinn from her. Minnie has heard this story her entire life, so when she meets Quinn by chance on their 30th birthday, she knows exactly who he is.

Continued in comments⬇️

Saturday morning #coffeeandabook ☕️📚

A little reading time this morning before my work conference started.

Scarlett has always wanted to be invited to join the Caraval game, and for years sent letters to Legend, the master of ceremonies, telling him why she should be invited. When she and her sister finally get invited to the game just days before Scarlett's wedding, she's not sure she should go. Her sister Tella tricks her into it, and when she gets there, nothing is truly as it seems.

Finally starting this trilogy 📚

Cait chaperones Jamie and Alice Arrol to Paris in 1886 so Jamie can apprentice with Émile Nouguier and Gustave Eiffel while they build the tower. Alice is hoping to find a husband, perhaps Mr. Nouguier.

I liked this one enough to keep reading, but it definitely wasn't a book I couldn't put down.

Lady Georgiana's godfather gives her Eynsleigh estate as a wedding gift, but when she arrives she realizes it's quite a bit different than she remembers from when she lived there as a child. She misses the staff members who worked there then, becomes suspicious of the new staff, and decides to do some detective work with the help of her mom, her grandfather, Queenie, and Darcy.

book 12 in the Royal Spyness Mystery series

This has been on my bookshelf for years, and I'm not sure why I waited so long to start reading it. It's one of those books you just don't want to put down.

Georgiana finds a body outside of Kensington Palace, and has to figure out how it got there and why. The deceased has been a mistress to many, including some of the royal family and members of Parliament, so Georgie's investigating has to be very discreet.

I have really enjoyed reading this series, but didn't really like the previous book. So I was very glad that this one had an interesting storyline again.

Greta hesitatingly agrees to accompany her recently widowed father on the Alaskan cruise that he and Greta's mom had been planning with their friends. Greta and her dad have a strained relationship, because he doesn't understand her career as a musician. Being stuck on a ship together will either be a disaster or just what they need to better understand eachother.
#LitsyLoveReads
#ISpyBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I'm so happy about this month's #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin picks! These are both books that I really want to read, but just hadn't made time for them yet. @TheAromaofBooks

I'd already decided I was going to read The Huntress for #AuthorAMonth- how cool that it's my @BookSpin pick! @Soubhiville

April #BookSpin stack!
@TheAromaofBooks

Ben rents a room from Winnie, who is elderly and a recent widow. Ben suspects that Winnie didn't really want him there, that she only agreed because her family thinks she needs someone there to watch out for her & help around the house. So Ben plans to stay out of her way, but then Covid lockdowns start. He and Winnie are forced to spend most of their time together, and a friendship ensues as they start to see life from each other's perspective.

Saturday morning #coffeeandabook

Amy Tan's illustrations are beautiful, and her notes about her observations of the birds that visit her yard are so interesting! She also includes some information that she's learned from expert birders. Unfortunately not all of her observations are happy, and it makes me sad to think of birds getting ill and being in distress, but I guess that's part of nature, too.

This was an interesting mystery with a lot of different storylines to keep you guessing. Annie is suddenly added to her Great Aunt Frances' will, and Annie's mom is removed. When Annie travels to Castle Knoll for a meeting with her great aunt, she must solve several mysteries and a murder.
#LitsyLoveReads
#ISpyBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This is exactly how I feel about the birds who visit my yard. 💛 Yesterday I saw mourning doves, crows, bluebirds, mockingbirds, and chipping sparrows. Today I watched red-shouldered hawks soaring above the trees.

#BookSpin & #DoubleSpin picks for March! These have both been on my bookshelf for quite awhile. @TheAromaofBooks

These are also the first #ReadOrDonate and #OffTheShelf books for the month @julieclair @Librariana

I'm so excited to start reading this! My mom got this for me for my birthday a few weeks ago. 🐦
Sunday morning #coffeeandabook

I loved this book and wish I hadn't let this sit on my bookshelf for so long!

Miranda inherits a Bookshop from her estranged uncle, that includes clues she has to decipher, just like when she was a little kid. I had to suspend disbelief a little, as it seems he left a lot up to chance. But the whimsical nature of it lightened the heartbreak of the story.

And I loved all of the references to Shakespeare and the classics!
⬇️

March #BookSpin stack
@TheAromaofBooks

It took a few chapters for me to get into this story, but once I did I liked it for the most part. I thought there were a few flaws in the storyline, but it was a fun story of Lily, Nicole, Leo, Walt, Bradley, and Terry on a treasure hunt for the stolen money of Butch Cassidy.
#LitsyLoveReads
#OffTheShelf @Librariana
#OffMyShelf @Wanderinglynn
#ReadOrDonate: read @julieclair
#FourFoursIn25: shiver river @Lauredhel
#ISpyBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Enjoying my day off with a mug of coffee and a book, and my cats who are snuggled next to me.

What would happen if you skipped from your 20s to your 40s, from all of the hard work starting out at your job to being successful at your career, from dating to find the right person to being married to a wonderful husband with 2 great kids? That's exactly what happened to Lucy after she made a wish on an arcade game, a wish that she could just get to the good part of her life already.

Sunday morning #coffeeandabook
I didn't like my #BookSpin or #DoubleSpin books this month, but I picked this one from my February bookspin stack, and it looks promising so far!
@TheAromaofBooks

I've bailed on both my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin books for this month already. @TheAromaofBooks

I'd started both of them before and put them back on the shelf for another time. This time, I'm not putting them back on the bookshelf. I really wanted to like them, but alas it was not to be. #hailthebail
#ReadOrDonate: donate @julieclair

Rachel and Drew are dealing with the care of their aging mom who has Alzheimers and often doesn't recognize them. On one of Rachel's visits, her mom tells her about a book she wants her to find. The sisters find the book hidden in their mom's sewing room, a book about a woman named Tomoe Gozen who was a samurai warrior in Japan in the 1100s. They wonder what it has to do with their mom, and why she wanted to make sure they had it.

#BookSpin & #DoubleSpin picks for February! I've started both of these at some point and then put them back on my bookshelf, so I'm looking forward to giving them both another try. @TheAromaofBooks

These are also the first #ReadOrDonate books for the month. @julieclair

The random stack of 20 books from my bookshelf for February's #BookSpin list.
@TheAromaofBooks

Laura is a lifestyle reporter who focuses her work on love stories and how people met. She travels to the island of Jersey to visit all of the locations featured in her parents' love story. However, shortly after arriving she realizes she got the wrong suitcase at the airport... but hopes it might lead her to her soulmate, because this suitcase is full of the things she loves, including To Kill a Mockingbird and Phil Collins music. ⬇️

January's #ReadOrDonate and #OffTheShelf

Read and Liked:
📚 The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy
📚 Fresh Brewed Murder

Still Reading:
📚 Sisters of Heart and Snow

January was a very slow reading month for some reason. Maybe if I put these back on my bookshelf I'd like them more another time, but I just couldn't stick with these books:
📚 Hocus Pocus
📚 Far from the Madding Crowd
📚 Dorothy Must Die
📚 Flying Too High

@julieclair
@Librariana

Dreary Sunday morning #coffeeandabook

I really like Lauren Graham, so this was a wonderful audiobook. She talks about life, family, friendships, love, her acting career, the show Parenthood, and of course Gilmore Girls. I'm looking forward to listening to more of her books!
#LitsyLoveReads
#ISpyBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#LitsyAtoZ #LetterT @Texreader

Nora writes romance movie scripts, and when her script for The Tea House is set to be filmed at the tea house on her property, she and her kids befriend the star of the movie, Leo Vance, and their lives will never be the same.

#LitsyLoveReads
#FourFoursIn25: #RandomFandom @Lauredhel
#LitsyAtoZ #LetterN @Texreader
#ISpyBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Hart, a demigod, is a marshal in Tanria who delivers bodies to Mercy the undertaker at Birsdall & Son. The only thing Hart likes about going there is Mercy's dog Leonard. Hart is gruff and jaded, since his job also includes killing drudges (zombies) that take over the bodies of the dead. There's absolutely nothing Mercy likes about Hart whenever he shows up at Birdsall & Son.

January #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin, and #ReadOrDonate books
@TheAromaofBooks
@julieclair

I really liked Ellery Adams' Secret, Book & Scone Society series, so when I saw this, I knew it had to be my pick for this month's #ThematicCozies!
@julieclair

My #BookSpin list for January. This year, I think I'll just take a random stack of 20 books from my bookshelf for each month's list. My unread books aren't on the bookshelf in any order at all, so this should help me get to the books I don't even remember that I have, lol. 😁
@TheAromaofBooks

Thank you so much Catie! The coffee you sent is delicious. This book is next on my stack to read!
@catiewithac

Thank you so much Soubhi! I'm starting this one right now!
@Soubhiville

Anna Appleby is 38, recently divorced, and told she needs to write a more relevant column for the magazine where she works. She's competing for column space with her work enemy Will. So she decides to write about dating, but doesn't like dating apps. Instead she lets her kids pick her dates, which include the neighbor, the dad of one of the their friends at school, the delivery man, a theater actor, and their swim coach.

Thank you so much Catie!! I'm going to open this on Christmas while drinking a cup of this coffee! 🎄☕️
@catiewithac

A private jet with eleven passengers takes off from Martha's Vineyard on its way to New York. Sixteen minutes later, it crashes into the ocean. The only survivors are Scott, the artist who was invited along at the last minute because he was meeting with art galleries in NY, and JJ, the 4 year old son of one of the wealthy couples on the plane. ⬇️

#WeeklyForecast

Currently Reading:
📚 Before the Fall
📚 Is She Really Going Out With Him?
📚 The Candy Cane Cupcake Killer #seasonalcozies

Up Next:
📚 Nora Goes Off Script
📚 The Neighbor Favor

#BookReport

Currently Reading:
📚 Before the Fall
📚 Is She Really Going Out With Him?
📚 The Candy Cane Cupcake Killer

Haven't Started Yet:
📚 Nora Goes Off Script
📚 The Neighbor Favor

Bailed:
🎧 Kitchens of the Great Midwest- I really wanted to like this one because I absolutely enjoyed the two others of Stradal's that I listened to, but even after listening to 62% of this one I just wasn't invested in the story

#5JoysFriday
🌸 my MRI results came back showing no cancer!
🌸 driving around looking at Christmas lights
🌸 seeing everyone's Elf on the Shelf antics
🌸 my husband accepted a great new job
🌸 it's winter break!
@debinhawaii

#TLT #ThreeListThursday
🍪 peanut butter cookies
🍪 rice krispie treats
🍪 gingerbread cookies

And honorable mentions go to:
🍪 walnut snowball cookies
🍪 snickerdoodles
🍪 biscotti
🍪 macarons
🍪 molasses cookies

@Dabbe

#WeeklyForecast

Currently Reading:
📚 Kitchens of the Great Midwest
📚 Before the Fall
📚 Is She Really Going Out With Him?
📚 The Candy Cane Cupcake Killer #SeasonalCozies

Up Next:
📚 Nora Goes Off Script
📚 The Neighbor Favor