The books I have lined up for #jumpstartsummer holiday weekend

What do you do when you have more books piled up than you can possibly read in a month, and suddenly your library acquires the new Fredrik Backman book and you‘re the first in line for it? I think you all know the answer to that.

#5JoysFriday

This week:
1. My amazing gift box from @Meshell1313
2. Bimonthly book club met last night; fun to catch up with those friends
3. My cactus is blooming!
4. Fun snack from TJs 😋🔥
5. Board game group meets tomorrow

My #100kpages giveaway prize arrived today — @Meshell1313 this is too much!! Thank you, I love everything. The journal is perfect! I was just thinking I wanted to start keeping a physical journal instead of only online, but I was just using a blank spiral notebook. This is way better! And the stickers are simply delectable! And chocolates, and Jane Austen mints - I feel so spoiled! I can‘t wait to read the book, I‘ve heard it‘s terrific!

Had to wait to post this until after our book club meeting tonight so I could include the July book. But here are my #14books14weeks

I had a lot of issues with this book but as you can see I also marked a LOT of sentences/passages for future reference. I ran out of book darts and had to start using Post-it flags! I‘m still not completely sure this wasn‘t satire - the MC was so comically pretentious and self-absorbed that I think she may have been intended as a sly parody of a certain type of artsy hipster grappling with middle age. In that light it almost worked.
#shelfsweeper

Recently discovered Valérie Perrin thanks to @CBee and #AuldLangSpine. I‘m looking forward to reading more of her work!

Let‘s see, who else hasn‘t played yet … What about you, @BarbaraJean or @5feet.of.fury - discovered any new authors lately?

#two4tuesday

#whereareyoumonday

Still in Monrovia with the sociopath narrator of this tedious nonsense

#haikuaday #paulsimon

Far too hot for a warm beverage tonight, and I had ice cream earlier, so I‘m just kicking back without refreshments for tonight‘s #HyggeHourReadathon

#5JoysFriday

1. I‘m at the soccer game right now with my lovelies
2. Got a cool garden spinner on clearance. Been wanting one of these!
3. Made a mango strawberry smoothie for lunch
4. Going to Orla Gartland at the Fonda tomorrow with my daughter
5. Tagged book is hilarious! I couldn‘t sleep last night and I was reading it, but I laughed so hard I thought I‘d wake my husband 😂

If love was available, one chose it, or didn‘t choose it. And if her platter had been full with the goodness of Henry and she had found it burdensome, had flicked it off crumbs at a time, it was because she had not known what one should know: that day after day was unconsciously squandered.

I did not care for this one, unfortunately. Not the worst thing ever, but shallow and unremarkable.

#ShelfSweeper

I‘ve got a bad feeling about this…

So I know this book is polarizing. I went in expecting shock, expecting transgressive attitudes about sex, gender, and aging, expecting discomfort in the name of probing implicit attitudes and assumptions about propriety and morality. But so far it‘s just exhausting. It‘s like listening to your most neurotic friend monologue about her chaotic and obsessive thoughts, which are entirely self-oriented

From LitHub:

https://lithub.com/did-the-pulitzer-board-just-overrule-the-jury-to-give-perciva...

#WhereareyouMonday

Well I‘m still in London innit

Just trying to plough through the last few chapters so I can be done with this silly book. The scenes that are supposed to be tense and exciting had me either rolling with laughter or shaking my head in disbelief.

It‘s contrived, is what I‘m trying to say.

Ok for my #hyggehourreadathon I … I watched a movie. I watched Star Wars on May the fourth because my daughter asked if we could. And I loved it just as much as I loved it the first 347 times I saw it.

Mostly listened to this on audio. It was masterfully written - Patchett is unparalleled in that regard. The story—I didn‘t really connect with the story. Partly I was rankled by the MC/narrator, Lara‘s, rosy wistfulness about the COVID lockdown. It‘s one of my pet peeves (partly because my family did not have a cozy, bread-baking, ‘growing closer free from the distractions of hectic life‘ experience). But partly I just felt a bit detached 👇

Finished up Tom Lake, which I mostly listened to on audio (Meryl Streep did an outstanding job). Forcing myself to read The Lost Apothecary for my book club next Saturday. Sneaking chapters of Rilla when I can…

#weekendreads

Um … yeah

#tfw the book YOU selected for book club is … not good 😬

Anybody else read this one? I‘m on chapter 2 and so far it‘s pure cringe. Does it get easier to ignore the hackish writing I‘ve the plot starts? Please say yes.

Bonus points for the audiobook narrator pronouncing “Northanger” as rhyming with “danger” 🙄

Never did read these but somehow managed to keep them safe for 35 years (and 6 moves!) #kindredspiritsbuddyread going to give me that push

1. The rose my husband planted for me is blooming like crazy! So many flowers!
2. I bought some fabric on Etsy and finally made a valance for my bedroom window
3. Got tickets to see Head & the Heart at the Greek in September
4. Spontaneous library haul
5. Angel City beat Washington 4-3 tonight! Crazy game!

#5joysFriday

#bookspin and #doublespin

I probably (ok, DEFINITELY) won‘t finish both of these in May since I still have my April pick, The Ghost Map, to read. But they‘re in the queue!

Just because I already have … let‘s see, I guess it‘s 8 or 9 books already planned for May book clubs and challenges, why should I not bring home six more library books?

Well, I think this is my winner for April. Fascinating, well-written, and a joy to read.

#readingbracket
#bookbracket
#ReadingBracket2025

I‘ll probably finish Entangled Life tomorrow, but close enough to count for April. All winners this month!

#TFW all your library holds inexplicably come in at once 😳

My #ShelfSweeper shelf #4Elisabeth

#AuldLangSpine @CBee

I think I was a victim of my own outsize expectations here. This book fell a little flat for me and I‘m having a hard time articulating why. It has a lot of different plot threads and I‘m not sure they all work together to create a cohesive story. Then again — that‘s real life for you. I did appreciate the ending.

It‘s not just me, right? 🙃

All wrapped up and ready to go

I loved this way more than I expected to! I didn‘t know a ton about Martin Short going in, although I was generally a fan. This memoir hit the perfect balance between autobiographical storytelling, emotional depth, and comedy - he intersperses chapters with vignettes done in character of Jackie Rogers Jr, Ed Grimley, Jiminy Glick, etc. His “nine categories” philosophy is so down-to-earth and he just seems like an authentically decent guy.

Dalton, Maine, 1995. The characters we met in “The Road to Dalton” are back, coping with their various quiet griefs and everyday joys of their small town lives. Some ache to break free of the constraints of tiny Dalton, while others take comfort in the familiar embrace of their town and its land and people. Beautifully told. Can‘t wait for book 3!

This was such a treat to read. It‘s summer 1951 and 11-year-old Donal Cameron must take himself from Montana to Wisconsin to stay with relatives while his grandmother has surgery. Things don‘t go well and he soon ends up back on a westbound bus. It‘s humorous, heartfelt and honest. The people he meets along the way, the stories he collects, and just the cadence of the language all make this a joyful and immersive experience.

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

(Yes, still)

Ok so here‘s what happened … somebody here posted about their British Library Crime Classic subscription and I thought, ooh, I want that! So I decided to give it to myself for my upcoming 50th birthday. But then I was like, nah, shipping to the US every single month is too wasteful and expensive. And then … I had an idea … 💡😃

What are your favorite genres?
- Fiction: Literary, speculative, mystery
- Nonfiction: history & science

What are a few of your desert island reads?
- Robinson Crusoe maybe? a guide to edible plants?

What‘s your go-to reading snack?
- cheese, crackers & apple slices; or chocolates

Weirdest or most interesting place you‘ve read a book?
- halftime at NWSL championships
[cont‘d 👇]

#bibliologistbio @monalyisha

My #bookspin list for May is already ready 😅

Today‘s #tuesdaytunes is this new track from The Head and the Heart. I am digging their new album so far and - my husband got us tickets to see them at the Greek in September!

https://youtu.be/vLovUdCX4Tg?si=3u6Z3rGjdxLv1yap

#hyggehourreadathon

Congratulations @dabbe on 200k!! Incredible! But not surprising - you are a pillar of the Litsy community ☺️

Here is my mood board - #moodboardcontest #mbc

#midmonthcheckin
I never got around to posting this at the beginning of the month, so I‘m doing it now 🤣

Currently reading Entangled Life and The Shadow Rising. Both excellent, but I kind of have to be in the right mood.

Started and finished Where the Forest Meets the River by Shannon Bowring - an impulse read that I borrowed on Kindle (which means I can read it late at night while my husband sleeps).

Will probably bump Ghost Map to May.

My #camplitsy nominations (links and descriptions in the comments):

Free: My Search for Meaning, by Amanda Knox

Story of a Murder: the wives, the mistresses, and Doctor Crippen, by Hallie Rubenhold

Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor

The Heart of Winter, by Jonathan Evison

#camplitsy25

#TuesdayTunes

Bears Den, “Spiders”
https://youtu.be/QLYdoN6pEHg?si=DWiyiSaT62pS4Ze5

Love, I‘m trying.

This is so well said — and so true of all areas of biology (and medicine), not just mycology.

“I have tried to find ways to enjoy the ambiguities that fungi present, but it‘s not always easy to be comfortable in the space created by open questions. Agoraphobia can set in. It‘s tempting to hide in small rooms built from quick answers. I have done my best to hold back.”

And the winner of the #50kgiveaway is …
@Bookwormjillk

Send me an email with your mailing address and a link to a TBR wishlist to shop from! I am carrieseydel(@)yahoo.com

With a dedication like this, you know it‘s going to be a good book! 🍄🍂

Enjoying a nice glass of Pinot Grigio on this warm evening while I dig into the fourth installment of the Wheel of Time

#hyggehourreadalong #hyggehour

#weekendreads