I almost hate to do it, but I‘m bailing on my #bookspin for this month. I loved Legends & Lattes, but I am not enjoying this prequel at all. I don‘t know if it‘s the pacing or something else, but it doesn‘t seem to have the same heart as the first book. It‘s not that I‘m bored so much as I just don‘t care about the characters. Even Viv feels less Viv-like.

Henry Kissinger came to power as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under Nixon. He was a war criminal without conscience, responsible for heinous US foreign policy. He had no government experience, didn‘t care about procedure, and instead, set up national security structures for maximum power with little accountability. The US is still the monster he personifies. This book details that depravity, region by region.

The title is the rallying cry for a people‘s revolution, sparked in part by the vicious murder of Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022 by Iran‘s Morality Police for wearing her veil improperly. It illustrates current events in Iran, history of the existing regime, and widespread government corruption. It‘s timely lesson, inspiration, and call to action. Some of the art was not to my taste and the cursive-style font was difficult to read.

The 2024 CWA Dagger awards shortlists come out late this week, I think. Considering how many Dagger awards categories there are and the likelihood that 50% aren‘t available in the US yet, the odds of me reading them before the awards are announced in July are slim. So, I opted to try to read all of the 2023 winners I could get my hands on. Today‘s #libraryhaul are the ones my library system has, plus the 1st in Bishop‘s series. Better get reading!

I‘m still salty about the Death card, but this was a decent mystery novel with a supernatural twist. I thought it would be lighter, but it is just this side of serious to be a Hallmark Mystery Cozy. Still, it‘s a nice change from gory, high-stakes thrillers, and I really liked the characters. It also sets up nicely for a series or at least a sequel.

For the love of Spirit, Death is not a horror movie card. 🤦🏻‍♀️ If I wasn‘t so curious about where this book is going, I‘d quit right now. As it is, I may have to walk away for a minute or two.
#TarotReaderTantrum

I honestly think this may be my favorite to date. It definitely made for a fun couple of hours reading on a rainy Saturday. No #NNK, but plenty of snooping, meddling, and a proper introduction to Ned. ❤️
#nancydrewbr

I‘m going to have to start counting the number of times Nancy is accused of snooping or meddling. It‘s cracking me up. #ScoobyDooOrNamcyDrew?

#nancydrewbr

This is another solid entry in the Sebastian St Cyr series. It‘s one of my favorite series for a reason. Harris does an excellent job of blending historical events, such as the Allied Sovereigns‘ visit to London, and historical entities like the evil East India Company, with her fictional characters and murders. There‘s also a fair amount of social commentary that sadly applies to modern day life and politics.

#unpopularopinion I just can‘t get into this one. The personal lives of the detectives feel like needless distractions. I don‘t care about the case. I know it can‘t be as easy a solve as the current set up, so there has to be a big twist coming, but I find that I simple don‘t care. Plus, I almost cried when I saw how much of the book I had left to listen to. That‘s never a good sign.

My TBR for my birthday month. I know I will not get to all of these, but it‘s a nice combination of buddy/bookclub reads, 2023 CWA Dagger award winners, and a couple of random library books, plus everything from April that I‘m still working my way through. 🎶 Happy Birthday to me 🎶 🥳🥳

May‘s #bookspinbingo board. Bookshops and Bonedust is my #bookspin and An Enchanting Case of Spirits is my #doublespin. It‘s nice to have some light reads as my selections for my birthday month!

Twelve books finished for April. Who Slays the Wicked was my favorite. There were a lot of fun reads and a couple of disappointments. I‘m on staycation until next Tuesday so I‘m hoping to get a good start on May‘s TBR.

April wrap-up #bookspinbingo edition: Once again, I used all the free spaces, but I did finish 3 of the specified list and bailed on 1 other. My #doublespin is dry, but I should finish this month. I don‘t know what my problem is with the #bookspin. This is the second time I tried to start it and just can‘t seem to get anywhere. I hate to totally give up because I devoured the short stories in this world. I‘ll try audio to see if that helps.

In the hopes of being able to check off more than just the free spaces, I‘ve given myself some genre prompts (in italics) instead of specific titles. Also, Park Road Books hasn‘t announced May‘s challenge title, so that‘s listed as TBA. #bookspin

It‘s Independent Bookstore Day! I left Park Road Books with full arms and a full heart. I love my indie booksellers so much and it‘s been ages since I‘ve been in there. 💖 Lots of cozy fantasy and mythology retelling recommendations today.

I found this receipt tucked into the book I‘m starting today. I was confused by shipping charges from my local indie. I order online from them a lot but I drive the short distance to pick up my order when it‘s ready. Then I checked the date: April 12, 2020. It must have been one of the first orders I placed during lockdown once they were allowed to have one or two employees at a time working to keep their business afloat.

I fell behind on this series. I wish I hadn‘t, but this was the perfect book to break a slump. I love Harris‘s writing style, and it‘s great to be back in her version of Regency England with Sebastian and friends. The ending felt a bit rushed and too neat, but I can overlook that in favor of the joy I get from reading the rest. Too dark to be considered a cozy, but not so graphic as to be unbearably traumatizing. TW in comments.

Cute MG mystery with the dog as narrator. I would probably have really enjoyed this when I was 8-10. As an adult, I found the canine narrator rather annoying. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I love this series and was so happy to have it selected for #bakerstreetirregulars. I have read the whole series in print and on audio multiple times. It does require accepting the racist, colonialist, sexist, and classist viewpoints as belonging to the historical setting. That aside, it‘s a fun romp through late 19th century Egypt, with entertaining characters, mystery, adventure, and a touch of romance.

I have no business reviewing poetry. I rarely enjoy it and I am even less likely to understand or “get” it. So, I won‘t rate this based on whether or not I liked it. I‘m honestly not sure. I will say that I liked the mixed formats of the collection, especially the poems supposedly written with predictive text. Those were clever. There are two other poems written with footnotes and I loved those. That format was unique and fun.

I saw this on a lot of #auldlangspine lists, so I decided to finally give it a try. This is a delightful cozy fantasy. Compelling writing, interesting characters, and all the good stuff - adventure, danger, shadowy characters, plus coffee and baked goods. 😂

I‘m dying with these books, y‘all. All the meddling and snooping and ADVERBS. So. Many. Adverbs.

As always, there‘s plenty of danger, suspicious looking characters, and as noted in the quotes in the photo, meddling and snooping. I enjoyed this one more than the last, though. I definitely rolled my eyes a lot less.
#nancydrewbr

This is probably my least favorite of the series. The plot dragged, and I have so many questions left unanswered. As always, I love the dynamic between Will, Faith, and Amanda. I just expected more - I still feel like I need a shower after reading it, but the overall reading experience fell flat.

This is a wonderful picture book for helping kids understand and cope with anxiety. It even has a section of tips at the back. I love the illustrations and the writing.

I absolutely love the Narwhal and Jelly books, so I thought I would try out another Clanton series. While still a pick, it‘s filled with spudtacular puns, after all, it just doesn‘t have the same magic for me as Narwhal and Jelly. I think it‘s because Snot is such a grump. This just feels a little less joyous.

It‘s been a rough day, so I checked this out from library and read it to Bailey who likes to chase bees. She didn‘t seem impressed, but I found it delightful. 🤣🤣🐝🐝

Made my #bookspinbingo board at lunch. My #bookspin is A Master of Djinn which has been on my TBR for ages and #doublespin is When God Was a Woman.

If the Bookly app did a calendar graphic like Bookmory, I feel like you‘d have the perfect reading app. Until then, I will either make my own calendar in Canva (unlikely), or just stare enviously at others‘ calendar graphics. 😂 It was another slow reading month with a lot of bails. Children‘s books saved my stats, and Karin Slaughter‘s book, while definitely NOT for kids, was my favorite read of the month.

There are lots of big emotions all handled with delicacy, kindness, love, and grace in this final book. The whole trilogy is so soft and warm.

A soft, gentle hug of a book - the illustrations are beautiful, the story is inclusive and kind. There‘s compassion, empathy, and joy. It makes for a lovely break from my typical, darker reads.

@Darklunarose posted about this series earlier today and I immediately had to see if my library had digital versions. They have all three and I flew through the first one. I love the artwork and adore all of the characters. I especially liked the intro to tea dragon husbandry at the end. 🐉

#unpopularopinion I do not care for the writing at all. It‘s tedious and I am not connecting with any of the characters. I should want their backstories, I should care about the solutions to the various cases, but I don‘t. The prose is just not engaging. It could be my current headspace or the fact that I‘m not a big Patterson fan 🤷🏻‍♀️. #bakerstreetirregulars

Tentative April #bookspin list. I don‘t think I‘ll have time to start anything on this list based on the things I currently have in progress and my workload this week, so it probably won‘t change. It‘s always fun to play with colors,backgrounds, and fonts in Canva, even if I don‘t get through much of the list.

I know this is blasphemous, but I like the TV show so much better. The plot here is slow and tedious, and wow! Talk about someone who should not be writing female characters 🤦🏻‍♀️. I gave it 116 pages. (Side note, my library copy is the grossest book I‘ve ever checked out. I don‘t know how many people have spilled food and god only knows what on the pages, but hardly one has been spared assault from patrons 🤢)

Karin Slaughter writes thrillers that you can't put down no matter how much you want to escape the horrific subject matter. This was probably the most brutal of the Will Trent series to date, with the possible exception of the first one. I've read horror novels that were less terrifying. That said, it's well-written, captivating, gut-wrenching, and practically perfect. It is simultaneously the worst and best book I‘ve read this year.

Oh, Nancy. You are not aging well. The “subtle” ads for other books in the series are starting to irritate. The mystery is even more predictable than the earlier books, and I swear I‘ve seen this as a Scooby-Doo episode. 😂 The cultural appropriation was not funny, though, and I could feel my blood boil as Nancy & Co. went shopping for authentic “squaw dresses” as party costumes. 🤦🏻‍♀️ #NancyDrewBR

I adored this picture book. It has beautiful messages about community, sharing, and gratitude. It‘s the picture book selection for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library‘s 2024 Community Reads program.

Every March, my county library system hosts a community read. This year‘s theme is food and the tagged book is the MG selection. I loved watching CiCi adjust to life in America through a cooking contest. Seeing her grow, learning to trust and make friends, and discover how to honor her Taiwanese heritage, was heartwarming.

I have two books in progress, but the #bookspin and #doublespin numbers came out today. This is my #doublespin and is all I want to read. I think I‘m going to make myself read at least a few chapters of one of the other books, but I will probably cave and start Nero later today.

Ann Patchett‘s writing is gorgeous and skillful. Meryl Streep‘s narration is equally brilliant. If family stories, contemporary/literary fiction are things you gravitate towards, I think you‘ll love this. I can see the appeal and all of the positive reviews are totally justified. I got a third of the way through the audiobook. It‘s just not for me, and that‘s okay.
#auldlangspine

March #bookspin bingo board. 🤩

I clearly need to create better #bookspin lists. 😂 I only read one book from February‘s list. I did use up all the free spaces, though. 🤣🤣

I won‘t finish anything tomorrow, so this is my wrap-up for February. Thanks to comfort audiobook rereads and catching up to the #nancydrewbr group, I actually managed to finish 9 books this month. Considering what a dumpster fire the first half of the month was, I will take this as a huge win. The Last Widow was my favorite of the new-to-me books. Slaughter is incredibly talented. #februarywrapup

Ha! I‘ve been saying I expect the criminals in these books to call Nancy meddlesome, and it finally happened. I enjoyed watching this one play out. Nancy really can do anything. My only complaint this time is all of the exclamation points. So! Many! ‼️‼️‼️🤣🤣
#NancyDrewBR

I decided not to recreate the wheel this month, especially since I only read one book from February‘s list and it was neither the #bookspin nor the #doublespin. 🤦🏻‍♀️ For March, I replaced those three titles, the library books that I returned unread, and all of the St. Martin‘s imprint titles. We‘ll see if I have any better luck reading from this list this month.

Trying to catch up to the #NancyDrewBR group. I loved the side characters in this one, especially Miss Flora. The villain, Nathan Gomber, was a quintessential cartoon villain. I really expected him to say “I‘d have gotten away with it if it wasn‘t for that meddling girl”. 😂 The stakes are definitely higher in this one, with missing fathers and more physical danger. While I like Helen, I really want Bess and George, and I hope we get them soon.

Karin Slaughter was exactly what I needed to break through this reading slump. Action packed, as always, and absolutely terrifying, I loved it and didn‘t want to put it down.

After weeks of bailing on almost everything (this is only the 3rd book I‘ve finished this month which is unheard of for me), I decided to take the advice Littens always seem to give each other about ending book slumps - change genres or reread an old favorite. I decided to let Jim Dale reread HP for me. I don‘t think the slump is broken, but I am grateful for the comfort (re)read. Onward to Chamber of Secrets

I remember reading a lot of Nancy Drew as a child. I also remember liking the Nancy Drew Files that came out in the mid-80s better than the originals, thinking they were more readable. That still holds true. I find the prose here clunky, but there‘s a Scooby-Doo “meddlesome kids” vibe to Nancy that I adore. This gets points for nostalgia if nothing else.