I have been waiting! I wish the long list was before Christmas. Missed opportunity. But oh well.

There is some crazy snow out there. Perfect day for a readathon and lots of hot tea.
#SnickerdoodleSpirit @Bookwormjillk

We are about to be snowed in for the weekend. Not that I want to go out into the madness anyway. So I came looking for a readathon. Litsy never lets me down. @Bookwormjillk #snickerdoodleSpirit

It‘s Terry Prachett. What‘s not to love?
#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

I went in blind and that wasn‘t at all what I was expecting. But in a good way. So dark and ugly and lovely. But I really want Sally to be okay.

It‘s been a week. Let‘s see:
1. I baked all week, for three different households. It was a lot of work, but I love baking.
2. I made plans for a trip to visit my dad on Sunday.
3. I found the perfect present for my husband.
4. I hit a new PR in the gym.
5. I booked a quiet cabin in the woods for a night, where I‘m meeting a friend for a few hours of fun and pizza.

Thanks @DebinHawaii I needed to remember the good things. #5joysFriday

TJ Newman just keeps getting better. This was so intense. And now I‘m crying. I‘m going to have terrible dreams. But it was really great.

We think this might be the package @LeahBergen I didn‘t open it, but I wasn‘t expecting anything else. #LittleChristmasSwap @bookish_wookish

This was fun. I keep saying I‘m not going to read the next one, but I always read the next one. I just have to know what happens. They are always quick and fun anyway.

This is such a great list @DebinHawaii I can‘t wait to dig into it a little deeper and decide where to start. Everything looks so good. I might have to roll some dice or something. I‘m very excited. Thanks Amy! I think you made a great match. @monalyisha #AuldLangSpine

"No." Krampus's voice grew stern. "That is not true. Your dreams are your spirit, your soul, and without them you are dead." He made a fist. "You must guard your dreams. Always. Lest someone steal them from you.”
The is was so good. Tragedy, mythology, crime, humor, horror, fantasy, and love. What more do you want in a holiday story? “Then let us go and be terrible.”

Your #LittleChristmasSwap #LCS is on the way from Amazon @TheLudicReader It‘s not quite as fun, but it seemed like the best way to send it with this mess of a strike happening. It should arrive for you on Monday. Thanks for the hard work and fun time, Amy. @bookish_wookish

Next up, a little something to help me find the mood. I‘m not feeling the holiday this year.
#20in4 @Andrew65

November was a good month for me. I think I got very into the hibernating.

Imagine if Buttercup refused to believe Westley was dead. So she sneaks onboard a pirate ship and sails the twelve seas, that are not wet, because they are made from spores, to save her true love. That‘s the inspiration for this one. I have been avoiding Sanderson for a long time now. Because I knew I would love him. I just didn‘t want to make the commitment. I might be trapped forever now because I loved this so much.

#20in4 @Andrew65

The flu has been kicking my butt this week. I‘m retiring to my bed for the rest of the day. Perfect time for the relaunch of #20in4. This is my first Sanderson and it has been contributing to my weird fever dreams. I am enjoying it though.
@Andrew65

All signed up. I have never done this one before. I was always too late. But I made it this time. It sounds really fun. Thanks @monalyisha #Auldlangspine2025

This was a quick and easy read. It was pretty predictable for me, until the twist at the very end. It was one of those great filler books between other books. A good palette cleanser.

Accidentally got lost in a book this afternoon. Time disappeared and I read 40 chapters. If I didn‘t have to stop to make supper I probably would have finished. Maybe I‘ll read instead of sleeping tonight. lol

I finally had time to watch The Gillers. If Anne Michaels writes as beautifully as she speaks, I‘m really going to have to read Held. I also really want to read Prairie Edge and Curiosities. The TBR just keeps getting bigger.

This was my November first reads choice. I read it in less than an hour. Backman never disappoints me. “I'm ... no expert. But I think most people who want to be happy try to add things to their lives. But really what maybe they should be doing is taking something away."

Some days I need to hear it.

In the running for my best book of the year. A beautiful dark folklorish tale. Very Grimm. Can vengeance equal justice? Maybe. But it sure makes for a satisfying read. Humans are always the scariest monsters. “If you walk with the beast you become the beast.” All the stars. 

I‘m trying to clean my library. But I got distracted by the rain. And the fuzzy blanket. And, well, the books. So I‘m taking a break and I‘m only looking at the clean side.

It‘s clean sheet day, so I came to bed early to enjoy them. I also had to dig out my reading gloves. It‘s all cozy in here.

“How the hell did we survive this long? she asked herself. How did our ancestors survive the broken hearts of children gone? Parents murdered? We have lived with losing loved ones for century after century. And we still have babies and keep loving. This love will break my heart.” This book is suspenseful, heartbreaking, and powerful. A story about #MMIW and the bystander effect. “It is a present-day, on-the-edge-of-trauma reality.”

I‘m a tea girl and this is my favorite chilly day tea.
#DaysDevotedTo
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

It has been a week y‘all. Find the comfort and joy where you can. Consider yourself tagged. We need all the joy we can find.
Thanks for the tag @Sace
@DebinHawaii

I read this way back when it was first released. But someone lost my original copy. My daughter already bought us tickets for the movie. She‘s really excited for our mother-daughter date. But I think a reread is in order. And it gave me an excuse to buy this beautiful edition as a replacement.

I haven‘t participated in a swap in forever. I need something fun right now. Thanks @bookish_wookish I‘m excited to spread a little joy. And candy!

This one has been sitting on my TBR for a very long time. It was so overhyped and that usually leads to disappointment. I had no desire to be disappointed. Surprisingly, I loved it. But I think it helped that the quiet country girl inside me found it very relatable. “I have to do life alone. But I knew this. I've known a long time that people don't stay."

When I am having one of those days and I need to laugh a little, David Sedaris is my go to author. I appreciate the heck out of him for always putting a smile in my heart.
#DaysDevotedTo @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Everything you want in a post apocalyptic thriller. People are the only monsters that scare me. This feels a lot like Cormac McCarthy‘s The Road. It is Blake Crouch‘s debut novel, so it was missing a bit of finesse. The ending felt a little blunt, but I understand where he was going with it. I loved it anyway.

When I want a creepy bedtime story, Riley Sager never disappoints. This isn‘t my favourite of his, but it was still hard to put down. It landed on my face twice, because it kept me up past my bedtime, two nights in a row. Now I have to find something to keep me up tonight…. 4/5

I‘m having trouble putting this down. I started it last night and fell asleep with the kobo in my hand. So I took it down to my gym and read it during my rests between sets. Now if I can just find a way to keep my husband busy, I might get to read it all today. 🤞

Today‘s mood. Why, yes, I do like it darker. This is the perfect music for this book.

“We aren‘t just a person, we aren‘t just a gender, we aren‘t just an age, we aren‘t just a nationality, we aren‘t just a species. The walls between us are imaginary. The thoughts we have that our ours are gloriously unique but also gloriously in the same continuing spectrum.”
Not my favourite Matt Haig, but still worth the read.

This reads like a diary of memories that you might find while combing through your grandparent‘s attic. It‘s set in a very rural part of Cape Breton, in the 1950‘s. It was such a time of transition, I found myself asking how could all of this be happening while there were jet planes flying overhead. It‘s full of humorous little stories that feel like a comforting hug. It‘s not a great literary work, but it was a little taste of home. I needed it.

I was so busy last week, I missed The Giller shortlist announcement. I‘m just catching up today. They all sound great this year. I have added them to my stack.
https://gillerprize.ca/2024-finalists/

They really have to stop trying to rush me out of spooky season!
#zombies
#wickedwhispers
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I loved it! Not the best in the series, but I still loved getting lost in the magic for awhile. Also contains many #spells
#wickedwhispers
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

These books just happen to have my favorite pack of werewolves. And yes the first one isn‘t the same size as the rest. By a lot. And it absolutely drives me insane. #howl #wickedwhispers
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Gothic mystery and romance. Hazel wants to be a surgeon. Jack is a resurrection man. There are lots of #cadavers in this series.
#wickedwhispers
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I didn‘t forget the first few days, I was just away visiting my Dad. Not a good start for me though. lol But here I am. Nancy was the first to come to mind when I saw #disguise
#wickedwhispers @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Rainy Friday mood. Chocolate chai in the cup. I have at least an hour before someone is going to bother me. I‘m going to get lost in this.

How did I miss this?! I had no idea there was another book. I guess that‘s what I get for not visiting Litsy enough. Hubby saw it and surprised me with it today. He added a candle and some chocolate. And it‘s going to rain tomorrow. I might just have to drop everything else.

An absolute masterpiece. I have read Huckleberry Finn countless times. I was a little worried about anyone taking this on. But it‘s absolutely brilliant. The stories mesh like pieces of a puzzle that have always belonged together, but took awhile to find each other. I think Mark Twain would approve. It‘s beautifully done.

I like Rainbow Rowell. Her characters, and their lives, are always so real. And her romance isn‘t smarmy. Someone called it nostalgia romance and I think that‘s perfect. It‘s a slow burn, but it fits the narrative. It made me feel some things.

“For all the women in my life who make up my Briar Club, the ones who bring each other food and wine and counsel whenever it‘s needed. The ones who wouldn‘t bat an eyelash at a corpse on the floor. You know who you are.” Kate Quinn never disappoints.

I have been building myself a little craft nook. But shelves need books. So I put my physical TBR here. It looks smaller than I expected. Lol Now I don‘t want to finish. I just want to read.