Bleak book with pops of levity. I‘m sticking with it because of lines like this (spoken from Lee to Samuel) “There are no ugly questions except those clothed in condescension.” That is something I‘ve felt but never thought of the words to put the feeling to. Steinbeck won me with that line.

I started listening to this audiobook on 3/26/24 and finished tonight. I had to wait for holds, I was reading other books in between, but it has been a constant companion. I watched some of her films, and I enjoyed the experience thoroughly. What an accomplished woman and an inspiration. I‘m a bit melancholy I finished it. I learned so much and I appreciate her much more now than ever. Highly recommend!

Man, I am going to have separation anxiety from finishing this series. I LOVED it and it spanned the whole summer, and the first week of fall for me. So many interesting characters in addition to the regular gang. Charlie Goodnight was in every book and I always got a kick out of him. Final book in publication order, second book in chronological order. I love you Larry McMurtry, for giving me an epic Western adventure. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Interesting, quick read. #IrishAustralianauthor, #Vermont

Pub date 1958. Never read it before now. Adorable. Truth be told, I read it bc Hobonichi has a Paddington collection and I was curious about the book. And a fun finding was the author has my birthday!! He passed in 2017 at a ripe old age of 91. So happy I finally read it!

My goodness I loved this book!! So varied and interesting. I‘m so happy I didn‘t stop reading at Lonesome Dove. On to Comanche Moon!!

So sweet. Love Ferdinand. He just wanted peace.
Perfect children‘s book. Pub 1936

Sequel to Lonesome Dove…fantastic. It comes in under Lonesome Dove, but I would say this is a must read if you loved LD. As soon as I can get to the library, I‘m getting the first prequel, Dead Man‘s Walk. #Texas #Mexico #BigBookSummerChallenge. McMurtry does women well and they are given the credit they deserve. Love his characters, love his story telling. This book was hugged, just not quite as much, but it‘s worthy.

I‘m am so happy I lived long enough to read this book. It would‘ve been a shame to die without this experience. This book gets 10 hugs and kisses out of 10. Epic saga and adventure. McMurtry does not disappoint. #Texas, #Arkansas, #Kansas, #Nebraska #Wyoming, #Montana
Captain Augustus McCrea may be my favorite literary character of all time, but I love Captain Call too. #BigBookSummerChallenge

I‘m only 1/2 way through this gorgeous book and I already have cowboy swagger….lol….Good God, I can‘t believe I didn‘t read this in the 90s when I was cowboy obsessed. This has been a wonderful experience thus far and I expect this to be one of my favorite books of all time. This is definitely the year of McMurtry for me! Gus McCrea and Captain Call❤️

This book was SO much fun. If you‘re a teacher, journaler, artist, writer, or looking for any interdisciplinary course content, this is the book. She has her students drawing, reading, writing, remembering poems and creating their own books in composition books. It‘s just wonderful!

Another fun read from Riley Sager. A House with a history of tragedies, a book claiming that it was haunted and a mystery. #Vermont.

I had never heard of the do nothing rental person on Twitter/iInstagram, so I was intrigued. He doesn‘t charge anything, but his transportation costs(if a meal is involved, they pay) He then writes about experience on line. Most of the requests are quite calm. One person requested to have him bid her goodbye at a train station as she left Tokyo for good but didn‘t want a friend there bc it would be too emotional. She just wanted someone there.

#WhatsNewWednesday…..I‘m only about 10% into this audiobook and loving it…what‘s new is, once again, I‘m experiencing book synchronicity…Barbra just mentioned I‘ll Cry Tomorrow…the memoir written by Lillian Roth. I didn‘t know she was in a play with her. I loved that book and read it about a year and a half ago.

Epic family saga set in Las Vegas. Time period 1923-1978. First of a trilogy. I wholeheartedly enjoyed it. I‘ve never read Fern Michaels before. Good female characters. #LasVegas Pub date: 1996

Short synopsis: A man that does the right thing. He had learned that from someone who did the right thing for him. I had never heard of Ireland‘s Mother and Baby homes and Magdalen laundries. Claire Keegan does it again. At 114 pages, this packs a punch (116 with Note on the Text).
#Ireland. Good December read…I‘m a little late.

Desert Rose Book 2. The books starts out with a tragic revelation for Harmony. Harmony‘s sisters fly to Las Vegas to be with her and her 5 year old son, Eddie. The title serves as a double entendre..which I thought was interesting. A Road trip to NY ensues and all kinds of crazy happens in the midst of deep grief. I loved both books. McMurtry is highly readable and crafts a great yarn, he reminds of of Stephen King in that way.

Three Short Stories in this collection. The title story, The Long and Painful Death, and Antarctica. Not a feel good book but Keegan manages to give a big story in a concise manner. I liked Foster much, much more. Still interesting and a good read. #Ireland

The protagonist, Harmony, is a single mom showgirl working at the Stardust in Vegas. The characters in this book range from sweet (Harmony) to real creeps and everything in between. Book was written in 1983, the sequel, The Late Child, published 12 years later in 1995. Im picking up sequel bc I want to see how this plays out. #Vegas

I loved this short story collection! Each story (there are 5) is interconnected by a librarian who matches books with what she thinks will inspire the person…this book taught me about the craft of felting. I had never heard of felting before!
It‘s just so much fun and there‘s a list of the books mentioned in the back. Translated by Alison Watts. #Japan

92 page novella - a snapshot of a 4th grader‘s world and his crush on a woman at the market who sells sandwiches. Adorable, heartfelt. #Japan translated by Louise Heal Kawai

One of the most unique books I‘ve ever read. At first I was bored to tears, yet the premise kept me hanging on…once an event happened, I was intrigued. I‘m not going into more detail than that. I will say one thing: what if you knew nothing of your past but being in a cage with 39 women…you were a child and had no reference for anything they spoke about…how would that form you as a human?
If you are into character more than plot, read this.

👌🏽This book was SO much fun….harrowing, confusing, then it all clicked…such a great “get out of a reading slump” book. Fun ride…lots of fun film and music references…set in 1991.

Novella- sweet, concise,with an open ended ending (if that makes sense). My edition was 92 pages. A little girl is sent off from her family (who have little resources and a lot of kids) to a relative‘s home for the summer. She flourishes in their care. Impactful in its simplicity.#Ireland

Fourth installment of Before The Coffee Gets Cold. I enjoyed it. I would like to re-read all of them at one point, straight through. Pretty sure my favorite was the third, Before Your Memory Fades.

I LOVED this book!! It was such a great snapshot in time. Set in Hong Kong between 1949 and 1950. The writing was superb…one warning…it was probably me but it took me so long to get through. That being said, I enjoyed it. It gives a really balanced look at how “New” China came into power and how the Missionaries had to leave for Formosa (Taiwan) and HK. Looked at the issues of colonialism. Plus, an affair which was not embraced…he was married.

@TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday
1. Yes!!! In fact, every car I‘ve owned my whole life has been a Stick….Corolla, Celica, Corolla. It‘s so much fun!
2. Christine….luckily, I read this in 2023. Not sure I could name another book with a car featured. I can think of plenty of movies!!

Wow!! What a ride!! The friction between brother and sister drove me crazy at first, but then things started to make sense. Dolls, puppets, imaginary dog, complete craziness put together as a fetching story!! I love Grady Hendrix. This is the third book I‘ve read by him and it was quite the yarn!!!
#Charleston Fun Read!

The premise was very interesting. I‘m in minority here with So-So rating, but I couldn‘t wait for it to end….I think it just could‘ve been edited down a bit and the characters annoyed me. It lacked “heart” to me, or it may just be me at this time. I‘m not sure…it followed a book I really enjoyed, which was published in the 90s and I think that may have played into it. Maybe it was just too cold and futuristic for me.

Lonely CPA eats at restaurant and frequently sees same woman dining alone. He‘s interested, tries to talk to her, but she‘s shut down. One day she stops showing up altogether, and he investigates and finds that she has committed suicide. He seeks the “why” and he seeks out possible family to claim her. #California #Nevada

Quick read at only 216 pages but enjoyable. I picked this up from my local library bc I was going to Vegas and wanted to read something set in Nevada. Protagonist loves hiking in Death Valley and stumbles upon a woman dying in a deserted region of the Mojave. Interesting ride from there. #California #Nevada

I loved this audiobook. Poignant story. The Author‘s note was interesting too. I remember the crash of 587….at first they thought it was terrorism-2 months after 9/11. When it was ascertained it wasn‘t, it kind of dropped out of the consciousness of the public. But the Dominicans had a hard loss here, so many of their own. This was a well crafted YA story. #DominicanRepublic narrated by author and another woman. Washington Heights, Puerto Plata.

WOW! This book actually had me gagging….if it were any other author I would‘ve abandoned the book close to the beginning. But the master storyteller kept me plugging along. This was true horror. Extremely creepy yet at the same time covers the height of COVID well. Dare I say it was nauseatingly good? Yup.

Wow!! Just finished the audiobook which has an author interview at the end. I am so happy I finally decided to read this book. Highly recommend. It was fascinating. It made me cry. It made me think about how little time has really gone by from the years of slavery and it made me horrified that it went on a mere 100 years before my birth. I‘m still reading the physical copy bc I want to reinforce some stuff in my brain and write others down.

@Eggs
📘Same as you- my mom…🥲
📘1981 First true love and my mom was still alive
📘journaling supplies😄Tombows, pens, stickers, washi tape, everything Hobonichi🧚🏽‍♂️

I greatly enjoyed this book. Especially the 1950 timeline…it runs two timelines 1950 and 2014. It had been on my TBR for a few years and I‘m happy I listened to it. I think it‘s best to go in with no idea of what it‘s about…try it, you‘ll like it!
Is anyone else having trouble posting a photo? This my second post where I can‘t post a photo.I don‘t understand why. #CanadianAuthor #Vermont

I can‘t seem to download my photo. I listened to the audiobook and Sissy Spacek does a great job at narrating. I really enjoyed the introduction by Stephen King and the book itself. It wasn‘t frightening, I just found it so sad.

I think this is the end of the road for me and Spy Family….unless someone can tell me it gets better from here.

Oh wow, really liked this mystery!! YA but definitely worthy at any age classification!! Pip does a capstone project for her senior year project which focuses on two murders from five years prior. Intricate and interesting. 4⭐️

Just purchased this baby….I had the tagged edition but It doesn‘t have footnotes like this one….and let‘s face it, this is to die for….French flaps and deckled edges. I‘ll give the other edition to the library after I finish the book. It will be nice to compare the two. My buddy read partner has the same one. Wish me luck. I‘m such a slow reader and I think this is going to take me forever.

Scary book, was not expecting this. I expected the Blake Crouch who wrote Dark Matter, not Dean Koontz…this is about a psychopath serial killer and definitely not my cup of tea. It was a page turner, but I almost DNF‘d it 3 times…ughhh, never again. For me this was a book I should‘ve never read. For someone who likes serial killer psycho paths, this will be right up your alley. His first book.

Such a fun read!!! The time travel makes no sense, but if you shut that part of your brain off, you‘ll have a grand time.. I LOVED it!! I love how she goes from 18 to 51 in her first “slide”. The shock of her older body shook her. Thank God we age chronologically bc we have time to get used to it. Well worth the read. I had a great time.

I toiled a bit through this one but it was worth it. Set in 1920, in the North of England, a soldier who survived WW1 restores a medieval painting. During his time in the country he finds people who help him start his journey of healing from the horrors of war. There was something so comforting about this story. It won the Booker in 1980. #UK

Very cute with pretty, colorful graphics. #NewZealand

This was a very good story….I loved it!! I didn‘t start out loving it…but if you hang on, everything falls into place. Creatively written…Isaac passes on and leaves his friends, who really are just friends with him, not so much each other, to discover each other. I think it‘s a great book for anyone but especially teenage boys. #Australia

5⭐️ My favorite book of the year, thus far, and dare I say a favorite of all time? The complexity of this caper and the brilliance of this author is stunning. It‘s laugh out loud funny with a good dose of recent world history mixed in. Thoroughly enjoyable. A must read, in my humble opinion. #Sweden

I love the end pages of this book…I enjoyed the book but in this case I think the film will be better. She sold the rights but I don‘t know anything else.

Very cute. I love the dog❤️

My first collection by Stephen King. Buddy read with my friend. Yikes, what to say? Weird and majorly disturbing: The Library Policeman…def gave me Rose The Hat vibes and then some- harm to children…awful, as far as some content goes. The Langoliers was probably my favorite. Interesting, other dimensional. The Sun Dog dragged on too much for me. Secret Window Secret Garden was a descent into madness I could‘ve lived without.

First book haul in 3 years!! The top 3 were $6.99 each from Book Outlet and the gorgeous cover of Needful Things is from Blackwell‘s.