The local article about Stone's presentation last night:

https://www.augustachronicle.com/news/20191114/author-of-banned-novel-by-columbi...

Nic Stone visited Columbia County as promised to discuss Dear Martin, racism, and censorship after her book was challenged in our schools.
My daughter and I watched the live stream since the event was sold out.
I laughed and I cried. So thankful she visited and discussed these important topics, what an honest and genuine discussion!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I1MxUgqsu0A&feature=youtu.be

I've been switching between reading and listening to an audiobook while cross stitching in car line recently. Making these little ornaments this year in exchange for donations to a local women's shelter.

My husband surprised me with a trip to Athens this weekend for a very special (and super early!) Christmas gift: a tintype family portrait!
I've always been fascinated with the process and am so excited for the original plate to arrive in the mail this week!

Found a free collection of creepy stories called Nightfire Presents: Come Join Us by the Fire in the Google Play Books store. Chuck Wendig and Paul Tremblay are just a couple I'm looking forward to!

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

October 2016

My awesome sis in law @Linsy recommended it!

Soooo much more. It's ridiculous!

Mystery and memoir

I've followed @DebinHawaii and @BarbaraTheBibliophage since day one!

I'm only 25 pages in and mesmerized by the storytelling! Already pretty sure this will be in my top 10 for the year.

Wow, it's my three year #Litsyversary 😊
The most positive app I spend time on for sure!

Spending the morning canning apple butter while reading the tagged book.

This was a book club pick and I really enjoyed it! The plot was interesting and surprised me a couple times, though one aspect felt a little out of place for me. I loved the paranormal aspect, which made it creepy without feeling contrived.

I've been reading a story or two in car line each day and I'm loving it! The stories are so odd but well written. Reminds me of early Chuck Palahniuk in some instances.

The county I live in just banned these three books that were suggested by teachers. I'm furious to see she essentially based literary value on the amount of f words in a book --- a pitiful excuse for what I believe is really her not wanting to deal with mature subject matter.

https://www.augustachronicle.com/news/20191008/columbia-county-schools-limit-nov...

Killer mermaids aren't usually my thing but I've heard good stuff and I bought it on a whim as a daily deal a while back. We'll see how it goes!

We had a great day trip to North Carolina yesterday. Stopped in downtown Asheville for lunch and picked apples in Hendersonville.
Looking forward to canning apple sauce and apple butter-- but first: apple cider doughnuts!

Started this today and I'm intrigued already!

This panel is so relatable!

I always enjoy Phoebe and Marigold's adventures and love reading them with my daughter.

My 3rd Ruth Ware and certainly my least favorite. Not a whole lot going on in this one; I guessed the secret almost immediately, cookie cutter characters for the genre, and the ending was twisty yet predictable. Still, it was entertaining enough to read in car line to pick up my daughter from school.

A cozy novel about grumpy librarian Irwin and his unlikely friendship with precocious teen Harper. Both have experienced hurt but responded differently to their pain. Now, with new issues tied to the past arriving for them both, Irwin and Harper will overcome their pain together.
This is a heartwarming story for fans of Fredrik Backman and Phaedra Patrick!
Bonus: it's written by my pen pal and fellow Litten @Sahar 💗

I loved this webinar! It was fun to hear the research TJR did for her novels and advice she offers to writers.

I'm over half way and still not sure how I feel. I'm intrigued but the pace is dragging.

A library of unwritten books exists in hell and is guarded by a badass librarian who tracks down those that go missing. This is an interesting beginning to a new trilogy. It's a bit slow in the middle but gets back on track for an exciting ending. I'm looking forward to the next!

I absolutely loved the first book in this trilogy but everything I found charming about it began to wear thin in book two which needed some heavy editing. Still, I was looking forward to this final book and hoped it would recapture some of the magic of the first.
I was extremely disappointed that the pacing continued to be very awkward and there was little to no character development. I had to skim a good bit just to finish 😔

My first Jojo Moyes and I loved it!
A historical fiction novel set in 1930's Kentucky following the lives of a group of pack horse librarians.
The writing was great and I appreciated the strong female characters.
Thanks to Pamela Dorman Books for providing me with an ARC!

It was delivered after work and before I had to pick my daughter up from school so I managed to get in 168 pages including car line time 😍😍😍

I am surprised by how much I enjoyed this collection! Brutally honest with Black's comedy style, it was also an insightful look at marriage, raising children, and aging. I laughed out loud a few times in the school pick up line because I related so much to his descriptions of parenting.

An incredible continuation in the Highway 59 series picking up just a couple months after Bluebird, Bluebird. A new case in a small lake town sends Darren back on the road while previous plot threads and characters are more tightly woven into his personal life. I love this series!

Whoa, this book took me by surprise! A fantastic crime novel that looks at racial tension in Texas and follows black Texas Ranger Darren Mathews as he investigates two murders in a small town. I was just as invested in the case as I was in Darren's personal life. This is the beginning of a powerful series and I'm happy to say the second book (Heaven, My Home - to be released 9/17) is just as powerful!

Huge thanks to HMH for sending me an ARC!
I adore this cozy series so much and appreciate the equal parts research and imagination that goes into creating new adventures for the Kopp Sisters. While this fifth book doesn't focus as much on Constance as it usually does, it was an entertaining read and I'm so excited to see the direction the sisters are headed in next!

My daughter has her first school book fair this week & it brought back alllll the great memories for me this morning! Here's our book haul 📚

1. Euchee Creek, less than five minutes from home!

2. At least once every week.

3. E-books, e-magazines, audiobooks, DVDs, and CDs.

#getlibrarycarded

A book about a library in hell full of unwritten stories and a badass librarian who has to track down missing ones?
I AM HEEEEEEERE FOR THIS 🙌
Huge thanks to the publisher for this ARC!

Some of my favorites from August!
I am now completely devoted to Locke's Highway 59 series and cannot recommend it highly enough.

Thrilled my local library purchased a copy, I've been curious about this book!

😍😍😍

https://shadowandact.com/marvels-moon-girl-and-devil-dinosaur-animated-series-fr...

Whoa, this one really surprised me. It'll draw a lot of comparisons to Lord of the Flies, Hunger Games, The Power, and The Handmaid's Tale but this honestly stands on its own. An excellent dystopian about how female strengths are suppressed in male dominated societies and the roles religion and community play.
It's mature YA but certainly worth a read for any reader who appreciates a well-executed dystopian novel.

I didn't love this one *quite* as much as River of Teeth but it was still fun to return to a river of feral hippos and see how things pan out for Houndstooth and his team!

I adored the first in the series but now I'm struggling with the second because it's getting bogged down in waaaaay too much unnecessary detail 😕

My first Joshilyn Jackson & it did not disappoint! 😳

Library love 📚📖❤️

A few library holds came in this week!

I was shocked this arrived so quickly!! Looking forward to this new memoir from Kimball because I adored The Dirty Life!

🎉 Really looking forward to this one!!

It has been a week of huge changes in our home! My daughter started Kindergarten and in the middle of the adjustment I've started an online writing class and have my first job interview in years tomorrow.
This ARC showed up at just the right time. I love the Kopp Sisters & definitely need a comfort read in the midst of all these big changes!

Woo-hoo!!! I think this book mail may be Kopp Sisters on the March!!!
*awkwardly moon walks in excitement*

Quiet and matter of fact in its simplicity, this story packs a painful punch. Whitehead gives readers insight into the horrors faced by the boys at the "reform school" but is never overly descriptive or gratuitous with the violence, making it even more terrifying when readers are allowed to consider the full extent. I was not expecting the ending, which added another powerful level to the story.

Started this last night and I've already passed the halfway mark!

Such a fun novella!
Alternate history where the US govt bred hippos in the LA marshes for meat. Now they hire Winslow Houndstooth to rid the area of the feral creatures to open the river back up to trade boats headed for the Gulf. A rag tag group of criminals is assembled to accomplish the task and allow Houndstooth to exact revenge on a man from his past.
Awesome diverse character representation and a weird and entertaining plot!

My favorite books from July in no particular order!

Gritty, cinematic, and violent. This was a great story that was tough to put down!

Finished my Goodreads goal this morning! 🎉