#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

“I believe the cost of getting to know AI—really getting to know AI—is at least three sleepless nights.

#5JoysFriday
1. Drinking a Caramel pumpkin macchiato
2. Seeing some beautiful morning skies
3. Eating a piece of Galette de Rois
4. Watching the Cavs beat the Thunder
5. A little bit of snow!

New audiobook to listen to while riding the bus. I‘ve read two other books by the author before, The Downstairs Girl and Outrun the Moon. Kill Her Twice is just as good so far!

#AudioCommuting

I love participating in challenges, but I‘m not particularly good at tracking my progress lol So I‘m proud to say that I‘ve successfully tracked my reading for 7 days in a row on Storygraph! I‘m mhillis over there too if you‘d like to connect
#StoryGraph

I first heard about Sarra Cannon not through her writing but her HeartBreathings YouTube channel about goals and planning. This book was so good

Vanessa disappeared one year ago and now all of her friends are gathered in a cabin in the woods. Told through multiple points of view in present and past timelines, we gradually find out what happened that night she went missing. I couldn‘t even begin to guess the ending!

Back to work today, but I had an awesome time reading during winter vacation! These were all so good - I can‘t choose a favorite!

I‘ve been away from Litsy for a while so I‘m just going to join in the fun! Aside from reading, here are five things I enjoyed this week! #5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. Watching Black Doves on Netflix
2. Eating homemade Oatmeal Fig cookies
3. Going on a hike with friends
4. Taking a walk and listening to an audiobook
5. Playing the Shakespeare game

Started the Trail of Lies audiobook on my walk today and already listened to one-third! This is part of the Jazz Ramsey mystery series about a cadaver detection dog and trainer. Super interesting characters and set in Ohio too

Starting the year with The Woman Destroyed by Simone de Beauvoir. I love this cover!! #firstbook

If you want to learn more about transformative justice, then this is a great book! I decided to read it for #Nonfiction2024 to fulfill the prompt for The Hate You Give. One of the reasons the novel is banned is because of anti-police views. That made me wonder, what are the alternatives to restorative justice? I learned so much from this book and something called a Vent Diagram sent me on a deep dive. Really interesting info and resources.

I read The Corpse Wore Tartan in January for #SeasonalCozies It was a bit disappointing with too many characters and not much of a mystery, but I liked the idea of everyone being snowed in at a hotel during a Burns Night banquet. I haven‘t read any other books in this series so maybe that dampened my enjoyment. Oh well! The cover is great! On to February!

Reading so many books at once! Didn‘t finish any this week. Here are my impressions so far:

Forbidden Notebook is my favorite at the moment.
You, Again is going to be set aside for now.
The Good Wife of Bath is the biggest surprise because I don‘t usually like historical fiction from this period.

And I checked out The Neighbor Favor because I saw many people posting about it!!
#BookReport
#WeeklyForecast

Two books I‘m planning to read and review this month! #JanuaryInJapan

The North Light
Nails and Eyes

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery! It‘s the 7th book in the Pancake House series but it‘s the first one I‘ve read. Marley runs a pancake house and she goes on a trip to Holly Lodge with Brett during the holiday season. Then a body is found in a snow bank and Marley starts asking questions. Nice winter setting and interesting mystery—not sure why there‘s a cat on the cover though! #cozies #seasonalcozies

I‘ve just started reading my January choice for #SeasonalCozies

The Corpse Wore Tartan is set at a Scottish Hotel in Maine where a group gathers for Burns Night. This is number 4 in the series and I haven‘t read the previous ones, so I hope it‘s easy to follow! @julieclair

#BookReport
Murder Under the Mistletoe
Love Alice
They Called Us Exceptional

#WeeklyForecast
Forbidden Notebook
A Room with a Roux
You, Again

No classes this past week, so I enjoyed reading and planning my reading!! My favorite book this week was Murder Under the Mistletoe.

Looking forward to participating in a couple reading challenges this year, especially #Nonfiction2024 and #SeasonalCozies

They Called Us Exceptional is a #memoir by journalist Prachi Gupta. She shares her experience growing up in an Indian American family & it is also about other things: the model minority myth, patriarchy, mental health, relationships. Some parts were difficult to read.

For #Nonfiction2024 this is my pick for Not Your Perfect Mexican American daughter as the two books seem to share some common points. @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

Happy New Year!! I‘ve finished reading my first book of 2024! Murder Under the Mistletoe is book 4.5 in the Jane Wunderly mysteries. Jane visits Redvers‘ family for the first time during the holidays. This series seems to get better with every book, and I‘m looking forward to the next one coming out later this year!

I‘m enjoying this book so much! The pastry was very good too!! #CurrentlyReading #CoffeAndABook #Japan

The Paris Agent was inspired by real events surrounding WWII and SOE agents in France. It is told in two different timelines and from three points of view: Charlotte, Josie, and Eloise. Ultimately it is a story of bravery and family.

I listened to the audiobook during my commute and the narration was excellent! Each character has had such an interesting journey. It took a while to get in to the story, but then I was hooked! Looking forward to the next book 📚

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Wrap up #20in4 #Readathon
Successful readathon with three books finished-and the covers are all color coordinated with lovely shades of orange and yellow! 💛🧡
Not quite my planned TBR but these were all quick reads and the other two books I had planned just weren‘t catching my attention. Thanks @Andrew65

Finished two books so far #20in4 #Readathon
✅ Finance for the People - I had heard the author on a podcast. It has fun illustrations and checklists so it‘s easy to understand.
✅ She and Her Cat: Stories - I wasn‘t expecting parts of the stories to be from the cats‘ pov!

Tomorrow I‘d like to read a mystery

Ready to start #20in4 #Readathon
My TBR: The Bandit Queens, She and Her Cat, and The Only Child 📚

This year‘s reading is off to a great start! #BookReport

Sweet Bean Paste and Diary of a Void #JanuaryInJapan

In the Winter Woods #DiverseCozy

A Botanist‘s Guide to Parties and Poisons - The audiobook was great and I‘m looking forward to reading the next book in the series when it comes out later this year

It is almost summer vacation! Looking forward to having more time to read! #BookReport

Finished
🎧 Velvet was the Night
📚 The Widow, The Priest and the Octopus Hunter
📚 Linea Nigra

In Progress
🎧 The Black Jersey
The highlight of this week‘s reading has been listening to this book! I didn‘t know I‘d be so interested in all the details about cycling! #DiverseCozy

Up Next
📚 Miss Aldridge Regrets

Finally feel like I‘m able to concentrate on reading again after a busy semester! And yesterday was my SIX year Litsyversary!

The Kimono Tattoo is my favorite recent read, and I highly recommend it! It‘s set in Kyoto and I listened to the audiobook as I commuted by bus through the city.
The Kimono Tattoo
Tokyo Ever After
Meet Me in the Margins
They Wish They Were Us

I‘m still reading The Widow, The Priest, and The Octopus Hunter.
#BookReport

Hi all! It‘s been a while since I‘ve been here! It has been hard to concentrate on reading since going back to in person classes last month. I‘m on a train for the next three hours so will take this opportunity to jump back in and get started on the readathon! What to start with, an audiobook or arc?
Thanks @Andrew65 #MarvellousMay

I‘m a little late with this week‘s #BookReport
Intimacies was so good and i was interested in the main character‘s work as an interpreter at The Hague.
✅ Mimi Lee Cracks the Code
✅ There‘s No Such Thing as an Easy Job
✅ Intimacies
🎧 Patron Saints of Nothing #Roll100

This week the plum blossoms are finally blooming and I‘m looking forward to exploring the titles on the Booker Longlist!!

#BookReport
A bit of a slow reading week! Just finished one book: Daughters of the Samurai which is about the first Japanese women to study in the United States. This was really interesting for me!

Currently reading There‘s No Such Thing as an Easy Job and Mimi Lee Cracks the Code!

🧡 Current reads: Daughters of the Samurai

🧡 Book you wish more people knew about: Straight from the Horse‘s Mouth

🧡 Last book you added to your TBR: Mrs Pinto Drives to Happiness

#WeekendReads

#BookReport
This is actually my book report for the month of February! I didn‘t read much this month, but these six books were interesting. I liked all of them, and I want to recommend The Tenth Muse, Straight from the Horse‘s Mouth, and Fault Lines. Hoping to finish up Daughters of the Samurai this weekend.

I‘m really looking forward to getting some reading done during #20in4 Readathon! I‘ve only read 4 books so far in February which means that I definitely have a few ARCs and books I‘d like to make progress on. I‘ll start with these:
Fault Lines
Straight from the Horse‘s Mouth
Daughters of the Samurai

Thanks for hosting @Andrew65

March 2022 #Roll100
This month‘s books are 5: Patron Saints of Nothing and 28: Confessions. I‘m going to start with the audiobook of Patron Saints of Nothing because it‘s available now from the library! Thanks @PuddleJumper

🍊 Current reads: Two books in translation—Straight from the Horse‘s Mouth (Morocco) and Tales from the Cafe (Japan)

🍊 Last book you couldn‘t put down: The Roughest Draft
Not my usual genre but I liked the dynamic between the main characters who were book cowriters, and I read it in a day!

🍊 Bake cookies!

Surfacing was my favorite this week! I also finished The Pages and Several People Are Typing.

After reading The Power of Fun last month, I wanted to read more fun, humorous, comedic books. (Any recommendations?) Several People Are Typing did make me laugh! Lots of wfh antics! And same time, I found myself thinking about it after I finished reading.

I have two books in progress: Straight from the Horse‘s Mouth and Tales from the Cafe.

The Pages by Hugo Hamilton is narrated by the most unlikely of candidates—Rebellion by Joseph Roth, which escaped a Nazi book burning during World War II and is now in the hands of Lena in the present day US. From its place on the bookshelf to the inside of a shoulder bag, the book tells the story, but it has secrets of its own, including a hand drawn map among its pages. #NetGalley #ThePages

The two essays on archeological digs in Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie were most interesting. This is a beautifully written book touching on nature, time, people, and traditions. I listened to the audiobook during #20in4

February #Roll100

This month I plan to read The Tenth Muse. It looks really good and I‘ve already downloaded the audiobook!

I don‘t plan to read The Silvered Serpent because I just realized it‘s the second in the series, so I‘ll save it for later!

⭐️ Current Reads: Meet Isabel Puddles by M. V. Byrne and Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie

⭐️ Fav book of January: Heaven (tagged)

⭐️ Most recent library checkout: The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory

I really enjoyed my reading time this week!! #BookReport

This week I finished four excellent books in translation: Love in the Big City (Korea), An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good (Sweden), The Woman in the Purple Skirt (Japan), and The King of the Copper Mountain (Netherlands).

I also read a new release, The Roughest Draft which is about writing partners. It‘s a romance novel but with lots of details about the writing process.

#JoyousJanuary wrap up post!
I didn‘t set any specific goals, but I had a great readathon!
Finished 6 books, wrote 3 reviews for NetGalley, watched two books to movies! I liked all of these books, and my favorite was Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking.
Thank you @Andrew65 #readathon

💙 Current Read: Love in the Big City

💙 Last blue book read: The Beadworkers

💙 A book with blue in the title on your TBR: Blue Bear Woman

#WeekendReads

Can‘t believe it‘s the weekend already—this week went by so fast! I read a lot this week and finished:

The Power of Fun
Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking
Strange Weather in Tokyo
The Windsor Knot
Thank you, Mr. Nixon

Thank you, Mr. Nixon is my first Gish Jen and it is a short story collection! So I‘ve read 3 short story books this year! I‘m looking forward to reading a couple of her other books, especially The Resisters and Tiger Writing.

I‘m glad to have read Ida B. the Queen for #SheSaid This was a good introduction to her life, but I definitely wanted more information about her and the people she‘s inspired, so in the future, I plan to read Crusade for Justice and The Echoing Ida Collection.

Today I just happened to see an article that there will be an Ida B. Wells Barbie doll.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/01/12/ida-wells-barbie-do...

The Power of Fun has some practical ideas for having more fun: the state of playfulness, connection, and flow. However, there was quite a bit of repetition both within the book and from her other book, How To Break Up With Your Phone. The author introduced the term “collective effervescence” from Dirkheim which I found fascinating though! I listened to the audiobook and would recommend it as a borrow, not a buy. #JoyousJanuary

Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking was recently recommended by Mayukh Sen in Lit Hub‘s Craft of Writing Newsletter. It sounded so interesting that I immediately downloaded the audiobook. The author cleverly mixes Soviet history, memoir and food writing.
#JoyousJanuary #memoir

Thank you @EadieB for the tag
1. Yes! It is the most convenient way to read while commuting by train!
2. I usually read ebooks on my iPad. In fact, I don‘t read many physical copies of books these days.

#JoyousJanuary #Readathon update!

✅ Wrote 2 reviews and earned my 25 Reviews badge on Net Galley
✅ Watched The Lost Daughter and Passing on Netflix. Both of these books are favorites of mine and the films didn‘t disappoint!
✅ Finished The Windsor Knot
🎧 Still listening to Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking and Strange Weather in Tokyo. Not sure what I‘ll pick next, maybe The Woman in the Purple Skirt

Thanks @Andrew65