You know I love me a bingo card! Excited to cross off some of these boxes ✅
#TransRightsReadathon #TRR24
You know I love me a bingo card! Excited to cross off some of these boxes ✅
#TransRightsReadathon #TRR24
I'm participating in the 2nd annual #TransRightsReadathon March 22-29, 2024
🏳️⚧️ Supporting Trans Day of Visibility March 31st
I'll be making a donation to the Campaign for Southern Equality and the Trevor Project this year
Join me in reading and highlighting books by trans authors and/or featuring trans characters 🩵🩷🤍
More info and official sign up here: https://transrightsreadathon.carrd.co
I dunno why I held out on reading this one for so long but it was my bookclub's pick this month and I'm so glad! It's about necromancers so yes, it's dark & a bit macabre but it's also compelling & witty & I didn't want to stop reading. There's a mystery to uncover in a Gothic palace, a possible murderer to reveal & so many sword fights. Gideon was such a fun character to experience it all through her eyes
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
I feel like this is one that will grow on me over time. Even though it's a short novella, I read it slowly over a month. This fantasy world is slowly revealed through the memories of a handmaiden to the exiled empress. I'm interested to read the next books from this series to learn more about this world.
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
#AuldLangSpine @sebrittainclark @monalyisha
Charlie is an oblivious, adorable himbo who likes to spoil his friends but doesn't realize when they think they're dating. Liam, as the campus "Mr. Romance," agrees to help him communicate when he's not interested.
Charlie was ridiculous but hilarious. I wish we saw more of Liam's romance business but it seemed skimmed over. The ending was a bit abrupt but overall this was a cute read.
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
Now that I'm finally getting back to this series I wanted to reread this one again in the suggested timeline. The boys still annoyed me with their lack of communication lol but Marshall is such a sweetheart
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
Fun college romance - enemies to lovers, opposites attract with plenty of banter. I liked how hooking up led to hanging out and when everyone assumed they were boyfriends they didn't really fight it.
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
This was such a great romance, I devoured it in two days. Enemies to lovers, he fell first, 'who did this to you?' tropes so well done. I related so hard to Elsie, a major people pleaser with anxiety who feels like a burden to others, and Jack reminded me of my partner, showing her that it's okay to be taken care of. Hazelwood once again highlights the difficulty of being a woman in STEM and gives us a complicated & wonderful couple to root for
I love these books by Cara Bastone, they're so fun. Two people end up sitting next to each other on a bus from Boston to New York and have a connection. They're in a time crunch to get to the city and keep experiencing obstacles on their journey. This series was written for audio and it's really well done. This one was ridiculous and over the top in the best romcom way
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
This was a reread for my bookclub and it was so lovely to revisit. I think I appreciated the atmospheric meandering more, knowing what I was getting into. The Starless Sea is still my favorite of her two books though. She really knows how to create a magical world that you want to step inside
🎪🤍🖤✨
Finally finished my reread of this series! I've been listening to one each month over the past year.
This conclusion has always been bittersweet. So many questions are left unanswered, yet it's lovely seeing the growth of these siblings and their determination to face an unfair world.
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
This was a very sweet, short audible listen (not in the database). Enemies to friends to maybe more, but Will is hesitant to reveal to Ben that he's trans for fear of his reaction. Cute story, with a bookstore setting and fun characters.
#LGBTQ2024 trans/nonbinary @Kenyazero
Aminatou and Ann explain their "big friendship" - one that lasts through the years, the long distance, and life trials. But they still have miscommunications, times when they've drifted apart, and have to work to make their friendship last. They give advice on how to support each other and stretch yourself to make a friendship honest and lasting. Their dual narration and personal stories made this a fun, thought provoking listen.
@TheIntrovertedDodoBird here's the first special edition I bought from Dazzling. I follow the artist who designed the cover and she posted about it, which introduced me to the shop. My gateway book, if you will 🤣
"As the rest of the guests wandered the deck of the beach club under an early-evening midsummer sky, taking pinched, appraising sips of their cocktails to gauge if the bartenders were using the top-shelf stuff and balancing tiny crab cakes on paper napkins while saying appropriate things about how they'd really lucked out with the weather because the humidity would be back tomorrow, or murmuring inappropriate things about the bride's snug satin↩️
Have been working my way through this short story collection over the last few weeks. It has stories from some of my favorite queer YA authors. Like most collections, there were some really great stories & some duds but overall I liked the majority of them. The cast of characters was diverse & the genres mostly contemporary, with some sci-fi & magical realism.
#LGBTQ2024 yellow cover @Kenyazero
I've been in a really weird reading mood lately and just wasn't vibing with these characters. Once I got behind on the #littensloveromance buddy read, I just had no desire to catch up 🙃
Overall I enjoyed this book, but it was very YA in how the characters reacted to each other and processed their feelings (ie not very well, all of the angst). My favorite part was the dynamics of the boy band, how each member felt like they were hiding a large part of themselves and the ways in which they coped with or fought against the restrictions. Plus I'm always down for a bi-awakening story 🩷💜💙
Another fun read for the #NancyDrewBR - this one had a lot going on, so many moving parts with the doppelganger, the missing jewels, the hauntings. But once again it all connected together. And there were a lot of life threatening moments for Nancy! Definitely a thrilling mystery
@Librarybelle
This is loosely based on Sleepless in Seattle with the younger brother of the main character posting to social media about his lack of love life due to acting as his guardian after their parents died. The iconic meetup is at the top of the Space Needle and happens early on in the story. The rest of the book has the couple getting to know each other more and working through issues together to create a stable relationship. Cute!
This was such a brilliant fantasy. The world building was phenomenal & the storytelling was thoughtfully paced. It was so interesting following Kai's quest to find answers in the present, balanced by the story of the past which revealed more & more of his and the world's origins.
This book was on my radar but I was hesitant to dive into such a sprawling fantasy. I'm so glad Sarah put it on her #ALSpine list, which encouraged me to pick it up!
This was an impulse read from kindle unlimited. It was a bit cheesy and had almost no conflict but was exactly what I needed in the moment
Progress on my #BookChain challenge @TheAromaofBooks
I've gotten stuck once or twice but managed to get this far without backtracking. I'm not planning my reads and just enjoying the ride
#BookChain2024
I'm not usually one for haunted house books but this was the perfect amount of spooky, not scary. The mystery of the small town and the house is perfectly drawn out through stories and folk tales that all have a grain of truth. The characters were well written, flawed but likeable. Overall this was a bit magical and a smidge romantic. I enjoyed reading it.
Appropriately, I finished listening to this series on Valentine's Day. This had a fun royal-in-diguise plot with a little twist near the end that I enjoyed
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
I got an itch to reread this one and it was just as lovely as I remembered 💞
#LGBTQ2024 coming of age @Kenyazero
#SundayFunday @BookmarkTavern
The Netflix adaptation of this series only (NOT the Jim Carrey movie 🤮) I thought it did a great job with the story, characters, and tone of the books, while also adding new layers to the mysteries hinted at throughout the series.
I just finished rereading the books and now I want to watch the series again
Camping this weekend and I brought along this little book to get started on planning our honeymoon trip. I'm getting excited! 8 months to go 😄
Hit me with your recs for books set in Scotland to read before our trip or places to see while we're there!
#weekendreading #travelplanning
So excited for my #bookspin choices this month! The tagged is a sequel I've been meaning to read, and my doublespin has been on my shelves for YEARS. It looks really fun
@TheAromaofBooks
This was an interesting future dystopian world. There's a lot to unpack, with indentured bots & humans trying to earn nebulous autonomy, pirating high tech bioengineered drugs while battling with pharmaceutical patent laws, & examining gender identity. The characters were all morally grey & while I liked learning their histories & following their actions, it was difficult to root for anyone. Overall I enjoyed the writing & thought provoking story
I didn't manage any bingos for February, as I read quite a few not on the board, but still a good reading month
#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks
I discovered this charity anthology series last year. This year they put out 2 versions. I liked the contemporary volume better than the paranormal but they both had enough decent stories overall that I enjoyed. I read them here and there between other books throughout the month
Only finished one nonfiction this month but it was a good one. Better Living Through Birding is the overall winner though, that one will be tough to beat.
#ReadingBracket2024 @CSeydel
I'm behind on reviews but my favorite February read was definitely Witch King - I kept looking for excuses to listen to my audiobook so I could get back to the story!
I'm glad for this bracket by @Catsandbooks as there is no way I can choose between the Queen or King just yet!
#ReadingBracket2024
Here's my March #BookspinBingo list. Keeping it fairly vague as I've been extra moody in my reading lately
@TheAromaofBooks
Here's my tentative TBR for #MiddlegradeMarch @sblbooks
Mark Oshiro, Ashley Herring Blake, and A. Deborah Baker (aka Seanan McGuire) have written some of my favorite adult books so I'm excited to read their middle grade work. Tamora Pierce was one of my favorite authors when I was actually in middle school so looking forward to trying a series of hers I haven't read. Plus a few others I've been meaning to read
I've been rereading The Night Circus and these two words popped up as chapter titles. I don't remember noticing them my first read through and had to look them up this time but I really like the idea of using cats to predict the future 😺
#WeirdWordWednesday #weirdwords @CBee
I've been away from Litsy for too long and I miss y'all!! I'd been having trouble with headaches and took a break from extra screentime for a bit, but I'm feeling better lately!
Last weekend I scored this lovely stack of Nancy Drew. My partner and I like to wander antique stores on weekends and I've been trying to finish out my collection of this series since we started the #NancyDrewBR - I've got more than half the series now ☺️
One of my reader resolutions this year was to dump books faster if I'm not enjoying them. And for some reason these characters are making me cranky! So I'm calling it quits.
I still plan to follow along with @StayCurious #pemberlitten posts to see how things end up but this one is just not for me
Another wonderful Murderbot story. I like how Murderbot is adapting to its new role with the humans and seeing how the humans are slowly trusting and appreciating its help. The murder mystery aspect of this one was fun.
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
Poirot is approached by a girl who admits she thinks she murdered someone, but disappears before he gets any more info. He must track her down without her name or any idea of who was killed. Ariadne Oliver comes along for the ride in this one which was fun. Although some circumstances seemed coincidental overall this was an interesting mystery to solve.
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
The best way to end the day is with book mail! I ordered this months ago and LOOK HOW PRETTY 😍
All the money I've been saving on not buying new books I haven't read yet has been going towards buying special editions of my favorites and it is so satisfying
I liked the small magical realism aspect of this and the Hangover vibes. Predictable but sweet
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
After reading Bookshops and Bonedust, I had to revisit Viv as she finally finds her purpose and people ☕❤️ I think I enjoyed reading this even more the second time. Plus I hadn't read the bonus prequel yet so that was a fun connector of the two!
#AuldLangSpine @monalyisha @sebrittainclark
This was cute. An earthquake strikes and traps Daisy in her favorite bakery with the owner who supposedly hates her...
I liked that she wasn't afraid to be brutally honest with him. It cleared up some misunderstandings quickly
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView
Here's my favorite quote from my #AuldLangSpine reads last month. I have always loved the idea that difficult experiences are just stops on the journey to something good. And the way it's so simply put here is lovely 💕
@sebrittainclark I'm excited to get to more of your list. Three holds just came in at the library finally!
@monalyisha thanks for all you do with this event each year! You're a star! ✨
#TLT #ThreeListThursday
1. Hercule Poirot
2. The Thursday Murder gang
3. Andy Mills from Lavender House is a new favorite
Thanks for the tag @dabbe ☺️
Want to play? @CogsOfEncouragement @Librarybelle @Mshookquilts
Not my favorite in this series, it was the first that the characters met in real life and the dialogue was a bit cringe honestly. Rosie gets stuck in a sensory deprivation floating chamber at the spa and a dreamboat firefighter comes to rescue her from her bad luck. Maybe it would have been better with some of Leo's pov but the instalove was a bit much for me here.
#SeriesLove2024 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView