Alternating perspectives, flashbacks, and fantastic storytelling weave throughout as the characters' journeys intertwine and interfere with each other's plans. I loved this one...not quite as much as Rules of Civility nor A Gentleman in Moscow, but still a great read.

Book 5 is another great adventure! In addition to Veronica unwillingly getting pulled into more adventures surrounding her royal family, the story also parallels the murders by Jack the Ripper, and the author highlights the reality of his victims, the women of Whitehall, who have been written off by history as simply prostitutes.
Also, Veronica and Stoker 😍
My library doesn't have the next installments, so I guess I'll have to buy them 🤷‍♀️.

Number 4 is the best yet! Clearly this series is my summer reading addiction 😁. Fun plots, feisty characters, great banter...it's just what my summer reading list - and my tired brain - needed!

My daughters and I combined some vacation book shopping with apartment hunting for my oldest who is moving out again. She'll be only 90 min. away, and she'll be near her brother, who left just a month ago. And I'll be down to only one child at home now ?. It's so bittersweet to watch them move out and move on. I'm thoroughly excited for them, but still ?. Meanwhile, "beach reads" was our vacation shopping theme ⛱️?

I told a bookseller that I loved Shotgun Lovesongs and asked for her recommendation for my next Nickolas Butler. She recommended this one, and she didn't steer me wrong! I love his writing. As a Midwesterner, I feel he captures the setting so vividly. It's dark and moments are hard to read, but it's beautifully written.

This series is ridiculously fun. My older daughter and I are trading them back and forth as I soak up some relaxation and a couple vacation days 🌞👓⛱️
Book 3 finds Veronica and Stoker investigating an Egyptian archeological dig gone awry. We also get more of Stoker's backstory in this one.

Epic! At 1/2 way, I knew I was either going to love it or hate it. Doerr was doing something sprawling and complicated, and it had the potential to either blow me away or make me violently angry, depending on how he pulled it together. I spent the whole time mentally talking with the author: "I hope you know what you're doing." "Don't mess this up and make me regret 600+ pages!" Well, turns out, I should have trusted him all along. ⬇️

#GroupC Does this look correct? I'm excited for every one of these! Also looking forward to another round of #LMPBC after sitting out the last couple rounds. @kellyann28 @cwarnier @allureofbeauty

Here is most of my BotM backlog @kellyann28 @cwarnier @allureofbeauty
Let me know what you've read and which ones look most appealing! #GroupC #LMPBC

What started as a rainy, dreary day turned sunny and beautiful in the afternoon, so I took advantage of my day off to do some patio-reading ☀️📚 This was a wonderful book that, while predictable at times, was still great storytelling and kept me hooked. This was my June #Doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

2nd in the series, and I enjoyed it even more than the first. This is such a fun adventure, and the Veronica/Stoker dynamic is absolutely the best kind of slow burn! I look forward to diving into a few more of these this summer! And even better, I just got my older daughter to read the first one while I was reading this. Then she impatiently had to wait for me to finish book 2 and hand it over 😁

This was my first from this author, and I would definitely read him again. It was compelling - I needed to keep reading to know the fates of the characters. Also, I'm a sucker for courtroom drama. It did leave me with questions about the author's purpose, though. #Authoramonth @Soubhiville

I became a fan of Brandi Carlile when I heard "The Story" on an episode of Grey's Anatomy and had to find out who it was. I've been hooked on her music ever since. This memoir follows her musical journey, including origin stories for many of her songs. It also explores her unique childhood and the relationships that have formed her since. She's a reflective, spiritual soul. I really enjoyed her writing. It was my June #Bookspin. @TheAromaofBooks

It is loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, but set in 1920s Shanghai and involving a monster, a mystery, and the two heirs to their family-gangster-empire. It has gotten a lot of rave reviews, but I was underwhelmed and had a hard time making myself come back to it each time. I just couldn't get into it or care that much. I feel bad because my oldest daughter loved it and went right out to get the sequel. She's been on me to read it, but 🤷‍♀️

Great premise, fast, entertaining read. But I have a problem with a story about a bad ass woman fighting the patriarchy when she hates all the other female characters and most of them are written as pathetic and petty. I also felt it suffered from underdeveloped world building. It's very plot/action driven and needed some depth. I have noticed this in a lot of recent YA books, ⬇️

Finished up the #SheSaid early so I could get my overdue book returned 🙈
Garza mixes her insight into politics of the past couple decades and stories of her own experiences organizing into a book about power structures and change.
This was a good read, with moments of great.
@Riveted_Reader_Melissa

McConaghy writes about nature with a reverence that evokes Jack London's work - demanding respect and an awareness that nature, like humans, can be simultaneously beautiful and cruel. I loved this every bit as much as Migrations. It was my #Doublespin for May @TheAromaofBooks

This was a fun mystery with a protagonist who is a book lover as well. It has mystery, family drama, diverse characters, and the beginning of potential romance in the sequel/series to come.

This essay is the mic drop 🎤 moment in the book for me. I don't know if it is because she made the best case I've read for reparations or if the power of the essay comes from acting as the culmination of the other pieces, or maybe both, but either way, it packed a punch.
Feel free to comment on the final essay or the book as a whole in this thread. As I said in my review, I want to put this book in everyone's hands. #1619GroupRead

There's something unsettling about a book where everyone is problematic. The relationship between Emira and Briar seems to be the only sincere relationship in the book, and it is a beautiful one. However, the rest of the characters feel one-dimensional, and I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending. I'm hovering between a Pick and a so-so.

I've been sitting on this one for a couple days trying to figure out an appropriate a way to review it. All I can come up with is, Wow.
I want to put this in the hands every person I know. I am glad to have read this doing a slow read for the #1619GroupRead so I could digest and process it all. It's a master class in under 600 pages.

Lady Susan was such a fun read! Even in letters, Austen creates such vivid characters. I would have loved for her to have reworked this into a complete novel, full of her depth and commentary on human folly! How fun it would be to see her fully-realized versions of Frederica and Reginald, to meet their developed characters and to watch their love story play out 😍 😔 #pemberlittens

Finished this up on a trip home from a conference. Not sure how I feel about this one. I enjoyed parts of it, but I'm also not sure I'm fully clear on the point of it. Also, I cannot get behind authors who choose not to use quotation marks around dialogue. I find it greatly distracting and it makes everything feel detached, like it's a summary of what was said, not a conversation. This was my May #Bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

#1619GroupRead Ibram Kendi pushes our discomfort in powerful ways in this essay. He strips away the crutch of pointing to "evidence" of racial progress as proof our nation is moving in the right way.
Sorry for the delayed post. Was celebrating Mother's Day and moving my son to his first apartment ?

#1619GroupRead Another short essay this week, but feel free to also reflect on the supplemental pieces "Rainbows Aren't Real, Are They?" Kiese Laymon's short memoir on hearing Jesse Jackson speak of The Rainbow Coalition, and Gregory Pardlo's poem about the 1985 bombing of the MOVE rowhouse in Philadelphia. Only two chapters left to reach the end of this powerful book.

I loved this quiet, lovely story about the power of words, both the ones included and the ones left out. The creation of the Oxford English dictionary, women's suffrage, & WWI form the backdrops for this story about a young woman questioning her place in that world. The story, which spans decades, contains love, loss, & beautiful friendships. I was disappointed, though, with the abrupt ending, especially in a book that seemed unhurried until then.

A short essay this week with ties to a few previous essays. #1619GroupRead we're down to three more essay after this week. It's been a powerful journey, and I'm looking forward to seeing which essays close it out.

Dystopian writing at its best! I was absolutely absorbed by this story and the twists and turns the plot took as the story revealed itself little by little. @rachelsbrittain thank you so much for including this in your #bestof2021swap! I don't think I would probably have picked it up on my own, and I was blown away!

My daughter has been nagging me to read this for weeks. I finally picked it up and read it in a morning. There's a lot to love about this book! The groundbreaking characters and the rich culture combined with mystery and adventure all come together to make this immensely enjoyable!

My #Doublespin for April. Some great nuggets of wisdom in this one. Its short-burst chapters and Glennon's conversational style make it incredibly readable. The organization felt a little off at times, but overall, well worth the read. @TheAromaofBooks
Also wanted to share my daily sunrise rainbows 🌈

#1619GroupRead

I grabbed this one at the public library last trip, and it was a cover grab for sure. Turns out of was a good impulse. I loved Loveday and her story, and I now have a book-crush on Nathan 🙂. It was a perfect choice for my day off today.

This was fantastic! I loved The Heart's Invisible Furies and wasn't as crazy about Ladder to the Sky, so I'm thrilled this was another hit. Read this for #AuthorAMonth and will definitely revisit John Boyne! @Soubhiville

This all came home with me from today's bookstore road trip 📚 A couple are my daughters', but most of it is mine 😍

Visited a newish indie bookstore today in Ames, Iowa! It's fantastic! Friendly staff, great selection, lots of diversity, a beautifully renovated old building, fun displays, and a beverage bar 🍷! This one's only an hour from home, so I will definitely be back! Book haul post coming soon 📚 #supportindiebookstores

#1619GroupRead This chapter took a look at the importance of Black churches in the struggle against oppression. Butler says "The style of the Black church that developed following the Great Awakening and in the antebellum period as one of prophetic witness to the moral outrage of racism in America. It was the rhetoric of dissent..." Butler also shows how this has historically made Black churches targets for violence.

I ended up reading through to the end of this one today ahead of schedule. It's another one that I've meant to read for years but had never gotten to. Glad to have finally tackled it through our group read. #Pemberlittens

#1619GroupRead
Lots to unpack in this short essay. Also interesting to read at the same time I was reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - so many connections.

This had a lot more substance than I was anticipating for a book billed as a romance between an author of erotica and the novelist who she had an intense 7-day relationship with in high school. The layers of dependency, disability, and feminism, combined with the history of the women in her lineage gave this romance depth as well as heat. This was an impulse buy that paid off.

I flew through the book, fascinated by her experiences, but I didn't love it. At times it felt like an overview of her life. She introduces people central to her life, but we don't get much depth about them other than what they did to/for her. There's not enough development to see them as distinct humans, just names in the timeline of her life. It felt like multiple personal narrative essays thrown together. A soft pick #Bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

#1619GroupRead Another powerful essay showing the long reach of history.

Wow! I know I'm really late to the party on this, but what a story! I devoured this in 2 sittings. It's incredibly readable! I adored the author's balance of science, history, ethics, & relationships. Deborah's journey to learn about her mother & sister touched me deeply. I know I'll be thinking about this book for a long time. Thank goodness for #Bookspin! I finally picked this up and dove in! This was my #Doublespin for March @TheAromaofBooks

This chapter's essay was by Bryan Stevenson, the author of Just Mercy. It's been on my tbr for a long time, but I haven't read it yet.. Wondering if anyone who has read it has connections to make. #1619GroupRead @4thhouseontheleft

This is the best book I've read this year! I can't remember the last time a book toyed with my emotions like this 💗💔🤣. I adored the relationships among the women in this story, especially Swiv and her grandma. It's in turns hilarious, tragic, and wise. I loved getting to know this smart, quirky 9 year old and her colorful family! This was my March #Bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

Finished this #SheSaid selection up a little early. So much of this made me feel seen, especially the parts about the physical and psychological effects of suppressed anger. Ironic, though, that a book about anger can feed my anger 🤷‍♀️. @Riveted_Reader_Melissa
In other news, the sunshine gave me an early spring day of patio reading 🌞

A remarkable story of tragedy, strength, friendship, and womanhood! Another "I'm so glad I stuck with it" situation! I wasn't sure how I was going to feel until I got to the last 3rd of the book. I had a hard time getting into it, but that may have been more my state of mind. Two weeks post knee surgery, I'm finally able to focus on my reading again...might be that I'm weaned off the "good" pain pills now ? ?. #AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

I'm posting a discussion prompt from chapter 9 today to get us caught up. I'll post a question or 2 from chapter 10 on Sunday. I'm tagging everyone who was on the last post from @4thhouseontheleft . If anyone wants removed, let me know. #1619groupread

A solid rom com that actually lives up to the hype. I don't read these often because too many of them are pure steam with little else to offer, but I enjoyed the story, the romance, and the characters. Glad I picked this one up!

What a fantastic take on one of the most underdeveloped characters in literature! I've read Pride and Prejudice countless times and rarely given Mary Bennet a second thought, so I was not prepared to find this book and Mary's story so wonderfully engaging. Mary is the heroine I never knew I needed! I'm so glad this was one of the #pemberlittens chosen books this month!

What an auspicious beginning! It's a shame Jane Austen was unable to finish her tale of Charlotte Heywood and the community of Sanditon 😔 It has all the perfect ingredients and even in the short 12 chapters that exist, she already established her wit and insight into the silliness of human beings. I don't know if I want to read any of the various completed versions or not 🤔. I'll have to give that more thought. #pemberlittens @sprainedbrain