I can't believe I've waited this long to read this masterpiece of a book. The characters, the structure of alternating chapters, the incredibly vivid description - all of it makes this the profound piece of literature that has become the benchmark of an era. I'm so glad Steinbeck was March's #AuthorAMonth pick, making me pull this off my bookshelf. @Soubhiville

And this one rounds out the weekend. I finished it up on the road trip home. It's the 4th in the Three Pines series, and they just keep getting better and better! We learn more of Inspector Gamache's backstory, and Peter and Clara Morrow also take a central role in this one, as Peter's dysfunctional family reunion sets the stage for the murder.

I'm so glad to have given Agatha Christie another chance and not to have quit after the collection of short stories I tried first! I loved this novel and the colorful characters she created. Now I'm looking forward to more of her work. Finished this one up on our rainy road trip.

Now, to catch up on finished books...
Number 7 in the Veronica Speedwell mysteries was one of my favorites of the lot! We get some unexpected backstory for Veronica, along with the usual adventure. Veronica and Stoker have some of their usual moments 😍. Loved this one!

St. Louis bookstore #3 was Left Bank Books, and it was a great one! Again, it had a fantastic selection, great staff recommendation cards, fun bookish merchandise, and this one has lots of seating throughout! It was an inviting, stay-as-long-as-you-want atmosphere. The booksellers were super accommodating, too! It's in a cool, historic building, and the store has a long history of community involvement and civic action. #supportindiebookstores

St. Louis bookstore #2 was Subterranean Books in University City. It was in a fun neighborhood filled with restaurants, bars, and shops. It had a good selection and nice displays as well as lots of staff recommendation cards. This one ranks 3rd, though, in our adventures, marked down for no customer seating, least friendly staff of the day, and no customer restroom 😔. Still, I got some great books! #supportindiebookstores

St. Louise bookstore #1! Our first stop was at The Novel Neighbor. It's such a fantastic store! A huge selection of books and tons of bookish-related merchandise - journals, mugs, candles, totes, cards, etc. They also had fun displays and great staff recommendation cards! My only suggestion would be to add seating - only one comfy chair in the back to sit and peruse potential purchases. Overall, we loved it! #supportindiebookstores

I spent a long weekend in St. Louis, and Day 1 was all about bookstores and food! We made it to 3 indie bookstores, and this is my haul: 8 books, 2 t-shirts, 1 tote bag, 1 mug, and some great bookmarks! My heart is full ❤️

I thought this book was a whole lot of fun! The dragons and all the various creatures added lots of life and adventure to the core P&P plotline. I plowed through the rest of the book today, finishing early, because I was enjoying it so much. So glad to have joined in on this #HeartstoneBuddyread with other #Pemberlittens! @CrowCAH thanks for hosting! I'm enjoying your daily posts!

I finished this one up a couple of weeks ago. I forgot this was the story that introduced Nellie and so many of the other fantastic characters that found their way into the TV series. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, too. #LittleHouse

My #Doublespin for February was one I bought long ago after having it recommended by a couple people. It had some interesting parts, but overall, I felt it rambled unnecessarily. @TheAromaofBooks

Here I've been, waiting for summer to read this because of that ridiculously misleading cover. It popped up for my March #Bookspin, so I dove in anyway. I loved People We Meet on Vacation and Book Lovers, but this one is definitely my favorite! It has depth, fantastic snappy dialogue, and lots of romantic yearning. It is definitely not just a "beach read." I am looking forward to her newest one, coming out next month! @TheAromaofBooks

This was a charming book about lovely people. Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali are wonderful characters, and their later-in-life romance is beautifully written.

Catching up on a couple weeks of finished books. This one was my February #Bookspin, and it was epic. I bought this well over a year ago, and it's been hanging out on my bookshelf, looking a little intimidating. I think knowing there were 9 main characters and nearly as many plot lines kept me from diving in, but thank goodness for #Bookspin! It's beautifully done and definitely makes me look at trees in a whole new way. @TheAromaofBooks

Book number 4 in the series finally sees Murderbot reunited with Dr. Mensah and the Preservation Team. Their group dynamics are still complicated, and their shared history creates mixed emotions - and of course, Murderbot hates feeling emotions 😁. Another great installment, and another action-packed adventure!

While the story of Ashley's sack and the speculation about its history are powerful, important pieces of history, I struggled to get through this. I felt some of the tangents about items in the sack and connections among stories of other enslaved people added depth. I felt other parts were attempts to create a longer book than it needed to be to still have the same impact (the section on pecans, for example). ⬇️ #SheSaid @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

Third in the series, this one finds Murderbot crossing paths with Miki, an innocent, trusting human-like robot, while he continues investigating GrayCris. Miki and her human companion are this volume's contribution to the wonderful array of characters Wells is creating for us in this series. This was another good adventure.

@Deblovestoread thank you so much for the lovely mug, the coffee, and the tote! I've heard great things about Powell's and hope to get there someday. Happy Valentine's Day ❤️ #muglove23 @TheKidUpstairs @Cinfhen Thanks for hosting!

#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville
Taylor Jenkins Reid has been hit and miss for me. I loved Eleanor Hugo and Malibu Rising, but I didn't love Daisy Jones & the Six. I enjoyed reading this one for sure, but it felt shallower than the others, maybe because it was an earlier work. There were lovely parts, and it got me in the feels more than once, but the timeline bothered me - for a few reasons - but mostly because the ending felt rushed ⬇️

Book 3 really digs into the controversy and conflict around Gamache that the first two hinted at, and it's a great added layer to the storytelling. I am liking certain characters more and more and starting to dislike some I was taken with early on. The mystery here wasn't my favorite, but I still loved the book.

I absolutely failed at a chapter-a-day on this one. I didn't start until yesterday and finished it up today 😂. I was surprised at the overt racist attitudes in this one - not surprised they existed, but surprised it didn't stand out to me more when I read these as a child. Pa is less endearing to me as an adult than he was when I was a child. As a parent, it's hard to read about the way he risked his family's lives ⬇️

Confession- I had never read any Agatha Christie until last week 😳🙈. I know, I know. Anyway, I picked up two Christie books at the library, one Poirot and one Marple. However, I didn't realize that Poirot Investigates was a short story collection, and I am not a big fan of short stories, so not the best choice for my first foray into Christie's work. The mysteries were clever and while I didnt love it, I enjoyed it. Next up, a Miss Marple novel.

I really enjoyed sections of this, and Flavia de Luce is a joy! She's a fantastic character, and the smart dialogue made me chuckle more than once. There were sections, though, that got unnecessarily wordy, and I caught myself skimming out of boredom. It wasn't the majority of the text, but enough that it kept me from loving this one. I'll likely try the next in the series eventually to see if they all have that issue. Still, a pick, though.

My bookhaul from Reading in Public! The gorgeous painted edition of Jane Eyre is for my oldest child, who is finally reading this favorite of mine. I'm also in love with this beautiful hardcover of Kindred, another favorite of mine. Just part of my birthday haul! Hit up Half Price Books as well. I'll post that stack later.

Got to check out a brand new indie bookstore in West Des Moines this weekend! It includes a fantastic coffee bar! I bought myself a few birthday presents too 😊 #supportindiebookstores

It's a good one!

Hovering between a pick and a So-so - It was a decent plot that kept me reading, and there was a big twist toward the end that made me actually gasp, so points for that, but the writing was often cringy. Also, did anyone else notice that at least 11 times, by my count, the author describes the scent of someone's sweat, with really weird adjectives like vinegary and peppery 🤮 Truly bizarre fixation. 🤔🙀🙄

17-year-old Jessilyn Harvey masquerades as a boy, and travels through the post-Civil-War West to find her brother-turned-outlaw after her father dies and leaves her alone on the family ranch. She is a sharp shooter whose skills are discovered and exploited by the territorial governor. It has many qualities of an old western, but no real heroes to be found. Read it after hearing it recommended on #WSIRN podcast.

I finally got around to reading the final book of the Broken Earth Trilogy because it came up as my January #Doublespin. This trilogy is epic and genius. I've been putting off the final book, though, because these books demand a cognitive focus and commitment, and I haven't had the capacity lately. The storytelling is complex, but man, the effort is worth it! @TheAromaofBooks

This one's gotten mixed reviews, but I really liked it. I struggled a little with the background of the mc, specifically how many things she was extraordinarily good at before she abandoned it all. I also hated the 2nd-to-last chapter, where the author felt the need to lay out all the themes of the book 🙄. I wish his editors had told him to trust his readers. Otherwise, it was definitely a pick for me. My January #Bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

I remember this being my least favorite when I read them as a child because it felt slower than the others to me. I don't think I noticed how much it focuses on food and meals until this time around 😂. Man, it made me hungry over and over again! #LittleHouse @megnews

#12Booksin2022 I read a lot of great books in December, so it was hard to choose a favorite, but this one packed a punch, and I'll be thinking about it for a long time. @Andrew65

#12Booksof2022 This one was another one recommended on the #WSIRN podcast, and the way she described it made me want to get my hands on it immediately. A fantastic, twisted dark tale. @Andrew65

What a great book with which to start the year! I read The Nightwatchman last year and didn't love it, but this one was fantastic! This was my pick for January's #AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

#12Booksof2022 Lessons in Chemistry was a nice surprise for October. I did not expect to enjoy it so very much! @Andrew65

#12Booksof2022 This was September's best and one of my top 5 of the year. @Andrew65

This was my last book of 2022. It was strange, and I wasn't always sure where the author was going, but I loved it!

My 2nd-to-last read of 2022. Finished this one a couple days ago. Heard it recommended on #WSIRN podcast, so I grabbed it at the library. I really enjoyed it and loved the dive into the world of antiquarian books!

#12Booksof2022 This remains one of my favorites of the year. It was such a great mix of funny and insightful, with unexpected gut-punches of emotional depth. @Andrew65

Here are my #Top22of22. It was a great reading year, but even though I read the most books I've ever read in a year, I didn't have too much trouble choosing my favorites. @Cinfhen

My biggest reading year ever! I wasn't originally trying to get to 100 books, but once I got close, I knew I had to try.

#12Booksof2022 My July pick was the perfect vacation read. I read it by the ocean and by the pool, and I enjoyed it so much! @Andrew65

I won't have much reading time today, so When Women Were Dragons, which I finished last night, will be my last book of the 2022. I'm starting 2023 with my #authoramonth selection for January, The Sentence. #lastfirst @BookNAround

#12Booksof2022 June was a great reading month. I enjoyed many of my books that month, but this one was by far the standout. I am not much of a rereader, but I know I will revisit this one. @Andrew65

#12Booksof2022 I'm cheating for May, but I can't pick. Once There Were Wolves was masterfully done and the best fiction of May. But I also finished the group read/ slow read for The 1619 Project that month, and I was absolutely blown away by that book. @Andrew65

#12Booksof2022 I love a good spin on the Anastasia story, and that, combined with Boyne's beautiful prose, made this one a winner for me last April. @Andrew65

Wow! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is powerful and heartbreaking. The topics and many scenes are difficult to read, sad and infuriating all at once. This will definitely end up on my "best of" list this year!

It was cute, and I was looking for something light, so it worked. But the writing was cringy at times, and everything about the plot was predictable. I've read enough romance to know that it can coexist with good writing, but unfortunately this one doesn't live up.

Christmas morning book haul. Then, like a weirdo, I went to the library yesterday and checked out 5 more books 😂

#12Booksof2022 I read one of my favorite books of the year in March - Miriam Toews Fight Night was fantastic and completely unexpected. I had bought it on someone's recommendation, but it probably would have sat on my bookshelf indefinitely if its number hadn't come up on #Bookspin that month. @Andrew65