I‘m at dinner with my husband and his friend. While they watch football, I‘ll read my book! And eat a piece of cake! #hyggehourreadathon

I think I‘m going to pounce on this one as soon as I get to the top of the hold list. #sundayfunday

For my joys this week I‘m reprising my trip to the bookstore on Tuesday. I don‘t know what next week will bring, but I‘m at peace…at least for the moment. #5joysfriday

Now that it‘s November, I can stop deferring my hold on this book and just read it already! I wonder what new (and old) #authors we will read next year? #daysdevotedto

It‘s 80F on October 31, and I‘m drinking iced mocha.

It was a pretty good reading month. Impossible Creatures was my favorite, and I also especially enjoyed the latest Tana French.

It looks like Beautyland is the odd book out in terms of the color story. 😄

#wrapup

I actually made a spreadsheet for this list when it was first published! I‘ve read 23 of them including some of my favorites.
1. The Shadow of the Wind
2. Bury Your Dead
3. Blacktop Wasteland
Many more are on my TBR list, including the tagged book.
Here‘s the link to take the survey: https://shorturl.at/KbFsO
#TLT

Bath & Body Works may have already moved on to Christmas, but by my calendar it‘s still Halloween…

Sour
Make
Ghost
Owls
Mummy
Party
Casper
Potion
Cobwebs
Paint
Graveyard

#wondrouswednesday

Thanks for the tags @TheSpineView @julieclair

I was just going to my local indie bookstore to order some Christmas gifts and gossip with the bookseller about some drama with another store in the shopping center… Then I saw the new Louise Penny book sitting on top of a box. I mentioned I was already stalking Libby to see where I was on the hold list, but she made another suggestion. It was “damaged” (a tiny tear in the dust cover), so she sold it to me at a discount. Look at these end papers!

I read one issue of Real Simple this month and don‘t think I‘ll get through any more in the next couple days. Nonetheless , I‘ll keep going until they‘re all gone!

Meanwhile, I finished The Moor at Gladstone‘s and was prepared to bring it home for the newly restored LFL at the local community center. However, my hotel in Bath had an informal lending library, so I left it there.

#readordonate #monthlymagazineblitz

I was just going to get this started yesterday and finish it some time this week, but you know what they say about best laid plans! There are some debut-author execution issues, but it‘s a clever idea and cute story. Nine books left to meet my Goodreads goal and eight books left from my #TenBeforeTheEnd list. I have most of these on hand ✳️ or on hold✴️.

I‘m reading a nice paranormal mystery for #hyggehourreadathon tonight. Is it spooky? Maybe! #sundayfunday

1. Puffins from Maine (courtesy of Heather Cox Richardson)
2. A place to walk in the woods that I first started exploring ten years ago this week
3. Lunch with my sister topped by yummy dessert
4. Kamala, Angela, and Sarah
5. Talking about my trip with a man at my church who grew up near the train line
#5joysfriday

This delightful book includes a #potion and a magical quest as well as many impossible creatures both familiar and fantastic. #wickedwhispers

I did better on this one: 39/100. Here are the highlights in no particular order.
1. Rear Window
2. Casablanca
3. 12 Angry Men
Honorable Mention to China Syndrome for Michael Douglas and his spectacular hair.
Here‘s the link if you want to take the survey: https://shorturl.at/4KF8L
#TLT

1. Mango
2. Tagged book…or pretty much any cozy mystery 😋
#two4tuesday

Great setting beautifully described, with clunky dialogue and two dimensional characters. The story was okay. But I finished it with an hour to spare before Libby reclaimed it!

Tomorrow I‘ll start Grim Reaper‘s Guide.

Progress was made on the rest.

Fun readathon!

#birthdaybashreadathon

Tonight I‘m spending #hyggehourreadathon in one of my favorite spots for reading. I‘m lounging on the living room couch, watching/listening to the baseball game, with a belly full of Mexican food. I‘m reading a book that‘s due tomorrow, so I can finish it and start the book I checked out from the library today. I hope I don‘t fall asleep! #sundayfunday

I‘m very late posting my goals for @TheAromaofBooks #birthdaybashreadathon and late wishing her a happy birthday. I won‘t possibly read all of this before tomorrow but I‘m making progress on all.

Life in Ardnakelty, Ireland, has settled into a sort of equilibrium after the events of the first book, until Trey‘s father Johnny returns after many years away. He brings with him a harebrained scheme which eventually leads to a murder and subsequent investigation, but the real story here is how the characters interact to achieve their goal, demonstrated through the author‘s gift for dialogue. #authoramonth #tenbeforetheend

1. Gladstone‘s Library as seen from the front gate after a walk
2. Welsh rarebit in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
3. Train ride through the countryside
4. Autumn day in Bath
5. Royal Crescent
#5joysfriday

I‘ve seen 15/100 of these movies. Here are a few standouts in no particular order. Here‘s the link if you want to take the survey: https://shorturl.at/QvVEM
-Smokey and the Bandit
-Wings
-Return of the Jedi
#TLT

Spiced rum with diet ginger beer was a little odd, but it went well with the snacks I had for the train ride from Hawarden to Bath. #skull #wickedwhispers

Final #bookhaul from Gladstone‘s Library!

It was lovely to see some of you again and to meet some of you for the first time!

1. Of course not.
2. Tomorrow‘s plane reading?
#two4tuesday

If you‘re not familiar with this author, I suggest you start somewhere else! But if you know her you might like this one. #dark #slowburn #witch #wickedwhispers #authoramonth

In Wales reading a book set in Ireland. #hyggehourreadathon

My #TenBeforeTheEnd is subject to change at any moment! This captures my current thoughts on the situation. I think the tagged book is up next.

1. I made it to Gladstone‘s Library!
2. I‘m in the same room as I was two years ago.
3. Lovely flowers from the back garden. My phone says they‘re sulphur cosmos.
4. My book stack…so far.
5. A friend of mine got a new kitten!
#5joysfriday

My score is 11/100 and none of them stands out as a particular favorite. Yes, I‘m counting that I watched The Longest Day when I was eight years old, even though I slept through most of it. Perhaps I‘ll revisit it now that I understand the subject matter more! #TLT

Why not both? 🤷🏻‍♀️

But since you asked…
Coffee*
Green
Funny
Tangible
Thanksgiving
Gloves
Low-key

*a couple mornings ago I accidentally used a cocoa pod instead of a coffee pod but drank the cocoa anyway

#wondrousWednesday

Future book club selection #dark #wickedwhispers

Woo hoo!

This book is for book club on Tuesday. I‘m trying to read it amongst unpacking, laundry, packing, and getting the cat out of his latest hiding place. #weekendreads

1. My friends are expected back this evening, so that means tomorrow I can go home…for a few days
2. State park where I took a walk in the woods
3. Breakfast at a little cafe with good coffee and bagels
4. New to me podcast
5. Binge watched Cas the Clutterbug‘s 30 day decluttering challenge on YouTube
#5joysfriday

The Nationals are “rebuilding,” but the Orioles had a very good season. However, when your #bats go silent, it‘s hard to win. Congratulations to the Kansas City Royals, and if last year‘s pattern holds, you‘re going to win the World Series! #wickedwhispers

Photo: Rafael Santander. The one Orioles game I attended in 2024.

An interesting collection of movies in this survey: https://shorturl.at/WlJGc

I‘ve seen 13/100. Here are a few highlights.
1. Glory
2. Apollo 13
3. Contact

Honorable mention goes to Air Force One for the unforgettable line: Get off my plane!

#TLT

I‘m more of a summer girl (just summer, not hot or brat or anything else) but also appreciate fall.
1. Football (once baseball is done), anything pumpkin, nesting, leaf peeping by car or by foot, train rides
2. Tagged
3. Corn chowder, cider, pie
#wondrouswednesday

A local artist makes beautiful bags, hats, coasters, and other items from salvaged upholstery fabric samples. Have a #pumpkin or two! #wickedwhispers #gridirongab

Apparently the fiber cable that services the network used by many schools, government agencies, and libraries around the state was damaged. I can‘t access my library‘s website or catalog at all. Libby is hit or miss. Any other Maryland Littens having issues because of this situation?

Just like that, another month has come and gone. #wrapup

Yes, I stuck September‘s RS issues in a bag that is still sitting in my car! I did read one issue, however, as well as one more August issue before I left home.

On the other hand, I brought along the last few books I have from LFLs and finished one of them, so I found a local LFL and made a little field trip. It turned out to be quite well maintained, so I tagged it on my map app for future reference.

#readordonate #monthlymagazineblitz

There are a two or three books in contention for my favorite of the year. This is one of them. #sundayfunday

💔

This house sitting gig is working my last nerve, but there is nonetheless plenty of joy.
1. Presidential podcast bonus episode with the author of the tagged book as a guest. https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/presidential/bonus--women-politics-and-t...
2. Rewatched Rings of Power S1 & all of S2 so far. E7 OMG! See comments.
3. One of the kitties.
4. I found a taker for my Sunday ballgame ticket.
5. Pond & sunset.
#5joysfriday

I can‘t even with this list. Some choices, sadly, are obvious. Some choices are head scratchers. Some are completely unknown to me, so I guess the bans worked? I‘ve read 24. Take the survey at https://shorturl.at/EHil3.

These are my picks from the irony division.
1. Mark Twain - I only even read TS & HF because they were assigned IN SCHOOL .
2. Ender‘s Game - problematic author part one.
3. Harry Potter - problematic author part two.
#TLT

Making progress with #serieslove2024 and just might download the next one for the trip home.

1. My grandfather brought home a gorgeous tray from Brazil where he went in the Navy in the 1930s. I‘d always admired it, so she gave it to me as a wedding gift.
2. Tagged book (and series) has made it 70 years so far…
#two4tuesday

Summer 1914 in a small English town where everyone is holding their breath to see if there will be war or not. In comes a young woman to be the Latin teacher to upset their apple cart, and that‘s just the start of the changes the town will face in the months ahead. #bicycle #schoolspirit

I‘ve picked up this book and put it back down several times, which is not a knock on the book but on my reading monkey brain. So…I brought it with me to New Jersey to read over the next two weeks. I made some more progress during #hyggehourreadathon and should finish it while I‘m here. Luckily, it‘s easy enough to dip in and out of the story.

I‘m mostly satisfied with my genre mix, except maybe I‘d like to read more poetry. #sundayfunday