Welcome to Litsy!

1. My elder kiddo is coming home from college for the first time since we dropped them off in August! I'm SO excited! (And we're getting COVID boosters tomorrow, cooking a low-key dinner Thursday, then Christmas decorations on Friday.)
2. The tagged really influenced how I see Thanksgiving and the way that history shifts into legend, particularly as it serves the interests of the dominant culture. (Sorry... buzz kill.)
@TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday

Just admiring my color coordinating book stack 📚

It isn‘t the tagged book (which is a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read), but it came in today‘s mail and I have 5 hot minutes to myself to read it. Laundry and dishwasher both spinning for the umpteenth time today, both kids playing outside with a neighbor kid in lovely 56 degree weather.

1. Pilgrims, right?
2. Accompanying my children to Junior Scientist Day at my spouse's workplace. I suspect it was primarily an excuse for the grown-up scientists to play, which helped make it super awesome!
3. Leftovers and an early bedtime.
4. Nine living, two deceased.
5. On it!

#friyayintro @howjessreads

An extraordinary book on the beginnings of America. A real eye opener. Fascinating not a dry text book at all. Wonderful, wonderful!

I have a very Mayflower-esque Litfluence.

It seems appropriate to follow up A Kingdom Strange with Mayflower. Both authors give full histories of England‘s takeover of Native American lands, even the ugly, selfish parts.

The story of the Pilgrims does not end with the First Thanksgiving; instead, it is a fifty-five-year epic that is at once tragic and heroic. Philbrick is an absolute master of his craft, and this book is no exception. The story related in Mayflower is an electrifying account that answers a supremely loaded question: How did it all begin?

1. Maybe read minds? I'm torn.
2. Mayflower, tagged. Very good.
3. To not argue with fools on the internet, to try to be kind to someone every day, and to thin down the stuff in my home (books not included 😉)
4. Designated Survivor, recommended by a friend. It's ok, but it's no West Wing.
5. I'm on it!

@howjessreads #Friyayintro

Today‘s Prompt: Favorite Reads of May

Thanks to these Instagrammers for the prompt post idea.

#OurYearinBooks18
@agnesnutter_witch
@fondofbooks1
@ilovebookshelves
@rainbowsandparachutes

LYING IN WAIT by Liz Nugent

https://bit.ly/2QwE8vO

BEACH HOUSE REUNION by Mary Alice Monroe

https://bit.ly/2RuNYhN

THE HIGH TIDE CLUB by Mary Kay Andrews

https://bit.ly/2SoNTfG

THE WAY OF BEAUTY by Camille Di Maio

https://bit.ly/2Qzngag

I made some sourdough doughnuts, cleaned up the kitchen, and took a walk this afternoon, all while listening to audiobooks. I finished Barracoon, and although I appreciate the recorded history and importance of his story, I was underwhelmed. The book was shorter and had less substance than I was expecting. Then I went on to start Mayflower, which seems an appropriate choice for the next week or so.

#nonfiction #audiobook #NonfictionNovember

The month of May was a decent one for me in terms of reading. Both the quality and quantity were 👌🏽. Looking forward to more of the same in June!🦋🌼

I got a little behind in April but got mostly caught up in May. Now it‘s on to this fun challenge from @Cinfhen & @GypsyKat but first to #wrapup May reading:
-Shoot Like a Girl #bookclub
-The Bear and the Nightingale #Russia
-Hollywood Homicide #POCmystery
-Still Mine #whodunitbymail
-Sunburn #LauraLippman
-Howl‘s Moving Castle #steampunk
June #TBR includes:
-Bless Me, Ultima #GAR #libraryholdthatjustcamein
-Behind Closed Doors #whodunitbymail

May #recap

Twenty-two, but several are short stories.

Highlights: St Mary‘s! All of them. I can‘t get enough.

It feels a bit cheaty to tag these since they're really May TBFinished, but this is the current lineup: #MayTBR
@Jess7

A #theunreadshelfproject2018 challenge fail but a win at the library? Made it 21 days into the New Year before finding myself at the library today. Picked up 3 new titles and Mayflower for 25 cents at the library sale. My son is studying the Pilgrims and the New World this month at school. Good or bad idea to read this at the same time?

That time I met historian Nathaniel Philbrick, author of "Mayflower," "Valiant Ambition," "Bunker Hill," "The Last Stand" and "In the Heart of the Sea."

#nov📚📷

When I see the #🌽 I think of harvest and on the eve of Thanksgiving, as I prepare tomorrow's feast, I can't help but feel thankful for the bounty of food before me.

My favorite used bookstore did not have a copy of GWTW. 😭 Of course, I didn't leave empty handed. 😳#bookhaul #mustbuysomething

#feistyfeb #boughtonvacation

One more.... From my trip to Plymouth Massachusetts.

A perfect book for this time of year, Philbrick looks at the Pilgrims and their plight in New England. Perhaps I should have realized this beforehand, but a vast majority of this book examined the wars with the Natives, specifically King Philip's War. A good part of US history to know, but maybe I was not in the mood for such detail.

"We think of the Pilgrims as resilient adventurers upheld by unwavering religious faith, but they were also human beings in the midst of what was, and continues to be, one of the most difficult and emotional challenges a person can face: immigration and exile."

Next book up on my to read list.

Look, I think a @Litsy meetup is an acceptable reason to buy some more books at the book sale 😂 So glad that I got to meet up with @BookishFeminist @JPeterson & @TheNextBook and snag some winners! #TreatYoShelf #LitsyIRL

Your interesting little info tidbit for the day.