The Book of Speculation | 
pickThis book was fascinating. Written in a dual timeline, we follow the lives of several people from a traveling circus in the 17-1800‘s up through today. The main group being a maternal line of mermaids, or divers that can hold their breath for 10 minutes…but who all end up dying by drowning on July 24th.
Monthly Reading Tracker
FEBRUARY
(8 books)
The Book of Speculation 4.25 ⭐️
Transient & Strange 4.25 ⭐️
The Celebrants 4.0 ⭐️
This Is How You Lose the Time War 4.0 ⭐️
Astrid Parker Doesn‘t Fail 3.75 ⭐️
Enchanted to Meet You 3.5 ⭐️
Everybody Come Alive 3.5 ⭐️
Mislaid in Parts Half-Known 3.0 ⭐️
I‘ve had a great reading month! The Book of Speculation takes the February slot. It couldn‘t not. It felt tailor-made for me. The collection of memoir/science essays by Nell Greenfieldboyce, Transient & Strange, was pretty fab, too, though! If I had to guess right now, I‘d say T&S may end up snagging one of the bonus spots for the first half of the year.
Turtle Diary could sweep the whole board. It‘s pretty singular. 🐢
#ReadingBracket2024
You know how you can sometimes just sense that someone is your kind of person?
I read this in Swyler‘s bio AFTER declaring my love for her. When you know, you know. 🐇
pickSwyler describes her own book as being “difficult to explain: a dual narrative in two time periods, an abundance of plot threads, circus, tarot, drowning, horseshoe crabs, a house falling off a cliff, all as told by a reclusive librarian.”
I know this book isn‘t for everyone but it was absolutely for me. I love Erika Swyler‘s writing, her sensibilities. I can‘t say how much I enjoyed this heartbreaking and salt-stained novel.
#UnpopularOpinion
“There‘s a solid sureness to fingernails, the shell over the tenderest parts of us.”
“And then I am in the black relief of night swimming. Below is life, tails twitching against shells, above is water, then sky — in the in-between there is only me. I swim farther into the dark.”
Pairing this quote with a Michael Stipe valentine (singer of R.E.M.‘s “Night Swimming”) because I found it today and it‘s too good not to share.
Recently, I listened to an interview with Ross Gay, author of The Book of Delights. Though I haven‘t yet read his book, I think he‘d approve of Swyler‘s definition of delight as being like “a little light that settles in [your] sternum.”
It‘s more than a trend, it‘s almost the exact same cover! 🤣🤪💛
found this at dollar tree store for $1.25! 😃
#dollartreebookfinds
pickThis was a low pick for me. It was fascinating & a bit quirky, a family saga with interwoven timelines gradually revealing the secrets of the past—and a mysterious book at the heart of it all. Following the family through its lost history was interesting, but I didn‘t connect with it as much as I wanted to. The characters felt a bit distant. The settings were so rich & vivid, though—I‘d love to see a film adaptation! This was my June #DoubleSpin.
I‘m a little late but I read 29 books in August a lot less than normal but between COVID and starting a new job (which I LOVE!) I‘ve found less time and space in my brain to read at times.
I read so many great books though!
Some stand outs:
Graphic novels:
• Isla to Island
• Little Monarchs
Audiobooks:
• Obie is Man Enough
• Thanks a Lot Universe
• The Book of Speculation
• All Systems Red
lots of great books but those are my standouts!
I‘ve cleared the decks on my fiction reading, so I‘m deciding what to read next. I pulled these five from the shelf; all of them are on my June #BookSpin list and I‘m not sure which I‘m most in the mood for. After looking through Goodreads and Litsy reviews/ratings, I think I‘ve narrowed it down to the three in the foreground… now to read the first few paragraphs of each and see which pulls me in. What‘s your method for picking your next read?
See the beautiful surprises inside the sss box?@SpeculativeSpringSwap 📦 Definitely, I love the books! Great selection!👌Awe! Love the stationary items, the journal, the notepad, the pencils!😱perfect😍The candle🕯smells so good and I love the socks! 🧦🧦I already tasted the hazelnut toffee😋I love to try goodies that are typical from my match state, in this case Oregon. Thank you so much @kdgordon88 I really really love everything! 🥰
@Avanders
pick“Perhaps the book opened a door; books have a way of causing ripples.”
This one checked many of my favorite boxes:
✔️ Dual timelines
✔️ Fascinating historical fiction
✔️ Engaging modern characters
✔️ Book about books
✔️ Touch of magic and whimsy
I may have been the last person on earth to read it, but I listened to the audio and really enjoyed it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
so-soFinished this earlier this week. I wish I liked this more than I actually did. I really didn‘t like the main character and didn‘t connect with him. I definitely liked the back in time, circus storyline better.
Honestly, I was just glad to get this one off my TBR.
#LMPBC Round 12 - #GroupC
@pageturner1 @DarcysMom
@suvata has mailed a book to @Kappadeemom
pick• Read in August 2021 for Litsy Markup Postal Book Club #LMPBC Round 12 - #GroupC
From Kirkus:
“When a young librarian comes into possession of the diary of a traveling circus from more than 200 years ago, he decides the book may hold clues to a family mystery he needs to solve to save his sister‘s life.”
Note: I won‘t post past here on Litsy so as not to giveaway any spoilers.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
@suvata the book was shipped today. You should receive it by Friday.
#LMPBC @Pageturner1 @Kappadeemom
pick
Love this quote! So much truth! #bookquotes #quotes #theloveofbooks
#LMPBC Round 12 - #Group C
@pageturner1 @DarcysMom @suvata @Kappadeemom
Good so far? Let me know if I need to change anything.
I love summer. I get to have more reading time! Yesterday I read while he was at soccer practice and today he wanted to go swimming. The pool is only 68 degrees 🥶! So I said go ahead, I think I will just wait until it warms a little more 😳! However that means I can sit and read. 📚 Yay!
Getting some reading and sitting back relaxing with my feet up time while my little guy is at soccer ⚽️. #momlife
I hate when they put stickers on books! You peel them off and they either leave a sticky film, leave the white backing or sometimes even peel off the part of the cover. This book was a gift so I can‘t really complain too much , but it is just one of those things that annoy me . LOL.
Finally...An independent bookstore near me!
Thank you so much @BennettBookworm for this lovely book (and the adorable bookmark)!! I‘m so happy to have won the drawing and so awesome of you to do this giveaway!! I look forward to reading it!!
pickI ended up loving this book, although at the beginning it was a a toss up. Each chapter rotates between past and present. Full of carnival lore, tarot cards and mermaid women, it was hard to put down.
bailedInteresting premise—mysterious book, mermaids, traveling carnival. Lackluster execution.
I realized I was forcing myself to keep reading, so I finally bailed at 50%. I did skim the last chapter and felt weary that I wasted so much time even reading 50%.
Trying to get one more book read before the end of the month. Can I do it? 🤔🤷🏼♀️
If I finish it, I‘ll get another path done on my Book Pathfinder word journey! #readinggoals
pan⭐️⭐️.5
This book was not at all what I was expecting, and honestly quite weird. The writing wasn‘t my favorite, though I really liked some of the characters. #bookspinbingo
so-soThe story was decent-I wanted to keep reading to see how everything fit together. But it was a weird book. And tarot cards & family curses are really not my thing. But it gave me my first bingo for #bookspinbingo. @TheAromaofBooks
pickI really really liked this book. I was so excited when it came out, and I think I even paid full price for the ebook, and I hardly ever. But I think I expected too much and so didn't BIG LOVE this book. But its great. Tarot cards, mermaids and deep dark family secrets!
panThis book was....weird. I can‘t say I enjoyed it. The ending was somewhat satisfying, though.
Maybe it‘s just that I don‘t believe in curses...🤔
pickAwesome book...don‘t believe the negative reviews! ❤️ the mystery, love story and magical mermaids!
Managed 3 books in February. Liked all three of them too!
Waiting to see a new therapist. The waiting room reading material does not inspire confidence.
I was bummed today that my #botm box still isn‘t here...but a package from Misty made my day! After the stress of finals grading, coming home to a box with books and goodies was perfect. I wish I had snapped a pic with the beautiful wrapping paper! Thank you so much @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks ♥️♥️♥️
pickThis story was enchanting. Bright, imaginative characters that really came to life. Their intertwined fates paired with curses and magic really gave the plot it's roots. Sadness and hope braided tightly together through time. I only wished the author had spent more time on the "what's next" part for the characters.
You can read this book at leisure but you'll also find yourself with an itch to see where the next chapter is taking you. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
#GratefulReads Day 2: My #PreferredGenre is best described by tagged book - a topic of speculation because I pretty much read anything and everything: literary fiction, horror, mystery, biographies/memoir, graphic novels, picturebooks, fantasy, poetry. See my book stack from #BigBadWolf in Dubai. Pretty much demonstrates that range. Posting my book hunting loot very soon!!
pickErika Swyler's writing style is the kind that has you yearning for her words. I craved this story whenever my responsibilities called and I was forced to put it down for a while. A lonely librarian makes for an intriguing protagonist especially as he searches for answers down a long line of family tragedies. There's a profound sadness to this story, but there's magic sprinkled in.
"Because there are things you do for people you've known your whole life. You let them save you, you put them in your books, and you let each other begin again, clean."
"We carry our families like anchors, rooting us in storms, making sure we never drift from where and who we are."
"We would bury ourselves in books until flesh and paper became one and ink and blood at last ran together."
My husband thinks I have a problem, but I'm loving my growing book sleeve collection. Most are from Book Beau, but the galaxy one up top and the one most to the bottom are both from a lovely Etsy shop called Fabric Bound.
#booksleeveobsession
