FancifulFebruary

Thank you to everyone who participated in #fancifulfebruary this past month! I hope you had fun!

I almost managed a full Bingo card, but slowed down towards the end of the month. February always wraps up faster than I anticipate! (But also good riddance - it never seems to be the best of months)

mollyrotondo I agree! February always seems to be a rough month even though it‘s short 5y

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TheAromaofBooks

Summer by the Tides | Denise Hunter

I almost but not quite completed #FancifulFebruary!! Not sure how I didn't read a single book with a heart on the cover?! Ridiculous! Super fun challenge so thank you @4thhouseontheleft I have a total weakness for reading bingo cards of all kinds!!

BookishMe Where do you normally source for reading Bingo cards? 5y

TheAromaofBooks Well, sometimes people make them up on Litsy, like this one and the one for #Jennyis30. BookishFirst puts one out every month (I'll post March and tag you!) and also has other random ones - I'm working on their Mystery Book and Romance Novel ones throughout the year. Sometimes I just search “Reading Bingo“ online and see what appears!! 5y

alisiakae Great job! I also did not read an author whose name starts with F. 5y

TheAromaofBooks @4thhouseontheleft - Most of these I found organically through the books I was already reading, and I was a little surprised at the two I had leftover! 5y

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hes7

Bingo: A Full-length Play | Edward Bond

Just finished clearing the #FancifulFebruary board.

@4thhouseontheleft thanks for the fun challenge this month!

BookishMe Fabulous! 👏🏽👏🏽 5y

BookishMe @4thhouseontheleft is there one for March? Always wanted to attempt a reading Bingo 😊😊 5y

Butterfinger That is awesome. I had to leave two blank and I am trying to ignore how much that bothers me 😃 5y

Geenie Nice 👍👏💖 5y

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alisiakae

The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher | Andrzej Sapkowski

pick

Enjoyed all the Slavic folklore/mythology references in this book of short stories from the Witcher series. Nothing outstanding, but a fairly solid group of stories. Some misogyny thrown in, the type fairly common in male-centric fantasy novels.

#litsypartyofone
#fancifulfebruary
#pop20 #madeuplanguage

Would also work for #readingeurope2020 if I hadn‘t just read another Polish author.

Alisnazzy, MrBook, Lynnsoprano

Laughterhp I‘ve been so focused on finding books set in the countries, I forget that you can use authors too! I might end up using this book for Poland! 5y

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alisiakae

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream | Barack Obama

pick

My attention span is terrible this week; it took me longer than planned to finish this book written by then-future President Obama. I wish I had read this years ago, but it was nice to immerse myself again in the politics of the Obama era. While I don‘t agree with him on everything, I admire the thoughtfulness, empathy, and intelligence found in his policies and positions.

#nonfiction2020 #candidate
#pop20 #worldleader
#fancifulfebruary

Riveted_Reader_Melissa

Amiable I miss him SO much. More and more every day. 😬 5y

Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Amiable I soooo understand that! 5y

alisiakae @Amiable @Riveted_Reader_Melissa Me too! I worked on his campaign in 2012 and I really miss those days lately. (edited) 5y

alisiakae @Amiable @Riveted_Reader_Melissa The 🥂 in the pic is actually from the 2013 Inaugural Ball. It‘s become a cherished keepsake in this house. 5y

Riveted_Reader_Melissa @4thhouseontheleft That‘s awesome! 5y

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TheAromaofBooks

The Starless Sea | Erin Morgenstern

pick

Finished this one yesterday with many a mixed feeling. There are a lot of things to love about this book, but a strong plot definitely isn't one of them. It's a beautifully written but incredibly meandering book with characters that somehow always seem distant. I wasn't bored reading this book, but it was also a lot more work to read than it should have been. ⬇️

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) With multiple layers and stories, sometimes it felt like this one was trying a little too hard to be clever. Still overall a pick, and a book I would like to read again now that I kind of know what is going on. 5y

TheAromaofBooks Challenges: Using this as the LGBT+ Love Story for both #Jennyis30 @jenniferw88 and #FancifulFebruary @4thhouseontheleft || #TurningPagesBingo - Fantasy || #FebruaryBookBingo - 3-word title 5y

robinb Great review! 5y

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TheAromaofBooks @robinb - Thank you! I struggled with rating this one. There was so much that I really loved about it, but overall it just felt like a little too much. I don't think that a person should have to read a 500 page book twice just to understand what's happening lol I also struggled because a lot of the “why“ for character action was “for LOVE“ except the characters “in love“ had only talked to each other like... once. So I didn't completely buy it lol 5y

robinb @TheAromaofBooks Totally understand. I‘ve heard mixed reviews on it. I‘ve sorta come to the conclusion that it sounds like a bit too much work for me. 🤣🤣🤣🤷🏻‍♀️ 5y

TheAromaofBooks @robinb - it was frustrating because there is so much good there. The descriptions and world-building are lavish and magical, and Morgenstern can turn a phrase in a way that really grabs you. But it was a cotton candy kind of book - at the end of the day, there just wasn't much substance to the story. Oh well. Keep it on your list for sometime when you really have time to immerse yourself into a book!! 5y

BookishMe 👍🏽REVIEW 👍🏽 I was planning to read this before resuming Night Circus (love the writing but distracted by other books - Yikes ;o) I will manage expectations for this fantasy 😊😊 5y

robinb @TheAromaofBooks 👍👍😊 5y

TheAromaofBooks @BookishMe - I definitely didn't love this one as much as The Night Circus. The writing in both is gorgeous, but TNC has a more cohesive plot, I think. 5y

BookishMe @TheAromaofBooks good to know! Thanks 5y

nukie19 Good to know! This just came in from the library for me and it will be my next up... 5y

TheAromaofBooks @nukie19 - I've heard SO many mixed reviews on this one that it seems like it's definitely a book everyone should read and assess for themselves. I originally got it from the library because I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I think that I will buy it someday for the reread. 5y

BilboBookends I couldn‘t agree more 👏🏻 5y

TheAromaofBooks @BilboBookends - Thank you!! ❤ 5y

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Butterfinger

How Stella Got Her Groove Back | Terry McMillan

so-so

There were parts that irritated me. Fat people were put down and maybe I took it personally because I'm fat. A lot of cussing.

However, it made me want to go to an island and find me a twenty years old hunk.

This is probably my last #FancifulFebruary Bingo post. @4thhouseontheleft I really enjoyed participating and I wouldn't have read Obama's work if it wasn't for this bingo so I thank you for creating it.

alisiakae I‘m glad you enjoyed it! Sorry this book wasn‘t a 👍 5y

revenge4porgy Try Too big to Miss Sue Ann Jaffarian. Think Roseanne Barr meets Nancy Drew. (edited) 5y

Butterfinger @revenge4porgy thank you for the suggestions. I couldn't find the book you wrote, but I found three others written by an Erica Abbott. Are you and she the same? I am a fifth grade teacher so disabled in math is right up my alley. 5y

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TheAromaofBooks

Summer by the Tides | Denise Hunter

pick

A low pick, there were several things that moderately annoyed me about this book (a dog for some reason runs away DURING A HURRICANE?! And then ONE person runs out to look for it... then ONE person goes to look for her... safety in numbers, people! Sheesh) but overall a pretty regular romance.

TheAromaofBooks Challenges: #ReadtheUSA2020 / #SeparatedbyaPondTour - North Carolina @Andrew65 @ljuliel || #FancifulFebruary - Has Champagne / Dinner Date / Red on the Cover @4thhouseontheleft 5y

Cinfhen Ha!!! I have zero patience for dumb plot devices 🙊 5y

sblbooks I love your review😅 5y

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alisiakae Whenever a bad storm rolls through my area here in NC, it is almost always followed up by runaway dog posts in my neighborhood FB group! 5y

TheAromaofBooks @4thhouseontheleft - I suppose some dogs may be so scared they run away instead of in?? I can hardly get my dogs to go out when it's raining haha Either way, if your dog runs away during a hurricane, please don't go out ALL ALONE to find him!! 😆 5y

TheAromaofBooks @Cinfhen @sblbooks - it was the part where they kept going out one at a time to find the last person who went out one at a time and despite knowing the hurricane was coming apparently no one bothered to charge their cell phones beforehand?? I just couldn't deal lol 5y

ljuliel You‘re doing great ! 5y

Andrew65 Going well. 👍 (edited) 5y

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wanderinglynn

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry | Neil deGrasse Tyson

pick

A succinct book for a crash course in astrophysics. This book made me wish I had taken more science classes. Sadly, I was turned off of science at a young age. But I‘m trying to make up for that. I treated this book like a text book & underlined and flagged parts to go back to.

And 2 birds — #fancifulfebruary & a good start to #24B4Monday Although that time doesn‘t include the half hour or so this morning as I forgot to start timing.

Andrew65, alisiakae, jb72, BeansPage

wanderinglynn Ah, I meant 3 birds 🤦🏼‍♀️ because this was my first #bookspin book for February. @TheAromaofBooks 5y

TheAromaofBooks Nice!! I love nonfiction books that make a topic accessible and interesting. 5y

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