Litsy

pick

An intriguing Golden Age mystery. Layers of lies and deception. Each time a new clue dropped, I wanted to shake the characters and yell “figure this out!” Tense, atmospheric, and very entertaining! I enjoyed this #FurrowedMiddleBrowClub read.
#Pantone2024
#ISpyBingo @TheAromaofBooks

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, Jess_Read_This, Kimzey, erzascarletbookgasm, catebutler, CarolynM, LeahBergen, Lizpixie, elkeOriginal, Aimeesue, batsy, Tamra, Teresereading, kwmg40, jlhammar, Ruthiella, Sparklemn, willaful, MrsK

Tamra Yes - shake shake shake wake up! 😂 2d

Ruthiella I had this one pretty much sussed by the first chapter! 😆 2d

LeahBergen Even the parrot was yelling, “Figure this out!” 😆😆 2d

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willaful @LeahBergen 🤣 2d

Ruthiella @LeahBergen I know, right?!?! Where do you think the parrot learned that phrase Cynthia? 🦜 🤦‍♀️ 2d

Tamra @Ruthiella @LeahBergen 😜 🦜 2d

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 1d

julieclair @LeahBergen @Ruthiella I think the parrot may have been the smartest character! 😂🦜 1d

LeahBergen @julieclair Definitely! 😆 1d

31 likes9 comments

Read4life

I Spy Treasure Hunt: A Book of Picture Riddles | Jean Marzollo

Finally a month where I got an #ISpyBingo bingo! 2 in fact.

Clwojick, TheSpineView

willaful Nice! I haven't had a bingo all year, I don't think. 1w

TheSpineView Well done! 1w

40 likes2 comments

CoffeeNBooks

How to Find Love in a Bookshop | Veronica Henry

pick

What a lovely story of how so many peoples' lives are changed, in both big and small ways, by Nightingale Books, the little Bookshop in the town of Peasebrook. When Julius Nightingale passes away, his daughter Emelia comes back home and temporarily takes over his bookshop. Everyone in town stops by to make sure Emelia knows how much her father and his bookshop meant to them.
#LitsyLoveReads
#ReadAway2024 #AwesomeApril Readathon @andrew65

CoffeeNBooks #ISpyBingo @TheAromaofBooks @Clwojick
#TwinPeaksReadingChallenge: Wrapped in Plastic @Yuki_Onna
1w

Princess-Kingofkings This one sounds delightful. 1w

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 1w

julieclair Sounds lovely! Stacked! 1w

73 likes2 stack adds4 comments

sebrittainclark

The Brides of High Hill | Nghi Vo

Got close, but didn't quite manage an #ispybingo this month.

37 likes

OriginalCyn620

Untitled | Unknown

Still no #ispybingo for me! 😱

Clwojick, TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Yay!! Still great progress!! I've been working on all the boards all year and while I obviously have bingos I still haven't cleared a single board 😂 1w

willaful Mine was pathetic this month too. I read too many books with meh covers! 1w

23 likes2 comments

ElizaMarie

April's Baby | Vicki Burke

I got 10 books read this month. I took a critical eye and said only 3 5-star books. But.. some of the others (4-star ones, were super good). All in all a great month!

Participated in: #BookSpinBingo #ISpyBingo #HashtagBrigade #HyggeHour #FillYourCupFriday

20 likes

ElizaMarie

Bingo! | Rosemary Wells

My attempt at April's #ISpyBingo

@Clwojick
@TheAromaOfBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! Looking great!! 1w

15 likes1 comment

julieclair

The President's Hat | Antoine Laurain

pick

Refreshing, original, uplifting, charming. A testament to the magic of confidence! Written in 2012, but takes place in the 1980‘s, and the references to the trends and technology was a fun throwback. This was my #ReadOrDonate selection for April. Usually I donate them once I‘ve read them, but I‘m keeping this one. 🇫🇷
#ReadYourTBR @melissajayne
#Pantone2024 @BarbaraBB
#BookChain2024 #ISpyBingo @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 1w

26 likes1 comment

TheAromaofBooks

When Dimple Met Rishi | Sandhya Menon

pan

I always feel like such a grumpy old woman when I so fervently dislike a book that everyone else seems to love. I ranted about this one a lot on GR. My main issue probably comes down to finding Dimple irredeemably unlikable. Just because someone is a strong female character interested in computers doesn't mean she also needs to be an absolute ass who goes off on everyone who doesn't 100% agree with her, ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) physically punches her boyfriend when she disagrees with what he says (and then when he says that it hurts tells him that she's “not like other girls“... guess that makes it okay??), and talks down CONSTANTLY about every other female in the story because they don't want what Dimple wants, which obviously means that what they want is wrong/bad. Look, I also don't wear makeup or get super girly, and I didn't in high school either, but that⬇ 1w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) doesn't make me somehow morally superior to girls who do/did. I hated the “getting married ruins everything“ vibe (like I am not saying 18-year-olds should all get married straight out of high school, but acting like getting married at any point in her 20s would mean her life is OVER was just so ridiculous). Also, nothing about this coding camp she was at made sense to me, mostly because they literally never seemed to be doing ANY app ⬇ 1w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) development at ANY point in this book lol I had other issues, but that's enough whining for now. There were cute moments in this book, and I liked Rishi a lot, but overall this book just didn't work for me.

#ISpyBingo
#BookSpinBingo 1w

See All 20 Comments

LiseWorks Oh my! I love it when a book gets emotions running. I love that rant. 1w

thegreensofa Great pan review. I think I would probably agree with you if I read it, so you saved me and I‘m not going to read it! (sorry for your experience though). 👍 1w

batsy Go forth and pan with abandon! I had fun reading this review 😁 1w

Susanita Tell us how you really feel! 😂 1w

BookishMadHatter I love this rant because I finally found someone who said what I've been thinking about a bunch of books ive read lately. I find that whenever someone tries to make a "strong" female character, they turn her into a total unbearable b!t@h. It's even made me not want to read books with females as the lead 1w

BarbaraJean Hahaha—YES. This book annoyed me so much. Great concept, terrible execution. Especially the stupid pretext of a coding camp at which they did literally no coding. And I hated the writing, too: things like “his heart was like melted chocolate” and other terrible comparisons. #fanofthepan 😁 1w

dabbe #fanofthepan! #betterbooksahead 🤩🤩🤩 1w

Anna40 Love the rant too 😝 1w

TheLudicReader I hate loads of popular books. You are not alone. 1w

TheAromaofBooks @LiseWorks @thegreensofa @batsy @Susanita @dabbe @Anna40 @TheLudicReader - Thank you for making me feel better about all my whining 😂 1w

TheAromaofBooks @BookishMadHatter - I think what really frustrates me about this “strong=bitch“ attitude is that then the implication is that the flipside is also true - if you're a nice/kind person that means you're a pathetic doormat. I'm not here to say that women/people should just roll over and take it when someone is mean to them, but to act like kindness, empathy, patience, and a willingness to explain your position reasonably somehow makes you weak ⬇ 1w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) really frustrates me. It seems especially harmful in YA, to teach girls that being rude, obnoxious, and cruelly snarky is what will get you forward in life and prove that you're “strong.“ 1w

TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean - I was just like... what is the point of this camp?! Do they have classes? Workshops? Scheduled lab sessions? ANYTHING?! The entire talent show made zero sense (what does this have to do with coding?!?!?!) I was confused about the talent show prize's implication that each team is funding their own research, since that $1000 goes towards that?? Or something?? And apparently if you win you get everything, but if you don't win you ⬇ 1w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) you don't even get, I don't know, feedback on your project?? A chance to share it with someone else?? A little show-and-tell session where your parents/random people who are interested in app development could come see the projects?? ANYTHING?! I loved the concept of this camp, but it NEVER felt like they were actually at one, so it just seemed like a plot device to make sure we know how SERIOUS Dimple is about IMPORTANT stuff 🙄 1w

BarbaraJean Seriously!! The author could have at least MENTIONED them attending workshops, classes, SOMETHING! The setting was clearly only a pretext for her premise of girl-who-likes-tech meets sensitive boy. The huge focus on the talent show instead of any, you know, ACTUAL CODING seemed to indicate the author had not only done little to no research about the entire setting, she literally did not care about continuity, plausibility, or even good writing.😩 6d

TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraJean - The initial little “get to know you“ run around with the photographs felt like a natural part of the camp, but the talent show definitely felt like a plot point instead of something that would actually happen. We're super serious about developing this app and you have very limited time to do it and some people even stay up all night because time is so tight... so we're going to spend hours and hours preparing for a talent show!? 😑 5d

BarbaraJean 😂 😂 YES. So. Dumb. 4d

65 likes1 stack add20 comments

TheAromaofBooks

The Secret of the Mansion | Julie Campbell

pick

I had SO MUCH FUN rereading this and am not sure I want to stick to only one book per month 😂 I remember now how I found Trixie to be a much more relatable heroine than Nancy Drew (although I love Nancy very much) - closer to my age when I was reading these, a big family with lots of brothers, parents who make her do chores, her yearning for a horse, her enjoyment in being outside, etc. Trixie's adventures always felt more like something that ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) almost COULD happen in real life haha

Friends, we need a hashtag for our little reading group!! I'm open to suggestions - something with Bobwhite???

Did you enjoy your reread? Were there parts that you hadn't remembered or that surprised you? Was there anything that surprised you in a bad way?

I had forgotten that Trixie is kind of mean to Honey at first - thinks she's a wimp and laughs at her. I enjoyed seeing Trixie soften as the ⬇ 1w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) story went on. It felt like their friendship developed well.

One thing that seemed weird to me on this reread - Trixie has so much love and respect for her parents that it honestly felt a little odd that she wouldn't trust them with Jim's secret. I understood why, but I honestly feel like in real life she would have confided in them for help. What do you think?

I was a bit shocked by the entire stray/“mad“ dog storyline. Why did this ⬇ 1w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) dog keep chasing them!? And Jim just SHOOTS it?!!? My goodness!

I also hadn't realized that this book was originally published in 1948. My edition is 1977. I couldn't find any information as to whether these books got rewrites like Nancy Drew and some of the others did, but I think maybe no? Or not dramatically?

The ending feels a little abrupt. I know it's leading right into book two, where they head out to try and find Jim, but it ⬇ 1w

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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) still felt sudden.

As an adult reader, I'm now somewhat interested in the adults in the story. What do you think of Trixie's parents, Honey's parents, and Honey's substitute parents aka Reagan and Miss Trask?

I honestly could talk about this book all day and how much I enjoyed it, so please let me know your thoughts and feel free to ask questions of your own!! There are only six of us, so when you comment, do tag everyone else who ⬇ 1w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) has commented so we can keep the conversation going 😁 And let me know if you have any hashtag ideas 😂 #BobwhiteBash? #TrixieTroubles? Should we just be #BobwhitesoftheGlen?

@curiouserandcurioser @BookmarkTavern @DebinHawaii @Read4life @lauraisntwilder 1w

TheAromaofBooks Oh, and my actual hashtags for this book's review...

#192025 - 1948 - @Librarybelle
#100YearsofBooks
#WickedWords - Athlete @AsYouWish
#ISpyBingo - Blue Eyes, Front Porch
#BookSpinBingo
#SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView @Andrew65 1w

Librarybelle Oh wow! 1948! 1w

TheSpineView Fantastic! 1w

MaleficentBookDragon I ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ these as a kid! My parents would buy me a new one for birthdays, doing chores, good grades, etc. BUT, never fast enough for my reading speed. I actually just donated my collection to the library and kind of regret it.😞 1w

MaleficentBookDragon @TheAromaofBooks 1948?!?! I too thought they were written in the 70s. Can I join? 1w

TheAromaofBooks @MaleficentBookDragon - I would love to have you along!! We are planning to read one book a month with a discussion around the 30th of each month. 1w

TheAromaofBooks @MaleficentBookDragon - My understanding is that the same person wrote the first six books, which were published in 1948 and then throughout the 50s. Then, similar to the way Nancy Drew, etc., were written, the rest (33 more books!) were written by several people under the name of “Kathryn Kenny“ in the 60s through the 80s. I also always thought of these as more 70s books (maybe because of my editions) and hadn't realized they started so early! 1w

lauraisntwilder My mom read these when she was about the same age as Trixie, which would've been in the early 60s. She told me the first one she got was the 3rd one and she spent Christmas day reading it and was "no help to anyone." ? I don't know what happened to her books though because I've never read them. I can see why she liked them though! I understood why Trixie didn't tell her parents about Jim. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, but that she ⬇️ 1w

lauraisntwilder (Cont'd) wanted Jim to trust her. He asked her not to tell & she didn't want him to doubt her. I was surprised at how many things went wrong. A snake bite, both girls being thrown from horses or nearly being run over on a bike, the mad dog, a plane crash, a house fire, & I don't think that's everything! Trixie feels much more like a real person than Nancy Drew, who can do everything. @curiouserandcurioser @BookmarkTavern @DebinHawaii @Read4life 1w

BookmarkTavern #BobwhiteBuddies ? I hadn‘t realized just how much happens in just one book! But I totally got Trixie‘s hesitance. Making real solid friends for the first time, and then being trusted with their secrets? I would have kept my mouth shut too. 😄 And I love how the parents aren‘t stupid, evil, or absent. Except Honey‘s parents. 😅 @lauraisntwilder @DebinHawaii @curiouserandcurioser @Read4life (edited) 1w

curiouserandcurioser @TheAromaofBooks @BookmarkTavern @DebinHawaii @Read4life @lauraisntwilder @MaleficentBookDragon I had forgotten how much I LOVE Trixie!:) i also love Nancy Drew so much, but I think Trixie is probably much more relatable! Even though Trixie was kindof mean to Honey at first, I really enjoyed how their friendship developed. I also wouldnt mind reading more than one each month!❤ 1w

TheAromaofBooks @lauraisntwilder @BookmarkTavern @curiouserandcurioser - There were definitely a LOT of adventures in just one book 😂 I loved how while Trixie was a “natural“ at riding a horse, she still wasn't perfect right away and made mistakes. And like Krysta said, I really like how Trixie's parents seem like regular, kind, reasonable parents. I can definitely remember Trixie feeling more like a real person to me because she also had to do chores and ⬇ 1w

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) and babysit her little brother!! I'm already so excited about reading the next book!! 1w

55 likes1 stack add18 comments

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